>>35436577Anyway, about Morelull. The episode sets up a pretty standard Japanese kids' camping scenerio, complete with campfire curry and campfire scary stories. Lillie, a rich girl with no everyday life experience, doesn't realize that rice expands when cooked and accidentally makes a boatload. A cute little character joke, but more importantly a setup. Meanwhile, Lana's semi-sadistic sense of humor is out in full force as she informs the group that the forest is known to drain its victims of energy and leave them as empty husks.
As the episode goes on, we see various characters fall victim to this energy draining (with the culprit kept mostly hidden) and we learn that eating your fill instantly reverses the condition. Once the episode's star, Morelull, is revealed, both the audience and the characters know the drill. Ash figures out that this particular little glow shroom is struggling and lagging behind its peers, and decides to help it in the most classically Ash way possible.
Here, we're treated to one bit of genuinely unforced SM comedy. Ash stuffs his face, is drained by Morelull, stuffs his face again, is drained again, and thanks to the gratuitous amount of rice, this can continue pretty much ad nauseam. Finally, little Morelull is feeling better and joins the others, and we are treated to a mass evolution, a lovely visual, and a revelation that the Morelull actually give their drained energy to the forest upon evolving. What seemed sinister before is now charming, an example of symbiosis unique to the world of Pokemon. Without too much excitement, the episode hits some of the best notes this anime can hit.