It's an episode about sticky hands. On paper I should have really enjoyed it, but for various reasons I couldn't get fully immersed.
To my astonishment, the aspect I liked most was the Aceburn and Lucario chemistry. Actually, for the two "cool" Pokemon of the series, they're a pair of dorks, and I love that! I also love the enemies to lovers thing they've got going on. Funny that they're almost opposing matching pairs to their trainers, with Aceburn being a bubbly mess-maker and Lucario being a faux-stoic. It was silly though that they had so much time to fight with each other when they were battling the TRio - what were you guys doing just standing there, not ordering your mons to move or making any attempts to steal Pikachu?!
As others have mentioned, the absence of other humans and Pokemon in their world's New York City was absurd. Are they also in a covid lockdown? If so, then how come Satoshi and Go were allowed to fly there and wander around without masks, eating street food and not maintaining a social distance 'huh?! Anyway, I digress. It's not like you need to splash out on the animation budget, even still background characters in just a few shots would have made the place come to life a bit.
Does anyone remember the thread about whether Satoshi could carry a series alone? For me this series has proven that he, Go and the TRio combined cannot carry a series alone! It's sincerely boring to watch. The bit when he went to wash his hands and left Go with his melting ice-cream was cute, but that's 1 moment in 20 minutes. I'm also starting to board the 'Deko Akao doesn't know how to write Satoshi' train. Lucario was missing for like half a day, and he was just eating, seriously dude wtf?! If the TRio were behaving like this with one of theirs I'd be frothing at the mouth and they're the villains, so what gives? Also, Go is a dick for not bringing Hoshigarisu who won him this stupid trip.
As for the TRio, yeah ok you've planned this scheme, plotted to ambush Pikachu, built a (pretty dope tbh) mecha, but why tf are you in Isshu? How did you get there, where are you staying, what is your purpose? Actually, what is your purpose is a question I have for them wrt this series as a whole. (My heart almost burst seeing them in that ice-cream van at the beginning 
Take me back to Alola!)
The episode was just ok. Pretty much sums up PM.
