Thread: AG 95: "Huntail and Gorebyss! Evolution Mystery!"

I usually don't do these review threads for the Japanese premieres (since Archaic usually does these), but I just noticed that there hasn't been a thread made for the one that premiered this past Thursday. Gee, I guess that means I don't visit here enough, huh? ^^;;

Anyway, here's what happened in the episode. Since I'm lazy, I'll just copy and paste what I posted on SPP:

-We start by seeing Ash and the gang on the ferry to the next town. They ride to the Ha-Ro-I Islands (they're named that way because they look like the katakana characters for ha, ro, and i), and along the way they see a bunch of kids wave racing on their Gorebyss and Huntail.

-The gang goes to the Pokemon Center on I Island. The Nurse Joy there teaches a class of children, and there are two students--a little boy who loves Huntail and a little girl who loves Gorebyss.

-The class is called to the pool, where Ash and everyone is surprised to see Professor Birch! He's on the Ha-Ro-I Islands to study the mystery of Clamperl's evolution. He tells everyone that you need the DeepSeaTooth to evolve Clamperl into Huntail, and the DeepSeaScale to evolve Clamperl into Gorebyss.

-Birch, Ash and his friends, and the girl all get in a boat headed toward Ha Island. The little boy follows in a boat of his own. There, Birch leads everyone to a cave where he takes a sample of mineral water there.

-Next, Birch, Ash and his friends, and the girl all get in a boat headed toward Ro Island. The little girl follows in a boat of her own. There, Birch leads everyone to a cave where he takes a sample of the mineral water there.

-Back at the lab on I Island, Birch studies the water for a bit and figures out why they evolve with the way they do. The boy and girl, who both own a Clamperl each, are anxious to evolve their pokemon.

-Meanwhile, Team Rocket plots to steal the Huntail and Gorebyss, thinking how the Boss could use them as jet skis in the water.

-Team Rocket attacks Ash and the gang from their Magikarp sub. Ash sends his Corphish out to cut a net aimed for Huntail and Gorebyss, so Jessie sends her Seviper. However, Corphish quickly Crab Hammers it into the water! Next up is James' Cacnea, who aims a Pin Missle at the two Clamperl. The boy and girl both order their pokemon to close their shells, deflecting the attack. They then use Water Gun to beat Cacnea. Finally, Ash's Pikachu Thunderbolts the sub away.

-Now that the attack's over, the gang heads over to Ro Island to find a DeepSeaScale. The little boy finds it and gives it to the girl to use to evolve her pokemon into Gorebyss. She has her Clamperl hold the item and sends it to the Pokemon Center from a computer on the island.

-Next, the group heads over to Ha Island to find a DeepSeaTooth. The little girl finds it and gives it to the boy to use to evolve his pokemon into Huntail. He has his Clamperl hold the item and sends it to the Pokemon Center from a computer on the island.

-Back at the Center, Joy gives the two trainers their PokéBalls. When they call their pokemon out, the Clamperl start to glow and evolve into Huntail and Gorebyss! The two trainers are delighted.

-Suddenly, Team Rocket appears in a giant Kingler mecha (which, for some reason, has a big red "Z" on it). Ash's Grovyle can't damage it, but Huntail and Gorebyss are able to disable it while Ash's Pikachu Thunders Team Rocket away.

-Now that the mystery of Clamperl's evolution is solved, the gang gets back on a ferry to the next town.

This episode seemed like the Hoenn version of "The Evolution Solution" to me. While the repetition of some of the scenes got on my nerves (can you say "recycled animation?"), the episode as a whole was enjoyable enough.

Shouldn't this be in capsules?

Meh, I suppose so. I was thinking that it would be alright to leave it in Anime Discussion for a day or so to give people a chance to post their thoughts on it (seeing as how they haven't been able to for the past few days due to the lack of a thread), but I suppose they could just as easily do that in the Episode Capsules forum as well.

I agree that the recycled animation was kinda cheap, but it was still a fun ep. Nice to see Oodamaki-Hakase again, and it was a bit of a surprise to see him floating in the pool shirtless.

So what was the answer to the mystery of their evolution? And why did the Clampearl have to be sent to the Pokemon Center after the item was placed on them? Is it related to how in the games these Pokemon need to be traded to evolve (though Misty's Politoed semi-refuted that this occurs in the anime), which would mean these Pokemon don't exist in the wild?

Btw, that Kingler mecha may just be the most awesome-looking mecha the TR trio has ever used. ^_^

I also have two questions about this episode:

-Why did Birch take water samples from those islands? I'm guessing it had something to do with figuring out where the Deepseatooth/scale might be, but I can't figure out anything beyond that.

-What attack did Huntail use (or attempt to use) when it charged at the Kingler mech and was knocked back? The best I can guess is that it was charging in to try and use Crunch.

I believe it has something to do with the children saying that certain evolutions were more likely on the two islands, or something like that. I'm guessing, I have no dialogue to back me.