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Review XY006: Decisive Battle on the Ice! Pikachu VS Viviyon!!

What I think is really going to help this cast of characters is the absence of that designated "carer"; that older character that has all the knowledge and looks after the younger members of the group. Their role was to always "give" to the younger members, but rarely receive anything in return. Brock or Cilan would use their experience and knowledge to pass on advice and help with the character development, but wouldn't actually develop as character themselves and that sort of gives the group an artificial or formulaic feel to it.

This current group seem to have better symbiosis. Ash will learn from Clemont's machines or feel empowered by Serena's encouragement, but at the same he will boost their confidence and give them advice as well. I prefer this sort of balance since it gives the cast room to be mature on their own.

It's helping, too, that we've dove right into the characters' background and story so far this season instead of having to wait. It seems like things are more character driven this time round.
 
Two things I really loved about the rematch. First is Ash using Viola's own strategy against her in icing the the things other than the ground by messing up Surskit and later knocking Vivillon into it, much like how Surskit would set up the Sticky Web and then Vivillon knocked Fletchling into it. The second is finally giving me a good reason why Electro Ball even exists. Pikachu can't attack itself with Thunderbolt, but with this it has a means of fighting off Sleep or maybe things like Attract and Confusion down the line. That he came up with it based on Clemont's invention backfiring is just the icing on the cake. The way Ash is adapting his style to his friends and opponents reminds me of how him and Dawn used to practice together and influence each other's styles, and I love it being back.
 
Two things I really loved about the rematch. First is Ash using Viola's own strategy against her in icing the the things other than the ground by messing up Surskit and later knocking Vivillon into it, much like how Surskit would set up the Sticky Web and then Vivillon knocked Fletchling into it. The second is finally giving me a good reason why Electro Ball even exists. Pikachu can't attack itself with Thunderbolt, but with this it has a means of fighting off Sleep or maybe things like Attract and Confusion down the line. That he came up with it based on Clemont's invention backfiring is just the icing on the cake. The way Ash is adapting his style to his friends and opponents reminds me of how him and Dawn used to practice together and influence each other's styles, and I love it being back.

I loved that also! Those were things that I missed in the last season; it was proof that he had been improving since he first started, the ability to strategize and use other people's plans to his own advantage.

It was also what set him apart in DP and now, in this season.. was his unorthodox fighting style.. which BW sort of touched on in the beginning with his battle with Cilan (but it seemed more like naive trust rather than plans), but that lady couldn't have expected that Satoshi had planned on using her own strategy against her.

And, yes, for the first time, electro ball made me excited as I had been sort of disappointed with the move choice for some time because it didn't seem as epic as I'd hope it to be, but finally, it was as epic as I had always wished. I can see some amazing battles coming in the future.

Hopefully, this season will also fix the lack of good movies that the last generation couldn't seem to get right... I forced myself to like the first one only because of the semi-sad ending.
 
This was a pretty good episode it wasn’t the best but it wasn’t disappointing either.

I’m not shocked that Ash didn’t remember Serena given his past obviousness to the opposite gender. This guy has been electrocuted almost as much as Team Rocket not to mention Bites to the head by Turtwig and Gible so those brain cells probably didn’t survive from childhood…just kidding!

No surprise that the only reason Ash remembered the moment in childhood at summer camp was when Serena repeated one of his “never give up” phrases but he didn’t remember her…

I feel that he will eventually remember and honestly I think that is a lot better than him remembering her at first glance, she likes him but he is obvious to it and that is the end of that

So at the moment I am unsure about what the writers are doing with the Ash/Serena “relationship” or shipping or whatever you want to call it but I hope that they do something interesting with it for a change you know?

Now in terms of the gym battle rematch training it was GREAT to see Ash going something that he never did in BW; TRAIN!

It was like I was watching D/P series again and I loved every moment of it!

Now on to the battle, Pikachu being the star…well…looking at his first battle; Fletchling was the one to take out a Pokemon and then lose while here it is the one to lose after Pikachu ends up taking out 2 Pokemon nearly by himself

I was thinking the whole time just Thunderbolt em! Both of her Pokemon were weak to Electric attacks but hey it is all good

I was just in love with the screen seeing Ash using strategy and we haven’t seen that for awhile. I was a little surprised that Razor Wind didn’t just slice through the Sleep Powder but I suppose that since it enveloped the tiny bird that it was a lingering effect that knocked him out

But it was a great battle and in terms of Pikachu not sleeping…see it would not have bothered me as much if it was knocked out by the powder but woke up for an Electo Ball to counter Solarbeam before a Thunderbolt for the win kind of like how his Sceptile woke up from Darkrai’s Dark Void right after falling asleep for the final attack

Regardless it was a cool battle and I just hope that Pikachu isn’t the star of all of these gym battles in the future but I think X/Y is off to a good start I don’t want to “jynx” it but I think that we are in for a fun ride!
 
I'm really enjoying XY so far since it brought back strong points from the past series

Fletching was handled quite well here in my opinion, Pikachu was the star pokemon, and yes he did get 2 KO's, but there's more to it. Pikachu managed to defeat Vivillion while the only attack he managed to land was a SE thunderbolt. When Fletching was affected by sleep powder, there's also a clear shot of Vivillion taking point blank razor wind which seemed to really hurt it. And prior to this he also managed to land a steel wing on it. For a freshy caught pokemon, that's a lot of damage on a ace pokemon, and it was because of this Pikachu's Tbolt took it out so easily.

He wasn't incompetent , just visibly inexperienced, and not having enough offensive and defensive prowess yet to outmuscle something as powerful as a gym ace pokemon. Compared that to some past gym losses, in which pokemon far stronger then current Fletching just got streamrolled in bizarre ways without doing anything significant in return. Pikachu and Fletching could both be considered stars here since they both did very well to their realistic ability at this point. I hope they keep this up in later gyms, so far XY really has done well on the ''what can this pokemon do'''aspect, even Froakie had some involvement with the win indirectly.
 
Well, I guess I can't say I'm surprised that Ash didn't remember Serena, But not exactly how they met - though it does make sense.

Horray for the return of serious battle training. It seems Ash and Alexa trained for hours until dinner time, then into nightfall. I hope this continues.

Loved the way Bonnie got tired as she cheered for Ash's training when it was past her bedtime and Clemont walked her to bed. I still just love how she's treated as being a kid her age in every conceivable way while still being adorable and fun.

The gym battle rematch was also well done overall. Lots of strategies and counterattacks done. I'm okay that it only lasted half the episode, while the first half was devoted to counter-training. Not every gym match needs to last an entire episode. I am, on one hand, a little disappointed that Fletchling didn't get a win, while Pikachu finished both of Viola's Pokémon - after all, Fletchling worked just a hard as Pikachu to prepare for the rematch - but no big deal.

Lol @ Clemont's invention actually helping Ash, both before and after it falls apart. XD
 
I love this series, I really do.

We start off with more intense training, which is pretty cool. I liked seeing Keromatsu again, and its relationship with Yayakoma. It looks as if they are going to have a strong relationship, which I love. Speaking of relationships, I get a vibe that Satoshi and Serena are going to have an amazing one. The way she acted when Satoshi didn't remember was really mature (Something I can't imagine any other female companion doing). It's also really nice how she encourages Satoshi; that's something else I love.

I'm not too worried about Satoshi not remembering Serena. A, because its Ash, and B, I'm sure the writers are going to touch the subject again and have him spontaneously remember.

The battle itself was good, and I liked seeing Yayakoma in battle. Too bad it wasn't battling for long though. I was honestly hoping that as it was falling to the ground, it was going to shoot back up with Flame Charge, but I guess Steel Wing is an acceptable move; it will be good for dem rocks. It also would have let Viviyon show off Powder, but oh well. I understand that Pikachu got the win to help showcase his and Satoshi's bond, but it still would have been nice for Yayakoma to win.

Overall, it was a great episode that showcased the new animation, Satoshi's battle style, and the whole groups personality. Ending it with a cliff hanger only makes me more excited for next week. What a fantastic episode.
 
I really liked this episode. It was nice to see all of the brief flashbacks with Ash and Serena when Ash would say something that he used to say at the time. Not too surprised that he didn't remember her from back then. The battle was animated very well, and I like that even though Fletchling didn't get a win that it was still able to show off the improvements that it made during the training they went through.

It was funny seeing Clemont's machine blow itself up when the sticky stuff got jammed inside of it. Bonnie was cute when she was falling asleep at the end of the day and Ash's training. Nice to see Froakie get some action in this episode, helping the Pokemon train and minimally hitting Fletchling to say "good job".

It was nice to see Ash give credit to everyone for their help during training that led to him being able to win the Gym Battle.
 
Just watched this one again, with good subs this time. I'm convinced now that "giving each other inspiration" is the theme of this series. You can see it with Serena reminding Ash of what he told her when they first met, Clemont saying he gets courage from Ash, Ash fanboying over Clemont's inventions, Ash saying everyone contributed to his victory, it's even in the opening animation with the scene where Ash's friends are giving him support. I think the reason the writing for this series is so good is because they went into it with a solid idea of what they want to accomplish.
 
Just watched this one again, with good subs this time. I'm convinced now that "giving each other inspiration" is the theme of this series. You can see it with Serena reminding Ash of what he told her when they first met, Clemont saying he gets courage from Ash, Ash fanboying over Clemont's inventions, Ash saying everyone contributed to his victory, it's even in the opening animation with the scene where Ash's friends are giving him support. I think the reason the writing for this series is so good is because they went into it with a solid idea of what they want to accomplish.

I agree. I think that may've been the problem with last season was the lack of clear direction and also the earthquake which messed up much of the original planning... I honestly think BW would've been good if RL hadn't gotten in the way and the story began to suddenly lose focus and never catch back onto it again.

This episode along with what we've all seen so far seems to lead very well with your hypothesis.

The good thing is, it doesn't come off as corny which could easily happen. Digimon tends to go very cornball on these subjects, but I am glad that Pokemon is bale to take something like teamwork/giving strength/etc and make it come off as very mature and strong for the plot.
 
What a fantastic gym battle.

I can't believe Ash actually used Clemont's mishap as a way to get himself out of the Sleep Powder mess. And I love how the ice actually ended up being a sort of disadvantage for Viola at the end as it prevented Viola's Vivillion from moving properly. And I'm not mad at all that Fletchling lost. It got a victory in the first battle against Surskit and even in the rematch it landed a couple of hints before being taken out by the Sleep Powder, so it's fair. And I loved the animation, God, Electro Ball seems SO much cooler without the regular blue background. If this is how the first gym turned out, then I can't wait for the other seven, as long as Ash keeps up with regular training sessions.

It was nice of Ash to acknowledge that everyone helped him win this battle, and even after Clemont said he only messed up, Ash encouraged him saying it was his own accident that led to Ash winning.

Oh, and Bonnie was adorable, like always. It's only natural a little girl can't stay up for long.

Overall, a really good episode. XY quality continues - yes, a good episode.
 
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I have not been thrilled by a pokemon battle since Satoshi's battle with Shinji in the Suzuran league. Oh my god. It was so amazing. I do not care that Yayakoma couldn't snatch a win. What counts is that it put up an awesome fight and it actually got defeated because it slept. Bibiyon was a monster and I love the realistic way in which it was defeated. And Serena???? <3
 
Great episode. I really enjoyed the battle, although I think Satoshi could have used Keromatsu and Yayakoma instead of Pikachu and the bird.

The animation was excellent. Satoshi elaborating strategies based on Citron's invention was really clever.

Also, his interaction with Serena are so sweet and I am not even a fan of shipping. Pansy already realized that Serena likes Satoshi in a way or another lol

X&Y has been great so far. The quality is certainly on par with the quality of the X&Y games :')
 
I'm LOVING the improved battle animations so far in this series. It's almost movie quality, the way they aren't recycling the same footage with the same background, and they're actually using the current background to animate the attack. Or at least a background that looks close enough to whatever the surroundings are at the time. That's awesome to see.

I'm also loving the general maturity we're seeing among the main group. Serena may be shy and uncomfortable/nervous about things like travelling alone and camping out, but she didn't complain or anything when Ash didn't remember her right away, even though he was the reason for her going to Santalune in the first place. Instead she encouraged him and cheered him on. It's already a nice balance of traits.
 
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