Right now it is technically summer where I am living, which in local terms means the weather outside shifts at random between punishing, stagnant humidity and unrelenting rainy downpours. Even as I sit in my office (aka my bedroom), my air conditioner can do little to protect me from the swampy tension in the air, which clings to my clothes and utterly dishevels my beautiful hair. I am tired of this damnable place, but fortunately, I also know a place where summer works exactly how it’s supposed to – the islands of Alola, which just so happen to also be brimming with adorable pokemon and thrilling adventures-in-waiting. So let’s not waste any more time reflecting on the atmospheric deficiencies of my own climate, and instead take a trip back to some islands that embody the very best of slice of life and children’s animation. Let’s explore another episode of Pokemon Sun and Moon!

Episode 17

Hmm, it seems Rotom is providing the intro this time. Rotom’s occupied an odd space in the Sun and Moon narrative; he often works as a source of pure exposition, but he’s also got a personality of his own, and generally fits into the role of that one friend who’s “pretty sure we shouldn’t be doing this, guys.” He’s never been a highlight of an episode, so I’ll be interested in seeing what they can do with him as a focus character

Oh dang, we’re doing a whole mystery genre pastiche here. Sun and Moon is such a flexible production; usually, the show defaults to flat, middle distance sitcom shots peppered with closer reaction shots, which are very good for facilitating the show’s focus on expressive character animation. But for this mystery sequence, we use a variety of ominous staging shots; a spinning approach from overhead, and an alluring shot of a grandfather clock, implying a dramatic culmination or time running out

Even the show’s transitions are different here – we get hokey wipes from one suspect to the next, further emphasizing the cheesy mystery atmosphere

Apparently Ash, Kukui, and the pokemon are decompressing by watching a local detective show. And oh my god, Rotom actually has a wig to match the master detective. Maybe Rotom is okay

Pikachu likes the fluffy hair

“Alola Detective Rotom! The Mystery of the Lost Crystal!” I guess Rotom’s gonna be getting a lot of use out of that beautiful mane

I appreciate that the detective’s pokemon has one of those Sherlock Holmes capes

“There is no fooling Lucky’s eyes, nor the blue seas of Alola!” Nice catchphrase

Rotom enduring the pain of a friend who’s far less interested in your favorite show than you are

Really appreciate this show’s transitions with the sleepy koala ringing the bell

And the new day commences with our titular mystery: Ash’s electric z-crystal is missing

Nice to see that Lillie is perfectly comfortable carrying Snowball around now

I like that the rest of Ash’s friends are worried about Kaki’s reaction to this situation – basically anything that leans into the distinctions between the personalities of “the gang” is very welcome. Sun and Moon is more of an ensemble production than most pokemon shows, and that is one of its great strengths, so celebrating the diversity of personalities here is important

Also a very neat transition flourish here, as Ash hits the “camera,” which shatters into the next scene

Rotom and his beautiful hair are on the job!

Ahaha, Pikachu keeps futzing with his hair. These little animal-like details add so much; it is very cat-like of Pikachu to keep pawing at the dangling hair

Oh my god, Pikachu’s going to be his Watson. Incredible

Pikachu just keeps pulling on Rotom’s hair during interrogations, then feigning ignorance. The absolute best detective’s assistant

What a good “I’m not doing anything wrong” face they made for Pikachu, too. He is an incredibly expressive little creature

Pikachu can switch between animal-like and human-like so gracefully. He sniffs the ground like a dog tracking a scent, and then defaults back to his lumpy standing pose without a hitch

Oh no, the principal is teaching Vulpix to appreciate his terrible puns

A new lead emerges – there might be video of Ash practicing z-moves!

A mystery episode is the absolute perfect choice for Rotom. Not only does his love of this goofy television show add a lot of charm to his personality, but there’s also nothing more core to Rotom than his passion for explaining things to people. And who gets to explain things with more respect and panache than a famed detective?

Rotom’s wig actually serves a neat visual purpose – it makes his profile far more expressive, allowing for the kind of dramatic flourishes this sort of story demands

Aw shit, Kaki’s getting suspicious

Interesting way of conveying the nervousness of Ash’s friends here – they’re given sped-up walk cycles, but those walk cycles move forward very slowly, implying their frantic emotional state as they sort of jitter across the room

And Lillie is unsurprisingly the worst liar of the bunch. Putting characters in a new dramatic context is always an effective way to emphasize different aspects of their personalities – as a writer, this can actually be a good way to get to know your characters yourself, as you think on how they’d react to new circumstances, and use that to build out their overarching worldview and formative life experiences

The TV station security guard stops Pikachu because he’s just so darn cute

Rotom bonding with random humans over their shared love of Alolan Lucky is adorable

Apparently Rotom can just connect directly to video cameras, and even gain a new video playback feature as a result. Rotom is… kind of terrifying. I suppose it’s a good thing he just wants to watch detective shows and explain pokemon type weaknesses

Meanwhile, Ash is doing his best to surreptitiously make use of Rockruff’s tracking nose

Ash’s lies to Kaki are accompanied by a genuinely cubist expression shift. We’re reaching levels of silly faces that were previously thought impossible

And oh my god, Kaki’s face when he learns the truth is even better. This episode is an absolute feast of expressions – with the base character designs possessing such a low line count, the animators are free to shift them into entirely different visual styles without losing their essence, like Kaki basically making the classic Yugioh Joey face here

I appreciate the classic “assistant, gather the suspects!” being applied to this situation, where all the suspects are already here, and Pikachu’s basically just leading them into the building next door

They really ramp up both the powerful expression work and also the mystery-derivative cinematography for the big reveal. Lots of point-counterpoint shots across the whole cast

Rotom’s deductions are… still basically just guesswork

And then we immediately learn that Lillie is actually a much better detective than Rotom. Rotom just wants to “solve the case,” and is basically looking for the first suspect he can dramatically declare the culprit – but Lillie’s actually observant, and so she notices the key video moments

OH MY GOD, IT WAS ACTUALLY IN ROTOM’S HAIR. PIKACHU IS A GENIUS

And just a couple more flexes of ridiculous Kaki animation, why not

And Done

Ahaha, what a fun episode that was. In contrast with last episode’s focus on copious fluid movement, this episode was all about the expression work – there were countless imaginative, hilarious faces from start to finish, combined with an adventure that made surprisingly great use of Rotom, as well as reliably excellent use of Pikachu. I figured Sun and Moon’s visual creativity and polish would diminish after some time, but if anything, it seems like the show is actually getting even more confident and ambitious in its wonderful visual flourishes. Another satisfying episode of Pokemon Sun and Moon!

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