#sm088

Small silence and then Gozu says:

To which Matori repeats the same thing. Then, after Gozu announces the episode title:

it kept the funny going with the “what a pain” joke. i loved how they managed to make team rocket seem like a threat even though they were yawning and slouching inside the aircraft. :D so funny.

both lusamine family kids fell off their rides at some point and i guess

i like that ash saving gladio breaks a little bit of gender roles, as is sun and moon’s track record. it was kind of interesting that both gladio and ash get a worry-yell and a big split screen when lillie fell off alteria, though they ARE our resident heroes and lillie-worriers, so i don’t know why i was so surprised. i just don’t know if i agree that it signifies something romantic (it’s a pretty romantic trope to focus on the romantic partner when a friend is in peril, so including ash might be a little bit of romantic coding) or if it means that ash and gladio are protective big brothers. i know which one i’d prefer.

(it’s the latter)

it feels very fitting that solgaleo is captured and they need to save it with lunala’s help this time! i think i was right a while ago when i praised that they gave ash this connection to the main plot, which is nebby, so that he’ll be attached to whatever’s happening when they get to these Great Peril arcs. and i feel that here - i remember that ash and solgaleo bonded and i like that it pays off in this UB black plot. thanks for validating me, sumo

By the Way, lillie seems to be The Lunala Trainer this time. i guess ash and lillie are going to play the sun and the moon trainers and it will be part of the Great Peril plot. lillie might get a lunala-z crystal, like ash had the solgaleo one? but, i also think that because it’s usually a group effort from all the ultra guardians when those z-crystals are used, that it’s not going to really make them The Great Saviours, and their roles as the legendaries’ sole guardians are mostly symbolic.

*14 episodes later*

*later* (probably)

Sakaki *crashes Acerola’s picture books on the table*: SO, ABOUT KAGAYAKI-SAMA...