Ash arrives in Violet City, and battles the Gym Leader Falkner...
I'll admit that I'm inflating my score of this episode on the grounds that it's Charizard's last hurrah for his main stint in Ash's party. Yes, he rejoins Ash from time to time in the future, but this gym battle belongs to Charizard.
The Team Rocket battle is yada-yada'd right at the start of the episode, which usually signals a meaty episode. Of course, the gym battles are always standout episodes, and for good reason; the gym leaders are always cool, the battle is more intense than in an average episode, and Ash usually comes away with a lesson (whether he wins or loses). Falkner doesn't really send Ash off with much of a lesson here, and only offers up a token challenge, so it's far from the best gym battle episode.
Falkner's team of Hoothoot, Dodrio, and Pidgeot makes for an interesting group, whereas Ash's team of Chikorita, Pikachu, and Charizard are fairly hit-and-miss. Chikorita gets KO'd quick, and prompts Falkner to scold Ash for using a type mismatch, which contradicts his advice he gave to Ash like 5 minutes earlier...so that was a poorly written moment. The rest of the battle goes back and forth before Charizard uses his signature Seismic Toss to finish off Pidgeot.
It's not the greatest gym battle episode, but it's an above-average half-hour of Pokemon, and it does feature the last major battle that Ash's Charizard fights in for a good while. I'll never get tired of watching Seismic Toss...
I'll admit that I'm inflating my score of this episode on the grounds that it's Charizard's last hurrah for his main stint in Ash's party. Yes, he rejoins Ash from time to time in the future, but this gym battle belongs to Charizard.
The Team Rocket battle is yada-yada'd right at the start of the episode, which usually signals a meaty episode. Of course, the gym battles are always standout episodes, and for good reason; the gym leaders are always cool, the battle is more intense than in an average episode, and Ash usually comes away with a lesson (whether he wins or loses). Falkner doesn't really send Ash off with much of a lesson here, and only offers up a token challenge, so it's far from the best gym battle episode.
Falkner's team of Hoothoot, Dodrio, and Pidgeot makes for an interesting group, whereas Ash's team of Chikorita, Pikachu, and Charizard are fairly hit-and-miss. Chikorita gets KO'd quick, and prompts Falkner to scold Ash for using a type mismatch, which contradicts his advice he gave to Ash like 5 minutes earlier...so that was a poorly written moment. The rest of the battle goes back and forth before Charizard uses his signature Seismic Toss to finish off Pidgeot.
It's not the greatest gym battle episode, but it's an above-average half-hour of Pokemon, and it does feature the last major battle that Ash's Charizard fights in for a good while. I'll never get tired of watching Seismic Toss...
