Wow. This…this episode is like…the textbook example of bittersweet. But oh so much of the bitter, so much bitter.
Elephant in the room first, I do agree that this felt like an “oh crap, this season was technically about Galar, better shove in as many Galar mons as possible” episode. They certainly didn’t do them any justice besides Cramorant choking. In fact, they looked weak as heck. Grookey didn’t even have to use an actual move to win.
The only sweet part about this episode was seeing Cinderace for the majority of the episode. It makes sense because this was where Goh met them and it was nice seeing that the Nickit they befriended have become local heroes.
But then the flashbacks kicked in and I was reminded that Cinderace and Inteleon once had personalities. I freaking miss the days of show-offy Scorbunny and crybaby Sobble. They were both pretty much dropped from the show once they fully-evolved and their appearances were basically demoted to using Pyro Ball and Snipe Shot at the climax of every episode. Heck, I don’t even think Goh’s Galar starters have interacted together as part of a plot and we could see how they would work without Goh.
But by far the most bitter part was Goh’s sudden departure. Seriously, after all of the times Ash was allowed to help Goh with PM stuff, they REALLY couldn’t let him stick around until the end of the tournament? I’m pretty sure this is the first time Ash’s companion has bounced BEFORE the league was over. These writers better have a good PM arc if it was worth splitting them up so early and so sudden.
…oh and Leon has Eternatus now. Eh, not the first time Ash had to fight a god during the league, heck, it was how he became a legend at the last one.
Even as a Goh disliker, this was a terrible sendoff for him.