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Dragon Battle! Ash VS Iris!! (1154)

k6666

Pikachu Fan
i can't believe they choose flabebe or absol filler rather stretch Iris episode, or at least made it two parter , I'm glad what being given, but I'm not satisfied, it have potential to be much better. And we know Iris will never appeared again in future, cause there no purpose , if we lucky enough it's just gonna appear on flashback of being mentioned

The episodic nature of journey really hurt the series for me, not gonna surprise if returning character is only given one episode, even monh arc will gonna end In one episode, if we lucky to get one
 

janejane6178

Kaleido Star FOREVER in my heart <3
Iris was adorable in this episode, and pretty

Its sad that some of Ash's previous companions are so much more intersting than him.... I want a spin off series about past Poke girls (OS-XY)
 

Twilight-Kun

Pokemon World Champion
Honestly, it's ridiculous that people are legitimately trying to discredit this victory. Sure, maybe this wasn't quite the battle everyone expected. However, is it really that hard to swallow the idea of Ash beating a Champion-level trainer?
Iris didn't feel like a champion though

A fancy-cosmetic'd trainer at most, like those people in online games who have all the fancy rare cosmetics they bought with their mom's credit card but don't actually know how to play the game
 

janejane6178

Kaleido Star FOREVER in my heart <3
Iris didn't feel like a champion though

A fancy-cosmetic'd trainer at most, like those people in online games who have all the fancy rare cosmetics they bought with their mom's credit card but don't actually know how to play the game
Yes, it felt out of the place. But she was super cute and sassy. She retained her personality but felt more mature. They did justice with her.
I still feel that she wasnt one of Ash's best friends (out of all of his previous companions):
1. Their BW goodbye episode wasnt very emotional and she didnt look so sad when they said goodbye
2. Couldnt they hang out before or after the battle? He treated her more like an old rival...

But she was still super cute and her new design really suited her, shocked to say this
 

Blood Red

【推しの子】
I question if this was any other character besides Ash who used an untrained recently caught Pokémon alongside another Pokémon who’s had most of their training done off screen would there be as many justifications. Remember when the Alola crew were training off screen for the league and people were eating them up?
I don't think anyone's 100% satisfied with this. I would've liked to see Ash actually use reserves against Iris, instead of a newbie Pokémon he caught a few episodes prior. I'm happy with his victory (honestly, seeing the anime acknowledge his strength as Champion-class was extremely validating after being shouted down for thinking his new title as Champion actually has meaning) but I would've preferred Ash's first victory match against a region's Champion to be longer, and for it to involve some of his older 'mons. For example, him using a few veterans from Unova against Iris would've been seriously cool.

That aside though, everything about this episode (from the big 'Iris is the Champion of Unova' reveal to the battle itself) felt just super-rushed, so I don't see the point in complaining about this one specific thing. The episode could've been better in so many ways, but it wasn't. What'll arguing about it online even achieve?
 

Blood Red

【推しの子】
Iris didn't feel like a champion though

A fancy-cosmetic'd trainer at most, like those people in online games who have all the fancy rare cosmetics they bought with their mom's credit card but don't actually know how to play the game
Of course she didn't feel like a Champion; the days when Champs were indomitable pillars of strength for the main character ended when the main character became a Champ himself. Plus, considering that Unova didn't really feel that strong as a region to begin with, Iris might be on the lower-end of the Champ power rankings.
 

Blood Red

【推しの子】
I’m not sure you tell me
Nothing, which is why I'm confused that people just keep arguing in this thread about a topic that'll never go anywhere. We get it, the episode wasn't objectively that great. It had a lot of issues, like being incredibly rushed and squeezed into a single episode's length when it clearly deserved an episode or two extra. Plus, the animation felt sloppy and the battle didn't look that great. Ash using his newer 'mons instead of his reserves to beat a Champion was a strange choice too, to say the least. It's something the majority here acknowledges, so I don't get what you hope to achieve by preaching to the choir.
 

nuzamaki90

Well-Known Member
The animation was great this episode, one of the best animated episodes Journeys has had so far. Have no clue what you guys are talking about.

Also, no one lost to one shots lol. Iris’ Dragonite got hit by Ice Fang, Dragon Claw, Hurricane, and Fishious Rend. Haxorus dealt damage to itself to snap out of confusion and then got hit directly by Draco Meteor. What Pokémon is surviving a Draco Meteor to the helm?

I’m not gonna belittle anyone’s opinions but it really sounds like some people are having some nonsensical rants because they didn’t like a certain character in this episode..:p
 

British Soul

Top Hat Regulator
36 pages already? Colour me smegged, and of course as Cilan appeared in a flashback, IT'S ESSAY TIME! That's right I am an essay connoisseur and I guess you can say that I'll be evaluating the episode.

I liked that the gag of thinking Iris was a pokemon returned in this episode and that it was Go that did it whilst looking for a Pansage and yet he did her a favour by doing so, ok. Though I'm not shocked that she forgot that it happened to her before in BW, and on the subject of callbacks to BW, I would've been disappointed if she didn't make the kid remark to Ash at some point. I'll have to admit, I didn't think she'd actually usurp Alder to the title of Unova Champion, it wouldn't have been farfetched to think the BW2 outfit was for cosmetics only, like how Lance appeared in his updated outfit from HGSS in JN012, and since she did become Champion, Trip's hypothesis of Alder as Champion being yesterday's news came to fruition, and yes that comment is appropriate given the episode aired yesterday, though the lack of Alder mentions at all shocked me, I guess he was that forgettable then. Given that the battle took place in Opelucid Gym, Drayden making an appearance was a given and I appreciate that they kept that a surprise from us, much like Emolga seeing as I only expected Iris' dragon-types to appear (and yes I glossed over her Excadrill, but that was in a flashback). Onto the battle itself, I have to say, Iris' Dragonite's face upon seeing Dracovish was glorious as was Iris' initial reaction before saying that it is cute, and this coming from a person who thought Charizard (before its X mega existed) was a Dragon-type. Given that Iris rose to the title of Champion, it made sense for her Axew to make it all the way to Haxorus and on its performance, I forgot that it had only used Outrage in like one episode prior, that being the same episode it learned the move (BW042) and it's also nice to see it with some Gen 8 moves as well, Breaking Swipe as well as Psycho Cut and yes whilst I am aware it's a Gen 4 move, Haxorus was only able to use it starting from Gen 8, and I also like how it employed a similar tactic to Gladion's Lycanroc to break itself from confusion. Ash's Dragonite learning Draco Meteor took me by surprise, though it's fitting that it learned the move in the place it could do so in Gen 5, in the presence of the person who teaches it, and this isn't the first time either as Ash's Gible started using it whilst in the presence of Wilma who teaches it in DP. Moving onto the outcome, Ash has now defeated a regional Champion in battle, even if it was a 2-on-2 and using a pokemon who hasn't had much battle experience prior, but I digress, it moves Ash to the Ultra Class where we learn at the end of the episode that Bea has reached as well as... Volkner, and that'd be cool to see, a reappearance of him, and maybe Flint as well. One more thing, when the Ice Beam made a hole in the roof, I was reminded of Ash's battle with Maylene in DP when the roof was destroyed and had an effect on the battle's outcome. Oh and one last thing, I liked that the words Best Wishes was mentioned towards the end of the episode, can't have a Unova episode without those two words being mentioned, apart from the other Unova episodes this saga.

Wow, that actually was an essay 20 and a half lines, I guess I had a lot to say about the episode.
 

AJ97

Well-Known Member
Of course she didn't feel like a Champion; the days when Champs were indomitable pillars of strength for the main character ended when the main character became a Champ himself. Plus, considering that Unova didn't really feel that strong as a region to begin with, Iris might be on the lower-end of the Champ power rankings.
Why is Unova a "Weak region"?
Even if Iris is a "lower-end Champion", we see Caitlin, an elite four member from Unova, hold her own against Cynthia in battle. Technically Iris should be stronger than Caitlin which means Ash's newly caught Pokemon should be relative to Unova/Sinnoh Cynthia's Garchomp in strength which is just absurd lol.

This was horrible writing. They should've kept Iris as the gym leader and simply brought back Alder in the master class. They probably gave Iris the Champion title only because of the games.
 

Blue Saturday

Unfurl your Blessed Wings!
Why is Unova a "Weak region"?
Even if Iris is a "lower-end Champion", we see Caitlin, an elite four member from Unova, hold her own against Cynthia in battle. Technically Iris should be stronger than Caitlin which means Ash's newly caught Pokemon should be relative to Unova/Sinnoh Cynthia's Garchomp in strength which is just absurd lol.
More like a change in writing style in humanizing Elite 4 and Champs as elite trainers rather than nearly impenetrable walls. Things like Pikachu cleanly zapping Oba’s Goukazaru, Kanna’s Water-types or Shirona’s Gablias getting smacked with attack after attack and feeling nothing was 100% always unrealistic to me even as a kid. It made E4 battles annoying because you always knew no matter what strategy came the opposition would lose. The show is simply beyond this writing style but we as obsessive fans cling to it because...?

The staff clearly just don’t want to portray E4 members in that manner anymore is all. Which is why you had Alan destroy Pachira after being trashed by that Kalos E4 Water-type specialist (I don’t recall if Pachira was stated as an E4 members in the anime though?)
 

FlygontheRavager

#1 Pokémon Anime Fan!
The animation was great this episode, one of the best animated episodes Journeys has had so far. Have no clue what you guys are talking about.

Also, no one lost to one shots lol. Iris’ Dragonite got hit by Ice Fang, Dragon Claw, Hurricane, and Fishious Rend. Haxorus dealt damage to itself to snap out of confusion and then got hit directly by Draco Meteor. What Pokémon is surviving a Draco Meteor to the helm?

I’m not gonna belittle anyone’s opinions but it really sounds like some people are having some nonsensical rants because they didn’t like a certain character in this episode..:p
Agreed in terms of the animation. Also, I don’t see how people haven’t gotten this yet, but the Draco Meteor move isn’t “one hit.” It’s a BUNCH of Draco Meteors hitting the opponent in rapid succession. Makes perfect sense that Haxorus would go down to an attack like that, especially considering the big one it got hit with at the end.
 

British Soul

Top Hat Regulator
Also, no one lost to one shots lol. Iris’ Dragonite got hit by Ice Fang, Dragon Claw, Hurricane, and Fishious Rend. Haxorus dealt damage to itself to snap out of confusion and then got hit directly by Draco Meteor. What Pokémon is surviving a Draco Meteor to the helm?
Tobias' Darkrai? He did say in his battle with Ash that "Draco Meteor would've eliminated any pokemon other than Darkrai of course."
 
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