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May 15 2010 Pokémon Sunday 291
Episode PictureThe latest episode of Pokémon Sunday, Forest of Pikachu / The Announcement of Pocket Monsters BW Material Including 'Partner Pokémon' and 'Zorua and Zoroark's moves' (ピカチュウのもり / ポケットモンスターBW「パートナーポケモン」「ゾロア・ゾロアークの技」等を発表!), aired today in Japan.

This week featured a continuation of last weeks rerun theme, 'Pikachu and Nyarth's Nice Little Talks', and Forest of Pikachu was this weeks repeat episode. In this episode, Satoshi's Pikachu discovers a forest full of other Pikachu's. Curious to find out more about the Pikachu's in this forest, Satoshi attempts to be friendly with them, only for them to run away. Rocket Gang shows up and tries to capture all the Pikachu's. Can Satoshi and friends stop the Rocket Gang and rescue the Pikachu's?

In this episode, Robert is sent out dressed as reporters looking for the latest scoop on the upcoming 13th movie The Ruler of Illusions Zoroark (幻影の覇者 ゾロアーク) and Pokémon Black and White (ポケットモンスター ブラック・ホワイト).

Robert's first stop was a Pro Wrestling Dojo. A paper with the scoop information was attached to one of the wrestlers who were practicing in the ring. Akiyama enters the ring and tries his best to get it off his foot but he is afraid that he will get hurt. Finally all three members of Robert enter the ring. Akiyama gets body slammed but after the wrestler attempts to body slam him again, Akiyama manages to avoid it and wrestler is stunned from his attempt. Yamamoto quickly grabs the paper off the wrestlers foot and Robert heads back to the PokéSun Headquarters.

Upon arriving at the headquarters, Shoko-tan reveals that Jun'ichi Masuda (増田順一) from GAME FREAK had sent them a DVD labeled 'Top Secret' (秘) and the video is played. A new battle scene video showing the graphics from the upcoming games is displayed. Raikou is seen using Aura Sphere (はどうだん) against an Entei which then is revealed to be Zoroark. It is revealed that Zoroark has a new ability called Illusion (イリュージョン) which allows it to transform into various Pokémon including Entei that was shown in the video.

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In the next segment, Robert and Director Lucario head out into the forest with Celebi. While there they encounter a bag on the ground and they open it to reveal Japanese comedian and contortionist Esper Ito (エスパー伊東). He preforms a few tricks including putting his body through a tennis racket. Upon returning to the Headquarters, Shoko-tan plays another video. In the video it shows Celebi in the Ilex Forest and it starts glowing and then takes the player back in time. The player is then seen battling Rocket Gang Boss Sakaki with his Nidoking and the players Celebi as the video ends.

In the third an final segment featuring Robert, they are sent to the Trick Art Museum. Yamamoto is seen standing on a wooden plank that appears to be spanning across a deep hole. Akiyama and Baba attempt to help him but Yamamoto looses his balance and begins to fall off the plank only to realize that what looked to be an endless pit was a solid floor. In another exhibit, Yamamoto looks through a hole into a room where Akiyama looks to be a few feet taller than Lucario. They finally come upon a lobster exhibit with a chest. They take the chest and return with it to the PokéSun Headquarters only to find out that its empty.

A chest appeared in the room and the crew needed to raise and lower black and white flags in the order that the announcer indicated without making a mistake. Shoko-tan was first and managed to get the chest to be lowered a bit. Golgo went next and as a trick near the end, he had to make a strange face instead of moving the flags. He was also successful and the chest was lowered again. Finally Akiyama went and he almost exclusively had to do funny faces until the final instruction which was to raise the white flag to throw him off guard. He wasn't fooled and was also successful. The chest was fully lowered.

As a follow up to last weeks episode, the silhouettes of the three new starter Pokémon were finally revealed. The information was also posted in Coro Coro which was released the day before.

Picture Pokémon Info Ability Type Height Weight
Tsutaja (ツタージャ) Grass Snake Pokémon Overgrow Grass 0.6m 8.1kg
Pokabu (ポカブ) Fire Pig Pokémon Blaze Fire 0.6m 9.9kg
Mijumaru (ミジュマル) Sea Otter Pokémon Torrent Water 0.5m 5.9kg

Battle videos showing the three starter Pokémon are displayed just after they are revealed. Tsutaja (ツタージャ) is seen using Leaf Storm (リーフストーム), Pokabu (ポカブ) is shown using Flamethrower (かえんほうしゃ) and finally Mijumaru (ミジュマル) is shown using Water Pulse (ずのはどう).


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The new starters artwork was also shown. Players are able to choose either one of these characters upon starting the new games.

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The Isshu Region (イッシュ地方) was announced and a picture of Hiun City (ヒウンシティ) was shown. A video of the streets of the city was also shown. The players character walks around with a lot of other computer controlled characters on the streets of the city.


Characters and Pictures from this episode have been added to the episode guide. You can also comment and discuss this episode on the forum. Also be sure to rate this and other episodes in the episode guide.
picThe latest episode of Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl 176 - Semi-Finals! Who will Advance to the Finals!? (セミファイナル!決勝へ進むのは!?) aired on Thursday in Japan.

The Sinnoh Grand Festival is continuing at the Lakeside Resort and Hikari prepares to face Musashi in semi-finals Contest Battle round. In the other semi-final match, Nozomi battles against Naoshi. Who will move onto to the finals?!

Characters and Pictures from this episode have been added to the episode guide. You can also comment and discuss this episode on the forum. Also be sure to rate this and other episodes in the episode guide.
May 08 2010 Pokémon Sunday 290
Episode PictureThe latest episode of Pokémon Sunday, Lord Nyarth's Island!? / Group Member Baba Trains in order to Win Back the Pokémon Battle Throne! / The Announcement of the New Pokémon XX! (おニャースさまのしま!? / 馬場隊員がポケサンバトル王座奪還を目指して特訓!/新ポケモンの○○を発表!), aired today in Japan.

This weeks episode started with the Pokémon Sunday crew wishing Shoko-tan a happy birthday as she celebrated it on May 5th. They brought out a large box which ended up being a large ice cream cone hat. She thanked them and put the hat on and introduced this weeks repeat episode.

This week featured a continuation of last weeks rerun theme, 'Pikachu and Nyarth's Nice Little Talks', and Lord Nyarth's Island!? was this weeks repeat episode. In this episode, Nyarth is separated from his friends on an island where the inhabitants treat him as their god. A full summary for this episode is available in the episode guide.

Professor Red started off the live action segment of the show by revealing his latest invention, the RED 056 Guess the Pokémon Quiz SHOW! (クイズポケモンあてまSHOW!). The device is based on the recently released quiz board game with the same name that gets players to put a card into the device and slowly reveal the Pokémon behind the screen. Screenshots from the board games commercial are posted below. Professor Red adapted his machine to put people in it instead and then asked the crew to guess who they thought was behind the screen.

Shoko was able to guess the first person behind the screen, Handsome Yamamoto, after he made a few funny faces against the screen. The next person to be revealed was Shoko-tan Akiyama which Golgo guessed correctly. Akiyama was dressed up just like Shoko which scared the real Shoko-tan a bit.

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In Baba's recent battles, he hasn't done very well and the crew believes that his battling is currently weak. Baba vows to regain his fighting spirit and return to his position as the strongest battling member in the Pokémon Sunday crew. He decides to go to the Pokémon Center to battle people there. He looses his first double battle and then quickly looses his second one. Both times the challengers smack him with a fan. Hoping that his practicing had increased his luck and skills, Baba was challenged by the in-studio guest of the week to a battle. Unfortunately for Baba, he lost and he had to give up his Kyorge.

During the Pokémon Game Arena segment, the three Pokémon silhouettes were revealed. More information regarding them will be announced on next weeks episode.


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Characters and Pictures from this episode have been added to the episode guide. You can also comment and discuss this episode on the forum. Also be sure to rate this and other episodes in the episode guide.
picThe latest episode of Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl 175 - Manmoo, Pachirisu! Finish it with Ice Chandelier!! (マンムー、バチリス!決めろ氷のシャンデリア!!) aired on Thursday in Japan.

The Sinnoh Grand Festival is continuing at the Lakeside Resort and Hikari prepares to face Urara in the Contest Battle round. Urara is looking forward to defeating Hikari but who will move onto the next round?!

Characters and Pictures from this episode have been added to the episode guide. You can also comment and discuss this episode on the forum. Also be sure to rate this and other episodes in the episode guide.
picThe latest episode of Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl 174 - The Grand Festival Begins! The Art of Flame and Ice!! (グランドフェスティバル開幕! 炎と氷のアート!!) aired on Thursday in Japan.

The Sinnoh Grand Festival has begun at the Lakeside Resort and Hikari prepares to participate in the Appeal round. All of her rivals have arrived and have qualified to participate in the tournament as well. Who will do well in the Appeal round and move onto the next round?!

Characters and Pictures from this episode have been added to the episode guide. You can also comment and discuss this episode on the forum. Also be sure to rate this and other episodes in the episode guide.
Apr 24 2010 Pokémon Sunday 288
Episode PictureThe latest episode of Pokémon Sunday, The Forest of Kimori! Protect the Giant Tree!! / Grand Festival Anticipation Cosplay! (キモリの森!巨大樹を守れ!! / グランドフェスティバルをなりきり大予想!), aired today in Japan.

This week featured the continuation of the rerun theme 'New friends! Get Pokémon!' and The Forest of Kimori! Protect the Giant Tree!! was this weeks repeat episode. The episode features Kimori and how he is captured by Satoshi. A full summary of this episode is available in the episode guide.

To celebrate the upcoming Grand Festival arc on Pocket Monsters Diamond and Pearl, the Pokémon Sunday crew decided to hold their own Grand Festival and cosplay some of the main characters from the show. Akiyama dressed up as Nando (Naoshi / ナオシ), Yamamoto dressed up as Jessie (Musashi / ムサシ), Baba dressed as Zoey (Nozomi / ノゾミ) and the special guest for this episode, Yutti (ゆってぃ) was Dawn (Hikari / ヒカリ).

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The event started with the appeal part of the Grand Festival each person pretending to be a certain Pokémon that was associated with the character they were cosplaying. The appeal segment required each person to peddle on a bike that was hooked up to a television. The person who was able to generate enough power to run the television for the longest amount of time would be the winner. A video clip of that character was displayed when they generated enough power.

The next phase had Baba as Nozomi's Nyarmar faced off against Yutti (ゆってぃ) as Pochama. Each person had to use one of the Pokémon's attacks to break a line of balloons. The first person to break all the balloons and reach the finish line would be the winner. Baba as Nozomi's Nyarmar used Iron Tail and bounced on the balloons. Yutti (ゆってぃ) as Pochama used Peck and wore a beak on his face to pop the balloons. Both had trouble popping the balloons but Yutti ended up winning to eliminate Baba.

Yamamoto dressed up as Musashi's Habunake faced off against Akiyama as Naoshi's Korotok in the other tournament bracket. Yamamoto used Habunake's bite attack to pop the balloons. He wore vampire Halloween teeth and bit into the balloons to pop them. Akiyama did a karate chop like move to portray the X-scissor attack but it didn't prove to be very effective. Yamamoto easily won the match and eliminated Akiyama which setup the final of Yamamoto (Musashi) vs Yutti (Hikari).

The final round was an obstacle course that required Yamamoto and Yutti to race through it to the end. A stuffed plushie was on a table at the end of the course and the first person to pick up their corresponding plushie would win the Grand Festival. The obstacle course featured a balance beam with Baba and Akiyama throwing things at them and a spin the bat phase that required them to put their head on the bat and spin around. The two were very close all the way to the end but Yutti was able to grab the Pochama plushie first by being coherent enough after the bat spinning to win the tournament.
picThe latest episode of Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl 173 - Metamon Transform Battle! Which One~ is it that's Real!? (メタモン・へんしんバトル!本物はドッチ~ニョ!?) aired on Thursday in Japan.

While on route to the Lakeside Resort for the Sinnoh Grand Festival, Hikari and Satoshi encounter two Metamon's that cause trouble by transforming into Pokémon that look just like theirs. Rocket Gang then shows up and steals the Metamon's to give to the boss. Will Satoshi and friends be able to recover Makinas' Metamon's?

Characters and Pictures from this episode have been added to the episode guide. You can also comment and discuss this episode on the forum. Also be sure to rate this and other episodes in the episode guide.
Apr 17 2010 Pokémon Sunday 287
Episode PictureThe latest episode of Pokémon Sunday, Sonansu and the Pokémon Trade Meet!! / A Report on 'Alternate Colorations' around the World / Information on the New Games Part 2 (ソーナンスとポケモンこうかんかい!! / 世の中の“色違い”を大特集 / 新作ゲーム情報第2弾!), aired today in Japan.

This week featured the continuation of the rerun theme 'New friends! Get Pokémon!' and Sonansu and the Pokémon Trade Meet!!(ソーナンスとポケモンこうかんかい!) was this weeks repeat episode. The episode features Sonansu and how he becomes a member of Rocket Gang. A full summary of this episode is available in the episode guide.

The live action segment started off by showing the new trailer from Movie 13 The Ruler of Illusions Zoroark (幻影の覇者 ゾロアーク) that was posted on the official site.

The crew then announced the information for the upcoming Movie download events, including the Celebi that will be available in theaters. Pre-order movie ticket information has been posted on the official movie website. Below is the announced information for each Pokémon.

Pokémon Information Ticket
Entei
Entei
Level: 30
Poké ball: Cherish Ball (プレシャスボール)
Ribbon: Classic Ribbon (クラシックリボン)
Attack 1: Flare Blitz (フレアドライブ)
Attack 2: Crush Claw (ブレイククロー)
Attack 3: Howl (とおぼえ)
Attack 4: ExtremeSpeed (しんそく)
Item Held: Custap Berry (イバンのみ)
ticket
Raikou
Raikou
Level: 30
Poké ball: Cherish Ball (プレシャスボール)
Ribbon: Classic Ribbon (クラシックリボン)
Attack 1: Zap Cannon (でんじほう)
Attack 2: Weather Ball (ウェザーボール)
Attack 3: Aura Sphere (はどうだん)
Attack 4: ExtremeSpeed (しんそく )
Item Held: Micle Berry (ミクルのみ)
Suicune
Suicune
Level: 30
Poké ball: Cherish Ball (プレシャスボール)
Ribbon: Classic Ribbon (クラシックリボン)
Attack 1: Sheer Cold (ぜったいれいど)
Attack 2: Aqua Ring (アクアリング)
Attack 3: Air Slash (エアスラッシュ)
Attack 4: ExtremeSpeed (しんそく)
Item Held: Rowap Berry (レンブのみ)
Celebi
Celebi
Level: 50
Poké ball: Cherish Ball (プレシャスボール)
Ribbon: Classic Ribbon (クラシックリボン)
Attack 1: Nasty Plot (わるだくみ)
Attack 2: Leaf Storm (リーフストーム)
Attack 3: Healing Wish (いやしのねがい)
Attack 4: Recover (じこさいせい)
Item Held: Jaboca Berry (ジャポのみ)

Robert was impressed with the different colored Pokémon and decided that they needed to investigate and then report the different colors in the world around them from food, buildings and people. Baba started off by putting multiple colors in his hair. They then tried alternate colored food, like black corn and a white strawberry, before finally showing off the different colors the Tokyo Tower takes when lighted up during various occations. During the Pokémon Game Arena, Golgo battled in Pokémon Battle Revolution and beat the girl pretty quickly.

At the end of the show, Shoko-tan debuted a short video showing the city from the 6 high quality screenshots that were featured in this months issue of Coro Coro and posted on the official site.


A Pokémon Black and White page has been added to the Games section of the site and will be updated as information is revealed.
picThe latest episode of Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl 172 - Togekiss! A Battle of Splendor!! (トゲキッス! 華麗なるバトル!!) aired on Thursday in Japan.

While on route to the the Lakeside Resort for the Sinnoh Grand Festival, Hikari and Satoshi come upon a wide open field and decide to train their Pokémon. Rocket Gang arrives and Musashi is intent on getting Togekiss. Will Hikari be able to stop her?

Characters and Pictures from this episode have been added to the episode guide. You can also comment and discuss this episode on the forum. Also be sure to rate this and other episodes in the episode guide.

The standard Professor Okido's Great Pokémon Examination segment was replaced this week with extended previews of the upcoming Grand Festival and Satoshi's 8th gym battle. A new trailer for the upcoming movie The Ruler of Illusions Zoroark (幻影の覇者 ゾロアーク) also aired. The movie trailer showcased an audio clip from the movie theme, Ice Cream Syndrome (アイスクリーム シンドローム), which was announced last week.

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High quality screenshots from the new trailer have been added to the Imageboard. The official site has posted the full trailer at http://www.pokemon-movie.jp/trailer/.
ThumbnailThe official Pocket Monsters Movie 13 website has announced that Sukima Switch will sing the ending theme for the upcoming movie, The Ruler of Illusions Zoroark (幻影の覇者 ゾロアーク). The theme is titled Ice Cream Syndrome (アイスクリーム シンドローム) and director requested that the song be a "medium tempo love song". Clips from song will debut throughout Japanese theaters starting April 17th, 2010.

Sukima Switch (スキマスイッチ) is a jazz rock band consisting of two guys, Takuya Ōhashi (大橋卓弥) and Shintarō Tokita (常田真太郎). They are well known to anime fans for singing the third opening to Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood titled Golden Time Lover.

Sources: http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/music/75134/full/
http://www.pokemon-movie.jp/cd/
http://www.office-augusta.com/sukimaswitch/information_sukima.html#release_icecream