Pikachu52
Well-Known Member
Okay, another Greninja spam episode. This is third episode in a row to be focused on Ash-Greninja. It also I think is the first time at least since I think Hoenn, that Ash has lost a second Gym battle. Normally he has to rematch at least one Gym leader to earn a badge, usually early on. Brawley in AG, Lennora in BW and now Wulfric as well as Viola in XY - Not a great look out for his supposedly strongest team ever. The first thought I had was, exactly how did Sawyer beat Wulfric, assuming that he did. Avalugg was capable of taking out Hawlutcha, Talonflame and Greninja. Sawyer's the kid who lost his Bagon in one hit to Valerie's Spritzee. Now he's supposedly having fiery battles and beating a Pokémon that managed to knock out Hawlutcha and Talonflame without taking much damage itself, and can heal itself from hail. What's worse is that he's not only managed to get 8 badges before Ash, he's got a badge Ash failed to get. This turn around in strength is unbelievable even in Pokémon terms, something which even translates into the episode - Ash looks at Sawyer when he says he wants to win almost as if he doesn't wish to seem inferior. Second thought; again with the Greninja Spamming. This episode was again focused on Greninja, it getting the longest battle, doing the most damage to Avalugg just to prove it's a badass despite loosing and for some reason having the worst injury (as if Talonflame didn't just have a load of snow dumped on it, twice). Why not use Pikachu instead of Greninja. He's fast and can use Iron tail, a super effective move on an ice type. And he hasn't battled in a gym since Clemont over a season ago. There was no real need to use Greninja at all, though granted Noivern would be the wrong choice for an Ice type gym. And it's sad to see that in the wake of the Ash-Greninja, either deliberately or accidentally the writers have diminished Pikachu and Ash's bond. The two barely interact during the battle and Ash walks out on him after saying sorry to Greninja. That's really sad.
A few other things are noteworthy about this episode too. Wulfric's character is somewhat underdeveloped - Gym leaders often get an introductory episode or part of an episode devoted to them before a battle, but not so this time. The battle begins literally moments after Ash meets Wulfric and he's not in any scene outside the gym. His opening dialogue is also almost verbatim from the games. The episode also marks another non-appearance by Team Rocket. They haven't been in an episode since "Championing a research battle" and even then they only played a small part. In Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh they would have been spying on Ash, listening to Mouth's boss fantasy about the leader's Pokémon, bursting into the gym to steal the leaders Pokémon or at least doing something random so the episode isn't entirely Ash failing to win a badge. It's also a heavily emotive episode, Ash showing some self-doubt unfortunately over Greninja's loss. While he's battled depressive feelings before, namely after loosing to Ritchie and that devastating battle to Paul they had more complexity to them than, I wasn't strong enough for my Greninja. Also noteworthy is Ash handing Serena his coat because he was feeling "fiery for the gym battle." Ash is a 10 year old Pokémon trainer who likes to battle, not Indiana Jones. That brief scene almost resembles the tired trope in American Action movies of dominate, hyper-masculine heroes making a prideful gesture to impress a female character before doing something daring. It was out of character and not something we would have seen in BW, or DP or any previous series.
8/10
A few other things are noteworthy about this episode too. Wulfric's character is somewhat underdeveloped - Gym leaders often get an introductory episode or part of an episode devoted to them before a battle, but not so this time. The battle begins literally moments after Ash meets Wulfric and he's not in any scene outside the gym. His opening dialogue is also almost verbatim from the games. The episode also marks another non-appearance by Team Rocket. They haven't been in an episode since "Championing a research battle" and even then they only played a small part. In Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh they would have been spying on Ash, listening to Mouth's boss fantasy about the leader's Pokémon, bursting into the gym to steal the leaders Pokémon or at least doing something random so the episode isn't entirely Ash failing to win a badge. It's also a heavily emotive episode, Ash showing some self-doubt unfortunately over Greninja's loss. While he's battled depressive feelings before, namely after loosing to Ritchie and that devastating battle to Paul they had more complexity to them than, I wasn't strong enough for my Greninja. Also noteworthy is Ash handing Serena his coat because he was feeling "fiery for the gym battle." Ash is a 10 year old Pokémon trainer who likes to battle, not Indiana Jones. That brief scene almost resembles the tired trope in American Action movies of dominate, hyper-masculine heroes making a prideful gesture to impress a female character before doing something daring. It was out of character and not something we would have seen in BW, or DP or any previous series.
8/10
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