Review of episode:
This episode was the accumulation of everything I hate about Best Wishes. As soon as Georgia and Burgundy appeared with their usual bickering I felt an annoyance I've never felt with this show before and thought to myself "What's the point of sitting through the same shtick at every toutnament? They're both going to lose the first round anyway." But damn if that disappointment didn't continue as the episode went on. The battles were all pointless. Not a one of them was worthwhile. At least the previous two tournaments had at least one memorable battle in each episode of the tournament. The longest battles were Caitlin vs Cynthia and Iris vs Georgia and even they were a massive disappointment. I still say they might as well write Burgundy off the show. They've dug her grave and now they're just spitting in it. She didn't even order an attack before losing. When I'm wishing a CotD could have taken a recurring character's spot in any given situation, you know there's a problem. Burgundy was treated no better than any of the other CotDs in this episode and having her at this tournament at all seems like a huge waste. Ash, Cilan and Dawn's battles were painfully short, especially since we know that's pretty much going to be Dawn's only on screen win in her entire cameo. I really hope they add something for her before she leaves because right now her cameo feels about as special as when Angie, Luke or some other mostly useless character tags along with Ash and co. for a few episodes. People might say "yay, Leavanny got a win" or "Good, Trip is finally showing progress" but will anyone really remember Leavanny's 3 second battle against a Karablast at the end of Best Wishes? Will anyone actually take a win against Burgundy, a character who never got an on screen victory, seriously? This is the same fanbase with people who said Infernape wasn't that strong despite it's countless victories just because it used it's completely legitimate ability a few times. Georgia might as well not even be Iris's rival any more either. Not only did Dragonite beat Beartic, it did so flawlessly. None of it's attacks seemed to phase it in the least and it beat it with a single hit. No one seemed to care at the end of the battle that Dragonite didn't listen to Iris either, so don't play that card. It's probably an issue that will resolve itself in this tournament just like Emolga's laziness "issue." I've also come to realize how two-dimensional Georgia and Burgundy both are compared to other rivals in the series. Their entire gimmick is that they show up, yell a bit and act as cannon fodder in a tournament. The only bright side to this episode are an Unova Elite 4 member FINALLY appearing, even though this late in the game I doubt that means the others are on their way, and Trip showing the same distaste in Alder that may lead to some development at the end of this tournament (at least that shows the writers haven't completely forgotten how to maintain continuity.)
3/10 (Awful)
*Puts up flame shield*
The only thing that kinda upset me was that Leavanny got such an unimportant battle, I usually expect great things when the reserves are being used. But oh well, still screen time. 
