Review BW050: Raimon Gym! Magnificent Electric Shock Battle!!

[Cybersai]

This wasn't a bad Gym battle by any means. Its just the heavy Pikachu usage that's making people think so.

In fact I'd easily say its the best of BW so far, although that's not probably saying very much. IMO Elesa > Aloe > Cilan triplets > Arty in terms of Gym battles.

 

[Steel_Justice]

See Ash types do matter. I expected Palpitoad to have its gym debut here though I thought it would be the last mon standing against zebstrika seeing as it just swept Bianca a week ago (looks like Palpitoad by itself is stronger than Bianca's team). I was surprised at how easily zebstrika was beaten though.

A Tynamo, hmm they should have given Elesa something with a bit more bite to it I was expecting the evolved form or galvantula since tynamo has next to no movepool it's match with Pikachu was kinda boring.

Pikachu should have remained on the side and let someone else shine like tepig who can never seem to beat anyone these days.

I kinda find it unfortunate that Ash tries to be smart but fails at it and just goes back to his "strategy doesn't matter all I need is raging confidence" mentality. He could have started to grow a more tactical mind to go with his unorthodox moves. But then again to each his own, Ash using his gut and rushing in is what makes him Ash.

The battle was better than Burgh's (but then again so is nearly every gym battle) but not better than the striation or nacrene gym battles.

Elesa is still lovely. She acts so differently than her game counterpart but then again so do most characters on the show.

 

[Crysta Blade]

I musta waken up in a parallel universe if I see Ash planning ahead! Then again, think about it this way: it makes a lot of sense considering Ash witnessed Bianca getting slaughtered and wanted to avoid the same fate. Still weird to see him do that, but it gives a method to the madness. Interesting to note that Zebstrika's the only one of Elesa's 'mons on the page. No doubt Emolga and Tynamo (the unknown factors, if you will) threw a spanner in the works. Also, Cilan without his vest is <3. Speaking of Cilan, check out how calm he looks on the coaster. Iris' hair going over the back seat is a nice touch. The neato background character designs return, aww yeah. Sorta weird to see Elesa acting all fabulous, total opposite of the source material and all (if we all did shots every time that happened...). Eh, could've been much worse, though.

Palpitoad's a real good choice against Zebstrika. Not just because of the Ground typing, but resistance to Flame Charge doesn't hurt. Getting a Stomp to the face, on the other hand, does. Lookit that wacky face! Flinch, perhaps? Loving Zebstrika's 'oh fuck' expression before being KO'd. Yet another male Pokémon on the cast? The sausage fest continues. Le sigh. But I don't mind Palpitoad falling when he did; he did damn well in his Gym debut. Go, you warty little toad!

So Ash went back to the Pokémon Centre for Snivy's Poké Ball? Did he forget or just decide to bring her in at the last minute? And he forgets the gender of his snake. Er, that came out a bit wrong... Hold up, I'm guessing this is where we find out that Elesa's Emolga is female, yes? Wow, epic overreactions much, Ash and Pikachu? I suppose that's one way to say 'fuck the plan'. And now for Pikachu's inevitable clean sweep. Le sigh again... Tynamo looks so damn smug after sending Pika into the wall. And the rest of the battle plays out just as we suspected. Except for the whole electrifying the field thing, interesting stuff.

I don't find it too big of a deal, if you don't mind me sayin'. I think it's just a trend that is even continued in the games, where guys have male mons, and girls have female mons, with the rare chance of a trainer having a token mon of their opposite gender. I don't mean to say it should or shouldn't change, just pointing out a trend that simply exists.

Except that's because of lazy programming. Why should that carry over?

Seriously... Zebstrika was KO'd to the wall, Emolga was KO'd to the wall, Pikachu was hit to the wall and Tynamo was, as a surprise twist, KO'd to the wall. Wut.

Like something similar said before, some people found this episode...a real wallbanger.

 

[Hellion]

Hmmm... interesting episode to say the least, moreso than I originally thought.

Good Points

+ Satoshi: I thought he was hilarious in this episode, but more than anything, I thought it was interesting to see him doubt himself, feel like he had to do more or do differently, only to realize that he and his pokémon's style was good enough.

+ Dento sans vest: Well, with his vest too. XD I liked that he had a good read on the battle without being boring about it. He had some funny moments.

+ Iris: For the first time in Best Wishes, I actually felt like she was friends with Satoshi and actually displayed interest in what he was doing. She didn't once seem unecessarily bitchy or gratuitously snarky. The only thing is there needed more back and forth between her and the boys. She still didn't feel that much part of the group.

+ Pikachu: I actually liked Pikachu in this ep. He felt sweet and concerned and just a good friend to Satoshi as opposed to the selfish pokémon some of the summary might have hinted he was. He was funny and endearing.

+ Kamiture: She was entertaining and smizing the whole way through.

+ Strategies, abilities, and use of the battlefield: Zebraika being faster because of Nitro Charge, Supersonic, Attract, that Thunderbolt the ground thing. I like the variety that was shown in the battle as opposed to "Pure force" approach.

Bad points

- Gamagaru and Tsutarja

Both were bland and didn't really show any personality. Sure Gamagaru had a few comic moments but it's not memorable or endearing, I'm not feeling moved by his winning or losing. Tsutarja was the biggest disappointment. I expected her not winning, but the blandness she displayed was boring.

- OHKO: The battles were really hampered by them, and by the overwhelming amount of hits Satoshi's Pokémon were able to take, only to defeat their opponents in 1-2 hits... meh.

Overall, I had fun watching it, liked the characterization but there's something about this that's just not memorable in the end and not really engaging me in Satoshi's quest. This didn't feel like the seminal halfway point episode it should have been.

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

Also, did they just portray a flinch? I don't think the anime's ever portrayed a flinch before. (correct me if I'm wrong)

Roark's Cranidos caused Paul's Chimchar to flinch with Headbutt once; in which Chimchar became too scared to move.

I love how this is an Electric Gym and the only Electric-type move used was Electro Ball.

Well, Pikachu did use Thunderbolt on the sides of the battlefield to keep Tynamo in one spot, but otherwise, unless Zebstrika used Wild Charge, those may have been the only Electric-type moves used in an electric gym battle. XD

 

[Ampharos King]

This wasn't a bad Gym battle by any means. Its just the heavy Pikachu usage that's making people think so.

I don't have an issue with Pikachu being used in battle, but the way that he battles in this episode is completely ridiculous.

Pikachu defeats Emolga with a single Quick Attack, no other moves aside. A Gym Leader's pokemon that has access to both Flying-type attacks and Attract was completely overwhelmed by a pokemon merely using Quick Attack. One can't argue that Emolga was exhausted battling Snivy or Palpitoad, because she didn't take any damage in either of those fights. At the start of BW, Pikachu was unable to defeat Trip's Snivy with just one Quick Attack. Since Emolga clearly did not bother using Attract against Pikachu at the start of the match, it is clear that the writers of this episode wanted Pikachu to finish off Emolga so he could focus on his true opponent.

Again, something had to give in order for Ash and Pikachu to be given this much focus in one episode. Half of this episode's screentime was devoted to Ash contemplating which of his pokemon he should use.

 

[Cybersai]

I don't have an issue with Pikachu being used in battle, but the way that he battles in this episode is completely ridiculous.

Pikachu defeats Emolga with a single Quick Attack, no other moves aside. A Gym Leader's pokemon that has access to both Flying-type attacks and Attract was completely overwhelmed by a pokemon merely using Quick Attack.

Isn't this how virtually all Kanto/Johto battles played out? Essentially stuff that would boil down to one-hit KO's? Perhaps the writers brought BW a little too close to its roots in mimicking the Kanto style.

 

[WatcherMark]

Just realised that the title of this episode is really misleading. The title reads 'Magnificent Electric Shock Battle', yet the only electric attacks used were Pikachu and Emonga's Electro Ball and when Pikachu used Thunderbolt on the field against Shibishirasu. Hardly what I'd call magnificent... Kamiture only used one electric-type attack throughout the match.

 

[MizuTaipu]

Pikachu used Thunderbolt on the entire field in order to expose Tynamo's whereabouts.

Aside from that, Palpitoad was immune to Electric-type attacks so Zebstrika couldn't use its Wild Charge attack. Emolga couldn't use her own Electric-type attacks against Palpitoad for the same reason.

Ash's second choice, Snivy, resisted Electric-type attacks and was immune to Emolga's Attract. Emolga was part Flying type adn Snivy is naturally weak against Flying-type attacks so this was why she used Acrobatics and Aerial Ace.

Electric-type pokemon also resist Electric-type attacks. This was why Pikachu and Tynamo did not use any Electric-type moves in their battle.

Well, I meant on Kamitsure's side not Satoshi's. I'm just noting something here.

 

[garrison-san]

Pikachu defeats Emolga with a single Quick Attack, no other moves aside. A Gym Leader's pokemon that has access to both Flying-type attacks and Attract was completely overwhelmed by a pokemon merely using Quick Attack. One can't argue that Emolga was exhausted battling Snivy or Palpitoad, because she didn't take any damage in either of those fights.

Well, Pikachu did send her flying directly into a brick wall. It probably caused brain trauma or something.

Seriously, I don't know what it was with all the brick-walling in this episode, but it made the battle seem awfully brutal.

 

[Masurao]

Luckily for trainers, they don't have to pay for damages.

 

[AceTrainer14]

The only thing I didn't like about this episode was how Pikachu became the winner. I haven't seen the episode, only screencaps, so I can only gather that Pikachu wasn't originally going to be used. I think that this was a good opportunity for Ash to use some more Pokemon and give them more screentime so we can see some of their strengths. Roggenrolla would have been an excellent character to use, as he could use Rock moves to defeat Emolga and than wouldnt be affected by Tackle as much, as noted in his capture episode. I just dont liek how Pikachu has already won two gym battles this season, especially after how he wasnt going to be used in the first place. The writers need to use a bit more variety and use more of the Pokemon Ash has rather than only bringing them out to be used pointlessly (eg Tranquill flying to look for something)

 

[garrison-san]

Luckily for trainers, they don't have to pay for damages.

I've often wondered whose job it actually is to renovate Pokemon gyms following a battle. Particularly when moves such as Dig are used, which will inevitably tear up the building's floor. I can only assume that there must be quite a lucrative business in gym restoration.

 

[Miar]

Haven't watched any Japanese episodes since Don Battle, decided to look again at this point.

Shōnen heroes in general just don't do as well when using their heads. But Ash really tried to think his way through this time (mostly with Palpitoad), so let's give him some credit for that.

Shouldn't leaving to get Snivy have disqualified him?

And while we're at it, was Pikachu starting to get sick again? Too much electricity in the air or something getting to him?
He seemed to have a ton more power this time around, blowing the entire field away and OHKOing 2 Pokémon.

In all, I was impressed. There were a lot of good elements to this episode.

 

[Ampharos King]

Isn't this how virtually all Kanto/Johto battles played out? Essentially stuff that would boil down to one-hit KO's? Perhaps the writers brought BW a little too close to its roots in mimicking the Kanto style.

Probably. Ordinarily most pokemon battles in the anime are constructed in a way that results in pokemon being KO'd within two or three attacks. When DP came along, it took a lot longer to resolve certain matchups. As far as battle lengths go, I'll go ahead and place this near the battles that took place in AG. Certainly each of the matchups during Ash's battles against Cilan, Aloe, and Burgh took much longer.

The writers were focusing on less important things like trying to develop Ash and Pikachu's relationship.

Well, Pikachu did send her flying directly into a brick wall. It probably caused brain trauma or something.

But Pikachu suddenly became fast and strong enough to cause Emolga to crash into a wall nearly five feet behind her with just one Quick Attack? It's like saying that Pikachu would have been able to send Trip's Snivy crashing into a tree when they battled one another. Again, I believe Pikachu's victory over Emolga in this context was ridiculous. That entire battle between them was meant to take a short time due to all of the other things that took place in this episode.

 

[Masurao]

But Pikachu suddenly became fast and strong enough to cause Emolga to crash into a wall nearly five feet behind her with just one Quick Attack? It's like saying that Pikachu would have been able to send Trip's Snivy crashing into a tree when they battled one another. Again, I believe Pikachu's victory over Emolga in this context was ridiculous.

Pikachu's power depends on whether or not the writers want Ash to win or not. Pikachu's attack by all intents and purposes should have been able to OHKO Snivy, but they wanted Ash to lose, so Pikachu power was downplayed. That being said this episode was obviously done to "redeem" Pikachu for getting absolutely nothing in the Don Battle tournament. Palpitoad was allowed to shine there with two victories, Snivy had her's as well. Pikachu got nothing because of the match-up. So, they had Pikachu dominate in a gym against it's own type. Meh.

 

[CrazyYanmega]

Ah, this is the episode when Snivy's personal vendetta becomes a hatred of an entire species.

 

[Piplup]

Nice ep... I totally loved Pika here XD I hope we'll get more entertaining Ash and Pika stuff like this in the next eps of BW - that's one thing that could help getting me a little more excited of this series
And Snivy should've won something here but whatever... guess it'll get to star in a Gym or some other battle eventually

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

I hated this episode. Ash was being way to incompetent. His plan was to sweep the gym leader using a type advantage that is fucking character derailment Ash hasn't been that cocky since indigo especially since the fight with drake and the whole type advantages aren't everything thing. Not to mention expecting to sweep a gym leader who swept Bel is insulting to Bel. And the double attract part the writers didn't even take into account that Emolga could have been male there was no reason for Ash to be forgetful Ash should been asking the gym leader the same question. And Ash forgot that Emolga was flying? It used a flying move! I hated the moral at the end too "Battles are fought with Pokemon I can't do anything by myself" while that is technically true what Ash was doing at the start was a very good idea Ash shouldn't be reliant on any few Pokemon he should love his Pokemon but he should be a competent trainer with or without them. Not using Pikachu for one little gym battle is not a big deal and would be good for him. Pikachu suddenly being a brat about being used is bull shit just makes the rat look spoiled. We're supposed to think that Satoshi's flaw was that he was overthinking it when in reality he was just being a fucking dumbass.

 

[Masurao]

While I still wasn't a fan of this gym, it's always nice to see a gym leader admit that they gained insight from defeat.