THEY DON'T MISS
Hands down best PWC battle so far! Absolutely loved the setup, atmosphere, switching, matchups, strategies, animation and especially music here. They cut straight to the chase. So many cool moments, I can't list them all. Volkner is amazing man and was going all out. He was intimidating, calculating, humble, approachable all at once. You can tell he just wants a good fight. His relationship with Ash is different to most gym leaders, since Ash was the reason he got back into battling in the first place whilst he was able to push Infernape enough to master its blaze ability. Without Ash, Volkner wouldn't even be here. Also loved how Ash mentioned he brought back his Z ring specifically for him, shows just how much he respects Volkner and wants to give it his all as well. Even within the battle, Volkner was winning 1st half then Ash won 2nd half. Seriously thought that Ash was gonna lose at one point.
Glad to see my boy Lucario finally got his time to shine. It stings that Gengar hasn't had a win yet, but it actually makes sense here. Gengar's a wildcard, someone unpredictable who's high risk high reward. Against slower and stronger opponents (like Luxray and Raichu) he can throw them off with his agility and fast attacks. But when his opponent can match his speed and get a few good hits off, it's game over for him (like Electrode and Rotom). He's also pretty frail in game anyway. Besides he was still important, being able to weaken Luxray so Lucario could eventually draw with it (otherwise he would've just gone down to him).
Nitpicks wise:
- No appearance or mention of Flint (weird since other major PWC battles always had someone major there)
- They didn't mention Ash's champion status in his scoreboard
- Lucario vs Luxray draw felt rushed
- Gengar went down too quickly and didn't use shadow ball or dazzling gleam
- Still iffy on that motor drive vs z move, cause I don't think it'll win in game but overloading electric types makes sense
- 99 --> 64 is quite a bit (though there was a disparity in rank), albeit glad there's no offscreen jumps
But honestly between the stunning battle, return of
THEY DON'T MISS
Hands down best PWC battle so far! Absolutely loved the setup, atmosphere, switching, matchups, strategies, animation and especially music here. They cut straight to the chase. So many cool moments, I can't list them all. Volkner is amazing man and was going all out. He was intimidating, calculating, humble, approachable all at once. You can tell he just wants a good fight. His relationship with Ash is different to most gym leaders, since Ash was the reason he got back into battling in the first place whilst he was able to push Infernape enough to master its blaze ability. Without Ash, Volkner wouldn't even be here. Also loved how Ash mentioned he brought back his Z ring specifically for him, shows just how much he respects Volkner and isn't messing around. Even within the battle, Volkner was winning 1st half then Ash won 2nd half. Seriously thought that Ash was gonna lose at one point.
Glad to see my boy Lucario finally got his time to shine. It stings that Gengar hasn't had a win yet, but it actually makes sense here. Gengar's a wildcard, someone unpredictable who's high risk high reward. Against slower and stronger opponents (like Luxray and Raichu) he can throw them off with his agility and fast attacks. But when his opponent can match his speed and get a few good hits off, it's game over for him (like Electrode and Rotom). He's also pretty frail in game anyway. Besides he was still important, being able to weaken Luxray so Lucario could eventually draw with it (otherwise he would've just gone down to him).
Nitpicks wise:
- No appearance or mention of Flint (weird since other major PWC battles always had someone major there)
- They didn't mention Ash's champion status in his scoreboard
- Lucario vs Luxray draw felt rushed
- Gengar went down too quickly and didn't use shadow ball or dazzling gleam
- Still iffy on that motor drive vs z move, cause I don't think it'll win in game but overloading electric types makes sense
- 99 --> 64 is quite a bit (though there was a disparity in rank), albeit glad there's no offscreen jumps
But honestly between the stunning battle, return of Pikashunium-Z, Cynthia return and master class tease, this is one of my favourite Journeys episodes altogether. Between Vesiquez, Volkner, Clemont and even Tapu Koko, battles against electric trainers/pokemon have been absolute bangers in the series and this lives up to it for the most part. If this is how PWC is moving forward, it's gonna be great. 9/10.
-Z, Cynthia return and master class tease, this is one of my favourite Journeys episodes altogether. Between Vesiquez, Volkner, Clemont and even Tapu Koko, battles against electric trainers/pokemon have been absolute bangers in the series and this lives up to it for the most part. If this is how PWC is moving forward, it's gonna be great. 9/10.