Pokemon S01E08 Review: Not That Kind of Pokemon Gym

Pokemon, Episode 8: Road to the Pokemon League

And... yeah, this is another filler episode, which feels a bit more egregious considering that unlike the Mt. Moon and Viridian Forest one, this particular episode isn't actually adapting any actual feature from the games. Which is fair enough, because the way Japanese anime operates is that the network basically demands new episodes every week no matter what, and they only have so much areas in the game to adapt. So the next... oh, half-dozen episodes or so, we'll always start with the trio getting lost in their way to Vermilion City.

Still, this one at least attempts to have some sort of moral and character development, although it might very well only feel like that because we're so early on in the show. Anyway, seeing the positive side of being lost, Ash beats up youngsters and their Rattatas, basically getting a big inflated ego due to winning two badges (which he got out of pity, something that Misty is right in pointing out) and winning ten matches in a streak. Ash is then directed to Akira the Beast Tamer (who has the horrible dub name of "AJ"), a local trainer who "made a gym unsanctioned by the league", and apparently he has 98 straight wins. And we see a huge banner in front of a huge circus-like building, because this Akira dude has one huge inflated ego, it seems.

And Akira is... some dude with green hair, a whip, and a powerful Sandshrew partner, boasting that he will only do the whole "eight badges" quest after he gets 100 straight wins. Akira isn't particularly pleasant, being as ego-centric as Ash was being a couple of scenes earlier, mocking that two badges, particularly the two gyms that Ash defeats, probably doesn't mean much if Ash can beat them with a mere ten-win record. This gives us an adorable bit where Misty and Brock gets absolutely angry, and Brock's normally-restrained Japanese VA actually gets to have a growl in his voice in this scene, which I find neat.

The actual battle between Ash and Akira is pretty neat. Ash doesn't use Pikachu because Misty and Brock tells him that Electric-type moves have no effect on the Ground-type Pikachu (ah, the showmakers got the memo at last, then?) so Ash sends in Pidgeotto, who... gets quickly whacked by Sandshrew spinning around and bouncing like a ball. Poor Pidgeotto just exists to job, huh? Butterfree fares a bit better, with a more elaborate showcase of Akira using his whip to give signals to tell Sandshrew when to burst out of his Dig attack.

Ash, like a petulant child, refuses to admit defeat, going straight to accusing Akira of cheating and rigging his stadium. Admittedly, Akira is kind of a dick while talking to Ash, and that whip is an immediate no-no, but Ash doesn't come off particularly well in this scenario especially since he doesn't have any proof. We do seem to see what kind of seems like proof when Akira shouts out from inside his circus tent about how "what kind of battle is that?" to Sandshrew and generally admonishes him... and inside that tent we see a bizarre landscape of Akira's Pokemon training with weird weight-suit things on, with Rattatas jumping into flaming rings and Akira's prized Sandshrew jumping into water.

Thinking that this is totally Pokemon abuse, Ash goes straight for Akira and attacks him, physically shoving him into water... but apparently this is just some unorthodox training to make the Pokemon become stronger, with Akira's Sandshrew apparently being resistant to water thanks to their constant training. And while this initially seems like Akira being defensive over his seemingly harsh training... being the mature one, Brock and Misty quickly realize that, hey, this might look harsh, but it is training. Between the home-made blend, and the fact that Akira is taking his training seriously, we do get a pretty good argument between Akira and Ash. Akira tells Ash that you can't be the strongest without training, while Ash really wants to coddle his Pokemon.

Sadly, we don't really get any proper conclusion or character development from Ash in this episode, beyond an off-handed apology later on. And I realize Pokemon's meant for kids, but I really wish that the episode was structured so that Ash would actually learn to see Akira's POV and learn that a happy-go-lucky attitude doesn't mean jack shit when he's actually trying to, y'know, compete in something where everyone's trying hard.

In a fun, cute background scene, while Sandshrew is lifting two dumbbells with that restraining harness on, Pikachu has trouble lifting even one. Sandshrew and Pikachu have some really cute scenes bonding with each other, and a somewhat plot-relevant one is when Pikachu tries on the harness and gets rolled up into a ball.

While all of this is going on, Team Rocket is spying on this makeshift gym and making a lot of puns, with Jessie and James bemoaning that their attempt to workshop a motto-that-fits-the-situation isn't something they're "feeling". While Ash and Akira are being immature, they sneak in while hiding inside a giant cardboard ball (as you do), and accidentally kidnap Sandshrew instead of Pikachu. We get a fun little gender equality joke when James refuses to let Jessie use the "I'm a girl you do all the heavy lifting" excuse. That's fun. Sandshrew eventually escapes on his own and returns to Akira, but we do get a scene of Akira losing his shit and unleashing the rest of his team to go and find Sandshrew.

And this is where Ash becomes a total tool, being so convinced in his version of events that he mocks Akira for being such a shitty trainer that his Sandshrew abandons him, and even tries to set up a recruitment drive among the rest of Akira's Pokemon. Of course, when Sandshrew returns all safe, Akira is overjoyed, and Brock and Misty has to tell Ash that just because Akira subjects his Pokemon to harsh training, doesn't mean he doesn't love them.

Again, it's a shame that the episode doesn't really show this moral off a bit more, because we're interrupted with an honestly pretty generic "oh no, Team Rocket shows up" bit. It's a simple climax -- Akira is enraged that Team Rocket would insult Sandshrew as 'small fry', and we geth Jessie and James fighting against Akira two-on-one, but then Sandshrew quickly beats up Koffing and Ekans, distracts Meowth by turning into a ball (that's funny) before sending Team Rocket blasting off (well, running off) again by using motherfucking Fissure, splitting the entire arena in half.

And Ash and Akira finally part on good terms, although it's not likely that Ash will actually change from this encounter -- again, another fault of the series' writing mentality. It's also kind of a shame that for all of Akira's talk of seeing Ash when he gets to the Pokemon League... we never actually see him ever again, which is definitely kind of an unfortunate missed bit of possible old-character cameo. Oh well. As a 'filler' episode, this one is actually pretty decent.

Pokemon Index:

• Pokemon: Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Rattata, Butterfree, Sandshrew, Meowth, Beedrill, Ekans, Koffing
• Humans: Ash, Misty, Brock, Beast Tamer Akira, James, Jessie

Assorted Notes:

• Everyone receives more Americanized dub names in the English dub. Okay, fair, but how the hell is "A.J." an easier name to say than Akira? Out of all the names they can pick, they just slap two letters together? 
• For all the talk Akira has on making Sandshrew have skin as 'hard as steel', it is pretty hilarious that a couple decades later, Alolan-variant Sandshrew are Ice/Steel type, huh? 
• In the anime-inspired Pokemon Yellow, a Youngster on Route 9 is based on Akira, who has a Sandshrew with Fissure and talks about 100-win streaks. This trainer never actually shows up in any of the Kanto remakes. 
• So since the production team seems to actually know that Electric-type attacks can't effect Ground-types... what? Did they just mis-label Geodude and Onix as pure Rock-types in their notes? Or something? Or is the team making the Brock episode just not give a shit? The next episode also feature a Ground-type showing off immunity against Pikachu's Thundershock, so I'm genuinely interested at how that particular error happened. 
• The Game Does Not Work Like That:
• For the accuracy in Electric-type attacks not affecting Ground-types... Sandshrew's Ground-type Dig shouldn't really have affected the Flying-type Butterfree. 
• Dub Changes:
• More 'lost in context', but the scene where Ash's nose sprouts and becomes long is a reference to the Japanese phrase "tengu ni naru" (becoming a tengu), and a close English approximation would be "become big-headed". 
• Interestingly, in addition to the whole "translate Japanese words into English" edits, the English dub also adds a "WIN = 0" onto Akira's grandiose sign.