With Misty by his side once more, Ash finds himself reunited with an equally unexpected face in the form of his other old traveling companion, Brock! But when the former Pokémon breeder-turned doctor finds himself heartbroken yet again, our heroes turn to another unexpected face in the form of Cilan for help as Brock is drawn to a siren song of promised love, unaware he's being used by a malicious Hatterene to feed of his emotions!
This episode contains the following tropes:
- All for Nothing: All those years Brock studied to become a Pokémon Doctor go to waste since he gives up that job for a girl. Doubly so since it turns out said girl has a fiancé, and Brock's attempts at impressing her were in vain.
- All-Loving Hero: If the Pokédex entries for the Hatenna line are anything to consider, those Pokémon reacts strongly to people with strong emotions and generally prefer calm emotions. The fact Hatenna considers Ash, of all people, calm enough to follow his lead, and that Ash managed to stop Hatterene from following with her rampage says that much.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Under Hatterene's influence, Brock attacks Ash, believing him to be the absent fiancé that caused Brock's heartbreak in the first place.
- Breaking Old Trends:
- Cilan is the first companion to appear outside of the main Journeys story arc, outside of a brief implication of his appearance in "Radio Lulled the Mischievous Stars!" and his cameo in "Partners In Time!".
- This is the first episode where Ash isn't seen with any of his previous Pokémon after having brought at least eight of them back so far.
- The Bus Came Back: Brock and his Steelix, along with Cilan and his Pansage, make their returns here. It would notably be the latter's final appearance under Ash's tenure as the lead.
- But Now I Must Go: While Cilan is offered to come with Ash and the rest of the group, he declines, wanting to return to Unova so he can see Ingo and Emmett unveil a new rail coach back home.
- Call-Back:
- With Cilan back for his final appearance, he gets to show off his connoisseur skills, love of detective work, and discuss his passion for the railroads like he did on Black and White. For an added bonus, Misty gets annoyed with them the same way Iris (who had a similar personality) did on that same show.
- Psyduck pops out of his Poké Ball twice like he did on the original series.
- Misty gets frightened by a Joltik, leading Ash to discuss her fear of Bug Types.
- Character Development: An acknowledged need by Brock, who notes that he has to make his heart grow a lot stronger if he truly wants to accomplish his goals.
- Continuity Nod:
- Misty is shocked that Brock is working at the restaurant she and Ash are eating at, having last seen him as a Pokémon Doctor in training.
- Upon reuniting with Cilan, Ash describes him as an old friend who used to travel with him.
- Misty recognizes Cilan from the lure that Ash was using in the last episode.
- Cilan already knows Brock from having met in the post-Black and White Johto episode, with Cilan mentioning the two watched Ash's final match against Leon together.
- Easily Forgiven: As soon as Hatterene stops feeding off Brock's negative emotions as soon as he snaps out of his trance to heal Hatenna, the heroes are quick to forgive her.
- Emotion Eater: Hatterene picks up the negative emotions from Brock's heartbreak and uses her Psychic Powers to lure him in. Then she appears as Brock's various love interests, alternating between claiming to love and hate him just to feed off such blatant negativity.
- Epic Fail: A particularly cruel one in Brock's case. Despite spending years to study to become a Pokémon Doctor, and managing to becoming prominent enough to have his own hover jet for emergency calls and being able to visit any region's Pokémon Center at a moment's notice, he walks away from his job just so he could attract the attention of a pretty girl, this time by running a restaurant with her as her chef. Not only does Brock fail to notice that she's not single, but learns the hard way that her boyfriend is coming back soon. Then when he does get back, they'll get married. Oh, and that chef job? Brock was just holding the fort down for him.
- Failed a Spot Check: Seriously Brock, didn't it ever occur to you to check to see if the girl you liked was single before you threw away your prospective career to run a restaurant with her?
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Misty and Ash both comment that their meal tastes awfully familiar. Then Brock, who cooked said meal, comes out and is surprised to see his old friends.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Pikachu has to use Thunderbolt to snap Ash, Misty, and Cilan out of their trances.
- Kick the Dog: Exploited by Hatterene, who poses as various women Brock likes and alternates between loving and hating him to feed off his negativity.
- Love Makes You Stupid: Despite Brock working hard to study to become a Pokémon Doctor, he ditched his career just so he could serve as the head chef of a restaurant run by a very attractive woman. Unfortunately for him, said woman is engaged, and Brock's position is implied to be temporary at best until her fiancé returns from his formal training, with a wedding planned afterwards. This constant heartbreak is then fed off by a Hatterene, leaving Ash and the others to try and free him. At the end, able to walk free, Brock admits that he should travel with Ash again because he needs to make his heart stronger.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Steelix willingly attacks Ash and Pikachu for Brock despite his trainer being under a spell.
- Only Sane Man: Pikachu is the only one who doesn't fall for Hatterene's Psychic abilities and zaps Ash, Misty, Brock and Cilan out of their trances.
- Our Sirens Are Different: Hatterene, though not a Siren in the traditional sense (being more akin to a witch), can use her Psychic abilities to feed off the negative emotions of others and lure them into the woods with promises of getting what they want, only to cruelly use it against them.
- Out of Character: Surprisingly, Croagunk doesn't show up to jab Brock in the rear to snap him out of throwing his entire Pokémon Doctor career away in favor of courting yet another pretty woman.
- Riddle for the Ages: Discussed In-Universe. Cilan questions whether or not Misty would show fear or admiration over encountering a Pokémon that was both a Water and a Bug Type like Dewpider, which even she admits she's not sure of.
- Siren Song: A variant. Hatterene can use her Psychic abilities to make her victims see whatever they want before tormenting them by yanking it away. This includes Brock having his heart won and broken by pretty women, Ash wanting his Mom's Croquets before being buried under a mountain of them, Misty chasing after Water Types before they're replaced with Bug Types, and Cilan attempting to catch up to Ingo and Emmett before they drive too far away for him to catch up. Pikachu zaps them out of it.
- Stock Sound Effects: Steelix speaks in voiceclips from the late Unsho Ishizuka.
