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Review S18 EP13: An Oasis of Hope!

My thoughts again. First, I'm disappointed the opening and title card weren't updated for New!Serena. But the dub is always late on those things, so I'm sure it'll happen in the future.

The story itself:
Gosh, it's kind of hard to watch these Goomy/Sliggoo/Goodra episodes knowing what its fate is going to be.
Anyway, I liked the adding of an oasis to the Lumiose Badlands when it wasn't there in the games. I always liked how the anime expanded small parts of the games.
People were upset about TRio's involvement during the Japanese review thread, but I kind of thought they were needed in this episode, unlike other episodes. Except for Malamar and Yveltal and arguably Meowth, there's not really a naturally villainous Pokémon, as stated way back in the original series. So they kind of needed an excuse for Grumpig to be a jerk. And I know some people were upset with Grumpig being quickly redeemed, but wild Pokémon can be easily manipulated as the show shows (pun partially intended).
Also, I loved the action sequences and CGI. Battles are commonplace in the anime, but this episode made me notice how good they look now.

I wouldn't call this a filler since Goomy evolved, but it's basically a filler besides that. But fillers are not bad, so I'll give this a solid 9/10.
 
I loved this episode for a few reasons. One, I love Spoink and Grumpig, but especially Grumpig. Two, I love Sliggoo.

I liked how Ash let Goomy have a practice battle with Pikachu at the beginning of the episode. So Goomy spitting at the air means he’s about to learn a new move, eh? Ok. And seriously, Ash? Just follow Spoink. Obviously you’re going to learn what happened to him if you follow him.
But moving on to the plot, I honestly thought TR's plan was good, stupid, and dickish all at the same time. How? Well it was good because they made Ash give up Pikachu to them. It was dickish and stupid because TR constantly had Grumpig attack the Spoink to make Ash give Pikachu up. Why not just have Grumpig "brainwash" Pikachu like he did the Spoink and make Pikachu come to them instead? Also, they left the key to the cage where Dedenne and Goomy were easily capable of getting it. Actually, TR recruiting Grumpig for no reason other than to steal fruit was dumb as hell. Why not just go ask for some? The Spoink were shown to be generous as hell giving away fruit; surely they would have given TR some. But of course, TR must be dicks. Also, when they were saying the motto, did they really rhyme thinkers with thinkers? Seriously:/

Anyway, I was greatly surprised by Chespin. He actually came up with a plan to save Pikachu. Why can't he be more like this most of the time? I loved how once again Dedenne got into battle and that Bonnie was giving him commands. Additionally, I liked how when Ash brought out Froagadier to break open the cage, everyone's attention went towards him expect Bonnie who kept her eyes on the battle. However, I didn’t like that once Dedenne fainted, Frogadier for whatever reason stopped attacking the wall. Also, why didn’t Clemont or Serena bring out any of their Pokemon to help out? That probably would have made things go faster (Ya know, unless the plot said it wouldn’t. But at least it would look better with them helping too). If there was anything else I liked, it was Grumpig doing some dance-like moves a few times when he attacked at when he dodged Goomy's attacks since the Pokedex speaks about how it dances to attack.

I liked how Goomy was able to relate himself to the Spoink since his home was taken over as well. It was also nice to see him stand up to Grumpig after Dedenne was knocked out. I personally would have preferred for him to remain a Goomy for just a bit longer and get more development before such a rapid evolution here, but at the same time I thought the way it was done was good. Plus Sliggoo is adorbs:) Also, am I the only one who kept hearing Sliggoo say "Goomy" even after evolving. I mean, I know he said "Sliggoo" right after evolving, but every other time it just sounded like a garbled "Glloooommy".

And TR is defeated, and Grumpig is forgiven, and they live happily ever after, the end. Though I personally don't understand why Grumpig was afraid of all of the Spoink at the end. Clearly he is strong enough to defeat them in battle. Not to mention the fact that he can control their minds. But whatever. And yes Ash, all Pokemon should be friends. Except Zangoose and Seviper:) I give this an 8/10.
 
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Aside from the whole stealing Pikachu thing - wouldn't all Team Rocket need to do to be fed perfectly well is just change into normal clothes and walk into a Pokemon Center? It doesn't even seem tied to being a trainer, they have no issue feeding Bonnie. I suppose they have to get money from somewhere to pay for things like that Super Potion and the unique identifier bandaids.

On the stealing Pikachu thing - isn't it a bad idea for Ash to say at full volume while a metre away from Team Rocket words to the effect that he had a plan to retake Pikachu? Perhaps that should be a whispering thing in the future. Or a secret gesture. At least try to pretend that it's possible they might hear you.

Besides, if you were going to steal something in that situations - wouldn't Spoink pearls be pretty valuable? Moreso than fruit which would spoil fairly soon after they steal it in quantities they couldn't possibly eat?

I shouldn't think about these things...
 
Two things of note:

1) Looks like the dub won't change the episode title footage to reflect Serena's new design.

2) The "sli" in Sliggoo is pronounced like slippery, and not like slimy. There were debates as to which word Sliggoo's name is derived from, but at least we know the answer now.
 
Two things of note:

1) Looks like the dub won't change the episode title footage to reflect Serena's new design.

2) The "sli" in Sliggoo is pronounced like slippery, and not like slimy. There were debates as to which word Sliggoo's name is derived from, but at least we know the answer now.

1) I think they'll eventually get to it; as I said, the dub is always late to the party on these things.

2) Always knew it was pronounced like slippery. But I could see the original pronunciation.
 
Was a good episode actually. Team Rocket had a good plan. They should've caught that Gumpig. The Grumpig running up and asking for help whilst crying was a good touch too, though I would've preferred them to properly support it.

It did show that the Grumpig just wanted friends and ended up going about it the wrong way, so good stuff.

Also, aren't Spoink supposed to die if they stop bouncing?
 
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2) The "sli" in Sliggoo is pronounced like slippery, and not like slimy. There were debates as to which word Sliggoo's name is derived from, but at least we know the answer now.

Between this, Skiddo and Diancie, I'm convinced the dub is changing name pronunciations for the hell of it.

Also, aren't Spoink supposed to die if they stop bouncing?

Anime Spoink have been shown not bouncing since their first appearance on the show.
 
They hardly ever use the non-Ash variants for the title card so it's no surprise they didn't use the updated version with Serena's new design. If they don't fix it in the next few episodes they'll probably either wait for season 19 or just never bother updating it.
 
Please note: The thread is from 9 years ago.
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