Well, it's finally over. After four incredible years, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl has come to an end.
This was the third time I have ever cried at anything Pokemon related, with the first two being "Charizard's Burning Ambitions," and my first viewing of the fourth movie. Though my emotions were REALLY on the surface today (for unrelated reasons..) this episode was truly a tear-jerker.
Nevertheless, this was a fantastic episode. The animation was gorgeous, the music was superb, and Dawn and Brock received good sendoffs. The buildup to Piplup's little outburst was also pretty good, I'm sure we've all had those thoughts of impending seperation from people we love. Still, the gang managed to calm him down and send Team Rocket packing once again, for old time's sake, I suppose. One thing I didn't like, however, was the lack of appearances from the group's Pokemon! I mean, come on, when AG ended, we saw all of May's Pokemon, so why not do the same for Dawn? Especially considering the emphasis DP put on her team's development. And we only saw fractions of Ash and Brock's teams. Weak.
Nitpicking aside, I came away from this episode with a satisfied feeling. The best saga of Pokemon yet has drawn to a close, and the future of the series is brighter than ever. And so, good bye DP. Good bye Dawn and Brock. Good bye Johana, Roawn, Paul, Zoey, Nando, Barry, Ursula, Conway, Reggie, Cynthia, Cyrus, J, and countless other characters that made Sinnoh so memorable. There were frustrating times, but this series had it where it counts, just like ALL of the previous sagas, and like Best Wishes definitely will.
As long as the show centers around Ash and Pikachu, catching 'em all, it's still Pokemon, and I'm still a fan.