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Review JN024: Take a Break! Rocket-dan!

Did anyone else notice that the Rocket Grunts used the signature Pokémon of the Team Galactic Commanders? Purugly, Skuntank, and Toxicroak.
I guess that means Giovanni was successful in creating a Team Rocket branch in Sinnoh after Galactic were taken care of. Nice touch, his influence over the other regions continues to grow. Here's hoping we get a proper Ash vs Team Rocket arc somewhere down the line.
 
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Jessie trying not to go after Matori/Pikachu be like:
LightShowyBluefintuna-size_restricted.gif


Also, Pikachu has found a new friend! (and somewhere Johto, a certain bunny is probably going crazy):
58BA7D64-9B02-40BA-BDCB-D77206009615.jpeg

PS. I‘m a new member. Nice to meet all of you!:bulbaWave:
 
Ash hooked the normal sized Magikarp

...Wonder if we'll see people say that Ash is owed that Magikarp. Not sure he ever really gets that fan opinion (I mean I've seen more people argue Brock has a Tauros than say, Ash has all of those Exeggutor)
 
One of the most boring Journeys episodes so far. Usually I enjoy TRio focused episodes but the plot wasn't engaging in this one and lack of Team Rocket's own Pokémon didn't help either. I liked the Magikarp reference but it's not enough to keep me interested, I expected more after last week's episode.
 
Anyone else find it interesting when Matori says that Sakaki said she could bring as many agents as she wants but her special "elite unit" was all she needed? Most of these agents (3 of them) were in her "Matori Matrix" elite squad in the S&M series however many were absent as well, she also later states that she didn't want to bring any "dead weight" which brings me to wonder if maybe something happened with the rest of the Matori Matrix unit prior to that brought her to view them as "dead weight" especially Gozu :unsure: Also Yamato and Kosaburo.
 
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Anyone else find it interesting when Matori says that Sakaki said she could bring as many agents as she wants but her special "elite unit" was all she needed? Most of these agents (3 of them) were in her "Matori Matrix" elite squad in the S&M series however many were absent as well, she also later states that she didn't want to bring any "dead weight" which brings me to wonder if maybe something happened with the rest of the Matori Matrix unit prior to that brought her to view them as "dead weight" especially Gozu :unsure: Also Yamato and Kosaburo.
i need subs for understand the episode better but i think the dead weight means they failed to her
 
My favorite parts of watching TRio-centric episodes and seeing them do things outside of the norm where they're more focused on as characters instead of plot devices, but I feel this episode didn't really deliver on that as much as it should've?

PROS:
* Jessie and James had some really fun moments throughout the episode and the interactions with the twerps were cool to see. James also being like an uncle to Ash and Go was cute. lol'd at the motto scene
* The catching scene with Go was done in a way that shows he's actually improving
* The battle sequence along with seeing Galacticmons was great to watch, and the competency of TR in this episode was surprisingly good. Maybe they'll get another arc this series?
* BOSS FANTASIES!!!!!

CONS:
* My biggest issue with this episode is despite it being focused around TRio, they never really did much to enhance the story and it felt more like a regular episode that just happened to have Team Rocket in it. Similar to SM038 most of their screentime was leeched but this time they didn't really even have meaningful moments to themselves or stuff outside of the previews. I feel the lack of any true Pokèmon outside of the Gachat machine limits them from having as much action as they could in this series and neither Meowth nor Wobbuffet are utilized often so most of the actions they did in this episode weren't direct making the boys push the plot harder than them. And in a series where they are on life support for appearances having them contribute so little in an episode centered on them was kinda disappointing
* No sign of Matori's Meowth even though this series was on a pretty good track record with continuity
* Pikachu getting trashed by grunts of all characters was weird to me when he's fought far more stronger Pokemon

OVERALL SCORE:
6/10
 
I liked this episode a lot, but I gotta admit Matori didn't felt like much of a threat. Her methods were literally the same as the TRio's usual antics, only with stronger Trainers guarding the cage. I know they weren't going for a very dramatic direction like most Elite Team Rocket episodes, but still. That said, I think Matori works for more light-hearted plots when they need stronger Team Rocket members, as Giovanni has never been made a comedy-oriented character (even in SM he was played straight 99% of the time).

I'd try not to overthink Matori's choice of elite members because it's clear that this show has a knack for continuity tidbits at best. In-universe, I doubt she meant everyone not in that operation was deemed a "problem" to her anyways. That said, her referring to the TRio in that scene gives the impression that they are considered to be noteworthy members in the first place? I wonder if this in line to their "promoted" status no one ever seemed to take away from them after the BW series, or if it's just a throwaway move from the writers for the sake of exposition.

- I wasn't hoping for Matori's Meowth because we haven't even seen Giovanni's Persian in this series.
- I love how they brought in Miyake just to voice a chibi version of the boss.
 
Giovanni has never been made a comedy-oriented character (even in SM he was played straight 99% of the time).

There is Boss Fantasy Giovanni, who is definitely a 100% comedy-oriented character. Given how many times he appeared in AG and DP, I still have a hard time thinking of anime Giovanni as a serious villain.
 
There is Boss Fantasy Giovanni, who is definitely a 100% comedy-oriented character. Given how many times he appeared in AG and DP, I still have a hard time thinking of anime Giovanni as a serious villain.
But they've almost never gone the comedic route with real Giovanni, which is the character I'm talking about. The only times real Giovanni has been used for comedy is when he acts as a serious contrast for the TRio.
 
At this point, we might as well start a counter of reference teases for this series just to see how much they do it by the end of it.
Maybe that's the Charizard for that old poster. :wynaut:

Matori: Giovanni wants a lot of strong Pokemon
Also Matori: Allows base stage Pokemon like Caterpie to be captured.

Moral of the story: Matori doesn't know what she is doing at all and is worse than our TRio.
There's a ton of unevolved common stuff there, but maybe they're all like level 40+ or something like when you reach the resort area in the games?
 
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Two great aspects of the episode:
- Sinnoh! Sinnoh is always great per se. Simply the best. (Although that constant jumping between regions makes it kind of hard to display each region's cultural peculiarities. I'm still not sure if I like that new concept because the episode could also have taken place just anywhere if it hadn't been for the resort area)
- The Team Rocket part of the story. Seeing TRio's and Matori's rivalry is priceless! Also, it was very good story writing to have TRio of all people do something really nice and help out when they actually weren't supposed to do anything at all. Seriously, I don't know what Ash could have done to rescue Pikachu this time if Jessy, James and Meowth hadn't saved him.

Not so great aspects:
- Go: Yes I know we 're not supposed to talk badly about him but that guy has turned out to be the most useless character in the show ever. I mean, he of all people happens to catch the biggest Magikarp. He of all people can catch it with little to no effort. This feels so cheap! My hate for him grows bigger and bigger. I can only repeat what I already said last week: Go is an insult to all "real" Pokemon trainers who work hard until they finally get a chance to catch their desired Pokemon. If only he'd leave our beloved show immediately!
- Ash's power reset: Let's be honest, when Ash was facing Matori's squad for the first time, he looked like a real rookie. That sounds even more painful considering he's just recently won the Alola League and is refered to as a champion. In my eyes Ash being weak at first was just used to make Team Rocket appear more like a threat and while TRio's main plot was done really well, this just hurt.

All in all, this week's episode can be compared to a literal two-edged sword. But I'd still say the positve aspects outweighed the negatives ones. (Go doesn't count, he's always bad if you ask me and Ash's short-term helplessness, oh well...)
 
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