Review S20 EP16: They Might Not Be Giants!

[abcboy]

SM016 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Please keep future events in spoiler tags.

 

[Islander Princess]

Said this before with the original Japanese airing, but I felt this was pretty good for the standard "Pokémon getting separated from their trainers" episode. That formula tends to bore me and generally feels very overdone, but this one had enough to make it stand out a bit more from the rest.

Popplio's admiration of Litten is something I completely missed in the Japanese airing somehow. I really liked that! I feel like the personalities of the three starters meshed well and felt natural. Nothing over the top. I think part of the problem I have with these kinds of episodes is that there is usually at least one Pokémon who is just too much and gets to be extremely annoying with the amount of exposure and screentime these episodes bring. Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio do not have personalities like that, so watching them go on together was enjoyable.

I like that they kept the narration in the middle of the episode when the group stumbles upon Stoutland. That was something I really liked in the original airing, it stood out to me as being relatively unique, and I once again really liked it in the dub.

One thing I didn't like was how Popplio's voice stood out amongst the three starters. I liked Litten and Rowlet's more natural animal noises, but then there was just Popplio squeaking its name over and over and over again...I didn't like that. Especially because it didn't seem in earlier episodes that Popplio was saying its name. It sounded more like the bark of a seal, which I much would've preferred. It got to be a bit much here, especially when the other two were cooing and meowing like a real owl and cat.

Dub Team Rocket continues to be dub Team Rocket. Disappointed that the alliteration is still making appearances. Also, I think they might've made an error with their dialogue? When they realize Litten is in the cage with Rowlet and Popplio, Jessie says "uh, translation?" before James looks up who Litten is in his book. Then, when Litten is telling TR to let them go, Jessie repeats "translation?" It's like they included that line twice, because the first time, it didn't even make sense.

 

[Muur]

Lana's blush is cute.

That's a very durable bubble...

Ash really needs to invest in a bunch of trackers, his Pokemon get lost far too often. Soon they're gonna just fly off to Kanto by accident. I remember that stalking system Clemont made... which is still creepy, he should use that.

Mewoth lost to one Scratch damn. I mean I know he's Meowth but we know he's better than that.

That must be a gross bag.

So Peck doesn't pop them when Team Rocket are in them huh

That ring being pulled off seemed painful.

Eh... nothing happened in that episode.

 

[Sakuraa]

This was a pretty nice episode, mainly thanks to Popplio and Litten. Seriously, I love that little sea lion so much. Please just never evolve into those hideous monstrosities. Also, did his voice change? It sounds much higher pitched than it has before now. Regardless, I loved how determined Popplio was to help Rowlet, even to the point of running while bouncing him on his nose. He's such a helpful little cutie. Litten acting as a lone, wandering hero was also pretty nice. I lol'd at Stoutland volunteering Litten to bring the others back to their trainers. The starters has a nice dynamic in this episode. Popplio just wanted to get back to the trainers and stay focused, Litten wanted to protect the other two...and the owl was just the owl. Thankfully it was less annoying today, mainly due to being stuck in that brace. If that's what it takes I kind of wish Ash would have left it in there forever.

I also just noticed this, but the starters haven't yet been referred to as the starters in the show have they? I found that really interesting, since in past series the starters were always noted to be starters when they were introduced and Professor Kukui has yet to do so for Litten, Popplio, or Rowlet in all of this time. Are they not official starter Pokemon in this universe or something? I can't think of any other reason why they wouldn't have called them starters yet...

It still feels weird seeing Ash with ugly rock mutt. I still think of it as Kukui's Pokemon. It just does not fit well with Ash at all. But seriously, how did Ash not think to have the mutt sniff out the others from the start. That was so obvious. Anyway, the montage of Ash, Lana, Mallow, following the dog looking for the others kind of killed the rest of the episode. It was going at a nice pace, but then they just decided to time skip to sunset and wrap up everything there. They could have easily just let everything take place within a shorter amount of time and everything still would have been the same.

I'll give this one a 7/10. Popplio and Litten stole the show. They were just great, and I hope they get more episodes focusing on them soon.

 

[Nicolas721]

Is it my imagination or the dub Pokemon voices sound more animalistic now? What in previous series would have been "Stoutland stout Stoutland" and "Popplio Popplio" was in this episode "stouh stouh" and "Pauh pauh pauh".

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Rather fun episode. It was nice to see them mix up the formula in terms of the typical "Oh no, our Pokémon are lost, we must find them before that team we all know gets em first". This lead to some rather Noice jokes here and there (most of which are wrecked by the dub's ordinary Totally Not Dr Seuss writing).

Sadly Poppilo's dub voice starts slippin through the dub VA cracks.

 

[technickal]

Best filler in ages. Seriously. While I love the human characters too, I always enjoy the times when they step aside and let our titular creatures have the full spotlight. And while the early Kanto days where fully-subtitled dialogue for the Pokémon was a possibility are long since over, that might be for the better, for I appreciate this episode's efforts to show rather than tell (minus the conspicuous narration in the middle reminding us who Litten and Stoutland are).

 

[Harryghost]

Wow, this was such a cute episode. Lovely seeing an episode focusing on the Alolan starter Pokémon.

Okay, so Lana and Popplio are practicing making balloons, and Ash and Mallow are giving company. Argh! The sheer amount of coincidence that caused Popplio and Rowlet to be stuck together! Wonder how it'll turn out.

Particularly liked the scene where Rowlet attempted to fly Popplio to safely. Though brief, Rowlet's serious side was pretty interesting to watch.

I chuckled at that eavesdropping ring getting stuck onto Rowlet, though it also hurt a bit. It was nice seeing Popplio holding off its own against Team Rocket.

So, it's Litten who's come to save the day for Popplio and Rowlet. Great seeing it again. That brief Meowth versus Litten was interesting.

So, that's where Litten and Stoutland live now! LOL'd at Rowlet for believing that Stoutland was gonna eat it. Also, Stoutland was able to deduce that Rowlet is Ash's, just by licking it; that's some high level telepathy there.

Nice seeing Rockruff getting some focus in the episode as well.

So, the Pokémon have been separated from their Trainers for the entire noon now; hmph! that's just sad. Also, Team Rocket just conveniently knows that the starter Pokémon will pass through the building they have set up their traps at. Okay...

Litten showing its deceiving side again. Oh, I can't get enough of that Pokémon! I awed at Popplio getting heartbroken when Litten fake announced joining Team Rocket. Also, Team Rocket blasts off for the first time in Alola. That's great!

That Litten retreat was awesome.

Overall, it was a nice little fun episode. An easy 10/10.