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The Battle According To Lenora! Summary And Review

By JC

Hey guys! Today I’ll be summarizing and reviewing the 15th episode of Pokemon Black and White. Ash, Iris, and Cilan had just arrived to Nacrene City in the previous episode and now Ash is ready to challenge Lenora, the Nacrene City gym leader. Lenora, Hawes, and the trainers go through the museum and are allowed into a restricted room. It turns out to be a library where Lenora recommends that Ash studies about the Unova region. She points at a book and recommends that Ash should “take a peek” at it.

Ash is hesitant to read because he wants to battle, but Iris and Cilan hint that Lenora may be testing him. He pulls the book and that triggers the bookshelf to move, revealing a hidden staircase. The gym leader reveals that it was a test, and that she can get a sense of what the trainer is like by observing what kind of book he or she chooses. She comes to the conclusion that Ash is very straight-forward. They go downstairs and are introduced to the Nacrene City gym.

Before the battle even begins, Lenora reveals the two Pokemon she will be using: Lillipup and Watchog. There is some interaction between Lillipup and the others and the match finally begins after Hawes explains the rules. The battlers agree to a 2-on-2 match. The match begins with Lillipup using Roar on Tepig, forcing it to switch with Ash’s Oshawott. Lenora follows up her move by switching to Watchog and using Mean Look. Our protagonist is visibly shaken up and so is his Pokemon. Watchog’s Low Kick catches Oshawott off-guard, but is able to block the ensuing Thunderbolt with his scallop shell. Oshawott gets in a Water Gun, but loses his shell when he tries to use Razor Shell, and is knocked out by another Thunderbolt. Lenora switches back to Lillipup as Ash sends out Tepig again. Tepig doesn’t last very long, as he is outclassed by Lillipup’s speed and eventually gets knocked out by Take Down.

Ash thanks his Pokemon for the tough match and apologizes for his own shortcomings. He is saddened, but hopeful for his rematch. The trio goes to the Pokemon Center where Iris and Cilan give Ash advice. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is shown to steal the meteorite at the museum. The next morning, our heroes set out to the town’s Battle Club for some training. Don George is there to meet them and is familiar with the situation. He offers to provide rigorous training and the episode ends with the door opening to the Battle Club.
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Emerging Powers: Top 5 Best Card Art

By Kenny Wisdom

Kenny Wisdom here again, with a rundown of what I feel is the best card art in our new set, Pokemon Black and White: Emerging Powers. I don’t have a whole lot of time on my hands to write, so let’s get right down to business.

#5: Watchog

Unlike the next two cards I’m going to be talking about, this guy isn’t cute at all whatsoever, and really wins based off of ridiculousness factor alone. I’ve always thought that the Patrat and Watchog lines were pretty insane Pokemon in general, but the art guys over at PCL really took it to an entirely new level with this card. The way that he stands out from his background and that his “shirt” or whatever that thing is supposed to be is so bright that it almost looks over-exposed makes this card stand out immediately in your draft pool. Just looking at this guy with his hands on his hips and crazy eyes makes me crack up every time. Ugh, I’ve got to move on now.

#4: Rufflet #86

I’m a sucker for Rufflets, and although this one is cute, it’s not quite as great as the other Rufflet that’s been printed in BW: EP, which we’ll get to now…

#3: Rufflet #87

This card wins purely based off of the cuteness factor. The art in this set is all pretty decent, but in going over it nothing really stuck out except for this ridiculously adorable little guy. It took me a while to decide between this Rufflet and the other one, as obviously they’re both the same Pokemon and therefore both look nearly the same, but the background on this Rufflet is strictly better, in my opinion. I’m not the most well-versed in art, so I’m not sure exactly what to call it, but I’d maybe say that it’s some kind of painting? All I know is that it looks adorable, and I’m definitely going to hoard reverse foils of this little guy, as I try to do with most cards that look gorgeous.

#2: Tornadus

Evaluating Pokemon card art in the BW era is going to be difficult with the introduction of full art cards, which are prettty much strictly better looking than anything else in the set (and really, most other Pokemon cards ever).

Although Tornadus and Thundurus are basically the same Pokemon, as is the same situation with Rufflet, I feel as the background makes this guy slightly worse. Bright yellow is a better color than gray, I guess.

#1: Thundurus

Again, all I can really say about this card is that it’s a gorgeous full art and that the background is better than it’s countparts background. I’d also argue that the blue coloring of Thundurus himself is better looking than Tornadus’ green body, but I guess that’s all a matter of opinion. As a sidenote, the foiling and texture of these cards are also great and really add to how great these things look. I can’t wait for the next set of full arts to come out in the next few months, but I suppose that’s a discussion for another article.

That’s all I’ve got for today. I’ve been writing quite a bit, so hopefully you’ll be seeing a bunch of Kenny Wisdom articles on Pokezine in the coming days.

xoxo

kw

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Pokemon Patrat And Watchog

By Jo

Normal-type Pokemon have always been pretty interesting. Every now and then you’ll come across a normal-type that resembles an actual animal, though has a bit of a twisted design so that it doesn’t resemble it too much (change in color, a feature that’s exaggerated, etc). Patrat and Watchog are prime examples of normal-types with a twist.

Patrat is small and rodent-like. It holds resemblance to a chipmunk, having chubby cheeks and a small brown body. Physically it resembles a prairie dog as well, as its limbs are a bit stubby, their midsections are a bit bigger, and they both have longer tails. However, Patrat’s eyes are ringed red and yellow and a black band surrounds both eyes on either side so that they resemble glasses or goggles. In every generation of the games, there has been a two-stage normal type evolutionary line that is encountered early in the game (Rattata in Kanto, Sentret in Johto, Zigzagoon in Hoenn, and Bidoof in Sinnoh). Patrat seems to be the Unova variant of that theme. Though ironically, Patrat has the lowest base stat out of all fifth generation Pokemon. According to its pokedex entries, they can use the food stored in their cheeks to keep watch for days. Being an extremely cautious species, Patrat take shifts to maintain constant watch over their nests. They feel insecure without a lookout. Apparently, they communicate with others with their tails. The way they stuff their cheeks with food is similar to what Chipmunks do, though their watchful habits seem to be based off from prairie dogs. Patrat’s name seems to be a combination of the words ‘patrol’ and ‘rat’, though could also be a pun on the term “pack rat”.
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