Pokémon Recap: BW001 – In The Shadow of Zekrom!
“From within its thunder cloud Zekrom watches over people and Pokémon, and its lightning bolts are said to be judgments from up above, and they’re also the pillars that hold up the skies.”
With the release of the “Pokémon: Black and White” games on the Nintendo DS the Pokémon anime enters an all new season sharing the same name. For true Pokémanics, watching the show while playing the game adds to the immersion level and really brings the world to life. Even though the show has certainly lost the magic it had when it was brand new, I’ve always considered the world of Pokémon to be a great place to escape to. I mean after all, who wouldn’t want to be 10 years old again in a world where you don’t have go to school or work and instead spend your time on a journey through lush forests and gorgeous landscapes searching for cuddly creatures?
The first few seasons were my favorite because they were more violent and had better story writing overall. I’ve always been a fan of the art design of the characters, especially the costumes, and the music has remained consistently good throughout the series. Then parents complained and the show underwent a terrible revision where the fighting was pretty much removed and replaced with Pokémon battling each other by doing lame things like being a log raft and having a race down a river. Luckily the show has since returned to its roots and real Pokémon battles are back in. The series is also now broadcast in HD as well which makes the colorful settings pop with vibrance and color, definitely a welcome change.
In the season premiere we once again find ourselves following Ash Ketchum, a Pokémon trainer who dreams of becoming a Pokémon Master. Surprisingly, after all these years, they’ve kept the same narrator for the voice overs at the beginning of each episode. I couldn’t help but laugh though when he described Ash as a “ten year old” considering this series has been on for years now.
So we start off back in the Kanto region (I can’t wait to move there one day and start my own Pokémon adventure), in Pallet town where it all began. Ash is preparing to go with Professor Oak (also voiced by the original actor) to the Unova region, which of course is the location of the newest game and home to hundreds of brand new Pokémon.We then cut to a scene of Team Rocket having a video discussion with their boss Giovanni. For the first time in the history of the show Team Rocket has new uniforms with a more dark and intimidating appearance, and the characters as a whole have a much more serious demeanor about them compared to past seasons. It’s disappointing that Eric Stuart (who also plays Seto Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh!) is no longer the voice of James. The new guy is alright but his voice will be noticeably different for old school fans. It’s interesting that Team Rocket are still the villains of the show though because the game has a new organization, “Team Plasma”, as the primary antagonists.
The new “Black and White” theme song at the beginning certainly isn’t as catchy or memorable as the original series, but after watching a few episodes it grows on you. The new opening sequence has 3d models of all the Pokémon which makes me think this is an Americanized change from the Japanese version.
As soon as Ash and his companions arrive in the Unova region a dark cloud shooting lightning covers the sky and Team Rocket makes yet another attempt to capture Pikachu. This of course leads to them reciting their new monologue. I never liked their speech giving in the older seasons and it’s no better here (just seems like filler). Then some sort of blast comes out of the cloud overhead, which we see is actually being conjured by the badass Pokémon Zekrom, and Pikachu is freed. After the event Pikachu cheeks start to spark uncontrollably, clearly a sign something strange is going on.Soon after that the group meets Pokémon Researcher Professor Juniper and she inspects Pikachu’s condition. She can’t find anything wrong with Pikachu but we obviously know something is up. Just then a new trainer named Trip arrives to get his Starter Pokémon. Despite being a jerk Tripp is actually one of the more interesting characters this season. He fills the role as the “rival” character that Gary played in the first season. He constantly busts Ash’s head open, calling Ash’s hometown of Pallet Town the “boonies” and replying with “that’s basic” to everything Ash says.
Professor Juniper gives Trip the choice of three Pokémon, Tepig, a fire type pig, Oshawott, a water type sea otter, and Snivy, a grass type snake Pokémon. I’m not really a fan of these new Starter Pokémon designs, though some of their evolved forms are better looking. In the game version I picked Tepig, but Trip ends up picking Snivy. As Trip leaves to start his journey he spots Ash’s Pikachu, which people in the Unova region don’t typically see, and he challenges Ash to a battle. Now considering Pikachu’s experience you would expect him to wipe the floor with a starter Pokémon like Snivy, but halfway through the battle Ash discovers that Pikachu is unable to use any electric attacks for some reason. This results in Snivy using a new move called “Leaf Tornado” and knocking out Pikachu.Of course, Ash losing a battle to a complete noob like Trip is a pretty far stretch, even with Pikachu’s handicap, but it caught me by surprise since you always expect Ash to win, so I thought it was a good twist. Trip makes a snide remark to Ash about “starting over with the basics” which sets the stage for a great rivalry. I might not like the guy, but that only makes the battles more interesting because you want Ash to beat him.
Back at Juniper’s lab we find out Pikachu suffered an electrical overload as a result of Zekrom’s storm. The episode ends with us left to wonder if Pikachu will regain his electrical attacks. Overall, I thought it was a pretty good start to this season, especially with Ash losing his first battle in Unova and the appearance of Zekrom the legendary Pokémon.