A Curry-zy Beautiful Battle! The Dance of Lurantis! (978)

[DatsRight]

This episode didn't seem that bad. Only enormous folly was putting Mallow as today's companion. But of course she would finally star in the episode where the companion was supposed to NOT do anything.

Granted a bigger problem with Mallow is that at this point she seems kind of vanilla. She's a bit quirky, but lacks any strong foliage here, even besides involvement in the plot, she's not a straight man or comic relief, she does little to no slapstick, and her interactions with Ash and the rest of the plot don't feel as distinctive as with the other students. Even Steenee got zero characterisation this episode outside being intimidated by the Pokemon (which might or might not be fake so arguably didn't add anything).

Otherwise it was an okay episode to me. Sure some forced slapstick, but wasn't THAT overdone. And it was gratifying to see Rowlet and Litten get a big battle after so long. The totem battle didn't seem that bad to me, there was some degree of unique strategy, teamwork and 'rock, paper, scissors' (e.g. Rowlet blocking a water attack since it could resist better than Litten). Even the Z Move had to be timed when Lurantis was charging so didn't feel stalled or shoehorned. I also like that they seem to have skipped the formalities and had Pokemon dodge by themselves.

The ending was rather cute, especially considering Lurantis is one hell of a ball buster in the actual games. And hey now Ash has got Grassium Z, we should get some more of Rowlet besides comic relief again.

 

[Nebbygetinthebag]

A disappointed episode.Mallow barely did nothing in that episode as well her steenee has zero character and the battle with Totem Lurantis was meh,poor mallow she only has 1 focus episode ,Through at least Ash got the Grassium z and Seeing Castform again was great.Overall this episode was disappointed I give it a 4/10.

 

[dman_dustin]

Wow people disliked this episode, more particulary the battle, damn, I was fine with it, given how short and rushed it was, and that we needed more than half the episode just getting there but it was otherwise fine, since it seemed to only be the climax of the episode, rather than the important aspect of the episode, which was that this entire thing was a Trial, and that Ash literally got a lot of focus for it. Ash thought to use Rowlet to get that first item, ultimately had to use Pikachu, Ash managed to get out of there, Ash I believe also found the 2nd item (or one of his Pokemon), and third it was Ash who ended up using Rockruff to find the location of the 3rd item, which led to Totem Lurantis. It seems to be the first trial that was THIS extensive where Ash definitely proved himself. This was clearly an Ash episode people, of course he was going to get focus.

And people complaining about Mallow not getting anything. What did Ash get in Lana and Kiawe's episode? Mallow did her job that Olivia asked her to do and if I had to guess I'd assume it was Olivia asking Mallow to let Ash lead the "trial" and not contribute or much which explains why Ash was the one who did everything, and Mallow seemed to be dumbed down, because I doubt it was JUST getting Ash to the Totem Pokemon, since that was already "planned" when Olivia gave Ash and Mallow their "ingredients"

Mallow better get something really soon though, and I mean after the Ash focus, and it better be a new Pokemon at this point, don't think a Z-ring is going to cut it at this point in the series but hey I'd welcome it.

 

[Xenon Blue]

Mallow will never do anything relevant in this anime. She finally gets to be Ash's companion of the day and all she does is follow Ash and do nothing interesting. You could take her out of this anime and little to nothing would change.

The battle itself wasn't that bad. There were some unique interaction with weather and Ash managed to play around it pretty well with strategies of his own. Of course it's not a great battle but it's not as bad as people are saying I feel like.

 

[DatsRight]

Forgot to note Turtonator and Marowak's rivalry at the start of the episode. Looks like Turtonator finally has a shtick (hopefully it won't get done to death like the Pancham vs Chespin one). This of course only makes Mallow and Steenee's lack of development even more glaring.

Hell even CHARJABUG got a brief funny moment with it's food bowl at the end.

 

[Nebbygetinthebag]

Forgot to note Turtonator and Marowak's rivalry at the start of the episode. Looks like Turtonator finally has a shtick (hopefully it won't get done to death like the Pancham vs Chespin one). This of course only makes Mallow and Steenee's lack of development even more glaring.

Hell even CHARJABUG got a brief funny moment with it's food bowl at the end.

Yeah I remember that scene in the beginning,I really like Turtonator and Marowak interaction it's pretty funny and hopefully it won't get done to death like Pancham vs Chespin like what you said, Mallow as well her Steenee's lack of character development which I was really disappointed by that episode.

 

[Satomine Night]

Granted a bigger problem with Mallow is that at this point she seems kind of vanilla. She's a bit quirky, but lacks any strong foliage here, even besides involvement in the plot, she's not a straight man or comic relief, she does little to no slapstick, and her interactions with Ash and the rest of the plot don't feel as distinctive as with the other students.

Any strong what? I'm sorry, but how can one possess "strong foliage," unless you are referring to her plant Pokémon?

Wow people disliked this episode, more particulary the battle, damn, I was fine with it, given how short and rushed it was, and that we needed more than half the episode just getting there but it was otherwise fine, since it seemed to only be the climax of the episode, rather than the important aspect of the episode, which was that this entire thing was a Trial, and that Ash literally got a lot of focus for it. Ash thought to use Rowlet to get that first item, ultimately had to use Pikachu, Ash managed to get out of there, Ash I believe also found the 2nd item (or one of his Pokemon), and third it was Ash who ended up using Rockruff to find the location of the 3rd item, which led to Totem Lurantis. It seems to be the first trial that was THIS extensive where Ash definitely proved himself. This was clearly an Ash episode people, of course he was going to get focus.

I think some people forget that the Totem battle is only part of the Trial (at least in the games). The Totem battle may have been short, but it was the final part of the Trial. The rest of the Trial was finding the curry ingredients, which Ash and his Pokémon did. And he was strategic about it, too. He tried to use Rowlet to get past the sleeping Fomantis. He used Rockruff to track the scent of the Diglett in the tunnels so they could avoid them.

Assuming I understood her correctly, Olivia said the ingredient hunt was part of Ash's Trial. As I said in my first post, it's pretty clear Olivia set Ash up from the beginning, and Mallow was in on it. At least the writers provided a good reason as to why Mallow hardly did anything in this episode. Olivia probably told her not to interfere, because she wanted Ash to take on the Trial himself.

And people complaining about Mallow not getting anything. What did Ash get in Lana and Kiawe's episode? Mallow did her job that Olivia asked her to do and if I had to guess I'd assume it was Olivia asking Mallow to let Ash lead the "trial" and not contribute or much which explains why Ash was the one who did everything, and Mallow seemed to be dumbed down, because I doubt it was JUST getting Ash to the Totem Pokemon, since that was already "planned" when Olivia gave Ash and Mallow their "ingredients"

I don't know if Mallow was instructed to guide Ash through the Trial or if Olivia just informed Mallow that the ingredient hunt and Totem battle were Ash's Trial. Regardless, the point is that Mallow knew what was going on, and she was probably told not to interfere, which is why she didn't do much of anything in this episode.

 

[Pokemon Fan]

After all, anyone who actually dislikes and criticizes a SM episode is only overreacting aren't they? I mean how can it even be possible for people to have issues with this flawless series, cause after all there's nothing ever wrong with SM.

Why do people keep taking one extreme or the other? Most users arguing against criticisms here are arguing against extreme criticisms (namely ones that say things like there is nothing good about the series), they aren't claiming the series is flawless.

 

[Tabasco Boshi]

Ahhh... let me guess: "We'll Fight Too!" (aka that no-effort-put-into-it remix of M02JP's "Escape!") was used during the trial?

If not, then consider me mildly surprised.

That theme has been used in 3 episodes. BAD MIMA. Batman theme from the dub has been used in every episode. GOD BLESS GOPAL. (The dub only has like 8 themes that play in each in every episode, Batman, laundry, elevator, chase...).

Anyway, I actually liked the episode. Yeah, the totem Gumshoos battle was better, but I didn't find this one to be that bad as people say. Really liked the teamwork between Rowlet and Litten and how Rowlet protected it.

 

[DatsRight]

Any strong what? I'm sorry, but how can one possess "strong foliage," unless you are referring to her plant Pokémon?

Sorry that's the damn auto spell correct. I meant FOILAGE, as in how she acts as a foil to other characters' personalities. There are some hints of things here and there (eg. protectiveness towards Lillie) but otherwise she's not very proactive or vibrant compared to the others.

I don't know if Mallow was instructed to guide Ash through the Trial or if Olivia just informed Mallow that the ingredient hunt and Totem battle were Ash's Trial. Regardless, the point is that Mallow knew what was going on, and she was probably told not to interfere, which is why she didn't do much of anything in this episode.

I don't think it's that plot element that's the point of complaint but more they chose an episode with such a plot to finally have Mallow the main companion again. Of all times for her to get back in the limelight it's the episode the companion is told not to do anything.

 

[Akkipeddi]

Why do people keep taking one extreme or the other? Most users arguing against criticisms here are arguing against extreme criticisms (namely ones that say things like there is nothing good about the series), they aren't claiming the series is flawless.

Yes, I dislike people saying things like there's nothing good about the series, since even if SM is mixed for me, I acknowledge there are good things as well.

My issue is with certain users and their pretentious and high and mighty attitude who quickly label people as haters and accuse them of overreacting if they didn't like certain aspects of a SM episode which is also an extreme way of judging. I admit as a result of that, I too might might have gotten carried away, and made another extreme statement for which I apologise.

 

[Xuxuba]

Wow people disliked this episode, more particulary the battle, damn, I was fine with it, given how short and rushed it was, and that we needed more than half the episode just getting there but it was otherwise fine

I just hope not all of his battles against the totem pokemon are going to be rushed like Lurantis' and Gumshoos' were.

Game Freak's idea of introducing totem pokemon was pretty inovative, but if the writers don't give them proper treatment and instead give the totem battles less than half of the episode, then it will be all for nothing.

 

[CelebiAS]

I thought Litten would evolve, they were showing all the signs.
I'm only disappointed about that.

 

[1rkhachatryan]

That battle was lame tbh, Totem Lurantis literally just stood there the whole time. Should of made Castform the Totem pokemon cuz it was way more interesting here then Lurantis.

And come on, not even an upgraded fire move for Litten?? Most other fire types had Flamethrower by now, Ember is weak sauce.

Not even gonna get into Mallow here cuz it'll just give me a headache.

 

[Akkipeddi]

I just hope not all of his battles against the totem pokemon are going to be rushed like Lurantis' and Gumshoos' were.

Game Freak's idea of introducing totem pokemon was pretty inovative, but if the writers don't give them proper treatment and instead give the totem battles less than half of the episode, then it will be all for nothing.

Honestly I loved the Totem Gumshoos battle. Infact, it's still my favourite battle so far from this whole series, and one of the only few I've enjoyed. This Totem Lurantis battles really pales compared to the Gumshoos one imo.

 

[Satomine Night]

I thought Litten would evolve, they were showing all the signs.
I'm only disappointed about that.

Where were the signs that Litten might evolve in this episode? I didn't see any signs of any Pokémon evolving.

And come on, not even an upgraded fire move for Litten?? Most other fire types had Flamethrower by now, Ember is weak sauce.

Litten also knows Fire Fang (which, by game mechanics, it learns long before it learns Flamethrower), which is what it used in this battle. Besides, it hasn't been in any official battles since it mastered Fire Fang. IMHO, it's too soon for it to learn any new moves, much less any new Fire type moves.

 

[1rkhachatryan]

Where were the signs that Litten might evolve in this episode? I didn't see any signs of any Pokémon evolving.


Litten also knows Fire Fang (which, by game mechanics, it learns long before it learns Flamethrower), which is what it used in this battle. Besides, it hasn't been in any official battles since it mastered Fire Fang. IMHO, it's too soon for it to learn any new moves, much less any new Fire type moves.

I know that, I'm speaking purely in a special move sense. Plus considering his others moves are literally the same, he needs an update.

 

[mystic9899]

just saw the episode before i cam here, and lol i didn't expect people to overreact this much. sure, the gumshoos battle was better, but i thought today's battle was really well animated and good. i liked how rowlet, despite being goofy, battles seriously and even defended litten from that water gun.

 

[DatsRight]

We got a fair amount of long needed stuff from this battle, Rowlet getting a proper battle after so long as comic relief, Litten finally being used in a main battle and performing a Z Move. It's also often fun seeing heavy teamwork, especially with a bird Pokemon.

 

[Janovy]

We got a fair amount of long needed stuff from this battle, Rowlet getting a proper battle after so long as comic relief, Litten finally being used in a main battle and performing a Z Move. It's also often fun seeing heavy teamwork, especially with a bird Pokemon.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Just watched the episode. As expected, wasn't nearly as bad as people made it out to be. Loved the Rowlet/Litten combination, Rowlet protecting Litten and Litten finally winning a battle. I also appreciate the fact that the writers can balance Rowlet being both competent and comic relief.

As for Mallow, yeah, sucks she didn't get a larger role, but it is your own fault you expected more. There were no hints of Mallow doing anything major, and yet people expected something like her getting a Z-crystal or battling with Ash. Once again, the fandom's biggest enemy is the fandom itself.