What happens when you cross Pokémon with Pixar Shorts? You get Bidoof's Big Stand, known in Japan as Bippa, I Choose You!, an original online short created by Chinese-American studios TAIKO Studios (creator of One Small Step), starring Com Mon Bidoof to promote Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
The plot is a clumsy Bidoof tries to fit in, but she sadly can't. But when a Trainer comes nearby, she gets caught, but all the Trainer has it do is use HM moves. When a big Pokémon tournament comes up and the rest of the Trainer's team is toast, though, it's up to Bidoof to step in.
This is a standalone short, unaffiliated with Pokétoon.
TAIKO Studios would later go on to create Pokémon: Path to the Peak (which is not set in the same world but rather the real world).
Tropes:
- Advertised Extra: Gengar is shown prominently on the poster despite it only appearing in one short scene.
- Ambiguous Situation: It’s unclear if the Staraptor on the rival trainer’s team is the same one Bidoof was attacked by early on.
- Ascended Meme:
- The very premise of this short is one; that Bidoof makes for a great HM slave. And with smart move allocation is a more effective fighter than they seem.
- In the Sinnoh games, it is very common for players to form a party using a pool consisting of their starter, Staraptor, Luxray, Lucario, Togekiss, the evolution for the gift Eevee, Garchomp, and Bibarel. At the 4:20 mark, it shows that the focus trainer's team uses these exact Pokémon (sans Staraptor and Garchomp, while Bidoof is unevolved).
- Battle Discretion Shot: During the final battle with Staraptor, poor Bidoof gets trounced by various moves offscreen, including Hyper Beam.
- Boring, but Practical: Bidoof's moveset actually turns out to be very useful for winning the tournament with one-shotting Golem due to her strong teeth and her rolling move giving her the mobility to evade the Staraptor's Hyper Beam.
- Canon Foreigner: None of the Trainers in the short are from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, though the protagonist trainer's design appears to borrow elements from both Lucas and Dawn.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: The short shows what it's like if you're stuck as an HM slave. It's absolutely degrading and the mon is treated as an afterthought, not even allowed to battle because there are other heavy hitters tailored to that job, their movepool is only limited to the collection of HMs you give them (many of them being useless in battle anyway) and depriving them of experience and strength that they could get if they were battling. The trainer learns this the hard way when Bidoof is the last mon standing.
- Decoy Protagonist: The first Pokémon that appears is the series' mascot, Pikachu, taking up the whole frame... only to immediately move out of the way of an approaching group of Bidoof.
- Determinator: No matter what, Bidoof will prove herself as a valuable Pokémon and member of the team. This gets proven in the final battle when she has to take down a Staraptor (which she fears since one tried to attack it in the past) despite being made to be an HM slave.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: It takes a long time and a fight against a Staraptor, but Bidoof is finally accepted as a true member of the Trainer's party and obtains that long-awaited high-five. She even goes back to the other Bidoofs and shows the trophy she won, earning their respect.
- Failed a Spot Check: Bidoof basically has to carve down a tree to show what it really wants from the Trainer. He still doesn't get it.
- Feathered Fiend: When Bidoof tries to eat an Oran Berry, she is attacked and chased by a flock of Starly over it. Then Staraptor comes in...
- Innocently Insensitive: The Trainer doesn't mean to be insensitive to Bidoof at all, given the pets and berries he gives it's clear he is fond of Bidoof. His face when Bidoof is about to fight Gengar also indicates he is more worried about Bidoof getting in over her head.
- I Just Want to Be Badass: The reason Bidoof joined the team was seeing Lucario's fighting prowess and wants to show that she can be just as good in a fight instead of an HM mule. She gets her chance in the tournament and wins.
- Man Bites Man: This is how Bidoof defeats the rival trainer's Golem. It helps that Golem is basically made of rock, which Bidoof has no trouble gnawing through.
- Mime and Music-Only Cartoon: Well, Bidoof speaks in Pokémon Speak, but that's it.
- No Name Given: The Trainers are never given names.
- Oblivious to Hints: No matter how many times Bidoof raises her paw or goes to extreme measures of showing what she wants by carving it on a tree, the Trainer never gets the hint that Bidoof wants to feel like she belongs on the team.
- Oh, Crap!: The wild Staraptor that attacks Bidoof gets this look when the Trainer's Lucario sends an Aura Sphere their way. It then quickly flees.
- Pokémon Speak: Played straight with Bidoof (and the background music, amusingly), averted for the other Pokémon. Even Pikachu amazingly enough.
- Utility Party Member: The short revolves around Bidoof being an HM slave and how degrading it really is.
