Following the tragic alcohol poisoning incident that occurred after my previous episode review/rant, I decided to tone things down a little bit in this episode review/rant. Anyway, here we are, at Best Wishes episode number 12. I really didn't think that this episode would be worth my time since it looked like your typical Filler-episode when I saw the events of this episode unfold through a preview, but things didn't look like that once I took the time to watch this one. There was tons of stuff happening that I didn't understand and some of the events in this episode left me just scratching my head. All that stuff aside, I thought this twelfth episode of the Best Wishes saga was better than some of the previous ones (and WAY better than the previous Ishizumai episode, that's for sure). This episode had comedy, suspense, and a heartwarming ending; all things that make an episode of the Pokemon anime, memorable. Anyway, here I go once again, creating walls of text that are more rant than review (oh well teehee). Things in this episode started off with a nice piece of music I hadn't heard in the anime before: the Isshu Gym theme! I mean, it just sounded so much better than I would have thought. Ash, Iris, and Dento had stopped on their way to Shippou City, along a farm-like area of the Isshu region and Dento had something out. I didn't know what it was at first, but upon further inspection, it looked a lot like a Town Map (the kind from the video games that looks like a cube!). Haha, that was a nice little addition, and I loved it. It’s funny how good music and in-game items make even small scenes like that, standout so much more. Just as Dento and Iris were examining the Town Map, they all heard a loud noise coming up the road. Suddenly, tons of little school kids appeared, all of them riding cute little tricycles. Aw, they all looked cute riding on those! It's not everyday that little school kids are shown in the anime, so that was a cute little addition to the anime.
Just as Ash, Iris, and Dento spotted them, we got to see that one of the little kids had a Yabukuron on a wagon behind him. God, I dislike Yabukuron more than anything else, so you can all guess how I felt upon seeing it there. Then I noticed that the little kid that was driving Yabukuron around, had the biggest eyebrows I'd ever seen in the Pokemon anime! Seriously, cut those off and burn them with fire! Anyway, moving on, just as Ash was wondering what those kids were doing, I noticed two people chasing them. Then the leader of the kids shouted and they all tossed mud balls at Ash and friends. Dento got hit in the face and fell down so faaaabulously. Ash got hit too, but Iris dodged those and landed on the fence like a champ! You go girl! As the kids passed by, the Yabukuron snatched up Ash's hat from the ground. Oh no. I got a terrible feeling just then, that this would be another Primeape-esque scenario. Anyway, it soon became apparent that those kids weren't cute at all; they were terrible little monsters out to cause trouble! Dento was seen cleaning the mud off of his faaaabulous face just as Iris jumped off of the fence and landed near Ash. Just as Ash and Iris were getting all worked up, a woman appeared behind them, saying she was sorry about the incident involving all those little kids and the mud balls. Had Brock been there, you know he'd have gone crazy lol. Anyway, at the same time, some man/woman thing appeared with her as well, just before the scene changed. When the scene had changed, we saw the ground breaking somewhere, just as a Meguroco appeared. It wasn't just any old Meguroco though, it was that same Meguroco that bit Pikachu and Mijumaru back in BW003! Anyway, it went back underground, just as we saw Ash and friends inside some strange room inside a house. It turns out that the room they were in was used to store Pokemon Eggs, so I'm guessing they were in the Day Care Center on Isshu's Route 3 area. That man/woman thing started talking, and I realized it was a woman by the sound of her voice haha.
Anyway, that woman with manly-looking clothes on introduced the younger woman and we learned that her name was Yuri. No, that's not an odd name at all. Just as Ash, Iris, and Dento introduced themselves, I noticed that cute music playing in the background; it sounded peaceful and cute. Once that was done, we had Yuri talking about Yabukuron, and Ash looked curious to hear more. Yuri explained that the little kids first encountered Yabukuron in some scrap yard-looking area. Ash, being curious once more, searched his Pokedex for more information on Yabukuron and learned more about it there. While Dento looked puzzled, we got a flashback to when the little kids first introduced Yabukuron to Yuri and how they all wanted to keep it as a class pet or something. Yuri didn't want it around though, and she told the kids to take it back to the scrap yard. Well, that's a nice way to treat a Pokemon. The little kids started yelling, and I laughed so hard because one of the little kids said something that sounded like "God damn!". Lol. While the kids argued with their teacher, Yabukuron was looking sad and it suddenly burped, making a nasty cloud that apparently smelled bad. Even the kids thought it smelled bad, but they still wanted to keep it. Yuri had enough, and she grabbed Yabukuron like the trash bag that it was and left it at the scrap yard again. Yabukuron was heard crying as Yuri left the area. That's sort of mean. Even if Yabukuron smelled bad, just leaving it there all alone was cruel. As the flashback ended, we heard the Day Care woman start talking about something that captured Ash's interest. In the next scene, we saw a giant mountain of trash surrounding an area around a tree house. Just then, Ash and friends arrived with the Day Care woman and Yuri and they all just sort of marveled at the sheer size of it all. I also just noticed that they were outside of the kindergarten, and that those kids must have been Kindergarteners. Guess I missed that before.
Yuri explained that the kids had made that mountain of trash and scrap around their secret base (probably to make a wall to keep out invaders ) and Ash looked excited about something. I didn't know what that was about, but Iris soon made that face that told me she thought Ash was dumb, so I can sort of guess where his mind was haha. Just as they all looked up at the tree house, the leader of the little kids opened the curtain of the tree house and he and all his little friends were seen in little cardboard outfits that looked so cute, since most had little drawings on them. They also carried little cardboard swords. Yabukuron was there as well. Well, isn't that lovely? I also noticed that the leader of the kids had Ash's hat on and as he talked, it sounded like he was declaring war on those below. While everyone else looked worried, Ash smiled. I guess he found the idea of kids protecting a Pokemon to be cute. Whatever. As Yuri was trying to reason with the kids, we saw Ash volunteering to go up there and talk to the kids himself. He then started to climb that mountain of trash with Pikachu. I noticed that a box there had some Japanese-like text on it. You know TPCI will just edit that out later haha. Anyway, the leader of the little kids noticed that Ash was attempting to climb over the mountain of trash, and he quickly leapt into action. He ordered Yabukuron to attack Ash and Pikachu, and it used its Sludge Bomb attack and it landed near Ash and Pikachu. Apparently, the attack created a cloud of yellow mist that smelled terrible, judging from Ash and Pikachu's reaction haha. The leader of the Kindergarteners/big eyebrow boy/Hirota then ordered his friends to toss mud balls down and Ash and Pikachu, which was cute in an odd sort of way. One of the mud balls actually hit Ash in the face too, which was priceless to see. Hirota then ordered one of the kids to activate a fan, which pulled a rope, knocking part of the mountain of trash down and causing Ash and Pikachu to slide down onto an old tire. What was this? Abuse Ash day? Whatever, I'll take what I can get haha.
Anyway, just as Ash was about to get off of the old tire, the leader of the little kids (Hirota) appeared with his gang of Kindergarteners and placed the tip of his cardboard sword in front of Ash's face. Pfft. Oh please, like that was going to do anything against Ash. We then saw Dento and the others on the other side of the mountain of trash and scrap, and Iris called to Ash to ask him about the situation. Of course, the situation had gone from bad to worse lol. Hirota ordered two of the little kids to fire their water pistols at Ash and Pikachu, which resulted in them getting their faces wet. Just as planned! Soon after, Ash and Pikachu were stuck in the tree house with the little kids. I had to wonder though, how did they get up there? How could the little kids possibly intimidate him enough for him to go willingly? Whatever. One of the little girls started talking to Ash and introduced him to Yabukuron, but Hirota seemed to tell her to shut up or something, because she seemed quieter after that. Oh my God, those freaking eyebrows! Anyway, Ash and Pikachu introduced themselves, and some of the little kids looked really happy to see a Pikachu, since those don't appear in the Isshu region very often. They all ganged up on him and started petting him and pulling his cheeks, which was really cute because Pikachu seemed to like the attention. I'm surprised that he didn't shock the kids, like he usually shocks people who touch him a lot. Well, Hirota sort of pulled Pikachu's tail once it started to trust Ash more, and it almost looked like Pikachu was going to attack, but it didn't and the little kids looked happy still. As Ash was talking about Pikachu's attacks and stuff, Pikachu shocked him, almost like it was showing the kids more about Electric-type Pokemon. Considering the events from BW009, I wasn't at all surprised that it attacked Ash haha. Yabukuron then appeared and tried to charm Ash, but he didn't seem to agree that it was all that cute, like the kids believed. Hirota then approached Ash and gave him back his lucky hat, which Ash was grateful to have back. The other kids all looked happy enough, so it seemed like Ash and Pikachu managed to gain the Kindergartener's respect at long last. Yay?
Meanwhile, at some futuristic-looking train station in some unknown anime-exclusive town, we saw Team Rocket once again! Jessie, James, and Meowth were all sitting down, as if waiting for their train to arrive. I noticed the local news playing behind them, and I had to wonder if they had reported Team Rocket's illegal activities as of late. Anyway, just as that mysterious music was playing, some man appeared in the train station and sat behind Team Rocket. Jessie started talking to him, and James and Meowth followed suit. The man then kicked a small metallic box towards James and he grabbed it. I was guessing that it had something Team Rocket would need for their mission in the Resort Desert or something. When James did open it, he discovered a small meteorite inside. LOLWOTT? Despite its size, I'm sure it'll be more important later. The man who gave them the meteorite then left the train station just as a train appeared. Grr. I hate serious Team Rocket. Back at the kindergarten's tree house, Ash started talking about Yuri, but the little kids all appeared upset about her. Probably because she still didn't want Yabukuron around the kindergarten. Just then, Yabukuron used some of its Poison Gas to create a tiny cloud of smelly smoke. Ash's reaction to the smell was priceless since he yelled out loud about it haha! Ash had to get out of the tree house quickly and the little kids followed suit; I guess even they couldn't stand the smell of Yabukuron's Poison Gas. God, this episode really makes Poison-type Pokemon look bad, doesn't it? I love it! Take that Yabukuron! Anyway, Yabukuron was feeling down since everyone fled after it used its Poison Gas stuff, but Hirota stayed behind to cheer it up, much to the surprise of Ash. I guess underneath those big eyebrows, exists a heart of gold. Ash approached Yabukuron as well, and he seemed to be trying to cheer it up as well, much to Yabukuron's delight. Just as all that was happening, some strange noise was heard below the tree house and some dust appeared. Suddenly, the ground broke and that Meguroco with the sunglasses appeared near the edge of the mountain of trash. It started looking around, and I knew then that things were gonna get ugly. I still remember it from the third BW episode and I'll never forgive it for hurting Mijumaru and Pikachu!
The little kids were surprised by it's entry into their little secret base area, and Hirota, Yabukuron, and the other little kids ran down the tree house, probably to attack the invader. Just as they left, Ash recalled having seen that same Meguroco at the hot springs spa from the third BW episode, and how it attacked Mijumaru and Pikachu for no good reason. As the Meguroco crawled out of its hole, it noticed Ash, Yabukuron, and the little Kindergarteners standing in front of the tree house. Meguroco saw Pikachu on Ash's shoulder, and it went crazy! Its back started to glow and it sent out a circle of glowing stones that turned out to be its Stone Edge attack. The attack went straight towards Ash and the Kindergarteners, and Ash had to shout for them to get out of the way. Meguroco's Stone Edge attack collided near Ash's feet, but thankfully, he and Pikachu weren't injured. Seriously? What's with the sudden Ash and Pikachu abuse in Best Wishes? Meguroco looked upset, and then we saw Pikachu looking very worried. Heck, I would too if a Pokemon were attacking me for no apparent reason. Hirota and his gang of Kindergarteners then started chucking some of their mud balls at Meguroco. At least, I hope that was mud lol. Lame joke aside, all that those mud balls did to Meguroco was make it even angrier than it was before and its back started to glow again as it used Stone Edge once more. That attack collided with the area around the kids and it didn't seem to hurt them, but they were still very scared. Yabukuron wasn't going to take Meguroco's bullspit, and it finally decided to get involved in this most-random of fights. Yabukuron opened its mouth and a strange purple-colored orb appeared inside. The orb was fired into the sky where it exploded like fireworks and the separate pieces landed on the ground. Ash then identified the attack as being Toxic Spikes, so thanks for the help there Ash. As Meguroco walked above the Toxic Spikes-affected area, it got poisoned. Hooray! Ash seized the opportunity and had Pikachu use Iron Tail. The attack hit Meguroco and sent the beast flying. Yabukuron then appeared and used its Sludge Bomb attack, which hit Meguroco as it was falling, knocking it away. Oh God, it felt great seeing Meguroco get its just desserts! What was even better, was seeing it fly off, just like Team Rocket used to (twinkling star included!).
Hirota and the little kids were all happy and they all started cheering. Even Yabukuron seemed happy since it managed to defend the little kids along with Pikachu. The Kindergarteners then surrounded Ash and thanked him and Pikachu for helping defeat the Meguroco. While they all cheered and stuff, we got to see Iris and Dento on the other side of the trash mountain. Iris and Dento were standing/sitting on some jungle gym thing, trying to see what was happening on the other side. Yuri and that other woman all looked worried about what was going on, but Iris just looked upset, probably because she wanted to see what was going on or something. Iris, Dento, Yuri, and that other woman all climbed the mountain and looked over to see Ash standing with the kids and Yabukuron. It looked like Yuri wanted the kids to quit their nonsense, but they still wanted to adopt Yabukuron as their school pet so they all began yelling again. Ash tried talking some sense into Yuri, but she refused to budge for her own reasons. Yuri then sent out her Shikijika and was planning on forcing Yabukuron away, but Ash and Pikachu got in the way and decided to fight Yuri and Shikijika. What?! Yuri had Shikijika use Tackle on Pikachu, and it worked (not surprising). Pikachu then used Thunderbolt but Shikijika evaded that quite easily. It was going to attack again, but Pikachu dodged it this time. Shikijika collided with the wall of trash and the whole thing started to rock around. Yuri and the others climbed over and Ash, Iris, and Dento tried to stop the mountain from falling over. Meanwhile, Yuri tried to evacuate the kids so that they wouldn't be in the way in case the trash and scrap mountain fell over. Hirota however, refused to go without Yabukuron apparently. Just then, a dresser or something similar, fell over and it was about to crush Hirota and his eyebrows! Thankfully, Yuri stopped it from hurting him with her body, sort of like a shield. Hirota seemed stunned that she protected him for some reason. Iris and Dento were then seen evacuating the other kids from the tree house, while Ash, Shikijika, and Pikachu tried to keep the mountain from falling over. Noticing the issue at hand, Yabukuron started getting serious at last and decided to help out.
Yabukuron used its Sludge Bomb attack to knock trash and scrap back so that it didn't hurt anyone. Just as we got more of that classy Isshu Gym music, Yabukuron managed to destroy a pretty large part of the mountain of trash, and things seemed to have calmed down at last. Ash gave Yabukuron the thumbs up for helping as the Kindergarteners cheered, and Yuri looked at the trash bag Pokemon in a whole new way. I guess she realized it was a good Pokemon underneath its smelly exterior. As the sun was setting in the sky, Hirota and his gang of Kindergarteners were seen apologizing to Yuri about the mess they caused. Hirota started crying, and Yuri hugged him as the other kids surrounded her. Aw, those little monsters weren't so bad after all it seems. Ash and the Day Care woman managed to convince Yuri to adopt Yabukuron as the class pet near the end of the episode, and Yabukuron and the kids were all really pleased as a result. Later that night, Ash, Iris, Dento, and their Pokemon all helped return the trash and scrap back to the scrap yard. Geez, what are they, servants? Haha. Anyway, the next morning, Ash and friends were about to leave when the Day Care woman presented Ash with his very own Pokemon egg! Wow, that sure was kind of her, considering she and Ash barely exchanged two words together haha. Ash accepted the Pokemon egg gladly though, since that would give him his sixth Pokemon, without him having to go out and capture one. Hirota and the other little kids wished Ash good luck on his journey and Ash and his friends were seen waving goodbye to the little kids, Yuri, and the Day Care woman as they departed to Shippou City for Ash's second Gym battle. Wow, that was a long episode. There were things I didn't like about this episode. I mean, Yuri's fear that Yabukuron would eat the kid's toys was just plain old silly and ridiculous in retrospect. Then there was Hirota's big-arse eyebrows to deal with, sigh. Selfishness on Yuri's part and big eyebrows aside, the episode was rather enjoyable since we don't often get trash bag Pokemon like Yabukuron in the anime. Team Rocket's part was lame as always since they literally do nothing, except act mysterious. And where the hell was Mijumaru?! OH MY GOD! Anyway, I thought this was a refreshing episode to say the least. It gets a solid 9/10. Alright then, stay faaaabulous~