“A Real Rival Rouser!” Review Thread

[Ambipom666]

As petty as it may sounds, the biggest line change I thought was Ash saying "Nobody's like you, Paul" rather than "You're amazing, Paul."

Good point. As much I don't really like the Ash and Paul ship, this line of dialogue I will allow

I know that some people might think that Flare blitz destroying the toxic spikes was cheap, but I love it when the anime takes artistic liberties like that...it just makes sense XD

I love these splits from the games too, just as long as I don't have to suspend disbelief too much.

But Paul waiting until after Torterra healed to defeat it did throw me off a little.

[Mijumaru]

One of the things that annoyed me was that Buizel was the first on Ash's side to get knocked out... again. It's been getting knocked out for ages and has barely won any battles since Crasher Wake.

[Ambipom666]

It's as if Buizel's consective wins over Pikachu, Piplup, and Zoey's Glameow never happened.

It's like a lesser version of the trope Redemption Demotion.

Anyway, did any one notice the Japanese music and the voices being on a different volume. It doesn't seem as bad as DP185, but I thought it happened again. For example, during the Ninjask/Gliscor battle, when "Flygon Appears" from Movie 6 was playing, I didn't even know it had started playing for 10 seconds or something. Maybe it's just me...

[Mijumaru]

Also, Reggie had been spoiling everything for the viewers. Paul didn't reveal his strategy until this episode, though in the last episode, Reggie stated his strategy like he was going to show it to Ash immediately.

[Ampharos King]

It's as if Buizel's consective wins over Pikachu, Piplup, and Zoey's Glameow never happened.

Paul's Drapion in itself is a powerful opponent with a lot of defense. Not only was Drapion able to deflect Buizel's Sonicboom with the flick of its tail, but it also effortlessly grabbed on to Buizel at the end of the previous episode. Judging by Paul's statements in this episode, his main strategy in this battle involved the use of his Drapion. We can assume that Paul specifically trained Drapion for this purpose.

Most of Buizel's attacks were ineffective against Drapion anyway. By all means it does not mean Buizel is weak; it is simply "incompatible" with the opponent it was currently battling against.

Think about it: Paul kept Drapion for battles against Ash's Staraptor, Torterra, and Buizel. He knew what Ash was planning on doing with each of these pokemon. However, when Paul knew Ash was sending out Gliscor, Paul returned Drapion in suit for a faster pokemon (Ninjask).

We can assume that Drapion is a powerhouse to begin with. It was able to take a lot of hits without going down.

Again, Paul's decisions in this battle were a part of his strategy. He allowed Gastrodon and Aggron to evaluate Ash's pokemon and how they react in battle, then goes in with Drapion for the kill when it is necessary.

Also remember that Buizel defeated Paul's Gastrodon so it wasn't like it received the "fall guy" treatment in this battle.

Maybe if Buizel was paired up against the likes of Froslass (who took her time in wittling Pikachu's health down) or Ninjask (who uses a combination of speed and power), the results might have turned to Ash's favor.

The themes of this battle are compatibility and strategy. Certain pokemon triumphed over others because their battle styles were superior of the other. This was why Gliscor had a difficult time battling a faster opponent (Ninjask) yet it easily defeated a bulky opponent like Drapion.

[Serperiority]

Why did Ash use his Sinnoh Pokemon on this battle?He should have used his older Pokemon, Pokemon Paul never knew Ash had. Ash did do a good job with his Sinnoh Pokemon though, even with Paul's knowledge about them. Great battle so far, especially the Froslass battle.

[Yoshi-san]

Why did Ash use his Sinnoh Pokemon on this battle?He should have used his older Pokemon, Pokemon Paul never knew Ash had. Ash did do a good job with his Sinnoh Pokemon though, even with Paul's knowledge about them. Great battle so far, especially the Froslass battle.

Ash wanted to prove to Paul that his Sinnoh Pokemon he caught were good choices.

[Musashi]

It's amazing how the quality of the show just keeps going down week after week as we near the end of the DP. Either they feel rushed for time or somehow they think they understand the show better than the people who made it, I don't know. But it was really hard to enjoy much of anything this week. Infernape blasting the field looked pretty awesome, but that was basically the only highlight for me.

[Hellwarden]

I get that some people are saying the dub is making Paul lose some character growth, but really, I actually think its handled it pretty well. In the last dub ep, people complained that Paul was being too much of a jerk in the last ep. Bare in mind Ash was basically falling directly into Paul's trap in the last ep. While in this ep, Paul actually compliments Ash for his unorthodox attacks and strategies.

There are only two things Paul has EVER been shown to respect; strength and his brother. {probably in that order.}


Anyway, one thing I love about Ash's second full battle with Paul is how the entire thing is basically referencing Ash and Paul's entire Sinnoh journey. Some of them are blatant, while other make you think a bit. {Gliscor using the smoke from stone edge and Cross poison hitting is sorta like what Paul's Magmortar did with Rock Tomb.}

[Emboar]

I just saw the episode. I think it was okay.

[Samurott]

Ouch. This Drapion is brutal. Ash still spends too much time trying to find a solution. I guess we had to give Paul some headway somehow. So Paul's weakness is when things don't go as planned. To be continued...

[Paulisthebest]

Finally, glad they cleared up Ninjask took damage from the Flare Blitz indirectly and that lowered it speed enough for Infernape to knock it out with Mach Punch.

Its a relief for me because I always thought it was a one hit knock out with a fighting type move. I really like the way the match is going...too bad for Torterra no love for it at all. Brock and Barry were talking about being the best time to attack was after Synthesis...not I mean Torterra was just sitting there glowing so why not just attack then like Honchrow did during the full battle.

Glad they kept the music with Froslass vs. Pikachu, but I wanted them to keep the ending music where Gliscor flew into Drapion X-Scissor vs. Pin Missle that made it more epic IMO.

The underground Flare Blitz was cool and all, but it was too little too late being that Pikachu was the only Pokemon not poisoned he should have done it earlier.

[dman_dustin]

What I dislike is the writers choice of giving Gliscor leaf storm. It's like they knew it was going up against Drapion in this episode, and they wanted to lose to it.

Because honestly-

Reggie: Ash should not have done that, he's playing right into Paul's hands. **As well as whatever Paul said**

That was utter ridiculous. Why? Well even though Torterra is weak against poison, Drapion wouldn't be able to dodge an earth power (a move which is super effective). Again the writers have a tendency to have characters over act. Even if Torterra still lost to Drapion, a power earth power would've been nice.

Honestly if it was my Torterra, I'd try and teach it to learn Earth Power, or better yet earthquake (even if it taboo in the anime), and I'd be like:

Me- I know what you're thinking, predictable, right? But did you forget about Torterra already?

Paul- What do you mean? *after a second* OH CRAP!

Me- That's right, Torterra wrap this up with Earth Power/Earthquake. *BIG EXPLOSION*

So aside from the fact I hated Torterra losing, what I hated even more was how smug Paul was and how idiotic Reggie was being. Which is why I entirely despise giving it Leaf Storm.

Tomioka and the writer who made the Sunyshore Takeoff Episode, really screwed Torterra over, and that was made obvious by how Paul was mocking Ash's choice to use Torterra, as well as how "idiotic" Reggie would be.

Torterra is a ground type too you know, the ONLY thing super effective against Drapion.
-------

And aside from Ash's Infernape taking out ANOTHER Pokemon of Paul's, as well as the Torterra thing, it wasn't too bad.

[Queen Cynthia]

Once again a great and flawless episode through and through!
It kept me on the edge of my seat and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
The strategies were so well thought-out and elaborate that you couldn't help being excited throughout the episode!
As someone who mainly concentrates on analyzing battles, I was truly fascinated!
And, of course, there was Cynthia, the icing on the cake who made this episode all the more perfect!

Again, I have nothing to complain about and thus I'm complete happy!

9 out of 10 points

[pokemon_master2]

Just watched this on Youtube, great episode!

The only thing I duslike is Ninjask's cheap loss, but the dub was fine.