Ivysaur’s Journey
Episode 3 of Pokemon Journeys begins with Ash and Goh awakening to find Mr Mime pretending to vacuum their room. After enjoying their breakfast buffet, they’re introduced to Cerice’s assistants before being given a smartphone that doubles up as a Pokedex. Their first mission involves finding out about a local group of Ivysaur making their way downtown. Elsewhere we’re introduced to Team Rocket for the first time this season as they prepare for their next dastardly mission. Ash and Goh catch wind of this too and fall out over the best way of tackling a rogue Ivysaur caught in the alleyway. They make up pretty quickly though and watch as the Pokemon head up to the gym currently under construction. As the herd of Ivysaur look set to evolve, Team Rocket arrive on their hot air balloon and snatch up the Ivysaur mid-evolution which stops them in their tracks. Only, Ash manages to stop Team Rocket taking off though thanks to Pikachu. Unfortunately they have bigger fish to fry as Team Rocket’s secret weapon includes Tyranitar and Gyarados who attack Pikachu. Thankfully, Pikachu manages to get the upper-hand and headbutts them both. Pikachu’s thunderbolt attacks are then enough to send Team Rocket flying off again as they change their tactics back to Plan A – catching Pikachu. The Ivysaur evolve just as scheduled before Ash and Goh return to the lab and rekindle their friendship, now stronger than ever before which is where the episode ends. With a nice meta reference to Meowth talking and a few decent fight sequences, most of this episode plays out as a stand-alone segment as we’re re-introduced to Team Rocket again. There isn’t anything particularly bad or outstanding with this one though as Pokemon settles back into its role, delivering a simple enough slice of anime action. Each episode has so far added a lot more variety to the Pokemon and given how many there are to choose from, we’ve certainly been spoilt for choice! Published: 03 June 2020 at 2:00 pm on TheReviewGeek.com This review is based on the live showing on POP TV which exclusively aired the first four episodes. Expect the rest to arrive on the 12th June!
