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Review XY102: Terminus Cave! The Mystery of Z is Set in Motion!!

That was quite an eventful episode.

- Team Rocket making themselves known to Team Flare (setting up the Rocket vs Flare confrontation next year)
- Ash and co learning about Puni-chan's hidden power.
- Revelation that Ash feels Greninja's pain during its "Mega Evolution".
 
They actually went full synchro with Greninja, holy shit. No wonder they say its anime exclusive, there isn't any possible way to translate that into the games. But yeah, that was crazy. The way the episode ends and the threads lefr open, along with the fact that we know what is following, I think this will allow them to put the flare plot to the side as long as they need to until they feel its time.
 
Well now I am happy with this episode. There is genuinely a lot of tension in this episode.

I was and still is worried about Ash and Greninja's trial, but I already got a very good idea of a possible trial, now I just hope that the Anime writers will do that :). Ash getting to feel the pain is a big twist. And I am excited to see where this is going.

Finally Ash and co saw 10% Form. I am curious about the pool though. Communication pool? That's high tech right there lol.

Just love that Serena and Clemont s actually very active in this episode. I was afraid that they will suddenly fade out and they didn't!

Gotta say this episode is intense. Like actually intense. GG WP. 12/10 maybe? 13? I am not sure. But I am sure its an excellent episode.
 
Oh Arceus, Team Flare's packing Super Scopes! :eek:

And I just love Bryony dissing the motto! Preach it, Sistah! :LOL:
 
That was just fab :)
I loved all the parts everyone's already mentioned - all our heros playing a part, Team Rocket getting the brush-off, Puni-chan showing off a tiny bit of its power, Ash feeling Greninja's pain, everything!!
tumblr_la08fzRIEy1qb1hwbo1_400.gif
 
What an episode to end on before a break!!!

The tension was palpable and I really enjoyed all the battling. I can't believe Satoshi gets referred pain from Geckouga, the next few months will be a huge treat for Satoshi fangirls/boys as they see him suffering each time the frog fights ;-)

The move that Zydoge uses is really swag. If 10% is this good how frickin destructive is the full shebang going to be! Other things I loved were the Flare girls and their bitchiness, as well as a bit of light shed on the Eureka/Satoshi dynamic which is a quite undeveloped. (Would have liked to see Citron being a little more protective/assertive but looks like that's coming in the next episode...)

The only thing that doesn't sit well with me is Puni-chan who seems to be a right little bastard not at all bothered by the care and concern which Eureka fosters for it. I don't know if that is intentional and we will see it slowly become more loving and responsible, but please writers don't expect me to buy some bullshit at the end of this arc that Puni-chan holds Eureka really dear to it without that development taking place.

The TRio were glorious AND no recycled motto! Joy to the world!!
 
The only thing that doesn't sit well with me is Puni-chan who seems to be a right little bastard not at all bothered by the care and concern which Eureka fosters for it. I don't know if that is intentional and we will see it slowly become more loving and responsible, but please writers don't expect me to buy some bullshit at the end of this arc that Puni-chan holds Eureka really dear to it without that development taking place.

I think Puni-chan does care about Bonnie (hence why I believed it changed). I think its the reversal situation of a trainer releasing a Pokemon or a human scaring off an animal that it cares for, Puni Chan doesn't want Bonnie to get involved, and wants Bonnie to be safe, and not to follow it where its likely to encounter trouble. Similar to my example of a trainer/human wanting what's best for the Pokemon/animal. Kind of like Jessie releasing Dustox.

Maybe Bonnie, Ash, and Clemont don't really care about that and still want to be there for Puni-chan to protect it, but I think Puni-chan is just incredibly prideful and just wants to go it alone and not want anyone to get hurt because of it.
 
I think Puni-chan does care about Bonnie (hence why I believed it changed). I think its the reversal situation of a trainer releasing a Pokemon or a human scaring off an animal that it cares for, Puni Chan doesn't want Bonnie to get involved, and wants Bonnie to be safe, and not to follow it where its likely to encounter trouble. Similar to my example of a trainer/human wanting what's best for the Pokemon/animal. Kind of like Jessie releasing Dustox.

Maybe Bonnie, Ash, and Clemont don't really care about that and still want to be there for Puni-chan to protect it, but I think Puni-chan is just incredibly prideful and just wants to go it alone and not want anyone to get hurt because of it.
Pretty much, yeah.

Also, the final scenes of the episode showed Puni-chan following Ash and co so my bet is it will keep following them, perhaps because it has grown to care about Bonnie and will come to her rescue in the next episode.
 
Glad that pretty much everyone got to really be involved, including Team Rocket in a way. Team Flare now knows they exist at least. That plot twist though. Any pain Ash-Greninja feels, Ash feels. This adds a whole new layer to this series. Ash is gonna have to make some big decisions if he wants to make it far in the Kalos League. Any damage inflicted on Greninja will be felt by Ash himself, if in the Ash-Greninja form.
 
That said, I hate to see what will happen if ash's greninja faints while in the ash-greninja forme
 
Also, it seems strange that ash isn't shocked by the form change while other people seem to be at awe at it.
 
Sweet mother of fcedfdksafovmkldmdslkfscmd.

All I can say is this episode is 10/10. The synchro transformation confirming Ash will feel every blow Greninja takes. The unexpected temporary separation of Puni-chan and Bonnie. Team Rocket finally introducing themselves to Team Flare. The gang witnessing the 10% transformation.

I can already imagine their faces when they see the 50% form and not to mention the 100% form. :D

Great episode to end of the year.
 
One Great Guy just translated stuff for this episode

Some translations/clarifications:

-Can't remember exactly the exact timestamp, but they FINALLY made use of Rentora's X-Ray vision. There have been several times since it evolved where that would've come in handy, so it's nice to see they finally used it. Good to see Rentora playing a bigger role considering how awesome it is. Shame Luchabull's been missing in action for quite a while now... and Yancham is basically non-existent outside Showcases (though I prefer Tairenar anyway).
After the Onbat and Rentora lead the group to a tunnel and TR follows behind with Pumpjin:
Kojiro: "Seems these guys have a bit of a survivor's mentality." (Loosely feels like a reference to those stereotypical explorers that journey fearlessly into caves and the like, searching for adventure.)

7:40 After entering the Terminus Cave Pool, Squishy emits a telepathic long-range signal to Z-2. It speaks in the same voice as it did in the "Pikachu Dreams of Squishy" Episode:
Squishy: "Are you alright?"
Z2: "Yeah, I'm fine."
Squishy:"Then it's not a problem. Stay on the run." (Just before Satoshi and the other arrive)

The Team Flare grunts in the truck detect the signal and locate Squishy from it, then notify HQ. Once the signal reaches Z-2, they locate it as well and the other two scientists are sent after it. Perhaps this is the way Team Flare ends up finding Z-2 again so they can send Alain after it?

8:20 Meowth: "What exactly is Squishy?"

8:32 Celosia: "Aren't you late?
Byrony: "The path was problematic..."|"Let's hurry and go. Z-One is waiting."
Celosia: "Right."

9:27 Eureka: "Squishy, you're here, aren't you? Come out!" (Citron suggested maybe it had simply left, but Eureka insisted they should keep looking for it, and that she was sure it was there. Satoshi put his hand on her shoulder and said, "That's right." ["Dana" - Roughly directly translating as "That's how it is.", it's an affirmative toward what another person says.])

9:47 Byrony: "Boy and friends, don't move!"

10:01 Celosia: "That just now was a warning. The next one will hit!

11:26 Byrony: "Didn't we tell you not to move?!"

11:26 Onbat knows Tackle! Also took a hit from Kirikizan (I was worried it'd just be OHKO'd)

12:26 TR's still after Squishy even after all this? Way to have priorities, guys.

13:03 Satoshi: "Gekkouga, save Squishy!"

14:16 Celosia: "That's not just "Squishy", it's important for our Flare Gang's cause!"
Byrony: "That's enough!" (Said as if to suggest, "Stop talking. You've said too much.")

14:57 Squishy triggers a Percent Increase (not the official name, I'm just calling it that for now).

15:11 Celosia/Bryony/Team Flare Grunt (can't remember which) "Cells?! There're this many here?!"

15:42 Serena: "Inside Squishy?!"
Satoshi: "They combined!"
Citron: "Is this an evolution?!"

17:42 Celosia: "This is the end of the road for Gekkouga." (After hitting Gekkouga with Thunderbolt.)

18:05 Celosia: "Livolt, use Zap Cannon!"
(For what it's worth, the move it later uses to harm both Gekkouga and Satoshi is Scratch, same as Tairenar. It's also visually implied that Livolt gets distracted from Gekkouga because it senses Satoshi, as though it were facing two Pokemon at once. If this does later branch off into Satoshi and Gekkouga literally sharing points of view (as Koruni desired to do with Lucario, and a la Six Paths of Pain from Naruto), it'll be quite interesting. The pain sharing will also have interesting implications in terms of battling - if Satoshi ever uses Satoshi-Gekkouga and loses, he'll probably collapse. So he won't be able to use the transformation unless Gekkouga's either his last Pokemon, or he expects it to sweep. If he himself gets KO'd, presumably he'll lose the battle by default. May also play into his challenge against Alain. Would Alain attempt to defeat him knowing he'd inevitably KO a person as well? ....Either way, that Tough Claws Thunder Punch is going to hurt.)

18:50 Gekkouga uses Aerial Ace against Leopardes. So at this point it's confirmed to know Water Shuriken, Cut (from its clash with Livolt, if I recall correctly), and Aerial Ace. Presumably Water Shuriken replaced Water Pulse, so the last move remains Double Team.

18:57 Byrony: "We can't get any further like this."
Celosia: Livolt, Flash!"

19:37 Serena: "Satoshi, are you alright?!"
Citron: "That was...just like the Gekkouga from the Ninja Village, wasn't it?"
Satoshi: "Yeah".

20:05 Celosia/Byrony (Can't recall which): "Those trainers seem close to Z-1, so if we mark them they may lead us to it."
"Ah, I get it."
Team Rocket: "The brat boy's group, don't get in our way!" (*Falls off the cliff*).

20:45 The group considers letting Squishy stay on its own if that's what it wants, but Eureka protests, saying it's their friend and they promised they'd protect it. The preview for the next episode (in January, after the "Discover Everything" special on the 31st) seems to be about Squishy staying to itself whilst observing the group from afar, and making its decision as to what it thinks of them. Up to this point it was effectively using them to bring it to Terminus Cave and was solely focused on the task at hand. From this point on, it'll have to assess whether or not Satoshi and co. mean enough to it to stay with them, rather than try to completely stay in hiding. It seems Eureka is about to be hit by a move near the end, so presumably that's where Squishy makes its mind up. (In other words, this'll be a big character development episode for Z-1. It's good to see it's character fleshed out - a Legendary Pokemon necessarily has to try to distance itself from people in order to continue performing its duties. Squishy's aloofness is a consequence of it conceding to live a life of isolation, so as to protect the ecosystem. It's likely never had "friends" before, or simply disallowed itself from making any. This is kind of like an individual or pure logic learning what it means to feel concern and emotion for others.)

21:36 Xerosic: "Z-One and the Cells combined! "

21:48 Xerosic: "It's a matter of time."

Well, this episode is the best so far of the XY&Z Series...10/10..
Ash feeling the pain when Greninja is hit, new concept, great concept, makes this episode 12/10......waiting for battle against Alain & the league to see how this all works out
 
Can't say anything different from what you guys have said.

This episode was just PURE EPICNESS!!!

Ash's fusion between Greninja is also very interesting, indeed...

I think its the first time we saw something like this in the series.

Also, It makes me wonder... what's going to happen when Ash faces Alain?

If his Charizard manages to defeat Ash's Greninja. Will he fall unconscious too?

I'm thinking that Alain will challenge him due to Puni-chan besides his desire of defeating all mega evolved pokemon.

Will he take Puni-chan by force if he wins?

I still don't know if he is still after puni-chan after all. But I wonder how is going to be the interaction between him and the gang.
 
I think Puni-chan does care about Bonnie (hence why I believed it changed). I think its the reversal situation of a trainer releasing a Pokemon or a human scaring off an animal that it cares for, Puni Chan doesn't want Bonnie to get involved, and wants Bonnie to be safe, and not to follow it where its likely to encounter trouble. Similar to my example of a trainer/human wanting what's best for the Pokemon/animal. Kind of like Jessie releasing Dustox.
Fair point (and thanks for illustrating with an example I can understand ho ho ho! :p)
I just haven't gotten that impression... yet. Maybe I haven't been paying close enough attention?
 
Can't say anything different from what you guys have said.

This episode was just PURE EPICNESS!!!

Ash's fusion between Greninja is also very interesting, indeed...

I think its the first time we saw something like this in the series.

Also, It makes me wonder... what's going to happen when Ash faces Alain?

If his Charizard manages to defeat Ash's Greninja. Will he fall unconscious too?

I'm thinking that Alain will challenge him due to Puni-chan besides his desire of defeating all mega evolved pokemon.

Will he take Puni-chan by force if he wins?

I still don't know if he is still after puni-chan after all. But I wonder how is going to be the interaction between him and the gang.
From the trailer, it seems that Alan and Ash will be in a friendly match, with Clemont as a referee.
 
As always, I am loving the personality traits given to the Team Flare Scientists XD

This episode was amazing. So both Cores with different belly colors interact by telepathy. I guess the Zygarde 50% from the first XY&Z episode reverted to Blue Core for easy hiding. Too bad they gave away their locations...
 
I have a concern about when the episode is dubbed:

It's about the last scene with Xerosic and Lyandre. That's where the little PokeTV segments happen, and chances are pretty good those will be cut for time constraints alone, which puts this scene at risk. It's just that this scene is fairly important, but not sure how they'll work around it...:cautious:
 
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