'Pokémon Master Journeys' Part 2: Meet Sobble, a water lizard who's all about personal space
While Episode 14 of 'Pokémon Master Journeys' Part 2 opens with Ash Ketchum and Goh being interviewed at the Cerise Park, disclosing their respective goals to the public, there's another character introduced in the scenes weaved between the interview sequence. Sobble, a water lizard Pokemon, goes about its daily routine when all of a sudden it evolves. Now, we'd think that the Pokemon would be happy with its growth but this is where we see a brilliant simplification of a real-world problem.
Sobble, who is now Drizzile, is not at all happy with its physical attributes or somewhat advanced powers. This is because the Pokemon expected to evolve into Inteleon, the second stage of evolution for a Sobble. Completely disappointed with its appearance, Drizzile wanders the surrounding areas of Cerise Park seeking time away from familiar faces and places. However, Goh's Rotom Phone notifies him of the evolution and he goes looking for Drizzile. It's eventually found nesting in a cave and disappears after Goh and others make attempts to cheer it up.
Goh's efforts in understanding what transpired make Professor Cerise explain to him that aspects of a personality can change with evolution. This makes Goh realize something and he rushes out of the laboratory looking for Drizzile. Drizzile's finally found on the roof of dilapidated building stargazing. Goh, who in the series was portrayed as a know-it-all, apologizes to the water lizard Pokemon and shares how he struggled with evolution in life too. He breaks down to Drizzile how a sudden change in his life left him completely withdrawn and the attempts made by other authoritative figures made things worse. Though of a different kind, the evolution that Goh went through and the heartfelt apology from his end makes it reach out and wipe a tear rolling down Goh's face. Drizzile vanishes momentarily only to be found in its cave, leaving Goh with hopes of an encounter with it in the near future.
On the surface level, this episode of Part 2 of 'Pokemon Master Journeys' seems like just another event unfolding in the vast series but upon introspection leaves one with a valuable message. Dragging someone out of their cave, be it literal or figurative, is not always the best thing to do. Time and space usually make things better. It's best to give everyone that every now and then.
'Pokemon Master Journeys' Part 2 is currently streaming on Netflix.