Watched Episode 2 / Part 2 — Pretty good.
The episode opens with Roy as the narrator, and hearing Yuka Terasaki in that older!Roy portrayal was a real treat — she’s really got some chops. Roy feels more grounded and less rambunctious, building upon that sharper attention to detail we started seeing in the
Terastal Debut arc. I loved that callback when he copied Friede’s lines while spotting Liko from his Flying-type — it was a slick homage. Anne noticing his change, and his evolving role as an adventurer-investigator in the world. I think there was an intentional juxtaposition too — Pagogo confined in its ball after the fallout, Liko regressing a bit emotionally, while Lucario makes a shiny, dramatic debut against Anne. It’s a clear symbolic shift. The battle scene — with Liko watching Roy's “new partner” — even drove that home visually.
That said, I would've preferred a different story beat rather than a repeat of Liko's early-series characterization. I really felt there should’ve been more visible drama and consequences around her hiding her RVT membership. When she’s outed, there’s no real blowback. It reflects how modern Pokémon tends to be "nicer" — less willing to show truly abrasive or harsh reactions from characters toward our heroes. Honestly, it would’ve been powerful if Liko had chosen to leave on her own terms, not because she was socially pressured or subtly ostracized but that ostracization happening but her still carrying on unwaveringly. Let there be stakes, let the internal battle be mirrored with an external one. Instead, it all wrapped up with a moral victory minus the actual confrontation. A bit anticlimactic.
As for the animation — definitely felt like a cost-cutting episode. Lots of pans, slow motion, and still shots, which I get given the industry's talent shortages and the whole studio poaching mess. It fits the slower, internal-dialogue-heavy tone, especially with Liko in despair, but yeah, the battle dragged a bit. The pacing took me out of it. Also, Masquernya’s proportions felt off — they couldn’t quite decide how to frame its legs in motion. That said, the magician aesthetic and theatrics were fun. Flower Trick's sound effect though? It’s giving balloon pop, not lethal move. Campy in a weird/charming way. I liked the way Charm Voice swallowed the bulbs — very clever counter. Achigator’s “song” being stronger was a highlight too. It’s great to see he’s still Roy’s singing partner at heart, evolving his own way even with Lucario now in the spotlight.
The ending definitely suggests Spinel brainwashed or tamed the wild Six Heroes — and now plans to use them for his own world domination scheme? Honestly wild to think that he was once just a low-level Exceed researcher, and now he’s running both the Explorers and Exceed, using their resources like a corporate-crime syndicate hybrid. Creating a global threat like Rakurium just to be the one who offers the solution? It’s some textbook villain manipulation — destroy your enemies’ reputation while building your own leverage and power. I was starting to get worried with how often the Explorers were taking Ls, but this brought Spinel back. Even with setbacks, he’s clearly still ten steps ahead, playing the long game. Curious what’s up with the remaining Explorers now — feels like Amethio and his crew are gone, but I wonder if he’s still in play. Maybe he's got Zygarde and is plotting a rogue comeback to take Spinel down?
what does Lucario have to do at all with what the person you quoted was saying?
Trying to spin the narrative in a way to bash something you don't like while trying to make Liko look good, never thought i'd see such strong bias and hatred lead to that.
I get being justifiably tired of Lucario as a shillmon, but in this case, it didn’t even appear enough to warrant alladat.
