Title: Just want to quickly note how it's kind of odd the last episodes were one word titles while this one is sounds like a title.
0:19:
"Drednaw is 4x weak to Grass what were you expecting?"
Nessa: "Milo KOed Drednaw with Hyper Voice!"
"Oh..."
0:53: Is Rose implying Nessa quit being either a model or Gym Leader? Why does he care?
0:58: WHOA THERE, Rose! Personal space! And this is a REALLY creepy camera angle.
1:02: DON'T ZOOM IN! Is he going in for a kiss or something? Eww!
1:05: How did Nessa fit that entire cake slice in her mouth without having it covering her face? Oh, and hi Sonia.
1:07: Hi Marnie (and Morpeko)! And good job there Alcremie, I can see why the owner lets you sit on the counter.
1:18: Bye Marnie (and Morpeko)!
1:19: Oh, apparently their mouths are like garbage disposals, instantly liquifies the food before swallowing.
1:40: Director: "I really like the way your face tells the reader you absolutely despise them!"
2:25: Geez, they didn't wait to payoff that foreshadowing, did they? They held the suspense for all of 10 seconds.
2:32: Dear Kyogre she actually smiled for one of the pictures!
2:37: Qwilfish: "Actually I'm kind of suffocating, please put be back in the water".
2:41: Why is Krabby hanging out on top of a male Jelliscent?
2:44: Milotic: "Follow me my fish army, it's time to evade the surface world!"
2:52: Have you been using Wild Pokemon this entire time? Why? You're kind of putting Nessa at risk if a Water-type Pokemon didn't feel like cooperating and attacked instead. Also bringing your own Water-types would guarantee you'd have Pokemon to use in the shoot, you could actually even plan on what pictures you wanted to take!
3:04: Nessa just dived in and she's surrounded by Pokemon. That ship's radar must either be busted or sucks (or did they just look around and were surprised there was no Pokemon splashing around on the surface?).
3:26: Hi Magnolia!
3:30: Ah, there's that (foot) fanservice shot! Quentin Tarantino would be proud.
3:39: Oh no, the Milotic brainwashed Nessa. It's surface world invasion has indeed begun!
3:44: Bye Magnolia!
3:55: Thanks for explaining the message of the episode, Sonia.
4:13: Hey, Nessa jumped off Milotic but now she's suddenly back on it. Great continuity!
4:28: Would you please give viewers some benefit of the doubt that we can remember something you foreshadowed 2 minutes ago?
5:01: Oleana: "Did you really need to spill my documents all over the table and floor to say that?"
5:20: Oh yeah, John's drawing, there's probably some grand conclusion we should really start building up to.
5:22: I repeat, Quentin Tarantino would be proud.
5:29: Omnipresent Cabbie Narrator you're late this episode; you could have probably showed up earlier to drop Nessa off at her photoshoot.
5:59: Wait, that Milotic is Shiny in the concept art (and Nessa is wearing a blue top & skirt and barefoot). Was it supposed to be a Shiny Milotic but the animators didn't realize? Also Nessa is big here, Milotic are supposed to be 20 feet long!
6:03: And next episode is Allist... Oleana, of course, that was what I was going to say!
Actual Thoughts: Man, this was kind of a strange episode.
First let's start with that scene with Rose. What was that all about? It felt like they were trying to tell us something but I had no idea what (aside being very awkward and creepy).
Nice to actually see Sonia and Nessa hanging out, something we didn't see in the games even though Sonia and Nessa's League Card says they're close friends. Another nice touch is that Nessa's card mentions she considers Milo her rival and looks who defeats her at the beginning of the episode. Also very cheeky with that Marnie cameo, less so with the Magnolia but nice to see her all the same.
Also, whoever directed this episode, less is more. We didn't really need to see the shots of Milotic swimming around, while it was obvious what was going to happen still would have been more emotionally impactful has we not had the Miltotic shots and it was a sudden surprise when it jumped out of the water with Nessa on its back. OR kept it secret what Pokemon she was talking to in her flashback, and then when you had her look into Milotic's eyes that's when you reveal she was talking with a Feebas.
But let's get into the real issue with this episode: the writers had no idea what to do with Nessa. They wanted to do something with Nessa and her modelling career but feels like that couldn't figure out what so went with Nessa being conflicted about being a Gym Leader or model. But to do this they needed a catalyst so had Rose suggest her stop being a model which just feels odd. Does Rose do this with all the Gym Leaders? Did he tell Milo to stop being a farmer? Opal to stop putting on theater shows? Raihan to stop Instagramming (well, okay, maybe that one has some validation)? Also Nessa telling Oleana to tell Rose she's going to reach the top while staying both a model and Pokemon trainer felt forced, like honestly I would have just ended the episode at 4:42.
Also kind of disappointed not that many fanservice shots aside from some tame ones. Bea got more fanservice shots and Nessa is supposed to be the target Ms. Fanservice.
Well next episode is surprisingly for Oleana which should be interesting. Sad that "poor family" backstory turned out to be a hoax but maybe this will shine some light on who she was before changing her appearance and her friendship with Trubbish/Garbodor.
