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Review XY053: Serena's Earnest! The Wild Meecle Race!!

Re: XY053: "Serena Gets Serious! The Wild Skiddo Race!!"

Skiddo is SO cute. I like the fact Serena just learned the first Showcase location from her mom, it's kind of symbolic she learns it from her.
 
Re: XY053: "Serena Gets Serious! The Wild Skiddo Race!!"

Nice episode with Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont being the main source of entertainment for me.

First of all, proposal gag. Every time see Bonnie do this, I always feel like its been a while since the last time she's done it. And I like that, it doesn't seem nearly as overdone as other gags and that's great. Aw, I thought it was cute that Serena got some ice cream for Bonnie...just Bonnie and not the boys; lol. Bonnie and Clemont were the best parts of the Skiddo riding scene. Bonnie was adorable as always and Clemont...hilarious...as always. It's so funny that he's so un-athletic in almost all aspects of life. I also loved how Bonnie was so much more skilled than Clemont at riding.

Ugh, and Chespin continues to be a dick as usual. Wish the other Pokemon would Pancham would have let Pancham attack him for it since Clemont didn't do a damn thing. Well, at least Serena took the time to do some showcase training. I was surprised to see them struggle with how well they performed for Nene earlier. OMG is TR really stealing cheese? Ok, this episode wins the "dumbest TR plan" award. At least we got to see Serena bring back her knowledge of Ryhorn racing and not only catch up to and pass up Ash, but also to slam into TR's truck and fight them off.

Now for the race itself. I'll be honest, I hoped for more. I would have prefered for it to be a bit longer than one lap around that small racing track. Well, it was nice to see how Serena was so focused on winning and how her Skiddo helped her out. Serena's moment with her mom was very sweet. Also Skiddo is the cutest thing ever:)

So overall, I thought this was a good episode. Again, mainly because of Serena and the siblings which I liked since Ash is usually the star, like in the last episode. It's nice to see them get the bulk of the screen time. I'm giving this a 7.7/10.
 
Re: XY053: "Serena Gets Serious! The Wild Skiddo Race!!"

Was sightly disappointed that Skiddo weren't shown to be a bit more varied in their movement - in the games the best part of the Skiddo ranch was being able to go up and down the ledges on them - whereas here they just seem to be the introduction Pokemon for doing Rhyhorn races. I suppose though, given the use of Skiddo as a transport Pokemon, their easy to ride thing makes a lot of sense - but what do they do with any that evolve, is Gogoat racing a thing as well?

Good that Bonnie didn't get sidelined and was able to ride, and it's always nice to have some more background to characters with some flashbacks.

This episode really highlights the 'why not both' thing for Serena - she should catch a Rhyhorn. Indeed she should catch one and be able to do Pokemon Performances with a Rhyhorn, making the best use of both of her talents - because this episode shows clearly again that she's very good at it, and seems to enjoy it (and it impresses Ash just as much).

The effectiveness of Rhyhorn for chasing down Team Rocket makes me wonder if we will see an Officer Jenny riding a Rhyhorn at some point - it seems like a good police Pokemon - better than Manectric at least. Seeing Meowth with cheese wheels gives me bad memories of Bubsy - he better not say 'what could possibly go wrong' in the dub...

I really don't have any complaints with the episode, Chespin's existence aside.
 
Re: XY053: "Serena Gets Serious! The Wild Skiddo Race!!"

A glutton Pokémon would've start stealing from other's bowls after it finished its own food first. Chespin was just being a huge jerk.
 
Re: XY053: "Serena Gets Serious! The Wild Skiddo Race!!"

I'm not seeing the issue here. Harimaron being an little bastard is funny. Why hate him as if he's actually causing any sort of pain?
 
Re: XY053: "Serena Gets Serious! The Wild Skiddo Race!!"

It's because every second spent on the exact same scene with Chespin is time that could be spent elsewhere.

I like seeing Pokemon interactions without trainers, it's a good insight into their unique characters. But nothing has happened with Chespin, no wider lesson ever learnt, no contribution to Clemont's team that could balance it out, and half the time, the Pokemon that are stolen from are made out to be just as in the wrong when they fight back.

It's not good writing. Chespin's character is exactly the same as when it was caught right at the start of the series. If they aren't going to do something unique with Chespin and need to focus on Celemont's Pokemon - use the time on showing how Luxio is bonding with the group, show some scenes like the ones in the opening of Clemont working on an invention with his Pokemon helping - not just the same old Chespin steals other Pokemon's food thing.

Take the other repetitive things in this episode. You have Bonnie's marriage proposal gag - which is relatively sparingly used and actually is backed up by a relevant part of her character - caring about her brother's future; and you have Team Rocket, which while annoying in some episodes, are increasingly in XY balanced out with amusing episodes and unique plots beyond just catching Pikachu in a net. There is no flip side to Chespin - at least not one that is apparent after over 50 episodes of the same thing over and over.

It didn't even do the one thing it could have done here - get Serena's mother to see a bit more of Pancham and how Serena is training it and Fennekin. Instead they just ignored it because Pikachu sorted it out.

Give me 30 seconds of the Skiddo eating grass, it would be more relevant to the episode.
 
Re: XY053: "Serena Gets Serious! The Wild Skiddo Race!!"

It's because every second spent on the exact same scene with Chespin is time that could be spent elsewhere.

I like seeing Pokemon interactions without trainers, it's a good insight into their unique characters. But nothing has happened with Chespin, no wider lesson ever learnt, no contribution to Clemont's team that could balance it out, and half the time, the Pokemon that are stolen from are made out to be just as in the wrong when they fight back.

It's not good writing. Chespin's character is exactly the same as when it was caught right at the start of the series. If they aren't going to do something unique with Chespin and need to focus on Celemont's Pokemon - use the time on showing how Luxio is bonding with the group, show some scenes like the ones in the opening of Clemont working on an invention with his Pokemon helping - not just the same old Chespin steals other Pokemon's food thing.

Take the other repetitive things in this episode. You have Bonnie's marriage proposal gag - which is relatively sparingly used and actually is backed up by a relevant part of her character - caring about her brother's future; and you have Team Rocket, which while annoying in some episodes, are increasingly in XY balanced out with amusing episodes and unique plots beyond just catching Pikachu in a net. There is no flip side to Chespin - at least not one that is apparent after over 50 episodes of the same thing over and over.

It didn't even do the one thing it could have done here - get Serena's mother to see a bit more of Pancham and how Serena is training it and Fennekin. Instead they just ignored it because Pikachu sorted it out.

Give me 30 seconds of the Skiddo eating grass, it would be more relevant to the episode.

I completely agree. It's getting old and it just irks me that Harimaron is never reprimanded in any way, shape or form. I mean why was it necessary to take Yancham's food? YOU STILL HAD FOOD IN YOUR BOWL! And when Yancham gets understandably upset, then he's the one to be stopped? Please, writers seriously. The ONLY type of retribution I can see it getting is the very off chance that it's used in Citron's Gym Battle where Ash will inevitably wipe the floor with it.

Other than that, this episode was okay. I felt that the problem was resolved too quickly though. It would have been better if Serena kept her goal a secret a while longer while feigning complete interest in riding to her mom. Heck, the storyline could have went something like this:

-Serena refuses to tell her mom about being a Performer, much to her friend's chagrin
-Her mother is proud that she, apparently, only has an interest in riding
-Her mom signs her up/instructs her to enter the Saihorn race in Hiyoku City (unbeknownst to her that Serena also intends to enter the TriPokalon there)
-Serena reluctantly agrees, and the next few episodes are spent with her upset about the events that transpire
-Satoshi & Co also spend the next few episodes encouraging her to tell her mom the truth, but Serena counters saying she will just do both events
-Turns out both the race and TriPokalon fall on the same day. BOOM, DRAMA, SUSPENSE, CHARACTERIZATION

:(
 
Re: XY053: "Serena Gets Serious! The Wild Skiddo Race!!"

Shouldn't the thread title be "The Wild Meecle Race!!" ????
 
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.
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