Mending a Broken Spirit! (888)

[Lorde]

I was surprised that Braixen learned Fire Blast, but her not defeating Gallade completely was disappointing. Jessie and Meowth irked me, but James was slightly tolerable in my view.

 

[Xuxuba]

Ergo, battle was called off

If the pokemon cannot even stand still, then he is unable to battle. If he is unable to battle, then the battle is over.
We have seen battles being declared as over even though there was no swirly eyes.

Bulbapedia is right, Braixen won that battle.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Great episode, I loved that James actually helped out a little here. Team Rocket was still not really needed here though. I love the interactions with Serena and her Pokemon here and it really does seem that she's developing the most out of anyone in XY. I'm glad to see that Braixen learned fire blast and I'm glad to see that Serena won her first Battle here.
9/10

 

[DotKU]

Okay I need to talk about this episode because for the most part I got what I wanted.

Briaxen having it’s own agency and wants and desires completley separate from Serena was great to see, I LOVE how the anime liked to point out that Braixen and Serena was so similar in personality and this shows that she inherited some of Serena’s more negative character traits (being her picky nature) and the episode was about learning to move past that.

This is a pretty dialogue heavy episode so I want to wait for subs before I give a full impression of it but Serena was very strong here, trying her best to understand her Pokemon’s feelings and working to resolve them (thanks to James and the old man’s help), the Pancham/Braixen/Serena trifecta is very strong here, honestly I LOVE these three because they care about each other so much, Pancham being guilty of it’s mistake and trying it’s best to find a new stick for Braixen was so sweet, and the first stick Pancham choose ultimately ended up being the one Braixen accepts, with Serena adding her own touch with the ribbon. I think that’s symbolic in a sense, a bit of Pancham and Serena’s love is in Braixen’s new stick, just.. UGHH it was so good, these three are so good together.

I actually did like that we got that flashback with James because it’s been since like ****ing DIAMOND AND PEARL that we got a god damn flashback of the past for TR members, continuity is important. Speaking of TR, they of course bring down the episode with their appearance and interrupt a battle, leaving Serena with no clean battle wins EXCEPT for a triple battle (and that was by proxy, since she was knocked out of the match pretty early), like come on, give me ONE FULL BATTLE, she doesn’t have to win but it’s still a problem that her mirror self has been battle and she has not.

Overall though, really soild, really strong development episode, gave me what I wanted, I can’t wait for Eevee.

This is basically what went through my mind. It's nice how in Serena's early development episodes, she relied more on the help of her friends, namely Ash, but now she actually takes charge of the situation to the point that she doesn't really need to fall back on Ash and Clemont at all.

 

[Herdheaven]

Here's a good question to speculate on from this episode: Did Fire Blast replace Flamethrower or will Braixen use a combination of both of them in the future?

 

[AshSerena]

Okay I need to talk about this episode because for the most part I got what I wanted.

Briaxen having it’s own agency and wants and desires completley separate from Serena was great to see, I LOVE how the anime liked to point out that Braixen and Serena was so similar in personality and this shows that she inherited some of Serena’s more negative character traits (being her picky nature) and the episode was about learning to move past that.

This is a pretty dialogue heavy episode so I want to wait for subs before I give a full impression of it but Serena was very strong here, trying her best to understand her Pokemon’s feelings and working to resolve them (thanks to James and the old man’s help), the Pancham/Braixen/Serena trifecta is very strong here, honestly I LOVE these three because they care about each other so much, Pancham being guilty of it’s mistake and trying it’s best to find a new stick for Braixen was so sweet, and the first stick Pancham choose ultimately ended up being the one Braixen accepts, with Serena adding her own touch with the ribbon. I think that’s symbolic in a sense, a bit of Pancham and Serena’s love is in Braixen’s new stick, just.. UGHH it was so good, these three are so good together.

I actually did like that we got that flashback with James because it’s been since like ****ing DIAMOND AND PEARL that we got a god damn flashback of the past for TR members, continuity is important. Speaking of TR, they of course bring down the episode with their appearance and interrupt a battle, leaving Serena with no clean battle wins EXCEPT for a triple battle (and that was by proxy, since she was knocked out of the match pretty early), like come on, give me ONE FULL BATTLE, she doesn’t have to win but it’s still a problem that her mirror self has been battle and she has not.

Overall though, really soild, really strong development episode, gave me what I wanted, I can’t wait for Eevee.

Braixen is really not pricky, if there is no promise made on that stick, i think any branch will be fine for Braixen
and yeah im hyped for eevee episode , i guess we getting a summary soon

 

[Ѕhiny Missingno]

It's rather sad that the highlight of the episode was the reference to James's backstory. The battle of the episode lasted like 40 seconds and it was split into two and unfinished even. I enjoyed the dialogue and the fact that James actually had a personality which was something we really haven't seen since DP and the occasional Inkay episode. But otherwise there seemed to be very little action to gather interest.

Yay for new moves that are nothing more than a visual upgrade!

 

[Lorde]

Team Rocket was still not really needed here though.

Agreed. Heck, the Gallade man could've easily helped Braixen instead of James helping too. But as I said, James wasn't half bad even though Jessie and Meowth were.

 

[Commander Wrex]

While the episode had its good moments, I did come off feeling a bit disappointed. Like a good number of posters here I didn't see any point of the TRio being there. Even with that backstory with James wasn't really enough; the same-old plot of 'catch Pikachu' makes its appearance for the umpteenth time again, and they get blasted off at some point. It's not like Serena's (or anyone else in Ash and friends) perception of James would change even if he did try to help (albeit, for some reason, neither she or the rest of the XY crew didn't figure out James's disguise). And the battle being short and Serena earning victory after just one move - eh. I'm not going to lie that I wasn't happy that the battle was called off like that, BUT both sides did attack each other once and Braxien did hit her target pretty hard and effectively. So I'm 50/50 in satisfaction here.

But yeah, a development episode between Serena and her Pokémon. Stick being a symbol of the bond/work that Braxien had done since her evolution, so of course Braxien would be upset that Pancham broke it by mistake. A little dramatic with the running-away stuff, but otherwise something done to show Serena that the broken stick does matter. And thus Serena (and Pancham) understanding this strengthens the bond. And the ribbon being tied to the new stick as a symbol of bond between Pokémon and trainer...good touch.

An 8/10 episode, though I'm still miffed at the unnecessary presence of TRio here. And Serena's first official Pokémon victory (with her own hands and not facing against TRio), how about that.

 

[Xuxuba]

It's rather sad that the highlight of the episode was the reference to James's backstory. The battle of the episode lasted like 40 seconds and it was split into two and unfinished even. I enjoyed the dialogue and the fact that James actually had a personality which was something we really haven't seen since DP and the occasional Inkay episode. But otherwise there seemed to be very little action to gather interest.

Yay for new moves that are nothing more than a visual upgrade!

IMO, this episode's highlight wasn't James backstory, but Serena being a bad*** basically pushing Ash aside saying "let me take care of this, honey". A lot of people were asking for her to battle more. Well there you have it.

 

[Ѕhiny Missingno]

IMO, this episode's highlight wasn't James backstory, but Serena being a bad*** basically pushing Ash aside saying "let me take care of this, honey". A lot of people were asking for her to battle more. Well there you have it.

That battle was a complete joke, lol.

 

[DaDonYordel]

Yeah, this episode was all over the place. A conflict of focus.

Either James or the old man should've helped Serena but not both. James could've easily replaced the old man as the one that aids Serena into eventually have Braixen realize that it had the power to do what it could do all along without the branch. The delay in introducing the old man caused by both James' flashback and him helping Serena slowed down the pacing of this episode. What's worse that Ash and the others were left behind for no reason even though they could've easily met James in the forest alongside Serena. I feel that this sequence was used to stretch this episode unnecessarily. This could've been excised and would have saved time to allow Serena to ACTUALLY WIN HER BATTLE INSTEAD OF THE OLD MAN FORFEITING.

Loved Ash's commenting though, like damn, he's like the new Brock or something, as well as Braixen combining her broken twig to create her attack that would form into Fire Blast. Too bad it was wrecked, otherwise it would've been cool to see a double-branched Braixen in a Tripokalon. One of the poorest development episodes in XY, reminiscent, to me, of the separation episode during the Korrina arc.

 

[Mr. Reloaded]

That battle was a complete joke, lol.

And it was still one her better ones lol.

 

[Platinum fan.]

Yeah, this episode was all over the place. A conflict of focus.

Either James or the old man should've helped Serena but not both. James could've easily replaced the old man as the one that aids Serena into eventually have Braixen realize that it had the power to do what it could do all along without the branch. The delay in introducing the old man caused by both James' flashback and him helping Serena slowed down the pacing of this episode. What's worse that Ash and the others were left behind for no reason even though they could've easily met James in the forest alongside Serena. I feel that this sequence was used to stretch this episode unnecessarily. This could've been excised and would have saved time to allow Serena to ACTUALLY WIN HER BATTLE INSTEAD OF THE OLD MAN FORFEITING.

Loved Ash's commenting though, like damn, he's like the new Brock or something, as well as Braixen combining her broken twig to create her attack that would form into Fire Blast. Too bad it was wrecked, otherwise it would've been cool to see a double-branched Braixen in a Tripokalon. One of the poorest development episodes in XY, reminiscent, to me, of the separation episode during the Korrina arc.

How is this one of the poorest development episodes? It showed a great length how Serena's character has evolved. The Serena from the start of XY would never had entered a battle with Gallade. She'd have had Ash do it for her. This episode also showed semi leadership skills from Serena not just relying on Ash to solve her problems like in the past which was a big weakness of her character episodes in the early half of XY. She took charge of Braixen's problem with Pancham and even separated herself from her friends to find Braixen some help. Early XY Serena wouldn't have done this. This episode wasn't perfect but for Serena's evolution it was one of her better episodes. It's nice that her friends help her but it's also nice to see her handle situations like this too. But TR probably could have been skipped overall since I don't even think James helped that much.

 

[Lorde]

That battle was a complete joke, lol.

I thought it was too short, but good. Maybe I'm just in awe because Braixen rarely battles, but she put up a good fight against a superior opponent imo. So kudos to her.

 

[Veens]

What did Jingoro actually do in this episode to help Braixen? Honestly I understand why most COTDs have a minor role in their episodes, but Jingoro didn't do a thing.

 

[Mrs. Oreo]

Agreed. Heck, the Gallade man could've easily helped Braixen instead of James helping too. But as I said, James wasn't half bad even though Jessie and Meowth were.

I dunno I liked seeing James help too I like his kind side when he's not with Jessie an Meowth. ^^

 

[Soniman]

I legit can't fathom how this was such a poor development ep. Other then the battle everything else was handled fine

 

[Xuxuba]

How is this one of the poorest development episodes? It showed a great length how Serena's character has evolved. The Serena from the start of XY would never had entered a battle with Gallade. She'd have had Ash do it for her. This episode also showed semi leadership skills from Serena not just relying on Ash to solve her problems like in the past which was a big weakness of her character episodes in the early half of XY. She took charge of Braixen's problem with Pancham and even separated herself from her friends to find Braixen some help. Early XY Serena wouldn't have done this. This episode wasn't perfect but for Serena's evolution it was one of her better episodes. It's nice that her friends help her but it's also nice to see her handle situations like this too. But TR probably could have been skipped overall since I don't even think James helped that much.

This ^
XY is definetly one of the best series regarding character development. Also, unlike some sagas, the character development is not just briefly implied, it's showed a lot through actions and dialogue, not just once but several times.

I really liked the battle too, specially when Braixen avoids Gallade's psycho cut (is that it?), the animation looks so smooth!

 

[Lorde]

I dunno I liked seeing James help too I like his kind side when he's not with Jessie an Meowth. ^^

He might've been helpful, but that Jingoro guy could've easily done everything James did instead if the writers had thought of it. James helping just seemed wasteful imo. :x