Dazzling the Nimbasa Gym (Pokémon the Series: Black & White)
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Dazzling the Nimbasa Gym! is the 50th episode of Pokémon: Black & White, and the 707nd episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on September 29, 2011 and in the United States on February 25, 2012. It is considered to be one of the worst episodes of the entire series.
Summary
The time has finally come for Ash and Elesa's Pokémon Gym Battle, as Ash tries to think of a strategy and comes up with one. Since Elesa uses Electric-Type Pokémon, and since Ground-Type Pokémon have an advantage over Electric-Types, Ash has decided to only use his Palpitoad during the battle and leave Pikachu out. Will Ash's strategy work, especially since Elesa's other two Pokémon are immune to Ground-Types?
Why It's The Worst Gym Battle
- This is, without a doubt, the worst gym battle episode in the Pokémon anime to date, because the writing is really bad here.
- Additionally, a lot of the humor falls flat and has boring moments that serve no purpose to the episode.
- While it's not the absolute worst episode of the anime (looking at you, "The Semi-Final Frontier!" and "Facing the Needs of the Many!"), it comes pretty close.
- Ash is not only extremely unlikable here, but he is at his absolute worst, since he is at his dumbest as he planned to only use Palpitoad to defeat Elesa, which naturally backfires horribly.
- He also brought only one Pokémon (aside from Pikachu) to his gym battle with Elesa, confident that he was going to win, unaware that he really should have 6 Pokémon on him at all times if he owns at least six Pokémon. He even left the battle after Palpitoad fainted to get more Pokemon, which should've got him disqualified.
- While Ash's Japanese voice is still very passable, his English voice is also at its worse, being cranked up to 11 and having him sound like nails on a chalkboard, especially his screaming and yelling.
- Everyone else (except for the Pokémon and Professor Juniper) are no better, since they don't even try and stop Ash or punish him for his mistakes and rule-breaking.
- This was also very disappointing for Elesa, since she was likable in the previous episode, yet she doesn't do anything to stop Ash's cheating.
- Unlike other Gym Battle episodes, this one has a very horrible plot.
- The comedy falls flat in this episode, with many unfunny moments like when Pikachu almost zapped Axew, Iris and Cilan (to be fair, he was getting mad at Ash for the way he's behaving and was letting out his electricity by accident).
- Many annoying parts in the episode, like Ash freaking out and being an idiot.
- The gym battle between Ash and Elesa is very poorly-done and is considered to be the worst of the entire franchise.
- Ash is also a very big Karma Houdini in this episode, as he still wins the battle through dumb luck and isn't disqualified for breaking the rules, all because the anime decided that "Ash gets the badge no matter what", which is similar to some of his old Kanto Gym Battles, but worse.
- Terrible Ending: Ash wins his fourth gym badge unfairly and shows that he's learned absolutely nothing.
Redeeming Qualities
- The animation and voice acting (mostly for the latter) are still good as usual.
- The beginning was okay, as Ash tried to think of a strategy. It was only when Palpitoad lost to Emolga that things went downhill and he overthinks things, essentially falling apart.
- The Pokémon are still very tolerable, especially Pikachu (for the most part).
- Professor Juniper is also tolerable, even if we only see her in the beginning.
- It was nice to see Palpitoad get a win, even if it was predictable.
- Ash did get some comeuppance when Pikachu zapped him with Thunderbolt and yelled at him, criticizing him for being an idiot and not thinking things through, which was satisfying.
- He did also make Ash realize he's an idiot, as he admits he's useless without his Pokémon, even if it doesn't excuse his actions.
- The moments where Ash and Pikachu bond and trust each other are okay.
Reception
Despite having a 6.5/10 on IMDb, this episode is hated by fans for having Ash at his worst and getting away with his actions. Because of this, this is considered to be one of the worst episodes of not just Black & White, but the Pokémon anime as a whole.