Review S16 EP29: Crowning the Scalchop King!

[Adil]

BW126 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

When the gang arrives at Scalchop Island, it’s Oshawott’s turn to show off its best feature! The Pokémon enters a talent and skills competition for all Oshawott and Dewott. If Ash’s Oshawott is going to win, it’s got its work cut out for it—a talented Dewott named Caesar and another Dewott (who looks a little strange) are both vying for the prize!

Please remember to keep all spoilers regarding future episodes in spoiler tags.

 

[Sakuraa]

Oh great another episode about Oshawott. And Team Rocket is here too? Ugh. This can’t go well.

Seriously, this episode was basically an Oshawott version of Cream of the Croagunk crop. There's a competition focusing on a particular species of Pokemon. Meowth enters disguised as that Pokemon. The winner gets to stay with a female of the species.The competitior for the group gets a rival with a Pokemon with a nickname. A part where they view the Pokemon and evaluate it. A brick breaking completion?! Seriously?

At least Team Rocket actually prepared this time and powered up Meowth’s fake scalchops. But seriously…Meowott? Anyway, so Oshawott battles and defeats Ceasar. As much as I would have loved to see Oshawott leave forever, seeing him get his heart broken by Osharina while she left for Ceasar was great too. But oh wait, then he just moves on to another girl at the end. Ugh!

Really lame episode. 2/10.

 

[Team Gaara]

What the hell?! That was a kind of CREEPY way to start an episode. Well, at least it makes sense for Ash to get involved this time.

What’s with the early commercial break?

Sigh, even if Team Rocket continue to use their serious voices, it doesn't hide the fact that they’re back to being fools. Why are they even doing this?!

OSHAWOTT HAS DONE A LOT TO DESERVE THAT SMACK DOWN ASH! And does this kid look really similar to that Elgyem guy to
anyone else?

This competition is really stupid…

Cinccino? Hello?! I mean, I admit I do prefer Who's that Pokemon? when they show a Pokemon unrelated to the episode, since it does seem more like a quiz to see if you know them all. And I do, in fact, realize that Cinccino was in this episode. But this one just bothered me for some reason.

Oh boy, Pokealtalon events…

Alright, so Meowth loses his costume and….this is really becoming too ridiculous…

I’M TIRED OF THIS SCIENCE, JAMES!! AND HOW IN THE HELL DID THEY BLAST OFF?!

Oh wow, Oshawott won…I’m so shocked…

Well, no one really expected Oshawott to leave Ash, no matter how much we wanted it. And…how the hell does Ash suddenly understand love again?

… -_-" Is this REALLY that deserving of a flashback reel?

And then Ash actually starts getting sad? Oh my goodness, Ash, shut up!

ARE YOU SERIOUS?! THE SCALCHOP BREAKING- Alright, I’m done here.

Random Cincinno…

You know what, forget this. Shogun Steel time…

I’m giving this episode a 0/10 for pissing me off, being just another “One Species Pokémon Competition” and, frankly, for being uninteresting.

 

[DracoMan]

Seriously, this episode was basically an Oshawott version of Cream of the Croagunk crop. There's a competition focusing on a particular species of Pokemon. Meowth enters disguised as that Pokemon. The winner gets to stay with a female of the species.The competitior for the group gets a rival with a Pokemon with a nickname. A part where they view the Pokemon and evaluate it. A brick breaking completion?! Seriously?

I was gonna say that! *sulks*

Might as well throw in more source material: the bit at the end with Ash reminiscing about the time spent with Oshawott seemed like an attempt to capture the heartbreaking scene from "Pikachu's Goodbye." Not a great attempt. Especially since Osharina pretty much said "Screw you!" to the entire plot by choosing the defeated Caesar.

As a side note, was there any way to tell all those scalchops apart during the first round?

Also, Oshawott kept trying to match Caesar's power head-on, and kept getting whupped. So how come in the final clash, Oshawott won? Oh, yeah, Ash screwed the rules. And I'm sure he had chances to win tourneys legitimately back in Unova, but didn't because TPTB decreed otherwise, so now he has to win when he shouldn't.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

Fake goodbye-montage was the best part. A true art of trolling...

 

[Darth Darkrai]

This a COMPLETE PEACE OF *HIT TO Me and it completely Insulting and I Agree with Team Garra on this a COMPLETE 0/10 Because this was REALLY BAD and I NEVER EVER NEVER Skip on Episodes but this was completely a BAD, HORRIBLE Terrible Episode and I want to not Watch this one again. Sorry for the Language Everybody I just want to Apologize before or if I get a Warning because this Episode was just terrible and I accept the Warning if I get one.

 

[Ambipom666]

So this is one of this episodes where you've seen everything in it 100 times. I do find it funny how Oshawott hasn't done anything of note in such a long time. Even the flashbacks supports this. (The last clip is from the battle with Clay, which was 65 episodes ago.)

Not really a spoiler, but...

Spoiler

It's also pretty amusing how Ash says he wants to keep traveling with Oshawott even though he's just gonna leave it with Professor Oak forever in 20 episodes, before which Oshawott will have done nothing of note. But I guess it's all about the journey, isn't it?

As a side note, was there any way to tell all those scalchops apart during the first round?

Probably; I imagine there are minute differences that only scalchop enthusiasts care to spot. The writers even have Iris and Cilan acknowledge the silliness of the situation.

 

[Magmaster12]

Wow this episode was hard to sit through, like this seriously might be one of the worst yet.

I mean really why did we need that freaking montage?

 

[Ambipom666]

Wow this episode was hard to sit through, like this seriously might be one of the worst yet.

I mean really why did we need that freaking montage?

The localized title of this episode in the Japanese version is Goodbye Oshawott!? The Path to Being Scalchop King!. That title, along with promotional material for this arc made Oshawott potentially leaving a selling point of the episode before it aired in Japan.

Since the English title of the episode omits the 'Goodbye' part and us non-Japanese fans don't get all that promotional material, the 'Oshawott potentially leaving' subplot has a lot less context and comes off as just there to fill a couple of minutes during the episode.

 

[Team Gaara]

The localized title of this episode in the Japanese version is Goodbye Oshawott!? The Path to Being Scalchop King!. That title, along with promotional material for this arc made Oshawott potentially leaving a selling point of the episode before it aired in Japan.

Since the English title of the episode omits the 'Goodbye' part and us non-Japanese fans don't get all that promotional material, the 'Oshawott potentially leaving' subplot has a lot less context and comes off as just there to fill a couple of minutes during the episode.

Even with "Goodbye" in the title, this episode didn't even seem like Oshawott actually leaving was even remotely going to happen. By comparison, in that episode where it seemed Pikachu would be left in the OS, they actually played it out like Pikachu could have potentially stayed behind. Such as Ash having time to mull it over, and actually leaving without Pikachu.

This episode's montage and the subsequent result were much too quick and seemed more comedic in nature, that we don't even feel like Oshawott will leave. Or at least, I don't.

I don't know what the promotional material you're talking about is, but I certainly hope that it gave off an impression that Oshawott could have been leaving. Because for me, the episode alone, again, even with "goodbye" in the title, would not have sold it for me.

 

[Neo Blaze]

This episode wasn't all that bad to me. Not all that great either, but certainly not as bad to me as everyone says it is. I was rather indifferent on it when it first aired in Japanese, but I enjoyed certain parts of this episode. I've never had that much problems with Oshawott. I like the guy, he's WAY better than Dawn's Piplup to me, which I really disliked with a passion (okay, his high-pitched voice had a lot to do with this, along with other things).

Plotwise this episode doesn't have much to offer - I'd still rather watch it than an episode where Pokémon get lost :/
Team Rocket was totally unneeded here and they just need to find something useful to do rather than entering a competition with a fake Pokémon only to be blasted off.

So yeah, I do agree this episode had a lot of reused elements, but at the same time it also felt somewhat fresh, to me at least. Still I'd not give this episode more than a 5/10.

So, third 5/10 I gave in a row... Yeah, I don't hate DA! really, most of its episodes are just not good enough. And its a pointless saga anyway. Still, some better episodes are coming its way, IMO.

 

[Life]

Ugh.... how boring. Before I start explaining, was anybody else curious as to why there weren't any Samurotts? I found it odd, but oh well...

Anyways, we have this snobbish child who thinks his Dewott is the best while Ash is trying to prove that his Oshawott is better. Well, just because he beat him doesn't mean Oshawott is better. I still don't even get how Ash won, he coppied all the moves Dewott used, and didn't land a single attack. He also was hit 3 times before Dewott was hit once, and then hit by the final blow. I mean, wow... His win was literally unbelievable.

I found TR's part in this episode to be even worse. The infomercials were annoying, and Meowott wasn't funny at all. I mean, how stupid are the people in the Pokemon World? He walked on stage with a bag that contained two scalchops bigger than his head....

I was looking forward to DA, but now I'm not sure anymore.

 

[Sakuraa]

Ugh.... how boring. Before I start explaining, was anybody else curious as to why there weren't any Samurotts? I found it odd, but oh well...

I think it was because the entire island and the competition was based on Scalchops, which Samurott don't have.

 

[Life]

Ugh.... how boring. Before I start explaining, was anybody else curious as to why there weren't any Samurotts? I found it odd, but oh well...

I think it was because the entire island and the competition was based on Scalchops, which Samurott don't have.

Initally I thought the same thing, than I remembered back to the battle with Cameron.

( I couldn't actually find Cameron's but this is close enough)

 

[Supreme Leader Palpitoad]

Ugh.... how boring. Before I start explaining, was anybody else curious as to why there weren't any Samurotts? I found it odd, but oh well...

I think it was because the entire island and the competition was based on Scalchops, which Samurott don't have.

Samurott has a scalchop sword. It is even more awesome than a normal scalchop.

 

[L-05308]

I love how the Osawott best bits sequence ends with the fight against Clay, they are not even gonna try and make us believe he's done anything interesting in the last 60 episodes

 

[Sakuraa]

Initally I thought the same thing, than I remembered back to the battle with Cameron.

Samurott has a scalchop sword. It is even more awesome than a normal scalchop.

But those are not scalchops. Bulbapedia refers to them as seamitars.

 

[Life]

But those are not scalchops. Bulbapedia refers to them as seamitars.

My apologies, I didn't take the time to look up the name.

Either way though, I'm still surprised there wasn't even a cameo.

 

[Matthais123]

As much as I would have loved to see Oshawott leave forever, seeing him get his heart broken by Osharina while she left for Ceasar was great too. But oh wait, then he just moves on to another girl at the end. Ugh!

Really lame episode. 2/10.

Ah. . .a kindred spirit who realized how much this episode SUCKS! I actually have reviewed this episode, but it's too long for here. So, I'll leave a link.
Zorua Reviews Chapter 14: BW 126- Crowning the Scalchop King, a Pokémon + Web Shows Crossover fanfic | FanFiction

 

[Misty Calls Masquerain]

You hated it too! Great! Check this out!
Zorua Reviews Chapter 14: BW 126- Crowning the Scalchop King, a Pokémon + Web Shows Crossover fanfic | FanFiction

LMAO @ the comments, my favorite quote was: You expect me to believe that a whole bunch of sea shells were all gathered in one spot in the ocean, in the shape of a sea shell no less, and then an island formed on top of them, still in the shape of a sea shell? (Note: Season One people are smarter than them lol)

The episode sucked to me too, it was a direct ripoff of the Cream of the Croagunk Crop episode.