Pokemon Black and White (Best Wishes) Episodes 1-5

Summary

So if you’re a kid, or a parent, or one of those sad adult man-child’s like myself who actually likes this kind of stuff then you probably already know what Pokemon are. But for those who are not familiar, the Pokemon franchise began in 1996 with the release of the first Pokemon games, Pokemon Red and Blue. The idea was that you would collect, raise, and battle creatures called Pokémon. Along the way you would collect gym badges, trade and battle Pokemon with other players, and try and ‘catch them all’. The idea was simple, revolutionary in some ways, and a hit.

A cartoon was soon to follow and man, was it stupid. To be fair the video game it was based on had the slimmest of plots. You capture Pokemon, battle bad guys, and win the Pokemon League. The end. So it’s not like they were working with grade A story telling material. The plot is simple, the animation shoddy, and the English dub annoying as heck. But the cartoon was also a big hit. I probably wouldn’t be far too off if I said this was the longest running cartoon series in recent history. It started in 1997 and shows no signs of stopping.

Episode 1 ‘In the Shadow of Zekrom!’

The new Pokemon Black and White is based loosely upon the new Pokemon game for the DS. At the start of the first episode we see Ash getting ready for a trip to the Unova region with his mom and Professor Oak, the man who first gave him Pikachu. Unbeknownst to them (but knownst to us) Team Rocket is also coming to the Unova region.

During a Team Rocket attack a mysterious pokemon attacks Team Rocket and Pikachu is caught in the crossfire’s. While Ash and Trip, a new trainer, battle Ash discovers that Pikachu can no longer perform electric attacks.

Episode 2 ‘Enter Iris and Axew!’

Thanks to an intervention by Zekrom Pikachu can now perform electric attacks again. He decides to explore Unova further and gain the gym badges required to compete in the Unova League. Along the way he meets Iris and Axew. Team Rocket take brief possession of Pikachu and Axew, only for an Oshowat to step in and save them both. Ash also captures a Pidove.

Episode 3 ‘A Sandile Gusher of Change!’

Oshowat joins the team as Ash and Iris investigate the strange behavior of a group of Sandiles; who seem to be targeting a resort spa. Later they discover that they are trying to save human and pokemon alike from a geyser that threatens to boil the residents if they don’t leave.

Episode 4 ‘The Battle Club and Tepig’s Choice!’

To help prepare Ash for his upcoming battle, Iris introduces him to the Battle Club, a way for trainers to battle each other and gain strength. Unfortunately the Battle Club has problems of its own as a strange pokemon is raiding their supplies and Team Rocket makes an appearance as well. The strange pokemon turns out to be a Tepig and decides to join Ash on his quest.

Episode 5 ‘Triple Leaders, Team Threats’

Ash and Iris finally reach Striden City and the first Gym, which turns out to be restaurant/host club. The gym leaders are waiters at the restaurant/gym. Ash only has to defeat one to get the gym badge but decides to defeat two out of three. For some reason he wants to use pokemon type’s that have a disadvantage against his opponents Pokemon. He’s won one, and lost one. The end of the episode has him battling his last opponent Cilan. While this is going on Team Rocket gets orders to investigate ‘Future Energy’.

The Review

The last thing I expected to write for my first review is that the new Pokemon series is actually not that bad. I’m certainly not saying that it’s great, far from it. But I see a marked improvement in quality from past incarnations of this never going to die franchise. But then again there are recurring problems that still irk me.

By no means is this a work of Saturday Morning mastery. Ash’s English dub still bugs me and there are a couple of things that just don’t make that much sense when you think about it. For instance, there is no way Ash should be able to lose to a new trainer, even if Pikachu can’t use any electric attacks. Nor should Ash still be ten. And sure, time flows differently on cartoons. I understand that. But come on, they’re telling me he’s traveled to four separate regions, won about 24 gym battles, participated in several pokemon league battles in those regions, and all of this happened before his eleventh birthday?! Why exactly do we always need him as the main character anyway? Why not hand it over to whoever is the current main character of whatever game is out at the moment? I suppose we do need a common character to thread these different Pokemon cartoons together and he could be very popular in Japan.

But there are still strong elements to be found in Pokemon Black and White. For one thing Team Rocket has finally been given an upgrade. They are a far more believable threat than before. Instead of blindly following Ash and friends around trying to capture Pikachu yet again, they seem to be working towards a specific goal. Nor are they nearly as stupid as before either. They still keep the tradition of flowery introductions every time they interact with the main characters, which doesn’t work quite as well now that they’re a legitimate threat, but it’s still a marked improvement.

The weakest elements of Pokémon are the episodes that focus on the pokemon battles themselves. I’ve never found battles for the sake of battles to be particularly interesting. Where I think the show is far more interesting and fun is when the characters pokemon battle towards some sort of plot resolution. For instance, in the 3^rd episode, A Sandile Gusher of Change, the characters must use their pokemons abilities to save some wild pokemon against a hot geyser, saving them from the boiling water. This is far more interesting then watching an episode long battle. I just don’t have that much invested in the battle to care all that much.

Like I said, it’s not great by any means, but it is fun and fairly harmless.

But is it for Kids?

Yes. Although I suppose some parents may object to the level of violence in this show, it is fairly harmless. As long as you understand that this is an attempt to sell your kids toys and video games I see no reason why your kids shouldn’t be able to watch this.

Kids won’t learn much except for the value of friendship, respect, etc. etc. Basically stuff they’d learn from a billion other children programs. But I don’t think it’ll damage them either. It’s harmless fun and in my opinion that’s just as important.