The latest episode of Pocket Monsters Best Wishes 17 - The Roughneck Who Came From An Egg! (タマゴからかえったあばれん坊！) aired on Thursday in Japan.

En-route to Hiun City, Satoshi and friends decide to take a break when suddenly his egg begins to glow. Will Satoshi's egg finally hatch and what will it hatch into?!

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 official Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver website posted a news article for the Ash's Pikachu event at Toys"R"Us later this month in which it announced the title of the new season of the English dub. The 14th English dubbed season will be called "Pokémon: Black & White", the same name as the games. The Japanese and Taiwanese versions of the same series are called "Best Wishes (ベストウイッシュ)". The title 'Best Wishes' is a double pun in Japanese.

Press Release

Ash and his partner Pikachu have been through thick and thin together in their adventures on TV and in the Pokémon movies. Now, they prepare to go on all-new adventures in the latest TV season, Pokémon: Black & White! Follow Ash, Pikachu, and a brand-new cast of characters as they discover never-before-seen Pokémon throughout the Unova region.

Source: http://www.pokemongoldsilver.com/us/#/news/ashspikachu/

Pokémon Smash Episode 15, Takeshi & Satoshi! Defend Nibi Gym in a Tag Battle!! / The Legendary Pokémon 'Reshiram' and 'Zekrom' Appear in a Card Game Battle!? / Announcing the New Move for Victini, Which Will Appear in the Movie! (タケシ＆サトシ！　タッグバトルでニビジムを守れ！！ / ポケモンカードバトルに伝説のポケモン「レシラム」「ゼクロム」が登場！？／映画に登場するビクティニの新しいワザを公開！), aired on Sunday in Japan.

The episode begins with Golgo, Shoko, and Robert wondering where Professor Red was as he hadn't showed up yet. Just then, Professor Red runs in and greets everyone. Professor Red had a deck of Pokémon Trading Cards and he is excited to learn about the game.

Golgo introduces this weeks rerun episode as part of the Pokémon Library and Akiyama announces this weeks theme, Cannot win with Power alone! (パワーだけでは勝てなう！). This weeks rerun episode was Takeshi & Satoshi! Defend Nibi Gym in a Tag Battle!! (タケシ＆サトシ！　タッグバトルでニビジムを守れ！！) from the Advanced Generation series. A full summary of that episode is available in the episode guide. Red said the go-to line 'OK! Pokémon Library!' to start the repeat episode.

After the repeat episode, the International girls arrive and say they will be going out to do a task dealing with the Pokémon Card Game. Robert from the Adventure Division quickly take exception to that as they believe that's what the Adventure Division is for. Hana takes exception to their complaining and tells them to "Shut up!". Yamamoto then announces they will be doing a Pokémon Card Battle using the latest BW set.


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The teams were the same as the last card battle. Hana, Misaki, and Yamamoto were on one team and Maria, Baba, and Akiyama were on the other team. The International Group and Adventure Group meet up with Teacher Takashima (タカシマ先生) who was once again their teacher for this segment of the show.

This time Teacher Takashima lets them design their deck the way they wanted before the battle. At first Maria's team had 12 Pokémon and only 3 energy cards. He then points out that some of the cards they had chosen had attacks like Enbuoh's (エンブオー) Flare Drive (フレアドライブ) that required 4 energy cards to use. He then looked at Hana's selections and noticed her team had a better Pokémon card to energy card ratio but they didn't have enough Fire energy cards to use Reshiram's (レシラム) Blue Fire (あおいほのお) move which requires at least 2 fire energy.


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Both teams took Teacher Takashima's advice and rebuilt their decks. Maria's team went from 3 energy cards to 9 but reduced the Pokémon cards from 12 to 6. Hana's team added a couple more Fire energy. They each shuffled their decks and placed them on the large mat. Hana's team went first and the first card they picked up was Reshiram (レシラム BC 013/053). Hana states in English: "It's a good one!" and they put it on their bench. They also attach a Fire energy to Yamamoto Mijumaru (ミジュマル WC 011/053) who is their currently active battle Pokémon.


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Hana attached a Grass Energy to Akiyama Monmen (モンメン BC 004/053) giving it enough energy to use Cotton Guard (コットンガード) which deals 10 damage. Akiyama got a cotton ball and a tissue to tickle Yamamoto's nose to imitate the move. Hana then picked up a water energy and gave it to Yamamoto Mijumaru giving him enough energy to use Shell Blade (シェルブレード) which does 20 damage plus 20 more damage if a coin flip is heads. Hana flipped the coin and got head. Yamamoto hit Akiyama with a stuffed pillow that looked like a shell dealing Akiyama Monmen 40 damage but only 10 damage points counted due to Monmen's resistance to water attacks and a -10 modifier from using Cotton Guard.

Maria's team picked up a Lightning Energy card and gave it to Baba Zekrom (ゼクロム WC 020/053). Maria also evolved Akiyama into Erufuun (エルフーン BC 005/053). They used Helping Hand (てだすけ) which allows them to choose 1 Basic Energy card from their deck and attach it to their Benched Pokémon. They chose a Lightning Energy card and applied it to Zekrom. Hana picked up Futachimaru (フタチマル WC 012/053) and evolved Yamamoto and said it was one of their 'Best Card's. Yamamoto uses Aqua Tail (アクアテール) which does 30 damage plus 10 more damage for each heads they flip. Hana rolled a heads and Yamamoto hit Akiyama with a tail attached to his back that was drenched with water but it only dealt 20 damage in the end. Maria decided to switch Akiyama and Baba and applied another Lightning Energy.


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Maria instructed Baba to use Zekrom's Lightning Strike (らいげき) attack which deals 120 damage to the opponent and 40 damage to itself. Baba touched Yamamoto's nose while holding an electric conductor and it shocked Yamamoto to simulate the Lightning Strike attack. That knocked out Yamamoto's Futachimaru (フタチマル WC 012/053) and gave Maria's team the win.

As announced earlier in the week on the official Pocket Monsters movie website, Shoko-tan announced the full title for the 14th Pocket Monsters movie. Victini and the Dark Hero - Zekrom (ビクティニと黒き英雄ゼクロム) will debut in Japanese theaters on July 16th, 2011. To celebrate the new movie, a Victini that knows the move V-Generate (Ｖジェネレート) will be distributed. Full distribution details have yet to be announced.


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During the Marketing Divisions segment, Elite Four (四天王) member Gima (ギーマ) was unveiled along with his Pokémon: Zuruzukin (ズルズキン), Waruvial (ワルビアル), Kirikizan (キリキザン) and Lepardas (レパルダス). Shoko-tan also revealed the legendary Pokémon: Cobalon (コバルオン), Terrakion (テラキオン), and Virizion (ビリジオン).


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 official Japanese Pokémon website has announced a new Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection download event for Pokémon Black and White. The 17th episode of Pocket Monsters Best Wishes will feature the hatching of Satoshi's egg hatching, making Zuruggu Satoshi's latest Pokémon. To celebrate this event, players of the Japanese versions of Pokémon Black and White have the opportunity to download Satoshi's Zuruggu (サトシのズルッグ) from January 28th, 2011 until February 10th, 2011. Below is the full information.

Pokémon	Info
Zuruggu (ズルッグ)	Level: 1
	OT: Satoshi (サトシ)
	ID: 01281
	Poké ball: Cherish Ball
	Held Item: Muscle Band

C-Gear Wallpapers

To celebrate the upcoming 1 hour Pocket Monsters Diamond and Pearl Special, it was also announced that from January 27th, 2011 until March 30th, 2011, players of the Japanese versions of Pokémon Black and White have the opportunity to download special C-Gear wallpapers featuring Hikari's Pochama and Takeshi's Gureggru.


Sources: http://www.4gamer.net/games/104/G010490/20110114001/ and http://www.pokemon-sp.jp/news-sp/2011/01/0114_01.html

The latest episode of Pocket Monsters Best Wishes 16 - Rematch at Shippo Gym! New Move Explosion!! (再戦シッポウジム！新技炸裂!!) aired on Thursday in Japan.

After having lost his first battle with Aloe, Satoshi decides that he should train with Don George to increase his Pokémon strength and speed for their upcoming rematch battle with Aloe. Will the training prove to be enough to give Satoshi his second badge in the Isshu region?

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.

Furuya Tohru (古谷徹) announced on his website that he will be the voice actor for Arti, the Hiun City Gym Leader in the Japanese version of Pocket Monsters Best Wishes. Furuya Tohru is one of the biggest names in the Japanese voice acting arena, having played major roles in some of the most popular anime ever made. This will be his second role in the Pocket Monsters anime as he played Sorao (ソラオ) in the first movie.

Furuya is most known for his roles as Amuro Ray in the original Gundam series and its direct sequels, Pegasus Seiya in Saint Seiya, Yamucha in Dragon Ball and of course Mamoru Chiba from Sailor Moon, as well as Kyosuke in Kimagure Orange Road, Hyuma in Kyojin no Hoshi and Ribbons Almark in Gundam 00. He also portrayed the voice of Mario in some early Japanese productions.

He announced that he would be in three of the upcoming episodes of Best Wishes: Yaguruma Forest! Kurumil and Arti!! (ヤグルマの森！クルミルとアーティ！！) airing on January 27thm 2011, Hiun City - Fushide Panic! (ヒウンシティ・フシデパニック！) airing on February 24th, 2011 and Hiun Gym Match, Purehearted Bug Pokémon Battle! (ヒウンジム戦純情ハートの虫ポケモンバトル！) which airs on March 17th, 2011.

Update: Furuya Tohru's website has been update with revised airdates that better fall inline with the currently revealed episodes. The numbers stated are internal production numbers are are skewed by two because of the Hikari and Takeshi specials that aired on February 2nd, 2011.
★【TVアニメ】『ポケットモンスター　ベストウィッシュ　#22～ヒウンシティ・フシデパニック！』2/24（木）予定19：00-19：30/TV東京/アーティ役
★【TVアニメ】『ポケットモンスター　ベストウィッシュ　#25～ヒウンジム戦純情ハートの虫ポケモンバトル！』3/17（木）予定19：00-19：30/TV東京/アーティ役

Source: http://www.torushome.com/topics.html

Pokémon Smash Episode 14, Fushigidane's Mysterious Flower Garden / The TM Professor Teaches Zoroark a Move & A present from that Person Who Knows All Pokémon / Professor Red's Television Viewer Battle! (フシギダネのふしぎのはなぞの / ワザマシン教授がゾロアークに技を伝授＆ポケモンのすべてを知っているあの人からプレゼント / 視聴者バトルにはレッド博士が登場！), aired on Sunday in Japan.

This was the first episode to air in 2011 and Golgo wants to know what some of the members expectations and resolutions for this year are. Yamamoto reveals a scroll to everyone which states: "Undefeated champion" (無敗の王者). Shoko-tan brings up the point that Yamamoto isn't undefeated anymore as he lost his Mijumaru, Chibipero (チビペロ) in a battle last year in a Pokémon Battle against 8 year old Oguro Reina-chan (小黒玲奈ちゃん). Yamamoto explains that it wasn't really a loss though as he received her Mijumaru in exchange, so he still has a Mijumaru.

Shoko-tan then reveals her own scroll that states: Pokémon and Hormone (ポケモンとホルモン) which confuses everyone. She is then asked to explain herself and she says that her banner statement is not a pun and that her New Year's resolution is to love Pokémon and Hormone(-yaki) with all her might. Hormone-yaki is broiled pieces of pig innards. Red then reveals his scroll which states: Nobel Prize this year (今年こそ　ノーベル賞). Obviously Red has high expectations but Yamamoto notices that its signed 'Alfred' (アルフレッド) and he wonders if its correct. Yamamoto believes this is 'new evidence' (新事実) in determining Professor Alf'red's real name.


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Baba reveals his banner which states: Defeat Hiroshi Yamamoto (打倒　山本博). Baba states the obvious that he wants to reclaim his position as the champion. Baba tells them he's got his eyes on Yamamoto as he is the current champion and that one of their resolutions wouldn't be fullfiled this year as they conflict. Golgo goes next and reveals his banner which states: Good fortune and happiness will come to Poké (笑う門にはポケ来たる).

Golgo introduces this weeks rerun episode as part of the Pokémon Library and Baba announces this weeks theme, Don't rely on force alone! (まわりの力をあてにしないでがんばろう！). This weeks rerun episode was Fushigidane's Mysterious Flower Garden (フシギダネのふしぎのはなぞの) from the original Japanese series. A full summary of that episode is available in the episode guide. Red said the go-to line 'OK! Pokémon Library!' to start the repeat episode.

The International Division girls arrive after the repeat episode and Hana greets everyone by saying "Happy New Year". Each of the girls also had a banner to reveal. Misaki was first and her banner stated: High School Graduation (高校卒業). As she is turning 18 this year, she will be finishing high school. Hana was next and her banner stated: Always Smile! (いつもSmile!). Maria's stated: Keep on working at kanji (漢字を頑張る). Still young, she is still learning many of the Japanese characters.


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Zoroark also had a banner which revealed stated: Learn a new move (あたらしいわざをおばえる). Robert decides that that will be willing to help and they 'reveal' its newly learned move, Sleep (ねむる). Baba states that it recovers HP. Professor Red though states that Zoroark already knows how to Sleep, so it didn't learn a new move. Robert decides they need to show off another 'new' move and this time Zoroark uses Leer (にらみつける) with a pair of modified glasses on but Red and Shoko quickly state it isn't really using that move. Finally Robert gets Zoroark to show off their final move they have prepared for it, Attract (メロメロ) but once again Professo Red isn't fooled by the fake hearts in Zoroark's eyes that were used to emulate a real Attract move. Maria gets mad at Robert for trying to fool them with fake moves. Golgo then tells them to go help Zoroark learn a new real move.


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Robert and Zoroark then head out to meet the TM Professor to see if they can get him to teach Zoroark a new move. The TM Professor pulls out what looks like a Record Player to Yamamoto from his bag. He pulls out an Agility (こうそくいどう) TM but Yamamoto thinks its just a record and wonders if TM Professor is actual a D.J. They hook Zoroark up to the TM machine, insert the TM and begin to teach it to it. When they try to get him to use Agility it becomes apparent that even though Zoroark learned the move, his Agility was a bit slow still as its side to side movements were a bit lacking. The TM Professor decides to enlist Baba to test out a theory to improve Agility's speed. He also gets the Rope Pull Game Team - Wai Wai Women of Tokyo (つな引きチーム ワイワイレディース東京のみなさん) to help carry out his theory. He attaches Baba to two ropes and splits the team in half, 3 team members grabbing hold to one rope. He hopes by alternatively pulling the ropes, Baba's side to side Agility speed will be increased and they can use the technique on Zoroark to increase his Agility speed. Unfortunately the only thing it really accomplished was almost ripping Baba appart.

The TM Professor dig out another TM disk from his bag, this time its Hone Claws (つめとぎ). They then send Zoroark to a 'Nails' shop and it comes out 20 minutes later its nails done and hearts and jewels all over it. Robert are all confused until they realize that 'Nails' translates to tsume (つめ) in Japanese and that Zoroark had gone to a Nail Salon.


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The TM Professor goes at it again, this time they decide to teach it Detect (みきり). Detect enables the Pokémon to evade all attacks and its chance of failing rises if it is used in succession. They decided to test it out by setting up a bamboo practice sword to a pulley system to see if Yamamoto could catch it before it hit him. The test proved to be a failure as it always hit Yamamoto on the head when he wasn't paying attention but luckly he had a helmet on. They decided see if Baba was any better but he got hit on the head as well but without a helmet on. Finally they decide to see how Zoroark would do with its newly learned Detect move. Unfortunately it couldn't reach above its head high enough to catch it before getting hit on the head.


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Zoroark gets a bit mad at the fact that none of the new TM moves it learned were working out as they should and just as that happened it started using a new move which caused Robert and the TM Professor to fall on the ground. They are all amazed by the power of the move that Zoroark just used but they didn't have clue what move it was. They decide to go visit Jun'ichi Masuda to see if he could figure out what move Zoroark learned. He asks Zoroark to try to use the move again so he can see what it is and Zoroark uses it again. Robert, the TM Professor and Jun'ichi Masuda all fall to the ground. He then realizes that the move Zoroark learned was Bark Out (バークアウト). He explains that Bark Out deals damage and lowers the target's Special Attack by 1 stage as well as hitting all opponents in double battles and all adjacent opponents triple battles. Jun'ichi Masuda then states they will be giving out a present. It will be a Zoroark that knows Bark Out, a move no other Pokémon can learn or use.

The official Japanese Pokémon Website posted more detailed information about the Smash Zoroark event just after the episode finished airing. The Smash Zoroark will be available via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection from February 15th, 2011 until March 14th, 2011. Below are the full details.

Pokémon	Info
Zoroark (ゾロアーク)	Level: 50
	OT: PokéSma! (ポケスマ！)
	ID: 01161
	Poké ball: Cherish Ball
	Ribbon: Classic Ribbon
	Ability: Illusion
	Attack 1: Agility (こうそくいどう)
	Attack 2: Embargo (さしおさえ)
	Attack 3: Punishment (おしおき)
	Attack 4: Bark Out (バークアウト)

11 year old Taka Erika-chan was this weeks in-studio battler. She faced off against Professor Red and was able to defeat him. For winning she asked to trade his Kokoromori (ココロモリ). She gave him her Lowbushin (ローブシン) in exchange.

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.

Rica Matsumoto (松本梨香), the voice actor who play Satoshi in the Japanese animated series of Pocket Monsters, made two appearances on KINGRUN Anisong Kouhaku 2010 (アニソン紅白 2010). Anisong Kouhaku is a yearly broadcast in Japan that features live singing of songs from many of the popular animated series in Japan. On December 31st, 2010, New Years Eve, the show was broadcast in Japan at New Pier Hall (ニューピアホール) located in central Tokyo.


This years Anisong Kouhaku 2010 featured two songs sung by Rica Matsumoto. The first song she sang was "Alive a Life" from Kamen Rider Ryuki (仮面ライダー龍騎). The second song was Best Wishes! (ベストウイッシュ！), the current opening theme for the Japanese Pocket Monsters anime, also called Best Wishes! (ベストウイッシュ！). Last year, Rica was also on the show and sang two Pocket Monsters songs.


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Related link: http://anisonkouhaku.jp/

The latest episode of Pocket Monsters Best Wishes 15 - Shippo Gym Match! VS Gym Leader Aloe!! (シッポウジム戦！VSジムリーダー・アロエ！！) aired on Thursday in Japan.

After having solved Kidachi's mystery at the Shippo Museum, Satoshi asked Aloe for a gym battle which she agreed to. Will Satoshi be able to defeat Aloe to get his 2nd badge in the Isshu region?

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.

This article intends to evaluate the visual properties of Pocket Monsters movie 13 DVD. Content such as story, extras and other non-technical elements will not be discussed in this document. For episode specific information, the episode guide entry for this movie provides more detail on the non-technical aspects of the movie. Below are the basic stats of the reviewed retail DVD from the DVD databases entry for this movie.

DVD Information
Title 劇場版ポケットモンスター ダイヤモンド・パール 幻影の覇者ゾロアーク English: Theatrical Edition Pocket Monsters Diamond and Pearl The Ruler of Illusions Zoroark Audio Track(s) Japanese Publisher Media Factory / ShoPro Catalog # ZMBS-6060 Release Date 2010-12-17 Release Lang Japanese Aspect Ratio 16:9 Region Code Video Format NTSC DVD Size DVD9 Closed Caption? Yes Rental Only? No DVD DB Entry: Click here

Interlacing

No interlace artifacts were observed throughout the movie.

Frame fill

Unfortunately not the entire usable video area is covered by the film transfer. There are black borders around at least two edges and an edge enhancement artifact is visible on the right. While this is not visible on most CRT TVs, it may frustrate PC viewers or those who prefer the to disable overscan on their flat screen televisions or projectors.


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DVD vs HD TV trailer. While the HD trailer has a narrow black bar on the right, it also shows that a slight cropping on the DVD would have avoided the top/bottom black bars.

Encoder Performance / Transfer Quality

Video bitrate is very high throughout the entire feature. Scene changes and high-motion scenes do not exhibit visible block artifacts. Most dark scenes have visible banding which become especially visible whenever a fade in involved. Brightness levels are balanced, none of the scenes show signs of over/underexposure.

Bitrate Distribution

Edge Enhancement

The film transfer is plagued by the ever popular edge enhancement. While this video filter is intended to enhance viewing experience, it merely tricks the viewer’s eyes into seeing an image that appears sharper while actually certain image details are lost in the process. This technology also introduces ringing artifacts around contour lines. The movie being animation makes this effect a lot more pronounced. The effect is literally present on every single scene, resulting in a rather unpleasant viewing experience, especially on a large display/screen.
A comprehensive explanation here.


The left picture is taken from the DVD and magnified so the ringing artifacts become more visible on a PC monitor. The picture on the right is taken from a HD TV trailer, downscaled to DVD resolution, then magnified again for easier viewing. This is how the DVD would look like if edge enhancement was not applied.

Red Shift / Color Accuracy

The disc also exhibits a red shift which is intended to compensate white balance for certain Japanese TV sets which have a very high white point of 9300 Kelvin (the industry standard white point for DVDs and television broadcasts is 6500 K). While this red shift will make the movie appear warmer or more cinema-like on these legacy sets, the red tone is apparent on all other modern displays, further discomforting the viewer. This also impacts how colors are reproduced upon playback: reds are overblown and white surfaces appear reddish.


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The picture on the left is straight from the DVD, while the picture on the right was taken from a HD TV trailer. Note the red shift is not present on the HD trailer.

Conclusion

A good transfer, ruined. This is how this DVD release could be characterized. While it seems the involved company possesses the technology to produce a decent film transfer, the disc is simply ruined by the application of edge enhancement and red shift.

Future Outlook

The recent boom of flat screen displays demands movies to be released on high definition media, such as Blu-Ray. The publisher (Shogakugan) has currently no intentions to release anything in this format, so the chance to get Pocket Monsters movies in high definition is bleak.

Equipment Used

Dune HDI Smart B1 multimedia terminal with internal Blu-Ray drive set to 24fps@1080p, with deinterlacing disabled.
Panasonic TX-P50V20E plasma display on ‘Professional 1’ setting, sharpening turned all the way down, overscan disabled.