Review of the Series: Pokémon Sun and Moon Part 1: Alola!

Alola! And welcome to my newest review series. That's right, I'm reviewing the current series of the Pokémon anime, Sun and Moon! Now, I know a lot of people had wanted me to review Diamond and Pearl, but that's a massive investment of time, so instead, I can sink my teeth into this series and offer my, as usual, in-depth analysis of the series.

Now, of course, most people know my current opinion of the anime (hint: it skews negative), and while I'm not promising to be objective, what I am promising to do is take a fair look at the Sun and Moon series (further referred to as SM), see what it did well, and what just doesn't fly in the long run. This will include comparisons to past series, my own viewpoint and that good dash of dissecting and analysis that people seemed to like in my XY review.

That said, this will still be different as, of course, the series is not finished, so I can't take a full look at what's to come in the series. Further, I will really be taking each part as the official Pocket Monsters Fansubs comes out, given they have the most accurate subs. However, I will endeavor to work with the knowledge I have at the time of each writing.

Without further ado, let's begin!

The New Style

The new style, for good or ill.
Take note that this is what his model should
look like at most times, but doesn't.

Before we talk about the actual series proper, we, of course, need to address the elephant in the room: the new art style. Yes. Art. Style. Not animation. This is a key difference. The animation, for it's part, is beautifully fluid in this series. The transition between each moment is largely smooth and it just has this flow to it. Only problem is that it's used for all the wrong things, but we'll talk more on that later. As it stands, the animation itself is actually great.

It's the art style that is a make or break. It's the first thing you see, so, naturally, if it turns you the wrong way, you're more liable to say "screw it" and not even touch the series. In this case, SM...yeah, it doesn't have a flattering art style. I actually don't have all that much of a problem with it. The classmates all look fine and the new Pokémon are good, too. Put them in another series with maybe slightly sharper edges to them and they wouldn't look out of place at all!

Ash and Pikachu in XY: notice how sharp and angular their features are.

Ash and Pikachu in SM: notice how soft and round their features are.
Oh, and the Z-marks...they look more like squiggles now.

Then you have Ash and Pikachu. Now, don't get me wrong, the rounder style isn't a bad thing. I actually don't care about that, even if it makes Ash look dorkier than he ever has. Heck, Ash has undergone two design changes in the past, but there, it still retained the sharp and angular features that defined him. But I digress a little; point is that Ash's round design, on its own, isn't bad. Just the Z-marks on his face. Why? Because they're no longer straight zigzags but these lines that change to whatever they need to be: zigzag, squiggly and everything in between. It's offputting, and the one thing about his design that is such a departure from the past, it's disconcerting (well, other than his lack of gloves).

Pikachu has especially changed; just look at the placement of his pupils.

As for Pikachu, at first glance, he looks normal...well, until you realize the whites of his eyes were moved. That's just as unsettling as the Z-marks. It makes something slightly off about him, and in my eyes, a little more hollow than his previous incarnations. Like he's just a Pokémon going through the motions (huh, maybe it's allegorical).

That said, the art style change that's permanent is nothing I take into account for this review that mostly discusses plot and that which revolves around it. It's simply an art style; one I don't prefer necessarily, but not one that has me actively hating the show like some people.

Alola to Alola and the Pokémon School!

The story literally starts in Alola, Ash already there,
rather than just arriving to the location. Tells you the difference.

As the SM anime begins, we find ourselves kicking off immediately with Ash and Pikachu in the lush and wild region of Alola, riding atop a Sharpedo and showing off that Ride Pokémon mechanic. It's a different, fresh start, putting us into the story with a huge dash of in media res. Usually, a series will open with Ash arriving in the region. This should be the very first clue that this story is to be very different from the past, however. Subtle, but definitely effective.

Meeting Lana, and a butt monkey moment (one of many) for Ash.

Just as effective in setting the tone is what occurs right after Ash surfaces. For one thing, he meets Lana in a rather character establishing moment, seeing her fish with Popplio by her side...and causing Ash to wave his arms wildly and fall off Sharpedo. Now, it's not super clear in this first moment, but welcome to Ash's first butt monkey moment of the series. Of course, Ash is no stranger to being a butt monkey; OS and BW loved giving him these. However, this is rather early, and could almost count as an establishing character moment for this particular series. But it's not that bad, and understandable, and the story soon moves on from it...

Enter Litten, a clearly important character right now.

Establishing the egg and a reason to visit the school.

...to the beach! And here is where we're introduced to a character who will serve a later importance: Litten. Wandering the beach, no trainer, quick to attack and run. I'll be the first to say it: SM sets up its load of characters very well in the first two episodes. But with Litten only serving a short role in the first episode, we move back to Delia and Mr. Mime, finally getting some backstory on how Ash got here. Vacation time! Well, that and a task from Professor Oak to deliver an egg to the Pokémon School. A little humorous, and gets the plot moving until Ash happens to wander away from his mother, chasing after a Grubbin into the forest. That really is Ash, keen on adventure and new Pokémon.

One thing leads to another to another to the school like
a bizarre chain of coincidences.

And here's where the story takes a slight dip into the contrived coincidence category. As Ash wanders the forest, he gets the attention of Tapu Koko (even if it isn't known at the time) who proceeds to awaken a Bewear that chases Ash to the Pokémon School in a murderous fury (admittedly, very funny moment). Now, I'll take a moment here. Tapu Koko is known to be fickle and playful, so the only thing I can think of at this moment is that he literally just wanted to troll Ash. Why Ash? Probably no reason, but if he happened to choose Ash because of that moment...well, one can really only ask why, as Ash did nothing but run. However, I think it's largely because of what happens later.

Introducing the main cast, and Lillie's fear of Pokémon.

Ash is enamored by the school for some reason.
Explains why he decides to go there, but not the reason for it.

The episode also establishes bits of Mallow and Professor Kukui.

Team Skull ready to rumble, and in Episode 1, no less.

What's most important now is Ash's arrival at the Pokémon school, run over by Tauros and then being taken by new character Mallow to explore the school, the girl having and stating a tendency to jump to the wrong conclusions. It enamors Ash, but that's all we can say for the moment. We shortly meet Samson Oak, a dude full of annoying Pokémon Puns (even in-universe), who takes the egg from Professor Oak. More on that later. What follows is a tour of the school, introducing Professor Kukui, the class' teacher, and then an encounter with the dastardly Team Skull! Yes, right from the beginning, what seems to be the regional villain team is involved. It's a direct contrast to all the other evil teams keeping to the shadow for episodes on end before revealing themselves.

Kiawe's blistering Z-Move introduces Ash to the new world of them.

In the midst of this, we get introduced to Kiawe: a stoic, hard-working battler. That's how he comes off, but he's not a jerk, given he's impressed by Ash. That's right; like XY, Ash is not reset. He makes short work of Team Skull, Kiawe finishes the rest off with a Z-Move and draws the attention of our protagonist, who's interested, but says nothing more before Tapu Koko flies off to the great blue yonder, setting another mystery in motion...

Ash receives the Z-Ring from Tapu Koko.

...which is resolved a scene later. As Ash thinks about the events at dinner, Tapu Koko shows up, Ash follows suit and ends up receiving a Z-Ring, complete with Electrium-Z from the guardian deity. And with this, Ash decides to go to the school and stay in Alola with the permission of his mother, ending the episode.

We're told that Ash decided to stay and go to the school,
but we're ultimately given no reason for why that is,
or how it helps him to become a Pokémon Master.

Wait...wait, wait, what? Okay, staying in Alola, I get. But the school is my question. How does the school help him? What does it have to do with Tapu Koko giving him a Z-Ring? The show doesn't address these questions; at most it implies them. In fact, they don't even state why Ash is here in Alola in that first episode after his mother departs. Compare this to BW, where he goes on vacation, but finds out there's a League and immediately wants to stay. Here, I'm unclear as to Ash's reason...what's that? It's in the next episode? Okay, I'll wait then.

SM is fantastic at setting up and establishing all of its characters
within a single scene. Impressive, considering the size.

So, second episode begins with some more character establishment. I stated above and I'll say it again: SM is damn fine at establishing its characters. Kiawe is stoic and hard-working; Lillie is a bookworm who's afraid of touching Pokémon; Mallow is the nice girl and good cook; Sophocles is the guy in the background with hobbies of his own; and Lana is the cloud cuckoolander who likes water. The first few minutes of the second episode show us this, and then continue to elaborate on it.

Kiawe's explanation on the sacredness of Z-Moves.
Almost ironic, given their later treatment...

How does it elaborate on it? Well, for one, when Ash flippantly reveals that he got a Z-Ring from Tapu Koko, Kiawe yells at him that he shouldn't treat Z-Moves lightly, and that one needs resolve to use them (uh...yeah, again, more on that later). This shows more of Kiawe's character: he's very in tune and spiritual with the islands. It's a pretty cool facet that, as more of his character is revealed, make a lot of sense. Likewise, Lillie shows off her character in being unable to touch Bounsweet, but after a lesson on the differences between regular and Alolan Exeggutor, she rattles them off with aplomb. Expert way of establishing these characters.

Rockruff already likes Ash a lot. Obviously a hint for eventual capture.

My only gripe remains that Tapu Koko has taken a liking to Ash for no reason, but it's handwaved as Tapu Koko being fickle. I can buy that, so it's a quibble at best. After class, Ash is back at Kukui's house, bonding with Rockruff, who's already said to be close to him (yeah, major clue here). The setup game in these episodes is strong.

The classmates hold a surprise party for Ash!

Soon after a "mysterious" (not really, they reveal the answer right away) call to Kukui, we shift to the school again where a welcome party is held for Ash! Now, the main purpose of this party is really to show off some of the new Pokémon in Togedemaru (Lightning Rod) and Popplio (swimming!), but what it really shows is what the show is deciding to focus on: slice of life. Every time a battle is suggested, it's interrupted. One might think nothing of it, but this is a clear message to the viewers: battles will have little to no importance here.

Ash and Pikachu pull out a rather powerful Z-Move of their own, but...

This is further shown when Tapu Koko, troll that it is, decides to show up and steal Ash's hat, leading to a chase through the forest into a battle with the guardian deity. I use the word "battle" loosely. Very loosely. It's literally just an exchange of Thunderbolt and one other attack before Tapu Koko plays teacher and Ash uses Gigavolt Havoc, which it tanks but shows Pikachu as ridiculously strong. I can't really call it a battle, and, in fact, this is what most battles (thus far) through the series have become: a small exchange and then a Z-Move or nothing. Regardless, this singular event, combined with the Electrium-Z shattering, sets the story in motion.

...the Z-Crystal shatters, making Kiawe believe Ash isn't ready yet.

Simply put, Kiawe says he's not worthy of having a Z-Ring yet, and will need to earn it through the Island Challenge. Naturally, Ash decides to take it on, just as Ash would. His goal is now delivered: he wants to become able to use Z-Moves. With everyone agreeing to help, the episode ends...well, after Kukui hands Ash a Pokédex...

Ash has a short term goal of being able to use Z-Moves again,
though how the school plays into this, we're still not told...

So, like I did for XY, it's best to talk about these two episodes as the establishing episodes for SM. Are they good? Yes. They do an excellent job of setting up the characters and their personalities. However, on viewing it, with the hindsight of 50 episodes ahead...there are some cracks present in the foundation. Why is Tapu Koko interested in Ash? Okay, not a crack, since even with Froakie we didn't know for 90 episodes, and it's more a mystery than an issue. Ash wants to be able to use Z-Moves and take on the Island Challenge; nothing wrong with that. Except...why are we at the school? What's the purpose of it? What does going here do that Ash wouldn't gain from a regular journey? We're never told, even here. Just that Ash wants to do it. Given he still states his goal is to be a Pokémon Master, something we've never been told what it is (only a step of how to reach), how does this help him? In every past series, the goal has been clear, and I have no personal problem with Ash at the school...but the show should at least tell us why he chose the school other than just running off half-cocked like always. It's such a massive change that one should expect it to actually be justified.

The show makes a stride of a short-term entertainment, with a slight setup for the future in these 2 episodes, but the entire crux of the show, what it revolves around, leaves me wondering why. Hopefully as we go along, more answers will arrive, but for the moment, it comes off as an excuse plot.

That said, with establishment out of the way, we can move on.

The First Catch

Rotom is a fantastic addition because he can actually make
Ash not look dumb in an area he's always been criticized for.

Following off of those first two episodes, the next episode opens up almost immediately with Kukui programming the Pokédex, and revealing that a Rotom will inhabit it. After some shenanigans in which Rotom picks up on speech patterns and all, they're whisked off on their first class assignment: catching Ash a Pokémon. Before we discuss that, what I'd like to note is that concept of Rotom is good one. What it allows the story to do is, essentially, offer a chance for the Pokédex explanations for old Pokémon to happen, but in a more organic fashion. No more is there the accusation of Ash being dumb for looking up a Pokémon he already knows, because Rotom will do it autonomously! It's really a pretty good boon, overall, and something that I can welcome to the story.

TRio arrives on the scene, a strong pillar in the early part of the series.

Rotom isn't the only new cast member, though, as we soon see four very familiar faces in the form of Team Rocket, on mission in Alola to capture rare Pokémon. In and of itself, this is all right, though a little BW-ish, as the connection between TRio and Ash is heavily reduced, at least for their reason of being in Alola. As it stands, though, TRio (for quite some time) stands as a strong pillar of the series.

Edgelord Mimikyu on the attack; a fresh take on a TRio Pokémon.

Unfortunately, the episode from this second half starts to devolve into a rather boring fare, admittedly. TRio meets Mimikyu, causing Meowth to have a nightmare that nearly kills him (and is disturbing...nothing kids should see, which really invalidates that one excuse...), but all this is kicked into gear by Ash and company arriving and Ash wanting to catch Mimikyu. What follows is Mimikyu on a murderous rampage. Really cool setup here. To have a Pokémon outright hate Pikachu and try to kill him is a setup never before seen and one I can really get into overall, especially with the implication that it'll belong to TRio.

The new TRio motto is, frankly, boring and unflattering to them.

Though, when it comes to TRio, their new motto is...well, frankly boring. It's not snappy like the previous ones have been, even if it starts the same, and it's particularly unflattering to Jessie and James. Props for Meowth having more of a role in it, but it's 30 seconds of screentime that I can't even giddily sit and listen to, even if it's set to Rocket-dan Danka. Not a big thing or a flaw, really, but something that coming off the fun animation and snappy lines of XY is really jarring, and not to my personal taste.

And here's Bewear: mysterious, humorous...but an occasional
diabolous ex machina.

I digress, however, so back to the main point follows what would usually be a typical twerp vs. TRio battle but for Pikachu taking an actual beating. Oh, and a random Bewear showing up to take hold of TRio and take them away. Why? No clue. How? Again, no clue. Right now it just seems like a humorous way of subverting the whole blasting them off issue, and it works. One can only hope they'll actually explain it later, though...

Litten appears again (clearly important) and Rowlet
is introduced uniquely as an obvious capture.

Shooing out the classmates. I mean, sure, they're pointless here,
but then why have them in the first place...?

With this done, the story moves into the fourth episode...where Rotom has decided to break the fourth wall and instruct the viewers about things they should already know. A bit insulting, but you roll with it. Before we get deeper into this, we also have a scene wherein Litten shows up again (yeah, clearly not important) and a Rowlet shows up with a flock of Pikipek (you're not subtle here, anime). But enough of them, as the story goes to...Pikachu getting his butt kicked by a Grubbin. Okay, Lillie got in the way with her fear, but apparently Pikachu's injured enough to need to go to the Pokémon Center (which, one can admit, offers some nice worldbuilding, even if it's done every series). The only problem here is, well, the classmates. They just...disappear. They don't even help Ash catch a Pokémon. They were just around to have TRio introduced and then left. Except for Mallow.

Jessie takes a step back from the development she'd gotten in past
series in order to show her bitchy side again.

TRio and honest villainy. Definitely them, and something
that comes into play, if minor, later.

Back with TRio, though, trapped in Bewear's lair, we have them contemplating how to get out, naturally wanting to catch Mimikyu. And here is a scene that I take issue with. For one thing, Jessie shows heavy regression. Barring XY, Jessie had slowly become a woman who was intensely vain but had picked up a streak of kindness towards her companions. Yet here, she just rips away James' Luxury Ball and takes it for herself. It's a really bitchy move, and unlike Jessie as she'd grown. Though she at least exhibits some positive traits in acting for "honest villainy" (which gets a callback later, actually, though is merely preventing at least a contradiction in TRio's actions). Also, since when did James have a pokeball collection? In any case, Jessie catches Mimikyu.

Rowlet's quirky, and a great capture for Ash.

Meanwhile, at the Center, Ash meets Rowlet (who starts its running gag with Bounsweet). Rowlet, naturally, as we've seen is this rather ditzy Pokémon who loves to eat. Phenomenal establishment of Rowlet and his character here, especially as we find out that he's essentially like the ugly duckling: a Pokémon born amidst a group of Pikipek. Yet, he's also strong with his kicks. The only unfortunate thing, at the writing of this review, is that Rowlet never really grew from that, so the setup feels...unnecessary, or wasted. Like Mallow. The girl literally stands there the whole episode and contributes nothing. Rotom contributes more! This is an unfortunate warning sign: first the classmates had no point and departed, and even though Mallow stuck around, she did nothing? Not even fighting TRio. This may be a problem of wasted potential here....

Jessie and Mimikyu don't act like partners, which comes up later.

Less wasted is Jessie not actually commanding Mimikyu and it attacking Pikachu on its own. This is a running theme, and something that seems to actually have a point, so many points there. In the end, though, Ash walks away with the greater prize in having Rowlet as a new team member. Absolutely perfect fit, in my opinion.

A Different Time in the Spotlight

Lana is the best character in SM: a character with a clear, simple vision
who consistently works for that goal throughout.

With what is, essentially, the setup of Alola and its culture all done, the focus shifts away from Ash getting used to a new region and zeroes in on the other characters of the series for a time. Up first in SM 5 is Lana, and her episode is glorious. What seems a filler (and by all rights, could be construed as one) is actually one of the most brilliant episodes for establishing a character in this entire saga.

Quite honestly, as of this writing (with 56 episodes of SM aired), Lana is my favorite character of the saga, and the best written as a result. It's ironic, considering I thought she'd be one of my least favorite, yet no. Perhaps it's the singular vision with which she's written, or the simplicity of her dream, but Lana gets an amazing development here, and continues to work for it.

Realizing it's a tongue-in-cheek moment, that even TRio notices
how out of character it is for Ash to go to school should
be a definite warning bell.

Before we touch on her as a character, let's deal with the other ancillary parts of this episode. For example, the fact that Ash loses track of Rowlet. Part of me wants to slap Ash for losing a Pokémon, but the other part sits back and observes that, perhaps, it's hinting at more free agency for Pokémon in this saga. Whether I agree with it or not is irrelevant, but it seems it could have been. Likewise, we have TRio who, outside of their usual role at the end of the episode, comment on how out of character it is for Ash to attend school. The writers really went tongue in cheek here, though it does serve to bring up that gnawing question again: why is Ash attending school? Still no answer.

Lillie's lure: hint? Or something so fast it may as well be nebulous?

As a final ancillary point, is Lillie's lure. Every character has a lure that is special to them, in the terms of reflecting a Pokémon they are close to, such as Ash and Pikachu. Lillie, of course, has a Clefairy. In hindsight, this was hinting at something. However, it's a blink and you'll miss it moment with little to no explanation, leaving a viewer feeling that it's a nice little touch to what happens later, rather than a critical moment. In other words, it's a symptom of what SM does best: little Easter eggs in the plot that are cool on a second watch through, but don't actively contribute to the plot in a meaningful manner.

Lana's simple goal, and the one she actively works towards.

The Lana and Popplio flashback perfectly encapsulates her character
all while giving backstory.

So, with those details done, let's talk Lana. In this episode there is a lot revealed about her. For one thing, we find out how she and Popplio met, giving a sympathetic backstory to Popplio, showing Lana as a girl of action, and giving a sense of malice to Team Skull that we hadn't gotten before since we'd only seen them as a joke. Tying into this becomes Lana's goal in the story: create a huge bubble to go under the sea and interact with Pokémon. Some people laugh at this, or think it's silly; I think it's merely simple. And simple is far from bad. In fact, given events that happen later, she has the best path to follow. Why? Well, just think about what Oceanic Operetta is. Now, it's still early days as of this writing, but should Lana and Popplio complete the evolution chain, Lana's dream will be remarkably close to being realized, all while she works for it, as we see by her training every single day to make a bigger and bigger bubble.

We even learn a bit more about her character: loving to tease
and hating comments about being short.

Beyond just backstory and motivations, though, we learn a bit more about Lana. She's easily flustered by her sisters' teasing. She likes to tease in turn. She's great at fishing. And she hates being called small. The episode establishes Lana to such a degree that we know her, and when she snaps at TRio, it's humorously in character. Not to mention she achieves something, yet has a lot farther to go, giving her a place to work to. So, does this plot come off as fillery? Sure. Is it? Not by a long shot.

Rotom's idiocy kicks off this plot in a way that makes Ash out to
be a complete idiot, instead of a more natural way.

The next episode, however...is perhaps one of the worst right away, and for a couple reasons. It doesn't seem that way at first, admittedly, with Ash's humor branching off from last episode's Reality Ensues moment (bad at laundry, jumping from the loft and smacking into the fish tank). However, the actual "plot" of the episode, is a result of treating Ash as the butt monkey, and it only gets worse. The fact that Ash tells Rotom he sucks at cooking, but Rotom makes him do it anyway comes off as a forced reason to shove Ash over to the mall for the plot...when it could have had Ash and Kukui there in the first place before Kukui had to leave for his meeting with researchers (hmm...have to wonder if Burnet was there...would make that development sooo much better).

Sophocles hates the dark! And that's the only thing we learn
that we didn't already know...

Really, the whole thing is an excuse to meet up with Sophocles, where the only thing we learn is that...he likes to program and is afraid of the dark. Not even a purpose, unless one counts enhancing the Togedemaru Program, but that's barely talked about, much less elaborated on. Oh, and Ash's butt monkey tendency flares up. Running into a wall once is funny, twice offers a chuckle...but three times in 30 seconds is excessive. Rowlet pretty much encapsulated my feelings of the episode when he sighed.

In case the episode didn't drive in that it was an idiot and excuse plot...

In the end, the episode does one thing for the audience: it tells them to say goodbye to battles and hello to slice of life. That Ash was going to train for battles, but didn't. That Ash did laundry and "cooking" instead. Or that they spent their whole episode running around a mall with only a slight skirmish with TRio serving any excitement (before Diabolous ex Bewear showed up...again...). All of this was a sign that battles mean nothing to this series, and that's an issue for me, as it's always been at the core of Pokémon once it had discovered its identity around the Orange Islands and Johto (at worst, Hoenn). As a result, it's a disappointing episode, because you walk away feeling like, well...nothing happened. You didn't gain anything from the episode in the end, or at least nothing that couldn't have been gotten earlier or with development, and that's a bad thing.

Thankfully, the next episode is much better.

Persian as an antagonist forms the conflict for this episode
that fully establishes Litten.

In this particular episode we get a focus on that Litten that we've seen around. I'll be the first to say that Litten has a fantastic build up to capture. I really can't say there's been a single capture that's had such heavy buildup to it, and this is the start of it. Admittedly, for the most part, not much actually happens in the episode, to the point it can be summed up succinctly in a few lines, but it sets the stage adequately. For one, it starts off with Litten showing as someone who's cute and knows it, but is also favorably weak, being stomped all over by a cruel and pampered Persian. While Persian itself is nebulous, serving more of a TRio role than anything, it's a great example of "show, don't tell". We're not told why Persian is so nasty that it's constantly after Litten the whole episode, but we see it acts like an angel with a clearly negligent trainer, so it's allowed to do what it wants to get what it wants. Granting TRio does appear, likely as a small seed for the Meowth/Litten interactions to come, but they serve no role.

Litten's relationship with Stoutland, and fear of losing its mentor
gives a very strong setup for what is to come.

The episode also has Ash at his best, refusing to allow a Pokémon
to be hurt further, suffering pain to make sure it is so.

In any case, Persian doesn't form the crux of this episode. That goes to Ash, Litten and Stoutland. I'd also like to briefly note that, somehow, Ash is rather on-model this episode compared to most. But I digress, this episode really shows Ash at his best outside of his earlier, angry moments where he vows revenge, as he picks Litten up, deals with the pain and takes it to the Pokémon Center. Likewise, we have a phenomenal setup of seeing Litten take food to its clearly old mentor, a Stoutland that teaches him many things. Seeing the glimpse and fear in Litten that Stoutland will disappear communicates one thing to the audience: Stoutland is going to die in the future. It's a rather mature, and ultimately, well-executed plotline.

And while the "battle" at the end is one-move on the Persian like usual, it still sets the gears in motion for the capture of this fire kitty. Only quibble I have was Litten's attempt to master Ember, but considering how powerful it became at the end, I can't fault it.

The egg reason is revealed...though the egg that brought Ash there is pointless.

The next episode continues with a string of strong episodes, as we finally get some clue as to the purpose of the egg that Delia brought to school in SM 1: it's part of a project! Of course, that egg, itself, is virtually useless because the class chooses to take care of the other one. It's a small issue, and while the identity of said egg is revealed later, it still comes off as a pointless piece of plot, largely. But enough about the red egg. Because here we are with the blue (?) egg, and the class deciding that Lillie should take care of it to help her with her problems. Good suggestion, and with that, Ash and Lillie head to Lillie's mansion.

This conversation explains much about Lillie, but it's also so vague
that one has to wonder if they had it figured out.
(I thought Gladion wasn't at the other mansion in the past from this dialogue)

Now, I've stated the episode was good, and it is, but in small parts and in the long game, the arrival at the mansion is where the episode shows some weaknesses. For one thing, we get a reference to Lillie's family, which is awesome, especially since it sets up what happened in Lillie's past to have her unable to touch Pokémon. Of course, at the time, I felt it was hinting towards Lusamine having a hand in this, but no. And that's not an issue, as it all tracks, but my problem is that nowhere does the butler mention that Lillie's brother was at the "other mansion" with her. I feel like it's left intentionally vague because the writers weren't sure of the direction they would take, though it's just a small long-term quibble.

While the battle is good, this Teeter Dance moment
is downright insulting.

Moving on, is that the episode displays more of Lillie's braniac tendencies, and finally gives us a chance for a real battle in Ash vs. Hobbes. And it's favorably solid, with Rowlet going right into battle and showcasing himself, and Ash, as a powerhouse team...until Teeter Dance. Now, I can see how, on one hand, this is setting up for later, and indeed, in the past Mime Jr.'s Teeter Dance would affect the trainer. In this case, though, it's in the middle of an official battle, where moves like this have never had an effect on the trainer before and yet, I feel like it's in there for laughs or to make Ash look stupid, especially after he'd already been smacked in the face by Togedemaru a couple times earlier while no one else did. Thankfully, said stupidity is interrupted by Rowlet being smacked into Mallow. I'll get to her in a moment.

Lillie can touch the egg after a chaotic moment!

What happens instead is a Salandit that's been creeping around the whole episode attacks Lillie for the egg. Kind of nice in the sense of showing a Pokémon as this sort of chaotic evil, but predictable, as in Lillie's bid to protect the egg she's able to touch it. Tried but true, I suppose, that in the moment of great adversity comes courage. It's a moment of triumph, and one on which the episode ends.

The plot tries to push Mallow in it, but she ends up doing nothing.
It's a real problem...

Before then, though, let's talk Mallow. There was a symptom of it before in SM 4, but SM8 has brought it to the forefront. The episode makes an explicit point of mentioning that Mallow can't go to Lillie's house, but then she shows up anyway. This is fine...or would be if she actually did something. Instead, for the rest of the episode, Mallow literally stands there while Ash, Hobbes and Lillie do everything else. She doesn't even have Bounsweet attack the Salandit! It's the beginning of a recurring problem in the series that she has as a character, and one that needs to be pointed out for how unfortunate it is, especially as the next two episodes prove she won't be getting a focus for quite some time.

Why? Because the next two episodes finally lend focus to what is implied should be the focus: the Island Pilgrimage.

The Trials of Melemele

Ash finally reveals the reason he wants to master Z-Moves!
But not the reason he's attending the school...

Rotom explains the process of the Pilgrimage.

Off the heels of some development episodes we finally have Ash growing restless enough to want to do the Island Pilgrimage and use Z-Moves again (took time, but is excusable on account of developing other characters). We're also, finally, given a retroactive reason to him wanting to master Z-Moves: battle Tapu Koko again. Not explicitly sure why, and we're not given a reason for how or why that helps, but it's something as Kukui plans to take Ash to meet Hala, who they end up randomly meeting on the road in the middle of a Rattata problem. This begins us on the quest for the trials, more or less, as Hala fills in how Tapu Koko took a Z-Ring from him for Ash and sets a task to Ash to solve the Rattata issue.

Hala puts a test to Ash in order to see if he can do the trial.

A good lesson, diluted by the fact that none of his friends actually helped him.

Naturally, Ash struggles with this until banter with his classmates leads to Rotom realizing the Rattata have a natural enemy in Yungoos. This leads Ash to his answer, and while I'm not a fan of Ash saying that his friends gave him assistance (because at best it was Lillie and Rotom), it still leads to Hala giving Ash the trial in Verdant Cavern, and the battle against the Totem Gumshoos.

This is pretty cool to watch as Pikachu lays down the beatdown.

Ash gets the Normalium-Z from Totem Gumshoos, but Hala
remarks on it as being very rare...
...all while Tapu Koko watches.

Now, by comparison, this battle is like a Gym Battle in previous series, and thus I'll approach it similarly (though not the same). So, how does it stack up? It's solid. There are two fantastic strategies in the sense of Rowlet's now signature Leafage-Physical Attack combo that makes use of his speed, and Pikachu's Quick Attack on sand (a bit unrealistic, but it looked hella cool). It's a little slow at first given the nature of the battle where Ash battles a Yungoos/Gumshoos pair before the Totem shows up, but for the first completed battle of the series, I can say it's a very decent one, and well-deserving of Ash getting the Normalium-Z, though we're still left with mysteries: why is Tapu Koko (who watched) and the Totem Pokémon so interested in Ash to the point of gifting him things? Especially when Hala remarks that it's rare. It's a question that even 50 episodes in has yet to be answered.

Oh, and we should remark on TRio, whose sole appearance in this episode seemed to be to remind us that they exist...

Seeing Ash recognized for his efforts is nice.

Ash practiced and memorized the pose for Breakneck Blitz offscreen...
Um...wait, what? That's...not a good thing.

But, anyway, with his trial complete, Ash is finally ready for his Grand Trial, as explained by Kukui and Rotom in the episode previously. Though, as SM 10 begins, we see Ash being recognized for his previous efforts in recruiting the Totem Gumshoos to deal with the Rattata problem. It's a nice touch, overall, to see him celebrated for that. But the focus of the episode, after Ash and Hala pray to the observing Tapu Koko, is on the battle with the Kahuna, himself. Before it can begin, however, Kukui decides to show Ash the pose for Breakneck Blitz...only for Ash to reveal that he already knows it.

Wait, what? What? Ash just looked it up and learned it off screen? Okay...but there's no guarantee he'll use it, especially when the title is "Will the Z-Move work?", right? Okay.

Enter Rowlet's new and usual strategy from here on out.

So, into the battle with Hala, again like a Gym Battle, and this time a 2v2. And first up is Rowlet vs. Crabrawler, with Rowlet ready for battle (notable because he was sleeping in SM 9...though not in SM 8...huh...). The first matchup here is decent enough with a trade of moves between the two foes, and Ash finally picking up on the stealth Leafage strategy, allowing him to defeat Crabrawler. It's a little simple as battles go, but still swift moving and enjoyable to see.

Ash's reaction is utterly ridiculous for this kind of battle...
especially when he's seen a Hariyama before.

The Arm Thrust is so slow here it's boring to watch
when compared to the first half.

It's Hariyama where the problems begin. Why? Well, firstly is Ash's reaction hearing of Hariyama's strength: it's humor in a forced moment (and not just the uvula face). Ash has faced Hariyama before, so why is he overreacting? There's also the issue of increased commentary, a practice dropped during XY. Commentary from Kukui and Rotom constantly interrupts the battle and makes it feel more stalled than perhaps it is. But mostly it has a problem because this battle boils down to "My Z-Move is better than yours". Oh, don't get me wrong, Pikachu and Hariyama still exchange moves, but they're clunky for the most part. Belly Drum is a little boring and Arm Thrust is...kind of slow. It gets a little boring there until Hala decides to go for broke with All-Out Pummeling.

The two Z-Moves are the highlight of the battle, especially with animation.

Tapu Koko swaps the Fightinium-Z for the Electrium-Z, because why not?

This is fantastically animated and framed, and the usage of Quick Attack to avoid all but one of the fists is beautiful to watch. Then Ash pulls out his own Z-Move and...destroys Hariyama. Yes. No struggle. No problems. The title of the episode is pretty much worthless. I know, "Ash already used a Z-Move before!". That's about all that mitigates the fact that Ash essentially mastered Breakneck Blitz off screen. It would be like Infernape mastering Blaze or the Ash-Greninja form being perfected off screen, and it puts a serious damper on the battle, like Ash is just having things handed to him, but we're not seeing him earn it. This is enforced by Tapu Koko swapping out the Fightinium-Z for the Electrium-Z. Plot wise, I get it, because he has no Fighting Pokémon...but to be handed what could be his team's nuke after 10 episodes...I'm a little sketchy on. It's not a show-breaking issue, of course, but it sets a trend that SM will continue to follow.

Ash's promise and new short term goal.
Still nothing on the long term for Alola.

And as the episode ends, Ash parties with his friends (who, again, really contributed nothing) and promises to master the Electrium-Z, and with this, we end the first part of the review.

So, as this is a different style, and us being 10 episodes in, I want to bring up general thoughts as of this moment of the series. And generally: it's a decent start. On an episodic basis, each is relatively enjoyable, gives decent character development or establishment and works on the whole. However, I am seeing that in the grand scheme of things, there are some...issues. Namely two. For the first, it's the point of the Pokémon School and Ash's purpose in general. The school contributes nothing towards his goal of the Z-Crystals, really, to the point that it almost seems to outright hinder him. We don't know why he's there, just that he is. As a result, his "goal" in this series, is constantly moving. It went from "mastering Z-moves" to "fight Tapu Koko" and now "master Gigavolt Havoc". There are these individual, smaller goals that have no larger regional goal to work towards, which makes one question why he's doing it, then. It's a small kernel of a larger issue that is the spine of SM. If we have no reason for why the premise of the show is here...why are we here?

The second issue is the handout system for Ash. He freely gets a Z-Ring. He freely gets his Electrium-Z. He's mastering Z-Moves offscreen. Right now, it's just a small problem, but the fear is always there for it to continue for his character, and likewise spread on to other characters. It's something to be wary of for the future...

...and that's a future that will not be discussed for some time. It'll be a wait, but we'll talk more of this in Part 2: The Dog, the Cat and Stuck in Traction on Melemele.

Dare to Be Silly,
Epicocity