The time for the Sandalstraw Contest is here...

Remember, no talking about next week's episode.

Another Pokemon Contest has gone and went, and unfortunely Dawn remains with the same amount of ribbons. However the episode was pretty good and for once I liked Jessie and Kenny's Performance Round more than Dawn's! In addition Mamoswine is getting closer and closer into wanting to participate in a Pokemon Contest, and hopefully it'll be the one Dawn uses to win her 5th Ribbon! Though with the whole ping-pong theme going on it's putting a bit of hype on the Pokemon Ping-Pong Tournament, though I'm still not to sure about it being its just normal Ping-Pong with your Pokemon acting as your partner. However if the ping-pong thing was like the one between Ambipom and Prinplup, then I wouldn't have a doubt it would be exciting! Now onto the review:

Trying To Ice Its Way In:
* I don't care how many action sequneces they have for it, I still think Pokemon Ping-pong (as it is now) is kind of lame... and can someone give Pikachu a paddle?
* Dawn is planning on using Ambipom for both rounds? Maybe Dawn should consider using Mamoswine for the second round now that she is able to command it and it is more of a powerhouse than performer.
* Dawn, Ambipom hasn't been Ash's for like two seasons, actually Ambipom wasn't Ash's at all, Aipom was. Anyway I think it is safe to say that now fans consider Ambipom as your Pokemon.
* Jessie plans on copying Ursula's Gabite's contest performance (standing still and then springing into action) but is goign to put a cute twist to is using Mime Jr..
* Huh? Where did that Ice Shard come from? Luckily Ambipom was able to break it apart but Dawn shouldn't blame Mamoswine so quickly, all it was doing was watching... oh, so Mamoswine did fire the Ice Shard. Now maybe Dawn will take my advice to use Mamoswine for the 2nd round?
* Oh, nevermind, as it turns out Mamoswine is playing "hard-to-get-to-participate". Though you can't really compare the way Mamoswine and Aipom got attention as Aipom pretty much through itself into situations while Mamoswine makes you want to have it join in.

Passing On Through Up To the Finals:
* Lol, they still have that pompom attached to Ambipom's head. And very nice suits Team Rocket, I'm sure it isn't like Ash and co. aren't going to recognize the Team Rocket "R" on the flag Wobbuffet is holding.
* For once one of Jessie's stolen Performance Round tactic works! I guess Mime Jr. must have been gathering its energy while waiting (wonder if it gathered any more energy it would have gotten the coordinators backstage dancing?). Anyway it sounds like Jessie got through into the Battle Round.
* Kenny has a Machoke? Well one thing I have to fault Kenny on was with the seal he chose, pink bubbles? But other than that Kenny showed what a Machoke was meant for, but I can't hold back the feeling Kenny chose ot use Machoke, a Fighting-type, because Dawn planned on using Ambipom, a Normal-type.
* Dawn, Kenny is a coordinator, of course he saw the Wallace Cup, infact I was kind of surprised Kenny (nor Nando on that manner) weren't in it. Being it was held in Sinnoh, I would think most of the Sinnoh Coordinators would have tried to compete in it.
* So a bit of Ambipom's performance was based upon some of that ping-pong training. However I have to admit its not very different from some of Dawn's other Performances. However it sure got Mamoswine's attention.
* And, to the surprise of approximately no one, Dawn, Kenny, and Jessie make it through into the Battle Round. And does it really matter who gets their 5th Ribbon or to the Grand Festival first, I thought it was the coordinator who won that gets the Ribbon Cup?
* After watching the first Battle Round, I have to say that type-wise only Kenny and his Prinplup had things a bit easy. Though we saw them winning, Jessie and Seviper was up against a Gastrodon (West) who, being a Ground/Water-type, has a resistance to Poison-types. As for Dawn and Ambipom, I wonder how Dawn was able to get through the first Battle Round as their opponent was a Haunter, and Ghost-types are immune to Normal and Fighting-type attacks which are the only move types Ambipom knows!
* But no time to think about that now, As Dawn and Ambipom just beat Jessie and Seviper. However Dawn should have automatically won once Seviper was knocked out, yet they still let the timer run out (even if there was only a few seconds left Dawn would have won from K.O.ing Seviper).

This Is What Pokemon Ping-Pong Should Be About:
* Oh, while I'm not surprised it's Dawn and Kenny in the final round, I would have betted that Kenny would have used Machoke against Dawn knowing she would be using Ambipom, but instead he went with his Prinplup. Mamoswine still paying wide attention.
* How did Dawn lose points from Prinplup blasting down all of the Double Team Ambipom? Sure, Prinplup hit a lot of the fakes, but that is the point of Double Team, unless Prinplup hit the real Ambipom Dawn shouldn't have lost points. Anyway Danw gets payback by having Ambipom ping-pong the Bubblebeam back.
* Oh, so now the Battle turned into a ping-pong match! And you want to know something, I think this is what Pokemon Ping-Pong should be! Only with Pokemon with the "ball" they are using will do damage if you miss! However I do have to wonder why the Bubblebeam bubbles haven't all popped from being smacked back and forth?
* GAH! Dawn lost! Well being this was for Dawn's fifth ribbon I actually shouldn't be surprised (Dawn has to go through the "this is the last Pokemon Contest before the Grand Festival!" urgency) but yet I am! Dawn also looked to have been winning but Dawn seemed to forgot in Pokemon Contests going "head on" is a VERY bad idea for your points.
* So I guess this makes Dawn and Kenny even, not only in number of wins and losses against each other but number of ribbons too. Hey Mamoswine, being you're paying wide attention, why not lend a helping tust in Dawn's next Pokemon Contest? Another surprise is that Meowth volunteered to help Jessie in the next Pokemon Contest! I wonder what Meowht has scheming...?
* No Dawn, I think you got too much hanged on using Ambipom for both the Performance and Battle Rounds, correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't that the reason why Ash was knocked out of the Wallace Cup because his opponent knew Buizel's every move?
* I got to agree with Kenny here Barry, you should be the last person to tell anyone about taking a break. Wait, you mean Dawn and Ambipom weren't planning to enter the Pokemon Ping-Pong Tournament before? THEN WHY WERE THEY PRACTICING FOR IT? Well, Ambipom was practicing along with Ash and Barry but still Dawn gave the indication she had Ambipom doing in on purpose.

This is a great episode.

It's Dawn's Sandalstraw Contest this week! Can she win against Kenny a second time?

A good episode, but definitely not the best Contest episode. Even though it was predictable, it was still great. I feel bad for Ambipom... and as for Kenny, well, he's really annoying and his scratchy voice is a real put-off, but he is a great competitor.

am i the only oen who noticed that ambi beat a haunter? HOW IN THE WORLD IS THAT POSSIBLE?????????????????????????

anyways nice episode even though i wish jessie won