A Diamond in the Rough! (926)

[DS0308]

"What is that silly looking thing?" - excellent question Serena!

I don't really have any other thoughts about this episode in the dub compared to the original, I'm pretty sure Goodra has a different dub VA now but it was fine. Still don't understand why Florges needs a dub VA.

FLAME.

 

[Epicocity]

"What is that silly looking thing?" - excellent question Serena!

I don't really have any other thoughts about this episode in the dub compared to the original, I'm pretty sure Goodra has a different dub VA now but it was fine. Still don't understand why Florges needs a dub VA.

FLAME.

Goodra probably has a new dub VA (haven't seen it yet) because Tom Wayland voiced Goodra and he got fired for reasons that I won't post here. So, yeah, needed to recast. Same way Meyer will probably be recast in 6 episodes.

 

[Orton155]

It was nice to see Goodra again but other than that the episode was just 'ok' compared to recent episodes. Perhaps the calm before the Kalos League storm!

Onto the next one!

 

[Pikachu52]

Finally - An episode that did not focus on Greninja. For that it get's a point.

That being said, for Goodra's return episode, it didn't really focus much on Goodra. Most of the episode was Carbink playing tricks on Florgess and Flrogess blaming Quagsire, Team Rocket scheming and the other Pokémon looking for Carbink. But then Goodra was responsible for freeing the Carbink and it did defeat Team Rocket. And we got to see dedenne do something other than sit in Bonnie's bag, so there's that.

Surely they could have come up with a plot that actually focused on Goodra?? I didn't even confirm whether or not Goodra is returning.

It's also inconsistent with the games - Ash traveled to the wetlands on his way to Lumiose City. But the wetlands are supposed to be on route 14, to the north of Lumiose while Snowbelle city lies to the south - and the most direct road between them goes through Lumiose City. They're not only changing move mechanics now, they're rearranging the maps to suit plot needs.

And to conclude - Alain earns a rumble badge, which is also his 8th and final badge. I've commented in this before but it's worth asking the question again. How in the space of about maybe 5 episodes has he managed to travel the entire region given the anime implies Ash has been travelling for months. And his final statement confirms he's only doing it to battle Ash - Seriously Alain that kid is obsessed with battles. He battle any Pokémon, there's no need to randomly get 8 badges and enter the competition simply for that.

For Alain to have the ability to do that, almost puts him in the territory of being unbelievably overpowered to the point of being a Mary sue (though he is more of a complex character).

 

[U.N. Owen]

Finally - An episode that did not focus on Greninja. For that it get's a point.

That being said, for Goodra's return episode, it didn't really focus much on Goodra. Most of the episode was Carbink playing tricks on Florgess and Flrogess blaming Quagsire, Team Rocket scheming and the other Pokémon looking for Carbink. But then Goodra was responsible for freeing the Carbink and it did defeat Team Rocket. And we got to see dedenne do something other than sit in Bonnie's bag, so there's that.

Surely they could have come up with a plot that actually focused on Goodra?? I didn't even confirm whether or not Goodra is returning.

It's also inconsistent with the games - Ash traveled to the wetlands on his way to Lumiose City. But the wetlands are supposed to be on route 14, to the north of Lumiose while Snowbelle city lies to the south - and the most direct road between them goes through Lumiose City. They're not only changing move mechanics now, they're rearranging the maps to suit plot needs.

And to conclude - Alain earns a rumble badge, which is also his 8th and final badge. I've commented in this before but it's worth asking the question again. How in the space of about maybe 5 episodes has he managed to travel the entire region given the anime implies Ash has been travelling for months. And his final statement confirms he's only doing it to battle Ash - Seriously Alain that kid is obsessed with battles. He battle any Pokémon, there's no need to randomly get 8 badges and enter the competition simply for that.

For Alain to have the ability to do that, almost puts him in the territory of being unbelievably overpowered to the point of being a Mary sue (though he is more of a complex character).

It's less rearranging maps and more like utterly violating the rule of showing and not telling by having most of their travels happen off screen. As for Alain getting badges, it bugged me too. Though he does have a massive dragon on his side and doesn't have to worry about helping every single person on the way. Then again, the amount of off-screen stuff Ash and co supposedly deal with is probably enough time to fly and get badges. Is it me or does the anime have a fair share of sues and stus recently? Zoe (Mary Sue), Tobias (God-Mode Stu), Ash (Purity Stu), and Cameron (More or Less God-Mode Stu).

 

[DankOverlord]

It's less rearranging maps and more like utterly violating the rule of showing and not telling by having most of their travels happen off screen. As for Alain getting badges, it bugged me too. Though he does have a massive dragon on his side and doesn't have tto worry about helping every single person on the way. Then again, the amount of off-screen stuff Ash and co supposedly deal with is probably enough time to fly and get badges. Is it me or does the anime have a fair share of sues and stus recently? Zoe (Mary Sue), Tobias (God-Mode Stu), Ash (Purity Stu), and Cameron (More or Less God-Mode Stu).

Cameron isnt a Stu I mean the guy never reached the finals

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

It's less rearranging maps and more like utterly violating the rule of showing and not telling by having most of their travels happen off screen. As for Alain getting badges, it bugged me too. Though he does have a massive dragon on his side and doesn't have to worry about helping every single person on the way. Then again, the amount of off-screen stuff Ash and co supposedly deal with is probably enough time to fly and get badges. Is it me or does the anime have a fair share of sues and stus recently? Zoe (Mary Sue), Tobias (God-Mode Stu), Ash (Purity Stu), and Cameron (More or Less God-Mode Stu).

The last one is not even Sue material. Constant DEM to save his sorry butt is anything a Stu would heavily rely on.

 

[U.N. Owen]

The last one is not even Sue material. Constant DEM to save his sorry butt is anything a Stu would heavily rely on.

Then let's label him as an Anti-Stu, a character that is so useless yet still has a bearing on the plot.

 

[Soniman]

Cameron isnt a Stu I mean the guy never reached the finals

Neither is Zoey wtf???

Yeah the term sue is getting missused again, happens everytime

 

[Janovy]

Nothing more refreshing than people using terms like DEM or Mary Sue for things they don't like.

FYI, not liking something doesn't make it a Sue or Deus Ex Machina.

 

[U.N. Owen]

Nothing more refreshing than people using terms like DEM or Mary Sue for things they don't like.

Who said DEM stood for Deus ex Machina in the internet? It stands for Didn't Enjoy Much here.

 

[Xenon Blue]

Let's be honest though, using the term DEM on Cameron is appropriate.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Anyhow! Moronic characters aside, this episode really wasn't that much about Goodra... Even the swamp guy didn't get much focus. 6 lines and he was gone.

 

[Vipsoccermaster]

Anyhow! Moronic characters aside, this episode really wasn't that much about Goodra... Even the swamp guy didn't get much focus. 6 lines and he was gone.

Keanan was far too busy collecting water next to his house to even help out. Oh well. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

 

[Pikachu52]

Then again, the amount of off-screen stuff Ash and co supposedly deal with is probably enough time to fly and get badges. Is it me or does the anime have a fair share of sues and stus recently? Zoe (Mary Sue), Tobias (God-Mode Stu), Ash (Purity Stu), and Cameron (More or Less God-Mode Stu).

To be fair, of those three only Tobias really counts as being a sue type trope - ridiculously overpowered and able to take down the league as if it were nothing. Cameron certainly benefits from plot connivance as it's conceivable that but for Riolu evolving he probably wouldn't have won. But that's conceivable within cannon given Riolu evolved from friendship, and the series up to that point has seen several major battles turn on evolution. That is itself ultimately less plot convince than a very strong character entering the league on a fly simply to battle another trainer (who would have agreed to battle him anyhow most likely). Zoe is relatively consistent and believable - she was just simply a strong and experienced co-ordinate just like the Milotic trainer had been in AG.

Anyhow! Moronic characters aside, this episode really wasn't that much about Goodra... Even the swamp guy didn't get much focus. 6 lines and he was gone.

It's a shame after how well developed Goodra's Goodbye episodes were, the follow up ended up being a filler that could have appeared anywhere in the series and didn't need Goodra at all (any Pokémon could have taken it's place).

 

[U.N. Owen]

To be fair, of those three only Tobias really counts as being a sue type trope - ridiculously overpowered and able to take down the league as if it were nothing. Cameron certainly benefits from plot connivance as it's conceivable that but for Riolu evolving he probably wouldn't have won. But that's conceivable within cannon given Riolu evolved from friendship, and the series up to that point has seen several major battles turn on evolution. That is itself ultimately less plot convince than a very strong character entering the league on a fly simply to battle another trainer (who would have agreed to battle him anyhow most likely). Zoe is relatively consistent and believable - she was just simply a strong and experienced co-ordinate just like the Milotic trainer had been in AG.

There are many divisions of being a Sue/Stu. Here are some shamelessly copied and pasted from tv tropes

Anti-Sue — I'm genuinely useless, but everybody still loves me!
Black Hole Sue — Everything is about me!
Copy Cat Sue — I'm just like my favorite character, but even kewler!
Fixer Sue — No, that's not how it's supposed to go!
God-Mode Sue — Power overwhelming!
Jerk Sue — I'm a complete and utter ***** and I have constant PMS...love me!
Mary Tzu —I knew you would do that. In fact, I knew you would do that before I even met you, cuz I'm JUST THAT GOOD!
Parody Sue — Why don't they fall for my buxom charms?
Possession Sue — My favourite character is an even better version of me!
Purity Sue — Love me!
Relationship Sue — You're my boyfriend now!
Sympathetic Sue — Feel sorry for me!
Thirty Sue Pileup — We are Legion.
Villain Sue — I have you now, my beautiful slaves! Ahahahahahahaha!

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

There are many divisions of being a Sue/Stu. Here are some shamelessly copied and pasted from tv tropes

Anti-Sue — I'm genuinely useless, but everybody still loves me!
Black Hole Sue — Everything is about me!
Copy Cat Sue — I'm just like my favorite character, but even kewler!
Fixer Sue — No, that's not how it's supposed to go!
God-Mode Sue — Power overwhelming!
Jerk Sue — I'm a complete and utter ***** and I have constant PMS...love me!
Mary Tzu —I knew you would do that. In fact, I knew you would do that before I even met you, cuz I'm JUST THAT GOOD!
Parody Sue — Why don't they fall for my buxom charms?
Possession Sue — My favourite character is an even better version of me!
Purity Sue — Love me!
Relationship Sue — You're my boyfriend now!
Sympathetic Sue — Feel sorry for me!
Thirty Sue Pileup — We are Legion.
Villain Sue — I have you now, my beautiful slaves! Ahahahahahahaha!

Soooo...

Anti-Sue — Ash
Black Hole Sue — Ash. No, really.
Copy Cat Sue — Uh, technically, everyone really is better than anyone in this anime...but not for this reason.
Fixer Sue — N/A
God-Mode Sue — Tobias. Lesser example but still infuriating: Alain.
Jerk Sue — Maybe Paul.
Mary Tzu —N/A
Parody Sue — N/A
Possession Sue — *guffaws*
Purity Sue — BONNIE
Relationship Sue — What Serena wished it happened for real.
Sympathetic Sue — Ash, come every league defeat.
Thirty Sue Pileup — N/A
Villain Sue — Lysandre, so much.

 

[U.N. Owen]

Soooo...

Anti-Sue — Ash
Black Hole Sue — Ash. No, really.
Copy Cat Sue — Uh, technically, everyone really is better than anyone in this anime...but not for this reason.
Fixer Sue — N/A
God-Mode Sue — Tobias. Lesser example but still infuriating: Alain.
Jerk Sue — Maybe Paul.
Mary Tzu —N/A
Parody Sue — N/A
Possession Sue — *guffaws*
Purity Sue — BONNIE
Relationship Sue — What Serena wished it happened for real.
Sympathetic Sue — Ash, come every league defeat.
Thirty Sue Pileup — N/A
Villain Sue — Lysandre, so much.

Purity Sue would probably cover Ash and Bonnie while Mary Tzu would probably be a champion and Tobias.

 

[Cloud5001]

How'd I guess people would complain about Alain getting all eight gym badges, seriously it's not that hard to believe he got them quickly. Considering he has a Charizard and it's insane endurance we can guess he just flew to different gyms. For obvious reasons he would know that the leauge is approaching and since he wanted to battle Ash there he needed to quickly gather the badges.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Purity Sue would probably cover Ash.

It would have but then he tossed an OOC fit, which is much more negative than any of Bonnie's fits.