Only a couple of days before Ash's first battle in the Sinnoh league tournament, and we're getting quite a few other treats that day as well, including some info about the Pokemon anime for the next region. It's a wonderfully exciting time right now.
I'm skipping one review to come to this episode. dp 35 introduces a member of the elite four and addresses some issues Dawn has with Buizel's battling style. It's worth a watch, and the reviews for that episode are pretty awesome. This episode is Nando's 2nd appearance, and again in the spirit of trying to appreciate the rivals of Sinnoh, I'll look at it.
Well, we start off in the thick of things, just like in the dress up competition a few episodes back. Ash and company, who are at some sort of museum, witness a disguised Team Rocket steal something that's very important (which is all my understanding is of the items Team Galactic needs for their plans; really sorry about that). Team Rocket is able to make a half getaway, in that they escape from our heroes but are still in the museum with the police monitoring the entrances. However, the police, particularly the Officer Jenny of this city, are a bit nonsensical, and they blame Nando for the theft. His honor is quickly vouched for by Gardenia (the 2nd gym leader-finally remembered her name!), who reasons that anyone who can win her gym badge using the battling style Nando did could never be a thief. So that's the way we find out Nando is having success in his bid for the Sinnoh league. I think the idea is solid: Nando is revealed to have defeated a gym leader who recently beat Ash in an unofficial battle. The fact that Gardenia does the talking and gives a few compliments along the way further creates a level of respect for Nando's skills. What I find interesting though, it that one of Ash's later rivals is introduced in almost the exact opposite manner. This rival loses to the gym leader, the gym leader has nothing nice to say about the rival (which he complains about when watching Ash's battle), and yet I like him all the more for it. That rival has a warmth to his character that Nando does not have, despite that rival looking like a bit of loser. It's amazing the things that can make one like a character. You know, to me, the greatest strength of the pokemon anime has been that its main character has not yet won a league (3 tries so far). I think of Ash as a talented Pokemon trainer, not as Mr. Hero who's going to win no matter what b/c he's the main character; that's why I like him so much. That's also the reason I'm sort of glancing over the Team Galactic plot; you know that Team Galactic is going to be stopped, and I don't think good guy/bad guy plots like that are why this show is what it is. Not that I'm against it or anything; it's necessary. But if that's all this show was, I wouldn't watch it. That said, I think Ash has grown up so much, and I hope he does win the Sinnoh league (I really wanted to say that before the 1st round of the Sinnoh league kicked off).
My favorite scene in this episode is when Pikachu and Piplup spy Jessie, James, and Meowth taking off their disguise; the two have a conflict of opinions over what to do about it. I haven't said too much about Piplup because I don't think it's at its best when it's being proud and receiving respect for that, which is what happened when it learned Whirlpool and fought Buizel. Piplup is much more fun/unique when it shows pride and ends up making mistakes as a result. That's also why Piplup and Pikachu have such a fun friendship, and this scene is the first one that shows that.
