This episode was great. I thought I would be annoyed to no end because Oshawott tends to butt-in in episodes that don't concern him at all, and it happened a fair few times recently. But no, this episode was funny and yet more importantly, shows trainer-pokemon bonding, which outwrites any faults of the episode (Which I can't think of any, I won't consider Oshawott's antics annoying because it is, after all, an episode featuring him.)
Trainer-of-the-day for this episode really reminds me of those trainers you meet on routes on the way, unlike those anime ones, because Kenyan doesn't require any sort of help and is simply there for the battle. As much as we won't ever see him again, I actually hope Ash runs into him for the league (Imagine, if Unova's League included every TOTD that Ash met in Unova, it would have been epic.)
Oshawott running after his blasted-off-again Scalchop was hilarious, expected and yet sad (Imagine if you lost something you value only second to your life, the same blasted-off-again way.)
Bottle Cap reminds me of James, which reminds me that TR is now half-serious, half-jokers and don't appear in every episode, which has now effectively made them this the best season EVER in Pokemon history in terms of how TR is managed. Prior to TR vs TP they may have been a tad too serious, but considering it was for an epic 2-parter we have yet to see (XD), I'll let it go for the build-up.
Joltik.... AWWWWWW... Gosh, is the Galvantula Family destined to be the Annoyed-Pokemon-Of-The-Day (We had Galvantula for 2 episodes). I'm not complaining. Its my favorite line in Unova, and the more they appear the better!
And then came the replacement antics. Downright silly, but fun to watch. Iris and Cilan obviously didn't think about their choices through. One can be cooked and the other downright conducts electricity. Sorry Cilan, its your own fault you have to polish it again, no matter how kind your intentions were.
Dwebble making a pseudo-scalchop was a fantastic idea. Now why in the other-than-plot-demands-it world Dwebble was incapable of making a regular-sized Scalchop. Maybe Dwebbles in general aren't precision-sculptors and cannot make a Scalchop accurately in that size. After all, Cilan's Dwebble seems pretty ordinary as far as Dwebbles go.
I loved the training and encourgament scenes. Oshawott rolling backwards (and then blasting off again) and running back again was hilarious and showed determination. And his WTF? We need to do more? face when Ash said they had to continue.
The night scene (Oshawott sitting by the pond) was an emotional touch-up to the afternoon scene, less hilarious but just as good.
I went
when it was shown Blitzle gets an artifical power-up. But anything goes, I suppose. Side-by-side Flame Charge and Aqua Jet was a treat and technically became a SteamChargedJet in the end, pwned by a rock.
Sadly, the pseudo-Scalchop didn't last. I believe rock maniacs would pay a fortune for one XD.
And as expected, Oshawott got his Scalchop back.
I'm half disappointed that Oshawott didn't master Aqua Jet or evolved (Which I initially predicted), but to me, this episode is far from filler. I don't wish to start any debate of whether this is filler, but character development I would consider it to be non-filler. In addition, Ash performed the anime-version of EV training Attack and Speed for Oshawott this episode. Oshawott didn't came out of this episode with a correct Aqua Jet or a Dewott, but greatly improved in terms of its relationship with Ash and with greater (stats in) attack and speed.