"Of all the Pokémon to be trapped with...It's like a horror movie, except it's real life!"
—Meowth
Japanese Title: The Shocking and Prickly Togedemaru!
Original Airdate: December 8, 2016
Canada Airdate: April 22, 2017
US Airdate: May 16, 2017
The question is, how long will Pikachu let Togedemaru be this friendly?
After a disastrous attempt at housekeeping, Ash and Pikachu head to the Hau'oli City shopping mall, where they are met and assisted by Sophocles and Togedemaru. Things quickly go downhill when Team Rocket botches a surveillance attempt, causing the mall to lockdown. Can Ash and Sophocles work together to solve the issue and stop the remains of Team Rocket's butchered plan?
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Alone with the Psycho: After the Disaster Dominoes, Team Rocket is locked in the one security room with Mimikyu out of its Poké Ball.
- Blatant Lies: Despite panicking when the lights go out, Sophocles insists that he's not afraid of the dark.
- Blue with Shock: If you ever want a good example of the reasoning behind this trope, see Meowth's reaction to finding Mimikyu right behind him. Not only is he this, but his breath audibly catches in his throat.
- Camera Fiend: During Ash's misadventures of housekeeping and cooking, RotomDex is snapping photos of Rowlet, who is happily posing for it.
- Cuddle Bug: When Ash first catches up with Sophocles, Togedemaru runs up and glomps Pikachu. His attitude about her affections changes by the end of the episode, but it's not going to last.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: As part of an undercover plot, Meowth has become a cook at a Malasada shop in the Hau'oli City shopping mall.
- Disaster Dominoes: Mimikyu spooks Meowth, knocking him into James, causing the security Lock Down of the mall.
- Door Dumb: Sophocles' attempts to lead Ash to a way out only serve to lead Ash to running into several of the barrier doors.
- Exactly What I Aimed At: Ash invokes this trope by having Pikachu fire a Thunderbolt from a nearby building at Togedemaru at the climax of this episode.
- Indy Hat Roll: Ash pulls one as another door closes. Sophocles also tries but trips, so Ash has to help him.
- Lethal Chef: Do we blame Ash or RotomDex for this one? Ash at least admitted he doesn't know how to cook (picking up nothing from years of experience eating other people's cooking). RotomDex was the one providing the instructions.
- Limited Wardrobe: Ash tries to do the laundry. All Professor Kukui has is a bunch of the same white lab coat.
- Men Can't Keep House: At least, Ash can't. Even the narrator thinks Professor Kukui leaving Ash alone was a bad idea.
- Minion with an F in Evil: In this case, it's Jessie who is too engrossed in Meowth's Malasada donuts to push their surveillance plan ahead.
- Samus Is a Girl: At the end of the episode, Sophocles non-chalantly tells Ash that Togedemaru is a girl. Which really says a lot about why she was so friendly with Pikachu.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: This time, Bewear does parkour on the rooftops to grab Team Rocket when they lose.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: In the Japanese original, after eating his failed cooking attempt, Ash pukes sparkles (sound effects and all) all over Pikachu, making him shock the entire house. This is turned into a Vomit Discretion Shot for the English dub.
