Watching any episode after the Pikachu cake bakery, no matter how crappy it is, feels like a godsend.
Roserade is my favorite Pokemon from the Sinnoh generation, and even though it would later get more appearances, I'm a little disappointed it took such a backseat in its debut. Sure, it got to play hero, but most of this episode's focus was on the Poffin stuff, which was necessary but not all that entertaining. Like when Pokeblock creation was introduced, there were some amusing scenes with the gang messing up at first. And when it finally came turn for Roserade to be a badass, it was awesome (I can't believe I made a turban joke back then; actually, yes I can), complete with some very nice animation. (Fun fact: This would be Makoto Shinjo's final episode as solo AD.)
The COTD was nothing special, nor was the entire sequence of plot events. And in general, the episode wasn't too different than the Hoenn episode with Kanata and Pokeblock. But with little bits of humor sprinkled throughout, as well asd the presence of the awesome Roserade, I can't dislike this episode. It's also helped by the fact that it comes right after such an atrocity of an episode. But Roserade would later get better screentime under both Natane and Jun.
B-