Review S16 EP07: Mission: Defeat Your Rival!

[Iteru]

BW104 - Mission: Defeat Your Rival!

The qualifying round between Ash and Trip will determine who advances to the main event in the Unova League tournament! We left with Trip’s Serperior having a slight advantage over Ash’s Pikachu, but you’ll have to watch to see who wins! Then, Cameron and Bianca face off in the first round of the main event, and it’ll take more than just tough Pokémon to win this battle—it’ll take a crafty Trainer, too!

http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/f228/spoilers-dub-review-threads-148176/ - Read before posting!

 

[DracoMan]

And Uberchu saves the day again...

Seriously, this is really tiresome, seeing Uberchu taking so much punishment while pulling off some miraculous come-from-behind victory. Especially so when compared to his first battle with (then) Snivy, where all it took was a single Leaf Tornado to finish off Pika. Now the little mouse is holding his own against big bad Serperior (especially weird considering things started out worse this go-round). It makes Pika's first loss more embarassing for him, but it makes this round more embarassing for Serperior, since after all he's grown, he still loses to a mouse who's growth has basically stagnated. (And as for all the pounding Pika took, it's not even like he has a power-up ability that comes from him taking damage, like Infernape's Blaze.)

For the record, I'm guessing Trip caught a peek at Jeanette Fisher's playbook, using Serperior's tail to ground him and nullify the Thunderbolt. Also for the record, I don't think I've ever seen Ash freeze up as much as he did when Pika was being squeezed. (And why did TPTB cut away from this to show the other named characters kicking butt elsewhere?)

And the final Iron Tail/Electro Ball combo--seriously, how in hell did that work? Normally when Ash pulls a weird play out of his hat, there's at least some explanation of how it works, but not this time. TPTB just needed Ash to win, and they didn't even bother justifying the screwed rules.

Anyway...

The sauna scene reminds me of a similar one from Yu-Gi-Oh! Gx that 4kids deep-sixed from the dub.

Speaking of screwed rules, how exactly is it that Escavalier gave itself three defense boosts, but still got taken out by two Razor Shells? Cameron said something about shockwaves from the inside or whatever, but, as with Ash's last play, nothing about what he meant. (And all that headband-snapping is gonna give him the worst migranes...)

 

[Zexy]

This was a pretty easy episode to dub, aka nothing important to note in the transmission from Jap to Dub.
Back to the episode itself, "Mission: Defeat Your Rival" didn't seem as a mission at all. Almost everyone (including kids) was sure of the Trip v Ash outcome, and almost any dedicated Pokemon fan was able to see how would the battle end (Uberchu...). In general, it was a luckluster BW2 battle with the lackluster character called Trip participating in it.
Of course, Cameron vs Bianca was far better, not only did it take more screentime than the "main" battle of the episode. It shows us hands-on how flawed Unova League is.
As said back at BW104 Review, the sauna scene isn't that noteable. I call it quite forgettable, in fact.

Generally, it is a mediocre episode (for League standards). Let's give it a 6/10.

 

[Codface]

Outcome was expected. Since uberchu is OP. Ash will get creamed when its more than 1v1. The should of maybe used static for a bit of 'its not just pikachu won cos he won' effect.

Still Pikachu is the only BW Ash pokemon that could beat a fly. I have no faith in any of them (see the poison gym episode for why)

Seriously by the time Ash started the Sinnoh league his fire, flying and grass where fully evolved killing machines and Buizel though unevolved was pretty rock hard too. In BW Snivy has gone backwards since cap, Osawott is comedy value useless, Pignite can do a flame wheel... just and Unfezant (seriously thats his the evolved one), thenI can't even decide which other of the 3-4 to name since they all massively underdeveloped.

 

[Lucifer Angel]

Wasn't much of a fan of the Serperior vs Pikachu battle I mean pikachu get's his butt handed to him by Serperior. He should have lost the match but only won because Ash pulled a dem out of his butt and won with really one move.

 

[TheMaskedMeowth]

Nothing really different to say, I was complaining about how Pikachu rose from near-KO like 5 times while both Serperior and Escavalier didn't even try to get up. I don't even understand how Iron Tail + Electro Ball freed Pikachu, probably just anime physics.

 

[Zexy]

I don't even understand how Iron Tail + Electro Ball freed Pikachu, probably just anime physics.

Trip was about to crash Pikachu to the ground. That let him loose, Ash took advantage of it, and used Iron Tail only to get free from Serperior's grip.
Then, they started exchanging tail attacks, and Serperior's Dragon Tail was better. So Ash thought of a combo, and it worked out.
AKA, they wanted Ash to finish out Trip with something more than a simple move...

 

[Shinneth]

Even though I'm still glad Trip was booted out first in a shitty 1v1 battle in the preliminary rounds of the League because that's honestly all his character deserves, I'm annoyed that Pikachu's ability didn't get to even play a role in this battle.

Since y'know, Trip's Serperior's bread and butter is being SUPER FAST and omg so fast it's virtually untouchable and a logical turning point in the battle would be for Ash to focus on nerfing that speed to level out the playing field. Since paralysis in-game does lower the target's speed in addition to randomly making it unable to move.

But nope, let's not have things tie in nicely and make sense, let's have one-sided bullshit to make this entirely impossible to enjoy.

Save for Trip's face upon losing. That was still priceless.

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

I guess I forgot how easily Escavalier went down, even after using Iron Defense three(?) times. I suppose it wasn't trained as much as Emboar, the latter of whom took several beatings before going down. I'm still glad that Emboar at least put up a good fight before Bianca was eliminated earlier than I would have hoped.

Despite how cheap Ash's victory was - it may even be among his least believable victories in the anime - I still just can't bring myself to care enough, considering that Ash and Trip's whole rivalry made about as much sense as that battle. I do still agree with the above that utilizing Pikachu's Static would have made for an excellent way for the electric mouse to overcome the super speedy Serperior, though.

 

[Kouzan]

As expected , Pikachu wins somehow. This episode was somewhat predictable. It's hard for me believe that somehow Pikachu was able to free himself from Trip's Serperior's wrap and miraculously defeated him. Though I guess Uberchu must win almost every battle he's in and get out of every though situations. At least it could of been more believable or explained out a bit more.

Cameron and Bianca's battle was better, though it's odd how Escavalier used Iron Defense three times, but somehow was taken down by Samurott's Razor Shell two times. Poor Bianca though was eliminated early, though I sort of also expected Cameron to win.

Though the sauna scene, especially the part with Pikachu, Oshawott, and Riolu , was entertaining.

 

[Paulisthebest]

Bull crap episode.

The thing that really gets me is Ash letting Pikachu continue though its face is blue from Wrap. I mean the mouse was suffocating and he was just standing there.

Remember against Skyla after Pikachu took Brave Bird, Pikachu was tired (but still able to battle) but Ash called it back?

Well I mean the scenario was different being that Ash still have Tranquill to call out but in this case it was be booted out of the league. But still I mean it just really grinds my gears to see something like that go down.

Funniest BS moment was Emboar taking that Hydro Cannon to the face like it was a cup of water being splashed at it haha

I don't know what's worse seeing Emboar still stand and win at that after taking Hydro Cannon or back in Sinnoh when Paul's Magmortar took Barry's Empoleon's Hydro Cannon and was still standing.

Electro-Tail...um yeah I'm trying to find a "logical" reason like someone above mentioned about Ash coming up with a off the wall strategy attack maneuver or combo that wins a match but here I seriously can't think of anything here is my "reasoning" I suppose (but I still don't think it makes any sense at all...);

Iron Tail's power was somehow amplified by the Electro Ball traveling up and down Pikachu's tail (hence the glow on the Iron Tail) and the tail would "explode" when making contact with the opponent (Dragon Tail) creating an aftershock that somehow knocks out the opponent in one attack...

Yeah...um Electro Ball does higher damage on slower opponents but Serperior has proven to be WAY faster than Pikachu not to mention Electro Ball isn't very effective at all on a Grass type.

Right before the combo move Iron Tail was shown to be vastly inferior to Serperior's Dragon Tail mainly due to size difference and Serperior's attack packed more of a wallop.

So, I'm guessing when Electro-Tail and Dragon Tail collided the Electro Ball exploded somehow giving Pikachu an upper hand to um somehow one hit knockout its undamaged opponent...

I'm getting a headache just thinking about it, just forget the whole thing. Ash wins and we say goodbye to his dullest excuse for a rival yet :/

 

[Yamadora]

The sauna scene. That's all I got to say.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

This time there's not much left for me to do than to agree with the majority of the users above. It was undoubtedly one of the worst and least believable battles ever!

Knowing already that the Unova League is going to be a total letdown, I didn't really get my hopes up when it started, so I wouldn't be all too disappointed afterwards. But never did I expect that it would be THAT bad! The only positive thing about the episode was Bianca's and Cameron's battle, mainly because Samurott and Riolu belong to my absolute favorites and pulled off a fantastic battle. Nevertheless, even in this relatively good battle there was a scene that would have needed to be explained, namely how Samurott managed to defeat Escavalier with relative ease despite the latter having used Iron Defense three times. Cameron mentioned something like a shock from within but that so-called explanation stayed as vague and meaningless as Ash's and Trip's rivalry. What a pity!

Speaking of Ash and Trip, I'll now come to my main point of criticism. I don't have to repeat what was already said, I just would like to add that it must have been one of the most disappointing and illogical battles in the history of Pokemon! Or let me put it this way:

A Pokemon that is on the verge of defeat
+
An almost undamaged opponent
+
An Iron Tail attack that was shown to be considerably weaker than his opponent's corresponding tail attack
+
An Electro Ball attack that shouldn't do much against a much faster opponent
+
A totally unexplainable combination of two moves, which when used alone didn't do much, that OHKOed an opponent known for its strength as if by magic
________
= Pikachu wins....
WHAT???

Ok, let's just forget this poor example of an episode and move on to the next one.

 

[Darth Darkrai]

I personale think that this was the best episode of the season so far.

 

[GibleKidd]

Im not as upset about the way Pikachu beat Serperior as I am the way Bianca lost. Seriously, like some above already pointed out, how on earth did Escavalier get knocked out so easily after 3 Iron defenses?? Let me say that again so it can sink in: THREE IRON DEFENSES! Serperior has been ridiculously OP for awhile; I probably would be content if Pikachu beat it with a single Quick Attack.

I hate that Bianca lost. I don't just hate it because she's one of my favorite characters in the series and Cameron is one of my least favorites...just the way she lost. She seemed to come into the battle with more heart and wit whilst Cameron came into the battle with recklessness and no apparent strategy. People dog on Ash's similar off-the-wall style, but heck, at least there's a rhyme and reason to the moves he makes, Cameron just kind of... does things.

Was overall okay with the Ash/Trip fight; it's cool to see Trip acting like a decent person and going out respectfully. The flashback thing with Ash refusing to loose to Trip yet again was cool. It kind of of makes you think he finally came to the realization he shouldn't loose to a rookie Trainer under any circumstance.

Hate that Cameron beat Bianca and the way he won.

 

[megaevolvedmushroom]

Biggest deus ex machina of all time. It was bad enough they had Trip go out in the first round, but...this is pathetic, writers. Serperior was giving him a run for his money, and then Pikachu just 1hko's it, without even static kicking in.

 

[Duque]

Speaking of Ash and Trip, I'll now come to my main point of criticism. I don't have to repeat what was already said, I just would like to add that it must have been one of the most disappointing and illogical battles in the history of Pokemon! Or let me put it this way:

A Pokemon that is on the verge of defeat
+
An almost undamaged opponent
+
An Iron Tail attack that was shown to be considerably weaker than his opponent's corresponding tail attack
+
An Electro Ball attack that shouldn't do much against a much faster opponent
+
A totally unexplainable combination of two moves, which when used alone didn't do much, that OHKOed an opponent known for its strength as if by magic
________
= Pikachu wins....
WHAT???

Ok, let's just forget this poor example of an episode and move on to the next one.

What I could understand (or I tried so hard to believe it myself) is that Ash used iron tail + electro ball to repel dragon tail back to serperior, so, the snake was KOH'ed by a three-attack combo strike.

But, it doesn't matter at all. A petty end to a petty excuse for a rival.

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

I'm sorry, but this was a bad episode.

The dub is fine (due to lack of Jimmy Zoppi's Meowth), but the episode itself is a bunch of bull crap.

The only funny thing was Trip's face when he lost. But that's basic, right?

Seriously, all the hype BW brought to Ash vs. Trip, and this is what it led to? I was expecting some badass epic Ash vs. Paul-esque battle (and I didn't even like DP, but that was one of the few things I loved about it). No, no, no...let's just knock out Trip in Round 1 in a place no one even considers remotely important. -_-

That's just the tip of the iceberg for those of you who stick solely to the dub. Believe me, this league is something else. XD.

 

[Codface]

Ok ok I just mentioned this somewhere else but

Unova can now be summed up as "A bad Trip"

See the play on words I used there. Beat that none Dub version!!!

 

[Paulisthebest]

Heck honestly, I'd rather have Ash lose in the first round and let Trip go on. That's how much I disliked the results of this match. I'd like to have seen more of Trip's team, seriously he may have been dull as dirt but the guy had some of BW's finest (well except for the ice cream cone, I wish it got melted by Tepig in their 3rd battle, and Conkeldurr desperately needed at least ONE win).

That's why they needed a FULL battle. I mean like I said before Trip was a crappy rival but it was the one BW seemed to promote their "rivalry" and Gary, Morrison, Tyson and Paul all got full matches against the Pokemon Version of Peter Pan (since Ash doesn't seem to grow up).

That's just the tip of the iceberg for those of you who stick solely to the dub. Believe me, this league is something else. XD.

Haha you got that right! Can't wait to see what everyone's reaction to the league results in only a few more episodes.