so when the plotline hits its climax & they’re at the white ruins and stuff, there’s a lot of stuff that can be seen as, like… extensions? of the themes of previous episodes. (i don’t know if extension describes it best but it’s all i can think of)
‘cause you’ve got stuff like
conflict between N and prof cedric juniper about whether the light stone is being seen as what it truly is or as just a tool for research (similar to how prof juniper (regular) and fennel were all excited to revive Archen using dream energy but then failed to think about stuff like how they’d care for archen afterwards). like, whether or not history is being treated with the respect of once being alive.
people messing with ancient, legendary powers that they do not know the full extent of as an attempt to do evil things. in this case, it’s team plasma trying (multiple times) to summon Reshiram and then being destroyed afterwards, and their only failsafe the second time being a machine that purposely stresses out pokémon to increase their power & control them. which is, of course, comparable to all of Team Rocket’s previous plots — reviving the forces of nature and leading an island into ruins, reviving their own fossil and trying to take over the past or whatever that was, and the most recent example of capturing Meloetta and using its song to revive the forces of nature again and Giovanni almost dying because he’s an idiot
and, the ever prevalent theme of:
what are Pokémon’s roles in society and what does it mean to be friends with them — are pokémon and humans truly able to get along and understand each other? and though this certainly isn’t specific to this specific series, it is a very prevalent theme, especially when looking at Iris’s arc and how she’s always trying to understand her pokémon better. even people like … every main character but cilan, who have the inherent ability to understand their pokémon, can’t always truly understand them or communicate with them. more than anything learning to coexist with others is a learned ability, and requires being able to learn how to both understand your own emotions and their emotions. and stuff like that. so, when people and pokémon come together, and work together, it creates something more than the sum of their parts. because that’s how it works in real life, too, which of course is why there’s so many stories about friendship and stuff in the world, because that’s how humans are.
anyways that’s all i can think of for the ep N arc & the stuff that happens at the white ruins. pocket monsters. my final message…