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Review XY082: The Pumpjin Festival! Farewell, Bakeccha!?

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XY082 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Discuss the episode here.

Here is my summary of the episode.

The episode starts off with Ash and co. entering a town.

They head to the town's Pokemon Center.

They hear from the Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Center that there is a Gourgeist Festival going on in town.

Ash and co. all decide to dress up as Pokemon for the Gourgeist Festival.

Serena shows Ash and co. a box that she uses for styling, so she is going to create costumes for her and the others.

Ash is cosplaying as a Snorlax, Chespin is cosplaying as a Watchog, Clemont's Chespin is cosplaying as a Pikachu.

Bonnie is cosplaying as a Ludicolo and Clemont's Dedenne is cosplaying as a Corphish.

Serena is cosplaying as a Red Flower Florges and Ash's Pikachu is cosplaying as a Psyduck.

Team Rocket are all in costumes too, except for Jessie's Pumpkaboo.

Some man who lives in a big building in the town is standing on his balcony next to his Small Size Pumpkaboo.

He uses small binoculars to look at Jessie's Pumpkaboo that he has spotted, he then shows his Pumpkaboo Jessie's Pumpkaboo.

Ash and co. start to walk around town.

A boy dresses as a Pumpkaboo and a girl dressed as a Gourgeist walk up to Ash and co.

They give some candy to Ash and co.

Team Rocket are spying on something from an alley way.

A man and three Gourgeist come up behind them.

The man leads them to the building of the man with the Small Size Pumpkaboo from earlier.

Team Rocket are now in the building with the two men.

The man with the Small Size Pumpkaboo is called Count or is a Count and the other man is his servant.

He wants to have Jessie's Pumpkaboo for one of his Pokemon.

Jessies tells him that he can have James's Pikachu.

But James reveals to the man that Pikachu is really just an Inkay cosplaying as a Pikachu.

Ash and co. are still walking around town and then the servant from earlier comes up to them with a Gourgeist.

He wants to steal Ash's Pikachu, so that Jessie can trade her Pumpkaboo for it.

Ash looks up Gourgeist on his Pokedex.

Ash and co. battle the servant and in the chaos, the servant steals Chespin, who he believes is a Pikachu.

Ash sends his Fletchinder to find where Chespin is.

Fletchinder has found where Chespin is, so it returns to Ash.

Pokemon Quiz: Super Size Gourgeist.

Team Rocket are now talking with the Count again.

The Count mentions to Jessie that he will trade his Mawile for her Pumpkaboo.

He also reveals to her that it can Mega Evolve into a Mega Mawile.

Jessie has a fantasy of owning the Mawile and then Mega Evolving it into a Mega Mawile.

Jessie then accepts the Count's offer.

James, Meowth, Inkay and Wobbuffet are shocked by her sudden change of heart.

Ash and co. arrive at the Count's home.

Ash and co. battle against the Count's or the servant's Gourgeist.

The Count/the Servant puts a cage over Ash and co.

Jessies then trades her Pumpkaboo with the Count's Mawile.

They trade Pokemon and then the Count sends out his Pumpkaboo.

The Count's Pumpkaboo then evolves into a Gougeist.

The Count doesn't want the Gourgeist now because it is no longer a Pumpkaboo.

Ash and co. break out of the cage that's around them and then one of them takes off Meowth's Bannette disguise.

Jessie remembers all of the good times that she has shared with her Pumpkaboo and realises that she wants her back.

Ash and co. battle against Team Rocket.

Team Rocket blasts off.

Ash and co. now have a quiet meal with the Count and his servant.

Fireworks go off in the town, so Ash and co., as well as the Count and the Servant go out onto the Count's balcony to watch them.

To be continued.
 
I knew it, Jessie wouldn't let her Pumpkaboo go. Another Wobbufett deja vu episode. Seems the evolve-by-trade method was implemented in this episode. Cool to see that happen.

9.3/10
 
Sad thing, as upset as Musashi was about letting Bakeccha go in this episode, the poor thing will likely just end up being dumped at TR Headquarters after this series anyway.

Also, I think we can say goodbye to pretty much every hope that Satoshi's Gantle will ever evolve since we know he'll never trade that guy away.
 
An OK episode, clearly the whole point of it was just to find out more about Pumpkaboo and evolve Jessie's.
Another example of my personal theory as to why Team Rocket are rubbish villains - deep within their evil facades, they're nice people.
Jessie looked fabulous in her Mismagius costume.
 
I loved it when Jessie put her arm around Gourgeist, I was kind of expecting that somehow.

So... Gourgeist really got a new actress? I remember Dogasu saying Miyako Ito was credited for her in the Pikachu short, but to me she doesn't sound too different from Megumi Sato in this episode. I don't like the idea of changing actors for when a Pokémon evolves, so it'd be kind of dissapointing if she didn't keep her actress...

Another question... there's a scene where Jessie mentions something about her birthday, and we see Pumpkaboo giving her a piece of cake. Was that a real flashback or just an hypothetical scenario that Jessie was imagining? If it's real, that'd mean Jessie is 26 as of now.
 
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This was a funny and sweet (but not saccharine) episode that demonstrated that Bakeccha/Pumpjin has enough personality to warrant her own spin-off! :p Who would have expected her to have it out with Musashi like that?! I'm also soooooo happy that she didn't give a damn about that stupid Prince Bakeccha love bullshit. This is also the second time Musashi has been caught out in not knowing the gender of her pokemon... I thought Megumi Hayashibara killed it in making Musashi sound totally deranged haha.

The best dressing up shenanigan for me was Maaiika as Pikachu, again, and it getting involved in the who is Pikachu confusion! Also, Kojiro, whilst dressed as Pumpjin, when confronted by a Pumpjin asks if it's a pokemon?! TROLOLOL!

Did anyone catch whether Musashi's OTT flashbacks were real or imagined? If they're real then isn't it a big deal that Musashi has had a birthday since they came to Kalos?! That means people do age after all!

PS. Why can't Pikachu always be dressed like Koduck? SO CUTE!
 
Watching the episode... man, that trade machine looks weird but cool and it was very nice to see what actually goes on inside. Seems to prove that the Poke Balls themselves aren't exchanged, but the Pokemon are simply transferred to the other one.
 
Gourgeist is one of my favorite Kalosian Pokemon, so I enjoyed seeing them in this episode.

Stray Thoughts:

~Braixen was very acrobatic and nimble in this episode (I replayed that scene about 6 times). Impressively so. I really want to see those moves in a battle soon...

~For a festival that celebrates Gourgeist, you would expect the costumes and decorations to be solely centered around said Pokemon. That or at least Ghost types.

~The flashbacks between Jessie and Pumpkaboo were nice and touching, but it would be even more impressive if we actually had a physical episode where we explicitly see them bonding.

~Count Pump's head is bigger than both of his legs combined.

~Bunnelby was hit by a Shadow Ball...

~Furthermore, Bunnelby (once again) could have dug the gang out of the cage.

~I wish Ash's Snorlax costume was real. It looks like a snug onesie. On that note, everyone's cosplay outfits were on-point.

~Where did Serena get the material and time to fashion everyone full on cosplay costumes? On that note, none of the main cast never need to go shopping for clothing again.

~The Count's Mawile seemed awfully content at being traded away to a stranger.

~The argument between Jessie and Pumpkaboo about trading her away seemed very amusing. As a Gourgeist, she forgave Jessie rather quickly too...

~Jessie's Gourgeist should have either:

A) Learned a new move

B) Put up a better/longer fight against Ash & Co.

~I may need to read the subtitles to understand the context fully. But as of now, that butler attacking children out of the blue and attempting to essentially steal their Pokemon was seriously disturbing. Again, I believe Jessie fabricated a lie of some sort warranting the attack, but still.
 
So is this the first time a Team Rocket Pokemon has evolved in an episode other than its debut one since Ekans/Koffing?? Jeez.

And like that episode, it would have been nice had Gourgeist given Ash & friends a bit more of a challenge. I mean I know there probably wasn't much time for it considering everything else they fit into the episode but it would have been nice if they managed.
 
So I loved this episode (of course) buuuuuuuuut I really wasn't feeling the whole "my teammates forgot my birthday" part. I mean what the hell writers? The Rocket trio is supposed to be all about frienship and comeraderie and all that and yet you decide that it's OK for Kojirou and Nyasu to forget her birthday? That's bullshit.

But hey, Musashi is officially one year older than she was at the start of XY. That's something.

I also loved all the callbacks to the episode where the Rocket-Dan dressed up as our heroes (apparently Maa'ika really loves its Pikachu costume) and Nyasu making yet another reference to his "experience with love."

Also, Unshou Ishizuka is really bad at making the characters he voices sound different from one another.

WatcherMark said:
Sad thing, as upset as Musashi was about letting Bakeccha go in this episode, the poor thing will likely just end up being dumped at TR Headquarters after this series anyway.

I dunno. The only reason they probably got rid of their DP pokemon was so the writers could start fresh with the trio. And then once Best Wishes! was over they got rid of their BW pokemon to wash their hands of that failed experiment.

But there's (presumably) no awkward transition going on this time around so who knows?

Gabo 2oo said:
Was that a real flashback or just an hypothetical scenario that Jessie was imagining? If it's real, that'd mean Jessie is 26 as of now.

It was real. On a related note, I don't remember them ever stating that Musashi was 25 years old.

ii kanji said:
This is also the second time Musashi has been caught out in not knowing the gender of her pokemon... I thought Megumi Hayashibara killed it in making Musashi sound totally deranged haha.

This. Very this.

Hilbert said:
~The flashbacks between Jessie and Pumpkaboo were nice and touching, but it would be even more impressive if we actually had a physical episode where we explicitly see them bonding.

I agree 100%. Of the three Rocket pokemon I'd say Bakeccha's the least popular (at least in Japan) and its treatment the last year or so reflects that. They really shouldn't have had to fabricate a flashback montage here; there should have been enough footage of the two of them bonding from previous episodes for them to work with.

PropellorYoshi1808 said:
So is this the first time a Team Rocket Pokemon has evolved in an episode other than its debut one since Ekans/Koffing?? Jeez.

To be fair the only pokemon they've had who could evolve were their Best Wishes! pokemon but the trio was too busy not battling for either one of them to get the experience needed.
 
So I loved this episode (of course) buuuuuuuuut I really wasn't feeling the whole "my teammates forgot my birthday" part. I mean what the hell writers? The Rocket trio is supposed to be all about frienship and comeraderie and all that and yet you decide that it's OK for Kojirou and Nyasu to forget her birthday? That's bullshit.
I'd also add that Kojiro and Nyasu would definitely be first on hand to manage her fever as they have in the past! Unfortunately the writer of this episode does a great slapstick TRio but at the expense of frequently making them be arseholes to each other (remember how Musashi and Nyasu behaved when Chirean was ill that time?) If the flashbacks are real then I am going to have to feed a lie to myself that Musashi was just overexaggerating in her narration :-( Waaaaaaaaaaaah!

I don't remember them ever stating that Musashi was 25 years old.
They haven't. Both Miyamoto's ramblings in the CD drama and a line of dialogue in the Lugia movie strongly imply that she (and Kojiro in the latter) are around that age however.

They really shouldn't have had to fabricate a flashback montage here; there should have been enough footage of the two of them bonding from previous episodes for them to work with.
(As much as I agree with the original point...) If they have the effrontery to create a montage of fake scenes for Kojiro's flashback in XY 63 then even if they'd had something worth showing they probably would have done this!!
 
An amazing episode. I liked the way how they implemented Halloween in the Poke-verse without directly mentioning it. Team Rocket did a good job on manipulating the Count, and they had a good role overall. The protagonists got a good role too, with Serena, Cleont, Chespin and Pikachu doing something memorable. However, a complain I have is that Jessie overreacted to everything in the second half, principally in the animation segment.

9.5/10
 
PropellorYoshi1808 said:
So is this the first time a Team Rocket Pokemon has evolved in an episode other than its debut one since Ekans/Koffing?? Jeez.

To be fair the only pokemon they've had who could evolve were their Best Wishes! pokemon but the trio was too busy not battling for either one of them to get the experience needed.

There was also Cacnea and Mime Jr. Neither of them were going to evolve, for various reasons, but within universe it was technically always possible.
 
Seemingly I may be the only one that didn't think this episode was amazing. I mean, I didn't not like it, thought it was good but not spectacular. I just honestly could not get into the Jessie story at all, maybe it's because she's my least favourite of the TRio, but the way she just threw Pumpkaboo under the bus like that after she heard Mawile could Mega Evolve just REALLY ticked me off. You can't blame Pumpkaboo for being angry, Jessie only cared about her once she evolved and the Prince Pumpkaboo didn't want her anymore. Also how did the Count not anticipate that Pumpkaboo would evolve after being traded? You have a festival for it's evolution in the town, surely you'd know. Don't even get me started on Shadow Ball being used against Bunnelby...

That being said I did like parts of the episode:

- Braixen had some hops. First time it's used something other than Flamethrower as a Braixen, I don't think Scratch will be used again, though.

- So everyone's costumes were nice. Serena was showing a whole lot of leg there which was... interesting... I guess? o.0 Bonnie's Ludicolo dance was cute.

- While I didn't like Jessie for reasons stated before I did like when she actually decided to reflect on her relationship with Pumpkaboo. Although I feel that was more Snowbelle City Theme playing in the background, but I liked seeing Pumpkaboo cheering Jessie up.

If I had to give a rating it would pushing a 7/10, I just didn't get into the whole Jessie portion of the episode.
 
I really liked this episode, it was full of cute moments and had a great atmosphere overall. Loved all of their costumes, especially Inkatchu, Pikaduck and Mewoth as Banette.

So I loved this episode (of course) buuuuuuuuut I really wasn't feeling the whole "my teammates forgot my birthday" part. I mean what the hell writers? The Rocket trio is supposed to be all about frienship and comeraderie and all that and yet you decide that it's OK for Kojirou and Nyasu to forget her birthday? That's bullshit.
Yeah, the whole scenario doesn't make much sense. I don't see why Pumpkaboo wouldn't have told James and Meowth it was Jessies birthday and how it managed to get/make a cake without them noticing or wondering.
I don't think they spend a second thought on this and it was just meant to be a sweet moment between Jessie and Pumpkaboo. It sure looked nice but I still wish we would have seen more moments like this before.

I hope Gourgeist will get more screentime to show her character than Pumpkaboo did, she looked so sweet in this episode. <3 (and I think she should have learned Trick-or-Treat or Return.)
 
Fantastic episode. I love this "kind" of Team Rocket, I wouldn't mind having more episodes focusing on them if they stayed this way. Anyways, for a moment I thought Jessie would leave her Pumpkaboo with the pumpkin-looking man, but I am glad that didn't happen and that now she have a Gourgeist, who is one of my favorite Pokémon. Jessie's Gourgeist is so cute! And the other ones have such creepy voices.

Also, James cosplaying as Gourgeist was fabulous! :unworthy:
 
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