Woebegone Drizzile! (1151)

[Ignition]

All of which is rendered poignant the moment it evolves into the form it greatly idolizes that it's got no problem turning into.

While a human is forever stuck with the possibility of dealing with issues like that...a Pokemon whose personality can change when evolving does not and has no reason to deal with it anymore if it can still evolve.

In other words...

Drizzile: I suck and shouldn't live for looking like this.
Goh: Aww, don't be like that!
Drizzile: *evolves*
Inteleon: Oh, hey. I forgot I really like this form. I LEARNED NOTHING! *finger bangs the dome's glass walls*

When a person has an issue that they’re forced to deal with while they’re living, the end goal isn’t to get rid of the issue rather learn how to deal with said issue. Obviously I can’t do a 1:1 analogy for the psychological change and mental health between a human being and a fictional creature but the end goal is the same: letting them understand that there’s options for them to feel better. Yes, evolving into Inteleon is much more manageable than getting rid of sadness/depression but I don’t think Goh should say “Hey you’ll be better whenever you’ll evolve” because the implication is that he only cares for it when it becomes an Inteleon.

The message for this episode in particular is “let people take their issues at their own pace” but the overarching one for Drizzile’s arc will most likely be “Don’t worry about what you aren’t, appreciate what you are while working to be better”. They’ll likely use the self confidence boost as a segway into Inteleon’s more confident nature. See it like this: Drizzile being lazy and sad won’t get it anywhere to evolve. Best way to motivate it is to boost its morale which will give its confidence and motivation back to become Inteleon. It’s good that Go let it start at its own pace instead of rushing it out. Like I said before, if you notice the difference between its cave in the first and second appearance, it doesn’t have traps in there in the latter example. This shows it’s opening up to Go slowly but surely

 

[DuskAstral]

She made the "what in the living heck is a Pokemon Master" face.

I might be wrong, but it is possible that maybe this whole "Master Pokémon" is a self-proclaimed title (and hence the reporter's surprise as she doesn't know what it is). Anime has been with us for 20 years, and during that time we haven't had the chance to know exactly who Master Pokémon is.
On the other hand, however, considering that she had a similar reaction to Gou's dream (the part about catching every Pokémon), she may have decided that those dreams were too mature for 10-year-olds.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

When a person has an issue that they’re forced to deal with while they’re living, the end goal isn’t to get rid of the issue rather learn how to deal with said issue. Obviously I can’t do a 1:1 analogy for the psychological change and mental health between a human being and a fictional creature but the end goal is the same: letting them understand that there’s options for them to feel better. Yes, evolving into Inteleon is much more manageable than getting rid of sadness/depression but I don’t think Goh should say “Hey you’ll be better whenever you’ll evolve” because the implication is that he only cares for it when it becomes an Inteleon.

The message for this episode in particular is “let people take their issues at their own pace” but the overarching one for Drizzile’s arc will most likely be “Don’t worry about what you aren’t, appreciate what you are while working to be better”. They’ll likely use the self confidence boost as a segway into Inteleon’s more confident nature. See it like this: Drizzile being lazy and sad won’t get it anywhere to evolve. Best way to motivate it is to boost its morale which will give its confidence and motivation back to become Inteleon.

That still doesn't excuse the fact the form it'll evolve into is the one it prefers to be rather than the one he's dealing being right now that it surely won't stay as for long, unless it backpedals and decides to stay a Drizzile forever, which then it would make much more sense for it to be after this really dramatic episode.

 

[Ignition]

That still doesn't excuse the fact the form it'll evolve into is the one it prefers to be rather than the one he's dealing being right now that it surely won't stay as for long, unless it backpedals and decides to stay a Drizzile forever, which then it would make much more sense for it to be after this really dramatic episode.

It’s like telling someone who’s upset about a temporary change in their life that “you’ll adapt to it”: to anyone else it’s clear they’ll change for the better (most likely) but to the person who’s feeling down, their emotions blinds them from thinking logically. The lazy nature of the species is only making that harder. Obviously we know it’ll most likely become an Inteleon but I don’t blame it for being stoked to evolve into its idol just for it to to turn into something that’s the complete opposite in terms of personality. It just needs time to adapt that mentality.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

It’s like telling someone who’s upset about a temporary change in their life that “you’ll adapt to it”: to anyone else it’s clear they’ll change for the better (most likely) but to the person who’s feeling down, their emotions blinds them from thinking logically. The lazy nature of the species is only making that harder. Obviously we know it’ll most likely become an Inteleon but I don’t blame it for being stoked to evolve into its idol just for it to to turn into something that’s the complete opposite in terms of personality. It just needs time to adapt that mentality.

Which will still change completely once it evolves, as nature triumphs over nurturing when evolution is involved.

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

Even worse. Goh knew that Drizzile would climb a mountain to see the stars when there were plenty of other spots or things to do in the city.

Yes because he hoped and theorised Drizzle would be like him in this regards as he was relating to him finally and so he went to a place with a good view of stars in hopes of being correct and he was.

Except I'm not purposely ignoring the points of episodes to make "lame" jokes and actually pay attention to what happened. Drizzile's entire issue was being disappointed with becoming a Drizzile, but the plot changes that to feeling like it doesn't belong with the many Pokemon whom he most likely was already friends with, which the plot then changes to having Goh relate to it, except Drizzile's entire dilemma was not becoming an Inteleon but changes that to shutting itself off from the world.

It almost felt like this, actually. A little event that changes to an issue that really wasn't there.

The plot could have been about reaching a stage in puberty and not liking it, but of course this kid-centric anime is not going to go that deep and being 10 isn't that age yet, so it veers off to feeling like an outcast rather than feeling sad body changes.

It does not relate to Goh because Goh back then was a straaange little excitable kid who had an extreme tunnel vision for Pokemon/Mew and honestly didn't see the point of being friends with others other than maybe Chloe. (It's rather impossible he never found someone with a passion like his when everyone is surely just like him, or the fact no one was stubborn enough to get into his comfort zone he tried to barricade. Kid would have gone to heaven had he made friends with Oak, whose joy for Pokemon is just as much as others'.)

The plot never changes to it feeling like it doesn't belong with the other Pokémon? Again, did you watch the episode? Drizzile is going through depression after learning what it evolved into and in a phase where it wants to be more secluded from everyone and acts indifferent to others now. It's how depression and a new phase relating to that is in real life. Also again, with the Goh being an excitable kid who was after mew thing, have you watched the episode? This was clearly before Goh and Chloe were friends aka before Goh ever met mew and had a goal/dream. It literally went deep with actually dealing with depression and instead of having toxic positivity be the solution like many kids media it emphasizes it's okay to not be okay, to give people space and be willing to be there for them when they need it, but to also not push them and there's nothing wrong with someone if sometimes they wanna seclude themselves and asking someone who's depressed what's wrong can be annoying. That's literally going deep into real life stuff and addressing puberty too because such phases are common during puberty. Considering you're a self proclaimed only looking at serebii pictures of an episode guy, I'm not surprised you missed the point of this episode coz I'm damn sure u haven't listened to most if any of the dialogue of this episode.

 

[DuskAstral]

If I am not mistaken, this is the first time a pokémon has evolved without its owner being around. Though I was more surprised that despite the distance, Rotom Phone registered this evolution (such a feature has never been shown before). In fact, I expected some livelier response to the news about Drizille, and only got a small surprise.
I would like to add that I was pleased when Satoshi and Koharu decided to help him, despite Gou's request, this is real friendship.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

If I am not mistaken, this is the first time a pokémon has evolved without its owner being around. Though I was more surprised that despite the distance, Rotom Phone registered this evolution (such a feature has never been shown before). In fact, I expected some livelier response to the news about Drizille, and only got a small surprise.

To be fair, I always thought the dex and the balls were connected that data transferred despite the distance.

Plus, the distance between both of them shouldn't be that far. Most likely, the distance was like being in a stadium.

 

[Dragonsoldier77]

After watching the ep i will say that i can appreciate the core idea of the episode, of goh adjusting to the new personality of his pokemon by using his personal experience to empathize with it. The execution of it all still bugs me though, since it does feel pretty forced.

Honestly the whole sobble didn’t know about it’s middle stage, even though it was show it’s whole line before, is still really dumb and contrived. This whole drama would’ve been solved just by goh saying ‘Congrats on the evolution! Now you’re just one step away from becoming inteleon! Your hard work is paying of!’, but instead spiraled out because cinderace apparently has no recollection that itself also had a phase where it wanted to do things it’s way and goh not getting the problem though he was close. The whole ‘i know where they are!’ cliche kinda felt forced, i get that it’s supposed to be to show that they’re alike, but would’ve been better if it was someplace that had more meaning to both of them. Finally, i like the conversation goh has with drizzile about not wanting to tell people what’s wrong, but the tears were too much. Felt too forced, like the writers trying to make it pull the heartstrings too much. Would’ve preferred goh just resolutely saying he’ll wait as long as it’ll take.

I feel like the whole inteleon thing should’ve been after this drizzile evo. Just have drizzile not liking it’s evo without knowing that it has another stage, which would make goh not knowing why it’s depressed more natural. Then have inteleon being the trigger to make drizzile break out of his shell and work hard to evolve again.

 

[BobbbidyBob]

Something that doesn’t sit well with me now is how Ash is gonna be “wiggle wiggle butt tee-hee” in the next episodes meanwhile I’m gonna be thinking of Drizzile crying in his cave.

 

[Ignition]

Which will still change completely once it evolves, as nature triumphs over nurturing when evolution is involved.

Don’t really think it’s a change but moreso a (convenient) continuation

 

[Mega Ampharos the Dragon]

I might be wrong, but it is possible that maybe this whole "Master Pokémon" is a self-proclaimed title (and hence the reporter's surprise as she doesn't know what it is). Anime has been with us for 20 years, and during that time we haven't had the chance to know exactly who Master Pokémon is.
On the other hand, however, considering that she had a similar reaction to Gou's dream (the part about catching every Pokémon), she may have decided that those dreams were too mature for 10-year-olds.

and this is why the anime should age Ash (and make Goh older in the process)

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Don’t really think it’s a change but moreso a (convenient) continuation

Froakie stopped being buddies with Fletching when it became a Greninja with no personality. Was that an unfortunate continuation then.

 

[Ignition]

Froakie stopped being buddies with Fletching when it became a Greninja with no personality. Was that an unfortunate continuation then.

...that’s not even comparable. This isn’t changing either of our minds so I’m just dropping this lol

 

[Evstike]

The message I got out of this episode is that it's ok to be lazy because you can get everything handed to you on a silver platter. Sobble evolved because it shot a berry. Sobble evolved after getting no (on-screen) training or effort from Goh since the Inteleon episode. Instead of finding a way to get Drizzile to accept its new form, he just lets it hibernate in a cave. Somehow that's supposed to make it evolve. If someone is feeling down, you would talk to them and try to help them feel better, not let them get worse by ignoring them. How much do you want to bet Drizzile is going to evolve with no effort while its sleeping?

Actually, that message applies to the entire series. Ash gets fully evolved Pokemon and doesn't have to train or spend time with them. Ash had to handicap himself to get a loss. Goh throws balls at everything and is almost always successful. Remember when Scorbunny ran away after a disagreement with Goh and evolved? Turns out there actually was no problem and everything was solved by waiting and doing nothing. It took him Raboot running away to even notice there was anything wrong. Instead of Goh getting Raboot to slowly revert to its old personality, it just randomly changed when it evolved, as pointed out in this episode. Everything in this series happens "just because" and doesn't require any effort or thought.

At this point, I'm genuinely worried that Drizzile won't even appear (aside from maybe a few small cameos) until its next focus episode which may or may not be its evolution. I already thought that the way the Pokemon are handled in this series is insulting, but as a Drizzile fan, this hurts.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

If there is something I don't like much about this series is how the drama has been handled so far, or how the characters "develop" by doing almost nothing to earn said development.

 

[Morax]

I might be wrong, but it is possible that maybe this whole "Master Pokémon" is a self-proclaimed title (and hence the reporter's surprise as she doesn't know what it is). Anime has been with us for 20 years, and during that time we haven't had the chance to know exactly who Master Pokémon is.
On the other hand, however, considering that she had a similar reaction to Gou's dream (the part about catching every Pokémon), she may have decided that those dreams were too mature for 10-year-olds.

So ash is delusional? If only the anime treated him as such instead of making him look like a child prodigy.

 

[WaterShuriken]

I think you meant sweetie instead of sweaty? LOOOL

I meant what I said. Carrying an animal like that for that amount of time makes one sweaty person.

 

[Blue Saturday]

I might be wrong, but it is possible that maybe this whole "Master Pokémon" is a self-proclaimed title (and hence the reporter's surprise as she doesn't know what it is). Anime has been with us for 20 years, and during that time we haven't had the chance to know exactly who Master Pokémon is.
On the other hand, however, considering that she had a similar reaction to Gou's dream (the part about catching every Pokémon), she may have decided that those dreams were too mature for 10-year-olds.

I made this same take a few times over the years. We've never seen a "Pokémon Master" in canon so as far as we know it's just something Satoshi made up (in anime canon) The only other character to mention wanting to be a Pokémon Master is Shigeru all the way back at the beginning of OS. Mewtwo calls himself a Pokémon Master in the movies as the ultimate Pokémon and being completely insane in power but I'm not sure how that's meant to be taken given his antagonistic role.

Then again you have certain characters who in canon mock or make funny of Satoshi for this goal or taunt him so maybe it is a thing? But then again Koharu and Gou ask for the true definition and he just leaves it ambiguous...dunno. "Pokémon Master" is Satoshi's raison d'etre and what drives the character to continue his journey for an infinite amount of time so it's more a narrative device to keep him in the show as an infinite face for marketability and give him a description.

Don't quote me on this but I think "I Choose You" fluff material and interviews may have said a Pokémon Master (within the canon of "I Choose You!" I assume) was a trainer that essentially meets and becomes friends with all Pokémon. Plus you have the games calling you a Pokémon Master after defeating Wataru. Important to remember that Pokémon Master was probably some stock phrase for defeating the Champion and winning the league or something but was effectively canned after the initial RBGY games.

 

[Dynamic_Fusion]

Well, Goodbye Drizzle

You’ll be rotting in off screen land until the writers wake up and decide to evolve you into Inteleon. Horrible Series. They have ruined my entire childhood.