The Pokémon School announces that it will hold an open school where people in the area can come visit it. Ash will be holding a presentation there. And his mom will attend it!

Well so much for Ash leaving Melemele. I had hoped with the previously announced titles, that he was finally moving on.

I feel like an episode with a plot like this is the kinda thing that the writers would use to bring old characters back. Possible. But unlikely, and since Ash's mom is actually appearing for an episode other than the first and last of every series, I guess it's a small victory.

The mother of our beloved protagonist returns:

What questions me now is who will become Mimey's new English VA when the dubbed version airs.

Pros
Delia returning
Litten was so cute with Delia
Delia being bae and commanding Litten
Class quite rightly pissed at Ash for cheating
Ending was dope with possible foreshadowing
Rotom made use of one of it's functions from a previous episode despite for a bad cause

Cons
Team Skull barely had any screen time! Hopefully upcoming episodes make up for that.
Delia left as soon as she came
Was expecting more from classmates with their presentations but eh

Overall 8/10. It sort of felt like a filler but was very enjoyable all the same

Best reaction: The class for not taking Ash's crap.

Anyone got SpongeBob vibes from this episode, more specially the essay episode and the "what I learned from boating school is" scene? I'll bet once Litten evolves into an Incineroar, it'll still be all embarrassed towards Delia. Wasn't expecting Team Skull to show up in this episode (they're suppose to be due next week with their first ever encounter with Team Rocket).

Team Skull's appearance in this episode just felt forced and unnecessary. I guess it did need some kind of action though. The reactions by Ash's classmates and Kukai were pretty to Ash cheating was funny and the Litten/Delia moments were cute. Not sure why Delia didn't have Mr. Mime do anything against Team Skull, like incase them in a box with the lightscreens (I forget what his move is actually called). I also found it weird that the classmates were offering to help Ash after he gave the own words report like it was his first time there..

I wonder if they're gonna have Kukai and Delia date at some point, it did seem like they were kind hinting at a possible attraction a little bit.

I haven't watched the dubbed version of it yet(my fault honestly) but every time I see Litten in Delia's arms, I get the feeling that Litten isn't going to evolve so that it can remain as the new "house cat" when Ash returns from Alola. Team Skull honestly is a flat fail for an antagonist group so far. Also, I got a raised eyebrow when Ash got caught cheating. You'd think they'd lay down the law as an opportunity to demonstrate cheating is unwise. Not a bad episode though as Delia shows that the trainer apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I just find it interesting she has Litten fight as opposed to Mr.Mime(further foreshadowing Litten never evolving and becoming the new "house cat").

I think it's fair to say Team Skull's role in the anime is terrible. They seem to only exist for comedy purposes, and that's a total waste of such a fun villainous team.

That's true of every member in the games not named Gladion, Plumeria, or Guzma.

The three recurring grunts have names (Tupper, Zip, and Wrap) and seem to be Team Skull's equivalent to Jessie, James, and Meowth.