The Symbol Life (413)

[Pokemon Fan]

...ugggh. I didn't like this one at all. Seeing Articuno battle and under the command of a trainer just made the bird seem a whole lot less special than its supposed to be. I know its already been discussed to death, but after actually watching the episode, the feeling really hits you like a ton of bricks. Gah, I'm really sorry for whining about it so much, but I just despised the entire concept >_<;

Well on a positive note the match looked essentially to be a draw. Articuno ended up falling down and staying down (though no swirly eye=yay! as I hate those in serious battles) but still throughout it looked like they were essentially equal in strength, or in fact Charizard was somewhat weaker (it seemed it was on the run from attacks a lot more than Articuno was).

Though to stop any words on how Ash didn't deserve the symbol, let's just say he deserves it simply for performing well against a sub legendary (that Articuno looked about a quarter smaller than the Orange Islands or even Johto one) and leave it at that? ^_^

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Anyway, based on the screenshots.

Pros:

1. Ash flying around on Charizard at the start. It was nice to see them spending time together and looking at the size and power of the attacks it was launching as Ash practiced with it really showcased just how strong Charizard has become. And it just looked prettier than the rest of the episode to me.
2. Overheat looked very nice. The little detail with it melting the ice off Charizard's wing was appreciated.
3. Articuno used some good combos and strategies.
4. TR's "crayon drawing" fantasy was funny looking.
5. The new version of Seismic Toss was nice simply because it was different.

Cons:

1. Poor animation and art nearly throughout. Except for the scenery in the beginning of the episode and the Overheat scene everything looked below average. It may be simple to say it had bad animation, but it really effects my enjoyment of a big battle.
2. Charizard looked far too fat and clumsy in most of the scenes, as well as its wings too small in many/all scenes. A common symptom for it when it appears in badly animated episodes.
3. Not using the ample, obvious opportunities to showcase Blaze and/or Blast Burn.
4. A nearly complete lack of originality in Charizard's battle style. Not even a clever use of Fire Spin. Who else loved it in Johto when Charizard actually wrapped up a freaking HYPER BEAM!? ^-^
5. It doesn't look like Ash and Charizard hug even once in the episode... okay maybe it's trivial but I love those scenes. *is sad*

 

[V Faction]

I wonder if we'll see the likes of Furry Cutter and Rollout and Fire Punch and and all of those more often, what with the BF having them avalible. Heck, with Dragonbreath, I wonder if we'll see some OLDER attacks, like Seismic Toss and Counter and Bide. I'm starting to agree with that idea that attacks can be spread across the regions a little (and being in Kanto doesn't hurt either =P).

Now if they wouldn't just spring them on us last minute in favor of more elusive attacks~

 

[majinveggito]

He probably won't. Unless the writers are truly retarded that they absolutely HAVE to shove Ash with the same 5 boring types every single region. (Grass, Fire, Water, flying, electric).

He doesn't need a new fire type either, he has 3 perfectly good fire Pokemon as it is.

Yeah...but it would fit the pattern...I haven't been surprised much...by anything the writers done...well, there may be one or two exceptions ^_^;;

 

[Mew2]

I'm under the impression that for the rest of the Battle Frontier arc, the sixth pokemon slot will be rotated each time. That means that there's a good chance that we may see pokemon like Squirtle or Snorlax later on depending on the scenerio.

 

[Almighty Zard]

I'm under the impression that for the rest of the Battle Frontier arc, the sixth pokemon slot will be rotated each time. That means that there's a good chance that we may see pokemon like Squirtle or Snorlax later on depending on the scenerio.

Squirtle depends on if there is a facility near where he is right now,might get an episode or two for itself though, and i wouldn't mind seeing Heracross at the Arena, now that should be good.

 

[JazzJazz]

Squirtle depends on if there is a facility near where he is right now

What kind of facility? You mean a pokemon transporter? Does squirtle even have a pokeball anymore?

 

[V Faction]

Of course he does. It's in the possession of Jenny now.

 

[CyberCubed]

What kind of facility? You mean a pokemon transporter? Does squirtle even have a pokeball anymore?

I think he meant Battle Facility.

In any case, if Squirtle does come back Ash could simply call up Jenny to meet him.

Just like Jenny apparently flew all the way from Kanto to Johto just to allow Ash to use Squirtle in the Johto League.

 

[Team Rocket Admin]

What kind of facility? You mean a pokemon transporter? Does squirtle even have a pokeball anymore?

I'm sure Ash still has it, as he still had Charizard's, and Squirtle came out of a Pokeball when he used it in the Johto league.

 

[£añkaÑ]

Great Episode, all thats bad is, that he already got the gold, he shoul've got Silver instead, but ohwell.

The anime style may be different...from the game ..lol

it was a nice ep...i wonder if this is how it is going to be in future ep..a.gianst some legendaryies...

 

[poke_girl]

No one ever did Answer why there's words on the screen near the end, I've only seen the screen shots..

 

[Sushi]

It was a notification of earthquakes somewhere I think.

Well, the drawing-style was a real turn-off, but I was expecting that. The animation team didn't do as horribly as they did with the first GF part, but still, the characters looked either too fat or just .. kinda two-dimensional >.<

I enjoyed the battle though. Although it made Articuno look like an average Pokémon, it was long enough and quite filled with action and twists. And they did a good job with the music =D

I see Team Rocket had to butt in again...but it was okay this time I guess, the motto looked cool XD

 

[Yamato-san]

I see Team Rocket had to butt in again...but it was okay this time I guess, the motto looked cool XD

When you mention it, I was really expecting Rocket Dan to just roll down the sloping roof, fall off the outside of the building, shout their usual "Yana kanji!" as they fall, and be done with it. Instead, they fell along the inner wall. Thankfully, they didn't take up too much time, and the battle was still pretty great for most of it. I too enjoyed the new look for Seismic Toss, and that was kinda cool-looking how Lizardon's wing got frozen and it rolled along the ground a bit (I haven't seen the screenshots Serebii posted, so I don't know if that scene still looks impressive without the animation or not).

On the bad side, I didn't appreciate Lizardon suddenly learning Overheat, neither. They blew the perfect opportunity to showcase Blast Burn, plus he took Coatoise's signature technique. Now all Coatoise has going for it is its insane defenses, and you just know how the writers love taking advantage of that trait [rolls eyes]. And it seemed a little cheap at the end, how Lizardon was down and Freezer was standing, but Datsura just intentionally calls off the judge's announcement, as if he could predict Lizardon would recover quickly and Freezer would collapse shortly afterwards (you know, Pikachu was declared unable to battle on several occasions, but he managed to recover and stand up again a helluva lot quicker than Lizardon did here). Also, it did baffle me how Lizardon used Seismic Toss, but both fighters seemed damaged. I guess they were trying to dramatize the end of the battle, but the way they pulled it off sure seemed less logical than most other dramatizations (thank god they didn't give Freezer swirly eyes, though. All throughout Houen, every serious battle, every serious, cool-looking Pokemon like Juptle and Oosubame, they all go out with comical swirly eyes that just degrades the seriousness of the battle and the Pokemon's character. Really annoyed the hell out of me). Overall, could've been better, but hey, I got to hear more of Hiyama Nobuyuki, so I'm happy ^^.

 

[Blaziken master]

I actually thought this battle was pretty good.My favourite BGM played{the one in Jirachi:wishmaker when flygon came to the rescue of Ash and Max}and the new seismic toss was ace.I also enjoyed the explosion between overheat and water pulse.Some of the drawing was iffy, but I've seen worse.I would give it 8/10. Wonder when Scott will make his next appearance?

 

[MasterJedi]

Which frontier building will they be heading for next?

 

[Blaziken master]

The battle arena

 

[Almighty Zard]

On the bad side, I didn't appreciate Lizardon suddenly learning Overheat, neither. They blew the perfect opportunity to showcase Blast Burn, plus he took Coatoise's signature technique. Now all Coatoise has going for it is its insane defenses, and you just know how the writers love taking advantage of that trait [rolls eyes]. And it seemed a little cheap at the end, how Lizardon was down and Freezer was standing, but Datsura just intentionally calls off the judge's announcement, as if he could predict Lizardon would recover quickly and Freezer would collapse shortly afterwards (you know, Pikachu was declared unable to battle on several occasions, but he managed to recover and stand up again a helluva lot quicker than Lizardon did here). Also, it did baffle me how Lizardon used Seismic Toss, but both fighters seemed damaged. I guess they were trying to dramatize the end of the battle, but the way they pulled it off sure seemed less logical than most other dramatizations (thank god they didn't give Freezer swirly eyes, though. All throughout Houen, every serious battle, every serious, cool-looking Pokemon like Juptle and Oosubame, they all go out with comical swirly eyes that just degrades the seriousness of the battle and the Pokemon's character. Really annoyed the hell out of me). Overall, could've been better, but hey, I got to hear more of Hiyama Nobuyuki, so I'm happy ^^.

Overheat may have been Torkoal's signature move, but that doesn't mean others can't learn it, i mean that's like saying Grovyle can't learn Solarbeam cause Bulbasaur has it, and personally i hope Cyndauil learns Overheat as well, they need to be up to date with attacks, now as for the Blast Burn issue, who knows, maybe they want Ash to learn from that lady on two island in the Sevii islands, and may be he, Gary coming back as trainer long enough to pull it off and Hajime could do something like in the manga like running down tunnels doing skill tests for the moves.

 

[Alfonso]

Almighty, you're missing the point ENTIRELY. Torkoal, like many before it, was a Pokemon that was screwed over ROYALLY by the writers. However, Overheat, a powerful-yet-grows weaker Fire attack, was something that made the little dude unique. Not only do they take that away from him after dumping him from the show, they give it to CHARIZARD. Charizard, the fame-stealer. Charizard, the glory-hog. Charizard the frikking move stealing *****.

 

[V Faction]

Y'know, now that I think about it, Yamato, it may have been too little, too late for Torkoal even before this. I know that throughout the series, they've played up Overheat as Torkoal's very own attack, but that just flies off the bull**** meter. In actuality, Torkoal's exclusive attack is Heat Wave, as I'm sure most of you know. However, if we remember carefully, that attack was seen being used at the Hoenn League in the clutches of Charizard.

So how do you like that? It seems the big lizard is behind much more stealing than we thought. So now, we've seen it use Heat Wave (a Torkoal exclusive move [yes, I'm aware that it can pass on through breeding, but only to 2 other Pokemon! {one of which is Charizard -_-}]), we've seen Ash's pull off Overheat (the attack they we insinuating was Torkoal's), and the Charizard exclusive attack, Blast Burn, has yet to be witnessed, but likely will be showcased sometime in the future. Honestly, isn't it enough already?

 

[Alfonso]

...I'm pretty damn sure other Pokemon other than Torkoal can learn Heat Wave. o__o; Arcanine, for one, I believe.