"To Thine Own Pokémon Be True!" Episode Discussion

[Charaxes]

Here is where you can discuss the Pokémon Ping Pong Tournament in "To Thine Own Pokémon Be True!"

My review to come forthwith.

(It may be my last one for the near future, so I got to go with a bang.)

[Kid Sonic]

This episode was a completely freakin’ gyp! Not only do none of our main characters beat O, but Dawn loses her Ambipom! I guess O wasn’t satisfied with his of golden ping-pong balls and Pokemon food. He had to go and claim Dawn’s Ambipom as his prize, by maniputing the both of them with flowery talk of training. Even the narrator thought it was a wonderful event and gave it a flowery approval, as delusional as he is. I’m pretty sure that the O in his name stands for “Operator”.

[Blue_Drifblim]

Aaaaaaaaaaaand... Ambipom is gone.... She'll be missed. Overall, it was a good episode. I found it funny how Dawn's all like"Ambipom's gone!", they walk outside, and she's pretty much right there. XD I also think it's interesting how he mentioned specifically mentioned his Ping Pong place is in Vermillion City. That makes me pretty positive that we'll see Ambipom again sometime in the future....

And yeah, that champion guy had the weirdest name. I mean, "Ou"? I know that's his name in the original, but wow. Must have been strange growing up...

Originally Posted by Kid Sonic

This episode was a completely freakin’ gyp! Not only do none of our main characters beat O, but Dawn loses her Ambipom! I guess O wasn’t satisfied with his of golden ping-pong balls and Pokemon food. He had to go and claim Dawn’s Ambipom as his prize, by maniputing the both of them with flowery talk of training. Even the narrator thought it was a wonderful event and gave it a flowery approval, as delusional as he is. I’m pretty sure that the O in his name stands for “Operator”.

Ok, that made me laugh. XD

[Vernikova]

Ambipom is gone. Finally.

[Air Pichu]

Oh yeah I forgot to watch it

[JP]

Wait a minute, she loses Ambipom in a ping pong match? wtf? Thats ridiculous!

[AdvancedK47]

Poor Ambipom. Had to go with some total stranger to do God-Knows-What

This is a great lesson for kids though, go with some completely unknown person in the attempt to get better in a sport you already kill people in.

[I Laugh at your Misfortune!]

This episode raised one important question for me:

WHY isn't there more BrockxJames shipping?

Wait, Jess and Meowth got kicked out for using Fury Swipes? Wouldn't Marowak use Bone Club to hit the ball, though? I would have thought they'd be disqualified for, y'know, DESTROYING THE BALL.

What, we didn't even get to see Ash lose or Dawn win?

Wait, O broke Dawn's paddle and rather than pause the match and replace the paddle, which was clearly defective to have been broken by a hollow ball made of thin plastic, they just PLAY ON? What's so special about his "move" anyway? He misses and Shiftry covers him. That's what EVERYBODY's been doing.

Please, please, please tell me there was something wrong with the version I'm watching and that they didn't actually skip the conclusion to Dawn and O's match. PLEASE.

[Air Pichu]

Watched it and Ambipom is finally gone....... Ash should've kept it a long time ago.

[DonRoyale]

This is easily one of the worst episodes in Pokemon history, and easily the stupidest. Get rid of Dawn's best Pokemon in the worst way possible.

This episode has made me question my fandom of the series, honestly. :V

EDIT: A picture I made in honor of this episode airing in Japan. Enjoy the nostalgia, since it captures the thoughts of most on this episode perfectly.

[Haza]

What made them get rid of her best Pokemon. The rest are boring so I dont care to watch any more Contest episodes.

Ambipom did kick major ass in that game though.

[Jorah]

I don't care that Ambipom left, just that they always said it wanted to do contests...haha, I remember that pic, DonRoyale XD

- Barry and Ash look so weird waving their arms around at each other XD
- Get off the screen, scooby doo
- Barry is so cool :D
- O?
- James and Brock XD
- ptter pitter pat pat...wat
- Wait, Meowth competing in this tournament doesn't count as the contest, does it?
- Aww, Ash got hit in the face XD
- Why's Dawn crying?
- Hehe, healing theme in the tournament
- But Ambipom always wanted to do *contests*! How fickle
- Too cute when Ambipom takes Dawn's hat!

Music kept: (8)


Signing up
Using Coin Toss
Route 3
Just before the tournament starts
RBY Wild Pokemon Battle
O wants Ambipom to go with him
Watching Ambipom pingponging
Chiisaki Mono instrumental

[*Charizard*]

Didn't watch the episode and after reading what you guys have said I'm not going to...

[Drew]

Sorry, but the guys name made me laugh.. I assume 'Ou' stood for the fact that he was 'King of Pokemon Ping Pong' -wtf?? D: Being the Champion of Pokemon Ping Pong is not a good accomplishment, and certainly doesn't deem someone worthy of the name Ou. >___>; /mini-rant.

Also.. yeah.. Dawn losing Ambipom didn't surprise me in the least. It was as it's final stage of evolution, and had been in it's share of Contests and battles. It was time..

I hope she gets something better than Ambipon, honestly. I never cared for that Pokemon much when it was Ash's, let alone when it became Dawn's. I say she gets ahold of a Ninetales! One of the main cast members really need one of those. At least once.. ; ; I actually took the time to watch this episode, because I thought it would be something better then what it was.

/somewhat harsh opinion

The one good thing about it:
Jun. <3

My overall opinion on this episode:
...wtf? D8;

[pika_pal]

Guttes ambipom left :'( Why did brock and crogunk not play ping pong? that sucked they would have done great. Seems to me they rushed the episode and ambipom got screwed over.

[KingKaos]

Once again another Pokemon leaves for a stupid reason. After all that contest talk, the trade, and winning ribbons, Ambipom wants to leave and play something as stupid as Ping Pong. Just like James letting Cacnea stay with Gardenia, when he could raised it to learn drain punch himself. STUPID! Another Pokemon release that was unnecessary I didn't want to watch the episode because of the release, but I still wanted to see the match between O and Dawn. Of course she was doing any work, Ambipom ran the show, when her paddle broke. Oh well, I'm pretty sure they may see Ambipom again, just like they saw Primeape, Pidgeot and Butterfree!

[Vernikova]

Originally Posted by K9S8

Just like James letting Cacnea stay with Gardenia, when he could raised it to learn drain punch himself. STUPID!

Child please. Cacnea leaving was going to come either way and giving it to Gardenia was probably the best way to get rid of it. It was a real excuse since they weren't really going to ever let James train Cacnea for a move that would end up being irrelevant in the future. If anything, it should've left sooner. Really, I don't even know why Seviper is still on the show either.

[Masterge77]

Ambipom ends up like Primape and Cacnea (as well as Pidgeot, Butterfree, Vulpix, Arbok, Chimecho, Lapras, and Weezing) before him, to leave for a stupid reason and never be seen again, ever, they basically dump the character and never show it returning again ever, cause the main characters are careless and just want "cooler pokemon"

Originally Posted by DonRoyale

This is easily one of the worst episodes in Pokemon history, and easily the stupidest. Get rid of Dawn's best Pokemon in the worst way possible. This episode has made me question my fandom of the series, honestly. :V

Agreed, possibly the worst episode to exist ever, but there have been worse episodes, and this was just a STUPID way to get rid of a pokemon that was actually pretty good, also, since the trade between Ash and Dawn, and since Ambipom evolved from Aipom quickly, wouldnt Buizel evolve into Floatzel soon enough, I will most likely never watch a contest ever again, or compete in one in the games for that matter......

[Vernikova]

Originally Posted by Masterge77

Ambipom ends up like Primape and Cacnea (as well as Pidgeot, Butterfree, Vulpix, Arbok, Chimecho, Lapras, and Weezing) before him, to leave for a stupid reason and never be seen again, ever,

I fail to see how any of those Pokémon left for a "stupid" reason. Also, I recall that Lapras was in a Johto episode.

[carmelhadinosaur]

The atmosphere was sure different in this episode. Though describing a competition, they did not concentrate on the matches themselves. It was refreshing as we always see how Ash loses or how Dawn wins. And yes, it was an odd way to say goodbye to Ambipom. It's always sad and now it's good.

[Charaxes]

Originally Posted by AdvancedK9

This is a great lesson for kids though, go with some completely unknown person in the attempt to get better in a sport you already kill people in.

I take it you never watched Comedy Central's Strangers with Candy? It plays and pokes on your contention, nicely. However, I do agree with you.

I didn't watch the episode, so I can't comment. Although, I'll ask this, "was it natural for Dawn to lose Bom, or was it plot-induced stupidity for whatever reason?"