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Champions' Pride! Lance VS Diantha!! (1205)

janejane6178

Kaleido Star FOREVER in my heart <3
This is one of the most fun battles this season even if the animation was ass, mostly because of Diantha tho. Not only she used strats but M8 is full of pseudos, KANTOOOO and "badass" Pokemon so she using Pokemon like Gourgeist and Aurorus was nice, also using attacks that aren't that common in the anime like the screens and Trick-or-Treat was interesting.
She is wonderful
Best champion
 

Illusio

No words, only rage
Hydreigon got a win, let's go!

Ahem... This was a much better battle then the previous episode. We saw some good strategies, two Fighters on equal footing, and even some rarely seen Pokemon get the spotlight. Even with the bad animation it was still a fun match from start to finish unlike Alain vs. Leon where only Chesnaught vs. Rillaboom shined.

The only thing I wish I saw more of was Lance trying to counter Diantha's strategies. She was really good at using different tactics to dismantle Lance's team, but Lance was all brute force and that got him pounded again and again. The only times he used it was using Hydreigon against Gorgeist (since Trick-or-Treat isn't as effective on it and Dark Pulse flinched it's mobility) and Dynamaxing to block some of Gardevoir's attacks and give field effects.

Still, it's an easy 8/10 match, I want this to be more like what the future matches will be then what we got last time.

Edit: Was this the first time we've seen Hydreigon's track lines light up? That was pretty cool.
 
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STICKTOPIA

Well-Known Member
I knew diantha was gonna win. I didn’t think it’d be another lance vs Leon. Anybody know what lance said to ash in the end?

Ritchie?! I never thought I’d see the day. Honestly I didn’t remember about him for a long time. Now let’s see how far it goes with him.
 

lemoncatpower

Cynical Optimist
Geez, memories of the past are very selective. Jessie can think back on her Gourgeist, but Ash makes no effort of thinking about his own Charizard in the tourney that seems to be inviting all Charizard to come along.
To be fair, at least ash isn’t using his pokedex on Pokémon he has interacted with anymore
 

Ryker101

Well-Known Member
That was genuinely good imo, so glad Alain is staying back and interacting with the rest of the champions. Love to see Sawyer and kalos rivals back too. Loved Lance and Diantha’s strategies from both ends, especially Lance stalling out Mega Gardevoir with hail to try and hyper beam it after. But since we know how agile it is, once it missed Diantha could get a free hit cause Dragonite is immobile after (which they established earlier). Nice to see that consistency with the games, gyarados taking a back seat is good too since he used it already against Leon

Also love the continuity with Ash and TR’a reactions to Diantha. Keen for next week’s for sure
 

Risrhayne

Well-Known Member
Personally did not see Diantha winning. But I’m definitely thrilled. She made Ghourgeist look amazing. The cameos were great too. I really missed Richie and Sparky.

The only thing I’m not too thrilled about is how it looks like every dang match is gonna have a Charizard or Dragonite. Which might be why I was happy to see Ghourgeist. Like, finally a Pokémon that’s not a pseudo-dragon, starter or waifumon getting a chance to shine.

I’d friggin love it if somebody was in this tournament with a Quagsire as their ace or something allegedly “uncool”
 

Akkipeddi

All set to be a nice guy
After watching it back, Lance was lucky it was deceivingly close at 3-2, cause he was outplayed throughout. His Dragonite should've been taken out by Aurorus anyway, since it took a Blizzard and Rock Slide while Aurorus took hits while dual screens were up. And really Lance, your "big plan" was to tank hits using dynamax and finish it off with a Hyper Beam, a move that can be dodged and leaves you immobilized lol? You definitely deserved this smug Diantha face

1-F8-EE7-A8-DF30-4134-8250-E6-D040573853.jpg
 

Kage-Pikachu

Well-Known Member
Psychic cancelling out Flash Cannon was interesting but Lance should have tried to dodge the freaking moon blast and maybe Gardevoir could have pulled an instant transmission Kamehameha and teleported close to Hydreigon with a point blank Moon Blast...instead of it just floating there and taking it.
 

Soniman

Break the Limit
Hey look at that battle was pretty good, a welcome step up from last episode but man that animation. It felt like I was watching a battle from the games, that is to say the Pokémon barely moved and just stood in place while they traded attacks. Once again I miss the dynamic movement and camera angles of past series because it feels like everything in JN is shot in such a static boring way, and everything still feels to plodding and slow, but I’ve said this dozens of times by now.

It was still nice to see Diantha pretty much lead Lance by the nose like that, pretty much had his number the whole time, I do like that Lance tried changing his tactics once he dynamaxed as a way of shoring up Dragonite’s depleted stamina but by that point it was to little to late, still a respectable showing. Afterwards the moments between Iris and Ash were really cute and I liked Jessie getting really invested in Diantha’s Pumpkaboo. And of course all the cool cameos as well.

7/10, a nice course correction after a bad start
 

masdog

What is the airspeed of an unladen Swellow?
This episode was pretty good. It didn’t have the same pacing issues as JN115, and the battle really had a chance to shine without feeling rushed. The strategies were good, and the interactions between Diantha and Lance were amazing.

The cameos and continuity nods were top notch here. I loved the callback to Ritchie and the Kalos gang. Jessie gushing over Gorgeist was amazing too.

I really like how they’re using Ash, Goh, and Hop in the stands. It gives us a different perspective on the match. Yeah, it comes at the expense of Ash interacting with the other champs, but it is also great for continuity nods and showing why Leon finds Ash fascinating.

I can’t wait to see the look on Hop’s face next week when he learns that Ash used to travel with Iris and is friends with Cynthia.

Animation was OK. The battle wasn’t as dynamic as others that we’ve seen, especially compared to the Lumiose Conference battles. But it wasn’t bad…just ok-ish. The only thing I didn’t like about the animation is that Diantha looks like she was drawn with camel toe. (if you don’t know what that is…don’t look it up)

@RafaSceptile
If Ash overpowered and could have beaten Diantha does that mean that Wulfric, a gym leader who beat Ash-Greninja is >Diantha as well? Or that Alain>Diantha just because MCX beat Ash-Greninja twice even though Alain lost to an E4 who is weaker than the regional champion?
What do you think?
hmm.gif
No. That episode went out of its way to show that Ash wasn’t in a good place mentally when he had his first battle with Wulfric…
 

Morax

King of heroes
After watching it back, Lance was lucky it was deceivingly close at 3-2, cause he was outplayed throughout. His Dragonite should've been taken out by Aurorus anyway, since it took a Blizzard and Rock Slide while Aurorus took hits while dual screens were up. And really Lance, your "big plan" was to tank hits using dynamax and finish it off with a Hyper Beam, a move that can be dodged and leaves you immobilized lol? You definitely deserved this smug Diantha face

1-F8-EE7-A8-DF30-4134-8250-E6-D040573853.jpg
Ugly Old hag
 

Twilight-Kun

Pokemon World Champion
When was the last time we've seen weather play an active role in a battle?

Reminds me of the times I've seen Leon knock himself out via Rockfall's Sandstorm in the league, so it's nice they're remembering Galar (tried) to make weather battles a thing even though Raihan tends to evaporate before he can actually benefit from setting them up in the first place
 

mehmeh1

Not thinking twice!
"I'd say you put up a good fight, but I'm not that good of an actress"
 

mehmeh1

Not thinking twice!
After watching it back, Lance was lucky it was deceivingly close at 3-2, cause he was outplayed throughout. His Dragonite should've been taken out by Aurorus anyway, since it took a Blizzard and Rock Slide while Aurorus took hits while dual screens were up. And really Lance, your "big plan" was to tank hits using dynamax and finish it off with a Hyper Beam, a move that can be dodged and leaves you immobilized lol? You definitely deserved this smug Diantha face

1-F8-EE7-A8-DF30-4134-8250-E6-D040573853.jpg
That pic is cursed
 

doofinc

get rillaboomed
Totally didn't post this in the wrong thread the first time.

Pros:
  • Ritchie poggers
  • Jimmy Marina Jackson poggers
  • Sawyer Trevor Tierno Shauna poggers
  • Jessie's Gourgeist reference
  • I'm liking Diantha's gameplan instead of whatever Lance is doing mashing attacks
    • Light Screen/Reflect
    • Trick Or Treat
    • Psychic to disrupt the super effective Flash Cannon
  • Good episode for smug Diantha faces
  • Small reference to Gardevoir and Diantha being in sync with the last second dodge
  • Ash preempting the Pokedex for Excadrill lmao
Neutral:
  • Pokedex entry talking about Hydreigon destroying villages
  • Dragonite kinda got dumpstered ngl not impressed
  • the vibe I got from the Lance/Ash interaction felt like a pseudo passing-of-the-torch for Kanto? very minimal and obviously not concrete, but that'll be my own headcanon for now
Cons
  • References Ash vs Diantha but didn't show Ash Greninja again top kek
  • We're really getting 3 Dragonites huh
  • None of these Pokemon know how to dodge
    • Gardevoir dodged only at the very end
    • Alternatively, none of these trainers know how to tell them to dodge
  • "I have a strategy for Hydreigon" into Gourgeist getting defeated right after
  • God the new music is very mid
    • Mixing in XY music doesn't help - it's way too much of a vibe/genre shift even though I like the XY music
  • IMO Lance's plan at the end was not good
    • Max Hailstorm for hail chip into Max Strike to lower speed, then was forced to Max Wyrmwind to block an attack and doesn't get the lower attack buff on Gardevoir (which doesn't matter anyways since Gardevoir is a Sp Attacker), then try to rush in with a Hyper Beam at the end
      • I'm 80% sure Gardevoir did not get hit at all so I'm big doubting that the Hyper Beam would've KO'd if it hit
      • Gardevoir was still fast enough to dodge Hyper Beam lmao nice plan you got there
  • Alain is only still here to explain game mechanics
  • Hop sure is only here to say his brother will win

Overall thoughts
  • The battle was alright overall I suppose. Not blown away by anything but probably not close to the worst battles I've seen
  • Easily a step up from last week but that's not exactly hard
  • I wouldn't say the animation was bad, but it sure didn't stand out
    • Choreography was pretty lame; see my point about dodging
  • Everything surrounding the fight was stronger than the fight IMO i.e. Team Rocket and the cameos
If next week is at least slightly better than this episode, then I might have more hopium for the rest of the PWC
 
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