The announcer introduced the show by saying: "Today we'll celebrate a brand new start of Pokémon Best Wishes Season 2! So stay with us! Pokémon Smash!" The episode started of with the Smash crew looking at a countdown clock that had 143 hours left on it till Pocket Monsters Black 2 and White 2 would be released in Japan. Akiyama then slightly hit the clock with his hand and it completely reset it to have just a few seconds left on it till launch. Golgo shows up and they all quickly cover up the clock and Golgo wonders what's under the cover. The clock then starts saying the final 10 second countdown and then announces the launch of the games. Golgo gets mad and Yamamoto says that Akiyama was the one that touched the clock.


Professor Red introduced this weeks rerun episode as part of the Pokémon Library. The theme for the episode was: Koiking do not become Gyarados in one day (ギャラドスは1日にしてならず！). This weeks Pokémon Library rerun episode was Koiking! The Secret of Evolution!! (コイキング！　しんかのひみつ！！) from the original series. The moral is a play on the saying "Rome was not built in one day" (ローマは1日にしてならず). A full summary of that episode is available in the episode guide. Professor Red said his go-to line 'OK! Pokémon Library!' to start the repeat episode.

After the Pokémon Library episode, the International Division girls show up and Hana is holding a huge poster for Pocket Monsters Best Wishes Season 2 which starts airing 4 days after this Smash episode. Hana then handed over the poster to reveal that she was dressed up as a Pirouette Form Meloetta.


As part of Project-Z, Hana announced some special guest and the girls from Momo-iro Clover Z, the group that sings Mitemite kotchitchi and do the Meloetta dance, showed up in studio. Each was wearing a costume of a Pokémon that matched their member color. Reni Takagi (高城れに) was Purple and Gureggru, Kanako Momota (百田 夏菜子) was Red and Hitokage, Momoka Ariyasu (有安 杏果) was Green and Fushigidane, Shiori Tamai (玉井 詩織) was Yellow and Pikachu while Ayaka Sasaki (佐々木 彩夏) was Pink and Purin. Then then lipsynced and sang the song Mitemite kotchitchi. Their CD Maiden War which features the song was released in Japan on June 27th, 2012 and information about the CD can be found in our CD database. Everyone laughed at Golgo's dancing.


The Adventure Division and the International Division then played their VTR that promotes the Anime in places related to the Word 'East'. Akiyama was dressed up as Satoshi once again to help promote the new season of Best Wishes. Yamamoto then said that Best Wishes Season 2 takes place in East Isshu (イーストイッシュ). The narrator then showed the audience where it was on the map. Hana then showed up to help people do the Meloetta dance. They first visited East 21, a hotel with the word east (東) in it 5 times in Japanese. K. Higashi (東) was the spokesperson for the hotel as his name also had 'east' in it. They left a poster at the hotel to promote the new series. Hana, Robert and K. Higashi then danced the Meloetta dance together.


A clip from the upcoming Best Wishes Season 2 was shown and it was revealed that Champion Master Shirona would be making an appearance. Her love of ice cream continues as she orders some Tunbear Ice (ツンベアーアイス). Hikari and Pochama will also be returning as well.


Robert and Hana then went to visit Monceau Fleurs flower shop. The gave them a poster for the new series as well. There they received a season 2 bouquet of flowers. Once again they all danced the Meloetta dance. Another clip from the upcoming episode Survival at Iwark Island! was shown. Another clip showed Hikari and all her Pokémon interacting with Satoshi's new Pokémon as well as Kibago and Yanappu.


Robert and Hana then went to visit the Enjoy! East restaurant. The 's' in the word east is actually crossed out so that its can also mean 'Enjoy! EAT'. While they were all talking, Akiyama began eating some of the food and Yamamoto tries to stop him. Akiyama then states that Meloetta plays a large role in the next season. The host then returns with a plate of food that looked like Meloetta. The staff all joins in to do the Meloetta dance while Akiyama stuffs himself full of food.


Visitors can buy the Meloetta plate from the Enjoy! East restaurant for 980 yen and can also buy the bouquet from the Monceau Fleurs flower shop for 1500 yen from June 22nd, 2012 until July 22nd, 2012.


Another clip that shows parts of the new Best Wishes Season 2 opening theme Become a Pointer! (やじるしになって!) was then shown. The song is sung by Rica Matsumoto (松本梨香). It showed Satoshi's Pokémon at Okido's lab with his mom, Kenji and Okido. Keldeo and the three legendaries were also shown as was the intro logo effect for Season 2.


For their last stop, Hana and Robert visited with some kids at Sesame International Preschool. They asked them what Pokémon they liked and then got them to also dance the Meloetta dance.


Back ins studio, Ayaka Sasaki (佐々木 彩夏) and Shiori Tamai (玉井 詩織) had a double battle against Shoko-tan and Misaki. Despite all their experience, Shoko-tan and Misaki ended up loosing the battle. As 'punishment' for loosing, the entire Smash team held hands and were zapped by a shocking Pikachu.

In Mijumaru's Tweet Corner, Mijumaru reminded viewers of the movie 14 vote that was still going on for the July 12th special airing. Reshiram was winning by 30000 votes at the time of airing. A few more clips from the upcoming Best Wishes Season 2 series was shown.

Shoko-tan and Misaki then revealed that Keldeo can change into a new form called its Resolution Form (かくごのすがた) only when it knows the move Secret Sword. When that move is replaced, Keldeo will revert back to its Usual form (いつものすがた). Video showing the Keldeo Secret Sword event was then displayed.

Black 2 White 2 Secret Sword Event

In B2W2, a special event will occur in the forest by the second town, Sanagi Town, resulting in Keldeo learning the special move Secret Sword. Immediately after learning the move, Keldeo will transform into its Resolution Form. Keldeo will be able to re-learn Secret Sword by doing this event again. You will not be able to trade a Resolution Form Keldeo to Black and White. If you wish to trade Keldeo to one of these games, you must revert it to its Usual Form by forgetting Secret Sword. To make Keldeo learn Secret Sword in Black and White, put Cobalon, Terrakion and Virizion on your team and head to the Moor of Sekka! However, this will not make Keldeo change to its Resolution Form.

Multiple events relating to Kyurem VS the Sacred Swordsman Keldeo have been announced recently.

7-Eleven Promotional Pokémon Lunch Boxes

Japanese 7-Eleven stores are to offer special "Kyurem VS the Sacred Swordsman Keldeo"-themed lunchboxes during a limited period. The lunch boxes must be reserved online, and picked up at your local store at the reserved date and time. The lunch box contains a salmon/spinach rice ball, a ketchup rice ball, fried shrimp, napolitan spaghetti, salisbury steak, potato salad, broccoli and omelet, and comes with specially designed chopsticks, a handkerchief and a keychain. The boxes cost 1,280 yen a piece, and must be ordered prior to August 1st.


Source: http://www.711net.jp/page/g/491019?adcd=fm109000

Toyopet Pokémon Festival

Toyota's Toyopet stores will be running a Pokémon campaign June 15th to June 24th. During this period, visitors can fill out a contest form, and be entered into a lottery. 24 000 winners will receive a special Tomica replica of the Pokémon Car known from Pokémon Smash, while 19 000 winners will receive a Toyopet Pokémon School set, containing a name tag, a pencilboard and a handkerchief. All entrants will also receive a set of Pokémon stickers.


Source: http://toyota.jp/toyopet/sp10days2012/index.html

Nissay Preorder Ticket Giveaway

Insurance company Nihon Seimei ("Nissay") is currently running a movie ticket giveaway campaign. 200 sets of two special pre-order tickets for "Kyurem VS the Sacred Swordsman Keldeo", complete with the voucher for the Keldeo event, will be given out through a raffle. Applicants can enter the raffle between June 1st and July 6th.


Source: http://www.nissay.co.jp/enjoy/campaign/pokemon2012_index.html

Next Generation World Hobby Fair '12 Summer

The Pokémon franchise will be heavily represented at this year's Summer World Hobby Fair, which will be held June 30th and July 1st, as well. The girls from the International Division of Pokémon Smash will be present at the Pokémon booth, where they will offer quizzes, roleplay contests, and even let you dance the Mitemite Kotchitchi dance with them. The booth will also offer the latest news on both the movie and the TV shows "Best Wishes Season 2" and "Pokemon Smash", and a special stage show with the Pokémon Smash cast will be held as well. Tickets for this show will be give out through a raffle, and those interested can apply at http://www.pokemon-movie.jp/topics/whf12summer.php. 400 sets of 3 tickets will be given out.


Source: http://www.whobby.com/

The Rocket Gang Secret Empire Pokémon Radio Station

As previously mentioned, Sakaki has opened a twitter account for the purpose of recruiting new Rocket Gang members. Recently, Sakaki had to leave on urgent business, and the account is currently being run by Nyarth, who has been using it to plug a Rocket Gang-themed radio show he is about to launch. A complete translation of all tweets from this account can be found here and is continuously updated. The show will premiere on InterFM (Tokyo 76.1 MHz/ Yokohama 76.5 MHz) Sunday July 1st, and will be broadcast every Sunday 7:00 PM to 7:30 PM.


Sources: https://twitter.com/#!/Pokemon_Radio and http://www.interfm.co.jp/rocketdan/

Pokémon Smash 87 - Nyarth's ABCs / A Special Feature on Pokéwood! / Maria and Group Member Akiyama Predict the Content of Satoshi and Friends' Movie and Film a Preview / Experiencing Pokéwood in 'B2W2'! (ニャースのあいうえお / ポケウッド大特集！ / マリア＆秋山隊員がサトシたちの映画の内容を予想して予告編を撮影 / 「B2W2」を使ってポケウッドを体験！) aired in Japan on June 3rd, 2012.

During the first commercial break for the show, a new trailer for the upcoming games Pokémon Black 2 White 2 was shown. It included CGI effects of Black Kyurem and White Kyurem and a few in-game screenshots showing the return of Ghetsis, N, Reshiram, Zekrom and Kyurem are shown in the trailer. Screenshots from the trailer have been posted on the imageboard thread.

Commercials

Pocket Monsters Best Wishes Season 2 Trailer

A trailer for the upcoming series Pocket Monsters Best Wishes Season 2 (ポケットモンスター ベストウイッシュ シーズン2) was also shown during the second commercial break. The clip informs viewers that the new series starts on June 21st, 2012 and shows Hikari and Shirona returning as well as Meloetta. Screenshots from the trailer have been posted on the imageboard thread.

Pokéwood

Shoko-tan and Misaki showed off screens from Pokéwood and then Golgo then tried it out by playing it. After selecting a few options to setup his movie in the green screen room, he then premiered his movie for viewers to watch.

On May 5th, 2012, Shoko Nakagawa, one of the hosts of Pokémon Smash, celebrated her 10th Anniversary in the entertainment business and her 27th birthday by having a concert celebration called "10th Year Celebration! SHOKO NAKAGAWA LV UP LIVE Super☆Outdoor Music Festival (10元突破！SHOKO NAKAGAWA LV UP LIVE 超☆野音祭) at Osaka Castle. She sang 27 songs for the concert and Pikachu was one of the guests. Approximately 3100 people attended the event which started off with a bit of rain but ended in good weather and 25C temperatures. An additional performance was also held on May 6th, 2012 in Hibiya, Tokyo.


Shoko-tan will also be having her first Asia tour to celebrate her 10th anniversary. Concerts will be held in five cities in Asia with her bands, starting in Hong Kong on Saturday, July 7 and Sunday, July 8, 2012. Sunday, July 22, 2012 she'll be perforiming in Taipei, Sunday, August 5th, 2012 in Singapore, Friday, August 31st, 2012 in Shanghai and finally Sunday, Setptember 2nd, 2012 in Guangzhou. She stated about the tour that: "I want to sing to make Japan and the world happy and let people know that Japan is doing well."

A bunch of special CD's were released in Japan on May 2nd, 2012 titled: Shoko-tan Best――(°∀°)――!! (しょこたん べすと――(°∀°)――!!). The CD's have been added to our database as they include the album version of the 12th Pocket Monsters theme 'Antenna of the Heart' (心のアンテナ). There are four variants for sale, each has different things included. Details of each CD set is available in the CD database.


Sources: http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/deview/2011216/ and http://ameblo.jp/nakagawa-shoko/entry-11242536066.html

On March 6th, 2012, Shoko Nakagawa posted three pictures on her blog that showed a banner on the Pokémon Smash set that said: Pokémon Anime 15th Anniversary Special (ポケモンアニメ１５周年スペシャル). On Sunday April 1st, 2012's episode of Pokémon Smash, Pokémon! I Choose You! (Digitally Remastered Version) / A Special Celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the 'Pokémon' anime, with an Appearance from Rica Matsumoto! / A Feature of 15 Years Worth of Movies / The Dearly Missed Pokémon Join the Celebration! (ポケモン！きみにきめた！ (デジタルリマスター版) / アニメ「ポケモン」15周年記念スペシャル、松本梨香さんが登場！ / 15年間の映画情報 / 懐かしいポケモンたちがお祝いに！), a special episode was broadcast which was also the exact anniversary date of the anime which began airing in Japan on April 1st, 1997. Shoko-tan posted back stage pictures with the Pokémon Smash cast and Rica Matsumoto (松本梨香) who appeared in the special. Hikozaru also was reunited with Shoko-tan.


Source: http://ameblo.jp/nakagawa-shoko/entry-11184556192.html

Pokémon 15th Anniversary Special Episode Summary

After introducing the various segments making up today's episode, the show's announcer started it off with the words "Good morning! We will celebrate 15 years of Pokémon TV series! It's time for Pokémon Smash!" After Golgo, Shoko-tan, Robert and the International Division collectively greeted the viewers with a "Pokémorning!", Golgo mentioned that today was April 1st, and asked the others if they knew what day that was. Hana said it was April fool's day, and Golgo answered that while that's true, it's also a Pokémon-related commemoration day. Maria suggests it's the day Akiyama started playing Pokémon and got fat, while Baba suggests it's the day the Pokémon Center got listed on the stock market. Golgo can't believe they don't know and asks Shoko-tan to tell them, and she explains how, on this date, 15 years ago, the very first episode of the Pocket Monsters anime was broadcast. Right after she says this, Professor Red walks in with a package, explaining how the digitally remastered version of the first Pocket Monsters episode is finally complete. After he shows a clip from the old version and a clip from the new version played side by side to highlight the differences, Golgo explains that they'll show this digital remaster right now, propting Red to use a special go-to phrase: "OK! Digital Remaster!"

After the episode airing, the announcer explained that today's episode is a 15th Anniverary Special for the anime, and how they'll look back at 15 years of adventure together with their special guests. As we cut back to the hosts, they introduce the special properly with banners and posters, and Golgo calls on the first guests: Pikachu and Gonbe. Robert greet their old friend Gonbe, and the announcer explains how he used to work with them earlier. Golgo introduces the next guest as an obvious participant at this celebration, and calls in Rica Matsumoto herself, and Shoko-tan bows down and praises her.

The crew starts listing various key points about the anime: It started airing April 1st 1997, as of today a total of 736 episodes have aired, the highest viewership rating it got was 18.6%, and it currently airs in 77 countries. Additionally, the first opening theme, Matsumoto's "Mezase Pokémon Master" is not only a million seller, but a double million seller, which leads her to perform that very song for the audience.

Next up is the first installment of a segment titled "the Pokémon Anime Playback", which shows various clips from the anime in a manner very similar to the "Strange and Cool Pokémon Plays" segments from the Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station show. In the first of these segments, which focuses on Satoshi, we see him dressing up in various manners and being hit by various Pokémon moves.

As we cut back to the studio, Golgo notices that Rica sees to have hidden herself behind a curtain. Throwing it aside, he discovers his old friend Yamirami is there instead, and as the two greet each other, the narrator explains how Yamirami used to work with Golgo and how great friends they were. As Rica reveals herself, having been standing just outside of camera range, Shoko-tan starts explaining the series' history using a giant billboard full of illustrations and references. The crew explains and shows clips referencing the various key aspects of each of the four series, "Pocket Monsters", "Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation", "Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl" and "Pocket Monsters Best Wishes", covering aspects such as which region they took place in and who Satoshi's travelmates were. Pochama's popularity as a cast member of Diamond & Pearl is brought up, leading into the introduction of the next guest: Pochama itself.

Another installment of the Pokémon Anime Playback follows, this one focusing on Pikachu, and shows off its power, its (lack of) speed, its love for ketchup and its knack for making amusing faces, as well as its amazing Pokémon mimicry skills.

As the show returns from its commercial break, Robert have prepared a new segment, focusing on several "secret" facts about Satoshi. The first point they bring up is the similar personalities the Pokémon of the same type seem to have. Waninoko and Mijumaru, both Water types, are fun-loving and do things their own way, his Fushigidane and Tsutarja, both Grass types, are serious, no-nonsense Pokémon, and his Fire type Pokémon Pokabu and Hikozaru were both met through dramatic circumstances and were both characters with traumatic histories. This coverage of Satoshi's Pokémon leads them to introduce the next two guests, Leader Kimori and Hikozaru, and the narrator explains how Robert and Shoko-tan used to work with them in the past. As the two Pokémon leave, Robert bring up their next "secret" - Satoshi's amazing strength, which is demonstrated by showing him carrying the 6kg Pikachu on his head while both running at high speeds and jumping great distances, and further by lifting the 49.5kg Hippopotas both in his arms and, again, on his head.

Next we get another Pokémon Anime Playback installment, this one focusing on the Rocket Gang, in particular their various disguises, including Kojiro's Professor Red disguise and Nyarth's Chief Golgo disguise, as well as a showcase of some of their different mechs. As the segment ends, the next guest walks in on his own - it's Nyarth himself, in his first appearance on Pokémon Smash.

Robert asks Rica if she'd be interested in doing a dubbing skit with them, and she agrees, which launches a parody dub of select scenes from the Tornelos VS Voltolos VS Landlos episodes, with Rica voicing Satoshi, Baba voicing Tornelos, Yamamoto voicing Voltolos and Akiyama voicing Landlos, all recorded right there on the spot, as the apparantly partly improvised dialogue changes the Pokémon's battle into one over who ate Landlos' cake.

As the show returns from another commercial break, the International Division introduce their personal segment, a presentation of the 14 Pokémon movies that have been made to date, co-hosted by two new guests, Director Lucario and the Jagged-Eared Pichu. Following this presentation, the girls bring up the latest information of "Kyurem VS the Sacred Swordsman Keldeo", which will debut July 14th: The movie will again have a poster design contest, where Japanese kids can download the black-and-white basic poster design from the official site and design a poster featuring an uplifting message for the people of Japan. The three girls and Shoko-tan show off the example posters they have designed.

Golgo then announces the secret project that has been mentioned a couple times - a 15th Anniversary Roleplay Contest, where Robert as "Team Meloetta" and the International Division as "Team Keldeo" will be competing against each other through viewer support, similar to the Black-White Cheering Showdown from last year. Viewers are given a list of movie Pokémon connected to each team, and can then earn points for the team by sending in pictures of themselves portraying one of these Pokémon. The episode then ends with Rica and the PokéSma crew doing a performance of "Best Wishes" together.

Pokémon! I Choose You! (ポケモン！きみにきめた！) - Digitally Remastered Version

Until the remastered version of Pokémon! I Choose You! (ポケモン！きみにきめた！) aired in Pokémon Smash 78, the highest quality version of the episode was available on DVD in the Pokémon Best Collection DVD Kanto Volume (1) (ポケモンベストコレクションDVD カントー編（１）. The quality difference between the two is very evident and the episode has never looked better. Gone are various defects caused by the inital transfer of the episode from its original film version to a broadcastable version.

The over the air version from TV Tokyo 7, in which this comparison is based off of, broadcasts digitally with a NTSC resolution of 1440x1080, with an aspect ratio flag set to 16:9 and a frame rate of 29.97. While the episode is actually 4:3 and is pillerboxed, the video for the episode has an effective resolution of 960x720. The DVD's resolution is NTSC 720x480, 4:3, 29.97fps. It is quite evident from the remastered broadcast that it was mastered in high definition as the original film is more than sufficient to support high definition. While the OTA resolution and bitrate is not nearly as high as it is possible with Blu-ray, an eventual home release on Blu-ray could correct resolution and bitrate issues. The film grain is a lot more evident in the remastered version but this is very common with shows originally mastered on film and then viewed in high definition.

On September 23rd, 2010, during the Best Wishes debut celebration, Pokémon! I Choose You! (ポケモン！きみにきめた！) aired in the special It's About to Start! It's a Pokémon Festival! Best Wishes (8:00) (もうすぐスタート！　ポケモン祭りだ！　ベストウイッシュ (8:00) on TV Tokyo. While the special was broadcast in high definition, the episode was clearly still in standard definition as comparing this special broadcast to the remastered broadcast clearly shows a difference.

Mastering Changes

The obvious change as stated above is the resolution change. The mastering into high definition gives a lot more detail to the episode than the previous master. This is most evident when looking at text in the episode which is easier to read. The text on the remote in Hanako's hand is a good example of this.


Later in the episode, the Japanese text on Okido's gate is a lot easier to read. The kanji in "Okido Laboratories" (オーキド研究所) is also easier to see.


A color balance and color correction is also clearly evident throughout the remastered version. Gangar's color is more vibrant and the contrast is greatly improved.


The remastering process seems to have scanned in the full frame as the DVD version in comparison is cropped left, top and right. The broadcasted digitally remastered version though seems to have cropped the full frame off a bit at the bottom, possibly to help remove the blackness at the bottom at scene change frames. The Shigeru/Satoshi scene outside the lab is a good place that shows this. In the remastered version, more of the man on the left can be seen and it shows that the tree on the right splits half way up. In the DVD version though, more of Satoshi's arms can be seen as well as the pants of the man on the left.


A direct frame line up from the DVD upscale to match the remastered version shows the difference. The frame on the left is the DVD upscaled frame. The red border is the part of the picture that is in the remastered version but not in the DVD version. The middle frame is what the remastered frame looks like. The frame on the right is the remastered frame with the bottom part of the upscaled DVD version added. The red part in the right frame is the missing part of the full frame scan.


Ghosting from the DVD encoding process is now gone in the remastered version. Reverse Telecine (IVTC) could not fix this issue with the DVD and deinterlacing made it even worse.


Scene change frames that had blackness at the bottom caused by the original telecine process or tape, have been removed from the remastered version. This was one of the most annoying things about watching the original series and it makes it a more enjoyable viewing experience with it being removed.

Episode changes as a result of the Remastering Process

Various small changes to the episode have been incorporated in the remastered version. It is obvious that some of these changes were originally intended to be shown but the original master had transfer problems. Below is a list of these changes and they can also be found in our episode guide edit list for this episode.

The latest episode of Pokémon Smash, Lucky's Clinical Records / The PokéSma Members Start their Training for the World Championships, Joined by New Members! / Misaki the Fighting-user Takes the Stage in the Elite Four Battle! (ラッキーのカルテ / 世界大会を目指してポケスマメンバーが特訓を始動、新メンバーも参加！ / 四天王バトルはかくとう使いのミサキ！) aired this Sunday in Japan.

The show's announcer started the episode off with the words "Hello, boys and girls! We're back to get you the latest Pokémon news! It's time for Pokémon Smash!" TIM and Shoko-tan walked onto the set as Maria was flipping one of the giant coins used in the PokéSma Card Battles, and they asked what she was doing. Robert explained she was testing her luck in getting heads on the coin, and that this tied into the special project the Adventure Division and the International Division were working on. Golgo asked if it was time to reveal the project soon, and Misaki told him they were just about done with their preparations, and they could reveal it afterwards.

This prompted Golgo to introduce the Pokémon Library segment. Today's episode was selected and presented by Yamamoto, who explained its moral as "Show kindness towards all kinds of people" (どんな人にも優しくしよう). The episode was Lucky's Clinical Records (ラッキーのカルテ) from the original series. A full summary of that episode is available in the episode guide. Professor Red said his go-to line 'OK! Pokémon Library!' to start the repeat episode.


After the rerun episode had ended, Golgo finally came forward and revealed the mysterious, secret project they had been talking about earlier: The Adventure Division and the International Division will be participating in the video game tournament Japan Cup 2012 Spring and the card game tournament Battle Carnival 2012 Spring, attempting to become Japan representatives at the world championships in Hawaii. Shoko-tan asks which members will participate in which cup, and they reveal that Robert and Misaki will be entering the video game tournament, while Hana and Maria will go to the card game tournament. Shoko-tan asks if two members isn't a bit too little for the card game tournament, but Hana assures her that's "No problem" , and Red starts saying the new members will take care of that, before getting interrupted by Yamamoto, who launches today's VTR segment.


The segment starts by explaining the layout of the video game tournament. Participants start out by registering for the May 2012 wi-fi tournament Japan Cup 2012 Spring, which is open for everyone, but has a limited number of positions. The highest ranking players here continue on to the Japan Representative Election Tournament to be held in June, and the winners in each division get to travel to Hawaii as Japan representatives in the Pokémon World Championships 2012, which takes place in August.


In order to "level up" their skills before the tournament, the four PokéSma representatives head to Game Freak, where they get another private lecture with Battle Director Shigeki Morimoto (森夲茂樹) himself.
Akiyama is the one most concerned about his own battling abilities (and about the possibilities of sleeping on the plane to Hawaii), and requests a lecture on combo moves similar to the Water Absorb combo he's already familiar with.

The first combo he explains is the one of Yadon's "Own Tempo" Ability and Dredear's "Teeter Dance" move. Teeter Dance is a move that always hits and confuses all other Pokémon on the field, while "Own Tempo" prevents Confusion, so if Dredear uses it with Yadon as its partner, both opponents get confused without any negative effects to your own team.

Next, he describes a combo of Nyorotono's "Drizzle" Ability, which can only be found on Nyorotono acquired through the PGL, and Tornelos "Hurricane" move. The Drizzle Ability automatically changes the current weather to rain, and Tornelos' very powerful but not particularly accurate Hurricane move gets a 100% hit rate when used during rain.

The next combo is that of Nyorotono's Drizzle and Voltolos' Thunder move. Like Hurricane, Thunder is a very powerful but inaccurate move that gains a 100% hit rate during rain.
Next, he describes the combo of Yukinooh's "Snow Warning" Ability and Yukimenoko's "Blizzard" move. Working similarly to the above combos, Snow Warning automatically changes the weather to a hailstorm, while Blizzard is a similarly strong, but inaccurate move that gains a 100% hit rate during hail.

Another, different type of weather combo is Bangiras' Ability "Sand Stream" and Doryuzu's Ability "Sand Rush". Like the earlier Abilities, Sand Stream automatically changes the weather to a sandstorm, while Doryuzu's Sand Rush Ability doubles its Speed in such weather, in addition to preventing the automatic damage caused by sandstorm weather.



Next, the segment focuses on Hana and Maria's card game tournament, and Baba reveals what Red hinted at earlier - since their video game team of Robert and Misaki has four members, and Hana and Maria's card game team only has two, they'll have to recruit a pair of new members for it. The two are asked what kind of members they would want on their team; Hana says she wants someone knowledgeable about the card game, and Maria says she wants someone lucky. Baba says they'll then gather up a group of kids, and select the most knowledgeable and the luckiest among them to join the Hana/Maria team.

15 kids between the ages 6-11, all experienced with the card game, are assembled to participate in the selection.

The first selection is for the most knowledgable among the group. The 15 kids are gathered into one room and given a set of 20 true/false questions on various aspects of the card game. Three examples of questions from the test are given:

At present, there are 10 different Pokémon types in the card game?
A Pokémon can not be evolved immediately after playing it from the hand?
Your resistance reduces damage inflicted by Pokémon of that type?

After time is up, Robert announces the correct results - the answer to every single question on the test was "True". This shocks all the kids, and when Robert asks all who answered True on all 20 questions to raise their hands, not a single hand is raised. When everyone who had 19 "True" answers are asked to raise their hands, two kids raise their, though: 8-year-old Tsubasa Funasaki (船崎飛翼) and 6-year-old Isshin Osawa (大澤一心).

The two are picked out and put through a final quiz to determine which is the most knowledgable. They'll be given True/False questions to answer by jumping to the right for "True" and to the left for "False" until only one remains.
Some of the following questions were asked:

#	Question	Answer
1	A Confused Pokémon can not retreat?	(X) False Spoiler: Click to show!
4	A Pokémon affected by the special condition Paralysis is not cured of the condition if the coin flip during the condition check phase is not heads.	(X) False - Paralysis is cured automatically without any coin flips Spoiler: Click to show!

Tsubasa gets the fourth question wrong, which means Isshin is declared a member of the PokéSma card game team.

The second selection is for the luckiest of the kids present. This selection starts with a contest where, after spinning around for 10 seconds and getting dizzy, the kids are to run over to one of several face-down energy cards and select one. Those who selected the same cards as the ones Hana, Maria and Isshin are revealed to be holding. The three cards were revealed to be Psychic, Steel and Lightning Energy, which were held by 6 kids total: 10-year-old Masayuki Haruhara (春原雅之), 10-year-old Tomoya Shikano (鹿野智哉), 8-year-old Taiyo Sugino (杉野大陽), 8-year-old Sakura Kobayashi (小林さくら), 7-year-old Yume Kobayashi (小林ゆめ) and 8-year-old Yuto Oya (大矢悠人).

The six continue on to the next part, where they will each flip a giant coin at the same time, trying to get heads. Three of the participants will continue to the next stage; Yume and Taiyo are the only two to get heads on the first flip, so the four remaining kids get to flip again. Sakura and Yuto get heads this time and face off against each other, where Sakura gets heads again and get to join Yume and Taiyo in the finals.

In the finals, the three members of Robert are each seated under a metal tray held up by a string, and the kids play rock-paper-scissors to determine which order they get to choose a string in. After choosing one string each, they are then given a pair of cissors to cut it with at the count of three. Only one string is actually connected to the tray so cutting it will cause the tray to fall onto the Robert member's head, and the one to select this string will be deemed the luckiest of the contestants. When the strings are cut, the tray above Yamamoto's head falls onto him, and Taiyo, who chose that string, wins the contest and gets to join Isshin as a member of the card game team.

We are then given an explanation as to how the card game works. The Pokémon Card Game Battle Carnival 2012 Spring tournament will be held in May and June 2012, and the winners of this go on to represent Japan in the Pokémon World Championships 2012 in Hawaii.

Wanting further instructions on how the card game is played, Hana and Maria head to The Pokémon Company to see Teacher Takashima, though he tells them that since he'll be acting as a judge during the tournament, he's not allowed to give them any coaching. The group decides to go elsewhere for help, seeing Shigeru Kanda (神田繁), one of the developers at Creatures, who design the card game, and who has represented Japan in the World Championships as a card game player several times in the past.

Kanda explains that the tournament is played with a 60-card deck, and that they will have to learn how to construct a deck to win at a tournament-level. He brings out the two recently released half deck sets, the "Sazandora Deck 30" and the "Gablias Deck 30", which he'll use as the basis of his lecture.

He explains that, like these decks, one has to build a deck with a specific theme that can lead to victory, like a "Pokémon EX deck" that focuses on using a Pokémon EX to win, a "combo deck" that creates a combo using the powers of multiple cards to support each other, or a "coin toss deck" that focuses on luck with the coin. Either way, one should focus on a theme for the deck. As an example, one can replace the Tamagetake card from the Sazandora Deck 30 with the Giratina EX card from the newly released Dragon's Blast explansion pack to strengthen that deck.

Kanda asks Hana and Maria what kind of decks they would like to build; Hana says she has enjoyed combining moves in her earlier card game sessions and would like to make a combo deck, while Maria trusts her good luck and wants to create a coin deck. They're then told to start creating such decks, and we're told one should aim at having roughly 20 Pokémon cards, 20 Trainer's cards and 20 Energy cards in a 60 card deck.

As we cut back to the studio, the crew reveals that the two new members of the card game team, Knowledge King Isshin and Super Luck King Taiyo, are right there in the studio, and they are brought onto the set to introduce themselves properly. Golgo dubs the two full teams the "PokéSma 8", and tells them to combine their forces and head for Hawaii!


This episode's Elite Four challenger is 10-year-old Rito Wakatsuki (若月莉都), who challenges Misaki. Yamamoto reveals that she ranked best 8 in the Saitama Preliminaries for the Pokémon World Championships 2010, and Golgo says the medal for beating an Elite Four member might find itself an owner now. And true enough, Rito wins easily, only losing a single Pokémon, and becomes the first challenger to win the Battle Master Gold Medal.

Shoko Nakagawa posted three pictures on her blog recently that shows a banner on the Pokémon Smash set that says: Pokémon Anime 15th Anniversary Special (ポケモンアニメ１５周年スペシャル). It appears that this is from a recent block of Pokémon Smash filming and the 15th Anniversary Special episode will most likely air on Sunday April 1st, 2012's episode of Pokémon Smash as it is the exact anniversary date of the anime which began airing in Japan on April 1st, 1997. It appears Rica Matsumoto (松本梨香) will be a guest as she is in a picture back stage with the Pokémon Smash cast. Hikozaru also appears like it will make a brief appearance as Shoko-tan took a few 'reuniting' pictures from the set.


Source: http://ameblo.jp/nakagawa-shoko/entry-11184556192.html

Junichi Masuda has confirmed that he will be on this weeks Pokémon Smash #73 - The King of the Forbidden Forest! Fushigibana!! / Both Robert and the International Division Participate in the Pokémon Quiz Caravan in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture / A Rayquaza Duel in Group Member Baba's Elite Four Battle! (禁断の森の王者！　フシギバナ！！ / 宮城県仙台市でポケモンクイズキャラバン、ロバートやインターナショナル部も参加 / 四天王バトルは馬場隊員、レックウザ対決！) despite the previews or previously released information about the episode not even mentioning it at all.

On February 7th, 2010's episode of Pokémon Sunday, episode #277, Junichi Masuda appeared on the show to introduce new games that GameFreak had been working on for four years. The titles of the games were not announced on that appearance but they ended up being Pokémon Black and White (ポケットモンスター ブラック・ホワイト). He also revealed a silhouette which ended up being Zoroark.

This time last year on Pokémon Smash #21, GameFreak Game Designer Shigeki Morimoto (森本茂樹) was on the show but he did not announce anything and just helped the Smash crew with their battling skills. Masuda insists though that he "will be making a VERY important announcement, so be sure not to miss it!! Watch it live on TV!. Below is Junichi Masuda's blog post.

HIDDEN POWER of masuda Director's Columns - No.221 (English)

IMPORTANT NEWS!! On this coming Sunday, Februrary 26, 2012, from 7:30 A.M, I, Masuda, will be appearing on TV TOKYO’s Show, “Pokémon Smash!”

Not only that. And there… I will be making a VERY important announcement, so be sure not to miss it!! Watch it live on TV!

And, for those of you who can’t watch television on live, I will announce the same information right after the show via twitter!! Everyone, I hope you all enjoy the show!! Ciao!

*TV program “Pokémon Smash!” can be seen only in Japan.

Source: http://www.gamefreak.co.jp/blog/dir_english/?p=497

Movie 15 Poster

A new Pocket Monsters Movie 15 Kyurem VS the Sacred Swordsman Keldeo (キュレムVS聖剣士ケルディオ) poster has been revealed by the Japanese website emifull.jp. The poster reveals what appears to be two new Kyurem (キュレム) formes as well as announces the return of the shorts to the cinema. Meloetta's Sparkling Recital (メロエッタのキラキラリサイタル) is the 15th movie short and will debut with the movie as part of a double feature screening. It is unclear if their will be an ANA short this year or not now.

Pokémon Smash #73

The Pokémon Smash announcer started off the show revealing that "we got super ultra special news for you" and the screen captions indicated that it would be game related. A brief clip of Junichi Masuda was shown of him revealing the news on a card but it was covered over with a big question mark. The segment where Junichi Masuda revealed what was on that card is at the end of the show. After the Pokémon Library episode, Shoko-tan then announced that Junichi Masuda's announcement would be near the end of the show.


During the marketing department segment after the viewer battle, Junichi Masuda finally showed up to make his big announcement. Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 (ポケットモンスター ブラック2・ホワイト2) were announced by Masuda and that they are Nintendo DS games and they will be released in June 2012. This seems to indicate that they will not have 3DS features. The names of the new Pokémon or new formes were not announced but further details will be revealed on next weeks episode of Smash. They appear to be Kyurem (キュレム) formes mixed with Zekrom (ゼクロム) and Reshiram (レシラム).

Official Japanese Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 (ポケットモンスター ブラック2・ホワイト2) Website Launched

Just after Smash finished airing, the official Japanese Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 (ポケットモンスター ブラック2・ホワイト2) website launched. It announced the date for the games release as well as showed off the two new Pokémon.

Official English Pokémon Website Announces Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 Versions

Pokémon fans, get excited for two incredible new adventures! Announcing Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2, coming soon for the Nintendo DS™ family of systems. The games can also be played in 2D on the Nintendo 3DS™ system.

Source: http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-video-games/pokemon-black-version-2-and-pokemon-white-version-2/

Masuda's Further Tweets

Shortly after the airing of the episode, Masuda announced on his Twitter account that the new Legendary Pokémon were named Black Kyurem (ブラックキュレム) and White Kyurem (ホワイトキュレム), hinting that these new powers were somehow related to Zekrom and Reshiram.

Source: http://twitter.com/#!/Junichi_Masuda/status/173573680125841410

Junichi Masuda has confirmed that he will be on this weeks Pokémon Smash #73 - The King of the Forbidden Forest! Fushigibana!! / Both Robert and the International Division Participate in the Pokémon Quiz Caravan in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture / A Rayquaza Duel in Group Member Baba's Elite Four Battle! (禁断の森の王者！　フシギバナ！！ / 宮城県仙台市でポケモンクイズキャラバン、ロバートやインターナショナル部も参加 / 四天王バトルは馬場隊員、レックウザ対決！) despite the previews or previously released information about the episode not even mentioning it at all.

On February 7th, 2010's episode of Pokémon Sunday, episode #277, Junichi Masuda appeared on the show to introduce new games that GameFreak had been working on for four years. The titles of the games were not announced on that appearance but they ended up being Pokémon Black and White (ポケットモンスター ブラック・ホワイト). He also revealed a silhouette which ended up being Zoroark.

This time last year on Pokémon Smash #21, GameFreak Game Designer Shigeki Morimoto (森本茂樹) was on the show but he did not announce anything and just helped the Smash crew with their battling skills. Masuda insists though that he "will be making a VERY important announcement, so be sure not to miss it!! Watch it live on TV!. Below is Junichi Masuda's blog post.

HIDDEN POWER of masuda Director's Columns - No.221 (English)

IMPORTANT NEWS!! On this coming Sunday, Februrary 26, 2012, from 7:30 A.M, I, Masuda, will be appearing on TV TOKYO’s Show, “Pokémon Smash!”

Not only that. And there… I will be making a VERY important announcement, so be sure not to miss it!! Watch it live on TV!

And, for those of you who can’t watch television on live, I will announce the same information right after the show via twitter!! Everyone, I hope you all enjoy the show!! Ciao!

*TV program “Pokémon Smash!” can be seen only in Japan.

Source: http://www.gamefreak.co.jp/blog/dir_english/?p=497

The announcer introduced the show by saying: "Today we'll get you Pokémon Quiz Caravan. Right here on Pokémon Smash! So, let's get started!". Golgo and the entire Pokémon Smash crew greeted the viewers with a "PokéMorning!". Golgo told everyone that January 8th (１月８日 ichigatsu yōka, though note that the nomber 8 by itself is read as "hachi") is Sink or Swim Day (イチかバチか ichikabachika), or in other words, a day of tempting fate. He wanted Robert to play a little game on this theme of tempting fate, and had raised a metal wash pan up in the air with three strings nearby. Only one of them was actually holding up the wash pan and they would each take turns cutting a string to see if the pan fell on them or not.


To motivate them, Golgo decided he'd give out two stationary cards that had Pokémon art on them as New Year's gifts. Akiyama was the first to go and he picked 2. Professor Red cut the string and the pan stayed in the air and Akiyama got one of the cards. Yamamoto was next and he picked 1 and the pan fell on his head.

Shoko-tan introduced this weeks rerun episode as part of the Pokémon Library. The theme for the episode was: Looks can be deceiving!(人はみかけによらない！). This weeks Pokémon Library rerun episode was We Pichu Brothers 'The Lesser Detective Nyarth has Arrived!' 'Niece Ruriri is a Major Pain?' (迷探偵ニャース参上！／メイッコルリリは大迷惑?) from the Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station series. A full summary of that episode is available in the episode guide. Professor Red said his go-to line 'OK! Pokémon Library!' to start the repeat episode.

After the Pokémon Library episode, Victini Yamamoto showed up, but quickly changed the "V" on its head upside down once again to make a "へ (he)", thus transforming into へ Yamamoto. へ Yamamoto told the crew they would be playing a "stop the differences" quiz like the one from the Quiz Caravan; he had changed 5 things around in the Pokémon Enterprise set and wondered if they could find them. The crew began looking around for the changes. Hana was the first to spot a change as she noticed that the logo for P.E. (Pokémon Enterprise) was changed to H.E (he へ). Maria then spotted that the picture of Victini had been changed to へ Yamamoto. Baba noticed that "POKABU" had been changed to "He yamamoto" on the side wall. Shoko-tan noticed that the scallsword (hotachi ホタチ) on her belt had been changed to a へ. Their time was up though and they didn't get the 5th one, the most obvious one - Yamamoto himself.


Professor Red and Golgo then introduced the VTR for the Quiz Caravan. For this quiz they visited Tachikawa City Elementary School, Tokyo (東京都　立川市立　上砂川小学校) where 114 grade 3 students awaited them. The first segment of the quiz was the 'Black/White Quiz' (ブラックホワイトクイズ). The kids were all on their own this time but were also divided up into two main groups and they would move to either the Black (X) or White (O) side when the questions were asked.

Below are the questions that were asked in Round 1:

#	Question	Answer
1	Anime - Does Satoshi's voice actor Rica Matsumoto sing the opening theme for Pocket Monsters Best Wishes? (ポケットモンスター ベストウイッシュのオープニングテーマを歌っているのはサトシの声優・松本梨香さんである)	(O) Yes Spoiler: Click to show!
2	TCG - Does the BW Pokémon Card Game Starter Set contain Zoroark? (ポケモンカードゲームBWはじめてセットにはゾロアークが入っている)	(X) No Spoiler: Click to show!
3	Anime - Is Professor Okido's first name Yukinari? (オーキド博士の下の名前はユキナリである)	(Y) Yes Spoiler: Click to show!
Special Question (特別問題)	Pokémon Smash - Did Director Golgo have bread for breakfast today? (きょうゴルゴ所長は朝ごはんにパンを食べた)	(X) No Spoiler: Click to show!

As all the kids were answering the exact same way at all questions, they were all eliminated at the third question, so Professor Red came up with the special question none of them could possibly do anything other than guess at in order to properly eliminate some team members. A new event was introduced in this episode: the Tornelos/Voltolos/Landlos Dress-up Dash Relay Quiz! (トルネロス ボルトロス ランドロスなりきりダッシュリレークイズ!). One kid would dress up as Tornelos, Voltolos or Landlos and sit in a cloud. The kids would have to count the number of Pokémon on a chart and then pull the dressed up kid across the yard to Red or Golgo and report how many Pokémon they counted. If they got it wrong, they had to go back and start over.


The final event was the Victini's V-Generate Find the Differences Obstacle Course Quiz (ビクティニのＶジェネレート障害物まちがいさがしクイズ). Participants would wear a helmet with a V shaped container that had balls in them. They would have to go through the obstacle course while trying not to drop the balls. The first part was finding a candy ball in a flour pan, the second part was looking in a mirror to put balls in the V helmet, the third part was popping a balloon and the final part was group skipping. For each ball that they had left at the end of the obstacle course, the team would get 1 second on the clock. White Team ended up winning the quiz caravan with 120 points, while Red team got 100 points, and Black team got 110 points.

Mijumaru Tweet Corner

During the tweet corner, the Pocket Monsters Best Wishes data broadcast was showcased. When viewers push the d-button on their remote control during Best Wishes, a data broadcast is shown. Viewers can then choose their favorite Pokémon as their own partner, then wait until the battle gauge has built itself up and then they get the chance to enter a Pokémon Battle! If the viewer selects a move that's "super effective" against the opposing Pokémon, a new Pokémon will be registered in their Pokémon Zukan! The Data broadcast started in Pocket Monsters Best Wishes #63. Players can get wallpapers for their mobile phones as a present for playing.


Dark Type Elite Four Member Shoko-tan took to the Stage in the Elite Four Battle against 10 year old Yuuto Sakakibara(榊原悠斗). He came prepared with a Sazandora for the battle against Shoko-tan as she watched her beat Golgo in Pokémon Smash #52 with her Sazandora. Unfortunately his technique didn't pay off and Shoko-tan ended up winning the battle.

Pokémon Center - Year of the Dragon - Event Distribution

Baba announced the special alternate colored Dragon egg event that is being held at the Japanese Pokémon Centers to commemorate year of the Dragon for a few weeks at the beginning of 2012. Players of the Japanese versions of Pokémon Black and White can visit the Pokémon Center's and receive an egg each week for four weeks.


The four distribution periods are:

1. January 6th, 2012 to January 15th, 2012
2. January 16th, 2012 to January 22nd, 2012
3. January 23rd, 2012 to January 29th, 2012
4. January 30th, 2012 to February 5th, 2012

Players can randomly receive one of the six different Dragon Pokémon. Information on the six Pokémon that are being distributed has been added to our event database and the Pokémon are: Tattu, Nuckrar, Tyltto, Tatsubay, Crimgan and Monozu.