So what did you think about the episode!?

as for me james dressing as oak again?

I know they're getting lazy but come on!

water stones = drugs

is that what you're saying?

The episode was good, but there's a couple things I gotta mention:

1) The guide said that James brought back the idea, but it was actually Jessie's plan, in fact, James didn't want to do it.

2) The concept of Professor Oak connecting to a Pokemon's heart is a new one, but isn't that out of that Arcieus movie?

didnt professor oak already connect with hearts before that arceus movie came out? or maybe hes jsut super smart XD

by the way that grumpy over a thorn in your foot has got to be one of the oldest running gags LOL

A particularly boring episode, the only reason this episode isn't a complete filler is because Professor Oak shows up. Unfortunetly even that couldn't save the episode, mainly cause the main problems which occur have kidn of stupid resolutions. Overall, wasn't really that interesting of an episode which is a shame as the "dressing up as Oak scheme" was a good scheme concept (but not for the reason Team Rocket was originally planning to use it for) BTW, I forgot to mention this several episodes back, but these episodes are the beginning of the HeartGold & SoulSilver advertising with the mass use of Generation II Pokemon.

Marshland Near The Beach:
* Mind telling us which chore Ash is doing? Dawn is washing dishes, Brock looks to be making food/medicine, Johanna's doing something for the Twinleaf Festival, but Ash looks to be just watching Pikachu eat.
* Ah yes, Professor Oak is suppose to be giving a speech at the Twinlead Festival... unfortunetly he's late (which is why you usually have guest arrive early and not just before they are needed).
* Team Rocket however takes adventage of Professor Oak's sudden absence and Jessie dresses James up like Oak as they did in EP245 "Will the Real Oak Please Stand Up?" to sell more food and fast.
* And as expected, it backfires as Izzy and Cara finds the disguised James and takes him to where the lecture is going to be held (makes you wonder if Team Rocket even heard the part about the lecture).
* Meanwhile we see the reason why Professor Oak is late is because the car he was in got a flat... and apparently they are on Route 212 as there is a marshland...
* And as Professor Oak goes off into the marshland, Ash and co. come running up with Ash seeing him. Wait a minute, quick sand? Wouldn't it be more like sinkholes? And if you're in such a hurry, why not CHASE AFTER HIM INSTEAD OF TALKING ABOUT IT!
* Well that's odd, a Politoad has two Quagsires pick up Professor Oak and are now carrying him away... and finally it's Dawn who realizes they should be following behind instead of talking.
* Meanwhile James is sent out to do the lecture and completely freezes as Jessie and Meowth sent out to get him out of there. Hm, Professor Mud eh? Remember kids, mud spelled backwards is dum(b).
* Ash and co. have lost sight of Professor Oak and Dawn reminds them they can't look because of the quick sand *cough*they're*called*sinkholes*cough* so to get through they decide... to let Piplup lead...
* As you imagined, that worked out "great" with Buneary needing to use Ice Beam to save Piplup from sinking. Maybe a better Water-type to use would be Buizel... CROAGUNK! OF COURSE! Its species live in marshes!
* *Sigh* Piplup, what made you decide to keep on walking even though Croagunk had stopped? Thankfully after Croagunk takes it out of the mud Dawn decides to carry it... while "wah wah" music plays, that's a bit random.

Evolution Fixes Everything:
* Still frozen on stage, Jessie and Meowth talk to James through a hole that's on stage for some reason (did they remove a plank of wood?) and tell James to "ask" to use the audience's Pokeballs which gave James a second wind, he even makes a poem using their motto.
* Croagunk leads everyone to a cave which the Politoad and the two Quagsires come out of... and Ash scans them even though he had already done that in EP247 "Outrageous Fortunes" (Misty's Politoad) and EP127 "Once in a Blue Moon" (wild Quagsire). And being Dawn also scanned a Quagsire (DP083 "A Crasher Course in Power!"), the only Pokemon someone needed to scan is Politoad to be scanned by Dawn!
* Pikachu gets ready to attack (which wouldn't have worked on the Quagsires being they are part Ground-type) but Croagunk stops it instead challenges the Politoad on a one-on-one duel.
* Politoad goes a... jump kick?... while Croagunk does a Poison Jab as both past each other (also take notice Politoad's lower jaw is colored green instead of yellow) and after a standoff Politoad had shown to sustained the most damage (maybe it should have done an actual attack).
* As Politoad leads Ash and co. into the cave we see Professor Oak trying to cheer up a Lombre which seemed more gloom then they usually do... huh, why are there four Quagsires now?
* Anyway Ash scans Lombre even though he ALREADY DID in AG063 "Take the Lombre Home" with Brock's Lombre (seriously Ash, give Dawn a turn to scan a Pokemon you've seen but she hasn't). Playful trickster? No Lombre we've seen in the anime acts this way.
* Politoad brought Professor Oak because is smelled he had a Water Stone with him he was gonna show for his lecture and Politoad hope evolving it would lift its spirits. I don't see why, Lombre seems to be suffering from a depression of sorts, unless the problem that it wants to evolve evolving it shouldn't instantly make it...
* And upon evolving into Ludicolo it is now a happy dancing lilypad duck... you know, if Professor Oak knew this is what Politoad was trying to do why didn't he do it as soon as meeting the Lombre?
* I know what you're thinking "now you're gonna complain about Ash scanning Ludicolo, right?". Actually, no, Ash never did scan a Ludicolo, May did in AG067 "Go Go Ludicolo!", but not Ash surprisingly enough.
* *Sigh* Dawn and her Poems... poems... poems fetish?... no, that doesn't sound right... oh, but no time for that as Dawn remembers the reason why Professor Oak is even in Sinnoh: the Twinleaf Festival lecture. Whoa, now there's like 6 Quagsires!

How The Rock Hard Have Fallen:
* Um, Jessie and Meowth, don't you think someone will see your heads popping from the floor? Anyway Ash and co. (+ Professor Oak) get to the leacture to see the Oak disguised James... oh, and apparently Jessie and Meowth did pop one of the floor tiles up.
* Whoa! For a little kid he's packing a Tyranitar! And for that very reason I guess that's why it's acting up, its on a level which it doesn't obey "experienced" trainers, getting a few badges should fix that. But let's see the anime's reason for Tyranitar's sudden attitude problem.
* I kind of suspected the Tyranitar was going to send James blasting off, though I thought it would have been with a Hyper Beam instead of just swinging its tail.
* Okay Professor Oak, what's the problem with it? Why does Professor Oak keep on saying "combining his heart with Pokemon", last time I checked Professor Oak can't Transcend... a thorn... A THORN! Just for fun, let's check out several of Tyranitar's Pokedex entries:

- Gold/HeartGold: Its body can't be harmed by any sort of attack, so it is very eager to make challenges against enemies.
- Silver/SoulSilver: Extremely strong, it can change the landscape. It has an insolent nature that makes it not care about others.
- Crystal: In just one of its mighty hands, it has the power to make the ground shake and mountains crumble.
- Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald: Tyranitar is so overwhelmingly powerful, it can bring down a whole mountain to make its nest. This Pokémon wanders about in mountains seeking new opponents to fight.
- Diamond/Pearl/Platinum: If it rampages, it knocks down mountains and buries rivers. Maps must be redrawn afterward.

So apparently it's body can withstand all sort of attacks, it destroys mountains, buries rivers, creates earthquakes, causes maps to be changed... and apparently goes down from a little thorn! WHAT! They might as well just had Pikachu remove the thorn to make it a completely ripoff the Aesop fable we all are thinking about right now.
* Yay, I too wonder who that person who was imitating Professor Oak was too, it's not like we there is a group of villains we all know who did it once before (at least this time we didn't solve it with a poetry contest).
* And we end the episode with Jessie and Meowth picking up James and being told to get back to work as the Twinleaf Festival has begun.