• 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

The Water Flowers of Cerulean City! (007)

Antiyonder

Overlord
It should've been his first non-pity badge. But the writers hate him or something. :snowlax:

Sorry for sounding so rude, but I've been rather grumpy lately and replying to long posts doesn't help that. (p'.')p

I think it has more to do with a misguided attempt at showing him winning a badge creatively and somehow missing that it comes off as a cheap win.

And I do agree, that this should have been an actual win. Even, then with Brock for example it's understandable. Onix in addition to having a type advantage against all of Ash's Pokemon at the time, and being well huge. Or Sabrina for instance had a strong Kadabra, and at the time Psychic Pokemon were for the most part treated as the strongest type.

I mean had Pidgeotto won, and recalls (like Staryu) worked against the trainer, then Ash would have won and in a manner that wasn't cheap.
 

NPT

Just a member
In Kanto saga, Ash got some 'pity' badges, Cascade badge is one of them. Kanto saga is good, but I dislike the fact that Ash got so many cheap wins in Kanto gym battles. :( I don't get why the writers gave Ash badges so easily in Kanto saga. Misty's sisters were hot, but they're kinda annoying too.
 
Last edited:

Vernikova

Champion
I think it has more to do with a misguided attempt at showing him winning a badge creatively and somehow missing that it comes off as a cheap win.

And I do agree, that this should have been an actual win. Even, then with Brock for example it's understandable. Onix in addition to having a type advantage against all of Ash's Pokemon at the time, and being well huge. Or Sabrina for instance had a strong Kadabra, and at the time Psychic Pokemon were for the most part treated as the strongest type.

I mean had Pidgeotto won, and recalls (like Staryu) worked against the trainer, then Ash would have won and in a manner that wasn't cheap.

Yup yup. Totes agree. It's a shame since it could've simply been used as his first straight-forward win in a gym battle which would've done a lot on its own. At the very least, the were able to pull it off much better in the next battle with Surge.
 

MattySadler

Well-Known Member
I'd love Brock to explain his strange behaviour that day
 

Kutie Pie

"It is my destiny."
Another favorite of mine from my childhood. This gym battle episode I feel was much better than with Brock's, if only because it was a straightforward battle, and Ash did use his other Pokémon and showed what they could do. It probably was a good thing Pikachu refused to battle as it would've all been one-sided much like how her sisters pointed out. It's rather interesting to see that Misty did not hesitate to challenge Ash if only because of her grudge. You'd think his reaction to learning she was one of the gym leaders of Cerulean would be more in awe, but eh. On a meta-example, as a kid, I hadn't played the games yet, so Misty being a gym leader was a twist to me that made it up for Ash's reaction.

So the character who had development the most here was Misty, which makes since given it's pretty much her episode. (Is it just me, or was she a bit of a romantic in these early episodes? Unless it's just the dub?) She really must not like her sisters very much to have never hinted at them before, let alone her status as a gym leader. The reveal of Goldeen in the second episode I feel doesn't really cut it for me since we never saw her battle. Though it's possible she's not that great of a battler, which is why she left home to go train, if her sisters are anything to go by. They said she has the most talent out of the four of them, so something tells me the Cerulean Gym isn't a difficult challenge for trainers if the sisters are like that. As for the Sensational Sisters, they are interesting characters, and I'm glad we get to see them again from time to time, but I do wish we got to know about them a little bit more. I can't remember who played the sisters (as familiar as their voices sound), but the whole “valley girl” attitude they gave them wasn't as annoying as how the fandom seemed to have made it out to be. Or I just didn't remember it that well. Also, Rachel Lillis sounded really good here as Misty, probably because of how energetic she was to begin with.

Team Rocket's break-in is similar to that in the games, I've noticed. However, their idea was... not well-thought out. Their plan was to suck up water for Water Pokémon? Was there any proof that there were Water Pokémon in that pool prior to the “Misty Mermaid” episode? And even then, I think they set up the pool prior to the shows anyway, Pokémon included, so their idea sunk. (They also apparently didn't hook it up properly since Seel was outside.) And yes, I'm aware of James' comment, but I'm not commenting on it like everyone else did. It's too redundant.

We meet another Officer Jenny, who has a distinct personality of her own (though maybe as ditzy as Viridian City's Jenny). I have to do a double take at her saying she an Viridian!Jenny are sister-in-laws. Sister-in-law??? That makes me really tilt my head even though that mystery is kinda answered later on in the show (like way later on). However, I have found a little bit of detail that helps tell these Jennies apart a little bit: the sigmas on their hats. Viridian City's Jenny as a five-pointed star, while Cerulean's Jenny is a pentagon. Also, though it may just be me, but their hair colors are also slightly different. Viridian's has more green in her hair than Cerulean's, which is more blue. Forgot to check back with Joy, but most often than not, I've noticed the cross' color differs on the hat, so... yeah.

Also, lol at Brock getting turned down with a burn when he asked her out. “I'm not off duty until past your bedtime.” XD

I'm noticing a pattern when it comes to the badges. The reason Ash gets badges the way he does is because they insist he take the badges, even though he clearly refuses to accept them so easily, but they talk him into it. ASH, STOP GIVING IN TO PRESSURE. They apparently give him the badges because even though he does have the upper-hand, and can finish the fight with one last attack, they don't allow him to finish the fight correctly. Thank goodness Lt. Surge's battle went normally, meanwhile I have a feeling I'm gonna have a bone to pick with Erika if I remember correctly.

I swear, this episode was probably where 4KIDS started to hint at Pokéshipping. I wonder what Daisy really said in the original when she teased Misty about Ash being her boyfriend, which appears to be a running gag in the dub. But the argument during the battle and even afterwards was really great, they bounced off each other pretty well. It kinda reminds me of my brothers and I whenever we have our dumb arguments, but it feels realistic to how ten-year-olds argue with each other, especially those between boys and girls. While I doubt it was as noticeable in the original, is it any wonder the two were teased as a couple in the dub? I doubt 4KIDS planned that out at first.

Now if only we knew where Brock went to. Unless he went back to Officer Jenny for some reason, Brock basically snuck out of the episode for the most part. Pretty weird.

So while I think the pacing felt a bit weird, what happened in the episode was what we basically wanted to see, and it was enjoyable. It won't be until we reach Lt. Surge before we learn just how brutal gym battles can be (Brock's first battle with Ash is tame compared to Surge and Sabrina's). But for now, the next six episodes will be nothing but a trip down memory lane, and possibly even a question as to whether I did the math right in my head or not, because I swear it took Ash and friends forever to get to Vermilion.
 

Lorde

Let's go to the beach, each.
I watched this episode again and I really enjoyed how suspicious Officer Jenny was of Ash and Brock, and I honestly wonder if the Boulder Badge that Brock showed her was the same one he gave Ash, or another one that he had. Anyway, I liked Pikachu's reaction to seeing Misty's sisters perform their water ballet, although I wasn't sure if he admired their performance or if he just thought they were pretty lol. Seeing Misty battle Ash was the most satisfying part of this episode for me. I liked that Ash couldn't use Pikachu since he refused to battle against a friend, and at least Ash's Butterfree and Pidgeotto got to shine. It's a pity that Misty's Staryu put up a better fight than her Starmie though. Still a good episode nonetheless.
 

Sprinter1988

Well-Known Member
I watched this episode again and I really enjoyed how suspicious Officer Jenny was of Ash and Brock, and I honestly wonder if the Boulder Badge that Brock showed her was the same one he gave Ash, or another one that he had. Anyway, I liked Pikachu's reaction to seeing Misty's sisters perform their water ballet, although I wasn't sure if he admired their performance or if he just thought they were pretty lol. Seeing Misty battle Ash was the most satisfying part of this episode for me. I liked that Ash couldn't use Pikachu since he refused to battle against a friend, and at least Ash's Butterfree and Pidgeotto got to shine. It's a pity that Misty's Staryu put up a better fight than her Starmie though. Still a good episode nonetheless.

Misty's Staryu has always been better than her Starmie. It's a shame that she had both at the same time, as I would have liked to have seen Misty make the progression of having one and then eventually deciding to evolve it into the other.

Seriously though, this was one of my faviourite episodes from the original series, despite the (highly desputed) pity badge. More than anything, it was a worthwhile episode simply because of Misty's development as a character within it.
 
Misty's Staryu has always been better than her Starmie. It's a shame that she had both at the same time, as I would have liked to have seen Misty make the progression of having one and then eventually deciding to evolve it into the other.

To be honest, the writers only made Starmie battle four times (five if you include vs Bulbasaur) while Staryu battles more. I do agree with what you said, but it's unknown if she had caught Starmie as a Staryu or if they were gym/gift Pokemon.
 

Arvis

Well-Known Member
I really enjoyed this episode, the introduction of Misty's sisters and their interactions were interesting.
 

Tyrantrum

Well-Known Member
Thought it was interesting, that apparently even non-blood relations such as Jenny's sister-in law still appeared similar to each other. Maybe that's just a quirk of the family?
 
Even though he doesn't do it at the level he will do in future episodes, I think this could be the first episode where Brock hit's on a Nurse Joy/Officer Jenny.
I found it kind of cute how Pikachu didn't want to battle against Misty. :)
I found it kind of funny how Brock sort of didn't sound all that interested in Ash winning his second badge, what with the quick and almost dismissive way he said 'Cool!'
He might as well have went "Cool story, bro!"
 

minerswhocraft

Misty Come Back!
I love the way Brock and Ash call to eachother at the end of the battle, as if they have been best friends for a long time. It wasn't even meant to be a joke, but it's still one of the funniest moments ever!
 
I really enjoyed this episode. I didn't mind the so-called pity badge so much because the battle wasn't terribly interesting. I enjoyed Misty's character development, and her sisters were pretty funny. My favorite quote was "I'm not off duty until past your bedtime." after Brock asked Jenny out. Speaking of Brock, I'd sure like to know what he was really doing when he left for half the episode.
 

Mrs. Oreo

Banned
Ha ha Misty's 3 sisters seemed so ditzy but I liked their gym at least. Ash vs Misty was fun to watch especially cuz of how Pikachu didn't want to fight which allowed Pidgeotto and Butterfree to battle. I always wanted to know where Brock went tho. ^^;
 

Mega Altaria

☆~Shiny hunter▢~
The last time I remember seeing this episode, I didn't quite like Misty behaving immaturely when the group was trying to enter Cerulean City but seeing Ash and Brock being arrested was quite funny even though they didn't look like Team Rocket. But got excited when Ash got the Cascade Badge because he saved the Gym and the Gym's Water type Pokémon.
 

keepitsimple

site of lies
I would have liked to see this episode focused on the battle instead of Team Rocket. Like Brock in the last two episodes, it feels like Misty was cheated out of a decent on screen battle. Seeing Staryu and Starmie in action was nice, despite being brief.
 

JudySpell

Banned
Misty versus Ash deserved better & the TRio shouldn't have intervened in the end. I liked Misty's sisters and their water ballet though. 7/10
 
Top