Great shots from the anime?

[Jeal]

Adventures has the Gengar and Nidorino fight in a Call Back introduction of Pokémon Adventures: Chapter 1, with trainers trying to catch Nidorino and Red telling them to use their Pokémon (in this case, Gengar).

There was no Gengar. Red captured Nidorino with his Poliwhirl.

 

[shoz999]

You want to talk about great shots in the Pokémon anime, look no further than the very first scene ever shown.

The Game Boy introduction scene from Red and Green, featuring Gengar and Nidorino. Perhaps I should recap on what I said a long time ago for this scene (with some modification on the grammar and updated info):

Imagine yourself as a young child in April 1st, 1997, watching television in a Japanese household. A new anime is about to make its debut on the channel. It opens with a black and white Game Boy screen featuring two monsters engaging in a turn-based battle, with 8-bit music and sound effects to fill the air. You recognize these two, from school playgrounds and your friend’s place. They were Pocket Monsters, from the games of the same name. In fact, this is the same opening you would see in Pocket Monsters: Red Version, featuring Gengar (ゲンガー Gangar) on the left, and Nidorino (ニドリーノ Nidorino) on the right.

But just as Nidorino is about make the jump (which is when Game Boy animation fades to the title screen), the camera suddenly goes around the two monsters in a dynamic arc shot, while the small screen grows to full television size; colors begin to fill in and the 8-bit music is replaced with an orchestra.

The scene pans out, revealing the outlines of a large sporting arena and then the stadium of huge crowds cheering for the match below.

If there was ever such a perfect introduction to the world of Pokémon, look no further than here. The Gengar and Nidorino battle has always been the classic opening for Generation I; so much that various Pokémon adaptations (such as Pokémon Adventures, Pokémon Origins and Pokémon Generations) all try to emulate this scene as the prologue for the Kanto stories. But none have come close to the original anime’s version, which hits all the right notes to hook the audience into Pokémon. In fact, it feels as if the anime scene was a composition of those aforementioned adaptations, taking the best aspects and making them somehow even grander, despite the fact that it came first.

Adventures has the Gengar and Nidorino fight in a Call Back introduction of Pokémon Adventures: Chapter 1, with trainers trying to catch Nidorino and Red telling them to use their Pokémon (in this case, Gengar).

Origins features a lively animated battle shortly after Oak’s introduction, and it takes place in the a stadium broadcasted live for Red to watch on his television screen.

Generations faithfully mimics the opening in all its 8-bit Game Boy glory, not transitioning to colorful animation until after Pikachu gets caught in a Poké Ball.

But the Pokémon anime tops them all by its three segments and then some. The first segment depicts the battle as it would have looked on the original Game Boy; the second segment makes the battle literally leap into the field of colors and animation to show us what they would have looked like in our imaginations; and the third segment gives us a world far grander than what we are accustomed to see. A world that takes Pokémon battles seriously and professionally. And it doesn't stop there, but we'll save that for another day.

Hmmm, I should really get back to my review of why Pokémon ~ I Choose You is the greatest Pokémon episode of all time. And remake my old Tumblr post...

Yeah. It was just a Nidorino but still nevertheless a great reference to the game's intro.

 

[Shadao]

There was no Gengar. Red captured Nidorino with his Poliwhirl.

Yeah. It was just a Nidorino but still nevertheless a great reference to the game's intro.

Really?

I guess that never happened.

 

[shoz999]

Really?

I guess that never happened.

Re-read your quote, you meant a callback to Chapter 1, not actually Chapter 1 itself. I'm a 100% wrong but I'm actually kind of glad you proved me wrong. I actually kind of forgot this awesome scene existed. Strangely nostalgic to see Red and Green in their late teenage years, grown from their days as a bunch of kids from their childhood days.

 

[Dragalge]

Future people’s uvulas are sentient!

 

[Jeal]

Really?

I guess that never happened.

Sorry, I thought you were talking about the first chapter. I really did not remember this scene. I usually forget most of the story after reading an Adventures' saga.

 

[Shadao]

Alright, going off where I last stop on my first post here:

The two Pokémon continue to fight, with the stadium announcer narrating their battle for the audience. For Pokémon fans, this fight sequence is fun to watch, even if you start nitpicking about type-effectiveness and color errors. But let’s forgive that for a moment as this was the first episode and it has yet to fully establish the rules of the game. If you have no idea about Pokémon or what they can do at all, this battle explains it all in visuals with little to no dialogue save for the announcer commentating.

At first, Nidorino and Gengar are fighting the normal fight; tackling, jabbing and dodging each other like any other creature on Animal Planet. Gengar clearly has the upper hand with its faster speed and more nimble agility. It jumps over Nidorino, turns around and wait… what’s this…!? Is Gengar emitting a hypnosis attack?

It is! And it successfully puts Nidorino to sleep. This is our first indication that Pokémon are not just some fantastical-looking creatures. They ARE fantastical creatures, capable of using special powers beyond our real-life comprehension.

But just when it seems the battle is all over, a red beam hits Nidorino and turns the sleeping Pokémon into energy before returning back from battlefield. Now this is interesting. Are Pokémon energy-based? Why is it being recalled in this manner?

The last question is immediately answered with this silhouette person. Many fans will recognize him as Bruno of the Elite Four, which would make Gengar’s trainer likely to be Agatha. But you don’t need to know this person to understand the this scene. Even without context, it tells us many things:

1) Humans participate in these Pokémon matches as well, likely being coaches or strategists for their Pokémon.

2) This particular human is not your average kid trainer from the games, or any anime protagonist for that matter. He is clearly an adult; shirtless, muscular, and a defiance to the idea that Pokémon is just a kid’s game for young ten-year old boys. Here, Pokémon are serious business to everyone, even the adults.

3) The red beam of light that was Nidorino retreats back into a pocket-sized ball capsule in the man's hand. It is this moment where we see how Pocket Monsters got its name.

Immediately after recalling his fallen Pokémon, the trainer throws another pocket-sized capsule ball (aka Poké Ball) onto the field. This is a team effort sport, where victory depends on the Pokémon hidden within these Poké Balls. As the Poké Ball lands and opens, we get to see just how diverse Pokémon can really get. The Poké Ball, small enough to fit in a human’s hand, unleashes...

Onix, a gigantic snake-like Pokémon made out of boulders. And the largest Pokémon found in Generation I, being 8.8 meters long. This is just a taste of just what kind of Pokémon are out there. Onix towers Gengar like cobra over a small mouse, and it lunges for the kill. But Gengar’s speed and agility allows it to narrowly avoid the attack, reminding us that size does not always matter. Looks like Agatha is going to retain her rank over Bruno for quite some time. And as this epic battle continues, the screen pans out, revealing it to be a television broadcast being watched by a young boy from Pallet Town…

On TV Tropes, they call this an Establishing Series Moment. While it doesn't establish the main protagonist or his partner Pokémon yet (or what his journey is going to be like for Kanto), it does establish what the world of Pokémon is and what kind of society you will be seeing not only for the anime, but also the Pokémon franchise as a whole.

 

[mehmeh1]

Alright, going off where I last stop on my first post here:

The two Pokémon continue to fight, with the stadium announcer narrating their battle for the audience. For Pokémon fans, this fight sequence is fun to watch, even if you start nitpicking about type-effectiveness and color errors. But let’s forgive that for a moment as this was the first episode and it has yet to fully establish the rules of the game. If you have no idea about Pokémon or what they can do at all, this battle explains it all in visuals with little to no dialogue save for the announcer commentating.

At first, Nidorino and Gengar are fighting the normal fight; tackling, jabbing and dodging each other like any other creature on Animal Planet. Gengar clearly has the upper hand with its faster speed and more nimble agility. It jumps over Nidorino, turns around and wait… what’s this…!? Is Gengar emitting a hypnosis attack?

It is! And it successfully puts Nidorino to sleep. This is our first indication that Pokémon are not just some fantastical-looking creatures. They ARE fantastical creatures, capable of using special powers beyond our real-life comprehension.

But just when it seems the battle is all over, a red beam hits Nidorino and turns the sleeping Pokémon into energy before returning back from battlefield. Now this is interesting. Are Pokémon energy-based? Why is it being recalled in this manner?

The last question is immediately answered with this silhouette person. Many fans will recognize him as Bruno of the Elite Four, which would make Gengar’s trainer likely to be Agatha. But you don’t need to know this person to understand the this scene. Even without context, it tells us many things:

1) Humans participate in these Pokémon matches as well, likely being coaches or strategists for their Pokémon.

2) This particular human is not your average kid trainer from the games, or any anime protagonist for that matter. He is clearly an adult; shirtless, muscular, and a defiance to the idea that Pokémon is just a kid’s game for young ten-year old boys. Here, Pokémon are serious business to everyone, even the adults.

3) The red beam of light that was Nidorino retreats back into a pocket-sized ball capsule in the man's hand. It is this moment where we see how Pocket Monsters got its name.

Immediately after recalling his fallen Pokémon, the trainer throws another pocket-sized capsule ball (aka Poké Ball) onto the field. This is a team effort sport, where victory depends on the Pokémon hidden within these Poké Balls. As the Poké Ball lands and opens, we get to see just how diverse Pokémon can really get. The Poké Ball, small enough to fit in a human’s hand, unleashes...

Onix, a gigantic snake-like Pokémon made out of boulders. And the largest Pokémon found in Generation I, being 8.8 meters long. This is just a taste of just what kind of Pokémon are out there. Onix towers Gengar like cobra over a small mouse, and it lunges for the kill. But Gengar’s speed and agility allows it to narrowly avoid the attack, reminding us that size does not always matter. Looks like Agatha is going to retain her rank over Bruno for quite some time. And as this epic battle continues, the screen pans out, revealing it to be a television broadcast being watched by a young boy from Pallet Town…

On TV Tropes, they call this an Establishing Series Moment. While it doesn't establish the main protagonist or his partner Pokémon yet (or what his journey is going to be like for Kanto), it does establish what the world of Pokémon is and what kind of society you will be seeing not only for the anime, but also the Pokémon franchise as a whole.

amazing dissection of an underrated scene (a scene so good they kinda try recreating it in most movies, if you notice it). TBH, after all of that, and seeing how hyped ash was there watching the battle, this shot also brings this one to mind:

After a 3 episode long struggle of a 188 episode long rivalry, ash has finally taken down paul, finally proving for both of them, as well as for reggie, cynthia, and especially their pokemon (ash and paul's) whose methods ended up paying off. As for ash himself, while he had gotten far in other tournaments and beaten other challenges like the orange league and the battle frontier, I feel this was the time he finally showed the whole world what he was made of, having had his back against the wall many times and fought incredibly hard against paul's tactics, butstill managing to come out of it victorious with incredible spectacle. He may have fared better against tougher opponents in other battles, but this shot is IMO what truly marked that ash was no longer just that kid watching TV hyped by the great battles, he was the guy on the TV (which is kinda paralelled 3 episodes later, with ash watching flint vs cynthia but this time feeling like flint and putting himself on his shoes, rather than being just a spectator). I also love how calm this shot (or the entire scene tbh) is, just infernape, electrivire, and the referee, no spectators or anything else, it just builds up the tension and lets the payoff sink in. After such a long adventure, this one shot is one of, if not the, most satisfying moments in the entire anime and makes me wish this had been the finals (though ash vs tobias' ending also has an "ash has come far" feel, though more of an "ash may have come very far, but as he progresses, there will be even more incredibly tough challenges", but I don't think there were any shots during the battle that would work here, though I absolutely adore the scene where he turns his cap backwards)

 

[LilligantLewis]

On TV Tropes, they call this an Establishing Series Moment. While it doesn't establish the main protagonist or his partner Pokémon yet (or what his journey is going to be like for Kanto), it does establish what the world of Pokémon is and what kind of society you will be seeing not only for the anime, but also the Pokémon franchise as a whole.

Thanks for showing this page; it was cool to see examples in a variety of media that I've read and watched of how I've been influenced to think a certain way about the franchise from the start without realizing it. However, it seems an odd name to me because I feel like it should be Series Establishing Moment not Establishing Series Moment. Also funnily, the ones mentioned for Pokémon don't match up with what you provided, which I thought they would, which I thought was the reason you shared the page, lol.

 

[mehmeh1]

Thanks for showing this page; it was cool to see examples in a variety of media that I've read and watched of how I've been influenced to think a certain way about the franchise from the start without realizing it. However, it seems an odd name to me because I feel like it should be Series Establishing Moment not Establishing Series Moment. Also funnily, the ones mentioned for Pokémon don't match up with what you provided, which I thought they would, which I thought was the reason you shared the page, lol.

btw, I'm just gonna give you some advice and tell you to stay away from that website unless you want to spend 2 hours reading random pages, it's very addicting somehow

 

[Shadao]

Thanks for showing this page; it was cool to see examples in a variety of media that I've read and watched of how I've been influenced to think a certain way about the franchise from the start without realizing it. However, it seems an odd name to me because I feel like it should be Series Establishing Moment not Establishing Series Moment. Also funnily, the ones mentioned for Pokémon don't match up with what you provided, which I thought they would, which I thought was the reason you shared the page, lol.

That's easy. Cause TV Tropes is a mess when it comes to organizing and actually listing examples for the individual tropes. It's a wiki that is very easy to edit and thus Sturgeon's Law is at play. Like all wikis (unless it's part of the Nintendo Independent Wiki Alliance or something similar to it), take it with a grain of salt.

I know first hand because my analysis on the opening scene is actually an expanded, more detailed and researched description of what I wrote in the Pokémon - I Choose You Episode Recap for TV Tropes almost four or five years ago.

 

[LadyTriox]

Shots relating to pearlshipping are awesome. I like the community that seems to enjoy that pairing anyways (that gives me a lot of respect for it but also too I like dawn a lot. a girl like her deserves ash, she's very confident and upbeat :3).

Also, I loooove any moment with Korrina in it (since to this day i'm still a major korrina fangirl xD).

 

[SH65]

I say the gym battles are one of the best parts of the anime. I mean its mostly from Hoenn, Sinnoh, Kalos. But Kanto and Unova both had one good gym battle.

 

[shoz999]

So one of the attention-to-details I just love about the Pokemon Adventures manga is how a lot of the characters each have their own unique styles to throw their Pokeballs. In the Pokemon anime there isn't a lot of unique styles or poses exclusive to an array of different characters as the main focus is often on Ash so seeing Korrina actually performing more than one battle pose, much of it being based on martial arts, is quite a refreshing attention-to-detail in the anime's own characters. Much of her best poses are from her Gym Battle against Ash and undoubtedly her best one is her Mega Evolution stances which includes some kicking but I couldn't find it as the Serebii database skips it.

 

[mehmeh1]

So one of the attention-to-details I just love about the Pokemon Adventures manga is how a lot of the characters each have their own unique styles to throw their Pokeballs. In the Pokemon anime there isn't a lot of unique styles or poses exclusive to an array of different characters as the main focus is often on Ash so seeing Korrina actually performing more than one battle pose, much of it being based on martial arts, is quite a refreshing attention-to-detail in the anime's own characters. Much of her best poses are from her Gym Battle against Ash and undoubtedly her best one is her Mega Evolution stances which includes some kicking but I couldn't find it as the Serebii database skips it.

while IMO SM has better character acting in general, xy had some great battle poses