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A Triple Fighting Chance! (536)

Willow's Tara

The Bewitched
It was a good Gym battle, especially between Lucario and Buizel.
I really noticed when Maylene said to Machoke use Seismic Toss that it sounded exactly like Misty, I know it's the same VA just saying almost sounded like she was there. I wouldn't say Machoke went down that fast, it did get some hits in.

It was good for Buizel to learn Water Pulse, it seems that the Pokemon learn their attacks even that soon after others. Turtwig- Energy Ball Staravia- Brave Bird and Buizel- Water Pulse (Not to mention Happiny- Secret Power and Cacnea- Drain Punch even if it wasn't around for much longer)
 

wind21

Well-Known Member
I'm not really sure if I can say anything too insightful about this episode that hasn't been said (and hopefully, by writing this statement, this makes it okay-lame, isn't it?).

Okay. I think this is the toughest gym battle Ash has in Sinnoh, not just b/c of how strong Lucario is, but b/c Maylene does not make any mistakes in the battle. I think the seriousness of Maylene and Lucario in this match is best summed up by the part of the battle where Lucario is enjoying itself using Bone Rush to deflect Buizel's Sonicbooms, and then when Ash/Buizel in turn show off by using Sonicboom to defend against an onslaught of Aura Spheres, Lucario sneaks in and uses Force Palm. Maylene sort of gets ripped off by the gym challenge rules, as Ash first switches out Staravia and then later Chimchar to get rid of the confusion effect from Meditite's Confusion attack. This wouldn't be so bad for Maylene (remember Ash really bent the rules when he fought Anabel back in the Battle Frontier, as he recalled Corpfish and then sent it back out) if Ash didn't get fortunate in other areas as well, with Buizel learning water pulse and the rain. Even so, Ash still almost loses, and he has to push Buizel urgently a few times in the match to stay in it. The biggest reason why Ash ends up in such a pinch is that Chimchar sort of lets him down; I get the feeling Ash was hoping for Chimchar to deal a bit more damage to Lucario, judging from Ash's reaction when recalling a fainted Chimchar (Paul's pt exactly about Chimchar; no blaze, no use for it. But Ash is sympathetic to Chimchar, and really there's no wonder that Chimchar is so much happier with Ash, as Reggie pointed out a couple of episodes. Speaking of Reggie, too bad he's not here to watch). Ash realizes he's in a bind now that the match is reduced to Lucario vs. Buizel, or power vs power, which Buizel is probably not going to win. Ash really gets reduced to trying to keep Buizel on its feet, and unlike most other gym battles, he doesn't come up with a super strategy; Maylene doesn't give him any opportunity. Ash does use Dawn's contest Aqua Jet to overpower Lucario's defensive Metal Claw, but Maylene just upgrades to using a defensive Force Palm, which brings that match-up back to a tie. With Buizel's Water Gun being overpowered by Aura Sphere, Buizel really does not have any option to attack before it learns Water Pulse, which is a draw power-wise for Aura Sphere).

In the end, Ash does take advantage of his luck with his finishing move, a water pulse/aqua jet combination which he had to have come up with on the spot. It's really nice, and more interesting than many water type contest moves I've seen.
 
Buziel is an awesome Pokemon. His battle in this episode just increases his awesomness.

And freaking how! I will bet you anything any Buizel haters out there are just foaming at the mouth when reading this and all the other positive comments about Buziel!

Also...

[IMG139]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/Gravyyy/mukudamage.gif[/IMG139]

NICE!!

Now my summary of the episode.

Seriously, all you Buizel haters out there, read all the positive comments abut him, now! I dare you!

Anyway, BEST. GYM. BATTLE. EVVVVEEEEEEEERRR!
Lucario/Buizel were just an incredible pair of contenders! Both of them are equally awesome!
*Hugs both Lucario and Buziel but doesn't want to let go*
 

Lance The Champ

The Aura Guardian
Buizel is soo awesome.... But Ash's buizel only
 

G50

No longer posting
This episode was great. As expected Ash's battle was far better than Dawn's battle with Maylene. It was great to see Buizel learn Water Pulse in its battle with Lucario. I wasn't too surprised, cause I felt that Aura Spere and Water Pulse would look cool together in the gym battle. Staravia did great against Machoke and Meditite. It was cool to see Staravia use Brave Bird to finish off Meditite. It was great to see Buizel's Swift Swim displayed in this episode, it's a really cool ability. Interesting that after all of that Lucario vs Buizel battling, it ended in a draw. I'm glad Ash was still given his 3rd badge, he really earned it. It was interesting that for a change, none of Ash's Pokemon were KO'd.

95/100
 
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Aquarelle

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I really enjoyed this Gym battle. Staravia fought hard and I liked seeing its new Brave Bird move being used. The Lucario vs Buizel match up was very intense. It was interesting to see Buizel learn Water Pulse and use it so well during the battle. The fact that it started raining after the roof blew off was a lucky break for Ash, but I didn't mind because I was glad that we got to see Buizel's Swift Swim in action. Lucario and Buizel were both very strong and put up a great fight, so I wasn't too surprised that the battle ended in a draw.

The "massage" Team Rocket got in that one room was pretty funny. And painful looking.
 

NPT

Just a member
Ash and Maylene's battle was pretty good, I liked how both of them used strategies in their match...sadly the match ended in a draw. Ash got the badge from Maylene at the end, but it didn't satisfy me. It would've been better if he earned the gym badge by beating her in the Gym battle. I didn't like how Dawn was cheering for....both Ash and Maylene, She should've picked either Ash or Maylene's side instead of cheering for both sides.
 
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JudySpell

Banned
Ash versus Maylene was done right because each match up was fierce and Lucario tying with Buizel was my only big complaint here. 8.5/10
 

Mrs. Oreo

Banned
Wow Ash's Staravia did well here when it defeated Machoke and Meditite hee hee. Dawn's pokemon cheerleading was cute as well, and Buizel using Swift Swim and learning Water Pulse really impressed me.
 
So when a Gym battle ends in a tie, the leader decides if the opponent wins the badge? It was nice of Maylene to show Ash some pity.
 

Wednesdayz

Meowth fanatic
They made the battle really dramatic along with the usual cliche under the rain. But ugh, all that action to end on a draw. Ash getting the badge anyway is the only thing I disliked from the episode.
 

Mrs. Oreo

Banned
So when a Gym battle ends in a tie, the leader decides if the opponent wins the badge? It was nice of Maylene to show Ash some pity.

Yea well it makes sense that a gym leader would decide if the challenger deserves the badge or not, but Maylene didn't show Ash 'pity' per say. Ash did well here, so he obviously proved that he deserved the Cobble badge even tho he tied. ^^
 

Wednesdayz

Meowth fanatic
Yea well it makes sense that a gym leader would decide if the challenger deserves the badge or not, but Maylene didn't show Ash 'pity' per say. Ash did well here, so he obviously proved that he deserved the Cobble badge even tho he tied. ^^

Frankly, I'd see that as her giving him a pity badge since she wasn't required to give him one at all since Ash didn't win. It was a literal gesture of charity from Maylene.
 

Mrs. Oreo

Banned
Frankly, I'd see that as her giving him a pity badge since she wasn't required to give him one at all since Ash didn't win. It was a literal gesture of charity from Maylene.

Well Maylene was grateful to Ash for all his help from even before the Veilstone gym battle began. That and the fact that Ash managed put up a good fight against Maylene's Lucario seemed like it justified Ash winning the Cobble badge.
 

Wednesdayz

Meowth fanatic
Well Maylene was grateful to Ash for all his help from even before the Veilstone gym battle began.

That's partially my point, though. Maylene was influenced by her debt to Ash, so she probably gave him the badge based on that more than on the Gym match itself. :/
 

Mrs. Oreo

Banned
That's partially my point, though. Maylene was influenced by her debt to Ash, so she probably gave him the badge based on that more than on the Gym match itself. :/

It was a combination of both most likely, but it's not a bad thing necessarily cuz the gym battle was still very good. Even tho I'm not a Lucario fan, I liked his battle with Ash's Buizel in the end, even with the convenient rain that happened hee hee. ^^;
 

Wednesdayz

Meowth fanatic
It was a combination of both most likely, but it's not a bad thing necessarily cuz the gym battle was still very good. Even tho I'm not a Lucario fan, I liked his battle with Ash's Buizel in the end, even with the convenient rain that happened hee hee. ^^;

Ugh, don't remind me. Buizel suddenly showcasing Swift Swim just to tie with Lucario when all was said and done seemed like such BS. He shouldn't have used it at all if he was still gonna lose...
 

Mrs. Oreo

Banned
Ugh, don't remind me. Buizel suddenly showcasing Swift Swim just to tie with Lucario when all was said and done seemed like such BS. He shouldn't have used it at all if he was still gonna lose...

I dunno, I thought that him using Swift Swim and still not being able to defeat Lucario was interesting, tho I wish that he had learned Rain Dance here to go along with it instead of him relying on the rain above the gym's battlefield.
 

Wednesdayz

Meowth fanatic
I dunno, I thought that him using Swift Swim and still not being able to defeat Lucario was interesting, tho I wish that he had learned Rain Dance here to go along with it instead of him relying on the rain above the gym's battlefield.

Eh, he had learned Water Pulse here already, and Staravia mastered Brave Bird here, too. So Ash's team had enough new moves for the time being IMO.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
So now that Sumomo's dilemma was taken care of, we finally got the Tobari Gym match. I was pleased in general with most of Satoshi's strategies, and I was glad that Mukubird defeated both Goriky and Asanan. It was a shame that Sumomo's Lucario defeated Hikozaru however, because I thought that Hikozaru deserved the final battle instead of Buoysel.
 
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