By JC
Hey guys! Today I will be summarizing and reviewing the 14th episode of Pokemon Black and White. School has started and I haven’t had much time for these episodes, but hopefully I’ll be able to catch one here and there. Ash, Iris, and Cilan finally arrive in Nacrene City. We get to see a brief tour of the “City of Admiration,” which is famous for its art. Ash is ready for his second gym badge and seeks the city’s museum, which serves as the main attraction and gym. Our heroes are dismayed when they find out that the museum is closed, but see a poster that indicates that it should be opened for an exhibit. They knock on the door and look around when, suddenly, a man bursts open the doors.
The man introduces himself as Hawes, the museum curator, and explains what had happened inside. He and the workers prepared for the exhibit, arranging, organizing, and displaying the newly arrived artifacts. The curator stayed late and was chased by flying flames and other spooky phenomenon. The three are surprised and concerned. Iris thinks that there is a curse on the museum while Cilan believes that there is a scientific reason behind it. Ash just wants to solve the mystery so that he may challenge the gym leader. Hawes takes them on a tour, showing them the Dome Fossil that had just chased him, a Dragonite skeleton, a meteorite, a replica of a Cofagrigus coffin, and a Yamask’s mask among many other items.
At the end of the tour, the trio insists that they spend the night at the museum, in order to investigate. Hawes agrees and the group gets out their sleeping bags. It is not long before we see mysterious and spooky activities going on inside. They are alarmed at seeing a suit of armor walk towards them threateningly. Ash commands Pikachu to use Quick Attack and Iron Tail, while his Oshawott uses Water Gun to extinguish the flames chasing Hawes. The armor falls apart, and the gang goes into the large hall and finds the Yamask mask trying to get out of its exhibition case. The Dragonite skeleton comes to life and tries to release the floating mask. Cilan commands Pansage to use Bullet Seed and we see a glimpse of a Yamask. Hawes opens up the case and the mask escapes and attaches itself to Cilan, possessing him.
The possessed Cilan tells Hawes that he will be punished and sends flames at him. Ash and Iris don’t know what to do. Suddenly, a lady shouts and Hawes identifies her as his wife, Lenora. She sends out her Watchog to disable the ghost Pokemon. Lenora figures out that this Yamask must have come to Nacrene City along with the other artifacts. Hawes thought that the mask he found was a replica and mistakenly put it in a case. The Yamask wanted it back and thought Hawes stole it. It is forgiving and happily goes on its way. After that, Ash challenges Lenora to a gym battle!
It has been about two weeks since the last episode I watched and I’m glad to see that they have finally reached Nacrene City. I just remembered that I forgot to mention Team Rocket in my summary. There is a short scene involving them receiving orders from Pierce to switch the meteorite in the museum with a fake. This seems to be the first episode in the series with a spooky, creepy vibe. It reminds me of the first series when Ash went to Lavender Tower to catch a ghost Pokemon in order to beat Sabrina. In comparison, I found it to be a whole lot less compelling and kind of boring, actually.
There are some interesting issues brought up in this episode that kids will probably overlook. We see a debate between Iris and Cilan about the explanation of the odd events at the museum. Iris claims it is due to a curse, while Cilan champions a scientific answer. You can see a comparison to their argument and the debate between supernatural versus science. As soon as Cilan mentioned paranormal activity, I thought of the movie. The show wasn’t too biased (if at all) towards one side and the ending proved that neither was completely correct. The Pokemon kind of took a backseat to the story (except for Yamask, of course). Make sure you stay tuned and see the next one which should be the battle between Ash and Lenora.
Tags: Pokemon TV Show