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Review S15 EP33: Crisis at Ferroseed Research!

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From the official website said:
Ash and the gang bump into Iris’s rival Georgia, and together they head to a nearby laboratory to learn about some moss that’s supposed to help Pokémon boost their skills. But when the moss starts to grow out of control, it’ll take some cool moves and teamwork to freeze the moss in its tracks!

Dub changes:
* Professor Marble Professor Malveaux
* Clay Case

Who's That Pokémon?:
* Ferroseed
 
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Was kinda waitin' on this thread...

Anyway, the weird love triangle betwixt Pokémon was weird in this episode. Vanilluxe loved Axew, Oshawott loved Vanilluxe, in keeping with the pattern, Axew must now love Oshawott. But all love was, for the most part, unrequited.

So, the enemy du jour this time was dangerous staticky moss, it makes sense that Ice-type moves would take it out, but I still feel like it mostly served to put together a team up between Iris and Georgia's Pokémon, which is basically a team up between Iris and Georgia. I feel like their rivalry is kinda petering out, not like the Pokémon Connoisseur/Connoisseuse thing going on between Cilan and Burgundy and Ricard.

But it was fortunate for Georgia, huh? She came in search of a moss engineered around Ice-types, but they didn't make one yet. I'm thinking that if they had made one, it would end up giving all her Ice-type Pokémon a bad reaction, like this episode's moss did for Electric-types and Ground-types.

Anyway, what was the deal with Iris picking Emolga and Excadrill to destroy the moss at first? Not only did they just get finished telling her that it conks out Ground-types and Electric-types and she should really know the types of her own Pokémon (especially obvious ones like Emolga), but Oshawott, Vanilluxe, AND Axew were right there! If she wanted to try random attacks to destroy the moss, why not give at least Axew a try first?

In the end, crisis averted. The moss was destroyed with ice weapons like an enemy out of METROID. But one last question, doesn't Virbank City have a fire/rescue squad? Aren't those normally the departments that handle large city disasters? Instead of the police? Or are the departments combined?
 
Everyone (except Cilan) seemed so out of character in this episode.

Starting off, Ash was happy and eager to get straight on a boat and to his Gym battle, in past series he'd be furious if there was any delay whatsoever, he wanted to get straight to his Gym battle and win the next badge. Then a minute later, after hearing about a research centre, suddenly he's the one suggesting to go there?

Above that, why would he care? Ash has never expressed an interest in those sort of artificial improvements to power - and took no interest in them when he had to chance to actually get some of it for his own Pokemon, and considering Ash doesn't strike me as someone interested in the scientific research, it's just odd for Iris to be the one being dragged along - as if the mere presence of Georgia's ice types were enough not to go somewhere.

The episode also had the debut of the only medicine in the history of Pokemon to ever not have absolute immediate effect, leaving Pikachu to sit in a dazed state most of the episode - the delivery of some of the lines where Ash was worrying about Pikachu could have been better, it almost sounded like he was angry at Pikachu for taking so long to recover.

Finally, when Ash finally came along to save the day, Pignite got two seconds of screen time to do one job and then straight back into his ball. I thought you had to be a Flying type to get that level of being used.

Iris and Georgia both seemed odd too, though for Georgia it was nice to see her have another side to her in caring about Pikachu's wellbeing, I certainly didn't buy them being nice to eachother at the end (though some of the earlier scenes were good) - or having Iris commanding Vanillite when Georgia was on screen commanding Beartic.

This would have been a great episode to have Oshawott learn an ice type move, instead nothing was gained for Ash at all - if he's not going to train for the Gym battle directly he could at least gain something out of this episode.

Well it wasn't all lost - another Stunfisk appearance probably made it all worth it and I learnt I was pronouncing Ferroseed wrong. It was also not a bad episode when you don't think about it - it was enjoyable enough, just it seems like such an odd episode.
 
This episode was ok with me. It did had something I did like about it, but I can take the negatives and make them into possivatives.I hope.

Ash: This was a stange thing that Ash is postoning his trip to the final gym for something else. I was Okay with Ash saving the day at the end of the episode because it make up for it.

Iris: This is mostly what I can say about Iris today, 'AHHHHH Ice type run away' and 'this ice type isn't that bad as I thought.' It was kind of funny with Iris fear of Ice was that bad. So it was ok in the dub.

Ash's Oshawott: He was funny as alway :D

Georgia: I have nothing to said about her but she was out of charter..

Georgia's Beartic: Everyone should love Beartic their Beastly awesome.
 
It was a decent episode. What really struck me was the pronunciation of Ferroseed. I always pronounced it like "Ferris" with an "o" instead of the "i." Nice to see the Georgia/Iris rivalry again. And that's pretty much all I gotta say.
 
Man, if you think about it, those Ferroseed at the end went through a lot of damage. First they had to store up all that electricity with them constantly shooting out those thorns. Then Ash hits them with a double super-effective Flamethrower. Those things must have been exhausted at the end!

I wish we could have seen how the moss that actually increased a pokemon's skills was administered. Do the Pokemon eat it, or do they just absorb it into themselves? I feel as though this whole episode was far out in left field. Georgia came out of nowhere, along with this Ferroseed Research center that we've never heard of before.

I liked Georgia and Iris' interactions at the end though. Even though it was herky-jerky, I feel as though they are coming to respect one another, which may add to the excitment of their rivalry.

Did anyone else gawk at the anime physics employed in this episode when all the moss, once it had been frozen, just broke up into thin air without it leaving a trace?! All in all, it was a pretty decent episode. I can't wait to see what Verbank City has in store for Ash!
 
I thought this was quite a good episode, and i lost it laughing when i saw stunfisks face when he was absorbing the electricity ahahaha
 
An interesting episode, and I loved when Oshawott got struck by the excess electricity absorbed by Stunfisk and Pikachu from the Ferroseed. What I wonder is what the Chargestone Cave rock moss does for Pokemon and how they use moss on Pokemon.
 
While I thought the episode was nice, it really wasn't one I'd watch again really, but still a few good moments.

I particularly like Ash's big damn hero moment, rushing into the action with Pignite, and realizing that Pikachu could let out the Ferroseed's trapped electricity.

One fault I find in Best Wishes, and I think it's a fairly legitimate one, is that Ash really hasn't had enough hero moments in it.
 
I quite liked this episode. I'm a huge Iris and Oshawott fan, so I was pleased to see them together; I honestly never would have imagined the scenario, but sometimes it's good that the writers surprise us. I thought the Ferroseed were overshadowed a bit though, which was unfortunate as they're one of the most unique species out there in my opinion. Anyway, I admit that I really wanted Iris to end up with Vanilluxe after the time they spent together, but I still think Iris managed to develop without it, so there was no harm done in the end. I'm just glad that she overcame her fear of Ice-type Pokemon.
 
Well, this was a surprisingly enjoyable episode. All in all, the plot was solid and made for nice entertainment.
There was only one major flaw that needs to be mentioned though:
After being frozen, the moss simply disappeared into thin air, something that's hardly possible from a logical standpoint. I really wished they had come up with a more complex and plausible solution like having the ice melt and leaving ponds of water. But the way they decided to solve the whole problem was way too cheap and I can't help but think that the writers just didn't want to try harder in order to find an acceptable solution. That's a pity if you ask me because it somehow left a bitter aftertaste, considering that the rest of the episode was really decent.


Starting off, Ash was happy and eager to get straight on a boat and to his Gym battle, in past series he'd be furious if there was any delay whatsoever, he wanted to get straight to his Gym battle and win the next badge. Then a minute later, after hearing about a research centre, suddenly he's the one suggesting to go there?
Well that's typical for Ash, isn't it? To be honest, I don't see any inconsistencies here. It's true that he was excited about winning his eighth badge but isn't he always curious to see something new, too?


The episode also had the debut of the only medicine in the history of Pokemon to ever not have absolute immediate effect, leaving Pikachu to sit in a dazed state most of the episode - the delivery of some of the lines where Ash was worrying about Pikachu could have been better, it almost sounded like he was angry at Pikachu for taking so long to recover.
If I remember correctly there were a few instances in the past when the medicine they gave to Pikachu or other Pokemon didn't have an immediate effect, either.

Iris and Georgia both seemed odd too, though for Georgia it was nice to see her have another side to her in caring about Pikachu's wellbeing, I certainly didn't buy them being nice to eachother at the end (though some of the earlier scenes were good) - or having Iris commanding Vanillite when Georgia was on screen commanding Beartic.
I agree with you on that because I didn't quite buy it either. But then on the other hand it might be possible that Georgia started to take a liking to Iris or at least to secretly admire her during the Don Tournament.
 
Well that's typical for Ash, isn't it? To be honest, I don't see any inconsistencies here. It's true that he was excited about winning his eighth badge but isn't he always curious to see something new, too?
I'm in the process of rewatching AG - and was just watching the episodes before Brawly's Gym. Contrasting how excited he was in those episodes and how nothing would get in his way of getting to the Gym battle, even if it meant getting angry with those around him - to BW where he's the one suggesting to do other things when he could be going for a Gym battle is a really big change in his character I think.

I'd say even more broadly than just this episode, he just seems far less enthusiastic about things, it's almost like he realises that he's going through this all for the fifth time and just doesn't care as much.

Cilan's perfectly written to take an interest in things like this - a sudden declaration he's a Moss-connoisseur and dragging Iris and Ash along would be far more natural for everyone involved.
 
The pronounciation of Ferroseed confuses me as well. I always thought it was derived from "ferromagnetic" and thus would have a long o sound.
 
yes, really, what the heck is up with the pronunciation of Ferroseed??? "ferraseed", really?? How do they get that? and the emphasis on the second sound, so its "fe-RAH-seed". it just sounds stupid. It should seriously be a long oh sound, something like "Pharoh-seed". Worst pronunciation decision ever!
 
Finally got around to catching this episode, and I'm sorry I waited until now to see it. The story was really surreal, and it was good way to explore the relationship between Georgia and the gang. She really came off as a sisterly figure to Iris, and she worked as a really great companion to Cilan and Ash. We really need more episodes with Georgia and the gang - not only does she have one of the best voice actors and lines, but the way she acted with the gang makes me think that she would make a good travelling companion for a while. She'd certainly give Iris a good snarking-to when she needed it.

And speaking of Ash, his quick thinking actually saved the day! Malveaux was interesting as a CoTD, too. And Georgia's Vanilluxe was awesome, with her (Bulbapedia lists it as a girl, though I wouldn't be surprised if Oshawott misgenered it like it did Purrloin) friendly demeanor and clinginess.
With the gang already out of Unova, I doubt we'll see Georgia or Vanilluxe again. Shame, because its attitude left a lot of room for a story about Georgia liking Dragons, or bonding with Vanilluxe despite their different personalities. It was a good chance for a story, and we're not going to get it.

The episode seems to have set up Iris overcoming her fear of Ice types, with Georgia commenting on how well she worked with Vannilluxe and suggested she become an Ice master. Foreshadowing Iris catching an Ice type? I hope so.

Since I have too much nice things to say about this episode, I'll just post my gripes about it:
1. Why were Ground types affected by the moss, aside from giving an excuse for Iris not to use Excadrill? Considering Ground is immune to Electric (as the moss came from the stones of Charge Stone cave, right?), Excadrill seemed like a good option.
2. The overuse of Ice Beam and Icy Wind. Generally the "go-to" Ice moves, since they're projectiles. But couldn't we see an Ice Punch from Beartic?
3. Why did Georgia say that Iris worked well with Vannilluxe? Iris commanded an Icy Wind from it all of twice, that's it.
 
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