The conflict between Wattrel and Fuecoco was briefly shown last episode, and this episode is showing that the conflict is going to persist for a while to come. I actually like that these two don’t get along. In the previous anime, we almost always saw Pokémon caught by Ash and his friends getting along with each other instantly, so to see that Wattrel still hasn’t started getting along with Fuecoco three episodes after its capture is nice to see. It shows that not everything will work out well in the beginning, and that some conflicts will take time to be resolved. Wattrel’s issues with Fuecoco start with how it invades its personal space a lot. Wattrel clearly likes having its own space. One issue I have with this though is that none of the other characters seemed to realize that Wattrel didn’t like Fuecoco invading its personal space. Everything gets resolved at the end however, and Wattrel even joins in on Roy and Fuecoco’s singing, so hopefully their bond will deepen after this episode.
While the episode revolves around both Pokémon, I feel like it’s more of a Wattrel-focused episode as previous episodes had already established Fuecoco as a character. This episode was needed to establish Wattrel more. Wattrel is a bit stubborn and still cannot fly well. The main antagonist of this episode was the turbulence, giving the literary conflict of man vs. nature, or in this case Pokémon vs. nature, in effect here. Wattrel’s inability to fly well continues to cause it to struggle a bit, but with the help of Roy, Wattrel gains the confidence to use the wind to generate electricity and destroy the large branch coming their way. My gripe with this portion of the episode was that the adults clearly told everyone to come inside for shelter, but Roy still did not move despite being told to do so. I just feel like the way this was executed was a bit weird, but since it was beneficial for Wattrel, I can let it slide just this once.
In regards to other characters, Liko is now a bit shy towards Dot after learning her true identity. She’s even nervous when she and Roy come into Dot’s room for the very first time! Dot is also showing her caring side in this episode, as she’s the one giving advice to Roy and then watching them from afar to check up on him. It shows that Dot is growing and that the development she got last episode wasn’t one note. The writers are doing a good job with making characterization consistent.
As I said at the start, there’s a lot of foreshadowing in this episode. First we have Orla asking Liko if she is thinking about wanting a new Pokémon. Liko has never thought about getting a second Pokémon until Orla brought it up. Seeing how Roy, Fuecoco and Wattrel are getting along, she’s all for the idea of getting a second Pokémon. There’s a special trailer for the Galar arc that shows that Liko’s second Pokémon is hinted to be Hattena. I was thinking that it would be Galarian Ponyta, but Hattena was my second choice if the former wasn’t going to happen. This will definitely give Liko more development in future episodes. The second piece of foreshadowing was Roy mentioning how Captain Pikachu looked as if it was flying during their battle. This is going to be addressed next episode as it is dedicated to how Friede and Cap met, and how the Rising Volt Tacklers came to be. I’m honestly excited for next week’s episode as it is an origin story; I really like these!
While there were minor hiccups that I didn’t particularly like, I still enjoyed the brunt of this episode. I hope to see more Pokémon-centered episodes in the future. What did you think about Wattrel and Fuecoco’s conflict? Did you like how it was resolved? Are you all ready for what the Galar arc will bring to the table? Let me know your thoughts!
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