But Brandon won based on skill alone, using the Lock-On/Zap Cannon combo(using its paralysis effect to slow down Torkoal), in addition to what seems to be the debut of Superpower. I'm just sad that it was Torkoal and not Cyndaquil(no offense to Torkoal, I'm glad it got to appear).
there was no Superpower. You're probably thinking of Metal Claw. Anyway, it seems to me that Jindai relies heavily on Lock-On, so it'd be nice if we get to see Satoshi try to figure out some way around it.
Heh... you know, when I watched the beginning of this episode, I got the impression the writers were playing yet another cruel joke on Cotoise. Joy comes along, impressed that Satoshi got the Best 8 in the Saiyuu tournament, and shows off her scrapbook, with Cotoise being KOed in the only picture he appears in. And I came into this episode half expecting some people's prediction that Donphan would be used against Registeel (it's interesting to note that when Satoshi contacted Ookido, all three of steel's weaknesses were mentioned: fire, ground, and fighting. The show tends to focus on the fire weakness alone, so it's good to hear the others made mention of, even if they weren't implemented). Then, he indended up exchanging Aipom (I'm left further questioning its purpose besides a late Trozei ad) for one of his reserves.... for a while, I was left guessing, the only hint being that Ookido said it learned a new attack (someone could've learned Earthquake or Brick Break for all I know), until it was finally confirmed: Cotoise was used, my guess in that "Which Pokemon do u hope to see battle the 2 remaining Regis???" thread wasn't far off.
In spite of its horrid win record, as I keep saying, Cotoise is actually a pretty good Pokemon with lots of potential if the writers could just take better advantage of its tanking abilities. They managed to do just that in this episode, as seen by the use of Iron Defense to counter Jindai's first Lock-On attempt (on an interesting note, Lock-On seems to have put a target smack dab on the reptilian desert-dweller's forehead. Stuff like this makes you thank god 4kids is out of the picture ^^). And it's nice to see, after having Overheat swiped away by Lizardon and Wakashamo, that he's got another exclusive attack (on another interesting note, Ookido says he learned that new technique while he was over there... either Cotoise's been doing some serious training, or this confirms my earlier theory that Ookido teaches Pokemon new attacks without their trainers' consent). They sure seem to be making up for the poor guy's crappy treatment in the past.
Anyway, for everyone confused about that boss fantasy, Nyaasu thought that Lucky would make a good sparring partner, and then heal him afterwards. He based this off the fact that once Joy and Lucky finished beating up on Heigani (and putting their hats back on... they seem to go pretty nuts when their hats are off their heads), they immediately ran the Pokemon they just fainted to get healed. It's about time we see some battle-capable portrayal of Lucky (though, it's no longer gonna be able to take those Crab Hammers so well come generation 4 XD), but seeing as how the characters are gonna be staying at this (pretty friggin well-equipped) Pokemon Center over the next few episodes (guess we see where that "The Pokemon Center is Very Busy!" title comes in), I really hope we get to see it evolve into Hapinasu, considering we never saw the thing since early Jouto, and with a pretty crap portrayal as well (interestingly enough, Sounansu was disguised as a Hapinasu). And concerning Lucky's trainer...
The Joy in this episode definitely wasn't XD. A battle-capable Lucky, and a Joy with a distinct personality, two very rare sights... throw in the Cotoise vs. Registeel battle, and we've got one helluva note-worthy episode. ^^
