Aotrs Commander watches (and blithers about): BW (and XY)

The Black and White movies are basically the same movie with slightly different elements (when I say slightly, I'm talking about various pokémon, swapping settings around a bit, one movie has Ash using Reshiram, one has Ash using Zekrom, certain pokémon being shiny in one movie, certain other pokémon being shiny in the other).  And basically that's it. The core plot and the dialog are the same.

Those two movies have different soundtracks, too (both of which the dub kept). Personally, I like the "Victini and Zekrom" soundtrack better than the "Victini and Reshiram" one. It makes me wish Akifumi Tada and Kazuhiko Sawaguchi had composed for more Pokemon stuff.

Okay, wow, I let this pile up a bit! I knew I'd got a fair bit to blither on, but I hadn't realised it was, like, most of the season!

But let's run down the entire of the rest of Kalos Quest then!


A Slippery Encounter! The moment Goomy landed on Ash's head, I thought "yeah, that's gonna be one of his Pokémon."

One for the Goomy! Dedenne steps up the the plate, and Bonnie shows again, while she might lack Clemont's genius, she's arguabely still the sharpest member of the group, because she's not fooled for a moment by Meowth.

Thawing an Icy Panic! Fairly middle of the road (for this series) Pokémon of the week episode, though it wasn't until the last minute I realsied we were dealign with the next gym leader.
 
The Green, Green Grass Types of Home! Ash cannot garden. He can however, kick some Grass.

Under the Pledging Tree! Ash, you leaving Pikachu behind and going off with Serena makes this practically a date, you realise, wait, no, of course you don't... To Serena's hilarious distress. I think they should be making much more of this, honestly, Serena is kind of... A bit wet otherwise. She has a few moments where she shines, but she's just too agreeable most of the rest of it.

A Showcase Debut! Did... Serens just pull a Sakura Haruno on us...?

We finally get to see Serena do a Pokémon showcase! And... Um, actually, it's kind of diappointing. Contests were much better. I thought Serena was handling it really well, though, until she had that breakdown on the pier. (Which was a realistic reaction, and rather well done, I thought.)

An Oasis of Hope! Goomy kicks arese and evolves.

The Future Is Now, Thanks to Determination! Pikachu gets controlled and xap Ash again (dude is practically resistant to the point it barely phases him now). Clemont standing up to it is rather more impressive, though. Round of applause, that man.

I liked that they detached Clemont for a bit before the gym battle.

A Fork in the Road! A Parting of the Ways! They better fracking not be going where I think they are going they better not be going where I think they are go- oh, wiat they are not going where I thoguht they were going, because Wobuffet is fucking awesome (though does deserve a better trainer than Jessie...)

Battling with Elegance and a Big Smile! Serena snaps under the pressure and actually raises her voice. My goodness.

Good Friends, Great Training! I'm pretty sure if Ash wasn't Sliggoo's trainer It Does Not Work That Way. Also, that was pretty fracking fast!

Confronting the Darkness! Oh Clemont. You really have out-and-out created mechanical life, haven't you? (And oh dear, Dark Clembot just got murdered...) This was a hilariously silly episode.

The Moment of Lumiose Truth! Ash and Clemont have fracking good battle.

Garchomp's Mega Bond! Gachomp is going to be in the running for "Pokémon most mind-controlled" after Pikachu...

Defending the Homeland! and Beyond the Rainbow! Good two-parter to wrap-up Goodra's arc (because of course we couldn't have strong dragon-type around for long, could we...!)

So You're Having a Bad Day! Bonnie episode. I'm coming to rapidly love these, and this was cracking. Bonnie - again - doesn't take any shit from Meowth, proving she's smarter than... Any of Ash's previous travelling companions.

Scary Hospitality! What's the twist with old huanted house routine this time, then, since we've basically has every pumutation...? Okay, a double combo of yes it was Ghost Pokémon - and an actual ghost. I figured it out a little before, once I realised we'd never see the chap touch anything. It was pretty much this episode and Bonnie's "I ain't afraid of no ghost," attitude that cemented my opinion of her (more at the end).

A Fashionable Battle! A big fashion show that remarkably does not require Ash to be in drag at any point. New recurring character gets his arse solidly handed to him, though.

Fairy-Type Trickery! Pahahahahahahaha! Oh, Ash! Only YOU could fucking BREAK Trick Room. This was glorious and hilarious.

Rivals: Today and Tomorrow! Sawyer learns that reading you book whuile battlign does not, in fact, help. And also he needs to be a bit more careful about storing his priceless data.

A Not-So-Flying Start! This was a great episode. Hawlucha and Fletchinder excelled themselves, the former especially.

A Relay in the Sky! WHAT! Ash entered a competiive event that other people have trained their lives for... and DOESN'T win? I think the world must be ending!

(Seriously, though, nice change of pace!)

A Frenzied Factory Fiasco! Another really good episode. It was amazing to see Pikachu's Pokéball actually get used (and for a second, I thought the unthiankble might happen). Apparently all the paint wore off, but then again, it's been 18 years, six years (and definitely not less than that, given it's literally impossible or Pokémon Earth orbits much further out). The battle in the factory between Meowth and Pikachu was amazing, we don't see this sort of thing often enough, Pikachu being let off his leashm rather than be Ash's batman. (Not Ash's Batman, but that would hilarious...)

Performing with Fiery Charm! Serena's big performance, in which Jessie is more of a dick than usual and... Performances continue nto be just a little bit naff.

Rotom's Wish! Ash Breaks Time. Again. I am surprised that Celebi and Dialga don't just follow him around with sticks to smack him with at this point.

A Festival Trade! Oh wow. That... Jessie and Gourgiest are WAAAY to into each other.

On the other hand, now I've seen Gorgiest and actually grock it better, it's actually not as dumb-looking as I thought at all. Never really twigged the head wasn't the pumpkin bit. S'actually a pretty good Pokémon design, to my surprise. Just goes to show, sometimes you need to see them move around to appreciate them.)

Over the Mountain of Snow! Oh hey, Serena gets to do something pretty cool again...

Adventures in Running Errands! I reallyt enjoyed this episode. It's basically nothing but archetypical filler, nothing of consequence happens, it's just the character dicking around. And it's GREAT. (And also, fucking hell Bunnelby and Chespin, way to pummel Tem Rocket by yourselves. Ash didn't even really need to have turned up (and I think it would have been even better if they hadn't bothered with that, since it's not like he needed to do anything.)

Mending a Broken Spirit! This was another great character episode. The old guy is a bit of dick, though...

Is it just me, or is there something about Braxien, though. I dunno. It (she, I am going to assume) seems way more uncanny valley to me than any other Pokémon I can think of (including the obvious like the other humanoids). I dunno. She just seems so much more... I dunno, people-like, if you take my meaning. And I say that as someone who generally dislikes anthropamorph humanoids (e.g. your typical "alien which is a humand with animal features") with a passion. It's not bad, or anything, it just seems... Unusual to me.

And James reminds me why he's the only one of Team Rocket (aside from their Pokémon) I have time for.

A Legendary Photo Op! Fucking hell, Fletchling - sorry Talonflame. And you can now go into the small number of Ash's Pokémon that went straight up-solo against a legendary. Charizard ows you a high, uh, wing.

The Tiny Caretaker! Another Bonnie episode. Again, she is going to fracking terrifying when she's older. She evolved Tyrunt faster than Ash would have (and unlike Ash, she's going to start out with a fuck-ton more practical experience).

A Trip Down Memory Train! This was a nice change of pace, showcasing Bunnelby, who I think up until this last half of the season has been somewhat underappreciated as a pretty kick-arse dude. I'mma tippin' my hat to him.

Lights! Camera! Pika! This was a remarkably silly episode. Remarkably silly, but hilarious. And there are bloopers. Because of course there are bloopers. (Seriously though, that dude is a bit way to into Pikachu, and I say that as someone whose favoruite Pokémon is Pikachu...)

A Frolicking Find in the Flowers! Serena gets an Eevee.

Tag Team Battle Inspiration! Yes Ash, of course your suggestion for the solution to a shy Popkemon is to make it battle.

Poor Chespin though, he's trying so damn hard!

A Performance Pop Quiz! Serena's second perforamce victory. Not really much to say here. The thing about the performances is clear by ths point, that they are basically a bit like quiz show sort of thng (literally this time) and I don't do that sort of show. So, unlike contests, they just don't dop anything for me.

Cloudy Fate, Bright Future! Oh, hey the The Plot! what time do you call this? Two episodes before the last season of the arc? Git yer but in gear!

I was actually going to address this in the overiew (I started typing up this post before I watched the last three episodes, so as not to be hours late for sleep!), but as the plot finally showed up... What XY really has been missing is the grand threat. DP did it best, though Hoenn wasnt too bad and even BW started out right (even tough it was trying to do so with Team Rocket). Without the overarching plot, XY has lacked any sense of urgancy or forboding. DP did a bang up job, foreshadowing the final conflicts with a couple of episodes early on (I think only one or two in the first season). But that - and along with Paul (a much more serious rival and I think, the best of the entire series) and the appearances of Hunter J, added some solid grist to the mill. XY has - until this last stage, been lacking that and to the series deteriment. It really could have done with foreshadowing it a little bit, and episode here or there (and if it did that in the specials, that's no excuse, it needed to have done it in the main series).

BW was on the right track, and the derailing of the plot because of the Plasma/Rocket episode being cut and the series re-written was one of the reasons I think BW suffered; it slipped into Johto syndrome a little bit (though nowhere near as bad²).

All Eyes on the Future! And we finish the series with a truly cracking gym battle. Dear FRAG Talonflame may be Ash's best Flying type (excluding Chjarizard's secondary typing!) and Frogadier was fracking badass as always. And this is how, BW, you do some proper Ash strategising. (Though I would be surprised at Clemont (and Bonnie) not picking up what Pikachu was doing; though I suppose that had to be a concession to the nominal target audience!)



So, overall then, this definitely stepped up from the last season. Serena has a goal and gets to do a few things.

Unfortunately, though, one of the things is the performances and they are... Underwhelming. I'm sorry, I'm not a fan of cooking shows and whatnot nor fashion, so the only bit of the contests I find interesting is the final performance itself. And that is basically the OPENING round of a contest, without the excitement of the battle thereafter (and the subtle differences to regular battles therein).

Bonnie, however, more than makes up for it. She's become my favourite character (aside from Ash, obviously) of the humans, which astounds me, since the "young child" characters tend not to appeal to me. (That said, Jubilee of the X-Men is my favourite character of anything ever; though obviously, though younger than the adult X-Men, she's still older than Bonnie.) But no. Bonnie is smart, sharp and already an excellent trainer with her head screwed on straight (more than can be said of Ash at start). She's also not exempt from the being the butt of the joke... And her sardonism belies her years. I think she ranks right up with Dawn and Misty as being one of the best female companions (and can stand proud with the companions overall, with the likes of Brock and Cilan¹.) I say again, when she starts her Pokémon journey proper, she's going to have the benefits of her own intelligence and knowledge (which is definitely above average, if not Clemont's literal savantcy), plus all the experience from the jountry with Ash, probably several Pokemon she might pick back up on the way, plus an Ash-like laid-backness and lack of fear (probably not a little influenced from Ash himself of course).

If in umpteen years (so, like season 90 or something...) if she isn't fucking champion, there's no justice.



That will be it for XY for the moment, until the XYZ DVDs come out (when I will see if the evolutions specials are contained thereon or thence track them down on teh interwebs), which might be a month or few. Still got a load of movies to work through though, in the meantime!



¹So that makes BW and XY two for two in having companion characters I wasn't expecting much of that very much surprised me.

2 Johto had far too few plot episodes (i.e. gym battles) spread across far too many episodes. It worked okay with the Indigo and Orange seasons, since the first it was all new and the second was much shorter. Jotho essentially tried to spread the "plot" of the 80 episodes of season one across over double that and it just didn't work. Hoenn was absolute right in bringing in contests, as it gave the characters something else to do (ditto DP). BW suffered by not having them, and XY's performances - while not a great substitute - do work for the purpose, buit could have done with starting earlier. (Heck, it would have worked if even if it was Ash doing, like both; a change is as good as a rest!)

I still live! (Metaphorically speaking.)

So, as I now have the XY & Z DVDs, I tracked down and watched - as adivsed - the Mega-Evolution Specials.

Well. They were certainly... special.

Plot-relevant, yes, but ye gods. I was actually really bored between the handful of minutes of Interesting Things Happening across those four episodes. I ended up havig to watch them all indivdually, since they were such a dull sit, I couldn't face more than one at once. It does not help in the slightest that of the two main characters, one suffers from a complete lack of personality and the other is a poorly-executed over-used steriotype.

I have seen many things from Pokémon, but being utterly bored by a Pokémon battle is a first. Alian is not someone I could ever distantly root for - he's got the combination of too-cool-for-this backed up by stupidity (I mean seriously, he's so naive) and nothing more than stubborness. It wasn't until the last fight of episode fout I realised that it's because he uses no tactics, no cleverness, it's just hit attacks with brute force one after another. And it's SO DULL to watch. So I don't care if he wins, because I have zero investment in him as a character. I am only mildly amused if he loses, because he annoys me. He manages - despite having the same voice actor, who I actally kinda like - less charisma than Neji Hyuuga.

Maron was little better, I found her just rubbish. She's in the Bonnie vein, only wher Bonnie is frigging awesome, Maron is just falt without any of Bonnie's positve character traits. And Chespy could have been Chespin, since they seemed to have identical personalities (except for Chepin having, y;know, more of one).



Really, I could have watched about ten minutes out of that with the taking the Giant Rock[1] and then Chespy releasing Zygarde and I would not have missed anything.

So yeah, while I watched it all this once, I doubt I'll ever be rushing back to thse because urrrgh.

Still, I can now start on XY&Z soon with a clear conscience.

Until next time (assuming anyone is even bothering to read...! Sadly, I'm sufficiently bloody-minded to, having started the blithering, drag it on to the bitter end, whether or not anyone does...!)




[1]I laughed every time they said that because it's such a dumn, lazy name.

I am still at it...! Sheer-bloody-mindedness and all that!

I have had something of an enforced break, because Mum had a new puppy, and this has meant I have not had access to the DVD player in the front room for a month or two, since that's where the puppy pen is. But this - they're all away, so time to catch up!

Before I progres, let me try and do a little summary of what I'd watched previously (as much as I can remember and recall...!)


A Fiery Rite of Passage!

I was half-convinced Litleo ws going to be joining the team. Otherwise, an unremarkable episode.

Dream a Little Dream from Me!
What is this? An episode where all the Pokémon (save Pikachu) actually do the talking thing? HUZZAH! About time! Was it really the Island of Gian tPokémon since we had this last?

This was a cracking an hilarious episode. I was especially deeply amused by the fact that Squishy is not, in factm a shy and retiring child, but a concesending dick with an upper-class accent. Glorious.


The Legend of the Ninja Hero! & A Festival of Decisions!

Back to the Village In the... Wait, this IS literally a hidden ninja village! Crikey. I half-expected Naruto to show up at any moment.

Pretty good pair of episodes, and of course Ash being awesome with Greninja.

A Dancing Debut!

Showcase episode. Meh. Sorry folks, no matter how hard you try, I just can't get invested in these like I could with the contests.

Meeting at Terminus Cave!

PLOT HAPPENS! It is awesome.

A Cellular Connection!

Again, Bunnelby is the fucking badass. Damn, that bunny is frickin' ridiculous. And Bonnie shows she really is going to another Ash.

A Windswept Encounter!

Pahaa! That Breloom is a dick.

Party Dancecapades!

Serena.

You have the chance to ask Ash to a dance. An actual, formal dance and everything.

And you ask CLEMONT?

WHUT.

Just...

I don't...

Still, Clemont old chap, I think you've clearly got a chance on her rebound, mate.

A Meeting of Two Journeys!

Ayup. It's that Alain bugger again, bein' miserable as always.

Also, apparently, Greninja isn't mega-evolving, which measn Ash found a way to Break Reality in an entirely NEW HAX way. Score!

An Explosive Operation!

Alain is a bloody idiot...

A Watershed Moment!

There ar a LOT of sapient robots trotting around these days.

But hey - kudos, Pokémon, for not skipping round the fact that Chapman clearly died.

Master Class Choices!

Showcase episode. Yay, Serena got into the finals, only another episode or two and I won't have to bored as much.

An Electrifying Rage!

Fracking hell. Talonflame goes up against a legendary bird single-taloned AGAIN (and this time at type disadvantage). Use Talonflame more of ten Ash, its fraggin awesome. Also, Hawlucha and Noivern also kick legendary arse, to the best of their abilities.

Unlocking Some Respect!

A fairly moribund filler episode for an equally moribund Pokémon.

Master Class Is in Session! and Performing a Pathway to the Future!

Yay, we can finally see the back of the showcases. Serena makes it to the penultimate round, but doesn't win. Could we see that coming... Mostly, though Jessie did extremely well, for once. But done and done!

A Keeper for Keeps?

Bonnie... That... that was exactly what you wanted you dope! so, its fine to embarrass Clemont all the time by trying to pick up ladies for him, but when one actually does, you throw a wobbly? Make up your mind, child.

Clemont... Clemont is like the anti-Brock. He seems to attract the ladies like nobody's business. (Mind you, let's be fair - he's the gym leader who LITERALLY MADE ROBOT LIFE and is well-in with all manner of top scientists and whatnot; he probably has the best prospects for attracting interest out of any of Ash's companions.)



Right! DVD break, while we watch the next three...!

Battling at Full Volume!

This was a fun episode... In spite of Jimmy, who is in the running for most obnoxious guest star in Pokémon. And Team Rocket's motto, which was this time almost unbearably bad.

Otherwise - this is the sort of thing they SHOULD have been doing with Serena from the get go. More of this sort of thing, less of the tedious and underwhelming showcase stuff.

And, oh Ash, you take, like a couple of paracetamol and just walk off a high ever. Even in-universe, everyone remarks on that. You are so HAX. And it is glorious.

The Synchronicity Test!

Alain again...

And much battling. Also, the whole paralysis thing is not so good.

But... I know Ahs is Ash, but maybe... Get medical help when one collapses, guys? Clemont? Nurse Joy? Anyone? No?

Okay, then.

Making Friends and Influencing Villains!

Pretty banal filler episode. Not much to say really.  Toned down the whole "formed from stumps possessed by a spirit" from "possessed by the spirit of dead children who died lost in the forest" did we? That being said, its possible that Serena just didn't know (or just give voice to) that last part. And the slightly chilling implication behind that combined with "people getting lost in the forest" makes for some... interesting thought.



So, one quite good episode, some Plot or something and a filler. Until the next time... Hopefully more this week, while I have chance to do so...!

Next three!

Seeing the Forest for the Trees!

This was an interesting episode. It's been quite a while since we saw Ash lose his shit like that (right out of the blue); good job Serena has toughened up a bit to hit back.

Again though, how many trainers would be able to coax wild Pokémon like Ash does...?

Holy shit, though... Ash... must have been able to SEE through Greninja's eyes during that fal. That's... like, ridiculously awesome.

And Squishy actively lends a hand, I think for about the first time directly.

The Pikachu B plot (if two scenes with Team Rokcet can count as a B plot) was weird, slightly nonsensical and didn't go anywhere. You could have it out and it would have had no bearing on the episode. Honestly, this was another episode where Team Rocket were just shoehorned in. And they'd gotten so good about not doing that this region...

A Real Icebreaker!

Back to the Ice gym to fight Wulfric.

Gotta give the guy credit, his own clear excitement and intensity really made the battle pop out this time.

Interesting choice of Avalugg being in the middle, and Abomasnow being the final, since last time Abomasnow went down.

Hoyl shit, Talonflame though, making a serious damn effort to do both Charizard and Greninja, ain't it? By 'eck, Talonflame's got more steel in it than an Aggron!

Ohhhhhh. Ohhhh.

THAT'S why Abomasnow was last. I clean forgot it had a mega. And fer-racking hell, that is BIG.

But frack, Greninja, way to hurl it around like it was nuthin'!

Yeah. THAT was a cracking gym battle, really living up to both this region's excellent dynamic animation, but managing to even surprise me, and Ash's unconventional tactics back in as well.

...

The Kalos League is going to be painful, isn't it?


A Diamond in the Rough!


Filler episode, but, hey, it's Goodra, which makes it much more interesting and less "episode of the week."

That Carbink is a dick.

However, I don't recall seeing that often them having a load of Pokémon of the same type with several noticably different voices. Nice touch.

Florges is still totally unstable, good to see...!



Aaaand then at the end we have Alain winning his 8th gym badge.

Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME.

Really.

Alain is so super-special awesome that he can manage to win eight gym badges in the space of SEVEN. EPISODES.

Fuck off, XY, just fuck off.

"Alain beats Ash in the Leugue" is now so poorly fucking telegraphed, why are we even bothering? Seriously, this is worse than Camaron in Unova. Not ONLY did you hide the main plot in four episodes (which were mostly crap at that) that you couldn't be arsed to make part of the main series (seriously, you could have sprinkled that crap in over the course of the first two seasons), but now you're favouring Alain in a way that makes a complete MOCKERY of basically every other rival Ash has ever had AND Ash AND pretty much every other trainer in the Leagues ever; because apparently Alain can just breeze through and entire year's worth of effort in little more than can only be a few days, a week or two at the most.

That is complete. BULL. SHIT.

Even fucking Trip, shit as he was (and nevermind an actual decent rival like Paul) had to work at it, but no. Alain breezes in at the last minute and can magically somehow manage to that.

It's such a glaring plot-hole that it is dangerously impeding the whole damn show, which was otherwise reaching a high point. This ia grade A bad self-insert fanwank fanfiction material, it really is; right down to the "he's such a bad boy, but he's got a heart of gold because he likes* his immensely annoying travelling girl-child companion, but he's all withdrawn and driven and blahblahblah."

*sigh*



So. That ended this session on a really depressing note.



*Rather creepily, if I'm perfectly honest.