The Cerise Laboratories Become a Target! (1167)

[Spider-Phoenix]

So, in defense of the whole “it’s just data” thing, we all know that Goh also occasionally takes pictures of his Pokémon. To lose their data loses the memories of those Pokémon, even if the show has done a terrible time showcasing said memories. I’m sure you guys have pictures of your kids, pets, friends and other precious things on your phone while still physically having those things. If you suddenly lost all of those pictures, you’d probably be devastated too. Goh losing the pictures of Sobble for example is very much like losing pictures of your dog when they were a puppy. Sure, the dog is still around, but it’s nice to have a photo of when they were small enough to fit in your hand since they’ll never be that small again.

That's a good point, but it's still weird Goh doesn't have that store somewhere else like a pendrive or a cloud service. You know, like someone supposed to be tech-savvy do.

Criticism is one thing but the doom posting every week just gets eye rolling after a certain point. Like yeah this sounds like lame episode but I'm neither shocked nor surprise since we had three weeks of prior knowledge before this happened. Like waiting to get punched in the face but it's heavily telegraphed and in slow motion so I can't say I'm outraged since I long past that point, I just kinda shake my head and move on.

I don't have much problems with the evolution happening here. The execution was just flat out terrible though. The episodes has some many logic holes and I don't like how they treated Goh here.

Oh, you see...

This actually makes sense, the thief just had his Kecleon set up cameras across the Institute...

But what we saw was: they typed the passwords... That were appearing in the screen.

Not the the black dots we see when we type ours to login here but what we are actually typing.

 

[Zweilous]

The Good

• I love how all the Pokemon acted at night; the Nidoran rested on each other, Ekans was tangled up, Darmanitan's breath kept blowing that leaf, Greedent eating after falling down and waking up. Go's Pokemon always get these cute little scenes that add a little more life to them.
• Grookey jumping on Ash to get him muddy. Grookey is so chaotic and fun. And Pikachu joined in, which was a fun little surprise. Glad to see it take that stick out of its butt.
• I loved Drizzile in this episode. His determination to help Goh, his improvement over the course of the episode, his training.
• I did like how the tower door was left unlocked; Grookey already showed that vulnerability before. They should really do something about that, though.
• Kecleon was so cool in this episode, too. I wish these things were this strong in-game.
• Daaaaamn, Inteleon's voice is smooth.
• I was going to comment on how weird it was that we didn't get a long tongue battle between the lizards, and Drizzile used its tail in the second bout. I was going to make a joke about lizard kisses. But it turned out that Kecleon is a pure lady, so I guess Drizzile was respecting that and didn't steal her sacred first kiss.
• I'm glad the data wasn't actually deleted in the end. I was hoping it would have been stolen and used so Yabashi could get quick fame and boost his credibility. That didn't happen, but the fact that he was smart enough not to delete the data was satisfying.
• I wondered what kind of data the Institute even had. Aside from the Dragonite episode and the Beautifly stuff, it feels like the kids just travel and do whatever they feel like is fun, rather than actual research. We saw clips of past adventures, but I don't see them obtaining information or anything that can't be found in a PokeDex. But it seems that the data and pictures are put into PokeDexes (at least Goh's PokeDex), and I guess their findings might add a little more detail and reference material to help new trainers.

The Bad

• One thing I like about Journeys is that they're not dragging out starter evolutions for a billion episodes. Scorbunny had the best pacing, even if it kind of faded into the background as Raboot. But it kind of went too strong the other way; we barely got to see Drizzile do anything. I didn't expect it to be a battler, but we only saw it for a couple of episodes, and it was mostly just sulking. I think we needed at least 1 or 2 more episodes with it before it evolved.
• Hey, you know who else is sneaky, can turn invisible and spy on others? Gengar. Where were you this episode, man?
• So they know the data is being deleted. There's no guarantee that anyone is breaking in, but it's a pretty reasonable assumption to make. Why was there no security after the second night? Not even, say, Ash's Gengar. They could even have the Pokemon fall asleep on the job, so it wouldn't impact the plot.
• Ash, your friend is being attacked and you have a Pokemon that can fire off ranged attacks. Once again, Journeys forgets that characters can use their Pokemon.
• What the hell was with that evolution music? It sounds like a track from a DS game. It didn't fit in at all.
• Yabashi was willing to sabotage a man who he really, really admired, and even gloat about it? What a dumb turn of events. And this whole "I wanted you to notice me!" thing makes no sense - you did it in secret and left no clues to your identity. What was the plan here? To come in later, restore the data and look like a hero?

The Rest

• Pansear and Panpour are getting a lot of cameos, I've noticed.
• The saboteur could have just changed the data, instead of deleting it. That way, the Institute wouldn't even know about the theft. You could even replace the data with dummy files or edit what's there, so when they tried to publish their findings, Sakuragi and his team would look like a bunch of hacks. Or they could even just put in some Trojans or something. I don't know. I don't expect Pokemon to keep up with technology and overcomplicate the story, but given how the villain was a tech-ninja who used subterfuge would be sneakier.
• The scientists didn't have any data backed-up on eternal hard drives. Again, modern tech and etiquette would have ruined this episode or add another layer of complexity. But it really makes the scientists look like total boomers.
• With that in mind, I find it believable that they would have their passwords visible when punching them in. Which wouldn't be a problem in a different situation, since they would want to make sure they all knew the passwords.
• Honestly in general, the Institute sucks at cyber security. They kind of deserved all of this.
• When he learned about the Galar data being deleted, many of Goh's thoughts were about Scorbunny. So sweet. Too bad we never see this bond anymore, now that Scorbunny is fully evolved and in its PokeBall most of the time.
• Yabashi is a guy? I thought they were a girl until they showed up in person.

Overall, it was a really good episode. Its main problems stem from Journeys' recurring issues.

 

[Almighty Zard]

what exactly did Yabashi want the data for anyway?

 

[Twilight-Kun]

what exactly did Yabashi want the data for anyway?

Literally just so he'd be noticed by senpai



...So...the data was...the pokedex entries? Which...should be stored on the phones themselves? But what actually mattered were the memories that Go remembered, rather than the pictures he'd taken, so...

...

What in the flip-flapping floop-dooping world was this episode trying to do

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

Yeah the animation, especially during the tongue battle was.....wonky
You know what this episode is a perfect example of? The tweet KGPrestige made once: I like Journey's episodes, but not JN as a whole series
Individual episodes like these are great and fun but as a whole the series narrative and pacing is all over the place. It isnt even near bad as all the doomposting makes it out to be though....this thread was exhausting to read.

A damn-good episode and was given more than I thought I would get, it did a good job adding more weight to Go's goal and substance as well!

The build-up with the data being stolen was dialogue-heavy but it served a meaningful purpose in not only inspiring Jimeleon to take action but by showing that Go's love of catching and being a research fellow has more personal meaning to him than meet's the eye. He attaches his love of his Pokémon and their encounters and catches to the data being stolen. Sure he still has the Pokémon but even if that is the case it's gives more layers showing that he cherishes the bonds with these Pokémon and who they are through and through. His crying at the end sifting through the fully-grown Inteleon's pictures like a parent admiring an album of photos of their child's life showed that spectacularly!

A burglary plot-line not reusing TRio as a catalyst was a pretty straight-forward idea. I liked how Jimeleon was training on its own but when it got winded went back to being lazy like the species is but because of the sight of it trainer's suffering it began to take more action and it genuinely still wanted to be Inteleon. It did a good job highlighting the sweet bond Go shares with these "child-teen-adult" Pokémon through their adolescence phase. In spite of what may seems to be turmoil with Rabbifoot/Jimeleon in the end it turns out its his kids growing up and needing to just be themselves and he has to respect that.

Go and Messon always supported each other in tears and protected each other emotionally so Go rushing in after it got hit hard and cried a little like the baby Messon it was worked wonders as well as the ending scene of them sharing time admiring the sky. They both were alone and misunderstood but now understand and are not alone sharing the same view. I really did like the evolution into Inteleon, the way it coolly corrected Go that it was Inteleon now was actually really cute and god WHAT A PERFECT VOICE FOR INTELEON. No really, I never really got into Pokemon voice performances but it sounded so suave and cool. The scene of Kecleon crushing over him was a nice tack-on, the usage of its spy glider, the climax save with Snipe Shot. It feels good to see the Secret Agent Pokémon is officially under Go's ownership!

I've seriously been hyped for ages over this, crybaby to confident and suave adult was a storyline I knew I would enjoy, it's straightforward and obvious but *just* charming enough to win me over. I'm really liking how the writers are showing Go's character through the character-developed humanoid starter 'mons. At the beginning of the series Hibunny wanted to learn Ember and Go simply said it wasn't a big deal but he respected its wishes and helped it and their bond was shown through that with Ember becoming Pyro Ball. Messon's goal was to be amazing like Inteleon and Go this time helped and agreed to train and when it became Jimeleon pushed too hard and let it come into its own without force.

It really does give off the feeling Go is being forced to better understand and respect his Pokémon's feelings and agency as characters while also learning more himself as a person. It also gives off a double-meaning feeling of both trainer/Pokémon having their own struggles and emotions without either being at fault for why things are the way they are. This approach of developing Go not just as a catcher or in goal via Project Mew, protecting Suicune, or having catching sprees/battles but as a full-fledged character of his own on the side really makes me invested in and come to love the character. It's just so ~REFRESHING~ to have a male lead in a show like this have such a wide array of emotional struggles and weaknesses not necessarily tied to pure strength/success but their own agency as a character that makes them feel more human and valid.

Bang up job!! I'm more eager for subs than I thought I would be too. I love it when I can leave an episode not just with the physical counter success of a win/evolution but the genunine character growth/focus to make the victory feel genuinely real and worthwhile.

Just want to say thank you for writing this! This really made me smile. I still have issues with the evolutions, mainly that I wished we got another Drizzile episode beyond its debut and this and that it appeared here and there in small scenes like it did with Raichu and Morpeko. But while I do have problems with the rushed execution, this concept is still beautiful to me and you perfectly illustrated why. Inteleon and Goh really have a cute bond together, and the they were alone but now they have each other to look at the night sky bit was just absolutely beautiful <3 Thank you for mentioning that. I too adored how Goh looked at the album like an excited parent, I love his character man!!

Also @Spider-Phoenix Curious to know why you disliked Goh this episode. I get your other points but a bit confused as to why you felt Goh was OOC/had bad characterization

 

[Twilight-Kun]

So I guess we can say that kecleon stole drizzile's first kiss since they swapped tongues?

No wonder she was smitten with him

 

[Ragnarok4]

So I guess we can say that kecleon stole drizzile's first kiss since they swapped tongues?

No wonder she was smitten with him

my favorite kiss in this anime after the kiss of the unnameable girl

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Oh, so two tongues disgustingly tangling up together is allowed but Arceus help the kids if it's two consenting adults kissing at their wedding.

 

[Ragnarok4]

Oh, so two tongues disgustingly tangling up together is allowed but Arceus help the kids if it's two consenting adults kissing at their wedding.

Well, that's controversial in a children's anime in Japan, although I would agree that a hypothetical kiss would have been acceptable with the same treatment as the one that happened in 2016.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Well, that's controversial in a children's anime in Japan, although I would agree that a hypothetical kiss would have been acceptable with the same treatment as the one that happened in 2016.

This show is right next to Boruto, which can get far more disgusting (and bloody) than a simple kiss.

Oh, and I'm sure Naruto and Sasuke kissed (accidentally) by the second episode.

And Boruto is classified as a children's anime.

 

[British Soul]

Not an essay time.
Not gonna lie, I figured going into the episode that Drizzile would evolve especially when it was doing all of that training every night, it had self-improvement on the brain so it could reach the goal of becoming an Inteleon. When Kecleon was about to break in the first time and started uttering words, I was like "It can speak? The heck?!" but then it transpired that this was due to the cyber-hacker's remote device with built in VR capabilities. Though I have to say the hacker's intentions were kinda wonky, he wanted to delete the data of a guy he idolises so he can then make a better institue for himself, but then it turns out that this was a rouse to get his attention and the data wasn't really gone, though I figured that would be the resolution at the end, that the data was only made out to be gone, but the whole debacle proves that the Sakuragi institute needs better cyber security, nothing like an actual crisis to shed light on your shortcomings, hindsight everybody [claps]. One more thing, the fight between Kecleon and Drizzile with the whole tail vs tongue thing, that's got to be someone's kink, and then ending with Kecleon falling for Inteleon, ok. All in all, was Ash even needed in this episode? Not really tbph.

 

[DeltaX28]

This show is right next to Boruto, which can get far more disgusting (and bloody) than a simple kiss.

Oh, and I'm sure Naruto and Sasuke kissed (accidentally) by the second episode.

And Boruto is classified as a children's anime.

The show's good.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

The show's good.

Um, that's not what I was talking about...and that reply doesn't specify which show is good.

 

[Cradily17]

How ironic that a Kecleon was the thief this time. Nice to see a main character finally get Inteleon. Hopefully he continues to get more focus in the future.

 

[RafaSceptile]

This show is right next to Boruto, which can get far more disgusting (and bloody) than a simple kiss.

Oh, and I'm sure Naruto and Sasuke kissed (accidentally) by the second episode.

And Boruto is classified as a children's anime.

Returning just to say that Boruto is classified as a Shounen in MAL...unless Japan provides an official classification that I don't know yet

 

[Risrhayne]

Y’know, as much as Yabashi got off WAY too easily for what he did, it was nice to see a different villain this episode. Maybe Ash didn’t get involved because he didn’t wanna electrocute a child not used to it yet.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Y’know, as much as Yabashi got off WAY too easily for what he did, it was nice to see a different villain this episode. Maybe Ash didn’t get involved because he didn’t wanna electrocute a child not used to it yet.

Pikachu electrocuted Bonnie on more than one occasion.

 

[Morax]

This show is right next to Boruto, which can get far more disgusting (and bloody) than a simple kiss.

Oh, and I'm sure Naruto and Sasuke kissed (accidentally) by the second episode.

And Boruto is classified as a children's anime.

Different shows have different priorities. K-on is technically seinen but there's not a single drop of blood spilt anywhere. Death note has blood, gore&violence but it falls under shounen. Similarly Pokemon targets a younger audience than boruto.

Also pretty sure that kiss( naruto and sasuke ) was a gag and not a romantic one like Naruto and Hinata.

 

[masdog]

So…just finished watching the sub. It was enjoyable, and a nice way to turn off my brain for 20 minutes. I thought that Drizzile got some good character moments before evolving.

Closing thoughts: the IT and security systems at Cerise Labs are terrible.

 

[AznKei]

Yay a Drizzile episode and it's about time because it didn't do much after it evolved from Sobble, but we won't see it anymore because it evolved into Inteleon.

Anyways, like its previous form Sobble, Drizzile is still thinking about Jacqueline's Inteleon-senpai so it can be as strong and badass than the latter.

Fortunately, it trained hard with its water shooting skills, especially during nightime when all the Pokemons at the Cerise Laboratory are sleeping so it won't disturb others.

Of course Drizzile evolved, but not on its own but from Goh's encouragement after they got threatened by the Pokemon & Character of the day duo Kecleon & Yabashi respectively.

Yabashi is sneaky geek who wanted to steal the twerps adventures data inside Cerise Laboratory with his Kecleon thanks to its camouflage ability. At first I thought Yabashi as another evil geek who had a grudge against Prof Cerise like Belmondo had with Clemont in XY, but nope Yabashi actually idolizes Prof Cerise.

And Kecleon is a female confirmed since it blushed when Goh's Inteleon, being a male, showed its badass side. Now, Goh has 2 Galar starters fully evolved but we didn't get to see Inteleon & Cinderace interacting each other yet.

Good episode overall. Goh & Inteleon put up a good fight against Yabashi & Kecleon, who actually are more competent than TRio, without Ash interference.