It is Time for Litten to Set Off!! (964)

[Crabrawler2016]

Reminds me of the rainbow of Satoru Iwata's funeral...

I was just thinking about that. Still, even with Litten caught, its still a sad episode. The feels will be felt.

 

[Pikasaur]

Wtf they actually killed Stoutland. What a bunch of madmen.

Ill be honest. I was more expecting them to pull another Toucannon/Rowlet thing. Have Stoutland send Litten off with Ash and then Stoutland is just never seen again.

I knew they'd have to deal with Stoutland somehow. I just thought that ment Ash would never get Litten

 

[Red and Blue]

I'm just happy TR didn't play a role in Stoutland's death. That would have left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[Pokemon Fan]

I'm kind of a little confused about what happened to Stoutland's body. I know that Stoutland died, but how can it just completely disappear like that?

It was most likely done to avoid having to show a dead body, but there is an element of Truth in Television to it.

That is, its not unknown for an animal that recognizes it is dying to wander off alone and find a secluded place to pass on.

And wow the symbolism was heavy in this episode, the tree's leaves falling off one by one made it pretty clear early on that Stoutland was indeed soon to die.

 

[Lucario At Service]

I'm kind of a little confused about what happened to Stoutland's body. I know that Stoutland died, but how can it just completely disappear like that?

Its likely that Stoutland knowing that he would be dieing soon decided to leave Litten behind and spend his last moment alone away from everybody.
So, we would most likely never know the spot where he died.

 

[Satomine Night]

Oh Arceus, I was hoping I would be wrong, but Stoutland actually died. I appreciated the symbolism in this episode: the leaves falling from the tree as a symbol of how much time Stoutland had left (to be honest, the moment I saw the first leaf fall, I knew Stoutland was going to die); the rain as a symbol of Litten's mourning; the image of Stoutland in the clouds with the rainbow as a sign it had crossed the Rainbow Bridge. And oh Arceus, the Snowbelle theme playing during those scenes... T_T

It's interesting how, as far as I could tell, no one actually said Stoutland died. The door to Stoutland's hospital room closed before we could hear Nurse Joy finish telling Ash what was wrong with Stoutland, but her sad expression as she shook her head said plenty. The visuals all made it obvious.

I wasn't looking forward to Team Rocket's presence in this episode, but I really liked Meowth's role in this episode. Meowth's compassion for his fellow Pokémon really shone through, and that was nice to see. He tailed Litten and Ash out of concern for Litten, because he knew exactly what was going on. I loved how Bewear comforted him (without any humorous crushing attempts), and Jessie and James just stayed out of it (although I have a feeling they didn't really know what was going on, as though Meowth didn't actually tell them).

*soutland appears on the clouds*
REMBEMBER WHO YOU'RE SIMBA

Now I just want to see an old Passimian whack Litten on the head.. xD

I knew it was only a matter of time before Serebii users started making Lion King references.

 

[CMButch]

I knew it. Third time's the charm. Now, I am waiting for Bug Pokemon to be captured, although seems unlikely. But Ash did catch Bug type after having a party in BW. So, maybe.
Also, RIP Stoutland, you were good doge.

 

[mega snorlax]

As much as I don't like the Sun & Moon series as a whole, I do have to at least praise this episode for being one of the extremely rare times the main anime has ever dealt with death. It's usually something that isn't addressed in kid-appealing shows (but then again, there was an episode of Sesame Street where Big Bird had to cope with Mr. Hooper's passing) but here I think the anime staff handled it well with Stoutland.

Also, welcome to the team, Litten! Now the question will be if it's him or Rowlet that will be Ash's evolving Alola starter.

I'm banking on Sun and Moon to do a full 180 in the Lusamine, Ultra Beast arcs and especially the Type: Null experimentations. They are very dark even by Pokemon standards, I mean a Chimaera Pokemon, really?

 

[dman_dustin]

Was wondering if perhaps Stoutland should've turned into a ghost Pokemon like Gastly/Haunter, that probably would've taken off the emotional moments, perhaps making it TOO comical for a death, but still would like to see a ghost Pokemon naturally be born as something dies. Though I'm sure that would be a weird confusing episode.

imo, they could have made litten grieve for a few more episodes

Not sure but I think Litten not grieving for a lot of episodes, was simply because Litten didn't know where it went, maybe it knew it died, and had come to terms to that, but not it "magically" disappearing.

I think seeing Stoutland in the clouds signified to Litten that Stoutland would always be there for it, even in the great beyond, so I think that's why Litten was more chipper at the end was because it knew Stoutland was in a better place and was still "alive" as in "afterlife" so maybe it didn't need to grieve as much.

But I'm sure Litten will probably still think back to Stoutland and potentially have emotional pangs of Stoutland not being there. I just think Litten was able to move on, rather than remain incapacitated by grief.

 

[Pokemon Fan]

I'm banking on Sun and Moon to do a full 180 in the Lusamine, Ultra Beast arcs and especially the Type: Null experimentations. They are very dark even by Pokemon standards, I mean a Chimaera Pokemon, really?

No worse than Mewtwo's anime origins, indeed at least with Type: Null we have no evidence of the "many failures" (deaths) that came before Mewtwo was perfected. The Type: Nulls were grown from genetic samples taken from other pokemon without much fuss until they tried installing the RKS.

Was wondering if perhaps Stoutland should've turned into a ghost Pokemon like Gastly/Haunter, that probably would've taken off the emotional moments, perhaps making it TOO comical for a death, but still would like to see a ghost Pokemon naturally be born as something dies. Though I'm sure that would be a weird confusing episode.

Most Ghost types don't seem to be simply life forms that resemble and have connections to spirits rather than actually being spirits. Even those with origins (of questionable veracity) as something else have never been stated to have been pokemon before they were Ghost pokemon, rather that they are human souls reborn as pokemon, or even objects possessed by emotions that gained life.

 

[Satomine Night]

Not sure but I think Litten not grieving for a lot of episodes, was simply because Litten didn't know where it went, maybe it knew it died, and had come to terms to that, but not it "magically" disappearing.

I think seeing Stoutland in the clouds signified to Litten that Stoutland would always be there for it, even in the great beyond, so I think that's why Litten was more chipper at the end was because it knew Stoutland was in a better place and was still "alive" as in "afterlife" so maybe it didn't need to grieve as much.

But I'm sure Litten will probably still think back to Stoutland and potentially have emotional pangs of Stoutland not being there. I just think Litten was able to move on, rather than remain incapacitated by grief.

I can't help but wonder if Litten knew Stoutland was close to dying, but I do believe Litten knew Stoutland died; that's why it sat in front of the tree and cried, and that's why it spent days curled up on the couch grieving (even refusing to eat). In any case, I agree that seeing Stoutland in the clouds signified to Litten that Stoutland would always be there for it, even if it couldn't be there physically, and that gave Litten some sense of comfort.

I will be rather surprised if Litten does not think back to Stoutland and/or potentially have emotional pangs of Stoutland not being there in the future. Even if it only reflects back on Stoutland teaching it Fire Fang, I expect Litten to think back on Stoutland every now and then, at least for awhile.

 

[Joltik-Kid]

I dunno if I should be happy that Alola is breaking the mold with all its changes (ex. Ash capturing a professors "Pokemon", death, no actual regional bird) or if I should be depressed that it's been so predictable that we have to actually take fan theories at face value considering they've been right to this point.

Good episode though, maybe it's a good thing that it wasn't too sappy, but the tones and foreshadowing throughout the episode made quite the impression that Sun and Moon can take itself seriously from time to time.

 

[Gamzee Makara]

FINALLY. The Tom and Jerry team is complete...

*cliche dub ruins everything cool about the Japanese version of things joke*

I dislike the Lion King and ALL mention of it for private reasons(and Litten becomes a TIGER heel...where's the Shere Khan references?)

And Stoutland's death should have been shown in order to start easing off all of the bulls*** censorship of on-screen death, the Porygon line, Earth-shaking, water waves, and erupting/lava.

Things were genuinelly sad and happy where need be, though..

Overall, this was a Jungle Cubs/10.

 

[MegaSalamence05]

I am surprised they went this route. But in the history of Pokemon has their ever been character development for a single pokemon (Litten) as deep as this one. In terms of character development the only one that I can think of is Chimchar. Different circumstances but both become Ash's Pokemon. This is my favourite episode so far. So no complaints but man this episode flipped the script. Executed the tone perfectly.

 

[MattySadler]

I have to say I really like the way Stoutland's death was handled in this episode. Classy.

 

[diakyu]

Its likely that Stoutland knowing that he would be dieing soon decided to leave Litten behind and spend his last moment alone away from everybody.
So, we would most likely never know the spot where he died.

Yeah this is it. Many dogs do this in real life. My last one did.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

So, did he die onscreen or not? It's hard to tell because he just had to have bushy eyebrows over his eyes.

Its likely that Stoutland knowing that he would be dieing soon decided to leave Litten behind and spend his last moment alone away from everybody.
So, we would most likely never know the spot where he died.

...That's kind of weak, really. We never really know for sure if he died or not. And if that's an actual old dog thing to do, that's a free pass for the writers to write something as dark as this.

Pretty sure the dub will redub this scene and say "Stoutland left Litten so it wouldn't burden him any longer."

 

[Frozocrone]

So, did he die onscreen or not? It's hard to tell because he just had to have bushy eyebrows over his eyes.



...That's kind of weak, really. We never really know for sure if he died or not. And if that's an actual old dog thing to do, that's a free pass for the writers to write something as dark as this.

Pretty sure the dub will redub this scene and say "Stoutland left Litten so it wouldn't burden him any longer."

I don't see how anyone in the dub would interpret that, unless they remove Stoutland from the clouds. Since the death wasn't shown on screen, I'm inclined to at least hope that they'll stay faithful to the raw footage.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

I don't see how anyone in the dub would interpret that, unless they remove Stoutland from the clouds. Since the death wasn't shown on screen, I'm inclined to at least hope that they'll stay faithful to the raw footage.

The image on the cloud part could just be interpreted as Stoutland being there with Litten in a friendship way.

But you know, without actually being dead.

Don't refute this so quickly. We've gotten really strange dub decisions.

 

[Frozocrone]

The image on the cloud part could just be interpreted as Stoutland being there with Litten in a friendship way.

But you know, without actually being dead.

Don't refute this so quickly. We've gotten really strange dub decisions.

Yeah...when I say hope it's like 5%.