Well, here we are. Yet another episode of the eighteenth season of Pokemon, which we are apparently calling "Kalos Quest" now. This takes me back to Season Five, back when Ash was still on a "Master Quest," but now it seems he has set his sights lower to simply exploring new places. In any event, today our heroes are not exploring new places at all – they have returned to Lumiose City in order for Ash to have his long awaited gym battle against Clemont. Everyone is happy to see the show's resident John Denver lookalike, no one more so than his sister Bonnie. She relates to Clemont all of the "keepers" that she identified during their time apart, and kindly proposed marriage to them in his stead.
Not wanting to be too quick to forgive her brother from abandoning her to the care of dumb-Ash and his besotted stalker, Bonnie declares to Clemont that "you don't have to tuck me in anymore – Serena does that now!"
Unsurprisingly, Ash wants to get straight to the Pokemon battling, but he allows himself to be distracted by Serena when she decides to show off her new Pokemon. Unwilling to be outdone, he can't resist whipping out his freshly-evolved Goodra as well
Finally. The time has come. Ash versus Clemont with a Voltage Badge at stake. What could possibly go wrong?
Looks like somebody forgot to pay his protection money...
It would appear that Clembot's desire to kill all humans has finally caught up with him. (I knew he was evil, I just knew it!)
There, there, Clembot, at least you'll have plenty of time to practice your stabbing – haha!
So somebody has been undressing mannequins at the department store? It sounds like Brock has finally made his way over to Kalos! Also ..."bathing suits"? That line sounded to me like the work of the American censors (and you haters can't blame 4Kids anymore!). Are we not allowed to say "underwear" on a kids show anymore? Because when I was a kid, they used to air stuff like this...
Meyer: "So I know I basically abandoned you kids and left you under the protection of a mentally-challenged foreigner and his devoted stalker, but when my son's robot is arrested under trumped up charges, I make a point to be there. That's just the way I was raised. What kind of father would I be if I didn't return for my son's android's kangaroo trial?" I think Meyer might just be a worse dad than Flint. At least Pewter City's leading drug dealer didn't entrust his offspring to Ash Ketchum...
In other news: Pidgeotto!
(and Psyduck!!)
Oh, so Alexa is here too. She is hot on the trail of Blaziken Mask, the vigilante superhero of Lumiose City that she is investigating to prove her worth as a journalist.
"Hey dad, don't you have a Blaziken?"
"Who? Me?"
Oh God, somebody stole the Clembot OS code! (Maybe Bill Gates was looking for some fresh ideas for Windows 10?) Apparently Clemont is not a fan of open-sourced programming ventures. I also enjoy the fact that apparently USB ports are a thing in Kalos as well.
Typical Jenny police work: she's more than happy to let random kids and suspected criminals crack the case for her.
Robot fight! (Thanks Japan!)
Pokeball-launching rocket-arm technology!
I wonder if the Clembots respond to magnetism the same way as Bender?
Poor Team Rocket, why must their beautiful hair always pay the price for their deeds? Don't people know that true artistes make a living with their looks?
Silly evil scientist! Not loving his Pokemon enough was Blue's downfall too.
Final thoughts: Not a bad filler episode at all! See writers? You're allowed to stray from the patented Johto filler formula, it won't kill you! Here's hoping Ash's battle with Clemont doesn't prove to be a let down.
