Pokemon Journey Origins, Episode 03

Checking the Patreon list, I'm not sure if it's the font used, but are you sure you spelled my last name right? I can't tell if it's Saari or Saan.

When I saw the Sully pic used for my name during the patreon shout outs I laughed so hard I woke up my whole house, thanks

Since Suede has skipped over the actual Gym battle, I will give my thoughts on that missing aspect. While the animation and battle is visual impressive, the Gym Battle is also an example as to why an uneven official Gym Battle (2 vs 6) is not a good idea, even if the episode is limited in time. A majority of Red's Pokémon were just cannon fodder for Giovanni's Ryhorn. While it is suppose to make Rhyhorn look strong and show Giovanni is not holding back, it undermines the threat level of Rhydon because it only has one opponent to battle, a completely healthy Charizard. Memorable battles like Ash vs Drake in the Orange Islands will always give the opponent's ace Pokémon a chance to show why it's the best of the best, usually taking one or two of Ash's Pokémon before falling to the last Pokémon standing. Here, we have to assume that Rhydon is more powerful than Rhyhorn due to evolutionary levels, but it doesn't manifest with the battle itself. The HP issue is actually worse when you consider how loose they were with the Rhyhorn battle. Many of Red's Pokémon had a great advantage over a Ground/Rock-Type Pokémon like Rhyhorn, and Rhyhorn is a slow Pokémon. Yet it managed to take all five of them before it finally fainted. This is best highlighted when Red's Jolteon got taken out by Thunderbolt. Yes, I know that Volt Absorb was not in Gen I but then again, neither is Shadow Punch nor Mega Evolution as we'll see in the fourth episode. But even without Thunderbolt, Jolteon should have taken several of those Electric attacks before fainting. Even a difference in levels shouldn't have been that severe. And the reason I think about these battle plot holes is ironically of how Origins emphasized gaming terms such as levels and HP. And if this battle is to mark how far Red has come as a trainer, it really didn't show much other than Red is determined and he has a better grasp of type advantages... only for it to not matter at all and thus better just use an overpowered Charizard to always win battles (even if Rock-Types are its achilles heel). This rather disappointing and it makes one question if Red is even a good trainer or just a trainer who got lucky several times. On a side-note, I did like that Giovanni was having a change of heart during that battle. It was the only reason why the battle didn't completely flopped for me. Perhaps if it was done from Giovanni's perspective and we see just segments of the battle rather than the full battle itself, it would have been a lot better. I would also note that this is Giovanni's only appearance in Origins, which is why his character arc feels so rushed. Had they put him in the Cubone episode, with him personally leading the Pokémon Tower operation, it would have made Red's anger a lot more genuine as well as giving Giovanni's redemption arc a more emotional impact (as Giovanni would realize how much he has hurt Pokémon like Cubone with his crime syndicate). Heck, it would have made the Cubone episode feel less like filler and more like a proper build up to the next two episodes.

Evan Bao

It looks beautiful. Even at it's worst it's leagues ahead of much of its predecessor. Vout rhymes with "shout," not "shoot." The latter pronunciation is more commonly applied to "Voute," than "Vout."

What they decided to cover and not cover in this show doesn't seem to make much sense. The lip-syncing looks fine to me.

De

*hughug* glad to help suede. Yay for hearing my name said.

SuperBunnyBun