A quick stop at the ocean for Ash and his Pokémon turns into an unexpected reunion when a chance encounter with a Clauncher winds up reuniting him with his old friend, Misty, who's been hunting that same Clauncher. The two's reunion soon turns to a battle over who gets to keep said Clauncher, as a starving Team Rocket eyes their next meal!
This episode contains the following tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch:
- Pikachu winds up "catching" Clauncher on the tail and attracts Corphish's attention, starting a bromance that makes it seem that Ash will end up with Clauncher filling the empty slot on his team. Alas for Corphish, Misty just narrowly beats him and earns the right to catch Clauncher.
- When Misty shows herself, Pikachu seems to happily greet Psyduck, but jumps right over his head to greet his trainer. Luckily, Leavanny gives the duck a comforting pat.
- Bash Brothers: Corphish and Clauncher form a bromance over the course of the episode, bonded by their shared love for fighting.
- Broken Win/Loss Streak: After keeping his momentum going since his loss to Bea, Ash finally loses his first match since then when Politoed narrowly defeats Corphish for possession of Clauncher.
- The Bus Came Back: Ash brings Corphish, Totodile, Leavanny, and Rowlet back to his team, while Misty returns, bringing Psyduck, Azurill, and Politoed with her. Team Rocket also brings back their old Magikarp submarine.
- Call-Back:
- Rowlet still likes to sleep in Ash's backpack.
- Ash and Misty battle for the right to catch Clauncher, like they did on "The Totodile Duel". For bonus points, Totodile is there to watch the whole thing.
- Misty sneaking behind the trees to follow Ash isn't unlike when she did so during Indigo League, making an excuse as to why she's following him (though it's due to an implied crush this time, not because he fried her bike).
- Character Development: In an interesting contrast of Ash and Misty's relationship in Indigo League compared to today, their teasing of one another is taken in far better jest between the two parties instead of it being constant bickering. When Ash sees through Misty's obvious lies about wanting to travel with him for Clauncher's sake, he trolls her by not initially letting her come along, but Pikachu "convincing" him lets him agree without question to have her back again.
- Continuity Nod:
- Rowlet sneaks his way onto Misty's head, no doubt remembering her from when Ash's school traveled to Kanto.
- Misty congratulates Ash for becoming the World Champion, having watched his match on TV.
- Ash reveals he has a lure from Cilan, whom he describes as an old friend he traveled with a while back. An incensed Misty questions why he isn't using the lure she gave him, which he snarkingly claims is because Cilan's catches Pokémon better.
- Misty's Bug Phobia doesn't come up despite Leavanny being present, similar to how she wasn't uncomfortable around Tracey's Scyther or Venonat.
- Deadpan Snarker: With Misty back in his life, Ash doesn't hesitate to bust out a few zingers at her expense, though his teasing is less of him being bratty and more of him being The Gadfly this time around.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: Invoked. In the battle for possession of Clauncher, Ash has two Grass Types and one Electric Type on hand, but he chooses to use Corphish instead (with Ash even noting he wanted to use Pikachu at first, but chose Corphish for fairness). It's a close battle, but the lobster isn't able to beat Politoed.
- Extra-ore-dinary: Corphish is revealed to have learned the Steel Type move Metal Claw.
- Graceful Loser: Despite Misty beating him and losing out on a chance to catch Clauncher, Ash doesn't take it badly and instead just comforts Corphish.
- Heroes Gone Fishing: Ash and Misty both try to fish up Clauncher. Misty wins possession of him in a battle.
- Honor Before Reason: In typical Ash fashion, he chooses Corphish to battle Misty due to the bond he'd formed with Clauncher, despite the fact that several of his other Pokémon would have been much better choices. Sadly for Ash, this doesn't pay off.
- Mythology Gag: Misty refers to herself as "The Tomboyish Mermaid", which is her nickname from the games, while also doubling as a call back to "The Misty Mermaid" where she dressed up as an actual mermaid.
- Ocular Gushers: Poor Corphish starts crying when he fails to beat Misty's Politoed. Luckily, Clauncher comes out to cheer him up with a training montage.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Played for Laughs. Misty beats Ash and gets to catch Clauncher, but he just pops out of his Poké Ball and goes over to train with Ash and Corphish, making her wonder why she even bothered to go through all that.
- Ship Tease: And Boy how. The moment Misty arrives and keeps Ash from catching Clauncher, she wraps a literal red string around his arm, speaks in a romantically-taken tone about wanting to catch Clauncher for being bound by "The Red String of Fate" in a way that seems like she's speaking about Ash, and she stalks Ash to rejoin him by nervously claiming it's for "Clauncher's" sake, which Ash can clearly see isn't true.
- Snap Back: After spending most of Journeys with a decent supply of food, the Team Rocket Trio is back to starving and desperate for food once more. Guess Morpeko must have really ate them out of house and home.
- Subverted Catchphrase: Played With. Team Rocket delivers their usual motto, but they're so starved that they can't bring themselves to say it with the usual gusto. The usual music is even changed to a theme emphasizing their sad state.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Ash may be the world Monarch now, but he's facing off against Misty with a Pokémon he hasn't really used or trained much since the battle frontier saga while Misty is using one of her team mainstays, which is a type she specializes in. So, it isn't too much of a shock that she actually does manage to beat Ash in their battle.
- Took a Level in Badass: Misty's Politoed has a massively upgraded moveset, having learned Hydro Pump, Bounce and Focus Blast offscreen. To top it off, the Japanese version suggests it's become one of Misty's ace battlers, as it's stated to be the current guardian of the Cerulean Gym.
- Took a Level in Smartass: In a throwback to the original series' style of banter, Ash acts distinctly more cocky and sassy in this episode, teasing Misty about her ineffective fishing lure and laughing when she gets pulled into the water by Clauncher. He also gets quite smug when she awkwardly asks to travel with him again, knowing full well she was using Clauncher and Corphish as an excuse.
