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[Pokémon] Pokemon Anime Marathon Club

Season 1 Episode 11 - "Charmander - The Stray Pokemon"

One of the most iconic episodes of the anime, and it definitely held up. The banter was good as always, but the real star of the show was Charmander. It's story and the party barely managing to save it before its flame went out was gut wrenching, and it was so satisfying to see Damion get burnt at the end after all he put it through. I did think Team Rocket wasn't super necessary this time (would've preferred more focus on the Charmander storyline) and that they weren't particularly funny either, but at least they were foiled relatively quickly. Overall the best episode I've seen on this rewatch so far, it was absolutely fantastic. I'd give it a 10/10
 
Season 1 Episode 12 - "Here Comes the Squirtle Squad"

The final in the trio of starter episodes, and I found it to be roughly in the middle in terms of quality. It doesn't quite match the previous EP, but I really enjoyed the Squirtle Squad's antics and how TR interacted with them. Although I found it a bit silly how easily the party let themselves be trapped by the Squad, I can see Ash forgetting to send out another Pokemon after Pikachu was knocked out; but Misty is supposedly a gym leader and she had a perfectly healthy Starmie that likely could've dealt with them. The drama with Ash having to make it back before noon also felt a bit contrived, especially with how he just happens to get knocked out cold by Gary for the exact length of time needed for him to make it back while maintaining tension. Nobody walking into the store for the ~12hrs prior bothered to check up on the kid sleeping outdoors? In any case, TR's plot this time around was actually fairly clever, and they only really lost because Pikachu just happened to fall out of the balloon after it was hit; and one of the Squirtle's deciding to travel with Ash at the end was a nice conclusion. Overall, I found it more engaging then Bulbasaur and the Hidden Garden, and it's definitely above-average on the whole, but it just couldn't match Charmander - The Stray Pokemon. I'd give it an 8.5/10.
 
Season 1 Episode 13 - "Mystery at the Lighthouse"

Yet another iconic episode, we seem to be running into a lot of these lol. I had a really good time with this one; the recap at the start was a bit odd, but I suppose it makes sense considering most people probably wouldn't have been able to catch every single episode during the original airing. It got off to a somewhat weak start after that though, with Brock and Misty trying to roast Ash by claiming all his Pokemon just followed him rather then him catching them properly. Despite Butterfree and Pidgeotto having been caught fair and square. Things started to pick up after Ash catches Krabby and Gary inadvertently shows him up again. Wish we saw Gary in-person more though; in my opinion his greater progress doesn't make as much impact as it should since we barely ever get the chance to actually see Gary and how far ahead he is, just hear about it once in a blue moon from Oak (who's obviously going to be biased since he's Gary's grandfather). In any case, I loved the lighthouse portion of the episode, and found it interesting how they say there's "over 150 known Pokemon"; since Mew hadn't been fully revealed yet. Bill was also done well, and I found him a lot more interesting then his game counterpart who mainly seemed to just sit around in his house. I honestly think this first season does a fantastic job at portraying the mystery of the Pokemon world, much more then the other series like Best Wishes I also remember watching. Of course it was easier due to the showrunners not having as much to work around (this whole season is more-or-less based entirely off a 2MB green-and-black Gameboy game), but the world definitely feels a lot bigger and more mysterious, with more unexplained things happening compared to later seasons. Case in point, the giant Dragonite that appears near the end; I wish they would've had Bill actually meet with it and leave after Ash tries to catch it instead of TR awkwardly driving it away (imo TR shouldn't have been there at all, they felt very forced and Ash overcorrecting and trying to catch everything he sees after Brock/Misty criticize him is way more in line with his character). But overall it was another great episode that while technically pure filler, didn't feel like a waste of time at all. I'd give it a 9/10.
 
*rolls in*

Episode 11

Agree with PoryKid. This is definitely one of the best episodes so far. The story is tight and it doesn't come off as a filler episode written just so Ash can catch Charmander.

All the characters in here were great. The opening again showed the banter between the main trio, with Misty getting upset at both Ash and Brock. Ash is still clueless but very easy-going about getting lost in the woods. (Must be inherited from his father.) The way that Misty and Brock interact with each other is still enjoyable. It's a definite sibling relationship, where they tease each other but really care about the other. Like how MIsty can kick Brock in the face but then make sure that he eats a good dinner later in the day.

(I think that the reason why we're enjoying Brock and MIsty now more than Ash is because we're older than when we first watched it. When I first watched this, I wanted to be Ash. Now that I'm older, I find him to be an annoying young kid. There are times when Misty bothers me with her attitude, and she's the same age as Ash. But Misty's not the main character, so we don't get as much of her as we do of Ash.)

The other great character in this is Charmander. It's sympathetic without being too cheesy in its situation. Sure, it's abandoned, but it's a scrappy fighter and loyal to Damian. Though Charmander is loyal to Damian at the beginning, it's not stupid. It's clear to Charmander who cares for it, and I like that it's like Charmander made a conscious decision to follow the trio. (The rock that Charmander had been living on was in the opposite direction than the way that the trio was going, so why else was Charmander there to fight Team Rocket?)

Still kind of wish that Brock got Charmander, but that's fine because I just remembered another Pokémon exists.

I'll catch up with this by the end of the week.

*rolls out*
 
Season 1 Episode 14 - "Electric Shock Showdown"

It's been a while, but we've finally reached our next gym battle; with a much more experienced Ash challenging Lt. Surge. I found this the best gym battle so far, there's a good amount of build up with all the Pokemon being rushed into the emergency room. And his loss the first time around felt like it was due to Lt. Surge being a really strong trainer, rather then the Brock battle where Ash mainly lost due to not knowing incredibly basic type matchups. The scene where Ash considered evolving Pikachu was handled very well in my opinion, as was Pikachu's decision to stay as it is. Although I would've preferred for Ash to relay its speech instead of Meowth (Ash's ability to understand Pikachu seems to turn on and off at random for some reason). TR also managed to stay in their lane and only intervened to cheer on Ash (which James even humorously comments on at the end), while the winning strategy was actually fairly clever; I like how they took advantage of Pikachu knowing more moves and being more nimble to take out the slower, more powerful Raichu. It was a nice integration of the game mechanic of Pokemon not learning any more moves after evolving with a stone, and was also engaging to watch. Overall, this was a really solid gym episode that'll hopefully get Brock and Misty to shut up about Ash only having badges because of pity. I'd give it a 9/10.
 
Episode 12

This episode raised the question of how exactly do trainers abandon a Pokémon. It also raised the question of what was going on in that area to make that many trainers abandon that many Squirtle for them to form a gang...squad.

The plot came off as a little forced. What with Pikachu being taken out that fast by a Goldeen to the point where it was a medical emergency. And Brock really didn't have any medicine on him, so that Ash had to go to the store. Which that was also forced drama, with Ash being knocked out by the door (by Gary, no less!) and then Team Rocket making everyone in the store wary enough that they're willing to point guns at normal innocent children. Good thing Jenny's forced appearance saved the day!

Thanks to Team Rocket showing up, Ash had a chance to prove himself to yet another Pokémon. Squirtle decides to join the team, and for some reason, I found Squirtle to look kind of weird this episode.

Episode 13

It was almost like this episode was just for the exposition. There's explanations for how the PC storage system works in the anime. Bill talks about how there are 150 known Pokémon, which raises the question of how does Bill know about Mewtwo? Mewtwo's one of the Pokémon etched into the door, even though it's supposed to be a Rocket secret. There's also a little rehashing of how to get into the league, and how many badges Ash still needs to get. That bit in the beginning set up the episode so that Ash could catch Krabby.

Strange that Ash considers that capture a win, seeing as how he technically didn't do it right. He still kind of proved himself to Krabby by fighting the Pokémon himself. Krabby wasn't knocked out, like it had been explained to Ash before. It's almost as if Krabby decided to follow Ash.

Edit: I also wonder about the trainers that don't have a Pokédex. Like just two episodes ago, Damian's wandering around with armfuls of captured Pokémon, so he's carrying around more than six. But other trainers only carry the six, but they don't all have a 'dex, so...where do their Pokémon go? It would have been neat to still have it be like the games, where the Pokémon are stored in the computer, but that would raise more questions (and comparisons) that the show probably didn't want to get in to. Better to have Bill just be some bloke at a lighthouse being weird than some genius computer guy.

Do wish that the giant ~mystery Pokémon~ could have made some sort of return in the show. Or something like it, just to explore that kind of phenomenon of the Pokémon world.

Episode 14

Now this was an episode.

Everything about it was great. From the plot, to the writing of the characters, to the animation. This was a definite step up in the quality of the show, and a worthwhile episode.

Surge was built up to be a good threat to Ash's quest to get the third badge. It's a little heartbreaking to see all these new-ish trainers that only have Caterpie and Rattata come rushing into the Center begging their Pokémon to live. When Surge was revealed, he felt powerful. Even his Raichu came off that way, with the backgrounds in that scene being dark enough that the colors stood out of the characters.

It was great to see Ash and Pikachu come together to figure out how to get the badge. Their conversation was great, and it showed what kind of trainer Ash is. He'll take the time to listen to his Pokémon, because that's who he is. And it gave Pikachu a little bit of characterization too, having it want to win for the honor of all Pikachu everywhere. There's also the fact that the two of them had to train to gain the new moves. Shame we didn't see any of that training, but let's pretend that it built up that bond between Ash and Pikachu to pay off in the end.
 
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Season 1 Episode 15 - "Battle Aboard the St. Anne"

I always remember loving the 3 episode St. Anne arc when I was younger, although I preferred the latter 2 episodes; so I was curious to see how they held up. The answer for this first installment was, pretty well! TR were very funny the whole time, with their awful disguises and James blowing both his and Jesse's salaries on an obvious scam (side note: apparently they only get paid ~$200/month, no wonder they're always trying to steal other people's stuff lol). And it was nice to get to see Giovanni and how dead-serious he is compared to Jesse/James/Meowth's usual incompetence; which implies to the audience that Team Rocket as an organization is a lot more dangerous then they've seemed so far (foreshadowing Mewtwo). I also enjoyed seeing Butterfree get used in battle this EP, as I've felt Pidgeotto and it haven't been getting much use since the more marketable starters joined the team. Ash's regret over trading Butterfree did honestly feel a bit forced (he's only had it for like a dozen EPs, and it hasn't been used often enough for me to feel much attachment to it); and I wish he parted with Butterfree permanently here and had an arc learning to trust/work with Raticate instead. It would fit better with the games, where trading is highly encouraged. And I just don't like Butterfree as a character, the writers obviously want to load all these emotional moments onto it, but they don't give it enough screentime to make them actually land. It's telling when the only 2 scenes they can muster up when Ash is having his flashback is it evolving into Butterfree and slapping Misty's Starmie in their battle; because that's basically the only times its been used. In any case, I did like the ending with Ash/Misty/Brock/Jesse/James all being presumed dead and stuck on the sinking TitanticSt. Anne; which sets up the next EP very nicely. Overall I did have a good time with this episode, even if it had some weak points. I'd give it a 7.5/10.
 
Episode 15

Fun fact: This was the first episode of Pokémon that I ever watched. When it premiered, I guess they wanted to start off with a more action-packed episode than the first one. So you can imagine the confusion I had of "Who are these people and what happened before?"

This is still a pretty great episode. For one, it introduces a lot about the world that I wish was more explored. Like the Team Rocket grunts. It would have been interesting to hear more about how dangerous Team Rocket actually can be, instead of just following our favorite TRio. When the grunts were blasted away, I wondered if they actually still had all the Poké balls that they had sucked up in their vacuums. Maybe the Boss actually emerged with a little bit of victory. Speaking of, it was great to be introduced to the Boss in the way that we did. You can get a sense of how much he despises incompetence, but something makes him keep the TRio around.

Also wished that they could have explored the implications of trading Pokémon better. It would have been great character growth for Ash to have to deal with a Pokémon that he received from another trainer. That would have introduced that sort of concept much earlier, especially if Raticate wouldn't have listened to him at the start. Instead, marketability wins out over character growth, and Butterfree comes back to the team. Which put everyone in danger because Ash just had to get his friend back.

It's telling when the only 2 scenes they can muster up when Ash is having his flashback is it evolving into Butterfree and slapping Misty's Starmie in their battle
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There's also that time that it put the Beedrill swarm to sleep in episode 4, but still.... Three memories for what's supposed to be emotional isn't that great.

As for another introduction: I think this is the first time that James dressed up as a girl! Good for him!
 
Season 1 Episode 16 - "Pokemon Shipwreak"

This one is part 2 of the St. Anne arc, and while middle installments in trilogies often struggle to stand out; I found this episode roughly on par with EP15. Ash and co alongside TR being stuck underwater in the TitanticSt. Anne is a great premise, and the episode does a good job conveying a sense of urgency; with Ash and TR managing to put aside their differences and work together for iirc the first time ever. Even if some of said urgency is a bit contrived (the ship is really so finely balanced the gang is enough to tip a 20,000+ ton ship one way or the other? And TR are so stupid they willingly open multiple massive holes). I liked how nearly everyone's Pokemon got to be useful in some way, Misty's water Pokemon dredged up TR and helped tow their raft at the end; Brock's Onix was used as a staircase, Charmander and Bulbasaur helped in the escape and Pidgeotto looked for land/dredged up TR again (the random Bible reference was kinda weird though, wonder if that was a 4Kids addition); it's nice when they show Pokemon being used for purposes other then battling, it makes the world feel more lived in and realistic. Although I wish TRs Pokemon and Meowth also helped a bit. Outside of that, the ending with Magikarp evolving and blowing them all away with Dragon Rage was fine enough, even if it's a bit odd how powerful it was portrayed to be when it only does 40HP of damage in-game. But overall it was another solid episode. I'd give it a 7.5/10
 
Season 1 Episode 17 - "Island of the Giant Pokemon"

The 3rd and final part of the St. Anne arc, this episode absolutely sticks the landing, being far better then the other 2 installments. The premise of the human characters being separated from the Pokemon is interesting by itself, but their speech being subtitled gives us an incredibly rare look into their thoughts (even if its a bit odd how Meowth is still speaking to them in English instead of Pokelanguage). Ekans and Koffing especially were a lot more loyal then I would've expected (guess TR treats them better then I thought) while Bulbasaur is still suspicious of Ash even after being with him for a good amount of time by now, Charmander is the most optimistic barring Pikachu, which is ironic considering how his attitude changes post-evolution. Outside that, the gang is pretty average, but TR is hilarious; trying to call Giovanni of all people collect while doing their theme song, and dragging their phone booth by the cable to escape. The giant Pokemon add tension and some urgency to get off the island, and the ending with the Pokemon all dramatically jumping into the minecart is a great finish (though that phone cable is absurdly strong to be able to drag half a dozen multi-ton Pokemon animatronics behind it withoud instantly snapping lol). As is the reveal that the whole island is a multi-million dollar theme park they just ruined. Overall a fantastic episode, the best / most unique I've seen so far. I'd give it a 10/10.
 
Episode 16

Since I only remembered one part of this episode, I found this surprisingly enjoyable to watch.

My favorite part of it is that the conflict wasn't a battle between trainers. It was an actual dangerous situation, and the characters had to use their Pokémon to figure out how to escape. Even Team Rocket with their limited choices tried. And it really shows that Meowth is the brains of the TRio. Somehow. Almost every Pokémon got a chance to be in this episode, with the exception of Butterfree. But since it was Butterfree's fault that everyone is in this mess...!

Raticate could have helped.

What I also like is how MIsty stepped up to be in control of the situation. I like that because it shows just how she could be a Gym Leader. She has that maturity to her, and isn't just always some young girl who's the same age as Ash. She can see how serious a situation is and get everyone working together without getting too angry about it. And the others respect her, falling under her leadership.

Random notes:
-Brock's story about Noah was the only thing I remembered about this episode. It's still strange to hear a religious reference in this show, especially since it happened back in the 90's. And I wonder what the story would be like in the Pokémon world. Guess it depends on how it's written in, since this was still back when they were treating the Pokémon world as part of Earth. (Even had regular fish swim by when Ash looked out the window.)

(the random Bible reference was kinda weird though, wonder if that was a 4Kids addition)
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Just checked, and it's the same. Noah is mentioned in both versions. If 4Kids wanted to avoid it, they could have just had Brock say that a bird could fly around and look for a tree branch without having to specify Noah.

-The other part of this episode that I remembered was Meowth's line of "I hate water! Especially wet water!" And Pikachu's bout of disappointment that Meowth didn't drown.

-If I had more time, I would try to figure out how much all the Pokémon weigh together to keep tipping the ship's balance, but eh. Koffing being included in that equation is rather weird because it floats. And it's also weird that Onix didn't cause any problems.
 
Season 1 Episode 18 - "Beauty and the Beach"

Our first banned episode, this one was originally skipped by 4Kids, and only officially aired in English 2 times in June and August 2000, albeit with heavy censorship. I've been watching these episodes in 480p, so the drop to VHS quality was pretty jarring, the plot was just OK in my opinion, it's nice to have something slower paced after the non-stop action of the last 4 EPs; the gang being forced to work in the restaurant because Brock randomly decided to steal a boat and crash it felt extremely contrived, as was TR needing to work in Brutella's restaurant; but it was nice seeing them compete in a non-battle setting (and also getting back to normal after working together for the previous 2 EPs); things started to get shaky as everyone enters the beauty competition (for another extremely contrived reason), Gary finally shows up in a speaking role for the first time since EP1; and proceeds to absolutely roast Ash. I do wish they battled instead of just exchanging words, but Oak and Delia showing up for their first in-person appearances since EP1 makes up for it. Even if it's a bit of a stretch that they just happened to be in Porta Vista at exactly the same time as Ash. The competition itself wasn't very interesting though, and could've easily been cut out imo. And TR's ultimate plot was fairly boring and standard, just trying to use a massive machine to cause damage like they've already done several times before. Overall, it's alright, but it fills like unnecessary filler and wouldn't likely be well remembered if not for its "banned" status. I'd give it a 5/10.
 
Episode 17

This was a really cute episode, and one that stuck in my memory. It was great to see the Pokémon interact without their trainers around. That's something that I wish we got more of. Because it allowed them to actually talk to one another. Almost get into a discussion on ethics, with Ekans saying that Pokémon aren't inherently bad or good. They only act on the will of their trainers. It would have been an interesting discussion, especially with Meowth saying that he's bad even though his "master" isn't around. And Squirtle used to go around playing pranks and causing trouble when it had been abandoned.

I'm really surprised that 4Kids kept that little scene where the Pokémon are eating at a ramen stand. It's very Japanese, and both Meowth and Bulbasaur are drunk. For a company that likes to pretend that rice balls are doughnuts, it's surprising that they'd keep something like that in.

It would have been nice to have seen some differences in the character interactions after this episode. Like Bulbasaur maybe having to learn to trust Ash better, seeing as how Ash didn't actually abandon it. (Also maybe more of a dive into Bulbasaur's issues, since it was quick to say that it's an orphan and has no family.) And yeah, it's a little strange that Charmander goes from being the second-most loyal to Ash to whatever snaps in its mind after evolution.

Good thing the writers brushed over any possible consequences of Charmander falling into the water!
 
Season 1 Episode 19 - "Tentacool & Tentacruel"

Technically another banned episode due to being pulled from the air around 9/11 and Katrina. I didn't like this one much though, the gang staying in Porta Vista and Brutella, sorry, "Nastina" being the villian again feel like asset flips to avoid the characters from the previous EP going to waste due to the ban. And I found the episode plot itself extremely uncompelling, the island they have such a problem with seems to be barely 2x2 city blocks; why can't they just move out of the way or just attack the park rather then all of Porta Vista? Considering they don't seem to mind people swimming in the water, driving motorboats (which likely does more harm then the theme park due to the pollution) and fishing, the island being the final straw seems like a bit of a stretch. Not to mention that Tentacruel is portrayed as morally neutral for trying to tear down an entire city when Nastina was the only person causing issues. The whole episode feels extremely contrived and comes off as a meaningless filler EP to allow the writers to reuse some of the designs from the previous episode before moving on. Misty catching Horsea at the end is nice, and her bickering with Ash over using his victory pose was pretty funny. But overall it was a bore. I'd give it a 3/10.
 
Episode 18

Oh hey. It's that "beach episode of an anime" that I keep hearing about.

And that really was what this was. Just an excuse to have an episode on the beach so everyone could be in their swim suits. Fan service~

Other than that, this was weird. The whole plot was forced, with the twerps stealing a boat for no reason at all. Moe was so uninteresting (and creepy), and his rivalry with Brutella was not explained at all. They were at each other's throats. I feel like I missed something for why Moe owed Brutella money, and where did the boat come in, and why would anyone care about this creepy old dude being inspired by a ten-year-old's speech to follow his dreams.

The cameos by Ash's mother and Gary's fanclub did not help the fact that this was just a fan service episode. They tried to save it by attempting to show how much Ash has grown up, saving everyone from Team Rocket, but... It was just weird and too fast-paced. Really feels like the writers had no other ideas for this episode other than "everyone walks around in their swim suits and Kojiro furthers his cross-dressing experience." Good for him!

Episode 19

Oh hey. It's that "save the environment from rich people episode that every 90's cartoon was doing" that I keep hearing about.

A little bit better than the last episode because there was a little more of a story to this one. But It was still weak and still boring. It's weird that Ash didn't get what Nastina wanted to do to the Tentacool when she dangled money in front of him. It took MIsty explaining what "exterminate" means. The twerps really shouldn't have been surprised then that the whole town would be willing to destroy the Tentacool for money.

Nicely convenient that Tentacruel knew that Meowth could speak like a human and grabbed him for translation purposes. I do wish that Pikachu's impassioned speech was a little translated, just to get the idea of it. It seemed like that was what opened up Tentacruel's mind to hearing what Misty had to say. Which was enough for Tentacruel to realize the errors of its ways and head back to sea.

At least this episode wasn't all filler. MIsty caught Horsea. It would have been better if we saw the two of them working together to convince Tentacruel to see the errors of its ways.

why can't they just move out of the way or just attack the park rather then all of Porta Vista?
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I thought it was because Tentacruel wanted the humans to feel the pain of having their actual homes destroyed. Nastina was building the theme park right on top of the coral reefs where the Tentacool lived, so their home was destroyed. Maybe Tentacruel was thinking that if just the theme park was destroyed, it wouldn't get the point across.
 
Season 1 Episode 20 - "The Ghost of Maiden's Peak"

Just before Halloween, we have a rather spooky episode which serves as a welcome reprieve from the previous 2 mediocre EPs. It's nice to see a new setting after so much time on tropical islands; and there's some funny hijacks with Team Rocket and Jenny during the festival. But things really get going when the story of the maiden is unveiled, while it's a bit odd to see Pokemon implying wars happened in the distant past; iirc the Maiden's story is loosely based off the Japanese tale of a dog that waited at the station for its master for decades, which is a welcome dose of Japanese culture alongside the stickers seen later. Generally the show's been so sanitized by 4Kids up to this point it could plausibly take place in Texas, so it's nice to see Japanese culture slip its way in every so often. The plot of James / Brock being pulled in by / obsessed with the Maiden was really good (and I liked Jesse's sassy comment towards her lol) and ghastly was a great "villain" that was extremely funny and also fairly threatening with how easily it took out Ash's Pokemon. If it had actually been malicious and it wasn't close to day, the gang would've been in serious trouble. Overall, just a really creative, fun episode that's (almost) perfectly timed with the spookiest day of the year. I'd give it a 9.5/10

Astinus said:
I thought it was because Tentacruel wanted the humans to feel the pain of having their actual homes destroyed. Nastina was building the theme park right on top of the coral reefs where the Tentacool lived, so their home was destroyed. Maybe Tentacruel was thinking that if just the theme park was destroyed, it wouldn't get the point across.
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Fair point.
 
Episode 20

Pretty decent episode!

Even had a few great lines in it. Meowth's little one-liners of "Meowth wants cotton candy" and "I sure could go for some fish" were funny. Same with Brock coming out of his trance with "Who am I? I am Brock. *nods nods*"

The story was also good. It showed how dangerous Ghost Pokémon could be back in the early days, without it just being a battle. Gastly had a wide variety of tricks for every opponent thrown at it. If it wasn't for Misty's sudden references to religion (in a 4Kids show!?) wasting time until the sun came up, there wouldn't have been a clear victory. Gastly was also a surprisingly sweet Pokémon to the maiden, letting her know that it would keep an eye out for her lover to maybe reunite them.

And yeah, 4Kids did try to hide what references they could, what with editing out a yen coin. But they probably gave up with the stickers and the cash register full of Japanese currency. And probably threw up their hands in defeat once Kasumi held up a cross.

But now I'm really confused because I remember other scenes that took place in a festival, and I don't know what episode it is that I'm thinking of.
[PokeCommunity.com] Pokemon Anime Marathon Club
 
Season 1 Episode 21 - "Bye Bye Butterfree"

One of the most iconic / beloved episodes in the series, this one honestly fell a bit flat for me, though mainly not of its own fault. The plot itself was very solid, Butterfree leaving relatively early is reflective of the typically short lifespan of insects, and Ash encouraging it after being rejected & coping with its departure is a great moment of character development for him. The main problem is Butterfree's been MIA since the trading fiasco on the St. Anne, and its last meaningful contribution to the team was it fighting against Misty 14 episodes ago. I touched on this in my EP15 review, but it simply isn't given enough screen time to make all these emotional moments the writers are trying to push on it have weight. It's telling when they can only muster up scenes from, like, 5 episodes worth of appearances (2 of which were back-to-back / in the same area) during the big nostalgic send off. The whole concept would work much better if they just swapped out a few Pikachu scenes for Butterfree ones and generally gave it more of a personality beyond "generic loyal Pokemon", because as is, it was pretty much shunted to the wayside the second Ash had more then 3 members on his team. However, in the episode's favor, it does the absolute most with what it has, it gives Butterfree nearly an entire EP to itself, has some good humor with the gang doing their own impression of the TR motto, and the sendoff is incredibly well done and emotional with a great OST backing it, even despite the limited catalouge of material it had. I feel very conflicted about this one, on its own merits and in a world where Butterfree was given adequate screentime, it'd be a solid 10/10. But given how badly Butterfree was neglected as a character, I'm settling on an 8/10; solid, but let down by the rest of the series.

Astinus said:
But now I'm really confused because I remember other scenes that took place in a festival, and I don't know what episode it is that I'm thinking of.
[PokeCommunity.com] Pokemon Anime Marathon Club
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You may be thinking of scenes from Princess vs. Princess
 
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Season 1 Episode 22 - "Abra and the Psychic Showdown"

Another very creepy episode, we seem to be on a bit of a streak recently. It gets off to a good start with the gang finally making it to Saffron City, although not at a good time considering Ash is still down a team member. I did find it fairly odd how Sabrina seemingly pays special attention to Ash coming since I presume she gets plenty of challengers in a large city like Saffron (though her gym not having its accreditation revoked by the league for trapping people who fail to beat her in her dollhouse forever is more baffling), the gang's banter with TR is really funny as always, with them absolutely roasting TR's show and saying it'll be cancelled. And the gym battle itself was also quite good. It's somewhat disappointing how Ash seems to have learned essentially nothing from his battle with Lt. Surge, just rushing in and trying to beat her with brute force. But there's honestly not much he could've done to win. I feel like Psychic Pokemon were portrayed very well as exceptionally intelligent and in-tune with their trainers, and Sabrina definitely checks Ash's ego after his last win. The creepy part of this EP comes after his loss, where little-girl Sabrina tries to lock the gang in her dollhouse for all eternity; with them only just escaping due to some lucky intervention by her father. Tbh if I were in Ash's shoes I'd nope out of the league after being told I wouldn't get any help escaping from that nightmare situation if I lost again. But this is Ash we're talking about, who's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. So off we go to find a ghost Pokemon. Overall, I found this EP fairly solid, the gym battle would've worked better if Ash had more of a fighting chance instead of just being annihilated, and the TR stuff dragged on for a bit too long imo, but I'd still give it an 8/10.
 
Season 1 Episode 23 - "The Tower of Terror"

Our 3rd creepy episode in a 4 episode span; I would say it's starting to wear out its welcome. But this one was actually really good! I wish they kept the Pokemon Tower as a cemetery instead of changing it into a manor, but at least it's still a fitting place to find Ghost Pokemon. Though they probably should've changed the design from the games as well; since it doesn't exactly look like a place a person would build to live in. In any case, the humor was on-point with TR getting themselves into plenty of shenanigans without taking up too much oxygen as well as the whole gang awkwardly trying to find excuses to avoid the tower. The main attraction of the episode, however, is Ash / Pikachu dying and having their spirits pulled out of their bodies to go on a joyride / tell jokes with Ghastly, Haunter and Gengar; it's nice seeing a different type of Ghost Pokemon than the one shown in The Ghost of Maiden's Peak, and it's just a really creative idea in general. This is the only time Ash "dies" in a regular episode, and we also get to see evidence that Misty / Brock do care about Ash beneath all their bickering. And Ash ends up with a Haunter to rematch Sabrina! Overall, I'd give this episode a 9.5/10.
 
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