Those evolution man~
Seeing Riolu evolve like that to save the day was really exciting, in itself it’s crazy to see Satoshi/Lucario is finally a thing. I will miss the Pikachu/Riolu pairing though, they didn’t have any unique interactions but in battle they had that teammate thing going since the egg hatched. Vacuum Wave got upgraded to Aura Sphere as predicted, wish they had given the move sort of thematic relevance for their relationship like between Gou/Aceburn and Ember. Good on Lucario, animation was fantastic this episode and putting down two of Rose’s Pokémon by itself wasn’t my ideal ending for the battle but signified it’s growth.
Speaking of Gou, what a fitting way to end the bunny’s evolution chain. Hibunny was charmed by Gou and followed him, it evolved and became more cool and solemn. It evolved again and went back to its more charismatic self. NGL, it maybe the fandom perception growing on me but Aceburn really did seem like a human and act more like an energetic sports player than a rabbit. I didn’t like it’s humanoid self before but I will say as polarizing as humanoid Pokémon like this are, in PM2019 they’re god-send because they come with personalities, characters and stories already built into their lore.
When Aceburn got attacked and Gou started crying, I still remember how people tried to claim Gou didn’t care about his Pokémon. That he was a “psychopath” just looking for a dopamine high from catching Pokémon and filling the Zukan. He didn’t trade away his Pokémon to the Bug Queen from Sinnoh, he doesn’t force Messon to battle, he got emotional over this evolution and then cried tears when his Pokémon may have gotten killed. He blushed and was happy to get a high-five and hug like he did when the rabbit was bunny.
Gou also knew what Pyro Ball was. Nice subtle hint to his more “scientific” side of understanding Pokémon. (I personally really don’t want him to become a professor tho.) He did figure out how Hibunny could use Ember and said he had thought of ways to bring out its strength. It felt fitting he naturally knew that Aceburn had received that move in place of Ember. Nice mirror evolution, Satoshi had to be told by Lucario it had Aura Sphere (sensing/empathy) and Gou just knew from his work and experience (knowledge/wisdom).
For my issues with the Pokémon relationships, training and bonding they managed to give Aceburn a very proper amount of build, personality and focus and +1 for a proper Galar Rep on the cast. Sure it’ll be hitting a Smash Bros. game near you anytime now. Lucario did look cool itself and makes me wanna yank out SwSh and train one of my own. Naturally PM stays true to lore and Lucario becomes less rowdy and scrappy and more “cool/stoic.” Will really miss Riolu’s feisty personality and underdog things like jumping in between two Pokémon to protect Satoshi/Pikachu.
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