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Review S18 EP21: Defending the Homeland!

I really liked this episode. Proper character development for Goodra, an interesting conflict and a two-parter that's not part of an arc.
 
I thought this was a good beginning Goodra’s 2-parter.

Ok, first thing that stuck out to me was Frogadier and Luxray being absent during the meal scene. Seriously, Ash and Clemont's other Pokemon were there and Serena had both of her's out. Weird. Sigh, Chespin's still acting like a dick. Oh well. I was thrilled to see Dedenne zap him though. And I thought it was adorable how Goodra offered some of his own food to Dedenne.

Ok, I get that they had to have Goodra meet back up with his old buddies, but ignoring the power of plot, I still found it odd that Ash decided to return all of his other Pokemon except Goodra. Whatever. Seeing the flashback of Florges and the bug-types attacking the swamp was cool. Nice to see how Goomy ended up in his original predicament.

Aw, I love how they had Bonnie in the background playing with Dedenne while the others were talking. That was so cute. Just as cute was the following scene where Wooper recognized Goodra as his Goomy friend. Wow, I was surprised to see Goodra running. I figured he'd be to big for that.

Damn Florges looked badass with her bug army. Speaking of which, this episode actually made Florges look kind of cute. Never cared too much for it before. I liked how Wooper's gang helped along in the fight, but I thought it was totally weird that Ash didn't want to. He's always so eager to help with things like this so it was a bit weird seeing him tell Pikachu to back off. Even if Keanan did tell him not to interfere beforehand, I would have expected him to help out anyway. I did like how Florges remembered Goodra as a scared Goomy.

Ok Ash, seriously. Goodra takes tons and tons of damage and you just give him a motivational speech right as he’s about to take another attack. Again I get that Keanan said not to interfere, but it just seems so out of character for Ash. I seriously didn't expect Goodra to learn Ice Beam. That just seemed totally random. And with that, am I the only one who thinks Sliggoo learning Dragon Breath was totally pointless? He only had it for a short while, used it a couple of times, then replaced it with Dragon Pulse which is ignored in favor of Bide for the most part anyway. It feels like they're just slapping move after move on him. Though a part of me does find it funny that Goodra had learned more moves in his short time on the cast than Hawlucha other Pokemon who have been here much longer. I guess Florges's army's escape scene was interesting.

Ok, now I'm really intrigued to see how TR and the Floette are fitting into all of this. Can't wait for next week. Overall, a good episode so far. 8/10.
 
Florges' name is the same in both English and Japanese. Never will get why they changed it.
 
A good start for a promising and hopefully exciting two-parter!

I especially liked how they showed us the reasons for the feud with all the flashbacks. What happened really must have influenced Goodra a lot and you could literally see its anger and determination when thinking about it. Nice character development!
What I liked best was that inevitable showdown between Florges and Goodra. Very dramatically and well written indeed! I was definitely rooting for Ash's Pokemon, hoping that it would wipe the floor with that ruthless Florges. (Seems I have a big sense of justice...)

Only two minor negative things that I need to mention:
First, I agree with @Sakuraa that Goodra's development was too rushed. It was learning attack after attack, just because it (obviously?) fitted into what the writers intended. While that's legitimate per se, it still happened way too quickly if you ask me.
Second, while standing next to Goodra's bed, Ash realized that all Goomy wanted to do is getting stronger so it could help its friends. Am I being too analytical or do you agree with me that it might be extremely hard for a trainer to realize that his Pokemon just "abused" him for its own purposes. I feel a little bit sorry for Ash.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to the second part!
 
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Sad knowing what's to come. Surprised it will be a two parter.

I thought it was a good episode though! Expect for Ice Beam taking out the Florges, could've at least been a super effective hit.
 
I got physically pissed at Keanan this episode. Like dude Goodra is Ash's loyal partner but it's unethical for Ash to help Goodra's old friend along side him because "It's non of humans business". I mean cmon any human at any moment can battle any pokemon they want to catch it but, he's not able to help his friend even though he kind of own's Goodra. Also Ash backed down on that way to easy, the least he could is use the fact that he could use a loophole "I'm not in this battle this one between me and Florges." Boom destroy the bug army's moral and get a strong pokemon.
 
I'm glad I got to see Chespin acting cute when it attempted to steal food from Pancham.

Also, at least Ash didn't involved with bad guy stuff in the episode since it doesn't usually work out anyway.
 
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