Pokemon always has a special place in my heart considering how I basically grew up with the franchise with its games, merchandise, and media. The recently released Pokemon : Paldean Winds animated series does the job right with drawing out the emotions of up and coming trainers finding their purpose throughout their journey.
The first episode of Pokemon: Paldean Winds titled “Breathe Out” starts off with a beautiful panning shot of the first major town in Scarlet and Violet – Mesagoza. Even from the first minute, the episode is sprawling with life, with the many appearances of Pokemon from a flock of Fletchling flying across a blue sky, to a Gimmighoul wandering the streets looking for its coin.
While I was already taken aback by how stunning everything looked, what really sold me on the series was the quick chase sequence between a Corviknight and a trainer’s partner Tinkaton. If you played Scarlet and Violet, you’d know that from the Pokedex entry, the pink menace lives to hunt Corviknight as sport where it uses its hammer to shoot rocks at them. Seeing Tinkaton’s eyes sparkle as it attempts to chase down the metal raven is just satisfying to look at.
We’re then later introduced to three Academy students – Ohara, Aliquis, and Hohma, each with different aspirations to the great Treasure Hunt. Despite Pokemon having a more mythical premise, the first episode manages to capture a more grounded and down to earth feel. This is apparent when we see Ohara have her passion to music be refueled after seeing her partner Pokemon Fuecoco going out of their way to pick up Ohara’s instrument after being thrown aside.
My favourite part of the episode was definitely the scene when Arven talked with Ohara. There was a subtle pause from Arven from she brought up her father. This particular scene hit hard especially when you played the games and found out how Arven’s parents had neglected him throughout his childhood.
All in all, Paldean Winds made a solid introductory with the debut of their first episode and I’m excited to see what’s in store for us in the coming episodes.
Pokemon : Paldean Winds can be watched on the official Pokemon Youtube channel.