True to the games, when Dot and the others went to the Medali Gym, the receptionist told them that they would have to find Larry, sending them off on a hunt for the ordinary salaryman. Fortunately, they did manage to get a clue from this dancer lady and her Baile Forme Oricorio. The whole dancing segment was cute, though honestly, Oricorios have been a bane for me recently as I remember how I lost to an NPC in the Indigo Disk DLC who had two Oricorios, and they just chained-spammed Revelation Dance with their Dancer Ability. I have to say that the dancer named Diva, according to the credits, is a very well-designed character. It feels like a waste for her to be just a regular character of the day. Her Oricorio’s dance is a key component for the match against Larry, hence why this segment was introduced before the start of the actual battle.
Like in Episode 18 and in the games, Larry is found at the Treasure Eatery, the rival of the Anything Eatery from the previous episode. I kind of like how Roy had a reverse reaction regarding Larry’s status as a Gym Leader. What I mean is that Larry was first shown as an Elite Four member in the anime, which is why him being a Gym Leader was a shock for him. In the games, Larry was first seen as a Gym Leader and then his reveal as an Elite Four member was supposed to be a big surprise. I also really like how the battlefield here was set up! The animation was so good!
Dot seemed a little impatient in this episode, but I guess it’s because she wanted to prove herself. She lost her match against Iono in the Basics portion and she won in the friendly match with Poppy, but that was really all Iono’s doing rather than her own. It makes sense why she’d be frustrated with herself. Unfortunately, Dot was given a huge disadvantage because both of Larry’s Pokémon, Dudunsparce and Staraptor, are fully evolved, while she’s the only one of the kids who has two first-stage Pokémon. The odds were clearly not in Dot’s favor as Quaxly got paralyzed due to Dundunsparce’s Glare, and Tinkatink, which was used for the first time in an official battle, just got knocked out instantaneously. Dot wasn’t in sync with Quaxly like she normally is either, making it seem like she was a little out of it in this episode overall. She was too focused on her strategies that she forgot to add in one important thing: Quaxly is her partner. It's only once Dot realizes this important factor and decides to use everything she witnessed before and during the battle to her advantage, including the steps Quaxly learned from the Oricorio from earlier, the spins that Tinkatink did when she used Brutal Swing, and the wing flaps from Starpator, that she's about to get back in sync with Quaxly and it evolves into Quaxwell. It did suck that Quaxwell lost immediately after that, but it makes sense given Larry is way too strong for her and the duck was paralyzed.
The final portion of the episode was hilarious. The chef gives the kids the special rice ball menu that was in the games, but Larry has to pay for all of it, much to his dismay. He did pay for the player’s meal in the game, but he has to spend three times more money since he’s feeding three kids and their Pokémon. Geeta, please give Larry a raise already! Speaking of food, the last segment with Dot eating with Quaxwell had me thinking of octopus sausages, ever since my Discord friend mentioned how the shape of their hair look like them. I cannot unsee it now.
I guess my only gripe for this episode was the fact that Larry didn’t adjust his tie while his Tera Orb was being activated, like how he did in the games. Instead, the anime had him adjusting the tie before getting out his orb. I really liked how he did it in the game, so I was a bit bummed out. Despite that, Staraptor being coated in the Tera Crystal was such a beautiful sight.
Now that the first of the Implementation Test has finished, what are your thoughts on the battle’s results? Were you satisfied? Angry? Please let me know!
