Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 24

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I’ve tried to deny it as long as possible, but autumn is truly in full swing over here, and the temperature has plummeted accordingly. New England has a pretty quirky seasonal schedule, in that we generally get around two months of summer, two weeks each of spring and fall, and around nine months of winter each year. In light of that, I’m doing my best to enjoy the rapidly falling leaves, as they’re essentially our one decent seasonal attraction, which makes for some unintentionally damning travel literature for anyone who actually lives here. “Come see the falling leaves, they make this frigid, unfriendly slab of coastline look nice for twelve days every year!”

All of this is to say that it’s cold and I’m mad and we’re watching some goddamn Sun and Moon. The show’s previous episode was a delightfully absurd Dugtrio-centered rock opera that made great use of Team Rocket, and I’m eager to see what our young trainers get up to next, be it continuing their island pilgrimage or just finding a weird rock in the forest or something. Let’s get to it!

Episode 24

The principal himself is offering our PokeProblem this week. Presumably this week’s conflict will relate to the school directly, then

“Of these four, who visits the Pokemon School today: Ash’s Mom, Kaki’s Mom, Mallow’s Dad, or Team Rocket.” Do I have to pick one?

What, is this like, Parent-Teacher conference day? I don’t recall those being particularly thrilling experiences as a kid, but Sun and Moon has successfully built episodes out of concepts like “this stew is bad” and “look, a shovel,” so I’ve learned not to underestimate it

It turns out Ash is mostly illiterate, which makes sense, considering his education so far has pretty much entirely consisted of learning how to capture wild animals in tiny capture balls

Some really nice expressions and character acting here, as Ash fends off Rotom’s attempts to educate him

They’ve actually given him a pretty major task: articulate the differences between Kanto and Alola pokemon for the sake of an upcoming open house event. I’m not sure why they’re expecting anything better than “my recent vacation taught me that Alola is a land of contrasts,” but I appreciate their optimism

And here’s Ash’s mom. Well, that was an easy PokeProblem

Ash getting embarrassed by his mom’s presence promises to be a very fun time. Ash is frequently characterized as a bit of an idealized person; he embodies all the best attitudes of a pokemon trainer, from being a source of support for your friends to being gracious in defeat, which makes him a reasonable role model for pokemon’s intended viewers, but rarely a particularly nuanced or sympathetic person in his own right. One way to mitigate that is to ground him in relatable yet specific personal circumstances that allow him to act on other aspects of his personality, and having his mom around to embarrass him is a great way to accomplish that

Welp, now his mom’s looking forward to his big speech. Better study up, Ash

I love how sleeping Rowlett basically loses his bones, and melts into a default pudding shape

“Oh my, it can talk.” Ash’s mom taking Rotom in stride. Well, I suppose if Meowth can talk, that door’s already been opened

Ash doesn’t seem all that close with his stepfather, Mr. Mime. I guess it’s tough when your parents divorce and your mom remarries a pokemon

Oh no, all these chin scritches are ruining Nyabby’s tough guy image!

Oh my god, Ash’s mom has tamed all of Ash’s new pokemon already. I guess we know where he gets it from

Ash announces the event is “open to people from the city too,” which the show goes on to charmingly demonstrate by featuring literally the only person we know from the city: that lady Nyabby knows who works at the fruit stand. Well, you work with what you have!

Nyabby is now accepting head pats from everybody. Remarkable character development

“Vulpix” being “Rokon” in Japanese means these vulpixes all make adorable “kon” barks. I imagine that’s an interesting adaptive challenge; rather than trying to translate actual words, you are attempting to translate title-derivative barking noises that allude to their owners’ pokemon names in some way, but still also sound adorable in the abstract

Pikachu isn’t just a very cute pokemon, it also has one of the most flexible, cute-sounding names – Pikachu’s vocabulary ranges from the full “Pikachu!” to the inquisitive “Pika?” (taking advantage of the inherent rising, ambiguous note offered by the “a” sound at the end there), to the excited, affirmative “Pikapi!”, to the determined, ferocious “Chuu!” He’s got one of the most varied vocabularies of any pokemon, and it’s interesting to think how the designers must choose these names with an eye for physically matching their owner (ie, their names imply their real-world inspirations), as well as sonically evoking the “feel” of those pokemon. Popplio is a good example – the name actually feels light and bubbly, like the pokemon itself

I like the incidental explanation that Mallow and Kaki’s parents were too busy with work to come, implying such circumstances are totally normal to the kids in the audience

Oh wow, some incredible cuts of animation for Lana’s little sisters. Their hair is essentially one solid mass, and the animator clearly had a lot of fun messing with how that would work, and creating a sense of energy through their bodies’ reckless momentum. Apparently Yasuhiko Akiyama handled this sequence, which isn’t surprising – he’s a relatively new animator, but an extraordinarily talented one, having already contributed cuts to animation heavyweights like Sansha Sanyou (one of Dogakobo’s last great animation feasts), Occultic;Nine (a narrative mess that nonetheless featured many of the best directors and animators in the business), and FGO: Babylonia

Oh my god, they’ve stuck Rotom beneath Ash’s shirt, and he’s basically doing the presentation for him. You can’t rely on wacky sitcom capers on parent-teacher day, Ash!

Wonderful Pikachu faces as he freaks out in response to Rotom’s voice sampling feature

“Who’s that Pokemon?” “It’s your father”

The parents are impressed, but Ash’s friends aren’t buying it. They know he doesn’t know shit

Ash earns a full-strength “jiiiiii” from all his friends, with even Snowball getting in on the shaming

Upon learning the truth, Ash’s mom responds with an understanding “ara ara.” I guess she’s used to his shenanigans

Ash’s own off-the-cuff speech is actually quite good. He’s a natural presenter; he has strong feelings about everything, and his enthusiasm is infectious

And there’s a slight lesson here, in that it’s less important to get the perfect answer the first time, than it is to approach everything you do with passion and earnest intentions

“You have a very straightforward son there.” That is absolutely the right word for Ash

Oh hey, it’s the Skull Gang! I… sort of forgot they were a thing

They made sense in the game, but here, “we’re like Team Rocket but slightly less threatening” feels like a weird pitch

Oh no, the Skull Gang are exploiting the generous wording of the school’s open house event to stop by and make a nuisance of themselves! See what I mean? They can’t even rampage around the school without abusing an invitation technicality

OH SHIT, ASH’S MOM IS STEPPING UP. YESSS

Ahaha, Nyabby confusedly realizing he’s apparently Ash’s mom’s pokemon now is wonderful. It feels like fanservice for the parents in the audience to have Ash’s mom be such a badass

And of course, she’s so impressed by Pikachu’s Z-move that she wants one for herself. I would absolutely love to watch a show or OVA or something about Ash’s mom’s younger years

And Done

What a charming episode! I didn’t expect Ash’s mom of all people to steal the show, but her impassioned defense of the Pokemon School, as well as her clear affinity for pokemon battles, was an absolutely delightful addition to our catalogue of Mom Lore. And more generally, the open house premise facilitated some wonderful ensemble scenes this week, elevated through some of the most distinctive cuts of character acting we’ve seen so far. This was classic Sun and Moon through and through, and I hope it’s not the last we see of Ash’s extremely powerful mom.

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