Review S19 EP09: Meeting at Terminus Cave!

[Neo Blaze]

XY102 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Please keep future events in spoiler tags. Thanks.

 

[Sakuraa]

Despite this being a major episode, it really didn't hold my interest. The entire first half of everyone just looking for Squishy was really boring. It picked up when Team Flare showed up, but I feel like the confrontation could have happened a lot sooner. But honestly, I feel a bit bad for Bonnie. She really thinks Squishy cares about them when it seems just the opposite to me. He has run away from them several times, including this episode, with seemingly no intention of returning; just like here when he didn't go back to them even though everyone was calling for him. Not to mention that he barely interacts with any of them. Also, to me at least, it looked very much like Squishy was only worried about saving himself and beating Team Flare than protecting the group. This is just how I saw it though. I could be totally wrong.

I did enjoy seeing the Ash-Greninja transformation again and its interesting to see how Ash feels the pain Greninja does. I also liked that the group finally saw Squishy transform into Zygardog. I was surprised to here Squishy "talking" to Z2 though. Celosia and Byrony dissing TR was funny as well.

Overall, this was a pretty meh episode for me. 6.5/10.

 

[KenzeyEevee]

It was great in the dub!

 

[UPratik_12]

Ash-Greninja scene had the same music as the original, enough said, i loved that music and the scene in the original...glad to see they kept the same music

 

[Max1996]

Ash-Greninja scene had the same music as the original, enough said, i loved that music and the scene in the original...glad to see they kept the same music

Yeah, XY099 was a bit of a disappointment in that regard.

 

[Aggron989]

Finally, Team Flare's second appearance!

Before I talk about the episode itself, I felt like the scripting was a little weird for this one. Some of the characters' lines, especially Ash's, sounded odd as a result of trying to lip-sync with the show. The first example that leaps to mind here is after one of Bonnie's many assertions that Squishy has not left Terminus Cave, when Ash puts his hand on her shoulder and says nothing but "You're right!" after a long pause before turning away. and saying nothing else.

It was a nice touch having Braixen and Clemont help light the way (if I recall correctly, we haven't seen Clemont's Heliolisk light since Korrina's journey with the group), although I feel obligated to point out that once Clemont turned on his light, Braixen's help with her flame was wholly unnecessary and also a little dangerous given that they were crawling through a narrow passage... however, I did like that they had both Noibat and Luxray search for Squishy. We all know about Noibat's echolocation ability, but we don't see Luxray's x-ray vision nearly as much. Also, the part of Terminus Cave with the blue gems was gorgeous. I love how noticeably different the animation in XY is from past series.

Okay, Squishy's voice in the dream episode was kind of funny with the hint of an accent, although at the time I didn't think it really fit, and this episode did not change my opinion. I really don't care for the voices of Squishy and Z2. I just think they sound bizarre. Yes, I understand the need to help the viewers understand Squishy's story, but I'd be happier if the Zygarde cores didn't have the telepathy that is overused in legendary Pokémon anyway. It's not absolutely necessary to have them able to talk.

Team Rocket, oh my... I enjoyed Celosia and Bryony's reactions to TR's appearance and how completely confused they were. That was fun to watch.

Also, Ash-Greninja again! I like how the creators of the show are revealing it to us little by little - first they showed the transformation in the ninja episode, and now they showed a bit of how Ash feels the same pain Greninja feels and how he can see through Greninja's eyes during the battle. I hope we get an explanation for all of this someday. They'd better give us a good reason why Ash is actually able to feel what Greninja feels, considering that neither of them has any kind of psychic power. There is so much opportunity to expand on Greninja's power and where it came from and why it happens, I really really hope it's not just blown off as something that happens without any explanation.

One last thing. I'll forgive Bonnie for this, not so much the others - but did Squishy ever show any real attachment to the group? Up to now, it's just been along for the ride because Bonnie wants it there and they were all headed to Terminus Cave, where Squishy wanted to go. True, Squishy did transform and help save them from Team Flare, but while Bonnie was so convinced that Squishy's motive was to help them, it seemed much more to me like Squishy had had enough and wanted to stop Team Flare before fleeing - which it did. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I don't see Ash and Clemont so easily believing that Squishy would stop and wait for them.

This episode was good, but I feel like it could have been a bit more. Let's say 6/10.

 

[sc190191]

I really enjoyed this episode quite a bit. The battles with Team Flare were pretty cool, except holy cow can Luxray use something other than swift?!?! Greninja was pretty tight when it rescued squishy. It was pretty funny both of the times Team Rocket appeared in this episode, at some point see it happening like it did in D&P where they will help save the world a little bit at some point. I really liked how Terminus cave looked, especially the outside part. It was great to see Noibat involved in a battle, and I thought it was pretty ballsy to not only use supersonic, but then uncommanded use a tackle against a huge drapion. Can't wait until it gets some good moves. I was hoping Greninja's cut was going to turn into night slash, but I guess it will be stuck with an awful moveset a while longer. I am a little annoyed about how overprotective Bonnie is of Squishy, I mean if it wants to go away she should let it, which is a lesson the anime has taught us many times with letting Pokemon go if they want to do something else instead, but its understandable since Bonnie is just a kid. All in all I really enjoyed this episode and I am looking forward to more battles and encounters with Team Flare.

 

[Harryghost]

can Luxray use something other than swift?!?!

That's exactly how I feel about Clemont and Luxray. I mean it has a number of other moves which can be used and are powerful enough, and can be super effective at times. But the Gleam Eyes Pokémon uses only Swift ... and Swift ... and Swift all the time, a move doomed to never be super effective against anyone. (Guess Clemont wants him to maintain his distance from the opponent since all his other moves are Physical and Status).

I knew Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie would do something to navigate in the cave (I am happy that Braixen, Noibat and Luxray came to the rescue; Clemont's inventions - I don't care much). But I was very glad that Jessie used Gourgeist's flashlight ability to navigate in the cave. It caught me off-guard .

Also, while I was not much interested in the group (or even Zygarde 10% Forme, albeit Squishy) battling Team Flare (I knew that was going to happen), I was very happy and satisfied to see Gourgeist use Seed Bomb to attack 'those twerps (Team Flare, this time)'. Also, man, I was happy when none of Team Flare's or the group's Pokémon's moves made Team Rocket blast off. (They did not even blast off this time; they just had a 'great fall'.)

 

[Aggron989]

Guess Clemont wants him to maintain his distance from the opponent since all his other moves are Physical and Status.

Actually, Luxray knows Discharge as well, but I don't remember if it's even used the move since it evolved. In the games, Discharge hits your allies, too, so maybe that's why Luxray doesn't use it as much. Still, in the anime, it's always been portrayed as the Pokémon having some measure of control over where the attack goes.

 

[Harryghost]

Actually, Luxray knows Discharge as well, but I don't remember if it's even used the move since it evolved. In the games, Discharge hits your allies, too, so maybe that's why Luxray doesn't use it as much. Still, in the anime, it's always been portrayed as the Pokémon having some measure of control over where the attack goes.

But, Luxray does not have Discharge in his current moveset. (You might want to check Clemont's Luxray's page on Bulbapedia). The moves he currently knows are
Swift (Special)
Thunder Fang (Physical)
Wild Charge (Physical)
Electric Terrain (Status)