Whoa...I was really touched by this episode. Really touched.
--Swablu was pronounced weirdly, I think. It should have been SWA-blu instead of swa-BLU. But that's the way I pronounced it, anyway. It irked me at the beginning, but then it kind of grew on me. The pronounciation sounded sort of French, so I learned to like it. =P
--Interesting voice for the ranger. But it wasn't the normal one, so I'm good. XP
--Torchic's wake-up method = HILARIOUS.
--Ash was excellent in this episode. In fact, all the characters were. They all seemed to have a significance in the storyline today: May as the heroine, Ash as the comic relief, Max as the proud little brother, and Brock as the mentor. Very nice chemistry, like I always say with these characters. But today it was just really phenomenal.
--The music choice was really great. When Swablu flew out of the smoke like that, I was thinking to myself, "Play the Advance theme, play the Advance theme..." and they did! Not only that, but the higher octave of the music where Ash is being rejuvinated by the Pokémon in Mewtwo Strikes Back when May says goodbye...that was just perfect. Nice work, 4Kids.
--We got to see Ash without his hat or jacket. WHOO!
And finally, this note goes out to May. She has proven to me that she is in a whole different realm than Misty, and she is a completely different person. She is not a replacement of any kind, but rather a fresh new face who is really great to see. She really proved today that she is an excellent Pokémon trainer. She was really unselfish when she said that Swablu should go with its friends. Had Ash been in that position, he would've done the same, but there's just something about May that made me think about her in a whole new light. She really can't be compared to anyone anymore. She's really her own character. I just have to say that by her caring actions in this episode, she's proven to us that she really does love Pokémon and cares about them deeply, even if they aren't hers. That's a great trait to have. And I say this freely now: because of this episode, I no longer hold anything against May. I still like Misty, but May has taken the place as my favorite female character. Congratulations May: you were awesome today.
I give this episode a huge 10/10. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me think about a character a completely different way. And May saying "I love you" at the end just clinched it for me. The only thing I regret is Ash not having gone up to her and said something about her making the right choice. That would've showed some character development for him, too, but I don't care much. This episode belonged to May, and she owned it. More power to her.