Review JN076: Full Power! Alola Deserted Island Race!!

[BigDocFan]

By the sounds of it, this episode establishes that Ultra Class battles are all pre-scheduled so that means no more random battles.

This should be more fun

 

[Kurolegacy]

Unrelated to the competition but is this the first time that the anime has displayed the fact that the fruit growing on Tropius is edible?

 

[BigDocFan]

Unrelated to the competition but is this the first time that the anime has displayed the fact that the fruit growing on Tropius is edible?

I believe it is

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

I think people are blowing the Bruxish thing a bit out of proportion. First off, how would Ash catching it benefit him, or the Bruxish for that matter, in anything? Yes, Goh catching it means it'll waste away at the lab, but even under Ash, Bruxish would probably not get that much spotlight either, seeing how Ash's team still has screentime issues. Plus, it's already full. Even ignoring those two things, there's also the little problem that Bruxish is a fully aquatic species, meaning Ash would have difficulty finding situations where to get any milage out of the thing anyway, as almost all battles in the anime take place on land.

Okay, now onto the episode itself, it was fun with a lot of wholesome moments: Ash finally being acknowledged as the Champion of Alola and even getting his own fanboys is honestly quite cute (also, we finally got to see the debut of Clangorous Soulblaze!), and I also really liked that Team Rocket wondered about their Alola mons and got to reunite with them for a bit at the end. Goh's Pyukumuku was quite the cutie as well... to be fair, that's mostly because it's a Pyukumuku and those are never not cute, but still

There was also the scene with Ash, Goh, and their Pokemon playing with the wild Passimian, which was also neat. As was Lucario getting called on for its aura-sensing ability; even if it was just a tiny role, seeing a Pokemon making use out of their innate traits rather than their fancy attacks is a pretty neat detail.

Unrelated to the competition but is this the first time that the anime has displayed the fact that the fruit growing on Tropius is edible?

Actually, if I remember correctly, there was an episode back in Hoenn where one of Meowth's Boss Fantasies showcased this attribute as one of the uses Giovanni could get out of Tropius.

 

[Craiden]

Yeah, still fairly standard (though I do like the idea of this type of "catching" event, and wish the series had done more of these beforehand), but the characters were done well here, and I will always credit these writers for finally saying that League wins, while not insignificant, aren't the "end all, be all" they were treated as prior to SM.

 

[Eitarou]

Have the necessary Pokemon to traverse the mountain. Lucario was right there and as such could have done the same thing. Considering we have seen Ash traversing mountains without the need of a Pokemon also shows Boldore wasn't needed there.

Oh wow. Using Toxic, a non-damaging move.

Yes, Toxic, a "non-damaging" move that is specifically designed to drain a Pokemon of its health. Have you never played a Pokemon game before?

 

[Singaporean]

An okay episode for the series come back after a week break. Glad, that somebody recognize Ash is the champion of Alola League that give a huge surprise to Goh. Despite, everybody might be forgotten. Also, it sad, that Team Rocket reunion with their Alola pokemon almost at the end of the episode. Kinda drip out.

Overall rating: B-

 

[Twilight-Kun]

I'm glad Ash was able to help Mario and Luigi with their z-move

A shame we didn't get to see that tournament Ash won though - must've been something if people actually remembered it after he left

 

[Keith]

I enjoyed this episode. Ash’s Champion status being recognized, and him taking on the mentor role again were highlights for me. Not to mention, Lucario! As of next week, that will make an appearance by Lucario two episodes in a row. I don’t think that’s happened since before Ash caught Dracovish(?)

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

A shame we didn't get to see that tournament Ash won though - must've been something if people actually remembered it after he left

We did see it. All the way back in the previous series. Why the sarcasm, if I may ask?

 

[Johtohfiller]

I despise the Gachat.

It seemed like they had been phasing it out but then it appears in the last two episodes, to their detrement.

What if TR had brought Mareanie and Mimikkyu along for the race and we got a proper Bewear Blastoff? Don't get me wrong, the reunion scene was good. But it was brief, thanks to the &%@#ing Gachat sucking up screentime the Alola mons deserved.

Seriously, I despise that thing. I'm inches away from saying it's as bad if not worse than what they did to TR in early BW.

 

[R1ke]

Wow man, they really nailed that SM atmosphere with the race at the beginning. The music, presentations and setup really took me back. Loved the relationship between Ash and the boys; they praised him, he 'mentored' them (pretty funny how his explanation actually worked on them lol) and they went out of their way to save him.

There's so many little things this episode does well:

• Ash's explanation and Goh's reaction to his champion status
• Using Lucario
• Bringing back Goh's old captures again
• Z-ring callback
• Goh captures feeling organic as they were needed for the race
• Ash's tactics of luring passimian in, not a direct callback but a cheeky reference
• TR reunion/pondering about their pokemon beforehand - I swear even the gatcha animation is thankfully much shorter now
• Also neat showing clangerous soulblaze for the first time
• Lastly that Volkner tease at the end, reducing the setup there. Finally some inter-episode continuity!

Albeit I would've liked more returning characters or acknowledgement of his champion status, but at least it's out there now. As a SM fan, I had a dumb grin throughout this episode, well done. 8/10, genuinely enjoyable for a 'filler' episode. Really keen for Volkner next week.

 

[ii kanji]

There was a lot to praise of this episode. Accounting for the meta stuff in which Satoshi returns to Alola without meeting any single person, this was just as an Alola-based filler should have felt, as many of you have already expounded.

I would not exactly say I am disappointed in the TRio reunion since I literally expected no more (more's the pity) and certainly prefer this short segment to a big fat nothing. Of course I'm not going to not say that they absolutely could have and should have done it better. What broke my suspension of disbelief actually was that Kiteruguma, who once flew all the way to Kanto to prevent a blast-off, could not even catch them in her own backyard.

What really hacked me off though was the cavalier way in which Kojiro got Rafflesia out of the Gatchat - a Pokemon used to torture him as a child by abusive forced fiancée Rumika - and was just casually commanding it, like, what? I know we are now no longer allowed to have an attention span exceeding one episode and all that, but as a long-time Rocket fan that felt bizarre and actually kind of... I dunno, insulting? At least he didn't use Stun Spore I suppose. I am seriously ready for the Gatchat to die a death.

Also, I don't know if this is petty, but Satoshi and Go did not need to win that contest. Go had already caught the needful Pokemon and Satoshi has enough bloody trophies on his shelf - why not let the charming and relatable CotDs have this one huh?

 

[Hey You Pikachu!]

This episode was really good, but my only real problem was Team Rocket. They should've blasted off earlier so they could've used Mimikyu and Mareanie instead of the Gacha

 

[VetProf]

I think there'd be fewer complaints regarding Team Rocket's screentime in this episode if they didn't spoil the reunion in the episode preview and just left it as a neat little surprise.

 

[Nicolas721]

The episode...got the job done. It was fun and entertaining, the CoTDs were decent and had a cute relationship with Ash, and the duo actually had to understand each Pokemon before catching them. Bringing back Anna was a great and welcomed detail.

I have some problems with the format though. I was expecting an actual race with fast paced emotions and multiple teams, not just...two teams going through a Safari Zone in the region where Pokemon where shown to be free in all episodes. I know it's possibly just me not getting used to Journeys' new formats by now, but it still felt weird.

I'm also mixed with Team Rocket. Wouldn't it have been easier to just have them participate in the race instead of bringing back the Johto era? Or use their Alolan Pokemon instead of the gatcha ones? The reunion was really cute though.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

We did see it. All the way back in the previous series. Why the sarcasm, if I may ask?

Because we didn't see it in this series, meaning it's yet another part of PM19 that's told but not shown

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Because we didn't see it in this series, meaning it's yet another part of PM19 that's told but not shown

We did see it in the previous series, and it was mentioned here. Not all references have to be flashbacks.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

Most of the points I wanted to say have already been mentioned by you guys, so let me focus on the most important points:

An enjoyable filler for sure! I would even go so far as to say it was more than just an ordinary filler.
First, Ash showed some really good thinking when using Lucario's aura ability to locate Bruxish and second, he used his previous knowlege of Passimian (loving to throw around and catch balls) to lure them out. I liked those scenes and, after all, that's what you'd expect from somebody who won the Alola League.
Second, and that was undoubtedly the best thing about the episode, we got tons of continuity moments: The Alola League and Ash being the first one to have won it, Z-Moves, Ash's background knowledge of Alolan Pokemon and how to effectively use Z-moves, TRio's reunion with their Alolan friends and last but not least the return of Volkner, one of themost intriguing Sinnoh characters.

No complaints from my side today. This was an episode every fan can wish for and to make things even better, next week's battle has also been introduced already, which promises to be extremely intense. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and at the same time, I'm already pumped for next week's showdown.

 

[90'sPokéfan]

Because we didn't see it in this series, meaning it's yet another part of PM19 that's told but not shown

Did you wanted to see the Allola League again in PM19?

I know it was a nice tournament, but the episodes already exist. Or do you mean some kind of flashback scenes when it was mentionned? That could have been nice to be honest. Even if it was just images of some battles in the tournament (like the flashback to the Sinnoh League in PM19).

But it wasn't necessary I guess. Even without the flashbacks it was a clear reference. One even most of the target audience would remember since it still happened relative recent from when this episode aired. Of course, it wouldn't have hurt either to include a quick (image) flashback.