• Hi all. We have had reports of member's signatures being edited to include malicious content. You can rest assured this wasn't done by staff and we can find no indication that the forums themselves have been compromised.

    However, remember to keep your passwords secure. If you use similar logins on multiple sites, people and even bots may be able to access your account.

    We always recommend using unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication if possible. Make sure you are secure.
  • Be sure to join the discussion on our discord at: Discord.gg/serebii
  • If you're still waiting for the e-mail, be sure to check your junk/spam e-mail folders

Mission: Defeat Your Rival! (765)

Raptor_Crow

I lied to you all
You know if Kotetsu had been a terrible trainer then I would not have liked him, but he's not. Battles are the one thing Kotetsu never fails in.

That and training his Pokémon, he never makes a mistake. I'd say Kotetsu's full compatibility as a trainer makes up for his scatterbrain antics.

If they were overreacting in Japan, that must mean that the writers had really screwed up. That's not my problem though. They shouldn't have done something dumb like that.
I didn't say they were overreacting in Japan, I meant on here when that episode aired in Japan. No offence, but a repeat of it is not necessary.
 

Joltik-Kid

Careful? Where's the fun in that?
You know if Kotetsu had been a terrible trainer then I would not have liked him, but he's not. Battles are the one thing Kotetsu never fails in.

That and training his Pokémon, he never makes a mistake. I'd say Kotetsu's full compatibility as a trainer makes up for his scatterbrain antics.
I'm just gonna put this in a spoiler, view if you want

Kotesu/Cameron made two very crucial mistakes in his battle against Ash, sending Ferrothorn out against Ash's Pignite and Swanna out against Ash's Pikachu. And yet he still won because of Riolu deciding to evolve when it was about to lose. Tell me (if your read this) how that makes him a capable trainer?
 

Raptor_Crow

I lied to you all
I'm just gonna put this in a spoiler, view if you want

Kotesu/Cameron made two very crucial mistakes in his battle against Ash, sending Ferrothorn out against Ash's Pignite and Swanna out against Ash's Pikachu. And yet he still won because of Riolu deciding to evolve when it was about to lose. Tell me (if your read this) how that makes him a capable trainer?
Those are two incidents, two which aren't even hinted at being mistakes - they're more like bad choices - amongst the entirety of Cameron's battles which have been just fine. Cameron's capable as a trainer. How do you think he won all those badges? How did his Pokémon get strong? Sometimes Cameron needs his headband to help him in a situation he is stuck in, but other times Cameron can win a fight without getting a brainwave (like his battle against Bianca in this episode). As long as what Cameron does works out for him, as long as he can win a battle then that's all what matters.

He's the same kid who trained a Samurott that easily overpowered a Gym Leader's top Pokémon, a Riolu who shows great speed and dexterity and...

a Hydreigon who is portrayed as a beast and gave Ash a difficult time trying to defeat it.
Now Cameron's capability as a trainer is questionable outside of battling and training, but those mistakes only effects his journey and not his skills.

There is a mistake Cameron makes that does effect a battle, but it has nothing to do with his skills. The error only effects the situation of the fight.
 
Last edited:

jammiedodger

Active Member
Are you kidding me... I'd find it more believable if Razor Shell just lowered it's defense like in game, but to use vibrations, what is this, the first season of Yu-gi-oh?

You're going to have your Catapult Turtle Flying Castle Gambit and you're going to like it!

From what I've gathered, it feels like the writing team really dropped the ball for some reason. Seems like this league will begin and end in a very unsatisfying fashion.
 

Joltik-Kid

Careful? Where's the fun in that?
You're going to have your Catapult Turtle Flying Castle Gambit and you're going to like it!

From what I've gathered, it feels like the writing team really dropped the ball for some reason. Seems like this league will begin and end in a very unsatisfying fashion.

"With my Catapult Turtle I can launch my Dragon Champion at your castle, shattering its flotation ring, thereby causing it to collapse on top of your monsters."

You don't know the half of it...literally XD
 

DoctorDark

Well-Known Member
I'm just gonna put this in a spoiler, view if you want

Kotesu/Cameron made two very crucial mistakes in his battle against Ash, sending Ferrothorn out against Ash's Pignite and Swanna out against Ash's Pikachu. And yet he still won because of Riolu deciding to evolve when it was about to lose. Tell me (if your read this) how that makes him a capable trainer?


Seriously this. Cameron is a terrible scatterbrain of a trainer that hurts a lot of his pokemon with his stupid mistakes.

Also to the people that are predicting a terrible conclusion to this league you guys have no idea what a stupid conclusion you guys are in for.
 

Raptor_Crow

I lied to you all
Seriously this. Cameron is a terrible scatterbrain of a trainer that hurts a lot of his pokemon with his stupid mistakes.
So you see Cameron make TWO bad choices, completely throw his previous battle records out the window and judge him simply from those?

All of Cameron's other mistakes have nothing to do with battles and if he was a terrible trainer then he wouldn't have won all those badges.

Yes sometimes Cameron needs his headband to help him with ideas, but other times he doesn't (see his match against Bianca for example).

Cameron's Pokémon get hurt the same every other non-cruel and non-forceful trainer's Pokémon get hurt in a battle. They aren't complaining.
 

Caseydia

Ace Trainer
Seriously this. Cameron is a terrible scatterbrain of a trainer that hurts a lot of his pokemon with his stupid mistakes.

Also to the people that are predicting a terrible conclusion to this league you guys have no idea what a stupid conclusion you guys are in for.

This is about Ash and Trip. Let's stick to that in order not to have to worry about such trivial matters.
 

wobbanut

Team Awesome
I'm so glad they got things wrapped up with Trip right away instead of waiting a few rounds for Ash to fight him. I just never liked him like I did Paul or Gary, so having him make an early exit was welcome news. I wish Ash would have chosen better than Pikachu to fight servine, but at least he still came away with a win. :p

6/10
 

Caseydia

Ace Trainer
I would have liked to see Trip and Ash in a six on six battle than what was here and with Cameron. I really enjoyed Trip as a character. As far as being Ash's rival, all of the rivals in BW are either jokes, gags or just not given enough screentime. I was getting to like Trip in the Junior Cup since he was no longer as stucky than he was back in the beginning. But I rather re-watch Trip's matches than Cameron's any day. Trip would have been my ideal rival if only they would have done him better. I didn't like the teasing and childishness from Ash that came from watching Gary and I didn't like it that Paul was so rude and mean to others plus his pokemon as well. So Trip was finally a middle ground for me.
 
Last edited:

NPT

Just a member
"Mission: Defeat Your Rival!"

This episode picked up where the last episode left off. Trip's Sereperior kept getting the upper hand on Ash's Pikachu in the battle. At one point, it squeezed Pikachu so hard that it started to turn Purple. Seeing this, Ash remembered all the times he lost to Trip.

When Serperior tried to slam Pikachu on the ground, Ash told him to use Iron Tail on the ground to protect himself. Pikachu smashed Iron Tail on the ground and it caused Serperior to release Pikachu from it's strong grip. Once Pikachu was free, Ash told him to use a Iron Tail/Electro Ball combo on Pikachu! After being hit by Pikachu's Iron Tail/Electro Ball combo attack, Trip's Serperior fainted from the impact, making Ash and Pikachu the winner!! Man, I'm glad Ash finally defeated his most OP Unova rival.

The next day, Bianca was up against (the annoying)Cameron! After Bianca's Escavalier got defeated by Cameron's Samurott, she sent out her powerhouse Pokémon......Emboar. It was surprising when Bianca told Emboar to use Attarct on Samurott, I didn't see that coming.

Emboar was able to defeat Samurott, but Cameron's next Pokémon was his OP Riolu. The battle between Cameron's (OP)Riolu and Bianca's Emboar was a huge disappointment. I hated how that Riolu defeated Emboar, making Cameron the winner and making poor Bianca cry. It's true that Bianca can be clumsy sometimes, but she didn't deserve to lose like that....espacially to a kid like Cameron.


Overall, this was an OK episode. I'm glad Ash finally defeated his OP rival Trip, but I am not fully satisfied with an one-on-one battle. It seemed like the writers were trying to make up for the terrible Pikachu vs. Snivy battle in BW001 by making their final battle an one-on-one battle. A full battle between Ash and Trip would've better. Oh Well, at least Ash and Trip's rivalry finally ended, their rivalry was terrible throughout the BW saga.

Cameron and Bianca's battle was just stupid! I didn't like seeing him beating her in the battle and making her cry like that. *Sigh*....If it wasn't for Ash, he wouldn't be in the league.
 
Last edited:

J Ken

RAVE
Tbh I don't think it was a smart idea to take Trip out in the prelims regardless at how hateful people are towards him. Trip's early exit was poorly handled and slimmed Ash's chances of lasting longer then Top 8. Plus Ash and Pikachu's display was pretty poor overall, I mean he was at Trip's mercy and basically won through a combination of luck and Serperior's moveset conveniently becoming weaker since the Junior Cup.
 
If this were the real world, Pikachu would be dead right now, not just fainted.

I really hate to sound harsh towards a fictional cartoon person, but letting Pikachu get squeezed that hard sort of makes Ash looks irresponsible as a trainer. I mean, he's letting his Pokemon get seriously hurt, borderline even a worse fate than that.

But yet, I'm not super angry, because, like I said, it's just a cartoon, It's fiction. These are fictional creatures in a a fictional world where, more often than not, the rules of the real world don't really apply. It was just something I wanted to say in the heat of the moment.
 

Pikachu52

Well-Known Member
The Pikachu vs Serperior battle was quite intense. Didn't like the part where Serperior was squeezing Pikachu. It was a little bit too graphic. Pikachu was visibly struggling to breath at one point and his ears had gone purple. That's certainly more graphic and violent than anything the anime has showcased up to this point in the series. As a Pikachu lover it was certainly difficult to watch. Ash certainly seemed distressed about it. However Pikachu won the battle and won it convincingly. Ash came up with a clever idea to get his best friend out a pickle. That certainly shocked Trip. Personally I'm glad that Trip lost to Ash in the preliminary rounds. He spent the entire series looking down at Ash, insulting his home region and giving him several crushing defeats so I think he deserved to loose like this. Ash preformed exceptionally well being able to come up with a strategy to get Pikachu out of trouble like that. That is one good thing about the Unova region. Most of the rivals have been friendly and the one who isn't more or less gets some sort of comeuppance. Trip can't look down at Ash now after being completely wiped out in the qualifying rounds while Ash goes on to be in the Top 8. The sauna scenes were interesting to say the least. I liked Ash and Cameron bonding and the the way Cameron sort of leans in close to Ash and put's his arm on his shoulder though Ash's comment "It's getting hot in here," has odd implications for a children's show. Oshawott, Riolu and Pikachu were funny though. Especially when Oshawott gets shocked. It's a pity there weren't more scenes with Riolu.
 
Last edited:
I actually hate it when the animators make battles look this brutal. I thought it was quite disgusting to see Pikachu's breathing clearly being interfered with as Serperior was crushing him. IMO, battles in the anime need more regulations. There should be some attacks and strategies that are considered illegal in the anime-universe. I can think of plenty of moves from the games that shouldn't be showcased in the anime, and Trip used one of them.

It also kind of ruined the mood. My mindset switched from "Is Ash going to win?" to "Wtf, is Trip trying to kill Pikachu?". That's not how you effectively build dramatic tension. I'm supposed to care about who will win the battle, not the methods being used.

----

As for the result, I couldn't care less that Trip lost in the preliminaries, because the writers never put any effort into making Trip interesting. A lackluster ending is fitting for a lackluster rival. They also didn't keep Trip's strength consistent, which made his battles boring to watch. It's best to get his battle over with quickly since it's the least interesting.
 
Last edited:

Pikachu52

Well-Known Member
I actually hate it when the animators make battles look this brutal. I thought it was quite disgusting to see Pikachu's breathing clearly being interfered with as Serperior was crushing him. IMO, battles in the anime need more regulations. There should be some attacks and strategies that are considered illegal in the anime-universe. I can think of plenty of moves from the games that shouldn't be showcased in the anime, and Trip used one of them.

Absolutely. Serperior squeezing Pikachu to the point where he couldn't breath and his face was turning purple was disgusting. It basically confirms what I've suspected for a lot of this series that the writer don't respect Pikachu and have simply been using him as a punching bag in all of Ash's major battles. It's good that Pikachu beat Serperior and that we're finally seeing Pikachu's true strength but this important victory was poisoned by how brutal the battle was. Especially since Pikachu's only other league battle is against Cameron where he falls to Lucario. Poor Pikachu.

It also kind of ruined the mood. My mindset switched from "Is Ash going to win?" to "Wtf, is Trip trying to kill Pikachu?". That's not how you effectively build dramatic tension. I'm supposed to care about who will win the battle, not the methods being used.

True. I agree with you 100%

As for the result, I couldn't care less that Trip lost in the preliminaries, because the writers never put any effort into making Trip interesting. A lackluster ending is fitting for a lackluster rival. They also didn't keep Trip's strength consistent, which made his battles boring to watch. It's best to get his battle over with quickly since it's the least interesting.

Trip pretty much got what he deserved. He lost the one battle where it counted and Ash finally proved what we've all know, that he is the better trainer. Arguably Trip should have had this comeuppance earlier on, preferably at the Junior Cup.
 
Last edited:

JudySpell

Banned
I hated that Ash versus Trip was just a 1 against 1 match. I'm glad that Ash won at all but this battle wasn't that amazing. 6/10
 

Mrs. Oreo

Banned
Wow Pikachu was close to suffocating cuz of Serperior, so I was relieved when Ash finally defeated him. I liked how Trip accepted his loss, plus the hot springs scene and how Cameron's Riolu beat Bianca's Emboar.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
For Satoshi's final battle against Shooti, I must say that I was expecting a much more climactic ending than watching Jalorda versus Pikachu. At the very least, I would've liked a full six-on-six match. I wasn't too satisfied with Bel versus Kotetsu, either. Enbuoh shouldn't have lost so easily to Riolu.
 
Top