Pokémon Emergency! (002)

[Twilight-Kun]

I didn't quite understand why the Rocket-dan trio were so fixated on capturing Satoshi's Pikachu at the end of this episode either since Pikachu wasn't that special or powerful. As we saw only a few episodes later when Satoshi faced Raichu, Pikachu was proven to be fallible and not some extraordinary Pikachu that was invincible.

I'd love for the TRio to capture Pikachu, bring it to Giovanni, who then recreates his "what exactly does it do?" scene from when they brought him Togepi

And then Giovanni points out that pikachu live right next door to Viridian City and if he ever really wanted one, he'd have sent a grunt for one eons ago

 

[Doppelgänger]

^I wonder if that was intentional on Shudo's end. That the joke is Team Rocket dedicated their lives to stalking a Pokemon that....really isn't that special. Especially when considering we will soon see it get whipped by a better trained Sandshrew, have its ass handed to it by its own evolved form (and only beat said evolved form in a rematch due to Ash exploiting a flaw in Surge's tactics) and then get trounced by a second-stage Psychic Pokemon. Two of those three things Team Rocket saw first hand and they still think Pikachu is special

Pikachu wasn't special while Shudo was head writer. Throughout OS, Pikachu was at best middle of the pack, with Charizard/Snorlax/Heracross taking the lead as Ash's strongest Pokemon. Pikachu's best feat was beating Surge's Raichu and finishing off Drake's Dragonite. Hardly notable displays compared to what was to come.

Pikachu's legend began in AG, after learning Iron Tail. It still annoys me to this day that nobody comments on how ridiculous or abnormal Pikachu's power level is.

 

[Leonhart]

Pikachu wasn't special while Shudo was head writer. Throughout OS, Pikachu was at best middle of the pack, with Charizard/Snorlax/Heracross taking the lead as Ash's strongest Pokemon. Pikachu's best feat was beating Surge's Raichu and finishing off Drake's Dragonite. Hardly notable displays compared to what was to come.

I do agree that Pikachu wasn't quite as powerful during OS as he would eventually become, although this episode tried very hard to have the audience believe that he was different from the other Pikachu at the Pokemon Center. I admire Mr. Shudo's efforts to keep Pikachu grounded for most of the remainder of the OS saga, though.

 

[FirefoxFennekin]

Weirdly enough this episode wasn't that good to me since it tried way too hard to introduce many character like Team Rocket would of course became important features of the anime in the long run, but this episode also attempted to do a huge amount of world building with the Pokemon Center plot and by introducing Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy too. There was a lot of chaos going on. 6/10

 

[Twilight-Kun]

I liked Team Rocket this episode, the voice actors fit the characters and they were menacing (for the last time). Meowth's VA is questionable though, so are his lines. Funny thing, if they just took Pikachu and left then they would not spend 19+ seasons running after Ash and crew.

They also could've grabbed any old pikachu there

Or gone to the forest filled with them

I wanna see the TRio get pikachu and take it back to Giovanni, who then shows that they have hundreds of them

 

[Leonhart]

I assumed that the Rocket-dan trio didn't flee with Pikachu at the first opportunity here because they were overconfident and still new at their jobs, so they let their guards down and ended up paying the price.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

I assumed that the Rocket-dan trio didn't flee with Pikachu at the first opportunity here because they were overconfident and still new at their jobs, so they let their guards down and ended up paying the price.

...they weren't new at their jobs though - they were notorious enough to have posters out for their arrest, which means they were good at their jobs

 

[Leonhart]

...they weren't new at their jobs though - they were notorious enough to have posters out for their arrest, which means they were good at their jobs

I had assumed that Musashi and Kojirou were relative newbies at the time given that they only had two Pokemon [Arbo and Dogars], neither of which were particularly strong.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

I had assumed that Musashi and Kojirou were relative newbies at the time given that they only had two Pokemon [Arbo and Dogars], neither of which were particularly strong.

*glances at the legions of Grunts with rattatas*

I mean, compared to the rest of the chaff...

 

[Ubermuk]

Pikachu wasn't special while Shudo was head writer. Throughout OS, Pikachu was at best middle of the pack, with Charizard/Snorlax/Heracross taking the lead as Ash's strongest Pokemon. Pikachu's best feat was beating Surge's Raichu and finishing off Drake's Dragonite. Hardly notable displays compared to what was to come.

Pikachu's legend began in AG, after learning Iron Tail. It still annoys me to this day that nobody comments on how ridiculous or abnormal Pikachu's power level is.

So you're saying that this Shudo guy didn't put Pikachu on a pedestal and that it was a corporate move instead? Because this episode made it seem like Pikachu was always destined for greatness after Jessie and James decided to go after it as their main objective...

 

[Twilight-Kun]

So you're saying that this Shudo guy didn't put Pikachu on a pedestal and that it was a corporate move instead? Because this episode made it seem like Pikachu was always destined for greatness after Jessie and James decided to go after it as their main objective...

It was absolutely a corporate move, especially since they moved away from Shudo's original grimderp ending and turned it into a money-making machine and eventually sucked everything interesting out of it

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

It was absolutely a corporate move, especially since they moved away from Shudo's original grimderp ending and turned it into a money-making machine and eventually sucked everything interesting out of it

I'm sorry but shudo's take wasn't interesting. Especially the dumb stuff he had about how Pokemon came into the world, and especially the dumb ending he had planned. And all the other angst stuff relating to Ash's dad wasn't really interesting at all.

 

[Leonhart]

So you're saying that this Shudo guy didn't put Pikachu on a pedestal and that it was a corporate move instead? Because this episode made it seem like Pikachu was always destined for greatness after Jessie and James decided to go after it as their main objective...

I'm not sure who decided that the Rocket-dan would take an unnatural interest in Pikachu in this episode, but I figure that it was done as a way to give the Rocket-dan a reason to continuously show up. Given that Pikachu was Satoshi's only Pokemon at the time, it sort of fell on Pikachu to be their target.

 

[Red and Blue]

I had forgotten Jessie and James debuted in this episode instead of the first open. Funny that they were notorious enough to have wanted posters in their introduction and became comic relief not too long after.

And if it wasn't for Pikachu blasting them off they would have no reason to be stalking Ash

 

[pacman000]

I'm sorry but shudo's take wasn't interesting. Especially the dumb stuff he had about how Pokemon came into the world, and especially the dumb ending he had planned. And all the other angst stuff relating to Ash's dad wasn't really interesting at all.

Like anyone else, Shudo had a mix of good & bad ideas. I like his idea that Pokémon were suddenly appearing as the world changed, that they still needed to be researched. That would've allowed them to add more Pokémon without having to retcon stuff; they even could've had ancient legendary Pokémon, since he mentioned that Pokémon may have appeared in the past & inspired various legends. (Going by memory/my understanding of a fan translation.)

The extra details, like Ash's dad running off to be a trainer, Deliah running a cafe, & Pikachu refusing to be nicknamed, are nice to know about, but not really important in the long run, nor are they worth much development. (My opinion.)

The end...he had two. In one, Ash was an old man, thinking about his journeys with Pokémon. He goes to sleep & wakes up as a kid in the real world, to try to find his place in it & to try to understand everyone around him. Not bad, except it could imply the whole journey was a dream, or that Ash died & was reincarnated in this world. Probably would've made for interesting fan debates.

The other end, where Ash & Pikachu end up on different sides of a war for Pokémon independence, was from around 1999/2000, when they were working on the 4th movie. (My understanding.) I take it Shudo was just sick of the series by that point & he came up with something that would tick off the higher ups.

 

[Ragnarok4]

I'm sorry but shudo's take wasn't interesting. Especially the dumb stuff he had about how Pokemon came into the world, and especially the dumb ending he had planned. And all the other angst stuff relating to Ash's dad wasn't really interesting at all.

Hmm ... the first person I know who thinks Shudo's ideas weren't interesting, but that's okay

 

[Leonhart]

Hmm ... the first person I know who thinks Shudo's ideas weren't interesting, but that's okay

They're not the first person to voice this opinion: plenty of people weren't happy with Takeshi Shudo's ideas. Personally, I consider this to be one of his better episodes, but his love for the Rocket-dan eventually weakened the series from my viewpoint since he considered them to be some of the better characters and probably inspired other episode writers to use them more frequently. They had potential here, but it's a bit sad to think about what they could've been.

 

[Ragnarok4]

They're not the first person to voice this opinion: plenty of people weren't happy with Takeshi Shudo's ideas. Personally, I consider this to be one of his better episodes, but his love for the Rocket-dan eventually weakened the series from my viewpoint since he considered them to be some of the better characters and probably inspired other episode writers to use them more frequently. They had potential here, but it's a bit sad to think about what they could've been.

I know, but personally he is the first person I know who does not like those ideas

I think Shudo had big ambitions with the series, I'm sure he would want to do something important with TR, but as we all know, the show followed a different and repetitive direction.

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

I know, but personally he is the first person I know who does not like those ideas

I think Shudo had big ambitions with the series, I'm sure he would want to do something important with TR, but as we all know, the show followed a different and repetitive direction.

I have seen plenty of people express displeasure at the fact how his origins for Pokémon were that one day they magically appeared in the world. It's lame, contrived and lessens the universe imo. The gen 4 explanation for the origins is so much better and I'm glad shudo's idea for that was scrapped. Also his ending basically setting up ash to be a loser is something I'm sure lots of fans won't like either.

 

[Ragnarok4]

I have seen plenty of people express displeasure at the fact how his origins for Pokémon were that one day they magically appeared in the world. It's lame, contrived and lessens the universe imo. The gen 4 explanation for the origins is so much better and I'm glad shudo's idea for that was scrapped. Also his ending basically setting up ash to be a loser is something I'm sure lots of fans won't like either.

agree, That is why I think Arceus, dialga, palkia and giratina are above the rest of the legendary Pokémon, even eternatus, since this seems to be just an alien that Inhabits Arceus universe, unless, SWSH events take place in another universe

I just wish Pokémon did a timeline for its 25th anniversary, the same way as the legend of zelda