"Presenting: the Mareanie Drama for Dummies!"
—Meowth
Japanese Title: Don't Cry, Hidoide!
Original Airdate: January 18, 2018
US Airdate: May 19, 2018
Meowth tells the story of a broken heart. This time, somebody else's.
Meanwhile, for Team Rocket, things get really complicated when the oft-discussed former love of Mareanie appears. As usual, James is want to make his Pokémon happy, even if it means releasing her because he feels he can't. But even as the other Mareanie evolves into a Toxapex, Mareanie doesn't seem to want to leave James, leading to a new confrontation.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Mareanie's former love is uniquely-colored, but is not Shiny. Shiny Mareanie and Toxapex are red, while this one only has different shades of its natural light blue and purple to coincide with James' colour scheme.
- Art Shift: The art is of a sketchier style when Meowth tells Mareanie's story.
- Badass Normal: James takes on a Toxapex on his own to win over Mareanie, and later fends off a Tentacruel to save them. And wins.
- Gender Reveal: In case it was remotely inconspicuous before, James's Mareanie is revealed to be female in this episode.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: James can't spare the money to buy Mareanie a Corsola horn necklace. So when the other Mareanie offers her one, he feels he is unworthy to be her trainer.
- Lost in Translation: TPCi used a literal translation for the term "sempai" and referred to the different Mareanie as "mentor". The original intent was the more affectionate slang usage of the term.
- Story Within a Story: Meowth relates the story of Mareanie's first love to Jessie and James.
- Theme Music Power-Up: The original XYZ vocal edit of "Rocket-dan Danka" blares in the background during James and Toxapex's battle in the Japanese edit.
- A Twinkle in the Sky: James blasts off a Tentacruel that attacked him, Mareanie, and Toxapex.
- Wimp Fight: The battle between Toxapex and James devolves into a slap fight.
- Woman Scorned: Even though Mareanie fell for James because he looks exactly like the uniquely-colored Mareanie she was once in love with, we find out there's a reason she's not in love with him anymore: he's a player who offers other Mareanie Corsola horns, considered a sacred expression of love among Mareanie. He even offers James one at the end of the episode, leading her to be angry with both.
