• Our friends from the Johto Times are hosting a favorite Pokémon poll - and we'd love for you to participate! Click here for information on how to vote for your favorites!
  • Welcome to PokéCommunity! Register now and join one of the best fan communities on the 'net to talk Pokémon and more! We are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company or Nintendo.
    Register

[Pokémon] Pokemon Anime Marathon Club

Season 1 Episode 2 - "Pokemon Emergency!"

Another pretty solid episode! This is the first appearance of Team Rocket, and I like how Jessie/James/Meowth are portrayed as an actual serious threat for the most part instead of clowns like usual. I don't mind them being used for humor, but they're so shoehorned into that role later on that seeing them played straight for once is refreshing. Like the previous episode, this one also has plenty of early-installment jank; with Arcanine depicted as a legendary and Ash's father mentioned for essentially the first and last time (not sure if the Pokedex being uniquely programmed for their owners/serving as an ID has been retconned so I'll give that a pass). I also noticed that some of the dialogue/deliveries come off as a bit stiff. Not sure if it's just the dub or the actors still growing into their roles (probably both tbh), but scenes like Ash talking with Oak or Ash throwing the random Pokeballs to fight off Team Rocket felt like actors in a studio trying to emulate emotion instead of sounding like the characters actually having the emotions. Outside of that, the core plot of Pikachu having to go to the hospital and fighting with Team Rocket to restore the electricity is a good premise that's executed well and serves as a fun origin story for TR's obsession with catching Pikachu. It gets a certified CoolKid575 rating of 8/10 (since I didn't rate "I Choose You!" earlier I give it a retroactive rating of 9/10)
 
Last edited:
Okay, here comes episode 2!

This is probably my least watched episode of the original series, because I missed it on the initial (technically second) airing in my country.

I don't know why, but both Jenny and Joy seems really naive in this episode. Jenny mistakes Ash for Team Rocket and then is like "whatever", when the whole Pokémon Center explodes.

Anyway, I like both the huge size of Viridian City and Pokémon Center. I always wanted to wander the city myself.

But for some reason, there are almost no people around, giving the whole episode eerie and liminal feel.

Ash is also quite naive in the episode. He's using random trainers' Pokémon (where are these trainers anyway?), he's picking up strangers' phones...

Green Pidgey looks weird, but I like it. I want it to make a return. Speaking of Pokémon, I like Koffing's derpy face.

Overall, it was a fun episode.

Ash's death counter: 1
 
Season 1 Episode 3 - "Ash Catches a Pokemon"

This one continues the streak of pretty good episodes! I like how Ash actually manages to achieve something this time instead of constantly failing like in the first 2 EPs, and it's cool that he catches 2 Pokemon in this episode that both end up sticking around for a while. The humor was also on-point with some of the bickering between Misty and Ash. TR were a bit on the dull side this time though with them essentially just spamming their Pokemon until Caterpie immobilizes them. I give it an 8/10
 
Episode 2

What was Ash's father doing for four days traveling between Pallet and Viridian? Did Ash's parents grow up together in Pallet? I have more questions, but no time to get into fanfiction.

I agree with Janp that Viridian City is definitely larger than expected. It would have been great to see more of it. Or at least any more humans in the Center, given how large that was. No one else was around then? Not even one other single trainer that just rolled in? There has to be quite a few trainers hanging around to have that many spare Pikachu at the ready. Unless it's just a thing at the Viridian Center, given that Joy knew that the back-up power supply would kick in.

It's also interesting to hear little details that sound strange, coming back to this. Like Jenny remarking that it's strange for trainers to travel with their Pokémon outside of their Poké balls. In the future, that seems to be way more common. But this whole world is just getting on its feet. Which is why Team Rocket comes off completely different from how they are much later in the series.

Episode 3

Ash catches two Pokémon! Caterpie is rather small, but also adorable. Again, an episode like this shows why it's good that Ash is as unknowledgeable as he is. That way, Misty's explanations for how to catch Pokémon doesn't come out of nowhere. It flows like a somewhat normal conversation and shows the difference in the skill levels, while helping newcomers to the series learn about the world. (Which is why they wasted time with MIsty sending out Goldeen last episode. Trying to hide that she's the Gym Leader.)

Also that scene with Caterpie talking to Pikachu about how it wants to evolve? It's still cute and it's still confusing to those not used to this show.

Still amused by the little hints of the censorship. Like Oak ordering a pizza even though he's cooking ramen noodles, and the noise from Misty's slap in episode 3 being left in though the actual image was cut.
 
Season 1 Episode 4 - "Challenge of the Samurai"

Sorry for the slightly late update. This episode is alright, but I consider it a fairly major downgrade from the first 3. It's the first of what I like to call "character of the day" episodes, where Ash meets some random person, solves their problems and proceeds to never think of them again after the episode ends. Today's COTD is the Samurai, who I actually don't mind too much. He gives Ash's bloated ego after EP3 a nice reality check by calling him out on abandoning Metapod, but he doesn't do much outside of that and challenging him to a brief battle. I have noticed some inconsistency about how Pokeballs and Pokemon interact so far though, since it seems like Pikachu and Metapod can freely disobey Ash at any time; but catching a Pokemon still seems to give the trainer some authority over it, and stolen Pokemon will also obey their "new" trainers (why else would Jessie/James want to steal Pikachu so badly if it wouldn't do anything for TR?). I wouldn't be surprised if Pokeballs were originally supposed to be mind control devices of some sort (which is another concept the anime seems to use quite a lot as well now that I think about it) but it got toned down to avoid comparisons to IRL illegal chicken-fighting rings, since the series comes off as trying to have it both ways at times. Outside of that, the episode plot is pretty mediocre, I'm not a huge fan of the overused "Ash needs to calm down a horde of angry Pokemon" trope and TR is pretty boring this time around; but him taking accountability and apologizing to Metapod, as well as it evolving into Butterfree at the end are bright spots that bring the episode up in my eyes. I give it a 6/10.
 
Season 1 Episode 5 - "Showdown in Pewter City"

We've reached out first gym battle episode, and I think this one was handled pretty well! For starters, I'm glad TR took a backseat this time. They spice things up in later gym battles, but this first one being uninterrupted helps establish how a "normal" gym challenge is supposed to go and let's the episode focus entirely on Ash trying to beat Brock; a plotline that's executed very well imo. Brock himself is portrayed as this very imposing figure and comes off as someone who's on a whole different level of skill compared to your average Bug Catcher, and his usage of rock type gives the anime an excuse to teach the audience about type matchups and Ash that you can't just rush blindly into every situation and expect to win. I also liked the scene of both Ash and Pikachu working together to power up, but I found the climax of Thunderbolt setting off the sprinklers to be extremely contrived (Pikachu already had spiral eyes, meaning the match should've already been over) and I would've preferred Flint being revealed as Brock's dad (and the whole aspect of him taking care of TEN younger siblings) been treated a bit more seriously / given more screentime instead of being fodder for a corny joke. Brock as a companion is GOATed though and this is his debut episode, so I can't rank it lower then a 7.5/10 in good conscience.
 
I swear I'll keep up with this better after this!

Episode 4
Samurai was a very welcomed way to write the various Bug Catchers that are all over VIridian Forest in the game. He comes off more serious with his Pinsir than if he was just a regular kid with a net and a few Caterpie. It was kind of a little weird that Ash had to prove himself to Metapod after coming back for it in order for Metapod to forgive Ash again. But it was a moment of growth for Ash. And I like the way that the evolutions are shown for Caterpie to Metapod and then to Butterfree. It's not just a light shining and then it evolves. You can actually see how each stage becomes the next, which is some decent world-building. Shame it's not kept for every evolution.

Episode 5
The very first Gym battle, and the show did the best with what it could. I agree with PoryKid that Brock comes off as very imposing at the start. I also agree that this worked better without Team Rocket interrupting the battle, so that this episode did just deal with Ash trying to earn a badge. The scene with Ash powering up Pikachu always came off as intense, even now. I do like that it's the two of them--Ash and Pikachu--training together, showing that they are a team.

It's just a little weird to me that after Brock was defeated by everyone else (the other four trainers from Pallet, for example), his siblings only showed up for the fight against Ash. I'm sure Onix was hurt in those battles as well. Especially in the match against the trainer with the Squirtle. So why was it worse for Ash to defeat Brock? Do Brock's siblings understand what it means for Brock to be a Gym Leader, and that he has to lose matches and get his Pokémon hurt?

At least we get Brock joining the group now!
 
Season 1 Episode 6 - "Clefairy and the Moon Stone"

Didn't like this episode as much as the previous one, but it still isn't bad. I like the subtle foreshadowing that Misty is a gym leader by her using Staryu before Ash faces it in the next episode as well as the reveal of Brock's cooking abilities, and I honestly found Team Rocket really funny. I find they work best when they're posing a real threat but aren't too deadly serious, and I felt they struck a great balance in this EP. The Clefairy's relationship to the Moon Stone was also portrayed well imo. My issue was with the COTD, Seymour, who I thought really dragged down the episode. He was incredibly annoying and his personality (namely, the lack of it outside his obsession over the moon stone) got old for me after his second scene; he took up way too much screen time for how little he actually does, and drags a solid 8/10 EP to a 6.5/10.
 
Episode 6

It wasn't until this episode that I realized just how strange it is that no one reacts to Meowth being able to talk. It's treated as something completely normal, but it's supposed to also be something that only Meowth can do. And yet, Seymour (a scientist) is just like "whatever" at this Pokémon that can talk to humans.

Also, what was Ash feeding his Pokémon before Brock came along with his food? What did Pikachu eat the night before this episode began? Just normal food that Brock cooked, and Brock was like "whatever" at Pikachu eating human food?

This episode was very light on story. That's why Team Rocket showed up twice, to pad out the time. I can't really think of what else could have been done for a story involving the Clefairy and the Moon Stone. So it's a fine episode that really involves Mount Moon to get that out of the way, and shows stone evolutions in the anime for the first time. I do agree that Seymour is annoying. His poetry was an unnecessary quirk, and his voice added to the obnoxiousness. To the point where I had to check the Japanese version, and he's more subdued in that version. There, he's a normal scientist who tends to be excited, but it's not as intense.

The Japanese version also showed a weird bit of censorship. Guess 4Kids didn't like Gary sticking out his tongue when Ash read the note on the sign. Even though MIsty stuck her tongue out at Team Rocket.

Random note: I wish I was as happy as a Clefairy. Getting blown up and still going ":D", oblivious to all around me.
 
Season 1 Episode 7 - "The Water Flowers of Cerulean City"

Less then a week after our previous gym battle episode, we have another one! While I am enjoying the brisk pace so far, I definitely feel like they could've used another episode between this and the Brock battle (maybe covering Route 3, which was kinda skipped over) because it feels like Ash hasn't grown much since then. That's not the fault of the episode itself though, which is actually quite good. I found the scene where Misty tries to persuade Brock and Ash to go to Vermillion pretty funny, as well as the scene with Officer Jenny. I wasn't a fan of how Brock was written out of the episode though, him splitting off from Ash was super sudden and he never even mentioned what he was doing after reuniting; it definitely came off like they were just trying to get rid of him because he wouldn't have had anything to do. Outside of that, I question if the Cerulean gym leaders giving away badges without battling violates the Pokemon League guidelines; but tbh I doubt trainers getting free badges would exactly be storming in and complaining about it. Misty finally being revealed as a gym leader was nice, and the battle was pretty good too. I'm glad they wrote Pikachu out because it would've made the battle trival, and Ash and Misty seemed fairly evenly matched (which casts some doubt on Misty's skills imo considering Ash has been a trainer for, like, a month tops at this point). TR's plot was also OK, and the resolution of Pikachu shocking TR using the water's conductivity was actually pretty clever. Honestly felt like Ash earned his badge here, especially considering he could've accepted it for nothing. Arguably winning against Misty and stopping TR on top of that feels pretty fair for it. Overall, I'd give this episode a 7.5/10; not incredible but definitely very solid.
 
Sorry for lagging behind. I had to finish an article for work related conference. And then floods hit my country, so yeah, it was fun.

Anyway, I managed to watch some episodes and almost got up to the current episode. I'll just quickly talk about episodes 3-6, because I fear it would take me another week just to do live reactions to them.

I really like episode 3, especially for all the info we get on Misty, including a foreshadowing of her relationship with her family. Ash catching Pidgeotto is also fun moment. And I remember trying to find Pidgeotto in Yellow myself. To this day, catching Pidgey instead of Pidgeotto in any game seems wrong to me.

Not much to say about episode 4, to be honest. I like that this random kid has Pinsir and I would love for Pinsir to be an encounter in Viridian Forest.

Rewatching episode 5, I noticed (or rediscovered) so many small details. There is poster with type symbols from TCG. Team Rocket being useless in the story. Ash giving a time frame of his journey. Brock doing his signature pose. Yeah, good episode.

Episode 6 was okay. I like that it establishes Brock as the party cook and foreshadows Misty's origin again. But that's pretty much it. Also, thanks to this rewatch, I found out Clefairy's JP name is Pippi.
 
Episode 7

That one scene with Officer Jenny raised so many questions. Like how can the two officers only be related as sisters-in-law if they look exactly the same? Why does Jenny talk about all the details of the case to these two random children that just show up? How come Brock holding up a Boulder Badge and saying he's the Gym Leader count as enough identification? (Is he still considered the Gym Leader? Could anyone with any badge say that they're the Gym Leader and have that count as enough identification in a court of law?)

Also, what "stuff" are you doing, Brock?

The rest of the episode seemed...rushed in some ways. It's almost like they had to include Team Rocket as the way to get Ash the badge because the writers couldn't figure out how to handle Misty's skill level compared to Ash's. He was able to take out Starmie, but Staryu was still fine. But Starmie is supposedly Misty's strongest Pokémon. And though it's great that Pikachu saved the day by blowing up Team Rocket (which that also seemed rushed), it's a little sad that that gained Ash the badge. Not a good showing of his skill, and also not a good showing of MIsty's skill if she was almost defeated by a new trainer that she had to teach some minimum basics to.
 
Last edited:
Season 1 Episode 8 - "The Path to the Pokemon League"

A good follow up to EP7! It definitely fits with Ash's personality so far for his ego to massively balloon after getting 2 badges so quickly; and AJ serves a similar role to the Samurai in humbling and bringing him back to earth. I found AJ to be a much better COTD then the Samurai though, there's more to him then "upgraded bug catcher" and Ash seeing how he's only tough on his Pokemon because he cares about them is a nice arc for the episode. On the other hand, I found Ash pretty annoying. While him having a big ego is nothing new by this point, his gloating to the trainers he beats on the way to AJs gym bordered on mean-spirited; and his continuous whining after losing completely fair and square was hard to sit through (which was a bit odd since he took the loss against Brock relatively well). He also kept insisting that AJ abused his Pokemon well past the point where it was clear he wasn't. In comparison, TR was a bright spot, with them having their best showing since EP2 when they were introduced; they were a lot funnier this time and it was nice how they gave AJ his 100th win (although it technically should've brought him to 101 since he beat both James and Jesse. Overall a pretty dang good episode. I'd give it an 8/10
 
Last edited:
Episode 8

A.J., my beloved.

I have no idea why A.J. was my very first favorite Pokémon character. I remember having a lunchbox with him on it. Getting whatever trading cards I could of him. Sandshrew was one of my favorite Pokémon, only because of A.J. But it's been years since I watched this episode, so it was a treat to see it again after all this time.

It's still a fun episode for essentially filler, but there are some problems. I like that Team Rocket was a decent mix of their goofy selves while also still coming off as a threat. Meowth's "It's the moment of tooth!" lives rent-free in my head to this day. (Along with A.J.'s "Sandshrew! Where are you?") Brock's and Misty's little comments as Ash made a fool of himself were cute. I like that Brock could be a decent human and talk to A.J. about feeding Pokémon, even if they don't fully agree on training methods. It was Ash that I had a problem with. He was so smug at the start of the episode, and continued to be a pest as the episode went on. He just hung around A.J.'s place, looking to cause problems.

It's weird, because when I first watched Pokémon, I liked Ash. As this rewatch goes on, I'm finding myself not liking him so much. (Brock's becoming more of a favorite when before he was just there.)

Shame we never see A.J. again after this. But there's always fanfiction.
 
Season 1 Episode 9 - "The School of Hard Knocks"

One of the more infamous EPs for being one of the very few times levels are explicitly referenced in the anime to my knowledge. The whole episode feels very "early Pokemon" in general, it was kind of weird having game concepts like levels be mentioned and even a game-like environment being shown with the simulators, and I highly doubt the "she can violate my rights" line from Brock would be approved in 2024. The episode plot itself is still pretty good though, a Pokemon prep school that essentially acts as a feeder to the League is an interesting concept; and definitely something that would likely exist for wealthy families if Pokemon were real. And the message that computer simulations and book learning isn't everything is a good lesson for Ash to learn (it's also nice that he's actually fairly likable / reasonable in this EP); and learning that Jessie and James tried to get into Pokemon Tech is an early, subtle hint to their backstories. Overall, another really solid episode with a nice extra dash of worldbuilding, I'd give it an 8/10

Astinus said:
It's weird, because when I first watched Pokémon, I liked Ash. As this rewatch goes on, I'm finding myself not liking him so much. (Brock's becoming more of a favorite when before he was just there.)
Click to expand...
I agree tbh, Ash was always my favorite when I was younger. But this rewatch has made me appreciate characters like Misty and Brock far more, and I've realized just how annoying and unreasonable Ash often is, especially in these early episodes.
 
Season 1 Episode 10 - "Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village"

Enjoyed this one more then I expected. Melanie was a good character and the Hidden Village was a nice setting for the episode (and it's purpose as a refuge for abandoned Pokemon foreshadows the next EP very well...), I also liked how Ash/Misty seemed to get along better this time. They had some good banter during the sequence where they kept running into traps, and it's good to see them getting more friendly with each other as the series progresses. TR was also excellent again this time, I especially enjoyed James complimenting Melanie's traps and Jesse countering with "well I'm glad you're enjoying it so much!" Though I'm unsure how they keep managing to get these massive vacuums, because I doubt Giovanni would approve something like that, maybe that's what Jesse/James are blowing their inheritance on lol. Finally, Bulbasaur was alright, the battle at the end with it was a bit short for my tastes and I found its personality somewhat generic, but the point Melanie makes about it needing to get out of the village for the plant on its back to grow was a sweet message; and I feel like Bulbasaur will end up being a good addition to the team. Overall another fairly solid EP, Bulabsaur could've been better as a character. But Ash/Misty's & and TR's shenanigans were very funny and made up for the EPs weak spots. I'd give it a 7.5/10
 
Last edited:
I apparently lost a day somewhere.

Episode 9

There's commentary on the Japanese school system buried in this episode, but I don't quite feel like unburying it now.

This episode was fascinating in a way. It's so attached to the rules of the games, mentioning levels and exact ones where Pokémon evolve and learn new moves. Part of the interest in this rewatch that I have now is where the anime starts shuffling away to its own rules compared to following what was mentioned in the games. Though I think part of that happened now with the match between Pikachu and Cubone. That one raised a couple of questions, like "What is the official way to win a match? Why does Ash consider it cheating that Cubone used Bonemerang, but Giselle was fine with Pikachu using apparently illegal moves in the match? What counts as an illegal move? Why couldn't Pikachu learn Bite or Scratch instead of it being cheating to bite and scratch Cubone?"

Other than that, I found Giselle really obnoxious. For some reason, her design made me think that she was like one of those thirty-something-year-olds playing high school students. She also talked a lot. Maybe it was just something that bothered me. Joe was really generic. I'm wondering how that conversation went with his parents when he decided to drop out. Sure, his parents spent a lot of money to send him to a prestigious school, but some kid with a Pikachu (who apparently cheated in a fight but that didn't matter?) showed Joe the true way to be a trainer!

Team Rocket, though they weren't needed in this episode, were actually enjoyable. They're getting goofy, but they aren't over-the-top about it. It's also wicked cute how they interact with each other, like Meowth giving Jesse and James a pep talk and they cuddle him before punching him into the sky five minutes later.

This episode is also fascinating in how the anime mentions the human world. Misty talks about France, and the original version even specifies a particular avenue of Paris. That's also something to keep an eye out for as the rewatch goes on: to see when the anime securely puts the Pokémon world as its own separate one instead of somewhere on Earth. (Like with the fish that were in Cerulean's Gym not being Pokémon but actual fish.)
 
I'm really bad at keeping on time with this. Anyway...

Episode 7 is my favourite. It's crazy that Ash is once again mistaken for the criminal. But I like the gym battle with Misty. It's really memorable because of the uniqueness of the gym. This is the first time we see a water battlefield and now that I think about it, some of my favourite episodes include fighting at such battlefield.

Episode 8 on the other hand... not really my favourite. I like A.J. and his Sandshrew, but episodes before this one are awesome, so this one feels rather weak.

Episode 9 has so many memorable moments. Starting with Misty's battles against Joe and Giselle and ending with Pikachu's improvised attacks. I noticed how packed with battles this episode is. Sadly, there is yet another really boring Team Rocket segment.
 
Episode 10

And so Bulbasaur joins the team.

It's an all right episode. It sets up Bulbasaur's personality, making it seem like the most mature of Ash's Pokémon. This is one of those times where I wish more was done with the actual Pokémon as characters in the show. Just to see how Bulbasaur could continue being the protector of the team, and how the other members of the team would react to that.

Speaking of teams getting along, I enjoyed how Misty and Brock bantered with one another. That showed a clear sense of Brock being the oldest sibling and Misty being the youngest. All the while, only child Ash just doesn't understand any of it. But he did have some good quips while he and MIsty were searching for Brock. Ash's "then came a storm" at the end of his pirate story still amuses me to this day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top