August 18th: SM135 - The Semifinals! Kaki VS Gladio!!

[Epicocity]

I feel like the biggest problem with this is that it's effectively killed 90% of the tension the League tried to have going for it.

Unless Guzma beats Ash here, then a huge part of the threat that is Guzma shutting the League down is just...gone. He's gone. He's only knocked out one classmate. And it makes his whole entire beef with the League...pointless. The only way it can be salvaged is Guzma winning this round and then the whole thing.

 

[Sereen123]

Honestly, i would not be surprised if Ash loses to Gladion in the finals. I have no idea how ash can beat silvally unless Meltan evolves mid battle

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Well, obviously they want to keep it a secret that Lana beats Guzma, hence why we don't have the next ep title yet. /s

...Can't really say much without a summary. Sue me.

Lana beats Guzma, then Ash. Kiawe beats Gladion, then faces Lana in the finals where he finally achieves his sole victory over her in the region.

 

[playerking]

People wondering if Ash will lose to Guzma in this ep?

This episode is airing exactly 3 years after the Kalos League final....

Nah. He might battle Gladion in the finals, seeing as they promised to battle during the Battle Royal.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Gonna need a citation on that last one, there.

Kiawe's been firmly established to be strong.

"Weakest" not in the sense he is the weakest of all trainers.

"Weakest" in the sense when compared to Ash, Guzma, and Gladion compared as semifinalists (though I tie him with Ash myself).

In other words, Gladion's battles have almost no difficulty for him (which are only further proved by the fact this league has been 1-on-1s...so far). He's been fighting joke trainers with no real excuse to be in the league in the first place.

At least Kiawe is strong and SHOULD give him a bad time.

I feel like the biggest problem with this is that it's effectively killed 90% of the tension the League tried to have going for it.

Unless Guzma beats Ash here, then a huge part of the threat that is Guzma shutting the League down is just...gone. He's gone. He's only knocked out one classmate. And it makes his whole entire beef with the League...pointless. The only way it can be salvaged is Guzma winning this round and then the whole thing.

But this is fitting for Guzma anyhow. He's supposed to be seen as a pathetic ruffian, and this is perhaps the best time to show he's not the **** of the league but really just **** when defeated by ****.

The only real person losing here is Kiawe. He got the short end of the stick and will never fight Ash despite the fact we've seen these two butt heads waaay more often than anyone else in their list. It makes their promise to fight each other at the league useless (unless by some miracle Kiawe actually wins against Gladion...which would THEN make Gladion the real loser.)

 

[IkeBayern]

Wow now this is a surprise, literally everyone (myself included) thought that Ash facing Guzma in the final matchup made the most sense because you know both of them have the same thing at stake but for different reasons!

Gladion literally has no reason to make it to the final matchup and face Kukui, I mean what’s the point of him potentially winning the league?

Ash is the main protagonist and Guzma promised that if he became champion that he’d destroy Kukui’s league so both of them should be allowed to fight each other in the final showdown making it more intense.

I so wanted to see Guzma beat both Lana and Kiawe as a message to Kukui and see Ash avenge for the loss of not only one but both of his classmates, alas it looks like these 2 will get settle their beef a bit earlier than expected!

So far Gladion has faced a bunch of lousy trainers who had no business being here to get this far, the guy doesn’t seem to care about this tournament at all.. His Umbreon Snowy with a single attack, James did a bit better but I don’t his Pokémon got a hit on Lycanroc even once..

Kiawe isn’t a going to be bad opponent and will give Gladio a run for his money, he has some nice Pokémon but he doesnt have Ash’s experiences when it comes to battling in major league tournament and the luxury of multiple Pokémon to at home, the boy may be stupid but he can battle and has raised some strong Pokémon over the years..

The fact that Kiawe only trains Fire type Pokémon is a huge issue and will be as Gladion’s Lycanroc and Silvally (with a Water memory) are strong even without having type advantage, imagine what would happen to Kiawe at a disadvantage?

Gladion is probably the only other person in the region to finish the Island Challenge unlike Kiawe who only has done Akala Island’s Grand Trial is proof that this will be another mismatch, him advancing to the finals via the easiest route ever is gonna suck especially if Ash loses! (I’m feeling Real Madrid UCL vibes here lol)

As long as we don’t have any more single battles at this point and they make the battle interesting, this arc can be redeemed.. It’ll also be interesting to see how many Pokémon will Ash use against Guzma, Gladion and possibly Kukui?

The Alola league had too many main characters participating (especially the classmates) so they had to find a way for everyone to get some shine, now that Ash is the main focus I believe we’re in for some of the best battles of the S/M series..

 

[Decidueye23]

I don't think it's very likely either, mainly because if they were even going to battle here to begin with, I'd expect Satoshi versus Guzma to be part of the title instead of the emphasis being on Kaki and Gladio only.

It could be like the previous episodes, the episode could end with the start of ash vs guzma, like both trainers walking into the battle field, with ash saying something along the lines of not going to lose to this guy etc.

 

[Aleh]

Ash should really win this time. He should never lose to Guzma here, he has to beat Gladion too, and is the only one besides Guzma which makes sense in the final Kukui battle. I'm really feeling it.

 

[Thumbs2]

There's basically no shot, but if the league ended on a Pikachu Turtonator battle, that'd honestly be pretty cool.

Gladion exists, and he has the next arc about him anyway, so this doesnt matter that much.

 

[UltimateNinja]

Ash should lose to Guzma for the simple reason that he should rather lose to him instead and not to Gladion. I absolutely don't want Ash to win the Alola league. He don't deserve it and I rather want Ash to win in a serious league full of top class trainer in Galar and not in a league where even someone like Lana or Lillie can participate. Not even mentioning that the Alola league pretty meh as of now.

But my main reason I want Ash to lose to Guzma is that I want Kukui vs Guzma to happen which could be the single highlight of the league. There's so much you can do with this matchup and I don't want that to be a waste.

 

[Blood Red]

Everyone here saying Guzma won't be Ash's final battle, when clearly the finale's gonna be Gladion vs Guzma

G vs G is gg

 

[Blue Saturday]

That’s a surprise, yeah Guzma versus Satoshi in the finals made the most narrative sense as his character storyline is about saving the league but that will be resolved in the Semifinals. So....either he fights Kaki or Gladion for the champion spot, he has had rivalries with both and they’ve built a dynamic with both characters. I could see him losing realistically to either, plus I guess it would be weird for Satoshi (a foreigner) to win Alola’s first Pokemon League?

Plus Zoroark is probably busted being owned by Gladion’s father, we know Silvally and Lugarugan are dangerous. Plus Pikachu/Silvally crossed paths at the Battle Royale could be seen as foreshadowing what’s coming next. It does remind me of how Alan won the league while fighting for Manon with how Gladion has a tragic backstory and became stronger to protect and save his family and fight the Ultra Beast are saving Silvally, caring for Blacky (as an Eevee), and adopting Zoroark to find Mohn.

Satoshi has never fought or seen Mohn’s Zoroark and probably wouldn’t know how to handle Illusion.

 

[GarchompChain]

Welp, at least we know Ash isn't winning this 'league'. If by a miracle beats Guzma, he will definitely lose to Gladion.

So either Pikachu or Torracat aren't getting a battle and Lycanroc may not even get a win.

 

[Decidueye23]

Welp, at least we know Ash isn't winning this 'league'. If by a miracle beats Guzma, he will definitely lose to Gladion.

So either Pikachu or Torracat aren't getting a battle and Lycanroc may not even get a win.

Umm how exactly do we know this? If any indications are to go by, then ash is 100% beating guzma at the very least. Gladion and ash's battle has been forshadowed even in the BR. So ash and gladion will definetly battle. And probably battle kukui too, as forshadowed in the time travel episode.

 

[GarchompChain]

Umm how exactly do we know this? If any indications are to go by, then ash is 100% beating guzma at the very least. Gladion and ash's battle has been forshadowed even in the BR. So ash and gladion will definetly battle. And probably battle kukui too, as forshadowed in the time travel episode.

Assuming it's all 1vs1, Ash will probably use Pikachu to beat Guzma then and Lycanroc vs Gladion. That means Lycanroc has no wins and Torracat has no battles.

 

[Red and Blue]

Honestly since Guzma is using Goliospod against Lana I'm not even sure if he has any other Bugs besides the two shown.

At this point I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the matches up to Kukui are still 1 vs. 1

 

[Deleted member 384931]

Honestly since Guzma is using Goliospod against Lana I'm not even sure if he has any other Bugs besides the two shown.

At this point I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the matches up to Kukui are still 1 vs. 1

Please not, I cant see boring one-on-ones anymore.

 

[Shadao]

Assuming it's all 1vs1, Ash will probably use Pikachu to beat Guzma then and Lycanroc vs Gladion. That means Lycanroc has no wins and Torracat has no battles.

Actually, a one vs one finals would be implying that Ash will win the Alolan League.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Unnecessarily complex solution to this situation:

Lana beats Guzma due to him underestimating her and Emergency Exit forcing a forfeit. Then, during Gladion and Kiawe's match, he reveals he has had his underlings steal one of Lusamine's wormhole generators, and uses it to send Gladion into Ultra Space. Ash jumps in after him naturally, and while the Ultra Guardians are dispatched, Kiawe and Lana are made to stay behind so that the League can go on uninterrupted by the sudden attack. The Rescue Mohn arc happens over the next one or two episodes, and when everyone gets back, the League is over with Kiawe as Champion, but he agrees to let whoever wins in a match between Ash and Gladion have the prize fight with Masked Royal since they weren't able to fully compete in the League.

 

[Ambyssin]

So, Gladion's not facing Ash in the semis... despite so many people being so sure of it. as a silvally fanboy, i do not mind this outcome. Well, okay, blind fanboyism aside, the reason I was lukewarm on the "Ash and Guzma will make the finals" take despite it potentially being better for dramatic tension was because, even if Guzma were to get served a slice of humble pie, I think the higher-ups were too uncomfortable with the idea of a thuggish character with a thuggish battling style making the finals. Probably figured it would send a bad message to the kids or whatever. This doesn't surprise me. Besides, regardless of what they did, if they intended on expanding Guzma's backstory beyond that single brief scene right before the league starts, it would've been just as rushed as Jiren's backstory in DBSuper... and that's gone memetic. :V

If this isn't a shortened title, I'd like to think getting an entire episode for one battle means no 1 vs. 1, but I'm going to keep my expectations grounded. Perhaps it'll be Zoroark vs. Turtonator? Regardless, I actually want to see Kiawe's spirited, hammy personality clashing with Gladion's edgelord routine and his (genetic!) posing habit.

Assuming Ash vs. Gladion is a go for the finals, I guess Lycanroc vs. Silvally will be happening? Not that type match-ups mean anything in the anime, but my prediction is that Gladion will use the Normalium Z (or another Z-Crystal) so the writers can conveniently sidestep the whole RKS System thing (since Gladion was shown changing Silv's drives on the fly during the Battle Royal, the cheater). If it's more than one 'mon, though, I wouldn't be surprised if Ash's Electrium-Z gets powered up again and we see the return of 10 Million Volt Thunderbolt (or whatever the heck it's called). And yeah, I could see Gladion opting to let Ash battle Masked Royal if he wins. Or, perhaps, like with Kalos, there'll be some sort of interrupting event that prevents the exhibition match from happening... and Ash ends up putting a stop to whatever the problem is, then winds up doing the exhibition match for one reason or another.

Or Gladion wins it all, then loses to the Masked Royal. I dunno... much as I want Silvally to get the W, I feel like this is going to be an inverse Kalos. Instead of everyone getting hyped up about Ash potentially winning, only for him to lose in facepalm-worthy fashion... everyone's expecting him to lose this time, so he ends up winning, but nobody cares. :V