Today's episode okay, it was more then anything to establish Iris's back story though like syrusfan said I was expecting to at least see Drayden. Hmm, do you think it's possible that maybe in the anime Iris hasn't yet been picked to be Drayden's apprentice? Well that goes far too much into video game and anime spoilers so let's move on. Ash & co. stop in the middle of the forest so Iris and Cilan can have a battle so that Iris can teach Axew how to battle. However things don't go so well and it all ends with Axew failing to use Dragon Rage, and by failing I mean it causes a large explosion. As the take a rest Iris tells Ash & Cilan how she got Axew and why she asked Cilan for a battle. Meanwhile Axew and Pikachu are collecting apples and Axew falls and gets stuck on a Scolipede's antenna horns who starts attacking the two Pokemon. And let's not forget Team Rocket who are told to meet up with another Team Rocket agent and then head to the Desert Resort in order to get a meteorite. How did Iris get Axew? Can they rescue Axew from the Scolipede? Who is the mysterious agent Team Rocket are to meet up with? Will Dragon Rage be renamed Dragon Sneeze? Answers to all of these questions and more are in the review below:

How To Train Your Dragon-Types:
We're starting this episode in the middle of the action as Iris and Cilan are getting ready for a battle with Axew and Pansage as Ash and Pikachu sit on a rock on the sidelines. Ash asks why they couldn't join the battle and Iris tells him he can't because he'll try to win and Ash asks isn't that the point of battling (not unless they're trying to give Axew experience to evolve which I'm assuming they're trying to do). Iris calls him a kid (surprise surprise) and says she doesn't want Pikachu using Volt Tackle but despite Ash promising he wouldn't use Volt Tackle Iris still tells him he can't battle and just watch.

Axew is ready to go and Cilan says he'll give Iris just what she wants which gets Ash's attention and wonders what Cilan means. Iris tells Ash she'll show him and has Axew do a Scratch and as it waddles forward Cilan tells Pansage to use Bullet Seed "gently" and it starts spitting out seeds so slow I don't think they should arc as far as they do. But despite them going slower than 1 mph each one still hits Axew and it starts cowering as more hit it.

Iris: Oh no, Axew!
Ash *nervous*: Whoa, what was that?
Comment: I believe that's multiple failures on the lowest of levels.
Iris: Are you okay Axew?
Axew *crying*: Xew...
Comment: Oh boy, this is going to turn into EP044 "The Problem With Paras", isn't it?

Cilan nervously apologizes as Iris tells Axew to do its best as they're training, finally having it dawn on Ash this is a Training Battle and Cilan tells him that's what Iris asked for: a battle not so difficult so he's having Pansage only use 20% of its power (some quick math here, normally Bullet Seed has a Power of 25, though we need to add STAB because Pansage is a Grass-type bringing its Power to 37.5. 20% of 37.5 is 7.5. Finally we need to divide that in half because Axew is a Dragon-type which is resistant to Grass-type attacks so in the end Axew is being it and stopped by a move with a Power of 3.75... yeah). Ash questions Iris's training technique and she says there is nothing wrong getting into battles a little bit at a time but Ash says that it's more fun going all in and Iris calls him a kid (which is pretty much her way of saying she has nothing to say) also saying that Cilan and Pansage are acting like gentlemen as they agree to adjust their power level. Ash then says now that he thought about it (so many jokes can be made here ) this is the first time he saw Iris and Axew battle but Cilan tells Ash they should let them train their own way and Ash gives a "whatever".

Iris asks Axew if it could go on and it gets back up shaking away its tears. Ash and Pikachu cheer it on as it goes for another Scratch... only for Pansage to stop it by grabbing in Axew's back horn preventing it from reaching it. Iris tells Cilan to act serious and he says he is and it's a common Gym Battle strategy to stop your opponent from moving and then attacking from a distance before telling Pansage to user SolarBeam (um, whatever happened to this being an "easy battle"?). Ash asks if Axew know any other moves and Iris says it does but they wouldn't do any good (do I hear a Chekhov's Gun?). Ash asks why not use them but Iris tells him she doesn't need his advice and to be quiet but Ash then warns her that Pansage's SolarBeam is ready as we go slow-mo and see Pansage release a small, slow, and presumingly weak SolarBeam you'll ever see and hits Axew. As we go back to normal time Axew starts tumbling backwards but gets back on its feet and Ash tells Iris it's an important part of battling to use different moves and Iris tells him she already knows that. Ash then tells her that if she doesn't treat the battle as if its real then Axew isn't going to learn anything as Iris says he think he knows everything and she'll show him a real move telling Axew to use Dragon Rage. Axew's stomach begins to glow and as Ash, Pikachu, Cilan, and Pansage watch in surprise as Axew gathers the energy in its mouth... a giant explosion happens leaving Axew in a crater and everyone covered in soot as Iris gets depressed for messing it up again, surprising Ash having him to ask "again?".

You're Gonna Need A Heavier Tissue:
Going to Plot B, in a rundown building Team Rocket gets there next mission from Giovanni who tells them to go to the Desert Resort and retrieve a meteorite, explaining it was part of a meteor which was heading to Earth but fell apart, the largest piece falling to the Unova Region, and it can release an enormous amount of energy. They had analyzed the Dream Yard data and found a huge energy flow with an identical signature coming from the Desert Resort, with the meteorite they can alter the energy balance of the entire world which is the key to Team Rocket's plan for world conquest (so how would altering the energy balance help them takeover?). Giovanni finishes by saying he's sending over another Team Rocket agent to help them and tells them to meet him at the rendezvous point (I wonder which one had to call him back to ask him where the rendezvous point was as he never told them).

Back in the forest with Ash & co., Iris is lamenting about not being able to get Dragon Rage to work.

Ash: There's a better name for Axew's Dragon Rage.
Cilan: And the name is Dragon Sneeze.
Ash: That's it! So for now on we both think you should just call it Dragon Sneeze!
Comment: Okay, now if Iris calls both of them kids I would agree. *sigh*

Iris yells at them for joking around and Ash asks does Axew know any other moves and Iris says it only knows Scratch and Dragon Rage (though if the anime followed the games it should also know Leer and Assurance if he knows Dragon Rage). Iris says that Dragon Rage is suppose to fire energy balls at its opponent as we get a scene of a Haxorus demonstrating but when Axew uses it they just explode. As Axew and Pikachu decide to run around a bit, Iris says that because it wasn't working she thought they'd go slow and work on it as they go along but had realized that it's a long road to evolve Axew all the way into a Haxorus. As Iris was saying all this Axew was climbing up a tree to get a couple of apples, pieces them on its tusks, and goes back to offer them to Iris with Cilan saying those tusks come in handy as Iris eats the apples thanking it. Axew heads off once more and Cilan says that Axew liked the praise Iris gives it so it's going to get more fruit and Iris tells it not to go too far away. Ash says he's impressed by Axew's power and with some special training Axew will have Dragon Rage working soon with Cilan agreeing saying Axew has huge potential. Ash offers to battle Iris with Cilan saying it's worth a try and will feel like a real battle but Iris is nervous about the idea and turns it down saying she doesn't want to lose and Ash points out with that attitude she'll never battle and Iris responds with an arrogant "maybe so".

Ash asks how Iris got Axew with Cilan also interested and Iris says it was a gift from the Elder from her home town. We enter a flashback as Iris explains her hometown specializes in raising Dragon-type Pokemon (hence all the Axew and Fraxtures running around, though I'm more interested in the Zekrom and Reshiram statues, foreshadowing possibly?) and we see Iris talking with an elderly women, the previously referred to Elder. The Elder gives Iris a freshly hatched Axew so she could go on a journey to evolve the Axew into a Haxorus saying she'll grow along with it, getting to know Axew's heart, and the path she takes will be her own. The Elder gives one last bit of advice saying to become an adult it to learn a Pokemon's heart and becoming one with it and not to forget those words. Out of the flashback Iris says she's been on her journey for awhile and has realized she needed to do something which is why she asked Cilan to battle her. Ash asks if the Elder was Iris's grandmother and Iris says she isn't but rather the leader of the village and then notices that Axew and Pikachu have ran off.

I Can't Help But Think We Skipped Some Pre-Evolution:
So where are Pikachu and Axew? Apparently they just went further into the forest looking for apples Axew likes which happen to be hanging over a thin branch. Axew manages to grab one of apples but slips and falls into a bush... right on top of a Scolipede. The Scolipede wakes up and tries shaking Axew off but Axew is stuck in its antenna horns. Pikachu uses Iron Tail to try and stop Scolipede but it doesn't fell the attack and flings Pikachu off at a tree and starts charging at Pikachu who tries to apologize but seeing that isn't working starts running away as Scolipede sends the tree Pikachu was thrown into flying. Axew tries a Dragon Rage causing a large explosion which Ash & co. see and they start running toward it and getting there Pikachu jumps from the bushes and clings to Ash. It tries pulling Ash to follow it and when asked where Axew was Pikachu starts doing its charades though Ash has to tell it to slow down as it's going too fast, however they hear Axew and then see it on top of the Scolipede who starts charging at them. As they begin running away Scolipede spits out a Toxic melting a boulder right next to them and then spits another Toxic at Iris but luckily Ash pulls her out of the way as the Toxic eats away the tree behind her. Ash and Cilan say they'll take care of this and they send out Pansage and Snivy (why yes, they did send out two Grass-types against a Big/Poison-type, and while Cilan has an excuse Ash has a Tepig and a Pidove...) having Pansage use Bullet Seed at Scolipede's feet stopping it and Snivy use Vine Whip to grab onto Scolipede's antenna horns who then swings its head around sending Snivy flying back at Ash. Cilan says that Scolipede is too strong and Ash recalls Snivy as Iris runs in front of them and takes out a Pokeball (BTW, does Axew have a Pokeball? You'd think in a time when you need to save your Pokemon who's stuck the Pokeball would be useful) and though she's hesitant for a second she sends out her Excadrill... sorta.

Excadrill comes out curled up as if it was digging with Iris saying it's still in a bad mood and starts begging for it to help (and while this is happening what's Scolipede doing?) but after it doesn't respond Iris decides to forget about it and says she'll rescue Axew herself telling Ash and Cilan to distract it. Ash sends out Tepig (Oh, now you send out the super effective Pokemon now that you're plan is to distract it and not defeat it ) and as Pansage prepares a SolarBeam has Tepig and Pikachu do Ember and Thunderbolt once more at Scolipede's feet to stop it and finally a SolarBeam to cause it to rear up as Iris swings down from a vine and grabs Axew. They land behind Scolipede as Ash and Cilan congratulate her and they recall their Pokemon, though it feels like they forgot something... oh yeah, the Scolipede isn't knocked out and it starts getting back up glaring at Iris and Axew. As Scolipede gets ready to charge by stomping its feet it accidently kicks Excadrill sending it into a rock where it starts spinning to dig through the rock and into the ground. It digs buck up under Scolipede hitting it and uncurls midair ready for battle, each Pokemon staring angrily at each other. Ash tells Iris to start giving Excadrill commands but Iris says it wouldn't matter as Excadrill does't listen to her (this for some reason surprises Ash and Cilan despite them seeing Excadrill completely ignore her after sending it out). Scolipede uses Toxic but Excadrill deflects it with Cilan saying because Excadrill is part Steel-type it's immune to Poison-type attacks and Excadrill curls back up to do a Drill Run as Cilan says he senses a bit of a "battling flavor" under Excadrill's power. Excadrill finishes the battle by scooping under Scolipede while it was charging and flinging back sending Scolipede flying deep into the forest as Iris apologizes for startling it.

Excadrill celebrates its victory and Ash & co. thanks it but it curls back up and Iris recalls it saying one day she'll be able to battle with Excadrill and then apologizes to Axew for putting it through all that. Cilan tells Iris that battling is an art that needs time to perfect and she should train at her own pace and she thanks him but Ash then asks Iris if she want to battle.

Iris: You don't listen, Ash. See, I just told you that we're going to relax and training at our own pace. If you want to battle so badly why not just battle Pikachu?
Comment: Or he can battle Cilan, Ash does need to improve his battling skills against Gym Leaders.
Ash: Huh? *Him and Pikachu look at each other* Okay.
Pikachu: Pi-ka.
Ash: Sounds like a blast! Alright!
Iris: Are those two serious?
Cilan: They certainly make for a unique combination.
Comment: Yeah, but unique isn't always... logical.

Ash and Pikachu run to a clearing and you'd think that Ash would send out one of his other Pokemon to battle Pikachu... as you can probably guess this would be wrong and we see Ash telling Pikachu to Thunderbolt and Volt Tackle which it seems all to happy to do. Iris wonders if they have to take it this far and Cilan says that's who they are and we end this episode seeing Pikachu's electrical attacks blasting up through the treetops.