Review XY060: Aim to be the Kalos Queen! Serena Makes Her Debut!!

[Mareepy]

And that's why I like Misty. She had enough of a goal for me just by the fact that she loved to collect Water type Pokémon.

Then there you are. You have just admitted even Misty have a goal.

They just have different goals. Misty ain't interested in making her Pokemon beautiful.

What do different people having different goal managed to annoy you by all means?

And did Misty stick around because of friendship at the very start? All I remember is a debt collector stalking someone for payment. Which in fact this is not a reason that I would like anyone to tag along with Ash.

Brock also, you will realize that they developed friendship after they tagged along.

Now if Serena tagged simply because she wants to travel, good, go alone. Ash have to stop by occasionally to fight Gym, and he is not interested in travel destinations.

If Serena tagged along because she wants to capture Pokemons, good, go alone. You can go to specific location to stay there and look for interesting Pokemons before leaving for another place. Going with Ash who wants to rush for another Gym will only hinder your goal.

Misty tagged along with Ash, big mistake. Which make her hardly progress in her goal, as the reason stated above.

She wants to become a Master of Water types, which she is nowhere near with her travel with Ash. Over 200 episodes, how many episode really focused on her goal? She captured a Pokemon in an episode, yeah she did, but did she recite her goal and show more determination to it? No. Misty was poorly developed because her goal. Not that I don't like her goal, the goal simply have nothing to write to begin with. The goal itself is interesting, but as you see, they weren't well written. (Master of Water type and Master of Dragon type, yeah, both suffered the same fate)

Remember when she was fishing in the first episode she appeared? If Misty went through all locations fishing and searching for new Water Pokemons. She could have been a Water Pokemon Master already.

I love May, Dawn and Serena because they are proactive in their goal. The Anime actually have things to write for them. Development through the contests. Learning new things. And most importantly, cross influence with Ash's battle and their contest, which is done very well in AG and DP, Counter Shield and all, nothing short of impressive.

 

[Nick102]

You know, all this talk is starting to make me wonder if the anime might have been better if Ash had been a solo character, like Red in Pokémon Origins. No female characters with inconvenient goals that take the focus of the story off of battling and exciting adventure (which I got much of off of the original series and their movies).

But I digress...

 

[투 애니원]

It's a perfectly normal reaction for a ten year old girl who finally found something she is really enthusiastic about only to mess up real bad at the very beginning and lose in the very first round.

A ten year old girl wouldn't feel so bad about a beginner's mistake when she has plenty of time to learn and improve. Now, it would be a different story if Serena had anyone in her life pressuring or criticizing her, but she is surrounded by people who do the complete opposite. Even her mother is better than Dawn could have asked for.

So you'd rather have them rehash Dawn's story then try a different route?

 

[Nick102]

It's a perfectly normal reaction for a ten year old girl who finally found something she is really enthusiastic about only to mess up real bad at the very beginning and lose in the very first round.

A ten year old girl wouldn't feel so bad about a beginner's mistake when she has plenty of time to learn and improve. Now, it would be a different story if Serena had anyone in her life pressuring or criticizing her, but she is surrounded by people who do the complete opposite. Even her mother is better than Dawn could have asked for.

So you'd rather have them rehash Dawn's story then try a different route?

Exactly. They've done the contest stuff two times already, and it contributed to my growing loss of interest in following the anime, so I was looking forward to seeing Serena end up differently and be another girl that didn't need contests to be an interesting character.

 

[Mareepy]

Exactly. They've done the contest stuff two times already, and it contributed to my growing loss of interest in following the anime, so I was looking forward to seeing Serena end up differently and be another girl that didn't need contests to be an interesting character.

And in your opinion Misty and Iris are better developed and more interesting? Simply because they don't do contest? They basically do nothing. Doing nothing is better than doing something you mean?

Or you mean none of them were interesting, because you need a character that have a goal that is not contest and be interesting. If thats the case, I am sorry, Pokemon never had that character. You may have to wait Gen 7 for that.

And if the latter is the case, the existence of boring (by your definition) female character is the thing that contributed to your loss of interest, not contests.

 

[Perpetual_Phoenix]

Why do people think Serena bursting out crying is not believable?

She just embarrassed her self in front of a whole audience and probably national tv since it seems the media is very into it.

Not to mention she made a silly small mistake the could have been avoided. Her main rival was present as well and saw the whole thing. Another jab to her emotions.

Does anyone recall that Solidad mentioned that Drew cried when he lost in his first ever pokemon contest? So yeah if that guy can cry it's not impossible for Serena to cry.


P.S. The audience voting system is ehhh. Overall a good episode. Granted some people won't like because of Serena's new design which in my opinion actually looks good.

 

[Mareepy]

Why do people think Serena bursting out crying is not believable?

She just embarrassed her self in front of a whole audience and probably national tv since it seems the media is very into it.

Not to mention she made a silly small mistake the could have been avoided. Her main rival was present as well and saw the whole thing. Another jab to her emotions.

Does anyone recall that Solidad mentioned that Drew cried when he lost in his first ever pokemon contest? So yeah if that guy can cry it's not impossible for Serena to cry.

P.S. The audience voting system is ehhh. Overall a good episode. Granted some people won't like because of Serena's new design which in my opinion actually looks good.

The cry is believable for me. But not the haircut, atleast not in the most ideal scenario.

Like you said in the other thread, she looks like she cast away her doubts, but in this episode, did she even have a doubt at start? She cut the ribbon, get ready for the walk, goes on to walk, all confidently. I DON'T see a single shade of doubt.

She doubting herself for a single accident which she and Fennekin are equally at fault is weak IMO. She can be sad about the failure, she can cry. But the haircut is not justified the right way.

I do realize its Silktree you are referring to that has problem with Serena crying. But I am just making it clear my stand point is the haircut, not the cry.

 

[Perpetual_Phoenix]

Well she kind of did have doubts when her hands were shaking in the beginning. I guess her messing up big time restored all those doubts she had beforehand.

Her pokemon comforting her made realize she needs to change her way of thinking, why not a new look as well to go along with it? Some sort of symbolism to be exact.

 

[Srebak]

I have to say, i'm in the neutral zone about Serena's new look. What was wrong with her old look?

 

[Mareepy]

I have to say that I am too harsh on this episode, re-watched it again and I find it better than I first watched it.

The scenes are beautiful and I almost missed some details like Serena's reaction on Shauna declared the winner.

My expectation is surely too high at start to make me magnify the flaw too much, that one flaw.

This episode is almost perfect, thats why I can't stand it not being perfect.

An honest 9/10 without the high expectation. It could have broken the 10 barrier.

 

[Silktree]

So you'd rather have them rehash Dawn's story then try a different route?

No. I'd rather see her cry about something more meaningful than a minor mistake that she is smart enough to shrug off a few hours later.

 

[szmty]

This episode was... just, wow.

I just haven't been able to stop gushing about it since I watched it some hours ago. The only things I didn't liked about this episode was that the music during the Showcase could have been better, and that Jessie should have passed to the next round.

I think that Serena has finally matured as a character. And I'll be honest, I used to be among those people who didn't like her. The only thing that stopped me from outright hating her is that her only defining trait at the time was her crush, which made her very different from the other characters, whose feelings for Ketchum were much more unclear.

Up to this episode, Dawn used to be my favourite "PokéGirl". Regarding character design, I still like her the best out of the five PokéGirls. But as a character, Serena has left her and everyone else way down in the list. And Serena's new design can begin rivalling Dawn's; I didn't expect Serena to look so good. I'm not a fan of short hair in girls, but in Serena's case, it fits her so well, both in design and as a character, with her shorter hair representing a new beginning.

By the way, I don't know why are you discussing about Serena's reaction. I think that her reaction is completely justified; she seemed to be very focused, preparing everything with great attention and caution. But then, her Fennekin had an accident and tripped right in front of a live audience in a large auditorium. She not only lost, but she was also the least voted of the participants during her round. She's a young woman, very probably in her early teens. Her reaction was very natural in my opinion. I love the way they handled this, and the haircut. It was a very emotional and touching scene.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

After watching this episode i have to say i admire amount of effort put into Serena character development in here.

Pokemon performance wasnt that much exciting, but i did liked new innovation in voting system. Based on glowing sticks with audience having chance to express their interest and support of which girl performance they liked best. Assigning different color to each girl through which they would be represented.

Its pity Jessie didn't succeed in going to next round. Because her showcase was most creative imo and original. With Pumpkaboo outfit and dark like aura emitting ceepy, storming aura on stage. She was always notable for weird, most unusual attack com binations and strategies in contests as well(like pokemon attacking her being part of appeal). And i liked that.

But if someone shined in here, it was defginitely Shauna. She completely sweeped away competitiion with her Bulbasaur(looked adorable btw),Flabebe, cute pink outfit and witty use of its vine whips . Witnessing to teamwork between trainer and its pokemon being in pefect harmony.

All of this gavefurther motivation for Serena to improve and work harder on developing better thrust and understanding between herself and pokemon.

Speaking of which, i didnt expected that Fennekin out of all things will be one messing up Serena debut (unintentionally of course). Pity because they both looked very exciting despite beng nervous to get out there and show what they can do.

Kinda hoping Serena would be one breeaking mod winning first important event with development taking different direction. In glory and initial success hitting her in head starting to take performance lightly and developing wrong perception. With overcofidence leadng to future downfalls making her question and realize if she was wrong all along with first win being just luck and plexus of unpredicted circumstances going in her favor.

But that might had take more time than writers could had afford thus taking similar route May and Dawn went through.

Which i dont mind because of some different and verx pleasant twists i definitely welcmed.

Liking how despite very bad impression this didnt damaged friendship between Serena and Shauna continuing to support her through rest of competition and congratulating for win. While visibly tryng to hide her disappointment and blame she felt for letting down herself and pokemon.

Because whether your fan or not, its not easy to remain indifferent to Serena breaking down bursting in tears during walk she took alone with pokemon. Making me feel sorry for character and harsh realization of how tough Tripokalon can be requiring lot of dedication, teamwork and effort to really succeeed.

Im starting to think Serena dream in previous episode of tripping with Fennekin was possibly presentiment from her character in not feeling comfortable about debut sensing how something bad might happen(explaining her nervousness during whole competition).

I almost missed that detail, but if this was writers way of foreshadowing Serena loss, i like subtle approach used there.

Act of cutting her hair because of loss, with new hairstyle representing "born of new person" was something i suspected to happen. In sene of Serena letting go her "old self". Serena who was insecure, shy and undecided. Had no asgenda and motivation in doing anything with her life.

In new character who became much more resolved, determined and confident in itself finding what she truly likes, standing up to her mother and imposed tradition her family maintained and walking toward future with newborn strength and steadiness.

Adding to her appeal and originality welcoming that change of look has some meaning behind it. Instead of being passed of as simple blatant promotion of character customization feature from games.

She definitely looks great in new outfit and with new hair. Complimenting well that bright girly side, radiating with new energy and cuteness in more "grown up" way.

Presence of old lady (if im not mistaken her name is Yashio?)who enjoys big popularity and attention in public and from journalists dropping eye on Serena sparking her interest was nice foreshadowing toward futture . Indicating she may play important role in further development from Serena side and progression of her career in aim of becoming Kalos Queen.

All in all i didn't regret watching this episode. Being marked with elements of drama, sadness, excitement and unpredictability. Having everything neeeded to be enjoyable and impactful.

Then there you are. You have just admitted even Misty have a goal.

They just have different goals. Misty ain't interested in making her Pokemon beautiful.

What do different people having different goal managed to annoy you by all means?

And did Misty stick around because of friendship at the very start? All I remember is a debt collector stalking someone for payment. Which in fact this is not a reason that I would like anyone to tag along with Ash.

Brock also, you will realize that they developed friendship after they tagged along.

Now if Serena tagged simply because she wants to travel, good, go alone. Ash have to stop by occasionally to fight Gym, and he is not interested in travel destinations.

If Serena tagged along because she wants to capture Pokemons, good, go alone. You can go to specific location to stay there and look for interesting Pokemons before leaving for another place. Going with Ash who wants to rush for another Gym will only hinder your goal.

Misty tagged along with Ash, big mistake. Which make her hardly progress in her goal, as the reason stated above.

She wants to become a Master of Water types, which she is nowhere near with her travel with Ash. Over 200 episodes, how many episode really focused on her goal? She captured a Pokemon in an episode, yeah she did, but did she recite her goal and show more determination to it? No. Misty was poorly developed because her goal. Not that I don't like her goal, the goal simply have nothing to write to begin with. The goal itself is interesting, but as you see, they weren't well written. (Master of Water type and Master of Dragon type, yeah, both suffered the same fate)

Remember when she was fishing in the first episode she appeared? If Misty went through all locations fishing and searching for new Water Pokemons. She could have been a Water Pokemon Master already.

Traveling with Ash wasn't reason behind lack of progression in Misty goal. But more so writers inexperience and lack of direction in which writers planned to take pokemon series.

By traveling she was still able to meet strong water trainers like Trinity, Marina, her idol E4 Lorelei not hiding desire to become strong like her one day. She was able to find out about Whirl Cup which dived deeper in what water master title involves with winner getting Alpha Omega of water pokemon name. Accomplishing one of steps that way in coming closer toward that dream.

Enter other important events like Seaking championship or Alto Mare race starting to be recognized as skilled water trainer.

Through travels Misty saw and learned about all kind of new water pokemon and legendary ones like Lugia along with Ash reckless and enthusiastic side about pokemon risking life to protect them making Misty to start viewing pokemon in different light and overcome personal prejudices. Growing to like and appreciaste Psyduck despite its handicap, risking life to protect Gyarados almost being killed etc.

It wasnt enough true.

But that was writers respnsibility for not exploring more on her career and made her more prominent in episodes which would been of help to push her goal(like battling maybe Lorelei herself for example learning valuable lesson). And there existed lot of chances during all those travels with Ash(especially in cutting down on fillers in middle of Johto using it for something more productive).

If Misty came later in pokemon series she would probably be given rival, writers would dive deeper in her water pokemon master goal creating chain of competitions serving as follow up from what Whirl Cup established. Take ideas from manga such as Suicune choosing her as psartner helping Misty to better understand water pokemon and create stronger bond with them. Along with possibly entering tasks and battling evakuatirs to end upo as Lorelei, E4 Sibold or Wallace apprentice teacing her how to masterr use of water pokemon.

But Misty came in pokemon during OS when writers followed different formula with Misty dreams not being much focused until mr. Shudo left head position before Master Quest with more emphasis being put on adventure, human feelings and relationship development between characters which made original trio feel well imo so natural and enjoyable. Battles and more significant progression toward dreams wasnt top priority in early years of pokemon.

Resulting in Misty goals not being explored much. With most development coming in changing in personality sense becoming more mature, openminded and independent. Overcoming complex of feeling inferior to sisters, developing close friendship with Ash caring for him etc.

But i digress.

p.s. Apologies for bringing this up, but i felt some things should been explained about this subject.

 

[CrashBash]

Exactly. They've done the contest stuff two times already, and it contributed to my growing loss of interest in following the anime, so I was looking forward to seeing Serena end up differently and be another girl that didn't need contests to be an interesting character.

And in your opinion Misty and Iris are better developed and more interesting? Simply because they don't do contest? They basically do nothing. Doing nothing is better than doing something you mean?

If I may at least throw this out here....I prefer Misty and Iris over May and Dawn mostly because I find them more interesting. Maybe it's just because I like battling more, and they come across as very strong-willed girls. Maybe it's because of their snarky attitudes? I don't really know, although I doubt it's completely the latter, since they did do it a whisker too much (everyone hates Iris for her habit of calling Ash a "kid" every moment she could. I can understand, that did get annoying. But Misty's habit of constantly criticizing Ash, only to turn physically violent whenever she herself was criticized, really wasn't any better).

Out of the three "showcase" girls, Serena is the only one of the three I really like. I don't really know what makes her different from the others. Maybe it is just her crush on Ash. I'm sorry, I really suck at trying to explain why I like or don't like a specific character.

Which character(s) a person finds interesting is a very subjective thing, after all. Although I will say episodes like these make me slightly more interested in Serena than before.

 

[Mikuri]

I think Aim to be the Kalos Drama Queen! would be a better title. I mean, the girl cried like there was no tomorrow. I'm not saying that she has no right to cry, but that she was overreacting. She did not lose because time ran out before she could dress up her Pokémon or because there were better contestants. I would understand all that crying if she had lost because she lacks the skills, but it is not the case here, it was an accident. Jessie should be the one crying a river. She did not deserve this.

The Pokémon Showcase ended up being a rehash of the Hearthome Collection. And there were people saying the writers were trying out new things. #bringContestsback

I did not like how the audience essentially chose who advanced from the first round. In that case, the winner of the competition isn't necessarily who had the most skill, but rather who the audience liked best.

I could not agree more. So much for Miranda Priestly being a judge. And poor Jessie was eliminated because of this. :-(

I LOVE Pokemon Showcases. If they were in the games, I'd play them non-stop.

Try the Pokémon Musical in Black, White, Black 2, and White 2. Also, the Visual Competition of Pokémon Super Contests in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.

Think about it: neither May nor Dawn lost this badly in their first contests, yet we've hardly ever seen them train.

You must be joking. Dawn can be seen practicing for her Contests in a large number of the Diamond & Pearl series episodes. The writers have dedicated an entire episode to her coming up with the idea for the Ice Chandelier combination. There are episodes of her training alone, training with Ash, training with Zoey, training with her mom...

Remember when Zoey told Dawn that the Hearthome Contest would use the Double Performance format? Dawn had never heard of this kind of performance and so Zoey put Glameow and Shellos to perform together and show Dawn how a Double Performance works. After that, Dawn decided to practice for the rest of the episode to come up with some combinations. Despite her efforts, she wasn't all that successful in her training, with Piplup and Pachirisu ending their performance in a disastrous way and Buneary and Buizel losing a Double Battle against Ash's Pikachu and Aipom.

On the other hand, Serena found out what she wanted to do in her life a little while ago and she's already good at performing with both Fennekin and Pancham, as seen in Pathways to Performance Partnering!. She has no problems in what is supposed to be the most challenging part of a Showcase, and that explains why the writers have made her lose the way she did. If she can perform with two Pokémon at once even though Performers aren't required to use two Pokémon when competing in Showcases, only a stupid accident could cause her downfall here.

 

[Sakuraa]

Try the Pokémon Musical in Black, White, Black 2, and White 2. Also, the Visual Competition of Pokémon Super Contests in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.

The first round of Super Contests are the only thing slightly similar to the first round of Showcases, and even then, not that much imo. I see absolutely no similarities to Showcases and musicals at all aside from the beginning dress up portion.

 

[Flying Christi]

That brief moment where Serena cried her eyes out with her Pokémon and then the hair started to come off. When that happened, I honestly had doubts on whether I was still watching Pokémon or some other mature anime. I even felt a bit emotional watching it (and they usually save the tear-jerking stuff for the movies!).

That was a brilliant execution of a symbolic change in Serena's character development, and that moment alone made the episode worth watching for me. I can't wait for Citron vs Satoshi, I can't wait for more Serena development and I can't wait for more Tripokalon episodes! Well done, writers and animators.

 

[Mareepy]

I could not agree more. So much for Miranda Priestly being a judge. And poor Jessie was eliminated because of this. :-(

I think Jessis lost the first round because of one thing. I can't even see Pumpkaboo at all.

This one is hell of a flaw of her visual competition. Pumpkaboo looked more like a flying errrm.. dress?

Why the cat walk? To show off confidence, both trainer and Pokemon. When Pumpkaboo is almost visually absent from the scene (mostly due to its being coloured into that greyish colour, same as the dress), the audiences decided they don't like it. Why even use a Pumpkaboo when you don't even like its colour or don't even attempt to show off a Pumpkaboo AS A Pumpkaboo?

Had Jessie chose a dress of a different colour, one that suits Pumpkaboo's original colour. She can win, in fact, she had a huge chance of winning.

PS: I would choose a purple dress and leave Pumpkaboo at its original colour, thats just me though.

You pointed out this Round One is like a Hearthome Collection ripoff, which is totally correct, the reason Pumpkaboo lost here is exactly how Buneary managed to win back then. The Pokemon should always be the center of attention, not accessories.

 

[Mikuri]

The first round of Super Contests are the only thing slightly similar to the first round of Showcases, and even then, not that much imo. I see absolutely no similarities to Showcases and musicals at all aside from the beginning dress up portion.

Pokémon Musicals are all about dressing up your Pokémon with accessories that match a given theme and there's a time limit just like here in Pokémon Showcases. It's an easier version of the Visual Competition as the number of themes is smaller and the Props cling to the Pokémon's body. The dress up portion is the only one the player actually does something, as there's no way to control the Pokémon during the dance portion, only when it will use one of its Props to appeal to the crowd, and this is just if the player has chosen a Prop that can be used to that end.

I think Jessis lost the first round because of one thing. I can't even see Pumpkaboo at all.

This one is hell of a flaw of her visual competition. Pumpkaboo looked more like a flying errrm.. dress?

Why the cat walk? To show off confidence, both trainer and Pokemon. When Pumpkaboo is almost visually absent from the scene (mostly due to its being coloured into that greyish colour, same as the dress), the audiences decided they don't like it. Why even use a Pumpkaboo when you don't even like its colour or don't even attempt to show off a Pumpkaboo AS A Pumpkaboo?

Had Jessie chose a dress of a different colour, one that suits Pumpkaboo's original colour. She can win, in fact, she had a huge chance of winning.

PS: I would choose a purple dress and leave Pumpkaboo at its original colour, thats just me though.

You pointed out this Round One is like a Hearthome Collection ripoff, which is totally correct, the reason Pumpkaboo lost here is exactly how Buneary managed to win back then. The Pokemon should always be the center of attention, not accessories.

Yep, Jessie went overboard, but I don't think she was trying to hide her Pokémon because she's not a fan of its color scheme or something like that. I guess she thought it would be a good idea to show off Pumpkaboo as a scary monstrosity considering its Ghost typing and all. It was a very creative design and it reminded me of Gourgeist, but I understand your point and I agree. I just didn't like how there's no panel of judges and the Performers may end up being eliminated because the audience members will choose what is more cute and fluffy. Because of this system, you're better of in a Showcase with a cute Pokémon from the get-go than with a Pokémon like Pumpkaboo. Jessie's performance wasn't flawed and she still got less points than Serena. Talk about injustice.

 

[Sakuraa]

Pokémon Musicals are all about dressing up your Pokémon with accessories that match a given theme and there's a time limit just like here in Pokémon Showcases. It's an easier version of the Visual Competition as the number of themes is smaller and the Props cling to the Pokémon's body. The dress up portion is the only one the player actually does something, as there's no way to control the Pokémon during the dance portion, only when it will use one of its Props to appeal to the crowd, and this is just if the player has chosen a Prop that can be used to that end.

I'll admit I can't speak much about Musicals since I barely played them when BW were released and don't remember much about them, but regardless, one slightly similar element in the first round of three different competitions don't make the entire events identical. Pokemon Contests, Musicals, and Showcases may have some small things in common, but they also have a lot of very unique elements that differentiate them from one another.