Seen the episode pictures! This looks like a good'un. Harley is flouncy as ever, with a brand new gay walk(tm) and a delightfully unconvincing childhood flashback to explain why he hates May (personally I'm leaning on the theory that he made the whole thing up to get Jessie's sympathy). Banette, Cacturne
and Ariados all make appearances - hurrah! And Cacturne falls in love with Jessie. XD It runs right up and glomps onto her like a crazed fanboy. Banette looks v. amused. Why are the ships in Pokemon so frequently disturbing, I wonder?
There wasn't quite as much plot as I was expecting... the episode covers the Harley/TR alliance and the appeals, but it feels a little bit like the writers had to pad it out to make it last the full twenty five minutes. Possibly I'll change my mind on this when I see the episode properly. Harley gets TR on his side surprisingly quickly, especially Jessie. Well, I suppose she's always been a sucker for tales of childhood trauma. Oh, cuteness note - Chibi!Harley had a lunchbox with an octopus on it, and his rice had a smiley face. Bless!
Anyhoo, brief synopsis: Harley and TR team up to stop May winning, as we all know. During the appeals, James and Meowth are given the task of helping Ariados trip up May and Combusken with String Shot. Ash goes to sort them out, but in the end he needn't have bothered; Combusken's Fire Spin burns up the string and poor Ariados gets a cookin' (afterwards, Harley has a huge snit fit at James and Meowth for letting his beloved Pokemon get hurt. Heeeee). The effect with the Fire Spin and the string looks very impressive, though, and May manages to end the appeal on a strong note, so she scrapes through into the second round. Oh, and Drew randomly turns up for the contest and then... stands around in the corridor leading from backstage onto the stage. Errrrr, what was wrong with the nice comfy chairs in the auditorium, exactly, Drew? Strange kid. XD
I didn't get everything, though, so... couple of questions for anyone who's seen the ep and has a better idea than me of what went on:
- What does Nurse Joy say to May at the beginning of the ep that makes her look so alarmed? Was it something about the Grand Festival being only a month away?
- Where was Harley's flashback supposed to be set? It looked like a school.
- When Lilian shows the ribbon, May has two short flashbacks (flashback city in this episode): one to the conversation she had with Drew at the end of the Grand Festival, and one to something Harley said at the beginning of the ep. What was all that about?
- Why was Jessie's hair a weird shape this episode?
(That's not a serious question. It was weird, though.)
- Was it ever explained why Drew was there? And why did he look so serious all episode?
- Did May realise who Jessie was? There's an exchange between them that makes it slightly look that way. Or maybe it was just me.