• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Review S17 EP14: Seeking Shelter From the Storm!

Ah, this episode was great. The bits with Serena scaring the others were pretty funny, along with Clemont trying to explain everything through science. I found the dynamic between Team Rocket and the gang to be more interesting than it has been in previous XY episodes, so that was nice. The flashback with Espurr (along with the gang finding out that the grandmother had passed away, and especially the flower) was easily the saddest part in the series yet.

Really good episode.
 
This episode was great. It started off being really funny, but then became really deep.

Ok, first of all, the beginning was hilarious and I loved the group interactions. Clemont being super scared and trying to pretend that he wasn't despite clearly still being nervous was the funniest thing here. And what’s with all the recent dudes being all scientific when it comes to these strange, scary events. I mean I just it makes more sense for Clemont than it did the last guy, but still.

Anyway, moving on, Serena was particularly entertaining, saying random scary things making Ash and Clemont shiver and then immediately covering her mouth not realizing what she said. That thing about driving a stake into a vampire was hilarious! It was all priceless.

But the most awesome thing was that Bonnie was the bravest of all of them. Not scared by Serena’s theories, or the painting, or the mysterious sounds, and then she just ran off and chased Espurr through the haunted house like it was no big deal. Just adorable and amazing.

Speaking of adorable, Bonnie playing ball and sliding with Espurr was so cute! And then she pushed it and Dedenne on the rocking...Ponyta. It was so precious. I seriously love Bonnie. And even Clemont disciplining Bonnie was cute.

And holy crap, why did Clemont just randomly scream after they were looking for Bonnie. He could have just said, “Hey, I know what’s going on”. Weird. Just weird.

Okay, Espurr's backstory...that was so sad. It played with that old woman and picked her a flower only to find out she died. That was so sad, I really felt bad for it. But then it got to go say goodbye to her and bring her the flower and Elise let it keep the pendant. That was so sweet.

Now for the negatives. 1. Team Rocket. I just wasn’t entertained by them as much as Ash’s gang and particularly didn’t like when they attacked Espurr just to leave the house. And WTF? Did Jessie seriously ask, “What’s a Bonnie?”? . Does she not know that that is a person’s name and that there was one less member of the group? 2. With that said, I really hoped Bonnie would have used Dedenne to battle TR to save her new Espurr friend, but Espurr just handled the situation itself in like a second.

Overall, I really liked this episode. It turned out to be really great with a funny first half and emotional second half. 8/10
 
What is it with abandoned mansions and thunderstorms?

I thought the opening gags with Clemont trying to rationalize everything and Serena repeatedly saying scary things (and covering her mouth) were slightly overused, but they stopped before they got too annoying. Actually, Clemont vaguely reminded me of Cilan trying to rationalize things back in the Nacrene Museum (if I remember correctly), but the difference was that Cilan seemed more closed off to the supernatural, while Clemont was using it as a feeble defense mechanism. Notice how when he accepted that a Psychic or Ghost Pokémon was lurking about, he became calmer and less nervous.

I pegged the old lady as the mansion owner pretty quickly, and that she was connected to Espurr. Kinda like in "Just Waiting On A Friend." And they actually said that she died! And I don't think it was even a dub screw-up, like with Brock's mom. 4kids would've never allowed that once they became necrophobic. And speaking of Espurr, how the hell did it use a Psychic attack on Inkay? Unless it's powerful enough to screw the rules.
 
I like to think that Inkay is immune to Physic but just pretended to be affected so it won't lose its master.
 
Well, it looks like it’s time for the token “Scary House/Mansion/Place” Episode. Given that last week’s token Kindergarten episode didn’t do much for me, let’s hope this one somehow manages to do something new and interesting.

Well, we get the standard opening to the plot. It’s thundering and raining and there’s a creepy house. Gotta go in to stay dry even though no sane or sensible person would ever do such a thing. Just like the Litwick Mansion episode. Hell, even the Nacrene City Museum episode’s elements are somewhat included here. Is it me, or are XY’s token episode more similar to BW’s than any other series’? Probably because it’s the most recent, but still, I wouldn’t call the Rotom episode particularly creepy like what they’re trying to do with Litwick and Espurr, and Gen 4 had some creepy Pokémon they surely could have taken advantage of.

But anyway, moving on, it’s a nice start, and it’s at least pretty hilarious. One thing though: why was Ash’s picture shown in the title card instead of Bonnie? When the Chespin episode aired, it showed Bonnie despite being more about Clemont. When this episode airs, they show Ash when Bonnie makes MUCH more sense? Who’s deciding these title cards? In Japan, the Rhyhorn episode apparently showed Serena, when I think the dub’s was more appropriate being that the episode seemed to be more about Ash, anyway. But, I digress…

Like I said, this episode seems to be very similar to the Nacrene Museum episode. For every strange phenomenon that appears, Clemont tries to offer a rational solution, even though it sounds Farfetch’d to even himself, just like Cilan did in that episode. To be honest, I can’t decide which was funnier to me. Clemont’s was funny due to the ridiculousness and the fact that he was so frickin’ scared while saying it, trying to prove to himself it was reasonable. But with Cilan, he was clearing trying to go through every possible explanation he possibly could have to disprove of the supernatural and it sounded so absurd that even he didn’t believe his own crap anymore. To top it off, it was rivaled by Ash and Iris having opposing, supernatural views, which may have taken away from the version in XY. Honestly, I may have to go with Cilan here.

Then there’s Serena. She’s just saying any damn thing that comes to mind, and I have to say, I found it pretty funny. I mean, some of her thoughts were pretty out there, like the screaming being from trying to kill a vampire. Damn. Then it’s like she couldn’t stop herself and just scaring Ash over and over was just awesome.

Skipping ahead, why was the painting scary? Ash and his goons, and Team Rocket all screamed and fell upon seeing it, sans Bonnie. Although, old women in Anime do tend to scare people, so…

So here’s the Pokémon of the Day, Espurr. I’m glad they made this decision. It’s like they know Espurr scares the Pokémon fanbase so much with it’s never blinking eyes and I love that they didn’t just choose a random Ghost-type to do the scaring this time.

Speaking of, we get to see more of Bonnie and her love of all Pokémon again when she chases down the mystery Pokémon. Whether they be scary or unappealing, Bonnie will like it and I love that about her. Which again makes me question, WHY WAS SHE NOT IN THE TITLE CARD?!

Skipping again, why did Clemont scream when he realized the weird stuff was probably due to a Pokémon? Would a “Eureka!” not have been enough here? I am glad, though, that he decided between two types, nor just Ghost. I’m pretty sure, in the past, all creepy stuff has been linked to Ghosts, when Psychic-types are easily just as eerie and creepy as them. So I like that it was referenced.

Speaking of eerie, the “Who’s That Pokémon” music continues to suit the Pokémon~ That was some awesome music for Espurr.

Bonnie playing with Espurr in N’s its room was probably the cutest thing I’ve seen in...well, a week, since she hopped over to those kids last week. But that’s not the point; she and Dedenne were just filled with this childlike excitement to simply throw a ball back and forth or go down a slide and the realism of this childlike character actually acting like a child just continues to impress me with the sheer abundance of kids her age in this show being too smart for their own good. And no, I don’t only mean Max.

Jessie seriously said, “What’s a Bonnie?” and I am reminded that I love Jessie. I am actually glad she said that. One: because it’s so like her. And two: because she does not know any of the twerps by name, except Pikachu and probably Ash. It would have been complete unrealistic for her to have had and kind of clue to what or who “Bonnie” was.

Just want to note, Bonnie must have been rocking that Ponyta pretty damn hard for it to fall over like that.

Anyway, onto the best part of the episode. Espurr just wants to give his pendant back to the old woman who gave it to him. It’s just so sad; I feel like she knew she was gonna die soon and decided she would give the pendant to Espurr. And he even brought her a flower when he returned to the mansion. The FEEEELSSS. ;~;

So Team Rocket decided to be a dick and fight Espurr just so they can leave and that Espurr’s at like, level 87, being the only way I can explain an Espurr being able to take out a Dark-type with a Psychic move, so he beats their asses, effortlessly. Now Ash really did sound mad about them senselessly attacking Espurr and I liked to see Espurr fend for itself…EFFORTLESSLY…, but…I would have seen the gang show their Outrage at this situation by fighting Team Rocket. Espurr had just about the saddest backstory ever and Team Rocket just start attacking so they can leave. Bonnie in particular should have fought, since she and Dedenne bonded with him. But I suppose it was dealt with better than if just Pikachu had beat them.

Coincidentally, a granddaughter of the woman shows up and confirms the incredibly sad death of her grandma to Espurr and the gang. :( And she even asked Espurr if he wanted to visit the cemetery. That’s both incredibly sweet and sad at the same damn time. I like the gesture of Espurr giving the pendant to the granddaughter, as it would be the right thing to do by giving to a family member. It’s certainly what I would have done. But it was so kind of her to decide to let Espurr keep her own grandmother’s favorite pendant from (probably) her grandfather. And Espurr will finally be able to give the flower to her. OMZ, the FEELS!! I can’t take it!

That was one of the saddest episodes I’ve ever seen! I honestly can’t remember feeling so touched after an episode. Especially after it started off being so goofy. Speaking of, this episode combined humor, cuteness, and sadness all in one episode, which I think is commendable to be able to do so many things correctly in one episode. I shall give this episode a 15/10, because I really can’t find any faults with it and it was just that touching. ;~;

So apparently the title card was completely different in Japan. In which case, why was TPCI so lazy as to just put Ash's card up? The least they could have done was to have used Bonnie's since it fit more. Otherwise, what happened with the original card?
 
Last edited:
Wait, they used a title card? The Japanese version doesn't. It just has the title of the episode droop down over the footage without anyone narrating.

I kind of expected TPCI to do that but it was neat in the original. blah.
 
A standard episode formula, but executed in a really sweet way. Of course it should be Espurr "haunting" the house. The episode really benefits from the richer backgrounds and less excited music of XY. In short, loved it
 
Why didn't they do the unique title placement. What's the matter TPCi, did it not test well?

As far as standard haunted mansion episodes go, I rather liked this one. Bonnie is adorable as always and I like that she wasn't that freaked out by everything going on around her. And I really liked Team Rocket in this episode, even though they weren't that important they didn't feel tacked on, and their scenes were a lot of fun to watch.

The dub music covering up the silence in the beginning bothered me (although it was expected), but I actually liked the piece played when Team Rocket tried to capture Espurr, as well as the ending piano music. In fact, I actually thought that last piece was from the original, so good job (I guess?) there.
 
This was a really good episode to keep us over till Ash gets his next badge. I'l keep it short. At first the episode started off feeling like a typical filler episode (and to be honest, that's what it really was). There was the typical storm and the gang needed some place dry to stay. Then it goes to the typical haunted house story line, similar to a Get Your Rotom Running! episode. Unlike with the rest of the usual fillers though, this episode took an unusual turn and brought in the concept of death and losing loved ones. Although you can tell that this was definitely a XY episode, it also felt like the writers took some aspects from the earlier episodes of Pokémon. The episode ended off with great emotion. Dub-wise, it was alright I guess. They did mess up a tiny bit on the title card, but everything else was good. The dub didn't even make any attempt to hide the fact of someone's departure, keeping the emotion a little deep. I feel that Ed Goldfarb did a good job with this episode's dub music score. The dub music didn't deter too much from the feeling of the episode. This episode is a good 8/10 in my books.
 
I don't particularly approve for the English dub to replace BGM as if there were no tomorrow, but TPCi really improved their music score for this series.
 
TPCI deserves to take a bow, because the piano music that played during the flashback was just brilliant!
 
TPCI deserves to take a bow, because the piano music that played during the flashback was just brilliant!
It was a nice piece but at the same time you have to wonder if they're really getting their money's worth by replacing sad piano music with sad piano music. What's the point?
 
TPCI deserves to take a bow, because the piano music that played during the flashback was just brilliant!
It was a nice piece but at the same time you have to wonder if they're really getting their money's worth by replacing sad piano music with sad piano music. What's the point?

They can use that piece as many times as they want, while they could not with the original piece.
 
A surprisingly mature episode which I thought we would never see again in times when kids like Bonnie make the show more and more childish (No I still don't like her).

I generally like all episodes about ghosts, haunted mansions and creepy places, and this time was no different. The house itself, the dark hallways, the creepy atmosphere in general, everything was done very well. It would have been helpful, though, if they had chosen a more "dangerous" Pokemon because an Espurr doesn't really give you the creeps to be honest.

Anyways, the first part was the creepy part and pretty good, while the second half was the mature part so to speak. I have to admit that Espurr's background was quite moving, especially when it was holding that flower! Also, I'm surprised that they actually used "passed away" and "cemetery". That's pretty much judged by Pokemon standards!
Yes, writers, you've proven that you are capable of doing such episodes like this one, so why not give us more of these?

I'd say this has arguably been the best XY episode so far.
 
Last edited:
Also, I'm surprised that they actually used "passed away" and "cemetery". That's pretty much judged by Pokemon standards!

Well, I believe they also said "passed away" in the episode when James' parents "died" and that was way back in Kanto. Then again, they weren't really dead. But, it sort of surprise me, too, when I heard it.
 
Also, I'm surprised that they actually used "passed away" and "cemetery". That's pretty much judged by Pokemon standards!

Well, I believe they also said "passed away" in the episode when James' parents "died" and that was way back in Kanto. Then again, they weren't really dead. But, it sort of surprise me, too, when I heard it.
I'm waiting for the day when Ash has his first glass of beer :D
 
Please note: The thread is from 9 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom