“Familiarity Breeds Strategy!” Review Thread

[J J M]

Okay start to the battle. Though this episode was obviously setting things up for the rest of the 3-parter. Oh, and about Barry, that kid moves his arms and legs in the oddest way possible. xD There were some priceless expressions from Dawn as well.

While I never usually complain about what the dub does with the music, the BGM choice for this episode could've been better. Combined with some other things, the dub sucked a bit of the excitement out of the battle. :/

To me, the worst change in the episode came during Paul's and Dawn's conversation

Honestly, it's kinda OOC for Paul to randomly admit to someone, regardless of whether he actually does or not, that he likes Ash. In the dub at least it could go both ways.

Seriously though, this episode is sooo weird looking at it from a romantic context. "When Ash meets Paul, something will be born"

[PDL]

In ragards to Gliscor, my guess is that the size chart they have depicts it standing on it's tail ala. Sugimori's art, and whoever was working on this episode got the wrong idea and assumed it was supposed to be that height normally.
Still funny though.

It seems to be a common mistake for alot of Pokémon. Alot of the snake Pokémon's heights are supposed to be really tall. They obviously mean it's whole body length, but it's usually misenterprated as that's how tall it is.

[poke07]

I haven't felt the need to post in a while, but I thought the background music was particularly bad in this episode. The dub music sounded really tacky....which is odd because usually I like the dub BGM...oh well. Anyone else think this?

With that said, I loved the Gaga reference and I love getting to see Paul talk because he's always so quiet but has a very interesting personality.

[PDL]

"Poker Face" is a term for a face that's completely expressionless/enigmatic for the purpose of not giving away the person's intentions. When you're playing Poker, you don't want the other players to know what you're planning so you need to keep your emotional state in check.

The term was NOT invented by Lady Gaga.

[CommanderPigg]

I don't really know why they changed his dialogue in this episode like they did. It takes away from his characte development. His change is going to feel very cheap in the dub.

At the part where he said "You're pathetic, and predictable.." wasn't it orgninally something like "Really, you're unbelivable" or something?

Yes, it was...I think they just want to throw in his catchphrase sporadically to remind us that he's still Paul

OMG There was a Lady Gaga reference in the episode? Considering what Poker face really meant in the song, is this a Coma hint? XD

*hands cookie* But...seriously...Poker Face is not a Gaga reference...it's like saying someone who said "That ride is a real thriller!" is making a Micheal Jackson reference :P but anything goes in shipping!

Honestly, it's kinda OOC for Paul to randomly admit to someone, regardless of whether he actually does or not, that he likes Ash. In the dub at least it could go both ways.

Seriously though, this episode is sooo weird looking at it from a romantic context. "When Ash meets Paul, something will be born"

I also find it pretty OOC for him to say he outright hated him after all they've gone through. At the start of the league, he may not be on friendly terms with him, but he at least respects him as a trainer and finds him to be a formidable foe...not like in the beginning when he obviously wanted his head on a platter XD Eh...I'm not too mad about it anymore. The tone in Paul's voice may suggest that he's still thinking about the past...

*hands out another cookie* I'm running out of these things :P

[The Outrage]

OMG There was a Lady Gaga reference in the episode? Considering what Poker face really meant in the song, is this a Coma hint? XD

Or you know, it could just be the use of a very common expression :/

[Tricky Kipper]

It's tremendously upsetting that James using one very common expression in this episode is taken up as a Lady Gaga reference. What a shame for our collective intellect.

From what I've seen our beloved CommanderPigg and our bewildered Dogasu saying; Paul's character development took a swift knee to the love spuds in the dub episode.

I would've liked to have seem more of Paul fighting as hard as he can against respecting Ash.

[CommanderPigg]

Again, it's not about whether or not he actually likes Ash. Paul is not going to randomly admit it to anyone, especially to a pretty girl he has his eyes on someone who's with Ash 24x7. It would be like reputation suicide.

JJM, do you seriously think that I'm a delusional shipper all the time? Of course I know that Paul would never physically say that he likes anyone. :P

I'm just pointing out that what the dub did may have been a bit too harsh (would it really have been that hard for them to put "don't like" in past tense?)...Watch the first few episodes where Paul appeared in. Then watch the ones toward the end of the league. There is a noticeable difference...not that the dubbers would care or anything

[firestar319]

One of my favorite parts of this episode definitely had to be that moment with Paul and Dawn talking to each other. At least we know why Paul hates Ash. Also I love Barry after this episode. His over-excitement about everything cracks me up.

[Torterra Trainer]

I thought this episode was okay, and it sure did set the mood for the next episode, only, forgive me if I seem out of the loop but, when exactly is the next episode going to come out in the English dub? Next year? January? I hope it comes soon so I can see Buizel punch that creepy Drapion in the face with an Ice Punch.
Seriously, that part when Drapion suddenly turned around changed my view of that pokemon forever. But when can you say, it's one of Paul's pokemon. :D

[Paulisthebest]

I thought this episode was okay, and it sure did set the mood for the next episode, only, forgive me if I seem out of the loop but, when exactly is the next episode going to come out in the English dub? Next year? January? I hope it comes soon so I can see Buizel punch that creepy Drapion in the face with an Ice Punch.
Seriously, that part when Drapion suddenly turned around changed my view of that pokemon forever. But when can you say, it's one of Paul's pokemon. :D

I’m not 100% sure, but yeah it is definitely after Christmas and probably near the start of January. It is on here somewhere where somebody knows when it comes out, sorry I couldn’t be more accurate.

Also, Buizel only used Ice Punch once in this battle and that was against Gastrodon and that hit its “under-belly.” It does use Water Gun on Drapion in the next episode, but it hits one of Drapion’s body segments in order for it to escape from its claws after it inflates its collar. Torterra’s Energy Ball and Leaf Storm hit Drapion in the face, and I can’t wait to see that either!!

Yeah, Drapion like Noctowl can turn its head around 180 degrees.

[CommanderPigg]

when exactly is the next episode going to come out in the English dub?

It'll come out January 8th.

Basically anything Paul owns will be menacing...which is why I was surprised to find out he had a gastrodon (But after seeing what it did to poor staraptor though, I'm a bit frightened myself).

Of all pokemon...If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were making a Cynthia reference :P

[Paulisthebest]

It'll come out January 8th.

Basically anything Paul owns will be menacing...which is why I was surprised to find out he had a gastrodon (But after seeing what it did to poor staraptor though, I'm a bit frightened myself).

Of all pokemon...If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were making a Cynthia reference :P

Thanks for the date!

To me all of Paul’s Pokemon in that battle were meant to reference something or remind us of Pokemon introduced or ones that Ash had battled in Sinnoh;

• Drapion-Reggie was shown to have one in the flashback where he battled Brandon and Hunter J used on numerous times against Ash

• Gastrodon-possibly a Cynthia reference like you mentioned, I mean Paul battled her once and she was seen using it in the presence of Ash and company against Team Galactic, not to mention Zoey had one that evolved from her Shellos. Another interesting thing to consider is that Paul had the alternate colored Gastrodon as opposed to Zoey and Cynthia’s Pink Gastrodons.


• Ninjask-mainly it was probably on the team to show fans that he still had it in his possession; I mean during “Glory Blaze” we were all left wondering if Paul had it or not after he came back to Sinnoh and because of his habit or releasing Pokemon we wanted to know what happened to it. Not to mention Brandon used one during his final battle with Ash and he did battle Paul in Sinnoh.

• Aggron-I loved the fact that Pikachu got to battle it first; he got to beat one during the Riolu storyline when the buyer from J used Aggron and Pikachu beat it. Also, Lairon was shown in Paul’s possession during the battle with Ash.


• Frolass-this is a bit more difficult…could be shown simply as the female counterpart of Ash’s Glalie, and one was shown during “The Drifting Snorunt” something else to consider is that it may represent Paul’s once cold demeanor/personality

• Electavire-mainly because it was Pikachu’s rival for a time and Infernape’s rival since the beginning of DP.

[CommanderPigg]

You're welcome ^^

Thanks for the date!

To me all of Paul’s Pokemon in that battle were meant to reference something or remind us of Pokemon introduced or ones that Ash had battled in Sinnoh;

That's a pretty interesting way to look at it. I just thought that Paul chose those pokemon since Ash had no experience battling against them, to throw him off guard a little. Except for Electivire, of course, which is his obvious favorite.

Eh, maybe it's just me, but perhaps this strategy was the reason Paul lost like he did...It was a huge step below their last 6 on 6 in terms of the victory gap. If Paul correctly predicted Ash would use the same team, why would he go through the trouble of using scouting pokemon? A wavering trust in his own abilities?

I won't go too deep into this. Just my 2 cents.

• Gastrodon-possibly a Cynthia reference like you mentioned, I mean Paul battled her once and she was seen using it in the presence of Ash and company against Team Galactic, not to mention Zoey had one that evolved from her Shellos. Another interesting thing to consider is that Paul had the alternate colored Gastrodon as opposed to Zoey and Cynthia’s Pink Gastrodons.

I can't see why they wouldn't give Paul the pink one! But since he lives in Veilstone (which is in the east) I suppose it makes sense that he captured an east sea gastrodon...assuming he caught it specifically for this battle.

[Paulisthebest]

True, those scouting Pokemon could have been recalled and saved for later, I mean Aggron against an Infernape (that he knows is extra “special”)…

Too bad Paul didn’t go for type advantages during the match; Frolass’ Ice moves would have dominated Torterra/Gliscor. It was cool how Electavire won against Gliscor at a huge disadvantage where ½ of its moves (Thunder and Thunderpunch) were useless; save for the “Field Thunder” technique.

I wish he would have taken Reggie up on his offer to change up his team for the battle with Ash. See, I think that Paul used his lesson learned from the match with Brandon to completely dominate Ash at the lake. Notice how Paul was calm, quiet and self-assured during that entire match. No matter what smart remark Ash said, Paul didn’t say a single word; telling him how Gligar evolved, Counter Shield, etc.

I do understand him using Pokemon that Ash never battled before to throw him off. Though I do think that using 2 Pokemon as scouts puts you at a disadvantage from the get go…but Staraptor and Pikachu did take a lot of damage and not to mention Infernape taking recoil damage from Flare Blitz. So, it wasn’t a total waste but put him at a disadvantage. If not for Drapion making a comeback, this match would have been horrible in Paul’s favor.