36 pages already? Colour me smegged, and of course as Cilan appeared in a flashback, IT'S ESSAY TIME! That's right I am an essay connoisseur and I guess you can say that I'll be evaluating the episode.
I liked that the gag of thinking Iris was a pokemon returned in this episode and that it was Go that did it whilst looking for a Pansage and yet he did her a favour by doing so, ok. Though I'm not shocked that she forgot that it happened to her before in BW, and on the subject of callbacks to BW, I would've been disappointed if she didn't make the kid remark to Ash at some point. I'll have to admit, I didn't think she'd actually usurp Alder to the title of Unova Champion, it wouldn't have been farfetched to think the BW2 outfit was for cosmetics only, like how Lance appeared in his updated outfit from HGSS in JN012, and since she did become Champion, Trip's hypothesis of Alder as Champion being yesterday's news came to fruition, and yes that comment is appropriate given the episode aired yesterday, though the lack of Alder mentions at all shocked me, I guess he was that forgettable then. Given that the battle took place in Opelucid Gym, Drayden making an appearance was a given and I appreciate that they kept that a surprise from us, much like Emolga seeing as I only expected Iris' dragon-types to appear (and yes I glossed over her Excadrill, but that was in a flashback). Onto the battle itself, I have to say, Iris' Dragonite's face upon seeing Dracovish was glorious as was Iris' initial reaction before saying that it is cute, and this coming from a person who thought Charizard (before its X mega existed) was a Dragon-type. Given that Iris rose to the title of Champion, it made sense for her Axew to make it all the way to Haxorus and on its performance, I forgot that it had only used Outrage in like one episode prior, that being the same episode it learned the move (BW042) and it's also nice to see it with some Gen 8 moves as well, Breaking Swipe as well as Psycho Cut and yes whilst I am aware it's a Gen 4 move, Haxorus was only able to use it starting from Gen 8, and I also like how it employed a similar tactic to Gladion's Lycanroc to break itself from confusion. Ash's Dragonite learning Draco Meteor took me by surprise, though it's fitting that it learned the move in the place it could do so in Gen 5, in the presence of the person who teaches it, and this isn't the first time either as Ash's Gible started using it whilst in the presence of Wilma who teaches it in DP. Moving onto the outcome, Ash has now defeated a regional Champion in battle, even if it was a 2-on-2 and using a pokemon who hasn't had much battle experience prior, but I digress, it moves Ash to the Ultra Class where we learn at the end of the episode that Bea has reached as well as... Volkner, and that'd be cool to see, a reappearance of him, and maybe Flint as well. One more thing, when the Ice Beam made a hole in the roof, I was reminded of Ash's battle with Maylene in DP when the roof was destroyed and had an effect on the battle's outcome. Oh and one last thing, I liked that the words Best Wishes was mentioned towards the end of the episode, can't have a Unova episode without those two words being mentioned, apart from the other Unova episodes this saga.
Wow, that actually was an essay 20 and a half lines, I guess I had a lot to say about the episode.