• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Review S17 EP26: A Battle by Any Other Name!

Omg, Swirlix and Slurpuff are sooooooo cute. Oh, and the rest of the episode was nice.

Ok, good to finally see some Poke Puffs in the anime and...did Ash seriously just try to eat those. He didn’t even wait for her to respond. WTF is wrong with him...oh he liked it? Well then, ok. And then Slurpuff just steals one. Ok this is a weird beginning for an episode, but whatever. Anyway, Slurpuff is sooo adorable, stealing Poke Puffs and not giving a crap. But anyway, I really hope that these Poke Puffs become one of the main meals or snacks of the Pokémon so that Serena can still be providing some sort of food. They already made Clemont the group's cook, please let Serena be the Pokémon's cook.

Damn, Miette’s, I think that’s her name, Poke Puffs look scrumptious. Yeah she better share her Poke Puffs with the group after her adorable dick Slurpuff stole thier's. But really, Ash needs to stop grabbing other people's food and eating it, especially Pokémon food. Wow, Serena's anger sure escalated quickly. And poor Clemont tries and break up their fight. Anyway, on to that Poke Puff contest. Oh damn those Poke Puffs look so good. I’m with Ash, I’d eat them too. And wow, of course, adding a little twig for Fennekin. That's pretty cute. And omg Slurpuff looks so cute sittin' there with its tongue sticking out looking like a derp. And lol, at Bonnie randomly proposing during the judging. That was so cute. And of course Clemont had to overreact and run out of the whole park. These two never cease to disappointment me in terms of humor. But seriously, how the hell did NONE of them see her get up and run over on that stage. What the hell, why was Miette (still not sure of the name) wondering if Ash had someone to “take care” of him? And why didn’t Ash know what she meant? He knows Bonnie is always using the phrase to find Clemont a wife. Can’t he put 2 and 2 together.

Wow, Serena was pretty reckless today. She just ran off on her own without anyone else. Actually, I kind of liked that. At least she isn't afraid to go off without someone else for backup. Ooooh, I liked Slurpuff’s Who’s that Pokemon music. And then...a horde of Swirlix appears. And omg they're so cute. Yes Bonnie, hug the cute killer Swirlix! I'm glad Serena was the one to scare the Swirlix away. I thought it would be Ash for a second. Too bad she didn't catch one of those evil cuties.

Wait a minute, what...did Ash just get an idea to use Pokémon to solve a problem? Well, that's nice. Seems like Serena and Ash switched places today. She even burned Team Rocket's robot which ended up saving Ash and freeing the Pokemon. I’m glad she asked Clemont if the robot had any weak spots. It was most likely that the inventor would know how to beat it. But speaking of Clemont, Serena’s right, he would be the only one to think TR’s whatever the f*ck machine had a creative name. I’m also glad that Serena and Miette got to both participate in the blast off and not just Ash.

You know, I just had a feeling that those berry baker kids were going to win. And wtf? Miette likes Ash???? Why? I hope she was just kidding to make Serena mad. Cuz seriously, why? Anyway, a rather nice episode. I'm glad we got so see more focus on Serena trying out a new sport, Fennekin doing more battling, and adorable Swirlix and Slurpuff. I'd say, 8/10.
 
Looks like Ash has the "L" word competition going.

Once again, the title card focused on Ash instead of Serena. They just gonna keep doing that huh? Oh well, overall my rating is 8/10.
 
Guise Slurpuff itssofluffyimgonnadie.

What is with Ash eating Pokémon food?

Serena really can’t take criticism, can she? Is she always gonna get mad and pout if she’s not being told she’s the best at something? Like, I love how she’s getting mad at XY Ursula (didn’t catch her name clearly) and accusing her about having attitude when she’s literally – LITERALLY – the only one with the attitude. Honestly, I’m not even being I-hate-Serena-so-I’m-gonna-auto-take-the-other-girl’s-side; XY Ursula literally just offered advice, which, yes, could come off as snobbish, but Serena’s yelling and making challenges as if this girl actually came up to her as the instigator. Not to mention, it’s not as if Poke Puff baking truly means something to her seeing as this is the first time it has even come up; it’s clear she’s only upset because she’s just that petty.

Team Rocket appeared. Ok, maybe Serena could have a like for baking a Poke Puffs deep down in her background. But Team Rocket? Really now? If this is an excuse to steal Pokémon, it’s a pretty pathetic one, because I’m pretty sure there’s no real prize for winning this.

I should probably have seen that Bonnie proposal coming. I mean, it makes sense. A lady’s got to cook for Clemont, right? And I really hope XY Ursula isn’t actually into Ash and is just trying to make Serena jealous; clearly after seeing this fool eat a Poke Puff she can’t actually be attracted? =~=

Miette? Myette? Seriously, what is it? And as a side note, I’m glad that little girl with the brother and the Makuhita moved on. I saw them. They was cute with their little bakin’. And it looks like Serena moved on for the sake of plot…guys…this rivalry is forced as I don’t know what…

And it looks like Team Rocket really did want to steal all of the Pokémon! Writers….stahp. On that note, I’m actually shocked Team Rocket didn’t move on just for the sake of keeping them in the competition with some dumbass reasoning why their sh*t Poke Puffs were allowed to pass. And it figures Jessie has a fantasy of being a Queen at this event like always. That I saw coming.

Here we go. HERE WE F*CKIN GO. Serena sees this girl in distress running up lookin’ for berries and she has the audacity to accuse it of being her fault. As if that even makes any sense. And I know there’s been sabotages before, but never on such a scale like taking every single possible berry. There’s no way it would have been XY Ursula; she’s just accusing her because she feels the need to continue this forced rivalry. Like, this rivalry is worse and more forced than Iris’ with Georgia.

Finally Slurpuff gets to shine! It’s so cute! And then Serena had to interrupt it. With a scream like that, she’d better have just gotten one of her legs eaten off.

But of course. The evil floating cotton candy monsters are out to get her. Oh no! How menacing! How adorably terrifying!

Slurpuff had the best “Who’s That Pokémon?” music!

So not only is Fennekin too useless to beat cotton candy monsters, Serena’s apparent best choice of attack for it is SCRATCH! And then in the biggest moment of irony, Serena gets mad at the Swirlix for suddenly attacking her when she did the SAME DAMN THING to XY Ursula.

But Slurpuff is so cute! =w= It just makes all the bad things go away~

You know, XY has this thing with turning moments of teamwork into some big deal. Like, what’s with that? They did the same thing with the Pancham a while ago like none of them have ever experienced the joy of cooperation before. But Slurpuff is here so I don’t care.

Swirlix coming through like Power Rangers!

So Serena says one thing right today...hell I was thinking the same when Clemont said that machine had a creative name…which was the only other thing I saw coming. And I love how Ash wasted a good three seconds letting Pikachu try to swim away from that vacuum before he reacted. Speaking of…that machine looks extremely dangerous. Again, I get that they have to look cruel, but that spinning vacuum could literally have killed those Pokémon. And this is coming off of them doing the same thing to Amaura! =~= Giovanni don't want no dead Pokemon.

I admit all those swimming motions and sh*t was pretty funny. But Ash isn’t brave, he’s an idiot. That vacuum only sucked up Pikachu and Swirlix, neither of which weigh anything, so it’s hard to tell exactly how strong it was, but the way team Rocker talked about it and looking at it, it must have been pretty strong. Ash could have had his stomach ripped open and all of his vital organs sucked out if that thing was strong enough (it’s happened in real life, guys) so I can hardly say that was a smart thing to do. And then Serena has the genius idea to shoot fire at it while Ash and the Pokémon are still in the machine.

Mighty Morphing Swirlix Rangers! Fighting to save the world!

Anyway, we're finally freakin' back to the competition. So XY Ursula’s Poke Puff is perfect for Dedenne? Cool.

Wao. The Berry Bakers won it. I only half expected that. Well, I liked those two, so I’m fine with it. As long as the writers didn’t give it to Serena just because she’s in the main cast. She was clearly outclassed by XY Ursula Myette girl. And please don’t say there’s always next time! Who would want to see something like this again?!

So Serena’s really gonna be a dick and act like she’s not been a dick this whole episode? -.- And does XY Ursula really REALLY actually like Ash? For what?! What the hell did he do that was so damn impressive to her? Please, girl, be kidding.

There’s no need to repeat how many things I found wrong with this episode. And just like the last awful Serena focused episode even though the title card says otherwise, I’ll rate everything separately and give Serena a -42/10, Slurpuff and XY Ursula get a 100/10, Ash, Bonnie and Clemont get an 8/10, Team Rocket gets a 1/10, and as a whole, for general enjoyment of this episode, it gets a 2/10.
 
*sigh*

Ok. I've had enough of the shippiness. I know that characters in the anime aren't exactly three-dimensional at the best of times, but now I've had enough of Serena. This episode could have been about her own pride in her skills, but nope, just had to be about bloody, bloody shipping. Ok, maybe I'm being a bit harsh, bit it's just getting downright annoying how everything Serena does has shipping in the background. And tie that damn hair back! So much for food hygiene >_>
 
*sigh*

Ok. I've had enough of the shippiness. I know that characters in the anime aren't exactly three-dimensional at the best of times, but now I've had enough of Serena. This episode could have been about her own pride in her skills, but nope, just had to be about bloody, bloody shipping. Ok, maybe I'm being a bit harsh, bit it's just getting downright annoying how everything Serena does has shipping in the background. And tie that damn hair back! So much for food hygiene >_>


How can anyone be sick of the shipping in pokemon? Besides now. When was the last time shipping played a plot in the pokemon anime? actually. The last episode that might have even be considered ship related was around 10 episodes back. So it's not a common occurrence.

Anyways. I thought this episode was pretty great, although serena confirming she has feelings for ash is enough for me to give it 10/10
 
*sigh*

Ok. I've had enough of the shippiness. I know that characters in the anime aren't exactly three-dimensional at the best of times, but now I've had enough of Serena. This episode could have been about her own pride in her skills, but nope, just had to be about bloody, bloody shipping. Ok, maybe I'm being a bit harsh, bit it's just getting downright annoying how everything Serena does has shipping in the background. And tie that damn hair back! So much for food hygiene >_>


How can anyone be sick of the shipping in pokemon? Besides now. When was the last time shipping played a plot in the pokemon anime? actually. The last episode that might have even be considered ship related was around 10 episodes back. So it's not a common occurrence.

Anyways. I thought this episode was pretty great, although serena confirming she has feelings for ash is enough for me to give it 10/10

I'm sick of the shipping now, because it's like, half of Serena's character. Serena = Good at cooking, moons over Ash. Like I say, I know that pokémon characters tend to have two dimensions at best - that's the way it's always been and I'm fine with that - but it's an increasing theme with Serena in the anime that everything she does is in some way either about worrying about Ash, seeking his approval, or fighting over him. (The last Gym Battle had her visibly worried at the prospect of Ash losing a battle he can retry, for heaven's sake)

I said in another review somewhere that travel companions get tiresome when they become nothing more than a cheer squad for Ash, so that might go some way to explain my irritation
 
*sigh*

Ok. I've had enough of the shippiness. I know that characters in the anime aren't exactly three-dimensional at the best of times, but now I've had enough of Serena. This episode could have been about her own pride in her skills, but nope, just had to be about bloody, bloody shipping. Ok, maybe I'm being a bit harsh, bit it's just getting downright annoying how everything Serena does has shipping in the background. And tie that damn hair back! So much for food hygiene >_>


How can anyone be sick of the shipping in pokemon? Besides now. When was the last time shipping played a plot in the pokemon anime? actually. The last episode that might have even be considered ship related was around 10 episodes back. So it's not a common occurrence.

Anyways. I thought this episode was pretty great, although serena confirming she has feelings for ash is enough for me to give it 10/10

I'm sick of the shipping now, because it's like, half of Serena's character. Serena = Good at cooking, moons over Ash. Like I say, I know that pokémon characters tend to have two dimensions at best - that's the way it's always been and I'm fine with that - but it's an increasing theme with Serena in the anime that everything she does is in some way either about worrying about Ash, seeking his approval, or fighting over him. (The last Gym Battle had her visibly worried at the prospect of Ash losing a battle he can retry, for heaven's sake)

So? Some people LIKE the shipping, why are you being close minded?
 
*sigh*

Ok. I've had enough of the shippiness. I know that characters in the anime aren't exactly three-dimensional at the best of times, but now I've had enough of Serena. This episode could have been about her own pride in her skills, but nope, just had to be about bloody, bloody shipping. Ok, maybe I'm being a bit harsh, bit it's just getting downright annoying how everything Serena does has shipping in the background. And tie that damn hair back! So much for food hygiene >_>


How can anyone be sick of the shipping in pokemon? Besides now. When was the last time shipping played a plot in the pokemon anime? actually. The last episode that might have even be considered ship related was around 10 episodes back. So it's not a common occurrence.

Anyways. I thought this episode was pretty great, although serena confirming she has feelings for ash is enough for me to give it 10/10

I'm sick of the shipping now, because it's like, half of Serena's character. Serena = Good at cooking, moons over Ash. Like I say, I know that pokémon characters tend to have two dimensions at best - that's the way it's always been and I'm fine with that - but it's an increasing theme with Serena in the anime that everything she does is in some way either about worrying about Ash, seeking his approval, or fighting over him. (The last Gym Battle had her visibly worried at the prospect of Ash losing a battle he can retry, for heaven's sake)

So? Some people LIKE the shipping, why are you being close minded?

I'm saying why I'm sick of the shipping, in response to a question asked of me. If you do, fine, I'm not criticising anyone for their own preferences
 
I loved this episode in japanese and in english! i love how they dubbed it but i couldnt help to notice that serena sounded different in this episode.Her voice wasnt as deep in the episode like the rest.Do you guys hear what im talking about?anyways lovely episode i give it a 9 out of 10 :)
 
Last edited:
Serena was just being a brat tbh

Serena's actually looked the best aha

I'm sure she knows what Slurpuff was saying...

Ash quit it with yer friendship stuff

"Prepare for trouble who else would be be" - so true

dat machine name

Ash da bad ass

lol I called it would be team Makuhita

Oh shit they should fight to the death over Ash
 
Honestly, I was a bit sceptical when starting to watch this episode because I knew it had Slurpuff and Swirlix in it and I think that their design is both boring and kind of kitschy.
But apart from the COD's Pokemon, the episode itself turned out to be quite a nice one, nothing extraordinary but still nice.

As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to mention two scenes that I found particularly funny:
First, when TRio's futile attempt to bake PokePuffs resulted in an exploding oven: I couldn't help but laugh out loud here because it was kind of funny. It's so them :D
Second, Clemont acknowledging Team Rocket's "creative" name for their machine: Every now and then I think it's a good idea if the writers indirectly point at the character's individual quirks and, of course, who else except Clemont would be fascinated by such a name?. I like this kind of humor a lot.

Also, I found it great that neither Serena nor Miette won because that was much less predictable and considering that the main characters winning a competition is something we see in the majority of Pokemon episodes, I think this result was an unexpected and nice change of pace.

And finally, it's shipping time again! It sure has been a while! (and that's why I can't understand why some users are complaining. The last really good shipping scene was....when exactly?) Miette realized that Serena in fact is into Ash (female intuition?), Serena was too shy to admit it and Ash is as clueless as always what they're talking about, of course. That's the Ash we know. :D

All in all, a filler episode but really not a bad one.
 
I never put much thought into poképuffs appearing in the anime but whatever. This episode is another example of how Serena likes to bake. I think the concept of Serena having a sort of rival was a bit interesting and I liked how it led to her competing in a contest. I was really surprised when Serena didn't win at the end of the episode. I also liked the look Fennekin had on her face while Serena was making the poképuffs.

And now onto the idiots. I don't know what they expected to get if they won but chances are it was something that only existed in their heads but I could be wrong. And once again the female idiot's ego showed itself when she got pissed over losing the contest and for that reason she decided that if she couldn't compete in the finals then no one could. And to that end they took every berry they could get their hands on. Here's what I have to say about them deciding to take Ash and his friends' pokémon: I never take them seriously anymore.

All in all a good episode.
 
Finally got around to watching this - If I was another Pokemon faced with battling Slurpuff, I'd hear it's voice once and then lose the battle through uncontrollable laughter. I suppose it fits the design, but I can't possibly take a Pokemon like that seriously. Then again, Serena did cower with fear against floating cotton candy, so anything's possible.

One of those episodes where everything seems to happen in a vacuum. Wouldn't one of the berry stand operators have noticed that all of their produce dissipated? I wonder if the two kids who won just went down to the PokeMart and bought them there?

Besides spite, what exactly does destroying the forest do for Team Rocket? If the plan was forcing forest Pokemon out and sucking all those up, sure, but having the plan depend on Ash and the others taking going deeper into the forest as the only way to obtain berries and walking into a trap? It started off well with Team Rocket actually participating in a competition - that's always been my favourite way for them to be involved in episodes, especially during the contest era.

I don't know where I sit with regards to Serena - this episode at least had her doing something. I'd rather she have an active role and develop some personality and battle style, than just be a map operator or cheerleader. I certainly feel that even though Brock was sidelined fairly early on, AG was handling four main characters far better than XY is so far.

I certainly hope that whatever the random assortment of letters was that named the COTD in this episode, that she's a one off and doesn't appear again. Pokepuff contests barely had an episode worth of contests - just have Serena keep cooking them and perfecting them, without making a big deal about it.

Not an episode I'll watch again.
 
Hmm...I've not actually reviewed an episode before. Oh well, since I'm here, might as well make a start.

Good Points
-Slurpuff. That's all that needs to be said.
-I see potential in Miette as a rival character, although for the most part it's through Serena rather than Miette herself. Contrast to the previous rivals we've had in the series, and we all agree the rivals themselves have been...well, dicks. From what I saw with Miette, it seemed like she wasn't trying to be one, but Serena was making her out to be one, and it just went from there.
-The whole premise of the episode was...different. It makes a nice change....

Not-so-good points
-....but at the same time, it felt rather unneccessary. I can see why they're doing it, to incorporate the various X/Y mechanics in, but even so, it's still not ENTIRELY needed.
-Once again, I'm left a little unsure as to what the creators are trying to do with Serena. If this is their goal, then she's going to slip into the category of "wasted potential". At least Bonnie has an excuse for representing Pokemon-Amie, being too young to be a proper trainer.
-I'm sorry, but Team Rocket...really? You fail at cooking and then you proceed to take your anger out on the forest? Guys, you've done more sensible things than that when you've failed tournaments before. ><

Other Notes
-Is anyone else here a little disapointed that they didn't keep Bonnie's French for the dub?
-Dat Face! You know the one I mean. The one where Miette is warning Serena to tell Ash how she feels about him, least she take him for herself. You could make so many motivational posters and they'd speak for themselves.
 
Please note: The thread is from 10 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom