This episode was enjoyable but it did have some things that rubbed me the wrong way. I guess I'll just take it character by character.
Ash
He was pretty well rounded in this episode. He was sweet by bringing Dawn food to cheer her up and the way he introduced Chloe to Cynthia was nice. He showed his experience by mentioning Ultra Wormholes and brainstorming with Chloe about Palkia.
Goh
Goh's priorities were on point, which I like. Dawn was in trouble and he never brought up his obsession with catching Pokémon upon arriving to Sinnoh. He was smart and worked well with Dawn to deduce what was occuring. He battled TR with Inteleon which was nice.
Chloe
Seeing her interact with Ash one on one was refreshing. While Ash's loud nature did make her get the anime sweatdrop once, she did smile and mention how much of a positive thinker he is. I think she found that reassuring. I like how her book reading is helping her deal with all these PokéProblems and reminded me a bit of Lillie and her "I read this in a book once" schtick but more natural.
Dawn
Dawn was Dawn. No real complaints about her character and I like how understanding she was towards BDSP Dawn. I'm not gonna complain that neither Buneary or Quilava evolved, but I am side eyeing the fact that she didn't capture any new members in her travels around Hoenn, Unova, and Johto. I mean it could still be a thing and maybe she only had her original team on her party and the rest of her team could be at Professor Rowan's lab. I'm choosing to remain optimistic against all odds.
Oh yeah, Piplup is still a brat. It deserved to get captured this time.
Cynthia
It's cool that she was at Canalave Library as she does spend time there in the games. It was nice to see her have a Kommo-o as Alolan Pokémon are rare to see outside that region. Hopefully she gets to something in the next part. Also, Pikachu really likes her. He has Cynthia senses. I laughed when she ignored Eevee and just petted Pikachu.
Team Rockets
Both are pretty boring ngl. Yes, Competent form Meowth used Dark Pulse and that's the only positive but it just reminds you of how weak the main series Meowth is. Also... what in the Hellgar was that random portal that appeared on cue in the tree.
Also, speaking of plot conveniences, it's so easy to forget since JN just skips over the transportation scenes in certain episodes. I like to think that Ash and Chloe rode on Dragonite to get to Canalave City FROM all the way in Twinleaf Town because there was not even a mention on how they got there.
Also... BDSP Dawn was in Twinleaf Town and BDSP Ash was in Canalave City. Do these two know each other in this universe?
