At the outset, this seems like it's going to be just another boring filler episode, and based on my memories of it prior to rewatching it, I thought that's all it was. After all, how do you make an interesting episode out of a Pokémon as boring as Odoshishi?
Well, color me surprised, 'cause this was actually a pretty decent Takeshi episode. The writers actually remembered that he's a Pokémon breeder, and thus understands the living habits of Pokémon - that scene at the beginning where he's trying to present himself as a Pokémon to Odoshishi is hilarious, and gave me the biggest laugh of the episode. And this episode isn't really big on laughs, but it's not supposed to be. It's more of a focus on Takeshi's relationship with Pokémon, and how he's devoted to helping them.
It's not a brilliant episode, but it's not terrible either. And as always, Musashi-tachi are guaranteed to be good for a giggle. (I love alliteration.) Nyasu flip-flopping on wanting to capture Odoshishi and finding him too cute to steal is a very nicely timed bit.
This episode has a more leisurely, wide-open feel to it. There's no characters of the day, there's virtually no Pokémon battles (aside from Iwaku and Fushigidane at the end, Odoshishi is the only Pokémon we see for most of the episode, not counting Pikachu, Togepi, and Nyasu, obviously). And even though it's a textbook case of the writers just showcasing one Pokémon for 24 minutes, at least they took the opportunity to put Takeshi to good use. That, if nothing else, makes this episode worthwhile.