Review S15 EP39: Expedition to Onix Island!

[Adil]

BW087 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Taking a break from training for the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup, the gang visits an island said to be the home of a special Onix—but the trip turns dangerous when they face the Onix-pected... The situation quickly gets out of control when they discover not one Onix, but a whole bunch of them—and they’re not too happy about getting visitors! Maybe Ash can coax Meloetta into coming to the rescue one more time...

 

[Karisse]

This was...the best filler episode I've seen in a long while. The bickering between Oshawott and Piplup, as well as the scenes with Iris and Dawn, were quite amusing.

And Meloetta's transformation was easily the coolest thing I've seen from the series since...well, since I-don't-know-when. 8D

 

[Kaljinyu]

Ash can never win when it's two girls against one him.

Anyway, we open with Dawn suggesting they kick it on a secluded island. When she mentioned there was a special Onix on it, just as a gag, I surmised that by "special" she meant "shiny". And I was right! A shiny Onix in the raw? Why didn't anyone try to catch it? Holy crap I would've been scrambling for a Pokéball!

Anyway, they go to the island, and Jarvis warns them to be careful. This is important. Dawn and Iris start to become fast friends. A side note, when they all went splashing in the ocean, I noticed that Dawn is actually noticeably thicker than Iris, and Iris is kinda thin, I guess I was misled by her loose shirt, and that pink thing she ties around her waist, and her big hair. All gave her the illusion of being "meatier" than she is. Also, Ash and Dawn have new swimwear, I think. Which is normal. But how is it that Dawn has new swimwear, but wore the same dress? Ash changed his clothes and swimwear, but Dawn only changed her swimwear. Cilan, the team's current Brock, decides to let the kids play while he cooks. On the hot beach. In a crispy, itchy, polyester waiter's oxford. Speaking of Brock, after they're done playing in the water, they talk about stuff. Like Brock. It was nice to see him again, even if it's just in flashback. If he's trying for medical school, he's gonna be gone for a while, isn't he? Isn't there some kind of express self-paced course he can take at some kind of online Pokémon Medical school? How hard could it be? You put the Pokémon in the Pokéball, put it on the machine, and boom. Unless they've got Pokérus, in which case there is currently no cure.

After lunch, it's time to do the only thing Ash came to this island for, seeing that special Onix. Dawn and Iris now being besties, pick on Ash for wanting to look for the shiny Onix in the cave. Onix don't necessarily live in caves, they say. Ash is such a kid, they say! That's Iris's line! Is Dawn now gonna start saying stuff that Iris says? I'm reminded of that episode of Seinfeld about Worlds Theory. It was really blowing up for Ash. Imagine if there was an episode where Misty, May, Dawn, Iris, Lyra, uhhhhh... who else has he met? All of his lady companions, if they met in one saga, just imagine. Anyway, they tawt wrong, because there were a bunch of Onix in there. Except none of them seemed very special/shiny.

When the group got separated, I thought Dawn and Iris were gonna start hating each other, they seemed to start to be at odds. But it was nothing, really. I liked the scene where they were both unfamiliar with Pokémon outside of their region, but wouldn't it be more... symmetrical, if Iris got shocked or something by a Hoenn region Pokémon?

Speaking of changes in partner dynamics, I thought Oshawott and Piplup were gonna STOP hating each other during their time together. Nope, guess not. But their journey fighting against all those Onix...es, was pretty cool. Especially when Meloetta showed them her Pirouette form. Speaking of Dragon Ball jargon, after Iris, Dawn, Cilan, and Ash all reunited Oshawott and Piplup teamed up to fight the Onix. Again, I thought they were gonna be friends or something. Oshawott used Hydro Pump, and Piplup used Bubblebeam. But that was NO ordinary Hydro Pump and Bubblebeam! That was clearly some kind of energy wave/Kamehameha wave, and a Spirit Bomb! So does that make Piplup and Oshawott like Goku and Vegeta? Let's see, Piplup did the Spirit Bomb, so that makes him Goku. And if we call the Hydro Pump "Final Flash", then Oshawott can be Vegeta.

So, Pirouette Form + Water attacks vs. Rock & Ground, those Onix didn't know what was in store for them. But then, the special Onix king boss Onix showed up! And not in a cave, but on a cliff! He tells his Onix brood to stop chasing the Twerps and go home. Like I said, the special thing about this Onix is that it's shiny. Is it also good luck? We'll see come the Junior Cup.

Back on the boat, they head back to Cynthia's... summer mansion, I guess? The one in Undella Town. And they're all "You knew the cave was dangerous? Why didn't you tell us?" But remember how he said to be careful? He did tell them. Did they forget? But there was one danger lurking between scenes during this episode. Team Rocket has been planting what looks like anchors or something, or big harpoons. All for the boss. What could this mean? This plan, and the Junior Cup, seems they'll all collide for a shocking saga coming up soon!

 

[Adil]

They changed Dawn's first "little kid" to "I guess some things never change".
Also, I didn't really expect them to touch Meloetta's Forme change song. It sounded double-layered (not the correct word? eh). It was "slightly" changed, almost same.

 

[Cybersai]

I just wish this episode didn't featured the overused and boring Onix.

This must be like the 10th filler that featured Onix in the anime and about the 100th Onix appearance in the anime overall.

 

[HumanDawn]

I just wish this episode didn't featured the overused and boring Onix.

This must be like the 10th filler that featured Onix in the anime and about the 100th Onix appearance in the anime overall.

IIRC, it's the 3rd or 4th filer and Onix's 60th or 70th appearance.

 

[WatcherMark]

Given how similar the dub version of Meloetta's song is to the original, I can't fathom why it wasn't just left alone in the first place. The only differences were that a small echo effect was added and a couple of the notes changed.

 

[Karamazov]

I just watched the episode to hear her transformation song's change. It sounds so synthetic and weird, like they were experimenting with a bunch of voice filters. It doesn't match the voice she usually has, so it really feels out of place. Thank God we only see her transform once after this episode.

On another note, is it me, or did everyone keep making a ಠ_ಠ face at various points throughout the episode?

 

[WatcherMark]

Maybe there was some kind of copyright issue with the song that meant TPCi had to rearrange it slightly and/or record their own version... seriously, I know it's a stretch but it's the only explanation I can think of other than 'They changed it because they could'.

 

[PokéVision]

I just watched the episode to hear her transformation song's change. It sounds so synthetic and weird, like they were experimenting with a bunch of voice filters. It doesn't match the voice she usually has, so it really feels out of place. Thank God we only see her transform once after this episode.

On another note, is it me, or did everyone keep making a ಠ_ಠ face at various points throughout the episode?

Overall I really like this episode, the interactions were rull guhd and the mention of Brock was nice, too.
But I did make a ಠ_ಠ face at Dawn when she falls into the bush after the vine breaks, and Iris asks if she's okay.. "No need to worry! See, bushes rule!^o^".
It felt like such a "jelly filled doughnut" moment.

 

[FunPika]

Maybe there was some kind of copyright issue with the song that meant TPCi had to rearrange it slightly and/or record their own version... seriously, I know it's a stretch but it's the only explanation I can think of other than 'They changed it because they could'.

Strangely enough the 2nd time Meloetta sang in this episode (calming down the Onix) it was left unchanged. So its either they are messing with it because they can or TPCI was actually careless there and opened themselves up to a lawsuit if the copyright theory is right.

 

[Moe]

I'd assume it's just a matter of the audio mixing rather than rearrangement.

 

[WatcherMark]

I'd assume it's just a matter of the audio mixing rather than rearrangement.

No, even if the mixing had been left alone the arrangement of the melody itself was altered.

 

[Moe]

Really doesn't sound that way to me - I've put the dub and original versions to the left/right channel (could be better synced) and it sounds more or less the same, with the dub being a bit 'hollow' for want of a better description. Seems to have cut of the 'me' in one of the bits of the dub, so it is needlessly altered, but I don't think it's a different recording.

 

[Yamadora]

Meloetta's singing voice...just. Ugh. Also, is it just me or did they dubbed Krabby and Kingler as well? I think Krabby at least sounded different than in original (or then I'm just imagining).

And Dawn sounded...somewhat hoarse in this episode.

 

[Chiplet]

Dawn and Iris are the stars of this episode, but Dawn definitely deserves most of the credit, because finally, for almost the first time ever, I actually found her characer to be enjoyable. She, and Iris of course, were both hilarious in this episode. Best female bonding yet.

If there's anything else I like about her, it's her voice. I'm so glad that the VA wasn't changed, but she naturally wouldn't be as she still worked there.

If it was up to me, I'd create a series with just Iris and Dawn traveling together. F*ck the guys.

 

[WatcherMark]

If there's anything else I like about her, it's her voice. I'm so glad that the VA wasn't changed, but she naturally wouldn't be as she still worked there.

I honestly don't understand why so many people were worried about Dawn's voice actor changing... unlike Megumi Toyoguchi, Emily Jenness wasn't put out of work when Dawn left but stuck around to voice Unova Officer Jenny among others. There was never a question of her not coming back.

 

[Adil]

Pokemon B&W: Rival Destinies 2.4/11

 

[Grabbergirl]

Ha! ha! ha! It's true!! The more you know people the more habits you develope from them. And did Cilan say "adventure time" like the original or did he say "expedition time"? What did he say?