Balance of Power! (346)

[Lorde]

This Gym battle episode was surprisingly good. We got a great Gym battle since Norman didn't go easy on Ash, and Ash fought hard against Slakoth, Vigoroth, and Slaking. I dislike how Max took the badge and started crying near the end of the episode though. He's just so annoying sometimes. He'll never make a good trainer if he doesn't learn to let things go. 5 badges for Ash though, cool. 8/10.

 

[firestar319]

Really awesome gym battle, especially Grovyle vs Slaking. Love the way how Overgrow looked (especially since you don't see it nowadays). Max was extremely annoying the entire episode.
Epic battle + Max annoyance = 7/10

 

[NES]

I wonder how Grovyle could take so many hits from Slaking, one would think it is very powerful and it would tear Grovyle apart with one.

Yet, this was one of the best gym battles in Hoenn, i like this episode. I dislike Max crying, but after all he is just a kid and he has Norman as his hero, so it couldn't be easy for the boy.

 

[Antiyonder]

I'm definitely in the camp that wasn't bothered with Max's behavior. Even if he's smart for his age, he is still a kid afterall. Now I could understand the criticism if it came out of nowhere, but the episodes leading up to it did make his stance clear.

Plus he's shown crying before the commercial break, so it's certainly not left field.

 

[saar]

The battle was great. Slaking being defeated by Grovyle was great to watch, it reminds me the battle between Treecko and Hariyama, which was better, but this one was good aswell.

The best part was with Max at the end.

 

[KGB13]

I enjoyed this episode and the Gym battle, Norman was a tough opponent. The only part I disliked was when Max wouldn't give Ash his badge. I understand that his father is his hero and seeing him lose must have been hard to except, but he should know better than to do something like that.

Overall, great episode.

 

[G50]

This episode was cool. I really liked this gym battle, it was great! It was odd that they didn't show Slakoth and Slaking's abilities... The battle between Pikachu and Vigoroth was really cool, I'm glad Pikachu won that battle. Grovyle vs Slaking was great! It was great to see the Overgrow ability for the 1st time, and it helping Grovyle win the battle. I'm glad Ash won this gym battle. It was cool to see Pikachu's ability Static.

99/100

 

[Antiyonder]

I get that kids in the anime tend to be more level headed than they should (Such as Ash putting unnecessary pressure on Treecko for the second Gym Badge.), but when alls said and done, Max is still a little boy who at this point looks upon to his father the most.

And it's not like it came out of nowhere. Anytime that the group discussed the upcoming rematch, Max without hesitancy believed Ash had no chance.

Besides, it gives this episode something more for viewers to discuss.

 

[OnceUponATime]

Definitely one of the best Gym battles in Hoenn. Max was getting a little annoying and at the end he was just dumb. I understand he is just a kid, I think I just stole Iris's line, but it was still dumb... Besides Max, it was a really great episode!I loved Torkoal getting a win because that doesn't happen very often and even though it was a puny Slakoth and even though it was quickly taken out by Vigoroth...

 

[Zoru Kuraido]

The battle started nice. But the final match was ruined by the slow animation...
I actually liked Masato's reaction. It reminds me of those kids who have their heart crushed when they see their idols losing for the first time.

 

[3D992]

I liked that ash was mature enough to offer the badge to max. One of the few mature ash moments of the anime.

 

[Vernikova]

lmao at Torkoal getting one-shot by a Scratch attack. It was just another Grovyle hyping battle really to showcase its new battling abilities as a Grovyle. I like the use of Grovyle's ability that doesn't get used on a consistent basis. Likewise with Pikachu's ability for that matter. Why he doesn't use them more consistently I'll never know.

 

[7threst]

Perhaps it wasn't the best gym battle we could have hoped for, but I did think they still did a solid job with it. The KO was just stupid, but I did like the last battle with Grovyle and that was probably the highlight of this episode. Team Rocket's role in this episode was meant to be humorous, but it really didn't do that and therefore, there role became pointless in this one.

 

[phanpycross]

This was just a superb episode all around.

Yeah, torkoal's KO was pretty dumb, but at least it beat slakoth, while Slaking vs. Grovyle was just awesome. overgrow activating just made it even better.

Max was a little obnoxious, but hey, he just was sometimes.

8/10.

 

[The Pokemon Broadcast]

Now all those times Max was saying "You'll never beat my Dad/My Dad is unbeatable!" make a lot of sense with his breakdown at the end of the episode. It made me feel sorry for him.

Regarding that, I'm torn between these two things. On one hand, I do think Max was overreacting at Norman's loss. I mean, he's 8/9 years old now. That should be old enough to realize that Daddy is going to lose the occasional gym battle, and is not some indestructible and unbeatable person. Yet, on the other hand, I think people should give him a break. Put yourself in his shoes. How would you feel if you saw your hero lose for the first time?

Again, I'm torn between these two things and don't know which one I truly feel more strongly about....

The battle itself.
Never thought that Slakoth would stay standing for that long.
That was one powerful (and amazing) scratch attack on Torkoal Vigoroth did.
Best battle, though, was definitely Grovyle and Slaking. An awesome battle!

 

[Lorde]

I was surprised that Norman's Slakoth knew Shadow Ball and Blizzard, but at least that forced Ash to use his Torkoal against it. Vigoroth slaying Torkoal right afterward was unfortunate though, but at least Pikachu tied with Vigoroth instead of losing outright like before. Anyway, Team Rocket's Secret Base subplot felt so redundant in my opinion.

 

[pokefreak18]

Man, I like Max and all, but I was very satisfied with seeing his face after Ash's victory.
All that talk about his dad being unbeatable came back and bit him in the rear.

 

[KyogreThunder]

This was definitely one of the best Hoenn Gym battles in the show.I liked seeing Grovyle activate Overgrow for the first time.Max running off to the greenhouse with the Badge was kind of annoying,but Norman talking some sense into him made up for this.
8.5/10

 

[Mega Altaria]

A very good AG Gym Battle. I liked how Norman used the entire Slakoth line for the Gym Battle and Ash's victory was nice, too, and also we finally got the first official Gym Battle with Norman. Slakoth's agility was really surprising for me imo.

 

[Mrs. Oreo]

This was definitely one of the best Hoenn Gym battles in the show.I liked seeing Grovyle activate Overgrow for the first time.Max running off to the greenhouse with the Badge was kind of annoying,but Norman talking some sense into him made up for this.
8.5/10

Max running off made me mad tho since I figured that by this point he had enough respect for Ash and wouldn't act so disappointed when he won, but I guess his dad's loss hurt him. Still a good gym battle however.