Splash, Dash, and Smash for the Crown!/Slowking's Crowing! (Pokémon)

""Splash, Dash, and Smash for the Crown!"/"Slowking's Crowing!""
Definitely splash, dash and smash this entire filler episode!
Series: Pokémon Part of Season: 23 (Pokemon Journeys: The Series) Episode Number: 1113 (Japanese total) 1106 (English total) 26 (of season) Air Date: December 4, 2020 (United States) June 26, 2020 (Japan) Previous episode: A Festival Reunion! Next episode: Toughing It Out!

The 26th episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series (the 23rd season of Pokémon) was released on June 26, 2020. The episode consists of two segments, "Splash, Dash, and Smash for the Crown!" and "Slowking's Crowning!"

Plot

"Splash, Dash, and Smash for the Crown!"

Goh enters his giant Magikarp in the tenth annual Magikarp High Jump Tournament.

"Slowking's Crowning!"

Goh and Ash head to Slowpoke Island, hoping to catch a Slowpoke.

Bad Qualities

In General

1. Unlike previous episodes, this episode has no plot whatsoever. It's just two 11-minute segments crammed into one, with the first segment being "Splash, Dash, and Smash for the Crown!" and the other being "Slowking's Crowning!"
   • It is worth mentioning that this is not necessarily a bad thing. This was done before with "Lights, Camera, Pika!", an episode from Season 18/Kalos Quest, which was has episodic segments crammed into five, but because the plot was so good and because everything about it worked so well, it was very wonderfully executed and enjoyable. This episode is not like that.
   • These two segments feel more like a random Saturday-morning cartoon show like The Smurfs and 101 Dalmatians: The Series, or gag anime Doraemon and Urusei Yatsura than episodes that come from an anime action show, more so than the Sun and Moon anime, which unlike the previous season(s), had all of its episodes feeling like plots. The four previously mentioned shows worked with this format in advantage, since they rely more on comedy than action.
2. The introduction of the episode makes no sense, as Team Rocket is at their hideout, and they get a magikarp and slowking, but that scene was never mentioned again in the series afterwards.
3. Lots of cringe scenes, such as the muscular Ash and Goh scene in the first part (as shown in the infobox image), and the weird face (that looks like something out of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon) that Ash makes when he gets Slowking's crown, as well as how he acts.

"Splash, Dash, and Smash for the Crown!"

1. Terrible ending: Goh unfairly gets disqualified when his giant magikarp does not land (which by the way the rule[clarification needed] randomly appears out of nowhere), and nearly loses his giant magikarp in space, although it does return in the ending of the following segment.

"Slowking's Crowning!"

1. Many pointless filler scenes, such as when Ash, Pikachu, Goh, and Raboot keep swapping Slowking's crown.
2. No real ending; all that happens is that Goh's giant magikarp falls from the sky and lands on Slowking's head, which knocks the crown away and turns Ash, Goh, Pikachu, and Raboot back to normal; we then get a montage of the begging with Team Rocket with Kasukarp making an appearance at the front of the door, but James closes the door.
3. This segment happens right after the episode "A Festival Reunion!," wherein the previous episode not only did Ash and Goh visit the Kalos region, but Ash had a World Coronation battle with Korrina, a character from Pokémon the Series: XY (season 17).

Good Qualities

In General

1. The animation quality and voice acting is still good.

"Splash, Dash, and Smash for the Crown!"

1. The montage of Ash and Goh training up the giant magikarp (despite its cringe nature) is entertaining.
2. Raboot's facial expression when seeing the muscular variations of the boys is pretty funny.

"Slowking's Crowning!"

1. The closing scene with James closing the door on the Magikarp King was priceless.

Reception

These two segments received mixed-to-positive reviews from audiences. IMDb gave the episode a 8.2/10. Elite Trainer Mark gave the episode a 4/10, opining that the way the segments were put together was poorly done, and questioning the insanity of the episode's events. On the other hand, Strawberry Tofu praised the episode for its comedy. Animated Ginger rated the episode B tier in their video "Every Pokemon Journeys Episode Ranked from Worst to Best," also praising the comedy.

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