Preview JN032: Celebi: A Timeless Promise

[PkmnTrainerV]

The title looks really familiar... Did they just copy paste it from the Alola episode?

Of course this is due to Celebi having the unique abilty to travel trough time but still it's a huge difference

(Credit)

So we have another person with an obsession. I guess one of the few ways this might be good is that this turns out to be the person who resulted in Go saying "You’re like them/those people..." to Ash.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

Summary courtesy of Dephender on Serebii

Three years ago, Go met a young boy named Tokio on a family trip to Hiwada Town in the Jouto region. Tokio was searching for the Mythical Pokémon Celebi, and the two kindred spirits decided to search for it together, but Celebi turned out to not be all that easy to find. The two of them parted ways, promising to meet up again the next day to continue their search, but Tokio never showed up at the spot they had promised to meet that day. Flash forward to present day, when Go once again visits Hiwada Town and ends up encountering...

At least they were quick to dispatch our hopes this time.

 

[JinksChow]

Summary courtesy of Dephender on Serebii

Three years ago, Go met a young boy named Tokio on a family trip to Hiwada Town in the Jouto region. Tokio was searching for the Mythical Pokémon Celebi, and the two kindred spirits decided to search for it together, but Celebi turned out to not be all that easy to find. The two of them parted ways, promising to meet up again the next day to continue their search, but Tokio never showed up at the spot they had promised to meet that day. Flash forward to present day, when Go once again visits Hiwada Town and ends up encountering...

OH MY EFFIN GEE! Right on freaking cue as well!

Well, at least fans of Go will get some backstory on him. He probably thought Tokio abandoned him, when in reality Celebi was just conducting another case of kidnapping.

At this point in the anime, Celebi is more dangerous to children than Drifloon

 

[BigDocFan]

Rather disappointed by the summary, why couldn't they give Chloe a prominent role, maybe explain her reluctance with Pokemon

 

[Daren]

Wait, is this going to be the explanation for "you're one of those people" from episode 3?

 

[Vando]

Well, i think it's not a filler because Shoji Yonemura wrote this

 

[dawn dusk]

I never realized until it was spelled out how much screen time Celebii gets compared compared to some of the other Mythicals.

And it's my most hated mythical.

 

[BigDocFan]

On the brightside, we're seeing Azalea Town town again...

I wonder if this will be a missed opportunity to bring up the GS ball

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

On the brightside, we're seeing Azalea Town town again...

I wonder if this will be a missed opportunity to bring up the GS ball

Or to remind us of the existence of Apricorn Poké Balls. In particular Ash's Fast Ball.

 

[BigDocFan]

Or to remind us of the existence of Apricorn Poké Balls.

That would be good

Doesn't Ash still have a Heavy Ball somewhere from Kurt

In particular Ash's Fast Ball.

Ah, fast ball, not heavy

 

[Rocket Messiah]

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Sorry Mr Dialga I wanted to say cute Mythical Pokemon. You are awesome. Don't kill me please

Whait... this is the other guy Go mentioned in Episode 3... ufff

Chance of Rocketness: 10%

 

[Beatsy Ray]

I can see this being a good episode, probably get some solid development for Gou. If they're implying that Gou's old friend has been spirited away for the last three years that's kind of intriguing, this could be a pretty emotional episode if they play that out properly. And at least unlike PM09 the legendary Pokemon has some relation to one of the protagonists, rather than just being about a COTD.

 

[Silktree]

Of course this is due to Celebi having the unique abilty to travel trough time but still it's a huge difference

That's exactly it. You can't do all that much with the other mythicals (even Mew, which is why they're saving it for the end with some cameos here and there), although I'm surprised they haven't used Jirachi more.

I haven't liked any of Celebi's past roles, and it only starred in Movie 4 (whose title is being referenced here). I am not holding my breath, but all they need to make this one stand out is to showcase ancient Johto. No more "let's show a familiar character when they were young" like Prof. Oak and Prof. Kukui, or explain why something obvious happened like some Nurse Joy becoming a nurse.

Go did have a friend after all, and he lost him? Bad foreshadowing there, writers. Regardless, I imagine Tokio growing up in the past and inviting Ash and Go to see what his new life is like.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Tokio's name is actually really fitting, because:

1. "Toki" literally means time.
2. "-o" is a common suffix in Japanese male names.

Courtesy of @Max1996 for pointing this out.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Sorry Mr Dialga I wanted to say cute Mythical Pokemon. You are awesome. Don't kill me please

(Credit)

———-

As for ancient Johto, that’s really unlikely imo to say the least.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

This episode could give us some backstory on why Goh has had trouble making friends.

 

[Rocket Messiah]

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———-

Thanks Lord Dialga

Speaking about the episode I gotta say one personal thing that may be related to Tokio being the person that caused Go to distrust Ash in the begining of the series.

I did not cry the last day of school I was sad but I did not cry about not seeing the friends I watched and played Pokémon with never again becasue we were going to go to different middle-schools (We are still friends this day and we go to grab some beers now and then). However that summer I went on vacations at Granada (Precious city in Spain). We lived for a week with a friend of my father who had a really big house and had a lot of family. One of his family members was a Dutch boy and we built a good friendship.

However when the day to return back to home came. I cried. I never cried that much, he did too he was reluctant to say goodbye. I never seen him again since then.

So yeah Summer Vacation friends can really fill your hearth and broke it at the same time. So is that was the case I kinda understand Go reaction.

 

[Silktree]

As for ancient Johto, that’s really unlikely imo to say the least.

Because? It's odd to bring up Dialga, which sent Ash and co. to ancient Sinnoh, and then say that ancient Johto is "really unlikely". Prehistoric Unova was seen in a two-parter that didn't feature any time travel Pokemon, too.

Tokio came back from somewhere. Either he'll tell Go what he's been up to or he'll just show him (which is what I'd expect from a time travel episode). It could be the relatively recent past or maybe the future, but the summary is way too vague.

Rather disappointed by the summary, why couldn't they give Chloe a prominent role, maybe explain her reluctance with Pokemon

You don't start fleshing out a character by throwing them into a mythical-driven episode with little context. That'd just be cheap.

I don't know what they're planning for Chloe, but the best case scenario is that they'll use her to promote New Snap whenever it is released.

 

[Eclipsical]

This may actually provide some more context for Go’s fear of abandonment considering this kid promised to meet Go again and then didn’t show up (Could be Celebi time-travel shenanigans and he really did mean to meet up with Go again.)

Either way, I’m expecting more episodes focusing on mythicals and legendaries considering the world-hopping. They probably just went with the safest bet.

 

[Sobble Bubble-O-Seven]

In before Gou catches Celebi.