April 26th: SM72 - Ta-Dough! Burn with Passion, Mao's Family!

[Satomine Night]

Neither Brock nor Cilan did get as much shafted like Mallow has been so far, though.

Brock and Cilan didn't have to compete with three other "third wheel" characters for the spotlight, though. Mallow has to compete with Kiawe, Lana, and Sophocles. I'm not saying it's right that she gets shafted, because it's not, but it's not that surprising. Since there are so many of them, Lana, Sophocles, Kiawe, and Mallow are not going to get the same amount of focus as Brock or Cilan or Clemont.

However, I do wish the writers would do a better job with Mallow's character. She is perfectly capable of carrying an episode on her own, without having to add other character such as her brother into the mix. I can only hope the previews are misleading and Mallow gets as much focus in this episode as her brother.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

I think an issue comes from them trying a large amount of companions who aren't battle focused. Some of them are getting okay development or involvement in their niches being useful despite not being powerful (even if they still feel a bit underused), but Mallow's just stuck in the same old formula, having a COTD or TR padding her episodes because they can't think of enough substance for her to make a whole story.

It probably helps for Lillie and Sophocles that they are specifically made to be educated characters, meaning they can utilise a brains and brawn function with Ash or another battler rather well. Mallow on the other hand is a cook.

Someone was doomed to get the short end of the stick. It was just most of us assumed it'd be Sophocles.
I want Tsareena, but I want Mallow to earn Tsareena the normal way instead of the way she got Steenee. Granted, Bounsweet couldn't exactly do much which was probably the reason they evolved her in the first place.

 

[DatsRight]

It's not just Mallow's episodes that are the problem, but out of the six, she's least liable to get some sort of little bits of personality or importance in a plot. Kiawe doesn't get a lot of episodes, but they stick in a reasonable amount of distinctive supporting roles or occasions his Pokemon come in handy in some unique way, which makes him feel pivotal to the dynamic and help him develop in a nuanced way even without central spotlight. The others aren't quite as lucky, but Lana, Lillie and Sophocles do get some noteworthy moments. Ash is great for both central AND supporting roles so his team are in great condition right now.

Mallow on the other hand is the most likely to be stuck in the background useless, besides maybe getting one or two funny lines.

I think this is what prevented Cilan and Clemont being DP Brock level for example, they didn't get a lot of central limelight, but they get a fair deal in supporting roles or little moments their niches came in handy.

Granted, Bounsweet couldn't exactly do much which was probably the reason they evolved her in the first place.

The irony is that Pokemon with far less developed move sets and abilities than Steenee right now are still finding more ways to be important to the plot.

Bounsweet still had a reasonable move set (again raw power has taken a back step for unique abilities this series), and essentially just being a bouncing head with teeny legs could have made for plenty of humour value. Bounsweet didn't get used because the writers didn't want to use her.

Charjabug isn't used a great deal either, but in spite of being a walking cocoon they still do find some little details for him.

 

[Golden_Latias]

Kneading the dough?

...Though foot bread sounds disgusting.

Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen. Reminds me of that Burger King lettuce meme. And Mallow isn't such a poor cook that she needs Steenee learning Stomp and evolving to save her.

 

[Dragalge]

Tbh it's hard to judge from this preview considering it had to share with the Dewpider episode as well (along with M21). I do have low expectations for this episode but at the same time, we only had like three scenes shown in this.

The irony is that Pokemon with far less developed move sets and abilities than Steenee right now are still finding more ways to be important to the plot.

Bounsweet still had a reasonable move set (again raw power has taken a back step for unique abilities this series), and essentially just being a bouncing head with teeny legs could have made for plenty of humour value. Bounsweet didn't get used because the writers didn't want to use her.

What could have they done with an armless fruit that's very tiny aside from Sweet Scenting everything (it did work in Steenee's debut though)? It's about as useless as a Magikarp.

 

[DatsRight]

What could have they done with an armless fruit that's very tiny aside from Sweet Scenting everything (it did work in Steenee's debut though)? It's about as useless as a Magikarp.

Bounsweet could learn the same moves Steenee has right now besides Double Slap. It could also learn moves like Teeter Dance and Aromatic Mist. Again it wasn't powerful, but it had a fair deal of technical abilities. And that's not even going into Tutor, Egg and TM moves which seem to be fair play this series as well, with which Bounsweet could learn moves like Solar Beam!

If they can make Lillie and Sophocles resourceful with Pokemon that have one or two abilities why was Bounsweet doomed specifically?

 

[playerking]

Kneading the dough?

...Though foot bread sounds disgusting.

Too each their own. Some people are fine with how wine is made. But yeah, this should be Steenee's doing. Its expression doesn't make sense otherwise.

 

[Remix2]

Ya I'm not expecting mallow to get any development this episode. if she didn't get any form the past 70 episode then people should not expect her to get any development for the rest of the series.

 

[IcySealeo]

Do we know for sure if Ulu's Lickitung is going to appear?

 

[i2i]

Do we know for sure if Ulu's Lickitung is going to appear?

The sponsor preview shows Ulu with his Lickitung.

 

[IcySealeo]

The sponsor preview shows Ulu with his Lickitung.

Where can I see this preview?

Never mind, found it. So happy to see a Lickitung!

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Someone probably already said this, but biggest, least likely plot twist ever would be if it were Jessie's Lickitung from way back when.

 

[Red and Blue]

Someone probably already said this, but biggest, least likely plot twist ever would be if it were Jessie's Lickitung from way back when.

Which is impossible since Jessie's Lickitung ended up with another trainer instead of ending up in the wild

 

[DatsRight]

Which is impossible since Jessie's Lickitung ended up with another trainer instead of ending up in the wild

Said trainer seemed pretty pragmatic about trading away Pokemon when they no longer worked out for him though.

 

[Mega Altaria]

Never mind, found it. So happy to see a Lickitung!

At least it was great to see he has a Lickitung. Maybe it could help him with the taste tests to get a good idea if the audience will like his food or not.

 

[1rkhachatryan]

Well it looks like Steenee might be learning some kind of new move here so at least it won't be a total snooze filler.

 

[Zyar]

I didn't even notice Steenee was there the first time I saw that preview. I thought it was the pot that was shining on its own, and I thought that was to emphasize there was something delicious inside lol But yeah, it looks like Steenee is using a move, most likely a new one that has to do with cooking. I don't think anything indicates she's evolving or about to, though... the shining still comes from the pot, it's not on the Pokémon. But, given Steenee's expression and her raised arms, we can assume she's the one making it shine.

 

[mehmeh1]

by the way, is it me or do other gen 1 pokemon (as in, not pikachu and meowth) look like they came straight out of the gen 1 artstyle? I was starting to notice it with ep 42, then faba's alakazam/hypno, and then ep 65 (TS' pokemon).

 

[DragonKahuna]

As much unlikely as it is, I would love the scenario where the shining pot turns out to be an egg. Anyway, the pose Steenee has taken kind of seems like she is using a newly learned move. If that's the case, what move might she be using? Solar Beam? As of now she knows: Sweet Scent, Double Slap and Magical Leaf.

 

[Golden_Latias]

My first thought was either Aromatic Mist or Aromatherapy personally but both would be a little too similar to Sweet Scent.