• 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

Pillars of Friendship (597)

ash_forever

Greatest Hero
Today, I'm writing this preview with mixed feelings to be honest. Normally, you would expect that this kind of episodes should make me perfectly happy, but, I'm afraid that today's episode didn't quite live up to my expectations. Let me explain why:

On the one hand, last week's epic feeling continued and the episode sure was breath-taking in terms of action. But on the other hand it didn't feel as epic as it could have, firstly because it was too rushed and secondly because I realized too many inconsistencies. Let me explain that in detail:

I would have wished that this had been a two-parter. Only one episode was definitely too short and thus inapproriate, yes, I dare say even unworthy for such an epic plot.
Secondly, and thia is what actually bothered me, the episode had conspicuously many mistakes in terms of consistency:
- Hunter J was portrayed way too strong. I mean she and Salamence were hit by the attacks of ALL THREE REGIS and were still able to fly and fight. These were the same three Pokemon who defeated Paul's Pokemon with one or two attacks at the most and now we're expected to believe that Salamence was able to take three attacks simultaneously without being knocked out??? No that's cheap and highly implausible. J isn't a member of the Elite Four after all... She didn't even fall off...that's at least what you would expect after the impact of three powerful attacks... No, no ,no I won't put up with that! Neither is she that athletic nor can her Salamence be that strong. No...:complain:

-But unlike Hunter J, Regigigas was portrayed too weak. According to the Pokedex entry, it can even move whole continents. Sure, we mustn't always trust the Pokedex information entirely, because it tends to exaggerate a bit sometimes, but, nevertheless, it's the "Super-Regi" and you'd normally expect his power to be a teensy bit more impressive and not just limited to Huper Beams which didn't do that much damage either. I mean , Regigigas's attacks didn't look much different from those of the other Regis. Entirely unacceptable, however, was the fact that 4 legendary Pokemon couldn't effectively defend themselves against a flying machine made by humans... I can't help it but that was pretty disappointing storytelling.

-
Regigigas turns itself back to a shining stone. Have the Regi become the three guarding pillars? Those pillars can easily be destroyed again. It would be pointless.
Believe it or not, but that's exactly what I thought as well. If you ask me, this was pretty confusing and didn't round off the episode at all. On the contrary, it somehow left the audience with a strange, unharmonious feeling :(

Well, despite the negative aspect mentioned above there were great scenes as well, of course. Regirock, Registeel and Regice fighting and almost defeating Regigigas was another impressive battle after last week's one (though it also proved how weak Regigigas was actually made by the writers), Brandon sacrificing himself in order to protect Regigigas was a perfect example of how to act heroicly and all those action scenes really fascinated me.

All in all, I don't quite know what to make of today's episode. I haven't decided yet whether the negative aspects outnumbered the positive ones or vice versa.


6.5/7 out of 10 points
 
Last edited:

thunderblade12

Well-Known Member
Today, I'm writing this preview with mixed feelings to be honest. Normally, you would expect that this kind of episodes should make me perfectly happy, but, I'm afraid that today's episode didn't quite live up to my expectations. Let me explain why:

On the one hand, last week's epic feeling continued and the episode sure was breath-taking in terms of action. But on the other hand it didn't feel as epic as it could have, firstly because it was too rushed and secondly because I realized too many inconsistencies. Let me explain that in detail:

I would have wished that this had been a two-parter. Only one episode was definitely too short and thus inapproriate, yes, I dare say even unworthy for such an epic plot.
Secondly, and thia is what actually bothered me, the episode had

I agree with you there. This would have been much better as a two parter but it was surprisingly good as a one parter.



conspicuously many mistakes in terms of consistency:
- Hunter J was portrayed way too strong. I mean she and Salamence were hit by the attacks of ALL THREE REGIS and were still able to fly and fight. These were the same three Pokemon who defeated Paul's Pokemon with one or two attacks at the most and now we're expected to believe that Salamence was able to take three attacks simultaneously without being knocked out??? No that's cheap and highly implausible. J isn't a member of the Elite Four after all... She didn't even fall off...that's at least what you would expect after the impact of three powerful attacks... No, no ,no I won't put up with that! Neither is she that athletic nor can her Salamence be that strong. No...:complain:


I wouldn't be surprised if J was at least as powerful as an Elite 4 member based on not only this appearence but also her previous ones. Even Gary's Blastoise was easily beaten. Drapion also seems to be a powerhouse, Turtwig and Aipom's combined attacks just bounced off and didn't seem to effect it at all. She's as strong as Brandon and Palmer at least.


-But unlike Hunter J, Regigigas was portrayed too weak. According to the Pokedex entry, it can even move whole continents. Sure, we mustn't always trust the Pokedex information entirely, because it tends to exaggerate a bit sometimes, but, nevertheless, it's the "Super-Regi" and you'd normally expect his power to be a teensy bit more impressive and not just limited to Huper Beams which didn't do that much damage either. I mean , Regigigas's attacks didn't look much different from those of the other Regis. Entirely unacceptable, however, was the fact that 4 legendary Pokemon couldn't effectively defend themselves against a flying machine made by humans... I can't help it but that was pretty disappointing storytelling.


I really gotta disagree here. The fact that it's hyper beam was able to match all three of the other regi's combined hyper beam makes it look extremely strong. It took so many hits from Brandon's Regis and J's pokemon/machine and was still able to keep fighting.


The only bad part was that Brandon left his Regis at the temple. I'm sure Regigigas will be safe now that he has three powerful Regis on guard rather than just three pillars though. Still Brandon probably went from being a nearly unbeatable force to being as strong as Tucker, Spenser, Greta, and the other Frontier Brains. I'd say Noland is now the strongest but most trainers that visit the Battle Factory probably pick to fight one of his other pokemon rather than Articuno. Either way, Paul and Reggie both would probably be able to defeat Brandon now that he only has Ninjask, Dusclops/noir, Solrock, and other non-legendarys.



9/10 for me.
 

STICKTOPIA

Well-Known Member
Who would have known that Brandon and Hunter J knew each other? I wish they showed how they knew each other? Does this mean that Brandon will no longer have his regis?????? I hope they show Anabel again sometime.
 

Lorde

Let's go to the beach, each.
It started out ok, then it got all weird.

The whole "friendship" and "feelings" thing ruined it for me otherwise it would have been ok.

6/10 instead of 8/10....
 

mario_128

Well-Known Member
so brandan gave up his regis =[
 

Torpoleon

Well-Known Member
This episode was really great actually. I don't know how people disliked it. The only thing I dislike is Brandon leaving his Regis behind. The least he could have done was keep his Regis and stay there. Although, he'd probably have to resign from being a Frontier Brain.

9/10
If Brandon had kept his Regis, the rating for mine would have up.
 

milenadrg

Well-Known Member
Episode was awesome, one of the my favourite episodes of Sinnoh saga. Regigigas was really cool and it was cool seeing Hunter J again, too... The only thing I didn't really liked was the fact that Brandon leaved his three Regis...
 

XxpikapikaxX

Is also a Naruto fan
Ep review:

-Flashback from previous episode. Unusual.
-Usual boring theme song crap.
-Maybe this mysterious group is Team Galactic?
-Nope, it's J. Oh crap.
-Woah, that's alot of Skarmories and Metangs.
-I didn't know the Battle Pyramid had a mini aircraft!
-Woah, that's still alot of Skarmories and Metangs.
-Run little people! RUN!!!!
-SHE'S DESTROYING THE 3 PILLARS?! HOW THE FLIP COULD SHE??? DX
-What's with the sphere? Oh, it's Regigigas.
-Wakey, wakey!
-Destroying the temple!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!! DX
-Commercial...
skipping a few minutes...
-THE REGIS GET TURNED TO that...stone...stuff...???
-NOW BRANDON??????!!!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!
-Gigas calms down.... FINALLY!
-Woah, J without her shades? Creepy!
-Retreat!
-They look like they are mourning Brandon's death...HE'S NOT DEAD, PEOPLE!!
-Hidden Power! POOF! They're back!
-Bye-Bye Regis!

I liked how the legendaries are in a regular epidode and not in a movie. An awesome episode overall. =)
 

GioRocket

Team Rocket Forever
Anyone else find it ironic when Brandon let "his emotions to betray him on the battlefeild" by jumping infront of J's laser. The exact same thing he scolded Paul for.
 

STICKTOPIA

Well-Known Member
Anyone else find it ironic when Brandon let "his emotions to betray him on the battlefeild" by jumping infront of J's laser. The exact same thing he scolded Paul for.
i would define that as a hypocrite.....
 

Torpoleon

Well-Known Member
It was a decent episode,.. thoguh the art style seemed weird though.
How was it weird? The animation of the episode you mean? I thought it was perfect. The episode was pretty cool as well. Brandon seemed to show a different side of himself.
 

halloweenghost

Well-Known Member
How was it weird? The animation of the episode you mean? I thought it was perfect. The episode was pretty cool as well. Brandon seemed to show a different side of himself.

some scenes looked odd to me like at times some of the characters looked abit..cheaply drawn.. something just seemed off to me..course I was also damn tired and not slept when i watched it maybe thats what it was.
 

wind21

Well-Known Member
I was so busy yesterday, so I didn't get the time to write my thoughts on this.

Let's see. The first thing that really struck me was the way Ash, Brock, and Dawn were commending Brandon for ordering Regice to use Ice Beam on Regirock, Registeel, and Regigigas. The ice beam left the latter three Regis completely frozen, and I actually felt pretty bad for Regirock and Registeel. I know Brock remarked it was an emergency strategy only to be used as a last resort, yet I still am bothered that everyone was so happy. Maybe Brandon could have recalled his Regis (was Pryce able to recall his frozen Piloswine back in Jhoto?). Normally, this show is pretty good about little moral things like this.

Backtracking a little bit, but when the last hyper beam from Regigigas blew Ash and company out of the temple, Ash gave such a terrified yell...I really thought for a second the gang might be done away with there. Speaking of our hero, he really dislikes J. She, Paul, and Gary are the only three characters I can think of at the moment who can frustrate Sinnoh Ash to the point where he starts acting like he did back in Hoenn/Jhoto. For the most part, Sinnoh Ash is relatively composed and thinks through what he is doing. That's not the case when Hunter J, Gary, or Paul is around.

Finally, Dawn caught my attention the most because for what feels like the 3rd or 4th episode in a row, she did nothing. I think someone opened up a thread around the time this episode came out in Japan asking if Dawn had started to take a backseat to Ash's journey. People refuted the idea, showing that Dawn had enjoyed several episodes focused on her recently. Still, Dawn was too...well, quiet. She can do more than be comic relief with Brock in an important episode like this.
 
Last edited:

STICKTOPIA

Well-Known Member
I was so busy yesterday, so I didn't get the time to write my thoughts on this.

Let's see. The first thing that really struck me was the way Ash, Brock, and Dawn were commending Brandon for ordering Regice to use Ice Beam on Regirock, Registeel, and Regigigas. The ice beam left the latter three Regis completely frozen, and I actually felt pretty bad for Regirock and Registeel. I know Brock remarked it was an emergency strategy only to be used as a last resort, yet I still am bothered that everyone was so happy. Maybe Brandon could have recalled his Regis (was Pryce able to recall his frozen Piloswine back in Jhoto?). Normally, this show is pretty good about little moral things like this.

Backtracking a little bit, but when the last hyper beam from Regigigas blew Ash and company out of the temple, Ash gave such a terrified yell...I really thought for a second the gang might be done away with there. Speaking of our hero, he really dislikes J. She, Paul, and Gary are the only three characters I can think of at the moment who can frustrate Sinnoh Ash to the point where he starts acting like he did back in Hoenn/Jhoto. For the most part, Sinnoh Ash is relatively composed and thinks through what he is doing. That's not the case when Hunter J, Gary, or Paul is around.

Finally, Dawn caught my attention the most because for what feels like the 3rd or 4th episode in a row, she did nothing. I think someone opened up a thread around the time this episode came out in Japan asking if Dawn had started to take a backseat to Ash's journey. People refuted the idea, showing that Dawn had enjoyed several episodes focused on her recently. Still, Dawn was too...well, quiet. She can do more than be comic relief with Brock in an important episode like this.
No Pryce didn't do that in Johto. Yes it was an emergency so he had to use ice beam on all 3 of them. Of course Ash dislikes J! They all dislike J! What good person would like someone who just sells off pokemon?! That's just terrible!!!
 

NES

Flip me to the side!
Hunter J is strong, she was going to actually catch Regigigas, she was stopped because of the regis, and everyone getting on her way, but she always has clever plans.

Brandon will let his Regis go to protect Regigigas :( i wonder what pokemon will he use now then (if he shows up again for the rematch against Paul).
 

Brumrha

Banned
- Something has come up in the Snowpoint Temple! What is this world coming to?!!
- Well, apparently, Hunter J wants to get her hands on Regigigas so that she can fill a Black Market request.
- The good guys decide to arrive at the scene via the Battle Pyramid... but there is a problem: Hunter J's men saw them coming from a mile away & have sent a swarm of both Skarmory & Metang after them.
- The overwhelming amounts of Pokemon is too much for the Battle Pyramid to take, so they must make a crash landing. Why this thing is completely unarmed, I haven't a slightest clue...
- Thankfully, they have other means of zooming away fast, so they get on that & zoom past danger to the temple.
- Thing is, they've got that swarm to deal with, but Pikachu & Piplup singlehandedly dispatches the swarm... which makes them seem... overpowered...
- They arrive at Regigigas' chamber, but it's too late, as Hunter J has already snapped these three pillars like they're matchsticks with her Salamence.
- Shortly thereafter, the blue sphere in the middle shines & materializes into Regigigas, & since it's none too happy about being disturbed, it goes on a Special Beam Cannon Rampage.
- J flees the scene like a wee little baby, whilst Brandon stands his ground with his three Regis.
- They eventually take advantage of Regigigas' Rampage & get it encased in a pile of rubble. There's only one problem: Regigigas can move continents, so plowing through rubble is nothing to it.
- Eventually, Brandon wears it down with his three Regis, & he attempts to capture it himself, but NOOOO... J has to stop him & everyone else with Ariados.
- Regigigas uses Confuse Ray on the Regis, which turns them to his side. Is it "really" Confuse Ray? By the looks of it, it looked more like Mind Control to me...
- With nothing to stop them, the four Horsemen (or Golems in this case,) of the Apocalypse march forward, laying waste to anything & everything in their path. AAAHHHHHH!!! We will all die!!!!!
- Hunter J has a plan to stop them; she plans on using her airship to bring Regigigas into submission. It works, up until it gets ensnared by all the gooey adhesive, in which it took advantage of them letting their guard down by shooting an SBC at her ship, thus bringing it down.
- Did I also mention that by ensnaring Regigigas, she broke the Mind Control of the three Regis? Well I did now.
- In the meantime, the gang desperately try to get out of their own snare. They have their Pokemon with them, don't they? Why not use them?
- Brock got that idea; by declaring his love to the temple attendant, he lures Croagunk out of its ball & jabs him, freeing him as well as causing the usual side-effects of its Poison Jab.
- They now find Regigigas ensnared by Hunter J, who is now going to capture Regigigas for her own gain.
- The Regis & Brandon stop her, at the expense of their lives.
- Regigigas breaks free, & also destroys J's petrification device.
- Just then, she get a message that her client has withdrawn his/her request, so now her plan is complete... defeat!! So... she flees the scene to avoid capture, like all villains do.
- The temple attendant pleas to Regigigas to bring Brandon & the Regis back to life, & it does it with Hidden Power? Riiight... that makes a bunch of sense...
- Regigigas now turns back into the blue sphere that it once was, so now it can sleep once more, especially since Brandon plans on leaving his Regis behind to protect it.

I dunno if Brandon is going to get a new set of Regis, or if they'll remain loyal to him & that they'll come to his aid if need be... Regardless, Hunter J has finally tasted bitter defeat, & I can't ask for anything more than that.
 

mimefan

Banned
Why did J's men call her Sir, instead of Ma'am?
 
Top