By JC
Hey guys! I will be summarizing and reviewing the13th episode of Pokemon Black and White. Ash, Iris, and Cilan are continuing on their journey to Nacrene City when they hear a young girl running towards them. The girl trips over a rock and stumbles, causing Ash and Cilan to fall into a nearby stream. While the two boys are drying up, Bianca introduces herself and relays a message from Professor Juniper explaining that she sent Bianca to give Ash a gym badge case. Ash receives his case and hands it over to Bianca to show her his Trio Badge when, all of a sudden, a Pokemon snatches it and runs away.
The trainers pursue it and hide behind a bush. It turns out to be a Mincinno and from the Pokedex, it likes to clean dirty objects, which would explain why it stole the dirty badge case. Bianca instantly falls in love with it and sends out her Pignite to battle. Pignite is tickled to submission prompting Ash to give it a go. Pikachu is ready, but Oshawott comes out of his Pokeball, pleading to battle. Mincinno tickles him and uses Double Slap and then runs away with the badge case. Meanwhile, Team Rocket has just reached Nacrene City and is surveying the city for a specific warehouse.
Back in the forest, Bianca has come up with a plan to capture Mincinno, by using Cilan’s dirty spoon as bait and a platter cover to catch it. Things are going accordingly to plan when it is caught, but it simply walks away with the cover on top of it. Our heroes chase it to a nearby tree and stream. Ash sends out Snivy and uses Attract, but Mincinno dodges it and uses Attract back at her. Ash must call her back and sends out Pikachu. Mincinno proves to be elusive and agile, dodging or blocking most of Pikachu’s attacks. It uses Hyper Voice and then starts to tickle Pikachu. Pikachu is able to resist and uses Thunderbolt on the worn out Pokemon. Bianca jumps at the chance to catch it, but cannot find a Pokeball in time and it starts to run off; however, it sees the dirty Pokeball and quickly runs over to clean it. The Pokeball opens up and catches Mincinno.
Ash finally recovers his badge and Cilan gets back his silverware. The group travels to a Pokemon Center and afterwards, Bianca challenges Ash to a 1-on-1 battle. She uses her Pignite against Pikachu. Pignite seems to have the upper hand and the match seems decided, but in a clash between Flame Charge and Volt Tackle, Pikachu emerges victorious. They become friends and Bianca goes on her way as our trio finally set out for Nacrene City.
We get to see Bianca in the episode! I found her to be an extrovert and quite expressive, much more invigorated and less timid than her video game representation. I welcome the big expression as it should be a positive role model for young girls. I thought she looked awkwardly huge compared to the others in certain scenes. I am impressed that she evolved her Tepig even though it’s her only Pokemon. There’s not much from Team Rocket these days.
The battles with Mincinno were cute and fun to watch, especially when he uses Tickle. Pokemon in helpless laughter are truly a sight to see. It’s only fitting how Bianca catches her second friend. I felt they squeezed in the battle at the end. I am happy that Pikachu got another win though; he has being losing too much in Unova. There’s nothing much in this episode except for the Bianca and Mincinno cameos.