All Torkoal, No Play!

[Pewter City Geodude]

Why has nobody made a topic for this ep yet? Great ep, lots of action and battles, even a dramatic rescue. No idea how anyone could possibly call it boring, which some people surprisingly have. Nice to see May helping fend off the Steel Pokemon, and even with 2 of her Pokemon at once. It's easy to see she's improved a lot.

[homeofmew]

I only saw the begginning of this epi
Torkoal is cool, lol
it was kinda funny to see ash getting smoked up again
just like charizards lol.

[AKA Pokemon Fan]

My views on the episode are as follows. Let me first speak of the battle. It was one of the most exciting and well-animated battles they'd ever had in the series! Right up there with Pikachu vs. Raichu, Charizard vs. Magmar, Heracross vs. Scizor, Treeko vs. Shiftry etc. The Steelix was an incredible fighter (much funner to watch than Jasmine's one trick wonder Steelix), fast and mighty. It's entrance, surrounded by a whirlwind of Dragonbreath, was awe-inspiring, as was its incredible use of Dragonbreath, Sandstorm, and Iron Tail to block fire attacks. Torkoal's fighting was well done as well, the way portions of its shell glowed while charging up the Overheat was a nice touch.

*sigh* if only Torkoal was as fast in the games as it is in the anime. :-)

It was quite sweet to watch as Ash asked it (without any prompting really), if it wanted to be part of the team and Torkoal jumped on him crying, but not the hyper cry it had been doing but rather a happy, cute cry while Ash hugged it. ^_^

The Steelix had a surprising amount of depth to it, for a one-episode Pokemon. The multiple gestures and calls it used to command the other Steel types, as well as its fury over Magneton (probably his second in command) being beaten were well done, and the storyline centering around Torkoal wanting to regain its pride as a Fire Pokemon was actually pretty believable. The whole issue of honor in battle was shown well when Steelix was beaten (for once no swirly eyes, yay!), but ordered the other Steel types to leave Torkoal be as it had proven itself.

Oh, and I for one had no problem with ANY of the voices. They all seemed quite fitting.

Anyway, I say it deserves a 9/10 for the animation and battle alone, while the interesting story and lack of useless characters of the day earns it an even 10 unless you want the scale to go higher. ^_^

Other things of note:

1. Skarmory and Steelix kept their Japanese voices.
2. This is the first time they've shown Sky Attack in the series (it was used by a Skarmory in the Raikou special as well), though the attack was not named when this episode's Skarmory used it, it was either that or Double-Edge.
3. Many were surprised when this episode first aired in Japan and showed Steelix using Dragonbreath, as at the time the only way for it to know that move was by TM from the GSC generation. Never mind that the anime is not the game, it still surprised people. Of course, when RS was released, Dragonbreath was a move Onix and Steelix could learn naturally.

[Shuppet Master]

I know this isn't related to the anime,but...why?

Why give Onix a dragon-breath attack. I don't see it as a draconic type,and Dragonbreath is a special attack,which would run off its cruddy special attack.

[AKA Pokemon Fan]

I know this isn't related to the anime,but...why?

Why give Onix a dragon-breath attack. I don't see it as a draconic type,and Dragonbreath is a special attack,which would run off its cruddy special attack.
Actually it makes more sense than you might think.

Onix and Steelix it seems are based off the ancient myths of Wyrms, which are common in most of the early dragon myths before ones with wings and fire breath became popular. Wyrms were huge, serpent-like beasts with thick hides that lived underground, and their breath was said to be toxic and incapacitating. Dragonbreath can paralyze, and wyrms were dragons in most every sense, just no wings or fire breath (many stories these days that feature dragons as real have wyrms being close relatives of them), so they were given Dragonbreath. :yes:

FYI, they could learn the move in GSC as well, it just wasn't a level up move.

Certainly it doesn't work well with their in-game stats, but then neither does Crunch on Steelix, or Mawile for that matter. They're given those moves because it makes sense, not because they'll be good in in-game battles. :yes:

[P0RYG0N]

My views on the episode are as follows. Let me first speak of the battle. It was one of the most exciting and well-animated battles they'd ever had in the series! Right up there with Pikachu vs. Raichu, Charizard vs. Magmar, Heracross vs. Scizor, Treeko vs. Shiftry etc.
Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. :D


Oh, and I for one had no problem with ANY of the voices. They all seemed quite fitting.
Again, agreed. I liked the slight change to Magneton's voice, more electronic-y. Probably the only voice change I've ever liked. :\
Torkoal's voice is worth a laugh. But almost...in a good sort of way.


Anyway, I say it deserves a 9/10 for the animation and battle alone, while the interesting story and lack of useless characters of the day earns it an even 10 unless you want the scale to go higher. ^_^
The animation for at least the second half of the episode was amazing, and the story was a lot better than usual. It was just all done right for once, wasn't it? Alright, I give, it gets a 10 from me.:nod:



2. This is the first time they've shown Sky Attack in the series (it was used by a Skarmory in the Raikou special as well), though the attack was not named when this episode's Skarmory used it, it was either that or Double-Edge. Maybe. My mind is going back to the Falkner episode, and the Skarmory trainer episode. But I never really remember things like this, anyway. :D