Review S14 EP48: Battle for the Underground!

[Iteru]

BW48 – Battle for the Underground!http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/BW048

Note: This dub episode first aired in the UK on the 28th December 2011 at 9am GMT+0

The bid to save the Pokémon that Team Rocket stole in Nimbasa City continues! As Team Rocket continue to produce more “ghost trains”, Ingo and Emmet cannot identify which is the correct one with the members and the Pokémon. Ash and his friends struggle to think of a quick method to find the real train while Pikachu and Axew are unable to break free. With the deduction from Cilan that Team Rocket must have entered from Anville Town and therefore have to escape to there to, will the gang and the Subway Bosses be able to stop them?

 

[Moe]

I was expecting the ok circle in Pikachu's consideration of the Pokemon options to be changed to a tick or something in the international version, but I suppose they've stopped with those sorts of edits. That scene was hilarious as a whole, it is nice to know that Pikachu has a better grasp of tactics than Ash seems to half the time.

Pikachu rage made this episode. It is really refreshing to see it do something in anger and gives a slight idea of the true power the little yellow blob still has. Shame Ash is too nice to let Pikachu rip on the Rockets, if any episode actually needed to end in a blast off, it was this one.

Spoiler

Eelektross and Chandelure both have fantastic voices, Chandelure especially was that perfect sort of slightly creepy voice you need for a ghost type, while Eelektross is just funny. The fact Emmet seemed to need a train metaphor to understand how Ash cared about the Pokemon was amusing too.

The second part was much better than the first, which is really why they needed to be shown back to back, as all the action is set in this episode that makes the other one pretty dull.

 

[Adil]

I have got to admit, Eelektross' VA did a good job. Hmm... They changed the background music when Snivy calls out Roggenrola and Tepig, wasn't that good but not bad either.

 

[Super Chao Maniac]

I realized that this episode's Who's That Pokemon is Eelektross, so I'm probably guessing that BW51'S Who's That Pokemon will be Chandelure.

Anyways, it's a good episode.

 

[Yankees4life]

I didn't know about this eppy being aired. It didn't air on CN over here in US. But, I've seen it in Japanese.

Pretty good eppy all around. The Subway twins, Meowth heel -> face -> heel, Cilan/Ash vs. the Subway twins

2000/10

 

[Idon'tcare]

Finally got to watch this episode on ITV Player-

I ditto what others said about Eelektross's and Chandelure's voices. Eelektross's voice was also funny to me because I seriously wasn't expecting it to have a voice like that. Chandelure's voice sounded almost like an opposite version of its Japanese voice to me which sounded feminine and creepy while its dub voice sounded masculine and creepy.

Pikachu was seriously peeved off at Meowth- Pikachu has been showing some actual personality during Meowth's time with the group (something we haven't since, Kanto I think?) and it's amongst one of the things I enjoyed about Meowth travelling with the group. It was pretty funny seeing Ash admitting he enjoyed their time together with Meowth while Pikachu could think of nothing but attacking him in his anger.

And finally there's Meowth, the amount of character he's shown through this has been great. It shows Meowth really doesn't work with being composed and serious. Speaking of this; Is it just me, or did Jessie and James seem like they were just 'there'? I mean only Meowth and Zager did anything noticeable (even though Meowth's was mainly taunting the Pokémon and checking if things are okay). Meanwhile Jessie and James were basically just pushing buttons most of the time and issuing warnings and so on.

 

[Joshawott]

"Pikachu, the boss still has his eye on you"...er...surely the whole thing about Ash's Pikachu was merely Team Rocket's assumption that Giovanni would want it? Has Giovanni actually ever said he wants Pikachu? (Except for in that 4kids produced song).

I missed the original airing of both episodes, so I just watched the 2-parter on the ITV Player (before anyone outside of England asks - it's a legal catch-up service where people can stream the majority of things that have aired on an ITV-owned channel up until a month after the show originally aired). Rather than making a post in the part 1 thread as well, I'll say it here as the point still stands - I don't like Ingo and Emmet's dub voices. That would be my only complaint about the pair of episodes. Eelektross' and Chandelure's voices were really nice though.

Seeing Pikachu with a personality though? About time - it's been so long. Jessie and James just bored me this episode and the fact that James sounds like he has an eternal cold doesn't make it easier.

 

[L-05308]

This was one of my all time favourite episodes for the very reason we fot to see Pikachu and the others doing things them selves without being told by their trainers.

I esspesually loved how Snivy could distinguish her friend's poke balls from the others and how it was Dwebble to save the day by burning through the door.

It's a pity Oshawott, Scraggy, Emolga and Stunfisk didn't get to join in. but then again what could they have done? Everyone else did somthing:

Pikachu, told the others what to do
Snivy, found the other poke balls
Excadrill, broke Pikach and Axew's cages
Pansage, flicked one of the switches to change the line
Dwebble, burned a hole in the door
Tepig, Roggenrola and Axew, made the train faster

I don't understand why though, Dwebble couldn't have used Rock Slide to block the TRain when they were all trying to get away on the roff of the other one

 

[Bouffalant Herdier]

Finally got round to watching this. It was a rather exciting conclusion, definitely much more fun than the last episode.

My, Snivy is such a smart Pokemon; how on Earth did she know what the Pokeballs contained? She's gets more impressive every episode. I don't usually comment on voices, but Eelektross sounded ridiculous. I would have preferred it to make Charizard-like grunts.

Iris just couldn't resist making a jab at Cilan and his love of trains, could she? I suppose she didn't want to get the Pokemon back.

 

[Jukain]

Pikachu, the Pokemon Master. (again) I can't help but think that Pika is cursing Meowth out right now. *is pretty sure they did not have enough speed to go this far this fast on their own momentum* I still hope that Pika and Meowth will have it out someday, but there is still much to go through first.

 

[Serperiority]

This was a very enjoyable, high-action episode. I loved it.

TRio had a very intricate plan that was almost about to work for once, good job.

The chase scene was great and very clever work.

The Pokemon were pretty clever as well. Great teamwork. Especially good 'ol Snivy. She was terrific. All with that smug smile of hers. She is smart, like me. Another reason to like Snivy for me. Nice to see Eelektross and Chandelure. Very epic.

Cilan, once again, was very enjoyable with his train fanboyness.

As for the time change, I wouldn't be aware of it if I hadn't noticed it in BulbaNews. No advertisements about the time change at all. They did annoyingly advertise it for stupid Adventure Time though.

This was an epic episode and I wish that there will be many more episodes like this later on in the season.

 

[Peachy]

This was the pokemon's episode, the were all awesome. I really could care less about the humans.

 

[TPrower]

VERY elaborate plan on Team Rocket's part. I was quite surprised.
Eelektross does sound pretty odd. I thought of it having a voice kinda like Electabuzz's. Chandelure's sort of reminded me of Bloo from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
Pikachu's rage with Meowth was pretty entertaining to watch, as well as the teamwork of the Pokes.
I figured that Meowth would have a little respect for Ash before parting, but somehow his blowing Ash's pleasantries off fits better.

 

[Ampharos King]

"Pikachu, the boss still has his eye on you"...er...surely the whole thing about Ash's Pikachu was merely Team Rocket's assumption that Giovanni would want it? Has Giovanni actually ever said he wants Pikachu? (Except for in that 4kids produced song).

TRio's statement about Giovanni was slightly different in the Japanese version of the episode. They stated that "Giovanni needed [Pikachu]," but overall the declaration they have made was the same. Giovanni has never openly stated that he wanted or needed Pikachu specifically in previous episodes. TRio simply assumes that stealing Pikachu would benefit their organization.

My, Snivy is such a smart Pokemon; how on Earth did she know what the Pokeballs contained? She's gets more impressive every episode.

That entire situation was resolved with a deus ex machina. Given the number of pokemon that the Pokemon Center had in storage, it would have been extremely unlikely for all of the main character's pokemon to be located on the top of that pile.

 

[alypkm]

well the most stupid thing about the pokemon anime,is that they try to act so serious yet so childish at the same time,try to give us a strong story and event,and give them a cheesy plot,try to introduce a real bad guys and give them a cute appearance,they MUST STOP THAT SHIT and return back as crazy,random and funny as they was,and stop that HERO KIDS shit .

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

I found it interesting that Iris actually wondered what would've happened if she had succeeded in capturing Meowth. Team Rocket's plans would've been foiled and Jessie and James surely would've attempted to steal Meowth's Pokeball and release him permanently from it.

This had to have been one of the most fun episodes of the season. We need episodes about the Pokemon who work together to escape dangerous situations a bit more often.

 

[MizuTaipu]

The majority of the chase scene had some annoying dub music, yet the acting and script in this ep were better than last week's. I completely fudged up the pronunciation of Elesa's name, apparently. I thought it was "El-eh-sah" not "El-ee-sah." :-/

 

[Hitomi]

I found Jesse and James tremendously dull in this episode. :\ I kinda miss that they used to taunt Ash and Co. more; as stupid as some of their comments were, at least I could get a few laughs out of it.

The scene with Pikachu directing the other Pokémon was pretty neat - my little sister commented that Pikachu's taken on way too much of Ash's personality. xD Well, at least Pikachu can tell when a certain Pokémon isn't right for the situation.

I really enjoyed the fact that Pikachu wanted to tear Meowth limb from limb. Seeing it go from totally suspicious of Meowth's original intentions to eventually warming up to Meowth, only to get totally stabbed in the back after all was a nice progression. When the Pokémon separated the car from the train, the first thing I thought was that if Pikachu wasn't in a kid's show, it would've given Meowth the finger. I sure would have, and I practically never have the urge to.

As for Elesa's name, I've pronounced it properly all along, it seems. This might have something to do with the fact that "Eh-lee-suh" is one of the most common mispronunciations of my real name, so that's immediately what I thought when I saw it for the first time. *shrug* Elesa's still a really pretty name. If it weren't so similar to my name, I'd consider naming a child Elesa if I ever had kids.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

No matter how bad some episodes were in the past, this one was really excellent!
It combined all the necessary elements that make for an entertaining and thrilling story. Besides being well-written, the plot was full of action and excitement so that you could almost feel the intensity of the scenes.
Also, this episode reminded me of why I used to like Ash because it brought back his well-known determination and willpower which cause him to never give up no matter what. This is Ash's true character that I've missed so badly since BW.

And even Pikachu finally got a chance to shine once again. First, it was pretty funny to see his visualized thoughts that were so nicely animated. Ash should feel ashamed given Pikachu's understanding of strategy and which Pokemon fits best in a certain situation. You better take a leaf out of Pikachu's book, Ash
And then, there was Pikachu's unbridled anger when he found out the truth about Meowth. It's been a while since he was in such a rage and we definitely need to see such plot elements like revenge or anger much more often because, although admittedly not being very Christian, they make an episode so much better!

All in all, an action-packed, exciting and great episode and the best one of the entire season without any doubt. (But it was about time that we got an episode like this after a lean period of so many underwhelming episodes)

By the way, serebii doesn't have an airdate for the upcoming episode yet. Will there be a break now?

 

[Hellwarden]

Yep, looks like at least a two week break for the dub. It's going back to the first episode of Black and White next weekend.

Anyway, good solid conclusion. I don't know about anyone else, but I loved the scene where Axew started crying and Pikachu calmed him down. In fact, Pikachu was all sorts of awesome in this ep.

By the way, am I the only one wondering on the nature of Zager's relationship with Team Rocket now? Is he in charge of them or vice versa?


Dude is seriously creepy either way.