Review BW086: Pochama VS Yanappu! The Magnificent Battle!!

[Crysta Blade]

*Elesa outfit*

Oh dear... Come to think of it, this would've been a good chance to put her in her B2W2 oufit. Since she's showing off different clothes anyway...

On the Piplup-dexing thing, is this the first time Ash has looked a Pokémon he's encountered before up on someone's behalf? It's probably why that scene stood out to me.

 

[Moe]

Ummm:

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[ivantuga2]

First time ever watching a new episode through Keyhole. I felt like a little kid watching Pokémon all over again.The fact that Dawn (one of my favorite characters in the entire series) returned with all her resulting awesomeness and new animation didn't help, even if she goes away eventually.

So first things first.

- They get to East Isshu by plane. Yeah, we knew this already.
- Shirona and the kids get on shore and Satoshi-tachi are excited to see Pokémon they haven't seen before (well, in Satoshi's case, he hasn't seen them in quite a while).
- Yeah, Rocket Gang spying on Meloetta, who soon appears to the surprise of the group inside Shirona's car.
- Music from BW2? As the episode progresses, we see that they really won't be using older music. Well, a tad bit disappointing, but not too much. It's also understandable: they had literally hundreds of different pieces from the old days to choose, it would just be too much for the guys in charge of the BGM. At least they're using new (?) music.
- So they arrive to Shirona's villa, and surprise, surprise!, we see Hikari hiding behind Satoshi to tease him. We knew this already, but still great and cute to see.
- Hikari talks excitedly with Iris and especially Dent, who turns out to have already known about the Contests. We learn that she was in Raimon City watching a... erm... Musical with Kamitsure and getting excited? Eh... Hikari also makes out that Dent is a Sommelier, but she hasn't seen anything yet
- Hikari's, Dent's and Iris' Pokémon get to know each other. The highlight is, of course, Pochama and Mijumaru's fight over Meloetta. Also Mimirol revives her crush on Pikachu.
- After some stuff, we finally see Hikari and Dent battle. Hydro Pump on the rocks levitated by Yanappu? Good stuff.
- It's so refreshing to see Hikari with her new battle animations.
- Counter Shield mentioned? Fantastic! That's Atsuhiro Tomioka's continuity for you! But then...
- "It's Tasting Time!". Hikari is like "WTF!?" Hahaha, so funny to see! Definitely one of the highlights of the entire episode.
- The battle ends somewhat abruptly. I feared it'd get interrupted by Rocket Gang's shenanigans, but it seems they agreed for a draw. OK...
- The rest of the episode is somewhat bland. We also see Rocket Gang in the sub with Zager preparing for an operation against Meloetta.

All in all, I think it was a great episode. Atsuhiro Tomioka definitely delivers in this stuff. Had this episode been written by anyone that's not him, and the plot would probably have been underwhelming.

 

[Piplup]

On the Piplup-dexing thing, is this the first time Ash has looked a Pokémon he's encountered before up on someone's behalf? It's probably why that scene stood out to me.

People often complain about Ash dexing Poké he already saw and I always find it ridiculous that they complain about it
Dexing a Poké doesn't mean you don't know it, Ash often goes like "oh it's __" meaning he clearly knows it, yet scans it anyway... it's just to get some more info about it and also for the viewers
And in this specific case Ash only did it cause Iris asked him to do it for her after Dawn dexed her Axew

 

[Dogasu]

The Potchama / Mijumaru interactions made this episode for me. Hikari's reaction to Dent's "Tasting Time" was priceless as well.

I'm surprised we didn't hear the instrumental of Hikari's theme from this episode.

It was kind of weird seeing Satoshi with all five new pokemon and then Hikari with...one. Really makes it look like she hasn't been doing much of anything lately, doesn't it?

Finally, it looks like we're back to the Meteonite-type Rocket-Dan appearances, where they eat up screentime doing nothing just to force an appearance. Yay -_-

Satoshi commented about magmarashi evolving too.

Too bad dub fans will probably never get to see it actually evolve :/

Poor Takeshi, he wasn't mentioned Or was he? I can't rely on KeyHole too much

He wasn't mentioned, no. Neither was Houen, for some reason.

Dexing a Poké doesn't mean you don't know it, Ash often goes like "oh it's __" meaning he clearly knows it, yet scans it anyway... it's just to get some more info about it and also for the viewers

Also, his Isshu Pokemon Zukan doesn't have Potchama registered in it yet. He's only ever scanned it with his Shin'ou one.

 

[JB2448]

Ummm:

Spoiler

Spoiler

That's one way to keep her character in viewers' minds, I guess.

 

[Masurao]

Did Ash mention anything about traveling through different regions (excluding Hoenn apparently)? I assume he mentioned Sinnoh just because Dawn was there.

 

[PTOldMan]

Why did Dawn have a Unova Pokédex? Or wasn't it hers?

 

[Eitarou]

Why did Dawn have a Unova Pokédex? Or wasn't it hers?

Because she's in Unova?

 

[Piplup]

I'm surprised we didn't hear the instrumental of Hikari's theme from this episode.

I agree, that's too bad... I'm listening to it now after listening to a few DP songs/BGMs, since I'm totally in DP mood now... so happy <3

It was kind of weird seeing Satoshi with all five new pokemon and then Hikari with...one. Really makes it look like she hasn't been doing much of anything lately, doesn't it?

Well, May never really got a new Poké either, just evolutions... and it'd be pointless to give her a brand new Poké for her visit - even in this ep no one other than Pip got to do much and I suspect that aside from a battle or two, this is how things will be in the next eps too
So better this way... unlike May, she didn't have much evolution options... the bunny will probably never evolve and that leave us with a hopeful Quilava evolution
I'd love it if Bianca is in the tournament and we get Emboar VS Quilava with an evo mid battle to make it Emboar VS Typhlosion

Finally, it looks like we're back to the Meteonite-type Rocket-Dan appearances, where they eat up screentime doing nothing just to force an appearance. Yay -_-

That annoyed me a lot... I was all like "wtf TRio go away stop eating my Dawn screentime" but what can you do... hopefully this will at least lead to a good Meloetta plot or something, which I guess Dawn and Pip will take some part in

He wasn't mentioned, no. Neither was Houen, for some reason.

I still hope for ribbons/rivals mentions at least around the time she'll leave the group - I assume that when she'll leave she'll at least mention what she's going to do next and that might involve talking about her Hoenn journey...

Did Ash mention anything about traveling through different regions (excluding Hoenn apparently)? I assume he mentioned Sinnoh just because Dawn was there.

I'm pretty sure only Sinnoh was mentioned, which wasn't news for Iris and Cilan after the previous ep of Ash knowing Sinnoh's Champion

 

[Hurricane Kishore]

Ummm:

Spoiler

Spoiler

That's one way to keep her character in viewers' minds, I guess.

Now That's a Fan-service !
I also realize another thing in this episode
Cynthia also has become another temporary Cast Character!
I wish that we could see Durch instate of some old Random Butler !
A Battle between Ash & Durch would be NICEEEEE!
Cynthia must Know something About Meloetta and Team Rocket!
Her Expression on her face when Meloetta Singing tell me this!
Also
Its Good that ''Counter Shield'' is mentioned but shouldn't it be Mention sooner since Ash was the One invented it !

 

[Piplup]

I'm still thinking about how cute the Ash/Dawn meeting scene was... it's like... I don't know, it made me feel so happy <3 it's so cute <3 so... so... so DP#@%@$ <3
Can we please time skip to next Thursday?

 

[JB2448]

Still, Dawn and Piplup's reactions to Cilan being his fabulous self are just the best:

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[ivantuga2]

Its Good that ''Counter Shield'' is mentioned but shouldn't it be Mention sooner since Ash was the One invented it !

Well, Satoshi/Ash implemented it, but he got the idea from Hikari/Dawn, by watching her contest in DP095.

 

[Duque]

So, why was this called Piplup VS Pansage? It was clearly not about those two at all, just a side thing.

For the same reason we already have a "Bisharp vs druddigon" titled episode and the said fight lasted 1 minute or less. Well, I liked the episode more for Dawn, meloetta and Piplup vs Oshadork.

And, HELL, Ash, just NOW you remember the focking counter shield? "

 

[Spindae2]

but the strange thing is that ash and dawn didn't hugged! okay the High was great but they went through so much and than just that . . .

and BIG SHAME Dawn didn't battled Elesa!

 

[Chiplet]

Ehum... Well, the episode definitely wasn't as awesome as I expected it to be, it was rather bland, actually. But it had its good moments which made it worth watching. What I especially liked was how Iris and Ash in the beginning acted like two little kids on Christmas, being all excited about seeing all of those ''new'' Pokémon (although they were old for Ash). I'm a tad bit disappointed on Dento though, I was hoping for him to be excited too. I'm sure he also was looking forward to meeting all of those new Pokémon, but I was expecting him to share their excitement some more, pulling out the childish side inside of him. The writers don't always have to keep him as a ''professional'' know-it-all. Nonetheless, he was still great in this episode.

STARYU. OMG STARYU. Was I the only one who completely gasmed when they appeared?! That's like one of my favorite Gen I Pokémon, and seeing them again felt just great! Just felt like they deserved a mention.

Oh, a limo. Driving in style, I see. Cynthia sure is making full use of her Champion titel, isn't she? I don't mind though. As for Meloetta appearing though... Meh, I dunno. I still am not too fond of it, but I don't dislike it either. It's just feeling too bland if you ask me, although it has a very beautiful and soothing voice. When it's singing, that is. I hope we'll get an opportunity to see more personality of her, and not just that cheerful side. Maybe the Pirouette Form will bring forth an other side of her?

Oh, Dawn... I disliked the fact that we didn't get to see a reaction from her once she saw Ash stepping into the house, it was like she already knew he was coming (she didn't know that, right?). Oh well, I guess it was still a bit nice to see her and Ash meeting again. KeyHole froze afterwards, and I missed out like a minute or two, maybe, so I missed when Dawn was conversing with Dento and Iris, which was rather unfortunate since that was what I was looking forward to the most. Although, judging by the screenshots it doesn't look like too much happened, more than Dento taking an interest to Dawn's Coordinator background, and Iris being fascinated about it too. Then, KeyHole started up again as Iris was squeezing Piplup. That was hilarious. I just love how Iris is always getting so childish when she encounters a cute Pokémon, she always tends to squeeze them. I'd choke the thing though if it was in my hands

Hey! There's Elesa! Nice seeing her again, even though it was only a flashback. And PLEASE, do not make Dawn entering a Musical. Even though I've barely seen it I do not want to, it'll surely be boring as hell. Ugh. Just stay away from those, Dawn. Although I liked how she was idolizing Elesa.

Yay! Pokémon meeting each other! Wiiih! Togekiss GTFO, now I can't say that it was too nice seeing Dawn's team again, the only one who's worth seeing again is Pachirisu (did y'all see how it kicked away Oshawott's shell? Iiiih!). And I have to agree with Dogasu, since it really didn't feel like she's been accomplishing much on her journey, since she didn't really show anything that was new, not even a ribbon. At least May had lots of new evolutions which made her team feel refreshing, but Dawn... Meh. Considering that we actually got to see Quilava evolve in that special I really don't think that it's anything special. Buneary and Pikachu was cute together though.

As for the rivalry between Oshawott and Piplup... Priceless. That's just amazing, and really hilarious. I'm totally rooting for Oshawott, btw. He's amazing, and I prefer him so much more than Piplup. It shouldn't have said sorry for that Aqua Jet... Piplup deserves to be pummeled by 100 Giga Impact, at least, and now Oshawott has to say he's sorry for an Aqua Jet? No, seriously. Have Axew and Scraggy attack with it their Giga Impact, Outrage, Hi Jump Kick and Focus Blast, please.
Oshawott's seriously the one who's making this rivalry for me, he's hilarious, and he's the one who's taking the initiative in the first place too. So if there would be a winner at the end it has to be Oshawott.

Now then, the battle... Meh. Was it really a battle? Dento sent out Bullet Seed, only to be countered by Piplup's Peck (Drill Peck?), and then Pansage used Rock Tomb, which was only to be completely destroyed by Piplup's Bubblebeam. However, it was nice to see a reference to the famous Counter Shield, although it did not at all look like it, lol. To me it just seemed like the Bubblebeam Piplup perfected in DP007, Like It or Lup It/Piplup Hangs On!! But I guess that's magic. And AHA! I knew it! I knew Dawn was going to react in that way towards Cilan's Tasting Time! I just knew it! I love how people were saying ''ooooh, and Cilan and Dawn are completely going to become best friends since they have so much in common and they're going to have a sparkling duel and lalalala''. Yeah. So much for that. I had a feeling that Dawn would be reacting in the same way as Iris did, I'm sure that she'll be feeling a bit annoyed by it too once they've been traveling for a while. Her faces were absolutely hilarious. Those ''WTF''-momemts are needed.

Oh, and as for the finishing touch of the battle we have a clash between Solarbeam and Ice Beam. Yeah, this battle was here to totally shove Dento down in the ground and to prove how much of an ''excellent'' battler Dawn has become due to her Coordinator experience. It really didn't feel like a battle to me, so I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't spend more time on it. And that Meloetta interruption was completely unnecessary, however, I loved Piplup's smug face.

Hm, yeah. Not much happened afterwards, just some nice relaxing among the new friends. I loved how Cynthia was always keeping a close eye on them, like she was watching over them the whole time. It'd have been nice if she got some screentime, but I guess her episode was the previous one. I totally see Iris and Dawn battling in the World Cup in the future, and I can also see her battling Ash at one point (although I guess that upcoming Mamoswine Vs Pignite battle might just be it).

Overall, a solid episode. It had its great moments, but was also rather dull at times. The highlights were for me definitely the Pokémon interacting, the rivarly between Piplup and Oshawott, as well as Ash and Iris being excited over all the East Unova Pokémon. Looking forward to the next episode!

 

[Piplup]

OMG ♥
SO CUTE!!@%#$% <3

 

[Idon'tcare]

Hikari's reaction towards Dent's Tasting Time is priceless. Pokémon Sommeliers are only native to Isshu after all.

Aw, they are still using that outer-space background? Well at least the background that followed it was different:

Spoiler

That's something else from the usual sparkling background Dent gets whenever he goes into Tasting Time mode.

 

[Spindae2]

Seems like Dawn's battling style improved! she was ready for a lot of Cilan's moves! just like Zoey always had a plan B! she know what to do!