Hot Springing a Leak (531)

[JohnLee]

Swinub are always cute, but wasn't this too much like the Johto hot spring episode? :/

I loved that we finally met a friend of Dawn who ISN'T into Pokemon Contests (and another friend who calls her "Dee Dee"). I was beginning to think that Twinleaf Town raised everyone to be a Coordinator

Anyway, loved the battle at the end with Swinub and Piplup teaming up to take on Ash and Brock. 9/10

I hope we find out what "Dee Dee" refers to. I kinda forgot about Leona, but I hope we see her in the furture cheering Dawn on at the GF or atleast a minor appearance would be nice.

[KGB13]

Nice episode. I liked the flashback where Dawn and her friend took down that bully together, I thought it was cute and funny. Not too much to say about this episode but I really want to know why all of Dawns friends call her "Dee Dee".

[wind21]

I think this episode is pretty fun, and a little bit more light-hearted than the previous 2. Dawn shows a few signs of still not being okay, but she's not pressed about it, and for the most part, she enjoys being with her friend. I think it's funny how a few things are reversed from the way they normally go: Ash is the one who's looking forward to a pokemon center instead of Dawn, and Jessie complains about seeing the twerps, saying they are like a cold that won't go away.

Dawn is interesting in this episode. She's introverted at the beginning, only suggesting that the group visit her friend when Brock says there is no Pokemon center nearby. When they do go there, though, she becomes way more bold, which is neat since most people do act differently depending upon who they are around. At first, Dawn is in serious conversation with her friend, completely forgetting that she should introduce Ash and Brock until Ash reminds her. But you know, I found that okay. Because Dawn is so involved with her friend, this is one of the few episodes where Ash and Brock really talk together, and you feel that they are friends who have know each other for a long time and don't mind sharing their semi-private thoughts (as Dawn is doing with her friend right now). Once Dawn's friend remarks how busy she is, Dawn takes command, directing Ash and Brock to follow her to the hot spring, which she's confident she can find, and ignoring her friend's stammers of protest. Again, this is a much more bold Dawn than is normally shown. Later on, when Dawn and her friend have a tag battle with Ash and Brock, a flashback shows that the girls once beat up a bully boy. That's right. Dawn went from crying in the flashback b/c of the bully boy to beating him up once her friend came. That's an amazing influence Dawn's friend has on her.

This tag battles is one of the few times Dawn gets the upper hand on Ash. Fortunately for him, Brock (!) supports him really well with Sudowoodo, ending the battle in a tie with all of the pokemon frozen. You know, even though last episode really focused on Brock for the most part, I think he shines through better here b/c of his performance in the battle.

Side-note: One strange thing about this episode is that there are two cute scenes where Pikachu jumps into Ash's arms.

[Lance The Champ]

How does Team Rocket come up with such complex and extraordinary plans?

[G50]

This episode was ok... It was cool to see Swinub again. The Gang's Pokemon looked so great and relaxed when they finally were in the hotsprings in the end. It was cool to hear the stories of Dawn's childhood, and Dawn ended up stopping the story before it was revealed where her Dee-Dee nickname came from. It was funny when Ash kept trying to get Dawn's friend to reveal the big secret while Dawn was trying to stop it.

30/100