POKÉTOON Episode 12 Review - Riding on Gogoat

This episode is 9 minutes long, but the storytelling is so concise! I love that there are no battles, and that it just showcases an everyday life in the Pokémon world. I especially love how harmonious the setting is! The story itself is about a boy named Julian, who had a scuffle with his friend Lucas and feels bad about it. They're able to reconcile thanks to the help from a Gogoat that takes Julian on a sightseeing tour, which helped Julian to realize why Lucas had stopped that moment, and how wrong it was for him to get mad.

We don’t even know if this Gogoat is a taxi or if it’s just a wild one, but it just wanted to help cheer him up. I think it was such a wholesome thing to do, and shows that a story with Pokémon doesn’t always have to be about battles, but it can just be humans and Pokémon bonding when one least expects it. I think it shows off a beauty of Pokémon that isn’t talked about often—just a peaceful aspect of the Pokémon universe.

Alongside the main story, we also got to see plenty of other aspects of everyday life, like how people are just taking their Furfrou out for a walk, and how several of them have different patterns. There was one guy riding a moped with a Pancham on his back, and an old lady who was in her garden with her sleeping Snorlax, and chilling with Vivillon and Flabebe of different patterns and colors. I just love all the tiny details the episode pours into these particular Pokémon; there’s even a white Florges seen in a later shot!

The voice acting in this episode is actually interesting. Fun fact, Julian and Lucas’s voice actresses are Mariya Ise and Marina Inoue. If you aren’t aware, these two voice actresses were in the Pokemon XY anime as Bonnie and Aria. It’s feels a little coincidental that two people who were in the Kalos era of the anime are in this POKÉTOON episode about Kalos. Was it on purpose? Who knows? Intentional or otherwise, I appreciate the callback! This episode was produced by Studio ZEXCS, who also did Episode 10. It’s interesting how the style of each episode differs so much despite having the same studio. I can tell they really like to experiment!

While this episode is extremely cute and beautiful, Pokémon fans will and probably are speculating possible locations for Legends: Z-A due to the setting being in Kalos, specifically Lumiose City. Don’t worry; I’m one of those over-speculators too. I mean, the episode brought in locations that Lumiose City didn’t have in-game in X and Y, like a botanical garden and underground catacombs. Is Pokémon really hinting new locations for Z-A? Also, if you look very closely, you can see several Nymble in one of the shots. Nymble aren’t Kalos Pokemon, so they’re definitely plotting something with this Gen 9 easter egg. What do you think about the episode?