Finally had time to view this episode. It started out so cutely with Piplup sleeping under a tree then it got creepy since it was being stalked by a pair of eyes. Piplup starting eating all the food and it took me a minute to realize that it was only an imposter Piplup! Everyone was mad at it until it was revealed to be a fake, all thanks to Gible's trusty Draco Meteor as predicted. Togekiss was copied too but Dawn used her Pokeball and that solved it. Pikachu was mimicked too, though it wouldn't go in a Pokeball so that trick wouldn't weed-out the fake. Kinda odd since the fake Pikachu sounded different than the usual Pikachu and would have therefore been easier to spot. Just goes to show how unobservant Ash can be especially since he chose the wrong Pikachu and got shocked by the real one :S
Loved the return of Pikachu's famous Pokemon impressions as it was the cutest thing Pikachu ever did in the anime. Then that copycat girl shows up saying "please" in English instead of the usual Japanese word for please? She was imitating Flint apparently which would have almost passed as cute were it not for her Ditto's. Loved that one was a Shiny Ditto but it didn't transform into a Shiny-version of Pokemon which was a letdown. The girl's name was Makina (was she in Movie 12?) and she did have a bit of an attitude even going as far as talking about Paul I believe which surprised Ash. Team Rocket stalked Ash in Co from the bushes and Jessie started fantasizing and Meowth proceeded to his Boss Fantasy involving Regigigas and Giratina look-alikes courtasy of Ditto
Ash challenges Makina to a battle and of course she uses her Ditto since those were apparently her only Pokemon. Her Shiny Ditto was up first and it looked pretty darn snazzy all blue. Ash used Infernape and I was glad since it's such a strong Pokemon, but the Shiny Ditto transformed into an Infernape to counter it. Infernape and Ditto clashed with Flame Wheel and, shockingly, Ditto was powerful enough to withstand it. Infernape and Ditto used Mach Punch and I was sure Infernape had the type advantage but I forgot Ditto's type changes when it transforms. Ditto still lost, but probably only because Infernape was trained better. Makina sent her normal Ditto out to the battlefield and Ash returned Infernape, not a good move on his part I thought since Infernape is a star player :/
I guess I can't be mad since Ash chose Pikachu as his next Pokemon. Ditto transformed into Piplup and I thought, "Why do that? Piplup's a Water type and is therefore weak against Pikachu?!". Makina was clearly an amateur as seen when Pikachu's Thunderbolt caused a lot of damage against Ditto. She learned from her mistake and had Ditto transform into Pikachu. She used her PokeDex (orange?) to see what moves Pikachu could use, pretty smart. Pikachu easily countered Iron Tail and Makina resorted to Volt Tackle again Pikachu's Quick Attack? Apparently Makina didn't remember that Volt Tackle causes recoil damage and her Ditto lost while Ash's Pikachu was able to keep from getting injured. Makina then had a little temper tantrum and I though, "Seriously?". Ash beat her fair and square :[
Glad Dawn and Brock tried to talk her out of her drama but Makina seemed upset that she lost to Ash. Makina recalled how she apparently won most of her battles; having seen a Zapdos, she had her Ditto's transform into one to scare away trainers. Brock wasn't pleased to hear of her selfish act and he commenced to lecture her on the error of her ways lol. Brock showed a fiery passion I hadn't seen in years when he ranted about Pokemon to Makina (even Ash was surprised haha). Makina was reduced to tears but Brock forgave her and tried to teach her stuff? He started with the basic type advantage lecture which I was surprised Makina hadn't heard before. It was cute to see her taking notes though haha, just like a proper student should. She even asked questions to Brock as if he were a real teacher and I almost started to like this new Makina who seemed to want to learn how to battle properly.
During battle practice Brock used Happiny (about time), that thing hasn't gotten too much attention lately. Makina seemed to utilize all her knowledge during the battle which was interesting to watch. They were just about to finish things off when Team Rocket appeared and tried to steal Makina's Ditto. Jessie's Seviper used Haze and they made a quick getaway as always. I loved the Meowth and Wobbuffet triplets when Team Rocket released Ditto from the net lol. Staraptor led Ash and Co to Team Rocket's location and Makina was reunited (it felt so good) with her Ditto's. The usual Team Rocket battle ensued but Makina used type advantages to clobber Carnivine and Seviper. With Ash's help and three "Pikachu" on their side they blew Team Rocket away! When Makina left the group, she left with more knowledge than she originally had thanks to Brock. Though he had his mind on other things near the end, it was nice to see him getting scolded by THREE Croagunk lol. It was a pretty good episode, 9/10.
