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DT's Dungeon of Horrors!!! =O Oh and it's a blog too....(PG-13 for swearing)

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DarkToph
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« Reply #4830 on: January 27, 2018, 02:03:48 pm »

180 – The Grass Route: Nice episode pun that makes no sense, 4Kids. Also, depending on how you pronounce ‘route’ it makes doubly less sense. Another episode I feel like I should remember, but don’t. Sounds like Ash is an unlikable ass in it, by the plot synopsis, though, so wheee!

- Oh yeah, Skiploom is ridiculous sounding. I know it’s its Japanese voice, but still.

- He recognizes it as a Skiploom – still ‘dexes it.

- Skiploom is one of those Pokemon where I greatly prefer its pre-evo. It’s just...kinda ugly to me.

- *Skiploom happily skipping through field*

Ash - “Looks like it’s in a hurry.” *enter theme song* That was pre-theme song cliffhanger worthy.

- This kid named his Skiploom ‘Skippy’ That’s like nicknaming your gerbil ‘Gerby’

- Ephraim: “Ash, are you going to be the one to challenge the Ecruteak Gym Leader?” Why can’t they all be challenging him?

- I just realized, they’ve gotten nearly 200 episodes of mileage out of that constantly recycled shot of Ash throwing a Pokeball with his hat backwards.

- Oh goody, so not only is Ash getting his ego fed today, but so is Chikorita. Yay.

- Ash: “Yay! We did it!”

Misty: “I wouldn’t be proud of what you did. I’d be ashamed of myself if I was you!”

Brock: “Just look there!”

*shows the knocked out Skiploom being tended to by Ephraim*

Ash: “Sorry, Skiploom. I guess we got carried away.”

I. Don’t. Get. It.

It was a normal Pokemon battle. At no point does this seem anymore over the top than any other match. In fact, it’s damn near tame to a degree. Chikorita finished it off with a Tackle, of all things. Friggin’ Tackle! Oh, sorry, was that LEVEL 1 TRAINING WHEEL move from a Chikorita too much for you, Skiploom?

And blow it out your ass, Misty. If Ash felt ashamed for every match that ended with him knocking down a Pokemon with one of his Pokemon…..he’d need to quit being a Pokemon trainer because THAT’S WHAT THEY DO. He has done far, far, far worse and you were never getting out the soap box for those times.

It doesn’t help that Skiploom is disproportionate in this episode. Chikorita is supposed to be almost a full foot taller than Skiploom, but Skiploom looks like it’s a few inches taller and way wider than Chikorita. I had to double-check the stats on that because it seemed ridiculous to me that Ash was saying Skiploom was too little for its Tackle to be effective when it’s clearly bigger. I would’ve said it’s way too light for the Tackle to work, considering it only weighs a little over two pounds.

- Ephraim: “But Ash showed me how an elite trainer handles Pokemon.” Please don’t feed the ego.

- Ephraim’s Dad: “I’m sure you and Skippy learned a lot from battling an elite trainer, like Ash.” Stahp.

- Ash: “I do what I can to help the kids!” He’s about the same age as you. Shut up.

- Ash: “Afterall, I am in the Orange League Hall of Fame” Wow, crack out that accomplishment once every 50 episodes.

“So winning a little local tournament like this should be easy!” Remember your only official non-prelim Indigo League match and how embarrassingly you lost and then enjoy the fall from your high horse, DumbAsh.

That line really should’ve been followed by Ephraim and his family looking a little insulted. He basically said ‘I’ve already won one sorta-kinda-championship thinger in a place no one cares about, so these backwoods Grass-type hicks should be easy to beat!’

- Nothing like having plot devices literally delivered on the breeze into the characters faces. (James has the Grass Pokemon Tournament flier suddenly fly into his face.)

- Misty: “Ash, when are you and Bulbasaur going to start training for the tournament?”

Ash: “We don’t have to train. This isn’t a major competition.” Yeah, because if it was a major competition, it wouldn’t matter if you trained or not, you’d still lose.


“It’s gonna be a breeze! I’m gonna check out the flowers. Call me when dinner’s ready, kay?”

Look, I get it. Ash’s ego is a plot point in this episode. Hubris and all that. He’ll get his just desserts later on. However, that doesn’t mean he’s any less obnoxious right now nor does it mean he’ll ever learn anything. Ash is so easily ego-stroked you could say he did a good job washing the dishes and he’d fling his nose up in the air declaring himself a dish master.

And despite my last note being a joke, he doesn’t deserve to have this ego because he really hasn’t won a major tournament ever. The Orange League DOES NOT COUNT because it’s not a tournament. It’s a league where you only need four badges to get in, and the method of obtaining the badges is usually not even battling. The league itself is a match against one trainer. By definition, a tournament is “(in a sport or game) a series of contests between a number of competitors, who compete for an overall prize.” One is indeed a number, but competitors means more than one. And one is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do. Two can be as bad as one. It’s loneliest number since the number one.

It’s annoying when characters get egos, but at least those characters usually have something to back it up. They’re OP, they’re champions, they’re undefeated, etc. Ash only has the Orange League victory under his belt, and that’s really not much to get all cocky over, especially when the last tournament he was in before that, the Indigo League, ended with him losing in an embarrassing manner all because, wait for it…..he didn’t train his Pokemon.

Hercule from DBZ has more reason to be cocky than Ash does.

You know what would’ve been a better episode? The CotD being the cocky “I don’t need to train” **** and Ash showing him that stepping off the high horse every now and then and actually working for achievements is the way to go. Perhaps he could bring up how his overconfidence led to his embarrassing failure in the Indigo League to show that he’s actually learning. Maybe even have Ash lose too, but beat the CotD so he can explain that he learns from his defeats like he does his victories.

But why have continuous character development when you can have this crap?

- Misty: “Wow, Brock. That’s confidence.” No, that’s arrogance. Confidence would be getting excited about possibly winning after at least doing some training. Flippantly saying you’ll definitely win some rinky dink little local tournament because you’re so great is arrogance. Misty seems OOC here to not call out Ash on his narcissism since she has been more than happy to do that since she met him, even in times when he’s not being that cocky.

- Holy crap—how is this a little rinky dink local tournament if they have their own stadium?

- I know you could just sell them, but why would anyone need that many Leaf Stones? There’s gotta be at least 20 in there.

- Wait….Meowth is dressed up as Sunflora…..I feel like we’ve done this before….(we have. They even recycled the outfit.)

- Ash: “Well, it’s just what I expected, Bulbasaur. No competition for us!” You’re literally just standing in a room with the other Pokemon. You have no idea how powerful they are until you actually fight them. Let me remind you, again, of an embarrassing Indigo League match. It involved you in a similar situation, a Grass field, fighting a Bellsprout, which you said was basically a pushover, until it easily defeated Bulbasaur and took down Messiahchu….with a kick to the head.

- Announcer: “This youngster reportedly did quite well in his first trip to the Indigo Plateau, so he’s expected to put on a strong showing here today.” Oh come on, even the announcer’s feeding his ego? Notice he doesn’t mention the Orange League victory. Because no one gives a shit.
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Also, I’m waiting for the day when some announcer’s like ‘This is the same dumbass who released an untrained Charizard at the Indigo Plateau and made an idiot out of himself.’

- What hell is wrong with Pikachu in this shot?



He looks like a doll.

- Brock: “I hate to say it, Misty, but maybe there’s something to that cocky new attitude Ash has lately.” Wha—NO! Don’t say something like that! Do you want to breed a generation of cocky stupid assholes?

Also, “new”? Where have you been the past 180 episodes?

- Ephraim’s dad: “Our boy, Ephraim’s, match is coming up next, Dear.” That line is so awkward. Either say ‘our boy’ or ‘Ephraim’ She’s his mother, you don’t need to elaborate on who you mean when you say ‘our boy.’

- I don’t care if it’s stupid, I still get a kick out of Meowth saying ‘Sunflora-flora!’

- Now that I think about it, screw the financial aspects of this small community having a stadium. Let’s talk about the fact that this place is filled with people. Either this tournament attracts way more people than they’re letting on or the local communities are massive.

- I’m surprised they don’t cut to Ash during Ephraim’s match saying something like ‘Pft, if this were me, I’d have won by now. But we can’t all be me.’

- Leech Seed always seems insanely OP whenever it’s used. It immobilizes the target AND drains them of their energy. It’s basically an instant KO whenever it’s used in the anime.

- The Double Team at the end was entirely pointless other than to keep showing us that Skiploom’s really fast. Who uses a speed enhancement move against a Pokemon who is immobilized anyway?

- Announcer: “And now for first round winner, Ash Ketchum’s, second matchup.”

Ash: “Hahah! That guy should’ve said ‘second victory!’” Tone it down, for the love of God. This is obnoxious even for Ash.

- Announcer: “And now, making her way into the arena, Ketchum’s opponent, the mysterious beauty known only as Eissej!”

Misty: “Hey Brock, how do they know if she’s a beauty if she’s wearing a veil over her face?” Hey, stop asking questions I’m supposed to ask!

- This is another stupid-ass official contest where no one bothers to even look at the entrants before starting. Again, Meowth has tape and cardboard all over him and he’s clearly holding those leaves with his paws.

- Ash: “That Sunflora looks pretty puny. This match should be like a walk in the park to us, Bulbasaur!” Oh god, we get it! You’re cocky! Shut up!

And while we can’t understand what Bulbasaur’s saying, stop agreeing with him, Bulbasaur.

- More official bullshit – they should be disqualifying Meowflora for using an illegal move since Sunflora cannot learn Scratch or Fury Swipes.

I could’ve sworn they pretended to use real Grass type moves when he last dressed as a Sunflora. Why are they ruining their cover like this? At least have code words for attacks so you can pretend. Instead of telling him to Scratch, tell him to use Razor Leaf and then he’ll use Scratch and pretend it’s Razor Leaf. There have been non-projectile Razor Leafs before.

- Announcer: “Bulbasaur’s having a tough time against Sunflora’s unconventional attacks!” You’re a complete dumbass. What the hell is the ref doing? Obvious rule-breaking, hello?

- I doubt one Vine Whip has the power to blast Team Rocket off.

- This tournament seems kinda stupid. If you are only allowed one Pokemon for the entire tournament, surely they’d be exhausted by the time the finals roll around.

- From the clips, it seems like Skiploom has been winning all of its matches with Double Team and Leech Seed….

- Misty: “Who do you think is going to win this match, Brock?”

Brock: “Ash and Bulbasaur definitely have more experience and ability. But I’m not sure they realize how much tougher Ephraim and Skiploom have gotten, and how much they want to win this.”

Look, we all know Ash will lose because he has to for us to get the moral, but you really think one night of training is enough to win when he had no chance before? I have more to cover/rant on this, but let’s wait until the match is over.

- Ephraim’s Dad: “Ash is just too good. I guess our son’s winning streak is finally over.” Fuck you. Both for your Ash ego-stroking and your lack of faith in your son. Just **** you.

- Brock noticed that Skiploom was storing energy for a Solar Beam when he was that far away, but Ash failed to notice it. Moron.

- Alright, rant time again. Skiploom hasn’t been able to land a single attack on Bulbasaur this entire time, but one Solar Beam and a Tackle that Ash was just saying was weak because Skiploom’s so ‘small’ and he’s down for the count? Why didn’t Ash ever call for a Solar Beam during the course of this entire tournament?

I feel like this is another example of Bulbasaur getting the short end of the Grass type stick on Ash’s team. Chikorita was able to easily defeat Skiploom earlier, but Bulbasaur loses here. By all intents and purposes, Bulbasaur has a major experience and level advantage over Chikorita yet it’s the one who lost against Skiploom.

This would’ve made much more sense if the roles were reversed. Have Bulbasaur be the one to easily defeat Skiploom because it is much higher level with more skill and experience. Then have Ash use Chikorita in the tournament and lose more understandably because Chikorita is much lower level than his Bulbasaur and now Skiploom has more training under its belt when Ash figured he’d be perfectly fine to neglect training.

Despite his cockiness, Ash kinda had a point that he shouldn’t really have needed to train with Bulbasaur outside of maybe a warmup or so because Bulbasaur is very high level right now. I’d dare wager a guess that he’s at least level 90 or nearing 100. However, Chikorita is still fairly new to his team and low level. He would’ve benefited quite a bit from some tough training with it. But why do that and make a new Johto starter look weak when you can make it look awesome and have Bulbasaur get its ass handed to it?

- Announcer: “First time trainer, Ephraim, defeats the powerful Ash Ketchum….” Still? Even after he lost? And HE’S not powerful. His Pokemon are.

- Who designed that ‘Winner’ sign? It’s awful.



- Narrator: “But Ash has learned and important lesson – Pride comes before a fall. That’s a lesson he’ll remember when he finally gets to Ecruteak City.” Sure he will.

This episode was just poorly written. It’s predictable as hell from the get-go, it’s chock full of cocky Ash, it has numerous points of nonsense in the logic and it’s teaching some of the most cliché lessons in history. They’re good lessons, sure. Don’t be a stuck up dick whistle and hard work pays off in the end. However, even for a kid’s show, these lessons are very obvious and tired. They’re also lessons Pokemon has taught many times over by now.

I’m still miffed that Chikorita keeps getting made off like it’s better than Bulbasaur and they didn’t even really focus on anything that made Skiploom special. All they focused on was its Double Team and when it learned Solar Beam.  Then again, Skiploom is a pretty boring Pokemon, so I don’t know what I expected.

Next episode, a Pokemon I find pointless and a title pun that makes me want to punch my computer screen.
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« Reply #4831 on: March 30, 2018, 06:01:40 pm »

Well, my birthday wouldn't be my birthday unless my sister calls and makes me burst into tears. I really thought I had gotten away with her not calling this year. She didn't even send a card or anything (Not even an E-card), but she called and I was obligated to pick up and she just went for the throat after about three sentences. I won't go into details about the convo now because I'm still just reeling. Let's just say my sister is ungodly condescending and has an innate ability to make you feel like complete trash in a paragraph. I always feel like garbage on my birthday. I haven't felt excited or happy about my birthday in god knows how long. I believe in my cursed birthday. Horrible weather, shitty time of year, I'm almost always sick and I tend to have bad luck on it (Stepped in dog poop that morning, as an example.) And all it does is remind me of all the thoughts about myself that make it a chore to get out of bed every morning. I can never dodge her birthday calls because it's the one call from her that my mother makes me take, even though it's my birthday and if there's one day I should be given a 'get out of call free' card, it's that day. Not kidding, my birthday wish this year was for her not to call. It didn't work. Fuckin' lying candles.

I can usually make her go away by keeping my thoughts to myself and just giving short replies. I don't want to say anything she can warp and relay to my mother later, making me look bad, or make her upset because my mother wants us to get along. Eventually, there's a break of silence and I'll say 'I have to do (something), so I gotta go.' but not this time. She was on a war path, and she kept hitting the pressure points like a damn ninja. I still wasn't saying anything that bad to her, but I was starting to raise my voice.

After giving myself an ulcer trying not to yell out in rage and finally rip into her after 10 years of shutting my face (I was literally shaking in anger after about three minutes) and doing my best to stay civil, my mom takes the phone and after a minute of silence I hear her SCREAMING at my sister for another few minutes. She comes down the stairs, slams the phone down and tells us that we won't have to worry about her calling for a while. I couldn't understand what she was saying, but she laid into her.

Apparently, my near homeless, divorced, dumpster fire of a sister started harassing my mom next, claiming she's a bad mother for how I turned out and I'm not living in the real world. She criticized her on how much money she makes, even bragging that Otto earns more than her (Why the fuck does that even apply? 1) He's your ex-husband, 2) Even when they were married, she never saw a penny of his money because he was a dick who never paid for damn near anything in the house. 3) That's still pointless to point out either way because who gives a fuck what someone else makes?) and stating that, essentially, my mother's ashamed of me. She also criticized my dad because he's unable to work due to health issues.

My mom usually doesn't yell at her. She tries to keep her cool and not blow up because she doesn't want to risk burning bridges. However, she was lit up this time. We heard her all the way downstairs. I think I even heard her stamp her feet.

So while I may have spent a good ten minutes sobbing on my birthday, I at least got the birthday gift of knowing my sister got rightfully chewed out for a change. I only wish she hadn't dragged my parents along with me. I don't know what the hell goes on in that retarded cunt's head, but now I've blocked her email address and I have full rights to not pick up the phone if she ever does call. Happy birthday to me.
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« Reply #4832 on: April 01, 2018, 10:14:29 am »

Dang, that sounds really shitty. Hope it gets better for you.
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« Reply #4833 on: April 26, 2018, 11:59:30 pm »

181 – The Apple Corp! Before I begin, I want to make a prediction. I will hate this episode. Why? Few things.

1) That is already one of the more enraging titles I’ve seen in Pokemon. It’s a groan-worthy pun of Nice Pryce Baby levels.

2) The title is made even worse by the fact that it has a typo that makes this stupid pun not even work. In order to make that sound like ‘core’ you need to spell it ‘corps.’ The way it’s spelled here sounds like you’re referencing Apple the corporation. It’s not even a title card error, either. That is the official title.

3) Pichu are a focal part of this episode and, for some reason, I have now grown to hate Pichu. Not to mention the fact that it sounds like the Pichu in this episode, like so many Pichu, are annoying little brats.

- I’ve been to several orchards in my life. I go apple picking nearly every week in fall. I’ve never been able to smell one from far away. Even closeup there’s barely any apple smell, unless they’re cutting open the apples or there are a lot of drops.

- I love how discovering an orchard in the forest is worth a theme song prompt.

- Oh good! The CotD today is voiced by Lisa Ortiz! Just keep piling it on. Eventually I’ll lose all hope for this episode.

- Ash cleared Pikachu’s name with what was basically dental forensics……..This is Ash Ketchum, right? DumbAsh?

- Her name is Charmaine? It’s irrational, but that annoys me too.

- I know I mentioned this in my Pikachu and Pichu review, but Pichu really are useless little Pokemon if they can’t pull off a successful electric attack without damaging themselves.

- This Fearow is taking an inordinate amount of time to complete his attack.

- Why was it even attacking the Pichu anyway? Was it planning on eating them?

- *The Pichu all have growling stomachs* Brock: “It looks like Pichu haven’t eaten for quite a while.”

Hmbullshit.

The start of this plot was ‘who is stealing all of the apples?’ And we found out that the Pichu were the ones stealing AND EATING them. Some of them might be hungry, but most of these Pichu should have full stomachs. They’re tiny little mice. The apples are almost as big as they are, and they eat them incredibly quickly. I’m quite certain they’ve been well-fed for a while now.

- I doubt this group of maybe 15 Pichu would realistically be a threat to this massive orchard. They could probably live on one or two tree’s worth of apples for quite a long time. If they ate enough apples to truly threaten her apple crop, they’d probably have their stomachs explode from the sheer amount of apples they’d be trying to process. Pichu aren’t known for being little pigs, even if they are mice, so why is this the best plot they can come up with for Pichu’s technical debut? Isn’t this the type of plot usually relegated to Snorlax?

- This is a big nitpick, but these apples look way too big. They’re damn near the size of cantaloupes, which makes it all the more unlikely that this somewhat small group of Pichu eating them would be a big or even noticeable issue for Charmaine.

- I do like how they assigned Pichu to be the protectors of the orchard and apple pickers to help Charmaine and earn their apples. I think it’s a bit cruel to keep calling on a Pokemon who hurt themselves when they attack to be guard Pokemon, but they’re not being forced into it I suppose.

- Charmaine: “*gasp* This is worse than Pokemon Poachers!”….They are poaching Pokemon – Pikachu. Unless you mean poachers who are Pokemon. You worded that badly, is what I’m saying.

- Jessie: “You may have experience, twerp, but you’ve never experienced anything like our Team Rocket Super Sucker!” Yes, Ash, you’ve never experienced anything like….a big vacuum. He’s been experiencing that same schtick off and on since The Water Flowers of Cerulean City.

James: “That’s right. Instead of blasting off, we’ll be sucking up!” I can’t stress enough how many inappropriate jokes I’m avoiding making during this whole segment. You’re welcome.

- Hey, Ash, you know those Pokemon who can pop balloons? You have two of them. Bulbasaur and Chikorita can use Razor Leaf on this balloon….Cyndaquil can probably reach it with fire…...THROW A POKEBALL, YOU USELESS DUNCE.

Yeah, it’s a matter of protecting the Pichu’s pride after a point, but he should’ve had Noctowl or Heracross out the instant they even got there. He let them nab Pikachu, steal its electricity, steal a ton of apples and have Pichu hurt themselves in an effort to protect the orchard…..AND THEN decided ‘maybe I should try another Pokemon.’

- No. No no no. There were about ten Pichu before now there’s like thirty to make this Pichain to Pikachu.

- I love how there is one Pichu who is noticeably much fatter than the others.

All in all, this episode was far from the atrocious pile of crap I feared it would be…..but damn it all it was hella boring. Charmaine’s boring, Team Rocket’s scheme was the same dog and pony show they always put on, the stakes weren’t that high (Team Rocket was really going to live on nothing but apples for months or years? Hope you like constipation.) and the story wasn’t interesting at all.  The conflict with the Pichu only stays a conflict for like a minute. Team Rocket is the main conflict of the episode and of course they’re going to blast off. I will give Ash major props for being the one to turn the Pichu into an asset rather than a liability, but I’d take it back just as quickly for another infuriating instance of him forgetting he has more Pokemon than Pikachu.

Next episode, Houndoom’s debut! (YAY!) but Togepi-centric…. (Booooo!)
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« Reply #4834 on: June 21, 2018, 02:04:42 pm »

Yesterday, I watched Trigun: Badlands Rumble - that Trigun movie they decided to make like 12 years after the end of the original series. In it, Vash seemingly 'dies' and after that happens, Wolfwood starts wearing his shades in tribute of his fallen friend before he and the main movie character, Amelia, confront the man who was responsible for killing him. Even though it's questionable whether this movie is canon to either the series or manga, in the anime, Vash starts carrying around Wolfwood's Punisher as a tribute to him after he dies right before he confronts Knives. The parallel. My heart explode.
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« Reply #4835 on: July 16, 2018, 08:47:10 am »

Been a little while again, so why not more random TV rants?

I was watching Naked and Afraid again, and they had this big burly bearded guy paired with this tough but spindly looking middle-aged woman. I forget what country they're in, but it's an arid desert area with lots of brush and a clean river complete with birds and fish. Easily one of the best survival spots they tend to have on the show. After a couple of nights, the guy decides to spend a day or so searching for a new shelter spot for damn near no reason. They have a good shelter and even have mosquito netting to keep bugs out, and the bugs aren't even bad despite the location, but the guy feels like he gets too cold at night, even though it hovers between 65 and 75 degrees at night and they have a fire.

He finally finds a spot, but the woman understandably just wants to use their last shelter spot since it was way better and closer to resources.

The next day, instead of doing something more necessary like gathering food, he decides the best course of action for his day will be to stand out in the blazing hot 95-100 degree sunlight for like 12 hours gathering firewood. Did I say 'gathering firewood'? I meant to say taking their machete and hacking through a big fallen tree like an idiot.

He's all 'if I get this log, we'll be set for firewood for the whole challenge' but he's completely ignoring that they're surrounded by plenty of usable branches and brush for firewood. Not to mention, what, are you just going to set the whole log on fire or do you intend on hacking the whole tree to bits for usable firewood? The whole time he's hacking at this log, the woman is collecting arm fulls of brush for firewood while warning the guy of sunburn and taking water breaks, which is a lot of restraint. He's wasting god knows how many calories and exhausting himself, not to mention putting their machete at risk, for this stupid and unnecessary venture. I'd have called him a massive idiot.

Late afternoon and he's finally gotten through it. He's all proud of himself, and he asks the woman to help him carry the log back to camp, which she does. They do their best to move the log, but it's way too heavy for them to carry back to camp. That night, he gets all pissy and even seems like he's going to blow up at her for not being strong enough to carry the massive log. Like, dude, how did it not cross your mind that the TREE would be heavy? That two exhausted and starving people would have difficult carrying this TREE back to camp?

And then he starts chucking firewood on their fire like it's going out of style, wasting a ton of firewood she collected herself. Either you're being vindictive, an idiot or a vindictive idiot. Unless you just get that cold at night, in which case maybe your survival item should've been a blankey.

The next day, he starts looking for food, which is the first logical decision I've seen him make the whole episode, but he's doing it so sloppily. He's just wandering around in the blazing heat. He's not scouting, he's not tracking, he's not checking the foliage for nests or fruits or berries, he's not trying to fish, he has not direction whatsoever. Meanwhile, the woman is making a fishing basket to catch fish in. She's also, again, warning him of sunburn and telling him to take water breaks and rest, but he will not listen. The whole time, I've not seen him take a single drink. He points out several times that he's frying himself, and he obviously is, but he won't go cool off in the river or keep to the shade. This moron is doing everything opposite of what an actual survivalist would do.

They get no food, and that night the guy starts acting really sick. His heartbeat is irregular and he's fading out of consciousness. The woman calls the medic, who diagnoses him with severe dehydration. He's so badly dehydrated that the medic can't administer an IV to get him fluids because his veins have collapsed.

I don't understand.

How do you get to such a point of dehydration that your veins are collapsing when clean, drinkable water is 20 yards away from your camp? How do you not notice that you're so dehydrated that it's making you ill? Earlier in the day, he had mentioned his heartbeat felt irregular. You'd think that would be a red flag to go get some water, but nope. It's like he's purposely avoiding drinking water because she keeps telling him to do it.

So many times on this show, the contestants will have difficulty finding a clean source of water. They almost always realize what a vital necessity it is to their survival because all living beings need water in order to survive, and you can't go very long without it. Their number one or two priority is finding water, because it doesn't matter if you're warm at night if your friggin' body turns to beef jerky.

How do you forget or ignore this fact at all, especially in a desert climate of all places? You complain about frying in the heat, you're causing yourself to sweat like a teenage boy discovering the child block password for the computer, yet you don't want to drink water? He never gives a reason why he's not drinking water, he just never does it. In addition to all of the reasons why the woman confirmed the water's clean, such as plenty of rocks for filtering, the clear appearance and lack of livestock or anything suspicious nearby, she has been drinking from this river the whole challenge and hasn't gotten sick. He has no reason to not do this.

How does this man survive in the real world, let alone in a survival situation? I was actually getting angry at how stupid this guy was being. I don't like thinking bad things about people who are ill, but the whole time this guy was being treated by the medic, I was verbally berating him through the TV. DUMB. DUMB. PERSON.

He's forced to tap out on day four, which I think is one of if not the fastest tap out time I've ever seen, and starts crying in the ambulance saying he hopes his daughter is still proud of him. She'll probably be proud of you for simply attempting it, but will be incredibly embarrassed by everything else. She'll probably have kids in school reminding her to drink water.

The woman goes on to complete the challenge alone, even in spite of two source of protein drawbacks (She lost a fish to the heat of the sun, and a toad she caught was poisonous.) She did manage to catch and eat a stingray all by herself, and knock down a wasp nest to eat the larvae, without stinging herself, which was awesome. Goes to show that you can't judge people by how they look. Spindly middle-aged woman > Big burly bearded man.

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« Reply #4836 on: November 24, 2018, 12:52:51 pm »

I haven't posted in a while so who wants to hear a weird and kinda stupid dream I had last night?

It starts with some girl I've never seen before hanging out with me in my room. We're just doing stuff on the computer when she notices I have candy in my closet. Real me doesn't have candy in her closet, so this was upsetting when I woke up later.

I had a container of M&Ms and a box of assorted Life Savers. I tell her that I want the M&Ms, cuz Imma bitch, but she doesn't seem to keen on the Life Savers, so I decide to be a good hostess and go to the store for more candy.

My brain edits out me driving to the store and purchasing said candy, which leads me to the parking lot. I get to my truck, which turns out to be a massive kick-ass black pickup truck I've also never seen before, but it's my dream so whatever.

The truck is surrounded by ten thugs who have the doors wide open. They're literally just standing there, so I have no clue if they're intending on carjacking me or they were waiting to kidnap me. Either way, I get into bad/dumbass mode and bypass all of them to jump into the truck. And my dumbass mind is still baffled by this truck, because it's so roomy. It feels like it's too big to even be on the road legally.

I manage to scoot to the driver's side door and now there's only one guy standing there. He's barely moving and now I've reverted, for some reason, to pathetic lame-ass me as I proceed to just smack him in the face until he leaves the doorway and I can shut and lock the door. Now, any logical person would just unlock the door from the open passenger door, but the other thug doesn't. I similarly smack him in the face until I can shut and lock that door too.

I feel accomplished and safe for a second, which is dumb because they could easily just chuck a rock or hammer through my window and come back in. I put the keys in the ignition and start up the truck when I realize the damn truck is starting to go up. These motherfuckers put my truck on a forklift and are picking me up so I can't get away.

My brain must've thought this was a clever plot twist....but lacked the capabilities of getting me out of the situation. I shake the truck back and forth and slam the gas pedal, but obviously that doesn't work. And suddenly the forklift lets me down because that's the only way my brain could let the plot go on. The instant my tires hit the pavement, I drive away and then the dream just ends.

I've had much weirder dreams, so I didn't think much of it, until I was just sitting down eating my breakfast and had nothing else to do. I realized that I never checked the rear-view mirror....For all I know, the reason the thug numbers went down from ten to two was because they were bunched up in the bed of my truck. And the reason they just let me go was because they were all collected in the bed of my truck and they were letting me drive them to my house.

Then I take a shower and another thought occurs to me - did that candy bitch set me up!?

I can't decide if I'm clever enough to have a dream end on a cliffhanger where the implications are a candy-based conspiracy to kidnap me and steal my cool dream truck.
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« Reply #4837 on: December 26, 2018, 03:52:40 pm »

Hey, I completely didn't post in here on Christmas! Well, for some brief family drama BS, we didn't get a call from my sister, but she sent us a platter of assorted nuts, which is nice I suppose. Also, my mom basically had a falling out with my grandma because she suddenly started slamming my dad and me a couple months ago, so we got no presents or even a card from her this year. Hooray!

But now to less dramatic holiday poo, let me to tell you that if you want an otherwise great Christmas to turn into frustration and sadness, call a phone company's customer service.

So I got a new phone for Christmas, and I wanted to transfer over from cheap hellish nightmare of a flip phone to my new one. I've switched phones numerous times because I keep getting cheap garbage phones, usually used, because that's all I can afford. I've always been able to do it through online services, but this time it wasn't letting me, especially since it was asking for a PIN to my service plan that I couldn't find.

I decide to call customer service, and just to make this super stereotypical, the call center was very obviously in India. I called twice, got two separate people and I could barely understand what either woman was saying half the time.

Not that that matters because the woman I talked to didn't seem to care much.

I've been with this phone company (Page Plus - basically a prepaid subset of Verizon) for several years now, so I knew they had a thing about phone compatibility. They had a list of phones that were compatible with their service and even have their own store for phones. My Mom ordered a phone directly from their website - The LG Stylo 3 (Great phone, btw. I've been really liking it so far.)

When I call to make the transfer, after waiting on not-hold for several minutes (As in, they were telling me to hold on, but never put me on actual hold) and give the MEID Dec number (And I told her it was the Dec number.) and she says the system says the phone is not compatible with their services.

Obviously, I was incredibly confused.

Like I said, the phone came directly from Page Plus' website. Not only that, but the box the phone came in was specifically a Page Plus box. Not only THAT, but when I tried to activate the phone on my own online, the Dec number was recognized as compatible. One of the other numbers (The MEID Hex) didn't work, but the MEID Dec did.) I brought this up to her, even mentioning that there were other ID numbers, both from the phone and the box, that I could give her to help me with this, but she said there was nothing she could do. She didn't even say 'Boy that's strange that a phone WE'RE selling doesn't work with OUR services.' or 'Hm, maybe your specific plan doesn't work with that type of phone (which is a thing, but I checked before calling and my plan was fine)

She said 'Even if I activated the phone, it wouldn't work' which makes no sense, because you can't activate the phone if it doesn't work with the service in the first place. I guess she was trying to say 'I could try to get the transfer to go through, but it's pointless because the system says the phone's incompatible' but at least it'd be something to try.

She then told me I have no choice but to return the phone and get a compatible one.

I was about to get upset (Sad not mad) because I really hate telling people that they have to return gifts, especially somewhat expensive ones, even if the reason for returning is completely outside of their control. I was already frazzled enough as it is because, yay social anxiety, being on the phone with strangers makes me on edge enough.

Then the woman basically asks me what I'm going to do.....Like, what? Lady, you just told me you can't transfer my number to my new phone and I have no choice but to return it and get a new one, so why are acting like I have options? I guess I could keep it as kinda tablet on Wifi and retain my old nightmare phone or otherwise drop 150+ bucks on a new phone that also might not work.

I tell her that I'll just return the phone and she goes 'Okay. Would you like to take a quick survey about your customer service experience?' I obviously decline because 1) I don't feel like it and 2) I wouldn't have positive things to say. 'Oh yeah, this woman was unhelpful and apparently your company sells phones that aren't compatible with your own services. Zero stars.' After spending nearly 25 minutes on the phone for as little effort to be given on my problem as possible, I end the call.

Now you may be saying 'DT, I think you're being too harsh with this woman. She didn't seem like she was being too rude or anything.' It's not so much that she was being rude - it's moreso that she was making as little effort as possible to help me. Despite tech itself sometimes being a ****, I tend to have decent conversations with customer service reps. In fact, even though it was a **** and a half to setup our new modem a few months ago, the customer service rep was really great and went above and beyond to help us get it to work. This woman was doing the bare minimum. She was basically like 'Well, this is a problem. Not my problem, but it is one.'

If I was in her shoes, I'd ask for other ID numbers like the Hex or the IMEI and check to see if those work (Like I said, I was going to offer them, but she acted as if they didn't matter). Maybe ask for the number again to see if I had correctly copied it. I'd also ask for the model of the phone and check to see if it's on the compatibility list. I'd also ask my supervisor or someone above me if there are known issues getting this phone to work with their services, if it hasn't been listed as compatible yet (It is a pretty new model phone) and if there's anything they can do to fix it. But nope. She was basically politely telling me 'sucks to be you.'

Before anyone tells me that maybe she just knew, after years of experience with the issue or something, that doing those things would yield no results, let me tell what I did next.

I decide look around on the website for a bit longer to see if there was actually nothing I could do. After coming up with no results on my own, I open the customer service chat purely to get a second opinion on the issue. I tell him what I wanted to do and what the other woman told me about it. He asked for the MEID number, and I give him the Dec, and I tell him it's the Dec. He says the system's kicking it back as incompatible. I start to get very concerned again, but then he asks me to give him any other number, like the Hex or the IMEI. I give him the Hex, with the IMEI on standby, because when I did the compatibility check online the Hex didn't clear. After a minute or so he says the device is compatible and he'll start the transfer immediately.

.......It was a Christmas Miracle.

Everything else goes smooth as silk. I give him my SIM card number, turn off the old phone, turn on the new one, reboot it and boom, call went through without issue. I am elated.

It took not even ten minutes for this guy to fix this barely-non-issue. He even gave me an unprompted tip about speeding up the activation by rebooting the phone during the process - and it worked.

He was perfectly pleasant, he even gave me a Merry Christmas, and I did indeed do the survey after he offered. Smiley

See what mere common sense and a little giving a crap can do? I went from nearly having to sadly and unnecessarily send my Christmas present back to having a perfectly functional phone in ten minutes just because someone bothered to give a drop of effort and caring.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas this year. And a Happy New Year to you all. ^_^

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« Reply #4838 on: January 10, 2019, 04:27:15 pm »

182 – Houndoom’s Special Delivery: It’s a Togepi-centric episode that….I remember exists but don’t remember anything about the plot. So let’s just get this over with so we can FINALLY get to the next gym.

- Wow. So Team Rocket’s just been floating around aimlessly while slacking off, not actively following Ash and co. for, let’s say, days, maybe weeks, and they just happen to be right above them. You’re spending your coincidence allowance awful early today.

- Team Rocket encounter within the first three minutes of the episode, counting the OP. Yeah, this episode is going to be filler filled with filler.

- It always baffles me how getting caught in Weezing’s Smokescreen is always more of a bother on seeing than it is on the characters breathing. Considering the Pokemon using it, shouldn’t that poisonous? Ash and co. should be dead many times over by this point.

-….So….they set up this whole early Team Rocket attack and Smokescreen so Misty will trip, accidentally drop Togepi, lose track of where he is, seemingly spawning the plot…..only to have him Metronome/Teleport himself into a tree…..when he could’ve done that to begin with?

- Houndoom is so badass. Climbing trees like a monkey. Saving babies from trees.

- What is up with Pokemon instantly gunning for apples when Togepi starts crying? Is it secretly Ryuk?

- This past minute and a half exemplify why Togepi’s so annoying. It is either being a useless plushie in Misty’s arms or it’s having stupid crap happen to it every five seconds. It lost Misty, it Teleported itself into a tree, it was hungry, it randomly got attacked by a Pinsir, it tripped and fell – and we’re only seven minutes in now, still counting OP. Not to mention that it responds to all of these things with constant crying. I get that it’s a baby, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying to watch.

Togepi-centric episodes are mega-filler episodes catered to the much younger kids in the audience – the same ones the shorts are usually aimed towards. ‘Hey, look at the Pokemon being cute! Be quiet for a half hour!’

- Obvious recycling that animation of Houndoom picking up the apple is obvious.

- Ya know, Misty, maybe you wouldn’t lose Togepi so much if you kept it in a Pokeball. Or at least put a leash on it. I know you see it as a baby, but it’s a baby POKEMON. IE an ANIMAL. Pokemon can be smart, well-trained and mature, but it’s a baby, you never train it ever, and it’s a baby.

- More random Togepi happenstance: Random attack by a Gyarados.

- Now poor Houndoom has to babysit this lack of self-preservation having dumbass.

- More random Togepi happenstance: It started climbing up a cliff for no reason and is now falling. How does stubby armed/footed Togepi even have the ability to climb a sheer rockface that steep?

- Why did Houndoom jump in the way of that Sleep Powder? It wasn’t in front of Togepi and you can’t really guard someone from a powder unless you cover their entire body. Houndoom wasn’t even really near it. It seriously looks like Houndoom was like ‘Sleep Powder!? Sweet! Wheee!’

- Ash: “That was a Gyarados!”

Brock: “That was a small one, maybe it’s parents are swimming somewhere nearby.” A baby Gyarados? It’s an evolved form. How does that work?

- Brock: “Looks like Togepi and whatever it’s with went straight for that mountain.”

Ash: “I don’t think Togepi could’ve climbed that thing all by itself.”

Well, it literally just walked up it. Sure, it tripped, but it was walking up with no difficulties.

- Hey look, a completely superfluous scene of Team Rocket being blasted off by a Gyarados for no reason when they’ve already blasted off this episode. That sure doesn’t reek of lack-of-ideas filler.

- Hey, we’re half-assing it anyway. Let’s include a song from our soundtrack that only barely fits with what’s on screen! “You’re Never too Far from Home” mixed with Houndoom traveling with Togepi? Yeah, let’s do it!

- Hey, let’s include more random stuff. “Random Raikou cameo?” Why not?

- I feel like 90% of the scenes with Misty and the others are pointless. They’re really just recapping everything we’re currently seeing with Togepi and Houndoom, just after the fact. It’s important to see that Misty is concerned about Togepi, but it seems really redundant to keep explaining exactly what Togepi and Houndoom have been doing when we’ve been watching them the whole episode.

- Also equally important, Togepi never misses Misty when its out like this. I understand that it’s a baby (That excuse is starting to get old...), but that’s still a little unsettling.

- Houndoom’s really cute with Togepi and all, but why hasn’t it so much as humored the idea of looking for its parents when it’s clearly a baby?

- I really thought Misty would freak out given that her Togepi is seen riding on the back of the Houndoom she feared. Then they’d shoehorn in some ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover’ message…..nope. No message at all today! Yay! I hate episodes with substance and a point in existing! Whoooooooo!

- Meowth: “Today, team, we’re gonna catch ‘em all.” Fuck off.

- Also, a third interruption by Team Rocket? You guys are seriously grabbing whatever’s within your reach to fill in the required 21 minutes aren’t you?

- Houndoom’s nickname by its trainer is Doomy…..that is the only good thing to come of this episode. I need to get another pet and name him/her Doomy immediately.

- I love how Misty just cowers in the face of Victreebel instead of using one of her own damn Pokemon.

- Why did Team Rocket’s balloon explode when hit by the Flamethrower? It’s just hot air. They didn’t show the fire hitting the fuel tank or—for the love of god, why do I care?

This episode is empty calories. It’s cavity-inducing cutesy fluff with no point. There’s filler episodes and then there’s ‘literally wasting 21 minutes of your life’ filler episodes. There’s not even anything to get mad about because NOTHING HAPPENS. Togepi gets lost and does cute things. Houndoom looks lovingly at Togepi. Misty and the others recap everything Togepi and Houndoom have been doing. Team Rocket fills in the rest.

There are two things to get mad at, though. They completely wasted Houndoom’s debut. This gen was the first where we got Dark Pokemon, and they spend this episode having Houndoom be a doting mother and delivery dog.

It’s cute, sure, but have you read Houndoom’s Dex entries? Houndoom’s a kickass Pokemon!

Its howl sends people and Pokemon cowering in fear to the point where people believe it’s really the cry of the grim reaper. Its flames are a result of toxins burning from within its body. It can combine the toxins with the flames to make a superpowerful and fatal attack to its prey. If you get burned by a Houndoom’s flame, the pain will never subside.








…...Eh, just make it Togepi’s babysitter all episode. HURR!

Second, this is Raikou’s debut episode. Why is Raikou being shown in a Togepi-centric ultra-filler? Because….pbbbtttt, I dunno. It doesn’t tie into a movie or anything. It’s really just more pointless filler to keep your attention. It also gives a really stupid justification for this episode existing. ‘But guys, it’s Raikou’s debut and the only episode in which it shows up in the main series!’

Next episode, we finally get to Ekruteak city to finally face Morty in another gym match finally.
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« Reply #4839 on: March 24, 2019, 07:20:35 pm »

So I'm finally watching Attack on Titan Season 2, and I knew a specific spoiler about Reiner and Bertholdt going into this, but holy shit I was not prepared for how non-chalant the reveal was.

Spoilers, obviously.

It is literally "Hey Eren, got a minute? So yeah, I'm the armored titan, Bertholdt's the colossal titan, we started an assault on humanity five years ago and wanted to end the human race, but now our plans are a little different. So, uh, wanna come with us to an undisclosed location, leaving your fellow soldiers behind, possibly never seeing them again, and conspiring with us even further?"

I nearly burst out laughing. They made a big to-do about revealing Ymir as a Titan Shifter, a mere episode prior, mind you, but when Reiner and Bertholdt reveal their true nature, it's like they're discussing reports in an office building. 
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« Reply #4840 on: April 22, 2019, 11:33:44 am »

183 – A Ghost of a Chance: Oh thank god almighty, we are finally at another gym! I don’t remember this episode that much and that overused pun of a title is giving me an ulcer, but I don’t care! GYM MATCH! GYM MATCH!

- Brock: “Yeah, his fourth Johto badge is just one match away!” Yeah, whoo, his fourth!….W….wait…...we’re….only on...his fourth….badge….Oh Jesus, do I even want to look up how far away the Johto league conference is?……

*One Visit to Bulbapedia Later*

He arrives at Silver Town….in episode….Two hundred….and Sixty….Six…..I am almost 100 episodes from the Johto conference.

Dear god, I am going to be in Pokemon analysis limbo until I’m 94….

- I have to give the title of this episode some leeway because it was originally named ‘The Tower Inferno’ but it was changed due to the events of September 11th. Doesn’t change the fact that this is 4Kids’ most overused and irritating pun, though.

- This firebreather doesn’t look like he belongs with the art. His head is massive and his body’s like a chibi character blown up to the height of Ash and co.

- I like the nod to the Itemfinder, but, of course, in a realistic plane, such a thing is just ridiculous.

- Why does James know so much about Ecruteak City? And what city is known for funnel cakes?

- I have to ask, why the hell is a clown shilling an Itemfinder—err Treasure Finder? I know it’s hard to make money as a clown/firebreather, but the first question any sane person would ask this guy is ‘if this thing finds so much treasure in this city, why are you a poor clown selling this device on the streets instead of chilling in a hot tub filled with gold coins and raining money on hoes?’

- Not surprised at all that James bought the thing, though, given his track record.

- Yay! Ash remembered that he can use Noctowl’s Foresight to dispel illusions, yay!

- Why are there Haunter saying ‘Gengar’? 4Kids, shame on you. Tsk tsk.

- Soooo...they can’t dodge a barrage of Tackles, but they can easily get away from a Thundershock….Okie dokie.

- If many people come to this dangerous burned out tower believing it to be the Ecruteak Gym, why not put a sign outside saying ‘This is not the Ecruteak Gym. Keep out!’?

- Wow, it’s taken them 183 episodes but they finally gave us confirmation as to what Pokemon Ash saw in the first episode. Gotta tell ya, back then, I was kinda disappointed. I don’t much care for Ho-Oh’s design is all. I wasn’t all that mesmerized in the first episode either, but getting the design details just….meh.

I much prefer Lugia over Ho-Oh.

- As much as I like them incorporating game story aspects into the series, even tying it into a very early event in the anime, I do have to point out that the story of the Tin Tower is not the same in both versions.

In the games, there are two towers – the Burned Tower and the Tin Tower, later changed in the games to the Bell Tower (How creative) The Burned Tower used to be called the Brass Tower, and Lugia would perch there while the Tin Tower was the perch for Ho-Oh. The Brass Tower was meant to give Pokemon rest while the Tin Tower was meant to awaken them.

One day, the Brass Tower was struck by lightning, causing the tower to burn for three days straight until a rainstorm put it out. Three Pokemon perished in the fire. Ho-Oh went to the Brass Tower and revived the three fallen Pokemon – each one representing a part of the tragic event. One represented the lightning that struck the tower – Raikou. One was symbolic of the raging fire – Entei. The final Pokemon represented the rain that put out the blaze – Suicune.

Lugia fled to the Whirl Islands after that. Ho-Oh flew away to travel the world in search of a pure-hearted trainer. The three resurrected Pokemon, realizing their power and the fear they brought to the people, fled into the woods.

In the anime, the Tin Tower that is untouched is a copy of the Burned Tower, which was the original Tin Tower. Neither towers are connected to Lugia here, and, predictably, the story about the three Pokemon dying in the blaze and being resurrected by Ho-Oh as the Legendary Beasts is also omitted because death. Shame, really, because that’s an awesome backstory to the Legendary Beasts.

The story goes that the tower was created to help promote understanding between humans and Pokemon. Ho-Oh would appear occasionally as a sign of peace between the two worlds. However, it would only appear to a select few – those who were chosen to guard the tower. Many of those guards were Morty’s ancestors.

However, one day the tower was attacked by invaders who wanted to take Ho-Oh and use its power for nefarious purposes. In the battle, the tower was set on fire, and Ho-Oh fled the area, never to appear to humans again.

They built a new Tin Tower on the east side of town as a new sign of peace in hopes of Ho-Oh’s return while also retaining the burned tower as a reminder of man’s brutality.

I don’t much care for this backstory because not only did we lose the backstory of the Legendary Beasts (yet Suicune will be a part of this story somehow) but this is yet another ‘man is evil’ story that I am just getting sick to death of hearing in this series.

Not to mention the fact that the current situation with the towers makes no sense. I understand that they’d want to keep the old tower as a reminder to people of man’s own brutality, I guess, but you’re also giving Ho-Oh a reminder of their brutality….very close to the new tower that you built as a sign of peace in hopes of getting Ho-Oh to return.

I just imagine Ho-Oh coming back, seeing the new tower and going ‘Hm, you know what? Maybe humans have changed. I should come back and – *sees burned tower* Oh right, humans suck. Byyeeee!’

- Watch as Misty stupidly watches her Togepi wander off into a hole in the wall of a dangerous burned out building. Pokemon Trainer/mother of the year….Even Ash and Pikachu reacted to this sooner than she did and she was literally still kneeled down on the floor after playing with Togepi mere seconds before it did this. What is wrong with you, Misty?

- The fire caused many of the support beams to break and fall? Why the hell is this death trap not blocked off?!

- Why is Ash questioning how Morty can understand Gastly? This is far from the first time we’ve seen a trainer ‘understand’ what their Pokemon is ‘saying’ and Ash can ‘understand’ nearly all of his Pokemon, especially Pikachu.

- Jessie: “We finally got the twerps’ two most valuable Pokemon!” It’s a sad day when you realize that a Pikachu and a Togepi are Ash and co’s two most valuable Pokemon….

- I will admit that Togepi riding on the Gastly is cute.

- What a shame that the entire second half of what I initially thought was a gym episode turned out to be taken up mostly by Tin Tower rewrites and a lazy Team Rocket scheme.

- Misty: “Togepi….don’t you worry me like that again.” Then try watching it for a change! Are you taking notes from Didi Pickles?

- Why are they all so surprised that the Ghost Pokemon can faze through things and that physical attacks are useless against them? This is episode 183 and it’s far from the first time we’ve seen Ghost Pokemon…

- Jessie: “I can’t believe my eyes!” WHY!?

- Team Rocket were clearly propelled forward with that Shadow Ball, and it definitely didn’t seem like a strong enough impact to knock them more than a few feet off the ground, yet, in the next shot, they’re blasting off like usual.

- James: “I even lost my treasured treasure detector!” When? That was never shown. Also, there was no need to mention that in the first place. Stuff like that vanishes between episodes all the time. No one would question it.

- Morty: “Well, Ash, we could have our Gym match now, but I imagine you and your Pokemon must be tired.”

Uh….why? Pikachu did nothing. It never even attacked. All it did was get carted off by Team Rocket. Also, do I even need to tell other people that Ash has other Pokemon besides Messiahchu? I understand claiming Ash might be tired or Morty’s Pokemon need a rest, but not Ash’s Pokemon.

Overall, this episode was massively disappointing. For the most part it was a huge exposition dump filled in with...well, filler.

It was nice for them to call back to way back in episode one where Ash saw a Ho-Oh and for us to finally get some information on it. I also like that they incorporated the Tin Tower and Burned Tower into the anime. However, I don’t like the re-write of the Tin Tower story. They cut so much out of it, including three of the legendaries associated with it and the fact that the Burned Tower was actually another tower entirely and not the original Tin Tower.

And for what? Another tired ‘humans are evil bastards’ storyline that continuously fills me with a white-hot rage. I could understand cutting out the part about the Legendary Beasts or changing it up to remove the death. Maybe I could even overlook them cutting out Lugia for the sake of the second movie, but doing all of that AND putting the blame on people is just irritating.

But I’m moreso just disappointed that I falsely believed we’d get some Gym action in this episode. I at least thought we’d get half of the battle, or maybe even that this was one of those rare times when Ash would need a rematch, but nope. It’s just the rewritten Tin Tower story and some of the laziest Team Rocket filler ever.

Seriously, Togepi runs off, Pikachu follows, they somehow find a tunnel leading exactly to where Team Rocket is, they nab them up by using Togepi as a ‘don’t shock me or else you’ll shock Togepi’ hostage and then they run away with them. And, really, Pikachu, I’m so disappointed in you today. Jump on Jessie, shock her, jump on James, shock him, then bite Meowth. You have more control over your Electricity than that. The fact that Pikachu just gave up without even trying is pathetic.

The way they try to play up the Ghost Pokemon by basically acting like they’ve never encountered them before was also embarrassing. Shadow Ball is new and cool, but that’s about it.

Morty’s also not much to write home about. He’s alright, but he was never terrible interesting to me. Maybe I’ll change my mind in the next episode, but….eh.

Next episode, the ACTUAL Ecruteak Gym Match. Let me take the reigns from 4Kids and say he doesn’t have GHOST of a chance! AHAHAHAHAHA! THIS PUN NEVER GETS OLD, I PROMISE! AHAHAHAHA!


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« Reply #4841 on: June 27, 2019, 10:12:10 pm »

184 – From Ghost to Ghost: DT’s attempt at getting excited for Ash’s fourth Johto Gym Badge Take 2! *snap* Aaaaaaaaaannnnddd ACTION!

We’re FINALLY ACTUALLY FOR REALZY REALZ at the fourth Gym match now. That title is giving me an ulcer and that’s all I have to say except YAY GYM MATCH! WHOO!!

- Why does the Pokedex have no information on Gengar again? This is the third time Ash has tried to Dex one with no info available. It’s not that rare of a Pokemon – surely they’ve been extensively researched, at least enough for a quick Dex entry.

Also, not going to throw a ‘Why use the Pokedex?’ note at Ash here since, even though he’s encountered several Gengar and Dexed them twice, the Pokedex keeps screwing him over.

- I absolutely love those moments when they use the Pokemon All Healed music from the games in the anime…..Even if it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

- First they say the treasure detector was lost when they blasted off, now they say it was blasted off with them. Did they have to add in this line when the dubbers realized he still had it?

- I dunno why, but it find it kinda adorable when Meowth gets all goo-goo eyed over a new charm.

- Misty: “Not another Ghost-type!” Oh dear, who ever could’ve guessed he’d choose another Ghost-Type? Morty, the Ghost-Type Gym Leader who protects a haunted tower, has a name derived from death and has only shown to own Ghost-Type Pokemon! This was totally a surprise!

- Swift is a Normal move yet it hit Haunter without it being affected by Foresight. I think I’ll give the writers some leeway here because Swift is known as a move that never misses, so it seems like a good ability to use on the super speedy Haunter, but they should’ve done a bit more research here.

- Meowth: “Ahhh, cat food that don’t taste like a cat.” Huh??…..!!!!!….!??!?!

- Morty: “Taking that Night Shade at such close range canceled the Confuse Ray’s effects!” Tsk……….Yeah, sure, let’s go with that.

- I thought Confusion in the anime was shorthand for Telepathy. Or does it just do whatever it feels like when the time calls for it?

- Why use the Pokedex? Ash should definitely know what Confusion is by now. For God’s sake, Misty’s Psyduck knows it.

- Morty: “I’ve never seen a Pokemon learn an attack during a Gym Match.” Then you don’t know Ash because it happens to him quite often.

Also, I would ding him more for this, but learning moves during battles does happen, it’s just that it shouldn’t/can’t happen in the middle of a match, IE – if you beat one Pokemon and gained experience enough to level and gain an attack before the next match started, that’d be fine, but Ash tends to have Pokemon learn moves when they’re in the middle of a match, which shouldn’t be possible. I guess it’s possible they learned a move the last time they leveled and never did it before now, but it’s always conveyed as them having learned the move in the moment.
- Morty: “Noctowl must want to fulfill the trust Ash has in his Pokemon.” Again, sure, let’s go with that.

- Ash: “Noctowl, send Confusion through the whole building!” Noctowl, negate the accuracy levels of your attack! They have no power here!

I’ll let it slide though. By all means, I should just be happy that 1) Messiahchu barely had any standing in this battle, 2) Noctowl, a great Pokemon in its own right and one standing up for all the tossed aside bird Pokemon Ash gets, getting the spotlight and 3) Noctowl being a badass and learning a new awesome move.

- Ash: *In reference to his badge* “We waited a long time for this one.” I waited even longer…

--------------------------------

Overall, I liked this episode, but it was a tiny bit underwhelming for a Gym match – Just a tiny bit. I like Morty, and I love Ghost Pokemon, especially Haunter. Plus, as I said before, it’s so nice to have a big match where a Pokemon besides Pikachu is the ace in the hole who gets to kick ass the whole way through.

I didn’t have many issues with how the match played out. In fact, it had really good rhythm. In addition to Pikachu not getting the spotlight here, it was damn near useless, which surprised me quite a bit, but was more than welcome as a change of pace.

I was also misinformed on the Ho-Oh and Suicune episode as that’s almost fifty episodes from now. Oh well. At least they have the set-up done with here, so hopefully it’ll be a nice revisit.

Team Rocket, thankfully, didn’t barge in on the Gym match this time, but their scenes still interrupted the flow of battle briefly and took me out of the moment. I wouldn’t have minded their scenes at all if they were placed differently.

As for how long it will take us to get to the next Gym – 27 episodes. That’s not terribly unreasonable, but it definitely seems like an eon with how long I take to make these reviews.

Next episode, the Eevee bros. have female kimono wearing clones!
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« Reply #4842 on: June 12, 2020, 05:24:06 am »

Whats up DT
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« Reply #4843 on: January 05, 2024, 01:11:41 am »

Alright DT, there's a new Avatar game, what'd ya think of it?

Only seen one review (IGN) and they gave it a bad score, it kinda looks like a PS2 type of game.

Oh, also, did you ever try out the Legend of Korra game? I kinda quit it after a couple of hours back when it first came out, my nephew had gotten into the show a few years ago and saw I had it so I let him play. Hopped on to help him with some parts and it was really not as bad as I had originally thought. Kinda a 7/10 experience imo, the Pro Bending stuff was the best part.
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