Pokémon: XY

It does start of with Ash giving off that "too dumb to live vibe" but it was nowhere near the levels of derp as his Pidove capture in BW. It was him running around the capitol jizzing over the fact he too finally gets to play X and Y! (only a week after the rest of the world)

His first trainer battle was so much more legit than it normally is, and if you have played the games you would understand why this particular recent capture would perform reasonably well against a high level pikachu. Heck, it looked like Ash may have been on the verge of winning if TR hadn't popped in.

I am going to miss badass TR though, it seems they are back to their old shenanigans. Pikachu avoided their silly contraptions/net whci was a breathe of fresh air (looked like one of their cube things from BW so I guess it wasn't an over the top contraption), pikachu easily dodged it. I'm mildy surprised the writers are making an effort to not have a "fool me twice" theme going on.

And it looks like Ash might get a Froakie as his first capture?! I love froakie, my favorite gen6 starter! As long as the writers let him evolve his pokemon at a reasonable rate this may turn out like D/P minus the contest garbage, or an actually enjoyable watch. As long as the contest drama is gone, that is a key thing.

I was so happy this episode wasn't bad (actually was good) that I forgot all about Serana. the opening scene was nice as it was almost straight from the games, and her personality doesn't seem to be Dawn/Iris levels of annoying. She seemed to show a (believable) variance in her emotions.

Hell even Citron doesn't have to much of a nerdy inventor vibe going from what was shown on screen. He actualy seems competent and isn't too over the top with his gag like Cilan. He actually didn't seem ti have much of a signature gag at all so far.

Props to the writers so far, I don't want to throttle any of the characters (the imouto seems like the first candidate that would)! And I'm actually enjoying time spent away from the games!

Seems Citron does have a trademark specialty but its nowhere near as overplayed or as dramatic as Brock's "every female in existence" fetish (which was actually kind of hilarious in almost every case) and Cilan's "It's ___ time!" somalier of everything gag which was very much hit and miss. It was just a "hehe yeah inventing is my thing!" Low key but still put out there.

There seems to be some continuity as well, TR used a device that looks like the ones that were being developed/used by Colress or maybe they were TR's design used in that arc... either way they remind me of the Colress arc as well as some of the tools used by TR that they got from their actual organization. None of that "we worked a part time job for an unbelievably massive yet massively flawed robot of the week" deal. This looks like special issue TR gear, Jesse and James may be in Giovanni's good graces so to speak.

There was very little over exaggerated dialogue finishers, and the VAs were very easy on the ears. I'm still in shock over how I actually like the new cast.

One thing though, it seems like the professor didn't know who Citron was which makes me wonder how his role will play out. Seems like Ash may not even meet Serana for an episode or two which is also a nice change of pace, usually the new girl is met up with and added to the team in ep 1. This seems like she will specifically start her training journey because she recognizes Ash from the news broadcast. Really curious about how they met and how badly they'll butcher the retcon. It'll be sort of a side arc deal until they meet up it looks like, I might enjoy this change of pace.

so now it seems that gyms needs a specific number of badges to be challenged thats a news, as for the fight it was pretty good although i really find it funny that Pikachu still have a hard time vs starters after all this time, i mean he must have been past lvl 100 a few times by now. also the Rockets actually made use of wobbuffet for once, didnt see that one coming. As for the storytelling i really find it interesting that they are using more than on POV compared to just ash's in the past so thats something as well.

Its not as great as the opening 2 episodes but still wasn't too bad at all.

Things of note:

1. It wasn't the usual episodic formula (where Ash and co. meet some random, get mistaken for thieves etc. help said person and move on never to see them again) although it was the pretty standard first region capture episode.

2. Team Rocket didn't make their standard pikachu grab this episode, and didn't appear before Ash at all. They aren't even in the same general area as each other anymore. It was very much a multiple POV type episode, with Serena's bit included.

3. Both of the episode's captures weren't that cheap friendship BS that usually happens. James cleverly distracted the Inkay with food and legit captured it. Sure it was a ridiculously easy capture but hey. Ash used strategy to get Fletchling, and unlike BW he knows how to use a fucking pokeball properly. He actually acted as if this isn't his first region... as if there was some character growth that carried over (as minor as it was in BW). I approve.

4. The new pokedex is annoying as fuck already and it had maybe had all of 2 and a half lines.

5. OP spoils some things, hate when OPs do that.

It seems the writers are finally learning something from the past seasons. they aren't sticking to the overused plot lines and are actually trying to mix stuff up. as i mentioned before the different POV is really helping as well and the bit of the comedy isn't predictable as usual ( especially the "power of science" which can be pretty funny at times).

By now, we have to give up with Ash and his Pikachu being OP. Its never gonna happen. My theory why this is happening might be a stretch but if you were to exclude the whole leveling and stuff like in the game, then its simply two animals fighting. But then Ash and Pikachu should have an edge in experience since Citron and his Horubi are new. I just thought of during the match....

I still have issues with this first episode is because Ash has stated, in the subs and I really don't trust the subbers is that he wants to become a Pokemon Master. And if that's the fucking case, stop trying to start all over with Pikachu. You will never become a "Master" if you keep doing this shit. I haven't seen the previous 2 regions and I'm sure Ash didn't go anywhere starting fresh.

And that gym. I know its anime and its not realistic but c'mon. If Ash isn't qualified to face the guy, he shouldn't have nonchalantly electrocute him and then drop him off 3 stories high. That could literally kill him.

Acting stupid? Ash seems to retain some of his experience from previous regions... And Team Rocket seems to be carrying some of their experiences and Tech over as well. There seems to be some continuity which is a massive improvement over the previous seasons. TR still had their derp pikachu getto da ze moment but watch the next 2 episodes.

I mention the games because... The city they are in for the first 2 episodes is home to the 5th gym. Which happens to specialize in electric pokemon. Guess who has some connections with said gym? Yep Citron, meaning he should have some prior battling experience and be a fairly competent trainer, especially when electric pokemon are involved. Now if he happens to be an Iris and just have connections to the gym in the anime as opposed to being an actual gym leader like he is supposed to be who knows.

I mention the games not for the mechanics having too much of a bearing on the anime adaptation, but because of who Citron is supposed to be.

The Bunnelby wouldn't be a level 5 equivalent either, it was only a recent capture not a starter. Nice way to use game mechanics to complain how Pikachu should be 1-shotting everything though, there aren't quantifiable "levels" in the anime and there seems to be upper limits to what certain species of pokemon can do. Pikachu isn't shattering things with its Iron Tail because its a small rat, not a level 100 capped mon with a beneficial nature and maxed IVs/EVs... sure it probably does a decent amount of damage but come on.

Rewatch the DP pilot, I wanted to throttle Dawn and the whole Pikachu thing was almost an exact copy of the Hoenn opening episode. Rewatch the BW pilot, the fucker didn't even remember he had to weaken pokemon before attempting capturing them, which is retarded since in DP he actually was fairly competent at the end. A total rookie mistake, one he should not be making. It wasn't attributed to him not ever seeing a pidove before either, that was all his derp.

Ash's "to dumb to live" speil when he got off the train was just him jizzing over the fact that he gets to be in a foreign region. He didn't make any rookie mistakes attributed to his own stupidity, and the only difficulty he had in the bunnelby fight was attributed to him not being familiar with his opponent's pokemon (And his opponent is supposed to be an expert on electric types, Pikachu included as it is native to Kalos).

As for the froakie? Its not a fresh starter pokemon either, but that is for episode 2.

If what you took from my posts was that it is an all new 100% fresh experience and the writers are skillfully weaving a masterfully crafted story than you didn't read what I wrote.

There are plenty of elements from previous seasons they used in the first couple episodes, but they way they implemented them felt more natural, and didn't seem as though it was literally the same old shit with a new episode number. Lets face it, the games themselves are the same old shit with a fresh coat of paint, so why do you play them? Why does anybody continue after 15-17 years? Like the games there was enough new to mix with the old that it doesn't feel like the exact same thing or the exact same formula.

1- Just because it is the first episode doesn't tell you anything about Citron, for all we know he might be the champion of this region, same goes for the bunnelby.

2- I think you are the one getting the game and show confused here, there is no such thing as a low level and a high level pokemon, only a trained and untrained one. Thats why the pokemon in the wild are much easier to catch to begin with. so seeing that the bunnelby is trained especially to counter electric types ( he have dig for once) and that ash doesnt know much about his opponent it would be clear who actually have the advantage here.

3- I agree with you that Iron tail does Pack a punch but that would be the case if it actually hit but as you saw it was stopped before that so this argument is totally invalid.

4- check 2

5- this will be answered in episode 2

6- so far it all make sense even if it was a bit repetitive.