Hit Your Mark, Aura! Ash and the Mysterious Egg!! (1110)

[Jnmisty]

I have been waiting for a long time for Ash to get Riolu. Plus it has been a long time sense the aura played a role into Ash as well.

 

[DropEspeon]

Also, unrelated, but this season has been trying to balance an awful lot in each episode. The pacing is kind of...all over the place, in the last two episodes. Certain sections drag, while others don't get nearly enough time. This is partially because of a combination of the PWC battles and catches. It was particularly obvious this episode.

I sincerely hope this won't stay a problem.

 

[British Soul]

Go cringe: CHECK
Ash getting another fan favourite pokemon: CHECK

Go: "Those are boss level horns"
Me: Guess that bloke's Tauros is more superior than Ash's 30 Tauros put together

Though I will say this, I did learn that Azurill can get Sing as an egg move, and it's nice to bring back Ash's affinity with Aura from M08/DP.

 

[Blue Saturday]

Aight episode, not good, not bad, just passable.

I don't care for more Lucario-shilling, seen enough of it to last a life time and Riolu honestly didn't really pull me in at all. "Pokemon is headstrong and wants to be stronger" isn't exactly the most innovative characterization, every Lucario arc. has been about its own strength/growth. Pretty meh/generic. Seemed to be partly a redux of Zuruggu, attacking even Pikachu, headbutting things, running away on its own. Bring Zuruggu back and have these babies be friends, maybe?

I think the thing for me about this episode that held it back in my mind narratively when it came to Riolu was the fact I felt this was done infinitely better back in DP. It honestly would have made a ton of sense for Satoshi to reunite with that Riolu then get a brand-new one from scratch. "Riolu reaches out to Satoshi through waves," "Riolu gets in trouble and saved by Satoshi," "Riolu is quite strong and untrusting initially," etc. were all elements I clearly remember from the Pokemon Ranger two-parter with more nuance to them and proper time/devotion/payoff.

Animation and art was kind of choppy this episode.

I think this episode suffered from the events feeling more so a "checklist" of things that needed to be filled out in a 22-minute segment. From Go *just* getting Tamatama, Satoshi's quick PWC battle, to the egg exposition/lore, to the conflict of the episode feeling so artificial/meh, to the resolution coming with Riolu sensing Satoshi's respect then fighting alongside him and then getting caught in seconds.

It felt like it was dragging itself through the motions and lacking soul, which sucks because I adore the concept of empathy/sensing. This is where PM2019's episodic instant gratification holds it back once again unfortunately. It just felt so phoned-in, this is something that could have been built up over the course of a few episodes and collided well with Corni's return episode. Riolu calling out to Satoshi over a few episodes and passively bonding, which would have made his sadness about Riolu maybe not being meant for him feel more palpable and organic? Proper buildup and giving things a little time to sit. I just felt like they were slapping so. much. crap. in that they forgot to add a proper level of flavor and substance to the events, you could really tell this was a mandated shillmon affair.

Alright episode, I'm always at least a little hype over a new Pokemon getting caught. Riolu knocking Pikachu out of the way and taking its spot in battle was amusing and probably represents future narrative events. :S I like Lucario as a species, I just don't think the writers are going to diverge much in writing and we'll essentially be retreading similar ground with past Lucario/Riolu (and with inferior writing), I'm open to being proven wrong. I hope they can do something with the emotional/sensor aspect of it that'll pull me in more.

 

[Almighty Zard]

I think the thing for me about this episode that held it back in my mind narratively when it came to Riolu was the fact I felt this was done infinitely better back in DP. It honestly would have made a ton of sense for Satoshi to reunite with that Riolu then get a brand-new one from scratch. "Riolu reaches out to Satoshi through waves," "Riolu gets in trouble and saved by Satoshi," "Riolu is quite strong and untrusting initially," etc. were all elements I clearly remember from the Pokemon Ranger two-parter with more nuance to them and proper time/devotion/payoff.

The problem was that Riolu you mention was owned by a trainer, and Ash wasn't going to take someone else's pokemon, if it had been wild it would've been different.

at least he finally got one, now he just needs to raise it.

 

[Red and Blue]

The problem was that Riolu you mention was owned by a trainer, and Ash wasn't going to take someone else's pokemon, if it had been wild it would've been different.

at least he finally got one, now he just needs to raise it.

Yeah that's probably why Ash caught a different Gengar instead of bringing back that particular Haunter. It chose to stay with Sabrina. At least that Larvitar he cared for was left wild

 

[Power Up]

Yeah, I do have to agree, the pacing in this episode and in PM in general has been bad. There’s like zero good plot set-ups and it feels like everything is just being strung along episode by episode.

Ash catching Riolu is cool and all, but that doesn’t change the fact that I feel this series is just weightless.

It’s great that Ash is catching all of these popular mons, but so far, besides Gengar, it’s all just hype at face value and there hasn’t been much depth with them at all. I’m hoping Riolu changes that, but I’m definitely disappointed with how this series handles everything.

As I said before, PM 2019 has a lot of potential, but if it doesn’t start executing, it’s going to end up being worse than Alola imo cause I didn’t expect anything out of Alola.

No idea why the producers of this series decided to take the show in a more episodic route. It isn’t helping at all

 

[DropEspeon]

Yeah, I do have to agree, the pacing in this episode and in PM in general has been bad. There’s like zero good plot set-ups and it feels like everything is just being strung along episode by episode.

Ash catching Riolu is cool and all, but that doesn’t change the fact that I feel this series is just weightless

Yeah, this series...isn't handling the episodic formula well. At all. It's not an inherently bad formula; I just don't think all the writers really know...how to handle it, outside of filler episodes (which, while not typically good, don't have atrocious pacing.)

There are some episodes that work (I.E. the Dragonite one), but this is only because they focus on one or two things.

When they're trying to handle several plots plus check off the obligatory battle & catch, it really gets to be too much. They've got at least a good 150 or so episodes. There is really no need to rush

TL;DR, PM19 isn't great at the whole episodic biz.

 

[lolipiece]

So there's a tale of a Jigglypuff who sang to an Egg, and it hatched into an Azurill that could also sing? D-did we get an origin for the singing Marill from the Pikachu shorts?

 

[KurashiDragon]

Ash's Pokemon seem to have a lot more personality this time round and I like that. Lovable Dragonite, loyal Gengar, and now stubborn Riolu. I kinda wish we'd see his pokemon more than the few one offs they seem to be in. Haven't seen Gengar sense the Vermillion battle and while dragonite was shown in this episode before that I don't believe it was sense the Golurk episode. Let alone Mr. Mime. I know there's a lot more season to go but I'm feeling like Ash's pokemon aside from Pikachu aren't getting much screen time outside of sparce cameos and introduction battles. It'd put a real damper on this season to keep that up.

As for the episode itself, the pacing is crazy fast. We get introduced to Riolu's egg, it hatches, Riolu goes on a wacky adventure for some reason, getting beat up in the process, gets saved and eventually caught by Ash. In most other seasons this would be spread out through the course of multiple episodes but here, it all happens at once and this whiplash really hurts. I really didn't have the time to enjoy many of the actual plot points of this episode because everything went by so fast. The PWC battle was ok but short to make time for the plot which really hurt it. Is it even explained why Riolu was so insistent on not hatching and the weird implications that brings? *Why / how can pokemon stay in egg form and why would they want to?* Riolu hatches, smacks Ash in the face with a Vacume Wave because social distancing is a thing, then yeets out the window to parts unknown, then gets into a bunch of battles because a mon fresh off diapers wants to fight a group of Polis in their habitat and climb mountains because..... dex entry? Then it gets caught after having to be saved by Ash and I just wanna get off this wild ride.

6.4 / 10 because whip lash flippin hurts.

 

[Eddieursa]

I know it was unlikely, but I still hoped for Riolu knowing the Aura Sphere move. Well, he will surely learn it when he evolves. I have to say, wanting to fight right after being born, this is really disturbing. It reminds me Ash's Greninja, since according to his past story, we started to train hard after hatching, instead of playing with the other Froakies.

I also know Riolu was this episode's star, but I wish Ash would have captured the Onix that fought Riolu. This has been another chance wasted for Ash to get this Pokemon. I hope next time will be the charm.

And like I suspected, Go got the Exeggcute. By the way, Do you have any idea of Ash's new ranking after defeating the Tauros' trainer? Why they didn't show us?

 

[Joltik-Kid]

I'd argue Riolu is just Ash's Scraggy done a bit better, what with the wanting to face everything in sight despite it's current strength level... but just seeing it come from Riolu is kinda funny for some reason. Art work always depicts the species as somewhat stoic, but it's kinda cool to see it act like a newborn if I'm being honest. I actually hope it keeps the confident if not straight up cocky attitude throughout it's time on the show, whether it evolves or not (I'm pretty sure it will evolve guys). Charizard kinda lost that trait after it started trusting Ash again and permanently lost it after it began training in the Valley... sad.

In other news... come on Dragonite, do something lol

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

SM Ash to Scraggy: Sorry, buddy, but you'll have to wait a bit until you're ready to fight.
Scraggy: (THE FACE)

Riolu: I WANNA FIGHT YOU PUNK.
PM19 Ash to Riolu: Okay, fine! You'll battle! Geez!
Go: Huh. I may have dodged a bullet there.
Raboot: (THE FACE)

 

[B Rabbit]

Its important to remember Ash grows each season as a trainer. The Ash in BW is not the same Ash with more experience today.

So while Ash didn't raise Scraggy properly, he can raise Riolu popular.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Its important to remember Ash grows each season as a trainer. The Ash in BW is not the same Ash with more experience today.

So while Ash didn't raise Scraggy properly, he can raise Riolu popular.

Sooo did DP Ash have a massive brain fart and turned into BW Ash.

 

[B Rabbit]

I mean thats an asinine statement considering outliers in every media and ztatistic do exist.

 

[Bortgreen]

Its important to remember Ash grows each season as a trainer. The Ash in BW is not the same Ash with more experience today.

So while Ash didn't raise Scraggy properly, he can raise Riolu popular.

BW Ash was a complete joke compared to his OS>DP development

 

[Deitylight]

Reckless, headstrong, and arrogant of its own capabilities to the point of picking fights when it was just born a few minutes ago. This Riolu reminds me of Ash in the original series so its kind of funny to see really.

 

[dman_dustin]

Speaking of Scraggy so this (Riolu) is Ash's 2nd fighting type to come from an egg.

SM Ash to Scraggy: Sorry, buddy, but you'll have to wait a bit until you're ready to fight.
Scraggy: (THE FACE)

Riolu: I WANNA FIGHT YOU PUNK.
PM19 Ash to Riolu: Okay, fine! You'll battle! Geez!
Go: Huh. I may have dodged a bullet there.
Raboot: (THE FACE)

I think the difference though is that Scraggy came out as a weak Pokemon, its attacks barely didn't anything and Pikachu barely tasered it and Scraggy acted like it was being hit with a thunder attack.

Riolu on the other hand with Vacuum Wave knocked Ash onto his bed, clearly showed off its strength there.

On top of that Scraggy seemed more like an antagonistic Pokemon, like a rough neck/ruffian or whatever you want to call that. Riolu on the other hand wants to get stronger and is fighting to get stronger.

I don't think Scraggy quite had that mentality, other than it just simply wanting to fight, I didn't get the "fight to get stronger" vibe from Scraggy instead it came off like "YO BRO LET'S THROW DOWN! LET'S DO THIS!!!!" With Riolu it seems more like it doesn't want to be portrayed as weak, perhaps as a side effect of being in the egg for so long? Maybe?

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Glad to hear Riolu utterly avoided dying from starvation from whatever eggs provide for, if they do that.

...

Wait a minute, where the hell did the eggshells go?!