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Balance of Power! (346)

V Faction

www.faction.com
-What was up with that stupid brightness. Don't know if anyone else experienced it, but man was it annoying.

-Sounds like they butchered the music from the tunes I heard, but I'm not an expert.

-They said Overgrow! The morally sickening explanation behind was bleh, but at least they called it by name. Static was there too, sorta. Truant wasn't.
 
Kojiro said:
Me too! Torkoal is one of my favorite of the gang's Pokemon. Right up there with Corphish and [SPOIL]Snorunt ^.^[/SPOIL]

Why did you put spoilers? But I so wanna see this ep! Torkoal first and only gym battle!
 

Professor Ivy

1st Princess Serebii
Abitily

Serebii said:
Petalburg Gym! Five Badges!

Its time for Ash's 5th Gym Battle in Hoenn. He finally has more than 3 Pokémon so it wont be a repeat of his last battle against Norman. Slakoth, Vigoroth and Slaking are his opponents. Will Ash Win?

Visit The Episode Guide

Discuss
:025ball: Eng: Balance of Power!
Jap: Petalburg Gym! Five Badges!

It was oh okay nothin special, just one like stick out, it the first time they use the Pokémon abitilies. that the other thing, Satoshi's Pokémon use they abitily but not Norman's Pokémon.
 

CyberCubed

Yeah, ok!
Man, coupled with bad animation and bad backround music, this GYM battle wasn't as good as it could have been. Why can't the animators who did "Exploud and Clear" animate EVERY episode like that? The animation and battle scenes are so much more exciting when they're detailed and fluid.

You could tell how poor the animation in this ep was by just looking at Grovyles face. Norman looked skinnier than the previous episode, May gets "smaller" with this set of animators, and the attacks aren't as fluid. Couple that with backround music that wasn't really excited, kind of ruined this episode for me.

Things they need to stop doing in future GYM battles:

1. Unstoppable pokemon getting KO'd in 1 hit. Torkoal and Slakoth appeared to be unstoppable during their first battles, yet during the next match they both get KO'd in 1 hit?
2. The "both pokemon attack at the same time and then stand still waiting to see who got hit". They've done this too many times in the past.
3. Brock stop narrating the whole battle! It really takes away from the battle that every 30 seconds we have to stop and listen to Brock explain everything to May and Max. We get it Brock, but just try to say what you want all at one time.
4. Team Rocket screentime. TR is always a waste of time in GYM and League episodes, and this one was no different. TR definitely do not need to be in GYM episodes, as all they do is waste precious time needed for the battle. But hey seeing Dugtrio again was cool!

Other than that the battle was alright. The scene with Max stealing the badge at the end and crying was awesome, he acted like a real 8 year old would act if he saw his father and hero lose. I also liked the fact that Max said that Norman may be strong enough to enter the Elite 4.

So May never shows her parents her ribbons? Or any of the pokemon she's caught? Kind of a waste of potentional character development, it would have been nice to see her parents reactions.

Good GYM battle, but Flannery and Brawly's matches were far superior.
 
Excellent battle. Unfortunately, my family kept popping in to do the STUPIDEST things, so I missed some of it:mad:. But, what I saw was great! Slaking had an awesome voice! It was a great battler too. Vigoroth was equal to that, too. Great voice, great battler! Grovyle boucing of the walls was cool, too. And Overgrow and Static were a great idea for the battle!

Overall rating:
8.9 out of 10!!!
Quite a good Gym battle. Plus, Max got a bit of spotlight in the end:D.

SC~ out
 

Space Skitty

Hoenn Champion
I thought this was a great episode! The only down point for me was the constant chage of background music. Other then that, the battle was great. Slakoth had such a cute and suiting voice! Grovyle was an awesome fighter; it just refused to give up. And the part where Max takes the badge was touching. Poor Max... Overall, a great episode!
 

Dogasu

Frustrated Elf
Cybercubed said:
Man, coupled with bad animation and bad backround music, this GYM battle wasn't as good as it could have been.

Eh, I agree that the animation was bad. Particularly the part where Juputoru was jumpking on Kekking's head.

However, the music was another thing. The second half of the episode had 4Kids music, while the Japanese version had 1) a really great instrumental theme that 4Kids has yet to use (it was played during the Bashamo/Lizardon battle in the Jouto League), possibly because they don't have the rights to it, and 2) the third opening theme, OK!, which 4Kids won't play because it's in Japanese.

Why can't the animators who did "Exploud and Clear" animate EVERY episode like that? The animation and battle scenes are so much more exciting when they're detailed and fluid.

One word: deadline. The show is animated at a once-a-week schedule, which means that several animation studios have to be working on different episodes at the same time in order to meet the deadline.

Things they need to stop doing in future GYM battles:

1. Unstoppable pokemon getting KO'd in 1 hit. Torkoal and Slakoth appeared to be unstoppable during their first battles, yet during the next match they both get KO'd in 1 hit?

I think the idea is that the first battle (the one where they're unstoppable) wears them out enough to allow them to be defeated by one hit in the subsequent battle.

2. The "both pokemon attack at the same time and then stand still waiting to see who got hit". They've done this too many times in the past.

It's a typical anime cliche that I don't see going away anytime soon.

3. Brock stop narrating the whole battle! It really takes away from the battle that every 30 seconds we have to stop and listen to Brock explain everything to May and Max. We get it Brock, but just try to say what you want all at one time.

But seriously, other than being a Ban'nai detector, what other role has Takeshi had in Houen? I say let Takeshi explain away; at least that way he's doing something.

4. Team Rocket screentime. TR is always a waste of time in GYM and League episodes, and this one was no different. TR definitely do not need to be in GYM episodes, as all they do is waste precious time needed for the battle.

Agreed.

I also liked the fact that Max said that Norman may be strong enough to enter the Elite 4.

I checked the Japanese version (briefly), and I don't think he says that originally. At least I didn't hear Masato say "Shi Ten'nou" during the corresponding line in the Japanese version.

I'll have to listen to it closer when I go and do my comparison for the episode.

So May never shows her parents her ribbons? Or any of the pokemon she's caught? Kind of a waste of potentional character development, it would have been nice to see her parents reactions.

Agreed. But then again, the Pocket Monsters franchise is full of wasted potential.
 

Heracross

Custom User Title
This episode was just kinda meh. I had expected a lot more from a gym battle, especially Satoshi's much anticipated rematch with Senri. As Cybercubed said, it was pretty cheap on the writers parts to have Namakero and Kootasu get KO'ed in just one hit. That and the clichéd ending to the battle really reminded me of the battles during the Silver Conference.

And as far as the dub goes, this was one of the worst gym battle episodes yet. The music was absolutely terrible. I don't understand how they keep so much music in some episodes, and then give us crap like this. For a gym battle that lasted practically the entire episode, you would think they could keep at least a couple pieces of music from the original.:p And although I still haven't seen the original version yet, I only heard one piece that sounded like it had been kept, and it lasted a whole seven seconds before being replaced by yet more crappy dub music. -_-;

It is interesting to note though, that the scroll thing on the wall behind Senri that had Japanese text, or what closely resembled it (couldn't tell if it was real or just some scribbles that looked real) was kept intact in the dubbed version. Surprisingly this isn't the first time though, as you can see a similar scroll on the wall in "Two Hits and a Miss" when everyone's sitting around inside the dojo.
 
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Medea

Excalibur
Not much to say about the episode, except that the battle between Slaking and Grovyle was cool and I don't usually speak highly of the gym battles.
 

AJW73

Jedi Knight
Does anyone besides me think that Ash saying that he won the Balance Badge was a tad rude after he calmed Max down?

Personally, I think Max was overreacting to his dad losing. He needs to realize that this is what being a Gym leader is all about, winning, losing, and being a good sport about it.

Each week, I'm liking this show less and less with all the sappiness. No offense.
 
R

Robert

Guest
This was an okay episode, but disappointing for a gym battle that was so highly anticipated. Ash's Pokemon seemed overly powerful at times... And way too many one-hit KO's... As usual, Team Rocket was completely pointless... On the bright side of things, Norman's voice sounded a bit deeper (and better) than the last episode (at least to me), and I liked the scene with Max at the end. Not awful, but not anything very impressive.
 
How goos was the dub of Torkoal's battling? I was wondering! I wanna hear about Torkoal's major action cause its his first a last gym battle!
 
Ugh; I watched this expecting a good battle, but was a little let down. Torkoal's old voice is back, why?! I liked it's Destiny Deoxys voice since it was much closer to the original. Not a mention of Traunt, Static doesn't get mentioned by name, but Overgrow was explained pretty nicely.(and they totally ruined May and Brock being neutral on the battle...Dogasu's gonna have his hands full with this eppie) And look, Super Saiyan Grovyle!:p Pikachu vs. Vigoroth and Grovyle vs. Slaking were both very good battles. As much as Max and I have the same way of venting our anger, he isn't a very good sport. Then again, he's 7/8 and I'm 16...^_^; Anyways, the end scene was very emotional. Ash has another badge; now on to Fortree! 8/10
 

V Faction

www.faction.com
Heracross said:
It is interesting to note though, that the scroll thing on the wall behind Senri that had Japanese text, or what closely resembled it (couldn't tell if it was real or just some scribbles that looked real) was kept intact in the dubbed version. Surprisingly this isn't the first time though, as you can see a similar scroll on the wall in "Two Hits and a Miss" when everyone's sitting around inside the dojo.
That's probably why they do it. What's more authentic than a freakin' dojo. Perhaps it's their subtle (extremely) way of keeping any sense of the culture intact?

Dogasu said:
I checked the Japanese version (briefly), and I don't think he says that originally. At least I didn't hear Masato say "Shi Ten'nou" during the corresponding line in the Japanese version.
We can probably already see the outcome, that it wasn't present in the Japanese version. But for all the numerous 'additions' that 4Kids! adds, this is probably my most likable one. After all, when was the last time the Elite 4 was mentioned directly? (and it's still a good line if one ignores the fact that a leader higher up on the ranks [see:wallace and emerald] would have a better chance)
 
I also agree that this episode had a good battle. And, I was happy when I saw Max cry like baby when his daddy lose to Ash. But, I was mad on how he took the bagde away from Norman when he was about to give it to Ash. If I was Ash, I would of break down the door of the room where Max ran into and beat his little whining nerdy looking butt by breaking his face w/his glasses on, break his ribs and arms and say "run your pockets" and get my badge back and steal his PokeNav and wallet. And I would do it right in front of everybody. Now if I was Norman, I would whip his butt with my belt and whip him so hard that his buttocks would be so red that people will mistake them as 2 Voltorbs that are stick to his bottom by static electricity. Anyway, the episode was very good. PEACE!!!
 
D

DShaun2004

Guest
First off, let me just say that after 5 YEARS without the WB, I finally have it!!! So now I can officially be apart of these discussions and watch Pokemon again!

2day's ep. was okay. Not the best Gym battles I managed to see in the past. The ep. with May's beautifly VS. Medicham was by far the best animated-style battling I've seen during the Hoenn sagas. I was hoping this battle could've been like that!

I'm sorry to say this: but Max is not my favorite character. At times I can't seem to tolerate him. He's too annoying to me! I know he's 8/9, but still!!! Him always dragging Brock away from a girl. WHY???? What Brock does, what's that got to do with him?? In the next generation, I hope May is still around and not Max! He can be off somewhere with Misty exchanging Brock notes.

Overall: 60/100. The battles were straight, but the animation-style of it all was lacking, plus Max's annoyance. And TR really didn't need to be there.
 

Almighty Zard

He has returned.
I thought that it was an intresting battle, the best so far of the lot, and i have got to say two things,
1.The KO's were understandable, Slakoth was using blizzard against a fire attack, so no duh it lost and got basted, and as for Torkoal, Vigoroth was stronger than slakoth, and torkoal was ash's weakest leveled guy at the moment, plus take thier status into account, do the math.
2.I rather enjoyed max's little break down at the end of the episode, after all he had been putting down ash's chances of winning so much, that it was nice to see him shut up.
rating 9/10
 
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M

MayAsh1987

Guest
I liked the battle with Vigoroth and Pikachu, and Slaking vs. Grovyle, that was good, but I'm sorry, music was crap. The whole time I watched this, I was thinking the song "Yeah" from Usher as I watched this episode, trying to ignore the battle music background. Other than that, it was good, but not the best gym battle. It was nice to see the abilities like Static and Overgrow, that was cool. I liked the scene when MAx took the badge and started to cry. I wasn't that surprised how he'll react to his dad losing.
But also another funny thing that didn't make sense to me is, the scene when they tried to get Max to come out. When Ash said that the badge doesn't matter, and the battle was more important, I was ok. But then when Max gets out and gives the badge to Ash, he gets it and he gets all happy and does the badge pose! Wait a minute! Did Ash just said the badge didn't matter?
Also, was May lines redubbed from the Japanese version? In the jap one, was she rooting for Ash or something, but Brock stopped her saying not to pick sides. Then in the English version she said to Ash to subsitute a Pokemon, but Brock said that will be bad. I'm confused...........
Other then that, battle was cool, but the was music lame. In my rating, it gets 8.75 from 10 for the battle! 1 out of 10 for the music!
 

Sushi

unspecified
Staff member
Super Mod
MayAsh1987 said:
Also, was May lines redubbed from the Japanese version? In the jap one, was she rooting for Ash or something, but Brock stopped her saying not to pick sides. Then in the English version she said to Ash to subsitute a Pokemon, but Brock said that will be bad. I'm confused...........
No, they said nearly the same in the original version.

Well, personally, I enjoyed this episode, but I agree with those who said it wasn't the best gym battle.
Max was cute in this episode, it was nice to see that they don't make every episode like this: "Yay, Ash won the badge, and everybody's happy about it!"
It was an understandable reaction of his, showing that he's not perfect or something after all. I like Max a lot more now, don't know why xD
 
M

MayAsh1987

Guest
Thanks,
Just wondering, yeah I agree about how Max will react about his dad losing. But hey he's growing up
 
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