A Conspiracy to Conquer! (822)

[Rohanator]

I'm glad I lowered my expectations for this episode. It wasn't the episode I thought it was going to be. This episode was just okay. Nothing really special about it. It's amazing all this Pikachu focus lately. The last episode had a Pikachu subplot, and now this one. How about we focus on a Kalos Pokemon like Froakie? or Bunnelby? This is the Gen 6/XY series isn't it? Whatever.

These episodes aren't even focused on Pikachu, he just happens to have a role in them. He's the main character along with Ash, it is to be expected. We've gotten ACTUAL focus episodes for Froakie, Chespin and Dedenne(kinda) over the past few weeks and Serena/Fennekin should get something after next weeks ep.

 

[RickHoenn]

The people complaining are not mad, they're disappointed. They thought this series was better than this.

It's better than BW, so far, at least.

No, it was using Madame X to help it construct a system it didn't explain the actual purpose for.

It's not alone, it was talking about "we", "us" and "our" after Madame X had been unmasked. There are others involved here.

The episode was primarily just setup intended to get us speculating. There were several mentions of a larger plan, but they were very broad, so we have no real hints towards what it will involve.

This is clearly not a filler then.

-

Well, apparently there was no hint of Team Flare in this episode, I have no doubt Malamar will at least be recurring.

What is that "master plan" all about tho?? Is Malamar trying to conquer the world by its own? I don't think so.

Hahaha the funny moment was TR scared of poor Inkay at the end! XD

Overall it was a great episode, one of my favorite so far in XY, 9.5/10.

 

[Haunter ゴースト]

Absolutely loved the episode, definitely one of the best in XY so far. So it seems like there are signs of Malamar returning in a much deeper plot, which in all honesty is 80% likely to be related to Team Flare which i'm perfectly fine with, the foreshadowing of future events is great.

Pros:

-Music was brilliant all the way throughout
-Loved the intensity of it all, particularly as Ash and Meowth were alone being attacked by everyone
-Malamar was a very threatening villain, something we don't get enough of
-Ash and Meowth teaming up
-Meowth was very clever in this episode and used his attacks quite a bit too
-Ash being attacked by Pikachu scene, he'll do anything to save his friend
-Plot was well written for a Pokemon episode
-The semi-grim ending as Malamar escaped was nice to see, normally it's all super happy with no care in the world
-The ending relating Inkay to Malamar and scaring team rocket

Cons:

-Ash and Pikachu scene was similar to the Pikachu mind control episode in BW, regardless this scene in XY was far more intense making it better imo.

Rating:

9/10.

 

[Benny™]

It's better than BW, so far, at least.

1- How exactly?
2- Is that really a good standard for the ones who didn't like BW?

 

[Blue Saturday]

Enjoyed the episode and most things about, hands down one of the best of XY thus far. Very fast-paced stuff and it wasted no time moving along things, I feel this could have benefited from being a two-parter. We could have gotten extra things like more focus on Malamar, more Ash/Meowth tag teaming, actually seeing the XY Quartet put up a fight before being taken control of. Wouldn't it have been great for Malamar to slowly encounter each member and them trying to fight back only for their Fennekin, Chespin and Dedenne to be taken control of in their efforts to take down it down?

The music in this episode was great, so grave and intense in most scenes. Really brings out a lot in a lot of scenes for me, like the PokeDex for example. Bonnie was great as usual, love that girl. I like how she had so many fun facial expressions and how she seemed to be pretty suspicious of Meowth. You would think a little kid would be naive but she proved otherwise. I couldn't help but giggle that Serena would rather lose her freewill than have that pretty moneymaker scratched up.

Team Rocket were good in this episode, Meowth's concern was nice enough and he wasn't annoying. Jessie/James weren't annoying or unnecessary thankfully. I got to see Inkay which was nice, I've been missing it for a while. Meowth wasn't Episode N competent but the use of Fury Swipes to save his and Ash's skin several times throughout the episode was a large step up from the usual and he showed some great personality here and interactions. I also like how he did the translation job with such intensity and how the Rockets actually took stuff seriously. They didn't do anything ridiculous like try to capture Malamar and Pikachu at the land second. I actually thought it was really amusing how they all were scared that Inkay could become one of those malicious mean things. I don't want Inkay to evolve either way because I really like it a lot the way it is and I feel if it became a Rocket Pokemon it would cheapen the value of the species. I did mind it amusing that of the mind-controlled temporarily evil Pokemon at the end there was a Beedrill among them, Kalos loves its Beedrill doesn't it?

Downsides for me? More Pikachu mind control, I've seen it a million times already. I know Ash/Pikachu have a strong bond. Why not Froakie or Fletchling and Pikachu has gotten a bit of focus already recently. But the scenes were nice, seeing Ash get through to Pikachu like that and the music, voice acting and constantly getting battered held my attention well. Definitely hoping Malamar appears again, wasn't too surprised Madame X was just a puppeted Officer Jenny. You could tell by the blue hair strands, but I hope this episode is totally setting the way for Team Flare. Of course I'm entirely okay with Malamar operating on its own, could be interesting to have a PokeVillain who isn't misunderstood or working for a human.

I still can't believe Meowth was the highlight of this episode for me and the BGM. Pretty good episode.

 

[Nightstar1994]

Nah, not better than BW yet. It had pretty amazing Kami Trio episodes. And the scenes when TR knew how to be badass.

I enjoy the series but it's too early to make conclusions like that.


Returning to the EP, I personally enjoyed it. Madame X should have been a whole different person and not Officer Jenny though. Even though we knew this since ages, it's still quite disappointing that we can't have anyone like Hunter J again.

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

Downsides for me? More Pikachu mind control, I've seen it a million times already. I know Ash/Pikachu have a strong bond.

Well, at least it was Clemont's malfunctioning invention and not the power of Ash's and Pikachu's friendship that freed everyone from Malamar's control.

 

[PokeHero96]

I watched the episode and… I'm speechless, I have no idea why, but I am, that was an amazing episode! I can't even..
Well, I know what I can say, I felt SO sorry for Ash in the scenes where he kept having one attack after another thrown at him, and I think only one missed.. dam.
Other than feeling so scared for Ash, it's was an AWESOME episode, whoa..

Oh Serena trying to grab him while possessed, maybe next time Serena aha!
I also like Ash and Meowth's teamwork
And the ending.. and ALL OF IT!

 

[Pink Harzard]

The soundtracks in this episode were great and really captured the suspense in the episode.

Hypnotised Wobbeffet sounds a bit weird. Actually, all the ones who are hypnotised sound weird, exept for Madame X. I wonder why that would be.

Dispite the fact that hypnotised/possed Pikachu was show for like the third time (I remember the Hoenn Kyogre VS Groundon episode and the BW episode) it was shown in a pretty cool way.

I hope to see a subbed or dubbed version soon, because I don't understand a lot of Japanese and a lot of things where told.

Maybe we will see Malamar again. That is the feeling I have.

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

The soundtracks in this episode were great and really captured the suspense in the episode.

Hypnotised Wobbeffet sounds a bit weird. Actually, all the ones who are hypnotised sound weird, exept for Madame X. I wonder why that would be.

Dispite the fact that hypnotised/possed Pikachu was show for like the third time (I remember the Hoenn Kyogre VS Groundon episode and the BW episode) it was shown in a pretty cool way.

I hope to see a subbed or dubbed version soon, because I don't understand a lot of Japanese and a lot of things where told.

Maybe we will see Malamar again. That is the feeling I have.

The only problem with the dubbed version is that all of that great music is going to be replaced with the adequate TPCI BGM that everyone's still trying to get used to

Same here!!

 

[Pink Harzard]

The only problem with the dubbed version is that all of that great music is going to be replaced with the adequate TPCI BGM that everyone's still trying to get used to

Same here!!

Yeah, that's why I prefer subs. I'm a fast reader so it's not problem to watch a subbed episode. The Dutch sub everything already so I'm used to it

 

[Haunter ゴースト]

Enjoyed the episode and most things about, hands down one of the best of XY thus far. Very fast-paced stuff and it wasted no time moving along things, I feel this could have benefited from being a two-parter. We could have gotten extra things like more focus on Malamar, more Ash/Meowth tag teaming, actually seeing the XY Quartet put up a fight before being taken control of. Wouldn't it have been great for Malamar to slowly encounter each member and them trying to fight back only for their Fennekin, Chespin and Dedenne to be taken control of in their efforts to take down it down?

I agree with this massively, the episode was great and literally had no wasted moments, but your right it could have benefited from more substantial scenes. Clemont and Bonnie were gone for seconds before being brainwashed, seeing them battle would have been cool. Seeing Ash and Meowth put up more of a fight would have been cool too, like Froakie and Fletchling before being brainwashed, hell even Meowth. I want an episode where Ash is alone against everyone.

Ever watch Xiolin Showdown with the Sapphire Dragon episode? Like that.

Nah, not better than BW yet. It had pretty amazing Kami Trio episodes. And the scenes when TR knew how to be badass.

I enjoy the series but it's too early to make conclusions like that.

It's never too early.

It was better from the very first two episodes for me, and i'm not trying to be arrogant here but everything seemed brilliant right away. The dialogue, music, animation... and this was at the start.

The entire series has been great so far, the writing has improved massively. Anyhow this is only my opinion, your entitled to your own.

The only problem with the dubbed version is that all of that great music is going to be replaced with the adequate TPCI BGM that everyone's still trying to get used to

The dub music of XY is better than the dub music of BW, but yes this is very saddening, it's the main reason i actually watch the japanese version. That and because it's out first.

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

The dub music of XY is better than the dub music of BW, but yes this is very saddening, it's the main reason i actually watch the japanese version. That and because it's out first.

It's also why I try to listen to the Japanese version on mute since I don't want to get frustrated with the dub music and end up hating the episode since, aside from that, TPCI is doing just as good so far

Also, while Froakie and Fletchling would've been nice, I think they weren't included because they didn't want to shoe-horn as many characters as possible. Also, going back to your Sapphire Dragon comparison, I think it would've worked better if Meowth was the only one left and Ash was hypnotized too since it would've also avoided the whole Ash & Pikachi friendship cliché

 

[Eievui-Nymphia]

The episode didn't give to me the feel that Team Flare (or someone else) is behind Malamar. I think that this episode is about an evil pokemon, something very rarein the series.

And why come the word "our" after Madame X is unmasked? My impression is that because Malamar hypnotizes threats, they are trying to hypnotize them and with Hypnosis trying to do his evil plans.

For now, better think that the episode was simply aout an evil Malamar. I think that if a episode was planned to make a relation to Team Flare they have een debuted in the end, if just barely.

If you somehow think Malamar is Team Flare's, go to the Team Flare thread on Anime Spoilers.

 

[Janovy]

I think it's safe to say that Malamar will appear in the future.

Whether or not it is connected with Team Flare isn't really certain at this point, but having an evil Pokemon villain is refreshing.

 

[Sprinter1988]

So Madame X was Officer Jenny. Called it!

 

[RickHoenn]

The episode didn't give to me the feel that Team Flare (or someone else) is behind Malamar. I think that this episode is about an evil pokemon, something very rarein the series.

And why come the word "our" after Madame X is unmasked? My impression is that because Malamar hypnotizes threats, they are trying to hypnotize them and with Hypnosis trying to do his evil plans.

For now, better think that the episode was simply aout an evil Malamar. I think that if a episode was planned to make a relation to Team Flare they have een debuted in the end, if just barely.

If you somehow think Malamar is Team Flare's, go to the Team Flare thread on Anime Spoilers.

Then again Dephender said this:

No, it was using Madame X to help it construct a system it didn't explain the actual purpose for.

It's not alone, it was talking about "we", "us" and "our" after Madame X had been unmasked. There are others involved here.

The episode was primarily just setup intended to get us speculating. There were several mentions of a larger plan, but they were very broad, so we have no real hints towards what it will involve.

I haven't watched the episode with subs yet but it's clearly implied:

1. Malamar will be a recurring character.
2. There's an even more sinister plan behind all of this.

At least that's what I get from Dephender's post.

So Madame X was Officer Jenny. Called it!

I think 98% of the people knew that since December 31, 2013. XD

 

[RVD_fan]

There were parts of this episode that really worked for me and parts that didn't. Among the episodes where someone is hypnotizing the heroes, I think this is one of the better ones. Malamar was definitely a threat right up until the end and it did seem like even Ash and Pikachu's magic bond wasn't enough to break control before the machine came in at the end. Meowth scratching his face to prevent himself from being hypnotized was a great moment of competence and quick-thinking for him.

On the other hand, could they have made Serena look any more pathetic in this episode? While pretty much everyone else is taken by surprise, literally the only reason she is hypnotized is because she's scared of being scratched, even though Malamar is right there, her friends have already been hypnotized, and Meowth had already explained to the group that scratching his face was the only way he got away the first time.

I also felt like using the machine to free Pikachu was a bit of a cop-out, why not have Meowth actually do something to save the day? He has the original grudge against Malamar, this would've been a great chance to actually have him learn a new move and maybe stand up to Pikachu. It seems like the writers like to toy with the idea of having Meowth be a badass but never quite pull the trigger, which is disappointing because I think it has potential.

Malamar is definitely intriguing, I look forward to seeing what it can do in the future.

 

[nuzamaki90]

The episode was amazing, I really enjoyed it. Highlights were obviously Clemont because Clemont is a boss even when mind controlled, and two weeks in a row has his machines worked for the better.

Malamar was also extremely cool. It was so dark and mysterious and the whole mind controlling thing felt really eerie. Near the end where it was explaining it's true intentions, just to get in a last minute kill before heading off was great. I honestly can't wait to see it again, it's officially the XY reincarnation of Hunter J, may she rest in peace.

Only bad thing about the episode was the animation, holy s*** was it pretty bad. Probably the worst animated episode so far imo, even the action sequences looked bad. Other than that, it was a great episode, and it was a good setup to whatever the writers have planned for us in the future.

 

[Supersonicbro]

So this wasn't mentioned yet but I have to ask, when everyone was freed from malamars control, and meowth was translating for it, did anyone else hear chanting in the music? It sounded way more intense than usual.

And btw have we ever seen a tr pokemon combine an attack with pikachu like that? Where inkay used psybeam and pikachu used thunderbolt.