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Kathy: Well, here we are, awake at 6:30 AM so we can watch the premiere of Pokemon! Brad, wake up!

Brad: [zzzzz]

Kathy: [sweat] (Hopeless...) Anyways, the episode they're airing is actually one of the later ones, "Battle aboard the St. Anne". I think they're showing this one first because it gives trading and fighting information that could be useful for those getting the Game Boy games.

Brad: [zzzzz, dreamily] I want the blue version...

Kathy: ... we'll talk about that later. ^_^; Now, lesse, about the voice actors... I don't know about anyone else, but I think they took the voice actress for Sasami from the dubbed version of Tenchi Muyo. The voice actor for Ash isn't as bad as I thought it would be, but Brock's voice is a little less mature than I'd like it to be. Hey, they kept the voice actress for Pikachu the same! (Sugoi! ^_^)

Now Team Rocket is showing up. Ergh, this has to be one of the worst disguises they've ever come up with. Whose bright idea was that, anyways?

Brad: Yaaaah! What is that *sound*?! [now very wide awake]

Kathy: James... acting... like a girl... [dies] @_@

Brad: Good grief. Still, once you get past that... scene... you do get a nice serious part with Team Rocket and the "mysterious leader". Meowth may sound like a gangster, but he's got heart, too... and after that scene, a lot of motivation. Jessie is clearly the one in charge, though James sounds like a... what did you call him, Kathy?

Kathy: Like a snotty rich kid... then again, that's what he is, but people won't know the details about that until later on in the series. Jessie's voice actress sounds like a voice actress in the English version of Sailor Moon. Megumi Hayashibara knows enough English, why didn't they keep her as her voice actress? Waah! ;_;

Brad: (She really likes Jessie! ^_^) Now our heroes are boarding the St. Anne... it *does* look like a Pokemon convention. Trainers everywhere, Pokemon everywhere...

Watching the battle between Raticate and Ash's Pokemon Butterfree, I keep a close ear on the battle... and behold! They kept the original music! Good thing, too... although nearly every theme from Pokemon is a remix from the game music, they're good remixes (especially the battle themes). I was afraid they'd change the music like they've done with other series...

Kathy: Same here. And what the heck is James doing? No, don't buy Magikarp! He's useless, he's usel-...!

Brad: Too late. What a nut.

The commercial break is a nice surprise... I didn't expect for them to keep (or rather, translate) the "Name that Pokemon" station breaks, but they did. Once that's over with, you get a fine example of the eating habits of Pokemon... trainers.

Kathy: [still reeling from James' stupidity] And Pokemon. Pikachu pigs out a fair bit here.

Brad: And still looks cute to boot. ^_^; Now for the important part of the episode... the man who Ash challenged earlier wants to trade his Raticate for Ash's Butterfree.

Kathy: The point of this episode was to show how trading was done, and they give a pretty good example of how they do it in the Game Boy games. Take notes, people! I still think Ash should have refused...

Brad: Well, Brock was entirely too encouraging... get your eyes off the lady in red, man!

Kathy: They actually make a reference here to one episode where James and Brock fall for a female ghost. Men... [sigh]

Brad: Hey!

Kathy: Hehehe... ^^; Anyways, James ended up spending both his and Jessie's paycheck on that stupid fish, so I'm cheering for Jessie here as she's beating the stuffing out of James. Never part a woman with her money! They did The Speech (this is what I'll be referring Team Rocket's intro speech to), but gee, I wonder why James doesn't seem so "enthusiastic"... Maybe because every bone in his body's broken? ^_^

Brad: Now we get into a major brawl... and we get to hear the boss music in the background! Actually, this section shows you one of the major changes that was made during the translation... Pikachu's electric lightshows have had half the frames cut out of them. It looks weird, but no one will have to worry about being harmed by the special effects.

And now Ash realizes that he misses Butterfree, and probably should never have traded him away... remember, just because you trade a Pokemon doesn't mean you can't trade back. Here's Brad's first "Tip for Expert Trainers":

Make your Pokemon into FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENTS. Agree to loan one of your Pokemon to a friend for a while in exchange for one of his. Not only do you broaden your own horizons practicing with other Pokemon, but many Pokemon won't upgrade into their strongest forms if they haven't been traded! You'll get your favorite one back in time, and better than ever!

Kathy: You've been typing too much, get out of my chair. ^_^;

Brad: Owch!

Kathy: It's kinda crummy how they ended the episode; a two-parter where the second part won't be shown for weeks... I mean, people are drowning here! We'll just have to stay tuned for the next episodes!

Bye-bye for now!

Brad: Pikachu! [wavies!]

[See if you can get the joke with the font colours on this page! ^_^]