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Review XY109: The Master Class Trial! What Will You Do, Serena!?

They just don't care about Serena's goal anymore.

To be fair I doubt they cared much in the first place.
 
They just don't care about Serena's goal anymore.

To be fair I doubt they cared much in the first place.

Well I as a viewer do not really care about it either. Boring, predictable, corny, stupid are words that come to mind whenever there's a Tripokalon episode. I'll just pray to god the next female lead is not doing Tripokalons as the goal is just not interesting to follow. There's no tension, intensity, or heated rivalries to be found when all the goal entails is dressing up in various outfits and creating some sparkles. And this episode was no different. Same old dull stuff as the other Tripokalons. Bleh.
 
I'll put this post here as well (even though the thread I posted it in was first)

Everyone's assuming the Rhyhorn are reacting to something Serena's done, it could just as easily be because of what another performer does - eg., Serena thinks "I've got this in the bag" but someone else uses Attract on the Rhyhorn, thus injecting some more faux drama

I don't know why I bother speculating about interesting plot twists like this. On seeing this episode, we can conclude that it's not just the Rhyhorn in "Giving Chase at the Rhyhorn Race", but all Rhyhorn are inexplicably in love with Serena. Also, given the title of episode 112, she's heading dangerously towards Mary Sue territory.
 
I'm like the only one who ever thinks that these aren't so bland. I thought it was okay, though Amelia was a total cheat and Palermo seemed like a real hard to impress bitch today, though I still don't know what she said.

Also THE BROMANCE CONTINUES!!!! I loved how Chespin gave Pancham his food as a congrats! I love those two!

It was an okay episode.
 
I thought this was a great episode. I enjoyed some of the funnier parts of the episode like Serena with the Rhyhorns in the theme round and I liked Amelia's and Serena's performance in the appeal round aas well. I also found Bonnie shaking Ash when Serena won her final key funny as heck.
I'm really wanting the dub to air so that I can see what Palermo was saying to both Amelia and Serena after the Showcase.
9/10
 
Frankly I'm just glad they did something other than dress up and cooking for Theme Performance.
 
Honestly, for Serena's last Showcase, this was a bit of a letdown. It was a bit too rushed for me.

Well, first and foremost, I like that they're still showing off Sylveon's closeness with Bunnelby. I was worried that they might not focus as much on it after her evolution. So seeing him encourage her before the Showcase and watching it was great. And dang that key is gorgeous.

Ok, I really didn't understand the theme performance, but it seemed like the girls just needed to round up as many Ryhorn to themselves as possible. I also found it incredible odd how a majority of that herd was comprised of male Rhyhorn that just so happened to fall in love with a human girl on sight. I did like that Serena actually had to coax the last one on her own at least. But Braxien and Pancham literally did nothing. And honestly, now I wonder what Serena's plan would have been and what her Pokemon would have done had the Rhyorn not had a crush on her. It just seemed so lazy, rushed, and bordering on to DEM. Also, based on Amelia and the Liligant girl's method, it seemed like the Rhyhorn didn't even need to gather of their own free volition, but that they could easily just use Attract, Sweet Scent, or some other Pokemon alluring move to get them to go to them. It would have been much better and added much more of a challenge if the Performers had to the the Pokemon to go to them on their own without the use of moves imo (Not that that would have made a difference for Serena, but still).

Amelia's freestyle performance was cool. I enjoyed seeing her ride on Dragonair. Though honestly, I expected something a bit flashier. I liked that Sylveon was nervous due to her mistake in the last Showcase and that Serena was able to cheer her up and give her confidence. I'm so glad that Serena used all 3 of her Pokemon in her freestyle. It was amazing and certainly better than Amelia's imo. I especially enjoyed seeing her and all of her Pokemon dancing. She definitely deserved to beat her. And that fabulous key tho:) Lol at Bonnie shaking Ash when Serena won. I only wish we could have seen more Performer's freestyles. I mean, all they ever show are still shots anyways, but here all we saw were Serena and Amelia. Like I said, the biggest problem with this showcase was that everything was so rushed.

Nice that Serena called Shauna to tell her about her final key. Minor thing, but I honestly thought Serena holding Sylveon at the dinner table rather than Pancham was weird. I mean, Pancham is the smallest, so it just seemed a bit odd to me that she wouldn't be holding him, but whatever. And do my eyes device me? Did Chespin actually give his entire bowl of food to Pancham and not even try to take any more away from someone else? Oh please tell me his days of being an asshole are finally over.

Ok, was Serena forgetting her brush the best way to get her to see that scene with Amelia and Palermo? Because that was just totally odd. They couldn't have let her just be taking a walk or let that happen right after the Showcase or something. That was really just too random for my tastes. I did like Braxien telling Pancham to whisper and Sylveon comforting Serena after Palermo said...whatever she said to her.

Lastly, I just need to say that I thought Amelia was a pretty pointless addition. She was literally just another performer, the only difference being that she was really well known and was snobby for no explained reason. And Serena beat her pretty easily so she didn't even act as any sort of challenge. Nothing major even came from her appearance. She could have not even existed and the episode would have been pretty much the same.

Overall, the Showcase was far too rushed for Serena's last key. All of the past Showcases up until this point were great, but for the last key of all things, this was disappointing. I guess at the very least, Jessie didn't appear at all, so that was good. I'd say 7/10. Could have been much better.
 
I'll just say few things about this episode...

First of all, I love it everything. The performances were beatiful and Serena's dance was gorgeous.

Second, all the foreshadowing between a new rival and Palermo was so exciting. I can barely wait.

But, around all those awesome things here, there is something that I found very special to see...

Ash holding Serena's shoulder, telling her that her master class trial is their next destiny. Putting aside his last gym battle.

How special and remarkable that was. This Ash is so different... so admirable. There is no trace of the proud and selfish kid that left Pallet town so long ago.
 
Anyone know what Palermo even told Serena? Watching her performance, I noticed Palermo mostly liked it until the end. She seemed so bitchy when talking to her afterwards. Did she say stuff along the lines of "You're not going to beat Aria or ever be queen material."
 
Anyone know what Palermo even told Serena? Watching her performance, I noticed Palermo mostly liked it until the end. She seemed so bitchy when talking to her afterwards. Did she say stuff along the lines of "You're not going to beat Aria or ever be queen material."
Going off the Spanish subs this is what I can make of it:

Palermo: "Hey you...what are you doing there?
Serena: "I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to eavesdrop.
Palermo: "Your performance today... Are you satisfied with it?"
Serena: "I believe so. Since we had a lot of fun today!"
Palermo: "And so? What else? You don't have what's necessary to become Kalos Queen. Until then, if you haven't yet realized what you're lacking you'll never defeat Aria.
 
Amelia wasn't as much of as bitch like I thought she'd be, she just had that air of being arrogant.

Also, that smile Palermo had was wiped off her face after she saw the end of their performance. She's probably sick of the same frequent ending Serena makes at the end of her performances, and I'd have to agree. Even if it was a star this time, it gets kind of boring.
 
Going off the Spanish subs this is what I can make of it:

Palermo: "Hey you...what are you doing there?
Serena: "I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to eavesdrop.
Palermo: "Your performance today... Are you satisfied with it?"
Serena: "I believe so. Since we had a lot of fun today!"
Palermo: "And so? What else? You don't have what's necessary to become Kalos Queen. Until then, if you haven't yet realized what you're lacking you'll never defeat Aria.

Yay! I finally got something right! :D

Palermo seems unhappy with Serena (or possibly gives her a harsh talking-to about what's needed to be Kalos Queen)
 
Going off the Spanish subs this is what I can make of it:

Palermo: "Hey you...what are you doing there?
Serena: "I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to eavesdrop.
Palermo: "Your performance today... Are you satisfied with it?"
Serena: "I believe so. Since we had a lot of fun today!"
Palermo: "And so? What else? You don't have what's necessary to become Kalos Queen. Until then, if you haven't yet realized what you're lacking you'll never defeat Aria.
Well Serena better hope either zapdos or binacle will help her find it.
 
Well Serena better hope either zapdos or binacle will help her find it.
What...Zapdos shocking her so that she realises her weakness.........

Well this episode was good. Also that bit when Bonnie was shaking Ash when Serena won was one of the best things in the episode. TBH, i was waiting for the next episode preview...#Noivernhype
 
I can deal with TR being absent during development or fillers, but a showcase is bad on its own..
As I called it before, Serena managed to win through the power of plot setups and deus ex machina. I'm not really mad she won either, I'm more disappointed that the Master Class episode just spoiled and ruined the entire hype. I wanted to have more interactions with Amelia and Serena, but to no avail.

*THINGS I LIKED:
-Nymphia cheering Serena up. Dawwww *sheds a manly tear*
-Harimaron handing his food to Yancham for winning was sweet.
-Group episode of the entire cast currently (inb4 Onvern)

*THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE:
*Repetitive overuse of Tairenar's Flame Emission. She has more then that one move, Serena.
*No stunning performances by my girl Musashi.

6/10
 
Lastly, I just need to say that I thought Amelia was a pretty pointless addition. She was literally just another performer, the only difference being that she was really well known and was snobby for no explained reason. And Serena beat her pretty easily so she didn't even act as any sort of challenge. Nothing major even came from her appearance. She could have not even existed and the episode would have been pretty much the same.

And the sad thing is, you can say the same about all of Serena's rivals.
 
And the sad thing is, you can say the same about all of Serena's rivals.

I disagree to an extent. Serena's other rivals at least debuted before they appeared in a Showcase with her so they had some interaction with her; particularly Shauna and Miette. Amelia iirc only said one thing to Serena in this entire episode. Shauna also won the first Showcase Serena entered, so her appearance wasn't as pointless as Amelia was here imo.

I do wish her rivals had more accomplishments though.
 
I disagree to an extent. Serena's other rivals at least debuted before they appeared in a Showcase with her so they had some interaction with her; particularly Shauna and Miette. Amelia iirc only said one thing to Serena in this entire episode. Shauna also won the first Showcase Serena entered, so her appearance wasn't as pointless as Amelia was here imo.

I do wish her rivals had more accomplishments though.

That's because Amelia is a character of the day in an episode featuring a Pokémon Showcase while the other girls were introduced in episodes in which Serena wasn't trying to win a Princess Key. When Miette was introduced, Showcases didn't even exist. And if it weren't for that, she would have interacted with Serena just as much as Amelia did here. Do you remember the Dendemille Showcase? Miette teased Serena about her crush on Ash at the beginning of the episode but they didn't talk to each other during the Showcase itself.

Shauna, Nini, and Jessie aren't much better. Serena barely interacts with them and I think that's partly because Showcases don't allow for direct confrontation. Serena's main rival Shauna was treated like any other Performer would have been when she competed against Serena in the Anistar Showcase. We didn't get the impression Shauna was an obstacle Serena had to overcome. She was as worthy an opponent as the three other Performers in the final round who don't even have names. She was as challenging a rival as Amelia was here.

And that's what I'm talking about. The way Serena's rivals are handled is the same way Amelia was handled here. They don't interact with Serena during Showcases and they serve no real purpose. You could swap Nini for a cup of coffee and it wouldn't make a difference as Serena has no business with Nini whatsoever. Serena doesn't feel like she has to defeat Nini the way rivals are supposed to do. Nini is literally just another Performer. Now compare that to how May and Dawn felt about their rivals. There's a huge difference.

Moving on to this particular episode, I liked that we finally got to see Palermo's true colors. I have a soft spot for bitchy characters and it's such a shame it took so long for the writers to give Palermo something to do other than watch Showcases quietly with a bored expression. It would have been nice if she had been asked about what she thinks of the current Showcase scene in an interview or commented with her assistant how things have changed since she was a Performer. Maybe complained about how girls nowadays think that having fun is enough or are just doing it to become famous and they have no artistry and lack substance. Something along these lines. Something to explain why she's bored most of the time.
 
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