Did anyone notice that the waterfall in the Hoenn segment of Episode 1 was not even animated? (starts around 1:45) The water was just still in the background as the scene panned. Seems like this series is on a really tight budget, though the quality for these first two episodes is still nice. Snowpoint Temple looked amazing. Hopefully the budget allows all the episodes to be on quality.
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Pokemon Generations: Anime shorts series featuring game highlights from all generations
- Thread starter TheMantyke
- Start date
I swear Pikachu says "Pikachu" during the Noivern section. Still, the Pokemon sound like they're making actual sounds, which is great.
I don't know what I expected going in, but I guess the first two episodes of Pokemon Generations were pretty fun to watch. Liked the gen 1 intro for episode one. Pikachu's voice through me off a bit but I think it's fine. Pikachu is a mouse, so it squeaks. Pokemon saying their names is mostly an anime thing anyway. The Snowpoint Temple fight with Probopass and Regigigas was pretty cool, same with the Volcarona fight. Looker episode was cool too. Wonder how long they had to wait before they could go through the wall Arcanine melted? Hope they had a water type on hand.
These two episodes were pretty fine. The even more chibified Pikachu looked and sounded quite cute IMO.
Also, that moment where one of the agents has his Arcanine burn the wall, only to realize you cannot simply get through it was kinda funny.
What I REALLY liked, however, is that they bothered to make different versions of the first part of the first episode for each language. That one was really nice.
By the way... is it me or Looker went out of a Mustang when he arrived at Viridian Gym?
Also, that moment where one of the agents has his Arcanine burn the wall, only to realize you cannot simply get through it was kinda funny.
What I REALLY liked, however, is that they bothered to make different versions of the first part of the first episode for each language. That one was really nice.
By the way... is it me or Looker went out of a Mustang when he arrived at Viridian Gym?
I wouldn't be surprised if sometime later the entire series is made into one video. The shorts look to be 3 to 4 minutes so 18 episodes mean having them all in one video would be a 54 to 72 minutes. As you said, the first episode feels like an opener for an anthology series.
Anyway my opinions:
(Click here to watch)
0:29:Hmm, "Trainer" has seen 3 Pokemon. That would be their Bulbasaur, rival's Charmander... and I wonder what the third Pokemon they saw was. They could have battled the Rival again on the path to Route 22 where he got a Pidgey. However he couldn't have battled the first two trainers in Viridian Forest as they have more than one species of Pokemon (they are also skippable). Though the third Viridian Forest trainer only has one Pokemon but if we're continuing right where "Trainer" stopped he wouldn't have reached the third trainer yet... I'm putting too much thought into this.
EDIT: Okay so that's actually how many Pokemon he had caught as we'll see later. So yeah, not much of a mystery.
0:58: I agree with SomewhatOddish that the opening ran a bit too long. I feel they could have cut continuing from the save file and just started in the tall grass. However that transition is cool.
1:09: Wonderful entrance Pikachu, 10/10.
1:54: Um, Latios & Latias, you're not going to help the Pokemon about to fall to their death? Also where isRed "Trainer" when all this is happening?
2:06: Well that's going to take a while to fix... what woke Regigigas up in a bad mood?
2:23: Don't remember there being candles in Relic Castle. Oh, hey, there's "Trainer" in the background.
2:53: Where in the world did Landorus come from? Okay, I get you want a Legendary in every part though out of all of them Landorus in Relic Castle seems like an odd one.
2:59: Oh, hey "Trainer", glad you decided to join your Pikachu on its world tour risking life and limb.
3:31: Yes, GameFreak, just rub it in that we didn't get a Pokemon Z version. Okay, I suppose this could be their subtle way of having an element of Sun & Moon in here... then again I would have liked to see them in a Sun & Moon location (sure it'll be one we know of, but hey having Pikachu battling Tapu Koko on the ceremony stage would nicely set the stage (pun intended)).
Anyway just a quick opening showing that its an anthology series. Nothing major though if you want to take it another way it looks like Red didn't just stay on Mt. Silver till the end of time and traveled to other regions.
I'm also glad to see all the Red bits we saw in the trailer were just from this, hopefully meaning it won't be Red in any region where he wouldn't be (and we spotlight other playable characters).
The battle with Probopass and Volcarona was neat, with Pikachu tossing one of Probopass's mini-noses at the other and using a floor tile to block Volcarona's Fiery Dance.
As for the Legendary appearances. Zapdos, Regigigas, and Perfect Zygarde made sense. Lugia just flying through Ecruteak City suddenly was an odd sight but hey the tower is used to nest is there so it's not that odd. Latios & Latias appearance make sense but they don't really do anything, they could have maybe transitioned with them by having one catch Pikachu and toss it to safety though that's when it'll transition to its battle with Probopass at Snowpoint Temple. Landorus is still the oddest; while its not anchored to the Abundant Shrine I would more expect it to be flying around then for some reason having dug deep down. Don't know who else they could have used though without using a different location.
Overall it was a fun opening episode showcasing the different places in the Pokemon world such as forests, cities, waterfalls, snowy tundra, ruins, and caves. It also had plenty of action and adventure which is what you want to see from Pokemon. Let the adventure begin!
0:29:
EDIT: Okay so that's actually how many Pokemon he had caught as we'll see later. So yeah, not much of a mystery.
0:58: I agree with SomewhatOddish that the opening ran a bit too long. I feel they could have cut continuing from the save file and just started in the tall grass. However that transition is cool.
1:09: Wonderful entrance Pikachu, 10/10.
1:54: Um, Latios & Latias, you're not going to help the Pokemon about to fall to their death? Also where is
2:06: Well that's going to take a while to fix... what woke Regigigas up in a bad mood?
2:23: Don't remember there being candles in Relic Castle. Oh, hey, there's "Trainer" in the background.
2:53: Where in the world did Landorus come from? Okay, I get you want a Legendary in every part though out of all of them Landorus in Relic Castle seems like an odd one.
2:59: Oh, hey "Trainer", glad you decided to join your Pikachu on its world tour risking life and limb.
3:31: Yes, GameFreak, just rub it in that we didn't get a Pokemon Z version. Okay, I suppose this could be their subtle way of having an element of Sun & Moon in here... then again I would have liked to see them in a Sun & Moon location (sure it'll be one we know of, but hey having Pikachu battling Tapu Koko on the ceremony stage would nicely set the stage (pun intended)).
Anyway just a quick opening showing that its an anthology series. Nothing major though if you want to take it another way it looks like Red didn't just stay on Mt. Silver till the end of time and traveled to other regions.
I'm also glad to see all the Red bits we saw in the trailer were just from this, hopefully meaning it won't be Red in any region where he wouldn't be (and we spotlight other playable characters).
The battle with Probopass and Volcarona was neat, with Pikachu tossing one of Probopass's mini-noses at the other and using a floor tile to block Volcarona's Fiery Dance.
As for the Legendary appearances. Zapdos, Regigigas, and Perfect Zygarde made sense. Lugia just flying through Ecruteak City suddenly was an odd sight but hey the tower is used to nest is there so it's not that odd. Latios & Latias appearance make sense but they don't really do anything, they could have maybe transitioned with them by having one catch Pikachu and toss it to safety though that's when it'll transition to its battle with Probopass at Snowpoint Temple. Landorus is still the oddest; while its not anchored to the Abundant Shrine I would more expect it to be flying around then for some reason having dug deep down. Don't know who else they could have used though without using a different location.
Overall it was a fun opening episode showcasing the different places in the Pokemon world such as forests, cities, waterfalls, snowy tundra, ruins, and caves. It also had plenty of action and adventure which is what you want to see from Pokemon. Let the adventure begin!
(Click here to watch)
0:22: Suspected? It's flat out known they do! They loudly proclaim it.
0:36: Wait, so you have PROOF they indeed are poaching and trafficking Pokemon yet you're still only considering it a suspicion?
1:17: What... you didn't think to check for a Gym Leader IN THEIR OWN GYM!
1:45: You know I can't help but feel that if Giovanni was in the Gym he would know you're here right about now. Not exactly hiding yourselves.
2:37: Brilliant. Okay, you made the hole now go through it. What? It's surrounded by molten rock? Well maybe you should have thought of that before using Arcanine to melt open a hole for you!
3:31: WHAT?! You didn't know Giovanni was the Gym Leader!? Okay, it wasn't a secret that Giovanni was a Gym Leader (well, to the Pokemon League it wasn't), it was that he was the leader of Team Rocket. Him being a Gym Leader was his public face. Darn, I already used the "you're so stupid" vid... just play it again.
3:36: I do like how Looker just noted "two trainers" instead of specifying their names or gender, in addition to Blue it allows the other trainer to be Red or Leaf.
3:43: SO I guess this isn't Origins Team Rocket where he turned over a new leaf. That said, while closer it's still a bit off of what happened to Giovanni in the games where he felt so ashamed of losing to "a child" he disbands Team Rocket. Yes in HGSS he reveals he plans on rebuilding a stronger organization and wanting to reunite with his admins, though I feel that was something that came years later after isolating himself to train his Pokemon.
A fun and exciting episode. We get to see Looker on a different case from what we saw and we didn't know he was on: chasing after Giovanni during the events of Gen I. Though considering Gen I and III are suppose to happen at the same time, if this is canon, did he become an amnesiac in Hoenn before or after this?
Love the use of Pokemon here. Magnemite frying electronics, Machamp bursting down a wall, Arcanine melting a wall (even though it doesn't look like that one was well thought out; but a little subtle comedy never hurts). It does feel like what a Pokemon SWAT team would do instead of using equipment.
Oh, and we see the (international) police actually take some initiative instead of letting a kid deal with the problem first. :P I kid, I kid, though honestly considering they didn't know Giovanni wasn't a Gym Leader I kind of question their intelligence gathering team because that is rather incompetent. And so Looker begins his chase for criminal leaders from all over.
0:22: Suspected? It's flat out known they do! They loudly proclaim it.
0:36: Wait, so you have PROOF they indeed are poaching and trafficking Pokemon yet you're still only considering it a suspicion?
1:17: What... you didn't think to check for a Gym Leader IN THEIR OWN GYM!
2:37: Brilliant. Okay, you made the hole now go through it. What? It's surrounded by molten rock? Well maybe you should have thought of that before using Arcanine to melt open a hole for you!
3:31: WHAT?! You didn't know Giovanni was the Gym Leader!? Okay, it wasn't a secret that Giovanni was a Gym Leader (well, to the Pokemon League it wasn't), it was that he was the leader of Team Rocket. Him being a Gym Leader was his public face. Darn, I already used the "you're so stupid" vid... just play it again.
3:36: I do like how Looker just noted "two trainers" instead of specifying their names or gender, in addition to Blue it allows the other trainer to be Red or Leaf.
3:43: SO I guess this isn't Origins Team Rocket where he turned over a new leaf. That said, while closer it's still a bit off of what happened to Giovanni in the games where he felt so ashamed of losing to "a child" he disbands Team Rocket. Yes in HGSS he reveals he plans on rebuilding a stronger organization and wanting to reunite with his admins, though I feel that was something that came years later after isolating himself to train his Pokemon.
A fun and exciting episode. We get to see Looker on a different case from what we saw and we didn't know he was on: chasing after Giovanni during the events of Gen I. Though considering Gen I and III are suppose to happen at the same time, if this is canon, did he become an amnesiac in Hoenn before or after this?
Love the use of Pokemon here. Magnemite frying electronics, Machamp bursting down a wall, Arcanine melting a wall (even though it doesn't look like that one was well thought out; but a little subtle comedy never hurts). It does feel like what a Pokemon SWAT team would do instead of using equipment.
Oh, and we see the (international) police actually take some initiative instead of letting a kid deal with the problem first. :P I kid, I kid, though honestly considering they didn't know Giovanni wasn't a Gym Leader I kind of question their intelligence gathering team because that is rather incompetent. And so Looker begins his chase for criminal leaders from all over.
A lot of footage from the teaser is revealed to be from these two episodes, even if we knew it or not. What's in the teaser we haven't seen was:
Blue's challenge of the Indigo Elite Four
What's possibly N's Castle
The Legendary Beasts on the Burned Tower
Lance's Dragonite vs Red Gyarados
Buck's Claydol vs Heatran
Cheryl & her Chansey running from a "super" Haunter
Not to mention the Primals, Ho-Oh, Kyurem, Spear Pillar, and the other villain group bosses on the poster.
Blue's challenge of the Indigo Elite Four
What's possibly N's Castle
The Legendary Beasts on the Burned Tower
Lance's Dragonite vs Red Gyarados
Buck's Claydol vs Heatran
Cheryl & her Chansey running from a "super" Haunter
Not to mention the Primals, Ho-Oh, Kyurem, Spear Pillar, and the other villain group bosses on the poster.
Last edited:
could it be that Looker was actually in the Gen 1 games?
[Me when watching]: "Hey, look! That Pikachu has the oval-shaped head seen on more current Pikachu designs and artwork." I was expecting its face to be the familiar evenly rounded one like with Ash's Pikachu or with the one seen briefly in Pokémon Origins, so its design for Generations was a nice surprise.
After the episode, I also was thinking that Pikachu's noises almost justfy the in-game cry of Gen 6 Raichu. Almost.
----------------------
After the episode, I also was thinking that Pikachu's noises almost justfy the in-game cry of Gen 6 Raichu. Almost.
----------------------
If that was Looker, then maybe we never saw him afterward because the S.S. Anne departed before he could get off...?
That transition from game to animation was sleek as fuck.
These shorts were awesome. Yes, they're fanservice. No, I don't care.
Pikachu is featured because it's Red's highest leveled Pokemon canonically. Why he chose to focus on it, nobody knows, but Pikachu is also the mascot mon and Pikachu is easier to animate and interact with than Zard, so we'll be seeing lots of Pikachu.
These are shorts so I don't think there will be an overarching story, this is literally a series about event filler - but they clearly are putting a lot of work into making the animation look cool so I think it will be great. I'm hoping we get to see a scene with Eusine and Suicune.
Pikachu is featured because it's Red's highest leveled Pokemon canonically. Why he chose to focus on it, nobody knows, but Pikachu is also the mascot mon and Pikachu is easier to animate and interact with than Zard, so we'll be seeing lots of Pikachu.
These are shorts so I don't think there will be an overarching story, this is literally a series about event filler - but they clearly are putting a lot of work into making the animation look cool so I think it will be great. I'm hoping we get to see a scene with Eusine and Suicune.
Awesome but so short ! I want mooooore ! :D
I like the shorts so far, although I feel a little sad for Red's Bulbasaur. When he first met Pikachu, it was clearly his main 'mon. Level 10 by Viridian Forest, that clearly shows he embraced Bulbasaur and trained it hard from the get-go. It is even at full health so deep into the forest, indicating that Red takes good care of it. Then, after Pikachu is caught, we never see Bulbasaur again.
Speaking of Pikachu, it clearly seems like The Pokémon Company has changed its design completely by now. This oval-headed, big-eyed, squeaky Pikachu bears little resemblance to the chubby, neckless 'mon we were introduced to in Gen I. I know some other Pokémon have had slight redesigns over the years, but Pikachu clearly takes the cake.
It's also intriguing that Zygarde-Complete is seen in Terminus Cave in Kalos. Is this another nod to a cancelled Pokémon Z game? I wouldn't think so, seeing as the probable cancellation of Pokémon Z must have happened roughly two years ago, which would be before this series started production.
Lastly, it's nice to see the battles so well animated, but the human characters and backgrounds are decidedly less so. Looker stands mostly still in his episode, and where possible, still shots are used. Oh well, they are not the focus of the series, so I can live with that.
Speaking of Pikachu, it clearly seems like The Pokémon Company has changed its design completely by now. This oval-headed, big-eyed, squeaky Pikachu bears little resemblance to the chubby, neckless 'mon we were introduced to in Gen I. I know some other Pokémon have had slight redesigns over the years, but Pikachu clearly takes the cake.
It's also intriguing that Zygarde-Complete is seen in Terminus Cave in Kalos. Is this another nod to a cancelled Pokémon Z game? I wouldn't think so, seeing as the probable cancellation of Pokémon Z must have happened roughly two years ago, which would be before this series started production.
Lastly, it's nice to see the battles so well animated, but the human characters and backgrounds are decidedly less so. Looker stands mostly still in his episode, and where possible, still shots are used. Oh well, they are not the focus of the series, so I can live with that.
If we want to place the first episode into canon instead of disregarding it as a cool but non-canon glimpse of the Pokemon World it could be just for those instances Red used Pikachu:
Kanto/Viridian Forest: Obvious one, this is where Red caught Pikachu and trained it a bit.
Johto/Ecruteak City: By now Red should have his full team. Bulbasaur would be fully evolved to a Venusaur thus not agile enough to keep up with fast swimming Wooper. It could be Pikachu is his only Pokemon that can keep up, at least alongside the narrow path, so sends out Pikachu not realizing Wooper are part Ground-type.
Hoenn/Weather Institute: First I want to say I get most choices for locations, their iconic locations in the region and represent a type of environment. So why the Weather Institute for Hoenn? Yes its on waterfall cliff sides which is interesting but when I think of an iconic location in Hoenn I think Mt. Chimney which would also include a mountain/volcanic environment (also there wouldn't be any waterfalls that they would forget to animate).
But back to why Red used Pikachu here. Vigoroth is a fast opponent and their battling on cliff sides so it could be Pikachu is Red's fastest and probably smallest Pokemon so it was a natural choice here (and since he doesn't have a Charizard it's a question whether he has a well-trained Flying-type which would be more ideal for this battle if going by environment).
Sinnoh/Snowpoint Temple: The snow could really hamper a big ground Pokemon and Probopass is floating thus not affected by the snow, a fast and small Pokemon is once again more ideal.
Unova/Relic Castle: Thin hallways filled with quicksand would mean Pikachu could easily maneuver around and scout ahead (that is once it learns not to touch the quicksand).
Kalos/Terminus Cave: Riding is a speeding minecart while a fast, aerial Pokemon is attacking you doesn't leave you with much room.
Kanto/Viridian Forest: Obvious one, this is where Red caught Pikachu and trained it a bit.
Johto/Ecruteak City: By now Red should have his full team. Bulbasaur would be fully evolved to a Venusaur thus not agile enough to keep up with fast swimming Wooper. It could be Pikachu is his only Pokemon that can keep up, at least alongside the narrow path, so sends out Pikachu not realizing Wooper are part Ground-type.
Hoenn/Weather Institute: First I want to say I get most choices for locations, their iconic locations in the region and represent a type of environment. So why the Weather Institute for Hoenn? Yes its on waterfall cliff sides which is interesting but when I think of an iconic location in Hoenn I think Mt. Chimney which would also include a mountain/volcanic environment (also there wouldn't be any waterfalls that they would forget to animate).
But back to why Red used Pikachu here. Vigoroth is a fast opponent and their battling on cliff sides so it could be Pikachu is Red's fastest and probably smallest Pokemon so it was a natural choice here (and since he doesn't have a Charizard it's a question whether he has a well-trained Flying-type which would be more ideal for this battle if going by environment).
Sinnoh/Snowpoint Temple: The snow could really hamper a big ground Pokemon and Probopass is floating thus not affected by the snow, a fast and small Pokemon is once again more ideal.
Unova/Relic Castle: Thin hallways filled with quicksand would mean Pikachu could easily maneuver around and scout ahead (that is once it learns not to touch the quicksand).
Kalos/Terminus Cave: Riding is a speeding minecart while a fast, aerial Pokemon is attacking you doesn't leave you with much room.
I think it's because every location shown after Viridian Forest has to do with catching a legendary Pokémon. Ecruteak City you catch Ho-Oh/Suicune, Snowpoint City you catch Regigigas, Relic Castle you can catch Reshiram or Zekrom in BW if your PC and party were both full before fighting N, Terminus Cave you catch Zygarde... and in Emerald, the Weather Institute tells you where to catch Groudon and Kyogre.
Actually Zekrom/Reshiram relocate to Dragonspiral Tower if you don't catch it, BUT Relic Castle is originally the location where the orb of the dragon you get was located.
Okay, so there's some loose justification, though you really need to know your game's lore to get that.
Check Karxrida's post below.
Last edited:
Every Friday up to December 23 we're getting an episode at 9 AM Pacific.
I personally just consider episode 1 to be an introduction episode. Maybe the creators saw it as that too and decided to just release episodes 1 and 2 together
I liked the first two episodes. The first one was neat, showing a small part of every region/generation, with at least one Pokemon and a legendary to go along with it. Hopefully this means the idea that Red would take the place of any of the other protagonists in future shorts is nothing to worry about anymore since all we saw involving him and Pikachu from the reveal trailer was shown in this episode. Though, chances are they won't show any protagonists at all in the future installements, but I'm okay with that if it means Red won't steal the spotlight. But still, I'd really like to see most/all of them animated. Including Red as well as long as he stays in Kanto, and I'd love to see Leaf make an appearance too.
The second episode was great too. I liked the idea of Looker being in Kanto and trying to arrest Giovanni. It also felt rather serious and mature for being Pokemon, but without being unwatchable for the target audience, which was really well done.
Overall, these two episodes surpassed my expectations and I'm looking forward to the rest. The length doesn't really bother me as I'm very happy with what we get, I don't really expect them to turn this into a full-length series or something. I suppose you can say it is a quality vs. quantity approach.
The second episode was great too. I liked the idea of Looker being in Kanto and trying to arrest Giovanni. It also felt rather serious and mature for being Pokemon, but without being unwatchable for the target audience, which was really well done.
Overall, these two episodes surpassed my expectations and I'm looking forward to the rest. The length doesn't really bother me as I'm very happy with what we get, I don't really expect them to turn this into a full-length series or something. I suppose you can say it is a quality vs. quantity approach.
It has been a very long time since I played R/B/Y so I might be wrong, but from what I remember, in HG/SS and all games before D/P/P, the number displayed after "Pokedex" on the starting screen was how many Pokemon you had caught, not seen. This means that "Trainer" might have seen more than three. And the fact that he has three Pokemon in his party while encountering Pikachu makes this seem even more likely.
Another thing I vaguely recall from R/B/Y is that among the Gym Leaders on the Trainer Card, Giovanni wasn't shown. It was just a silhuette with a question mark (just checked on Bulbapedia, and this is how it is - Picture). This might imply that him being the Gym Leader wasn't very well known among the people in Kanto. Him being the Team Rocket leader was initially not well-known either, so Looker and the others might not have known about his dual secret identity until Team Rocket were defeated.
Oh, didn't see that they showed how many Pokemon "Trainer" had. So not much of a mystery after all.
Yes, we, the player, didn't know who the 8th Gym was. We knew Giovanni as the leader of Team Rocket and then, GASP, he's also the 8th Gym Leader! However I'm talking about from the viewpoint of the Pokemon League and an intelligence collecting agency. You can't just say you're a Gym Leader, you need to be approved I'd imagine. For an agency doing an investigation on Giovanni one of his occupations should say "Gym Leader" as that would be his public persona.
I've been watching them several times over. I really want it to be next Friday already just for the next episode(85% sure it's the Blue/Green vs E4 one due to the YouTube Banner on the Pokemon page.)
...well that and also so I can pay the rest of my rent next week too but yeah.
