Ash enters into the Fire and Rescue Grand Prix, only to run into some familar competitors...
The departure of Squirtle, much like Charizard's recent farewell, is a sad one indeed, though not as dramatic as Charizard's Burning Ambitions. I don't consider this episode to be as good as Charizard's, mainly due to the rushed nature of this episode. Charizard's goodbye episode was very patient, allowing Charizard to put himself through a miserable night to prove his desire to join the Valley of the Charizard. In that episode, Team Rocket only showed up to help Charizard, and didn't overstay their welcome. In this episode, however, Team Rocket's appearance is very disruptive. Their fire-shooting mech, while neat, shows up in the middle of the Grand Prix, killing the momentum of the competition, and leaving little room at the end of episode for a proper goodbye to Squirtle. What we got, in terms of goodbyes, felt a bit rushed. Ash and Bulbasaur each got some nice moments with Squirtle, and we get treated to a musical montage of Squirtle moments, but compared to Charizard's episode-long goodbye, I feel like Squirtle sort of got the shaft.
That's not to say the episode is bad, I just wish Team Rocket had as minimal a role here as they did in Charizard's Burning Ambitions. Otherwise, the episode still had lots of good moments. We get treated to returns of the fan-favourite Squirtle Squad, plus Team Wartortle. There's some flashbacks to early Kanto episodes, and even an Orange Island memory, with Misty mentioning that Brock wasn't there for that (a rare moment of continuity).
Overall, still a great episode, marked down slightly for its rushed pace. Still, if you've watched from the beginning, the ending montage will bring the feels. The good episodes give you that gift.
The departure of Squirtle, much like Charizard's recent farewell, is a sad one indeed, though not as dramatic as Charizard's Burning Ambitions. I don't consider this episode to be as good as Charizard's, mainly due to the rushed nature of this episode. Charizard's goodbye episode was very patient, allowing Charizard to put himself through a miserable night to prove his desire to join the Valley of the Charizard. In that episode, Team Rocket only showed up to help Charizard, and didn't overstay their welcome. In this episode, however, Team Rocket's appearance is very disruptive. Their fire-shooting mech, while neat, shows up in the middle of the Grand Prix, killing the momentum of the competition, and leaving little room at the end of episode for a proper goodbye to Squirtle. What we got, in terms of goodbyes, felt a bit rushed. Ash and Bulbasaur each got some nice moments with Squirtle, and we get treated to a musical montage of Squirtle moments, but compared to Charizard's episode-long goodbye, I feel like Squirtle sort of got the shaft.
That's not to say the episode is bad, I just wish Team Rocket had as minimal a role here as they did in Charizard's Burning Ambitions. Otherwise, the episode still had lots of good moments. We get treated to returns of the fan-favourite Squirtle Squad, plus Team Wartortle. There's some flashbacks to early Kanto episodes, and even an Orange Island memory, with Misty mentioning that Brock wasn't there for that (a rare moment of continuity).
Overall, still a great episode, marked down slightly for its rushed pace. Still, if you've watched from the beginning, the ending montage will bring the feels. The good episodes give you that gift.
