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Review S19 EP01: From A to Z!

Nice start for a new series.

Well dang, this episode wastes no time getting into action. Glad to FINALLY see Team Flare in the anime. I don't know what was up with Mable. Lol, did she actually think they would weaken Zygarde with their mere Drapion and Houndour. How hilarious. Wow, okay, I guess the little Zygarde core is just going to join the group immediately. Well, I like that we finally, sort of, have a Pokemon in the main cast with a nickname. And omg the scene with Bonnie and Squishy was so adorable. But lol at Clemont throwing shade at Bonnie for her own uncreative nickname.

WTH, what's up with the damn Dodrio stampede. Okay, now Grovyle's here chasing the Dodrio stampede. So, first Team Flare, the Squishy, now Grovyle and Sawyer are coming out of nowhere. This episode seriously wastes no time moving along the plot. The hell, why did Celosia lick her lips like that. Lol, that looked so creepy. The battle against Celosia and her crew was amazing. I was especially surprised that Ash sent Noibat out to deter the Houndour. The only disappointment was Serena and Clemont only calling out one attack each before Ash tells them he and Sawyer would handle everything. Wish they would have all fought them off together. 4 is better than 2. Xerosic's voice is weird. A bit better than his Japanese voice, but still weird. I did love how Bryony and Aliana were dissing Mable and Celosia and calling them incompetent. That was actually pretty funny.

Lol, awesome Who’s that Pokemon.

I like how Pikachu and Dedenne brought Squish fruit when it didn't want to eat the Poke Puff. Wow, more random unknown badges from the rival. I also really like how Bunnelby was holding bowls with Serena just like he'd did way back in the beginning of the series. Pretty funny how Sawyer was talking about all the Pokemon in Terminus Cave that "can't be found anywhere else", when Ash already has a Noibat which appears there in the games. I thought it was adorable when Squishy was jumping on Serena's map. And lol at it hoping on everyone to get to Team Flare without the slightest care. Damn, Bonnie actually tried to shield Squishy from the Pin Missile. I only slightly wish she would have commanded Dedenne to assist in protecting him. Why on earth is Squishy waiting until now to become Zygardog? That would have been really helpful back with Celosia and Drapion. Lol, Zygardog blew them all back. And to think that's only 10% of its power.

I thought it was really weird that the gang just passed Alain like that. No wave, not even a slight head nod, they just pass each other as if the other is not even there. Thought they would have done more at the first “encounter”, but whatever.

Overall a great start for XY and Z. 8/10.
 
I was overall very satisfied with how the dub handled all the Flare characters and I'm happy they went with squishy. The who's that Pokemon was amusing.

One thing did make me feel nostalgic for the 4kids days, though. When the team flare member told the houndour to attack Ash's group, he said "Houndoom, move out!". I had to rewind my DVR to make sure, but there were no Houndoom present. I feel like it's been a while since we've had such a name flub and it gave me a chuckle.
 
Welcome back, old friend. You're off to a great new start.

Sure did take Team Flare a while to be a part of the main series, eh? Well, my patience paid off.

Adamant called it: Z1's official dub nickname is "Squishy". And speaking of Squishy, it got an adorable and fun little dub theme. Finally, some Mickey Mousing done right. Not to mention its spot on "Who's That Pokemon" was great, too.

Dub, I love you, but you ought to know what a Houndoom looks like. Try again.

Oh, and as for the opening, I already offered my thoughts on it in its own thread.

So, XYZ is off to a great start. Let's see how it goes.

Unimportant note, though: does anyone else find it weird that Bryony is an actual first name?
 
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And thus begins another season of reviews. Gonna type out notes as I hit points in the show.

New intro music is meh. Time to go away from the indie rock scene. And of course, the dub is still using the old intro card with Serena's old outfit. The definition of laziness.

Glad the kept the nickname of Squishy from the translated Japanese version. Thing is adorable and makes hilarious noises.

I happen to agree with purple Team Flare member. That battle wasn't half bad.

The "Who's That Pokemon" segment was funny too. Nice when they go off the formula for these.

Love the voice of Xerosic.

I'd love to see some of the badges Sawyer has be badges for the next game(s) if it(they) is(are) set in Kalos. And also, can't wait to see Wulfric in the anime.

And yet another epic battle between the twerps and Team Flare.

Zygarde 10% form fucked some shit up!!

Great start to the season here folks.
 
Intro aside this was a really good episode. Glad to finally start seeing these again.

Ash finally used Noibat to battle!! Pretty funny that in the very next scene Sawyer was surprised that Ash caught a Noibat even though he saw it battling, but whatevs.

Favorite scene was when Clemont made fun of Bonnie's lack of creativity. I'm pretty surprised Chespin didn't bother Squishy, but I assume that will happen at some point.

I agree that it was cool to see Sawyer having different badges and that they may be a hint at some of the new badges in a potential Z version, although not sure if that would work because they are water, fire, and flying and we already have water and fire in Kalos elite four (elite four could change too I guess). All though type gyms exist in Hoenn where he's from, but I don't remember what those badges looked like when Ash got them/if they would even try to make them look the same.

Interesting that Zygarde 10% has a battle against houndour the first time we see it, since thats the Pokemon it looks the most like. I'm pretty excited for it to be in that form more often, although it worries me that it seems like it was pretty tired after that so it may not be in that form much.

Rare Luxray sighting, I was hoping we would have an epic battle scene there, but they kinda just let it be. Still all in all this was a very good episode and has me excited about the future.

One more thing, how often does someone pass the group and they not say something to them??? Like in all 18 previous seasons. They are always pretty much the most outgoing group of people ever who always talk to the people they pass, so that scene with Alain was pretty weird.
 
Too bad they couldn't have Bonnie say, "I shall call him Squishy, and he shall be mine, and he shall be my Squishy." At least this Squishy doesn't sting.

Seeing those invisible Zygarde cells everywhere made me wonder if there are cells all over Kalos, or just that area. And I thought Big Brother was everywhere.

Regarding the female Flare admins--with all that bickering, I'm sensing some instability which could end up spelling trouble for them down the road. I wonder how much Lysandre knows (or cares) about that.
 
Huh. They kept "Squishy" after all. I'm actually pleased for once, TPCI.

Though man oh man, what's up with Xerosic?! I hope he doesn't try to do anything serious or dramatic later, because that voice will make it IM-POSSIBLE to take him seriously in the least.

Look out, Jessie, James, and Meowth, you've just got some serious competition for more awkward voice in the dub!
 
I still question how they will handle XY106 with the song.

Great episode though.
 
Finally Pokemon episodes again! It sure has been a damn long break.
And the new season already started in a very promising way. Without any delay they showed us Zygarde, Team Flare and all the mysteries surrounding it. I especially liked that they managed to build up a lot of suspense and thus made the audience curious about how the whole story will eventually play out. So, apart from Bonnies's childish playing with Squishy , I think it was an excellent start for a new season.
And last but not least, Ash and Alain finally crossed paths for the very first time, something we've all been waiting for.

Again, a great start! I hope Pokemon XYZ will live up to my expectations in the end.
 
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I still question how they will handle XY106 with the song.

Great episode though.
I think that they're going to ether translate the song that Bonnie is singing or just make something up. I'm still curious on how they're going to handle Squishy's and Z-2's voices when they talk to each other.
 
I'm really loving the new season so far, though calling the Zygarde core "Squishy" threw me off a little. XD I also really like the new theme.
 
Problem number one was this episode's air date. I always hated the two-month interim between December and the start of the next season... but I digress.

I enjoyed this episode a lot. It's nice to see Pokémon get more serious at times and Team Flare has been way past due for its official entrance in my opinion. There were a few things I didn't care for/understand, however: first of all, Sawyer didn't really contribute much to this episode other than to serve as a) a reminder that he still exists, and b) an excuse for Ash to restate that he has seven Gym badges and is heading to Snowbelle, because some of us tend to forget things after two months. Maybe they should air it sooner. Just a thought.

I also had a problem with Xerosic's monologue about Z1 and Z2, because it's so obviously directed at the audience that it doesn't fit in with the plot, not even with the scientists reporting in. Celosia and Mable know all of this already, and so do Bryony and Aliana. There's got to be a better way to give that exposition than by having a character explain it to people who don't need the explanation. Aside from that, however, I liked Team Flare's showing in this episode a lot. I will add that Celosia's voice took me by surprise - not a complaint, just an observation, for some reason I was expecting it to be higher.

Now for the good stuff: Squishy is adorable. "I shall call him Squishy and he will be mine and he will be my Squishy" was basically all I could think about for the entire episode. I love that Bonnie gets the main role in caring for Squishy, because she's one of my favorite things about XY. I mentioned this before, but I really do like Team Flare in this episode. They're making a strong showing of being a major threat to Ash and co. while Bonnie looks after Squishy, and I think the climax to this story arc is going to be really exciting.

This is a small thing, but I like how Frogadier and Grovyle glance at each other when Ash calls Frogadier out - I always loved the rivalry between those two and that small allusion to it was a nice touch.

I came into this review planning to give the episode a solid 9, but I'm thinking 8/10 is more reasonable. It's great setup for the rest of Squishy's story, but there were some parts that were a bit awkward. That said, I really did like this episode a lot. I enjoy when Pokémon has the chance to be a little more serious in its plot, and this is one of those episodes where it does that well.
 
TPCI kept 2 out of 17 pieces of music this time, just the title screen and a battle piece. Well we're off to a great start.

Oh well, good episode all around and I'm glad they went with Squishy. Can't wait to see how this all plays out.
 
Not bad, not bad at all, though the bit when Squishy entered Bonnie's shirt made me raise an eyebrow.

Or have I just been watching too many other kinds of anime recently.
 
That was a very action packed episode! I look forward to more!

great episode. Only thing is, they should've left Braxien and Luxray for Ash to use.
 
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