Epic Team Galactic Two-Parter
Yay! I'm back with more to say about Pokemon! Did you miss me? No, of course not. This weekend I enjoyed the epic two-part episode of Team Galactic! Part 1: Losing Its Lustrous! and Part 2: Double Team Turnover! were both totally amazing, although I am partially biased towards Team Galactic. They are made of ultimate win.
Mini synopsis: Ash and co. are still in Celestic Town after Dawn's contest. Ash is trying to come up with an anti-hypnosis strategy. They meet up with Cynthia and her grandmother Carolina and learn that Team Galactic (TG) has stolen the Adamant Orb. Adventure-type things happen and after a few shenanigans and wise insights TG manages to steal the Lustrous Orb as well.
Warning: This post is VERY picture heavy. I need references!
Seriously, I'm not sure how I want to go about writing my thoughts on these episodes. I thought it was just so much fun and so cool to watch! Right away in the beginning we have an aerial battle. So so cool! (I'll just say it now, I'm probably going to say that a lot.)
LOL. It looks like TG's chopper has a laser
TG has so many Golbat! I was totally wishing some one would say "There's too many of them" like that random character in Star Wars. That would be a hoot. Yes yes.
Ash's training is getting pretty interesting, I think. I really like how he's had to adapt so much for these gym battles. What's even more impressive is that he's taking notes from Dawn. That little lady has moves, yo. Yeah girl POWAH!!!!
Pikachu and Buizel show off their awesome moves of awesomeness
We're Team Awesome!!!
The main focus of this two-parter is of course TG's thefts of the orbs. I love the shiny!
Behold! The wondrous Adamant Orb: a crystalline soccer ball of opulence!
Ah! The Lustrous Orb: a shiny bubble of glorious doom awaits thee!
One of the things I really liked about this story was the use of actual story-telling devices. Foreshadowing was a big one, and it made me happy inside to see it, despite its blatant obviousness. I felt that things were built up really well and then things just fell into place. *squee*
First sign that something's wrong? Brock's Croagunk doesn't assault him everytime he flirts with the ladies. Funniest part is that even Brock notices. This is serious business people
We get to meet Cynthia's grandmother, Carolina. She's a history/mythology geek just like her granddaughter and I thought she was pretty funny. Definitely not my favorite character, but she was all right.
Cynthia: Grandmother, you're scaring the children!
We also get to see Cyrus in a lovely suit. I'm not too familiar with his character from the games as I don't have a DS to play *sadface* but the way he acted in this show was f***ing epic. I want to shake hands with this man.
This "in cognito" thing makes me happy! Look how happy I am! Could I be any happier? 0_o
There's a nice part about Dialga and Palkia and the Lake Trio. I really liked how we're once again reminded of Ash and Dawn's previous encounters with two of the Lake Guardians. At this point it seems obvious that it will be Brock who gets to see Uxie. However, it would be fantastic if they threw in a totally crazy twist instead.
I liked that Cynthia, Carolina and especially Cyrus are totally impressed with Ash and Dawn. *Cyrus - OMG!!! I IZ SOOO JEALOUS!!!1* He then goes all "let's do some mystic science experiment!" on everybody. So Ash and Dawn get to stare into the Lustrous Orb and hope their eyes remain in their heads.
As hard as they try, our intrepid little trainers do not feel the pure bliss and ecstasy one usually feels when staring into a shiny doom sphere. This makes Cyrus angry. He doubts your commitment to sparkle science.
Then exciting stuff happens! Explosions and masses of Golbat and lots of delicious TG goodness!
Saturn! The handsome one! He thinks he's all that because he has a Toxicroak and he's the number one commander but we know it's all about our little redhead! Still, Saturn makes me happy inside. It must be the blue. I love blue!!!
Mars! The cute one! She is such a little tart and I love her for it. She's trigger happy and her voice actor is amazing. She's TG's #2 commander, but I like her the best.
Jupiter! The sexy one with unsexy hair! Her appearance is minor, but so much love for her! She has the strangest hair to match her even stranger outfit. Jupiter is #3 but her Skuntank PWNS Saturn's Toxicroak and Mars' Purrugly for sure!
Obligatory explosion pic. History takes years to make and three seconds to destroy. OH NOES!!!
Once the shock of all the drama has happened people start doing stuff. This is what we like to see. Ash and Dawn get to battle, Brock is tagging along after his "vengance is mine" Craogunk. Who then proceeds to get the s*** beat out of him.
Croagunk's lifeless form falls through the glass ceiling as Ash and Dawn look on in horror. Brock who would follow his pokemon anywhere has decided it would be good to climb up onto the roof as well so that he may cry out in agony to his beloved Croagunk.
Ok.... That was over-dramatizing that, but I felt so bad for Croakgunk. That Toxicroak really showed him no mercy. *Excessive Violence is BAD!* There's some more battling and Cynthia gets to show off her Garchomp *squee* and as she calls out Gastrodon while blabbing about protecting Sinnoh's treasures we come to the end of part one. *GASP*
But here comes part 2!!!
Gastrodon is pink and lovely (for a sea slug) and Cynthia's Gastrodon is so flippin' awesome it gets its own Artistic Freeze Frame while attacking. FTW people, FTW.
This is what True Winners look like
Ash wonders where that Artistic Freeze Frame came from while Dawn checks her Pokedex in the hopes that she may learn more about Gastrodon's ability to pull off such a thing.
After being dazzled by Gastrodon, we remember that we're in the middle of a battle. Ash sends out his Chimchar to help out Pikachu only to act the hero and take a nasty blow from Toxicroak for Pikachu. That part really made my heart cry. Chimchar is so amazing and wonderful and it's grown so much since Paul (I miss him) released it.
Chimchar! Show me your moves! I LOL'd at Ash's pose this time ^_^
CHIMCHAR NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
So then TG simply disappears to chase after Team Rocket who just happened to nab the Lustrous Orb. Ash wants to chase everyone down, but Cynthia (who seriously always has something wise to say almost everytime she opens her mouth) tells Ash he must care for his brave Chimchar. Officer Jenny tells everyone to "Leave it to us" and proceeds to dash off alone LOL.
"Just leave it us, Ash." Who is this "us" she's referring to?
Later in the Pokemon Center Cynthia yet again imparts great knowledge to Ash. This time it concerns Chimchar. See, Cynthia is smart, she knows things and she knows that Ash's Chimchar used to be Paul's Chimchar. So she reminds Ash about when two people meet something is born and also ponders about the connection Ash and Paul may have through Chimchar... wait. Did she just foreshadow ComaShipping? HELLZ YEAH!!!
Don't cry emo Ash, Chimchar still loves you.
Cynthia: I sense a connection between you, Paul and Chimchar, Ash. This could be special.
Ash ponders the implications of being shipped with Paul through Chimchar. He does not say he doesn't like the idea...
Some discussion on TG ensues and everyone partakes in the "If Only" and the "It's All My Fault" game. Then we learn that TG wants to have a meet and greet with Dialga and Palkia.
Ash and Dawn were finally successful in creating their own Artistic Freeze Frame
We return to the ruins. Team Rocket is hiding out but Cyrus and Carolina find them. Cyrus totally loses his cool because he is a crazy-ass man of epic insanity. This is why I love him.
You do not mess with a man who believes in science and mysticism.
Cyrus shouts some more, TG gets the Lustrous Orb (they can start a collection, now) and Ash & Co. learn (from Cynthia of course) that despite TG's aweometude and fancy clothes they must keep on truckin' and achieve their dreams.
TG, on the other hand are quite pleased with themselves. They now have the bling to back up their sense of fashion. w00t! Cyrus, who just so happens to be TG's boss, is feeling fine.
Aw, poor Saturn. He don't get no respect. That's what happens when your pointy blue hair is inferior to your boss's.
The ladies of TG are more than willing to accept Saturn's failure as a most fun diversion
Cyrus shows us how when he rules the world his hands will be "this big." That's how f***ing crazy he is. You know you love this.
And we end with Cyrus' Artistic Freeze Frame which, despite the fact it is not quite as good as Gastrodon's, it is far superior to Ash and Dawn's "Wabuzuh? Dialga? Palkia?" freeze frame.
So to conclude this epic two-parter of TG epicness was "hella tight" and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yay.
Mini synopsis: Ash and co. are still in Celestic Town after Dawn's contest. Ash is trying to come up with an anti-hypnosis strategy. They meet up with Cynthia and her grandmother Carolina and learn that Team Galactic (TG) has stolen the Adamant Orb. Adventure-type things happen and after a few shenanigans and wise insights TG manages to steal the Lustrous Orb as well.
Warning: This post is VERY picture heavy. I need references!
Seriously, I'm not sure how I want to go about writing my thoughts on these episodes. I thought it was just so much fun and so cool to watch! Right away in the beginning we have an aerial battle. So so cool! (I'll just say it now, I'm probably going to say that a lot.)
LOL. It looks like TG's chopper has a laser
TG has so many Golbat! I was totally wishing some one would say "There's too many of them" like that random character in Star Wars. That would be a hoot. Yes yes.
Ash's training is getting pretty interesting, I think. I really like how he's had to adapt so much for these gym battles. What's even more impressive is that he's taking notes from Dawn. That little lady has moves, yo. Yeah girl POWAH!!!!
Pikachu and Buizel show off their awesome moves of awesomeness
We're Team Awesome!!!
The main focus of this two-parter is of course TG's thefts of the orbs. I love the shiny!
Behold! The wondrous Adamant Orb: a crystalline soccer ball of opulence!
Ah! The Lustrous Orb: a shiny bubble of glorious doom awaits thee!
One of the things I really liked about this story was the use of actual story-telling devices. Foreshadowing was a big one, and it made me happy inside to see it, despite its blatant obviousness. I felt that things were built up really well and then things just fell into place. *squee*
First sign that something's wrong? Brock's Croagunk doesn't assault him everytime he flirts with the ladies. Funniest part is that even Brock notices. This is serious business people
We get to meet Cynthia's grandmother, Carolina. She's a history/mythology geek just like her granddaughter and I thought she was pretty funny. Definitely not my favorite character, but she was all right.
Cynthia: Grandmother, you're scaring the children!
We also get to see Cyrus in a lovely suit. I'm not too familiar with his character from the games as I don't have a DS to play *sadface* but the way he acted in this show was f***ing epic. I want to shake hands with this man.
This "in cognito" thing makes me happy! Look how happy I am! Could I be any happier? 0_o
There's a nice part about Dialga and Palkia and the Lake Trio. I really liked how we're once again reminded of Ash and Dawn's previous encounters with two of the Lake Guardians. At this point it seems obvious that it will be Brock who gets to see Uxie. However, it would be fantastic if they threw in a totally crazy twist instead.
I liked that Cynthia, Carolina and especially Cyrus are totally impressed with Ash and Dawn. *Cyrus - OMG!!! I IZ SOOO JEALOUS!!!1* He then goes all "let's do some mystic science experiment!" on everybody. So Ash and Dawn get to stare into the Lustrous Orb and hope their eyes remain in their heads.
As hard as they try, our intrepid little trainers do not feel the pure bliss and ecstasy one usually feels when staring into a shiny doom sphere. This makes Cyrus angry. He doubts your commitment to sparkle science.
Then exciting stuff happens! Explosions and masses of Golbat and lots of delicious TG goodness!
Saturn! The handsome one! He thinks he's all that because he has a Toxicroak and he's the number one commander but we know it's all about our little redhead! Still, Saturn makes me happy inside. It must be the blue. I love blue!!!
Mars! The cute one! She is such a little tart and I love her for it. She's trigger happy and her voice actor is amazing. She's TG's #2 commander, but I like her the best.
Jupiter! The sexy one with unsexy hair! Her appearance is minor, but so much love for her! She has the strangest hair to match her even stranger outfit. Jupiter is #3 but her Skuntank PWNS Saturn's Toxicroak and Mars' Purrugly for sure!
Obligatory explosion pic. History takes years to make and three seconds to destroy. OH NOES!!!
Once the shock of all the drama has happened people start doing stuff. This is what we like to see. Ash and Dawn get to battle, Brock is tagging along after his "vengance is mine" Craogunk. Who then proceeds to get the s*** beat out of him.
Croagunk's lifeless form falls through the glass ceiling as Ash and Dawn look on in horror. Brock who would follow his pokemon anywhere has decided it would be good to climb up onto the roof as well so that he may cry out in agony to his beloved Croagunk.
Ok.... That was over-dramatizing that, but I felt so bad for Croakgunk. That Toxicroak really showed him no mercy. *Excessive Violence is BAD!* There's some more battling and Cynthia gets to show off her Garchomp *squee* and as she calls out Gastrodon while blabbing about protecting Sinnoh's treasures we come to the end of part one. *GASP*
But here comes part 2!!!
Gastrodon is pink and lovely (for a sea slug) and Cynthia's Gastrodon is so flippin' awesome it gets its own Artistic Freeze Frame while attacking. FTW people, FTW.
This is what True Winners look like
Ash wonders where that Artistic Freeze Frame came from while Dawn checks her Pokedex in the hopes that she may learn more about Gastrodon's ability to pull off such a thing.
After being dazzled by Gastrodon, we remember that we're in the middle of a battle. Ash sends out his Chimchar to help out Pikachu only to act the hero and take a nasty blow from Toxicroak for Pikachu. That part really made my heart cry. Chimchar is so amazing and wonderful and it's grown so much since Paul (I miss him) released it.
Chimchar! Show me your moves! I LOL'd at Ash's pose this time ^_^
CHIMCHAR NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
So then TG simply disappears to chase after Team Rocket who just happened to nab the Lustrous Orb. Ash wants to chase everyone down, but Cynthia (who seriously always has something wise to say almost everytime she opens her mouth) tells Ash he must care for his brave Chimchar. Officer Jenny tells everyone to "Leave it to us" and proceeds to dash off alone LOL.
"Just leave it us, Ash." Who is this "us" she's referring to?
Later in the Pokemon Center Cynthia yet again imparts great knowledge to Ash. This time it concerns Chimchar. See, Cynthia is smart, she knows things and she knows that Ash's Chimchar used to be Paul's Chimchar. So she reminds Ash about when two people meet something is born and also ponders about the connection Ash and Paul may have through Chimchar... wait. Did she just foreshadow ComaShipping? HELLZ YEAH!!!
Don't cry emo Ash, Chimchar still loves you.
Cynthia: I sense a connection between you, Paul and Chimchar, Ash. This could be special.
Ash ponders the implications of being shipped with Paul through Chimchar. He does not say he doesn't like the idea...
Some discussion on TG ensues and everyone partakes in the "If Only" and the "It's All My Fault" game. Then we learn that TG wants to have a meet and greet with Dialga and Palkia.
Ash and Dawn were finally successful in creating their own Artistic Freeze Frame
We return to the ruins. Team Rocket is hiding out but Cyrus and Carolina find them. Cyrus totally loses his cool because he is a crazy-ass man of epic insanity. This is why I love him.
You do not mess with a man who believes in science and mysticism.
Cyrus shouts some more, TG gets the Lustrous Orb (they can start a collection, now) and Ash & Co. learn (from Cynthia of course) that despite TG's aweometude and fancy clothes they must keep on truckin' and achieve their dreams.
TG, on the other hand are quite pleased with themselves. They now have the bling to back up their sense of fashion. w00t! Cyrus, who just so happens to be TG's boss, is feeling fine.
Aw, poor Saturn. He don't get no respect. That's what happens when your pointy blue hair is inferior to your boss's.
The ladies of TG are more than willing to accept Saturn's failure as a most fun diversion
Cyrus shows us how when he rules the world his hands will be "this big." That's how f***ing crazy he is. You know you love this.
And we end with Cyrus' Artistic Freeze Frame which, despite the fact it is not quite as good as Gastrodon's, it is far superior to Ash and Dawn's "Wabuzuh? Dialga? Palkia?" freeze frame.
So to conclude this epic two-parter of TG epicness was "hella tight" and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yay.