Review JN073: Captain Pikachu! Advance, Tairetsu!!

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Yeah, this episode was not worth the wait. It was very underwhelming and of course Goh unfortunately caught Falinks. Plus, Eiscue deserves a better debut than being filler content when the episode could I dunno....Actually have Ash's Pokemon other than Pikachu doing stuff like helping Falinks.

 

[Handy Man]

I’m happy that Galarian Slowpoke appeared at least. Really boring episode overall though.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

I liked how they showed that Go's pokemon are dreadfully trained but said that it was due to the captain not giving good commands

The skill of the captain doesn't mean anything if the troops can't follow commands and work together either

And then they go full Pickle Rick and had Go say "They're usually better than this I swear"

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

They're too big. Goh's Pokémon were more appropriate size. Except for Cinderace, but that was pointed out and used as a gag.

Sirfetch'd is the perfect size and makes thematic sense. This would have been a perfect Sirfetch'd focus episode in some alternate universe where they cared about Ash's Pokémon.

 

[Craiden]

So, while the episode wasn't great, I cannot recall an episode structured like this, so I give props to the continued experimentation. The Falinks stuff was actually rather well done, and of course, appreciated the "research" aspect this episode presents. The Eiscue stuff, while interesting from the perspective that he was a "main" focus, and yet disconnected from the Falinks stuff, it was hard to get into (though appreciated the Ice Block set up/pay off with the face reveal) it did ruin pace, and I would guess many will call it boring, which is fair.

 

[R1ke]

Yeah that was about as filler as you could get. Idk why Goh even caught galar stunfisk. But at least he bonded with Falinks beforehand and it willingly joined him. Some cool music too. But Eiscue felt rather pointless. 3/10 probs.

 

[Tardile]

Yeaaay another Goh capture episode how fun am I right ?

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Yeaaay another Goh capture episode how fun am I right ?

Hey, he actually connected with a Pokémon before catching it this time. I actually guessed that would happen.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Hey, he actually connected with a Pokémon before catching it this time. I actually guessed that would happen.

I’d say that at this point even him connecting with the Pokémon ends up feeling pointless when it’s just going to become a background object that, if it’s lucky, will be used once in a blue moon rather than an actual cast member. There’s just nothing to really be interested about when it comes to Go’s captures.

 

[JinksChow]

Hey, he actually connected with a Pokémon before catching it this time. I actually guessed that would happen.

Yes, but apparently Go threw Ash under the bus in order to connect with Falinks.

As seen in the episode, Go's Grookey disturbed the Falinks by hitting the leader with its stick (sigh), which lead to the Falinks getting mad and wanting to retaliate. Since Grookey led the Falinks back to Ash and Go, Ash had no choice but to defend themselves by ordering Pikachu to attack back. This caused the explosion which separated the captain of Falinks with the rest, so Ash stayed to take care of the troops while Go went to save the captain. So after saving the captain, Go said to the captain that "Ash really went too far this time".

Oh really?! Excuse me Go, your Grookey was the one who started this whole mess, but Ash was the one who went too far? You don't get to absolve yourself of all responsibility in this situation you know.

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

Speaking of Eiscue, Team Rocket was in a similar boat in the Eevee and Grookey Adventure episode. They were randomly fitted into the plot with Pelipper (making it do a task akin to Eevee and Grookey), and ultimately was there just for one thing, to cause that one scene of conflict, but that’s about it.
You didn’t know where it was going, and thought the plot got lost in another episode, like this Eiscue. It’s so random.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

I've been waiting eagerly for the next episode during that two-week break but in the end, this episode was nothing to get really excited about. A filler or I should a say a bad filler because half of its plot, the Eiscue part, was basically a waste of time. While those scenes where the Falinks captain was training with Go's Pokemon and Pikachu's unintentional role as the temporary leader were both funny and entertaining to watch, the rest of the episode unfortunately seemed like a sequence of unconnected events. Or as another user put it:

We had two plotlines today, and one was just a random series of events featuring an ugly penguin

I also think this summarizes the episode pretty well:

Pikachu's leader moments and the Falinks training were the best parts of the episode for me. The Pikachu leader stuff was hilarious, especially at the end of the episode when he realises that "wait, why are all of you still following me?"
The Falinks training was also nice, and also had its amusing moments, although it felt rushed.

However, the Eiscue stuff really is what ruined the episode. It shows up and has a whole backstory, only for it to barely play any part in the episode itself, and all the moments with it felt like a huge waste of time, which could have actually been the reason why the Falinks stuff was so rushed. All it adds is a sub-par battle momento, and that's about all it does. For Arceus's sake, Goh doesn't even catch it, and it ends up back where it originally was at the end of the episode without much intervention, solidifying the fact it's a complete waste of time.

Overall, it had the potential to be good, but the Eiscue execution killed it.
4/10.

What bugged me personally was the fact that we got just another epsiode almost exclusively dedicated to Go. While Ash had a few moments here and there, he basicaly didn't get to do anything of relevance and it was once again Go, Go and even more Go....

To sum it up: Undoubtedly, the best thing about this week's episode was the preview for the upcoming one. We'll get Sinnoh, Darkrai and Dawn (Ash's best female companion in my eyes). Awesome prerequisites for a promising and great plot!

 

[nickdt]

Yes, but apparently Go threw Ash under the bus in order to connect with Falinks.

As seen in the episode, Go's Grookey disturbed the Falinks by hitting the leader with its stick (sigh), which lead to the Falinks getting mad and wanting to retaliate. Since Grookey led the Falinks back to Ash and Go, Ash had no choice but to defend themselves by ordering Pikachu to attack back. This caused the explosion which separated the captain of Falinks with the rest, so Ash stayed to take care of the troops while Go went to save the captain. So after saving the captain, Go said to the captain that "Ash really went too far this time".

Oh really?! Excuse me Go, your Grookey was the one who started this whole mess, but Ash was the one who went too far? You don't get to absolve yourself of all responsibility in this situation you know.

Oh great, more Goh shilling from the writers at the expense of Ash.

So yeah, can Goh leave already. Its clear he doesn't care about Ash or his goal.

 

[Unireon]

So.... That's what he said....

Really, blaming Satoshi....

Because he, or his Pokemon, is never wrong and it is always someone else's fault.

This is infuriating.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

While I have nothing against Goh, his Grookey is starting to annoy me more and more. Its personality is annoying, it doesn't get any karma from its mistakes, and it hasn't even used any moves yet.

 

[Kurolegacy]

So.... That's what he said....

Really, blaming Satoshi....

Because he, or his Pokemon, is never wrong and it is always someone else's fault.

This is infuriating.

Seriously, how about he actually make like a trainer and get his monkey under control? You’d think he’d have learned after the errand episode that it needs training but no, just keep letting it get into mischief.

 

[nickdt]

Seriously, how about he actually make like a trainer and get his monkey under control? You’d think he’d have learned after the errand episode that it needs training but no, just keep letting it get into mischief.

Thats because he doesn't care about what it does.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

While I have nothing against Goh, his Grookey is starting to annoy me more and more. Its personality is annoying, it doesn't get any karma from its mistakes, and it hasn't even used any moves yet.

Seems like Grookey will slowly but surely turn into the new Togepi or Happiny.

 

[Nicolas721]

I haven't seen the episode but it sounds like it could have been planned a two-parter, until they changed minds at the last minute because they likely wanted to have more of both Eiscue and Fallinks, as what happens in those two-parters is barely canon.

Gengar leads them off a cliff, Sirfetch’d makes them too eager, making them prepare to die for Ash at any moment,

[links added for context]
Are you a Steven Universe fan by any chances? lol

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Seems like Grookey will slowly but surely turn into the new Togepi or Happiny.

Or Oshawott.