Finals IV: Partner (1221)

[doofinc]

Honeymoon period over, time for review brain. Gonna mix it up a bit on the ordering:

Cons:

• Eternatus
  • The whole Darkest Day simulation felt just like a play to get Eternatus out to give them an extra G-Max
    • It just feels like a tacky play to try to get G-Max Pikachu in while still being able to get G-Max Gengar without breaking the 1 gimmick at a time game rule
      • I don't even mind them trying to bring back G-Max Pikachu cuz I like all the gimmick chaos, it just feels like the method was tacky
    • Pretty much just a tackier version of the Z-Move revival from Ash vs. Kukui without the meaning behind it
• Cinderace
  • One-shot OMEGALUL
  • I don't care about your in-universe justification
    • Well you see the G-Max form of Cinderace is mostly the ball instead of Cinderace, so when Cinderace jumps off the ball and has to deal with the G-Max Volt Crash, it does not have nearly as much stamina as Chonkychu blocking the G-Max Fireball, so it makes sense that it fell in one shot
      • I made this up to try to justify it for fun, but I totally do not agree that this is a justification. Feel free to use this as a bad faith argument to troll people
  • The worst part about this is Ash never found a way to deal with Libero. Every other Pokemon who posed a specific problem had that problem dealt with
    • Mr. Rime's Psychic Terrain was shut down and Mega Lucario out-patienced Mr. Rime's speed on ice
    • Dragapult's darts got shut down by Draco Meteor
    • Rillaboom's vines got brain-freezed on
    • Inteleon + Charizard didn't pose a specific problem to figure out; they were just strong
      • Even Inteleon's Counter Shield got worked out via Will-o-Wisp
    • This just felt like Ash got an unsatisfying win because he never figured out how to deal with Libero Cinderace
    • Totally felt like they realized Leon still had Cinderace and had to figure out how to get Cinderace out in time for Pikachu vs. Charizard
      • Low-key, this should've been like a 30 minute episode or something; it didn't justify a part 5 but it feels like they didn't have enough time to finish out Cinderace vs Pikachu
• I guess I still don't care about Morpeko

Pros:

• Literally everything else god damn
• I'm never going to get sick of the Galar Gym Battle/Dynamax theme
• Every companion coming back as cameos
  • Seeing Serena knowing May is great
  • Brock and Cilan meeting again
  • Alexa being part of this is an unexpected but pleasant and welcome surprise
  • Seeing everyone back is just a great way to tie the saga
• Pikachu vs. Charizard
  • Good lord
  • Partner showdown between the 2 most popular Gen 1 Pokemon is the coolest way to end this
  • Jump off the Ancient Power to boost the Quick Attack
  • The shot of Charizard staring down at Pikachu with Air Slashes, and the sun flare in the camera is sick
  • Electroweb to block the Fire Blast
  • Why does Charizard have pecs to block Iron Tail
    • Immediate punish with Dragon Pulse
      • Immediate uncommanded Thunderbolt to get out of Dragon Pulse
  • The Electric/Fire radiation from Pikachu and Charizard
  • Gen 5/6 Gym Battle Theme
  • Dynamic Camera shot
  • Super fast Quick Attack
  • Pikachu jumping to the roof and running along it
    • This made no sense but I don't care
  • Aerial Iron Tail vs Air Slash clash like what the hell
  • The intense Pikachu breathing after getting hit by Fire Blast
    • You can hear the intensity with headphones pretty well
  • I don't think I need to say anything about seeing all of the Pokemon back, that scene is perfection
    • I guess F's out to Haunter?
  • Mezase Pokemon Master
  • LIZARDON, CHAMPION TIME DAH!
  • Ash's pose during Thunderbolt is insane
  • Leon going all in for Fire Blast
  • The Thunderbolt looks amazing
  • Charizard burning extra red hot
  • Everything about the final clash JFC
  • The way Charizard goes down is just fantastic - exactly like a boss finally falling down
  • Leon's slow pose changes as he realizes he lost

Overall, Eternatus/Cinderace moment was very bad IMO. I'm all for giving them another G-Max, but I don't think the execution around it was good, and the fight was rushed. Easily the worst part of the full battle. However, when the final battle is a 20/10, you can overlook some things when trying to rank this battle cuz good lord, what a way to end the PWC. It was a rocky road to get here, and while I won't say it makes up for the rest of the Masters 8, it sure comes close. Definitely worth the recaps and wait, applause to the animators, storyboarders, production, everyone else who was involved in the final battle. That was the greatest moment in the Pokemon anime.

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

This is just my imagination but if Ash's journey really does end in Journeys, could you imagine if we periodically got twilight wings-style episodes on youtube that documented Ash's journey after Journeys? Imagine getting to see episodes that show him facing challengers for his crown. Man, that would be cool.

And we can see him dating Serena

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Still pisses me off that not a single one of them wanted to fight for Ash, not even the fire monkey who was training.

Charizard did look pretty angry while watching lmao

 

[TheNewGuy]

He had no idea how true that was!

The POV shot of Pikachu passing out had my heart in my mouth.

 

[Ignition]

It's a kids cartoon in Japan.

Calm down.

Btw, didn't read, lol.

What does it being from Japan have to do with anything? They seem calm and no one asked if you read it lmao. If your attention span can't handle it, just move on.

 

[TheNewGuy]

While Ash/Leon being the show's best battle is close in my eyes, I think Charizard/Pikachu is certainly the best individual battle.

Also a big fan of the way the BW opening theme was used. I always thought that theme was quite grand and regal, like a Pokemon theme with more flair - telling you this game is a big deal (and it was, I love BW). Fit this battle well.

 

[Observer]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this or not, but can we acknowledge the fact that Ash is now the second member of the DLC (Defeated Leon Club)?

The first member is the founder, president, bae, and of course best girl Sonia.

 

[ShuckFam]

And we can see him dating Serena

No, he will have a child called Kasutoshi with Misty and three yampers. I have this feeling that Serena will be a lonely, drunk, homeless woman. She will be shouting 'I COULD have been Kalos queen!' at random passers by in Pallet town and Ash and his family will walk past her and Ash won't even recognize her.

 

[doofinc]

What does it being from Japan have to do with anything? They seem calm and no one asked if you read it lmao. If your attention span can't handle it, just move on.

I don't even care if people don't read my reviews because they're too long. Noone's obligated to read it and sometimes people just don't want to read long things and I get that; I do that too depending on the mood lmao. Just weird behaviour to announce that you didn't read something.

 

[Ignition]

I don't even care if people don't read my reviews because they're too long. Noone's obligated to read it and sometimes people just don't want to read long things and I get that; I do that too depending on the mood lmao. Just weird behaviour to announce that you didn't read something.

As someone who has a tendency to go on tangents when giving reviews, I totally get it. I'd rather a long review than trolling and arguments that go nowhere though. Guess they want attention lol. For what it's worth, I enjoyed reading your review.

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

I don't think he has to. He can simply abstain from participating again and the next M8 winner will be the new Monarch.

I think Ash wouldn't do that because it's his personality to accept any battle, anywhere at anytime.

What I could see happening is he not participating duo circunstances out of his control (being away, not recieving the call, having something currently ongoing he can't stop, etc)

I don't even care if people don't read my reviews because they're too long. Noone's obligated to read it and sometimes people just don't want to read long things and I get that; I do that too depending on the mood lmao.

Personally, I love reading lenghty reviews. But then, I've always been very found of reading in general so there's that.

By the way, your review was pretty good. And very well-balanced. Good call on waiting the hype cool off before evaluating. I totally didn't do that haha

 

[ash&charizardfan]

It would make more sense to go to Kanto where he was born and where he spends most of his time nowadays.
But he better be recognized everywhere anyway lol

More like pallet town will have more tourists arriving and will become a tourist hub.

 

[sutellakiara]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this or not, but can we acknowledge the fact that Ash is now the second member of the DLC (Defeated Leon Club)?

The first member is the founder, president, bae, and of course best girl Sonia.

Fun fact:
Leon is the only Champion to have lost on-screen twice during the same episode.
Leon? More like FRAUDeon!

 

[Kazuniya]

I think Ash wouldn't do that because it's his personality to accept any battle, anywhere at anytime.

Of course, he will accept a battle if he's challenged, that's non-debatable.

I'm just saying that he doesn't have the responsibility to defend his title, because being a Monarch in the PWC is kinda different from being a League Champion, and I feel it would be more in-character for Ash if he continued traveling rather than just staying in Galar's PWC.

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

Another thing is that I really love the stylistic choices they made for this episode. You could tell so much went into it, stuff they've never actually done in the anime before. That pindeop silence where the only thing that you can hear is pikachu's faint, tortured breathing. The 3D cutaway to Ash and Leon as Ash charges a super quick attack, cutting away to Ash and Pikachu in a center before showing the flashback, that aerial shot of Pikachu and Charizard exchanging air slashes and iron tails. Just so good

And in a meta sort of way, holy **** is it so weird and surprising to see SO MANY IRL people want to get back to the anime around me and asking me to tell them which episodes to watch to see the tournament and battle lmao. I'm recommending them the 4 episodes of Ash vs Kukui, Alola champion episode in JN, Paul's episode in JN, and the 4 first round matches, 4 semi final matches and finally 4 finale matches. So yeah 18 episodes worth of homework which I believe will be enough for them and they should really need, obviously it still won't hit as hard with other prior context and I'd love to recommend like all the PWC battles as much as I can, but this is the bare minimum imo for a returning anime watcher to catch up properly with the battle in the shortest time possible

I don't even care if people don't read my reviews because they're too long. Noone's obligated to read it and sometimes people just don't want to read long things and I get that; I do that too depending on the mood lmao. Just weird behaviour to announce that you didn't read something.

For what it's worth I absolutely loved your review and ALWAYS enjoy your reviews on every battle that you make, you definitely make my favourite battle reviews

 

[Peluched49]

Honeymoon period over, time for review brain. Gonna mix it up a bit on the ordering:

Cons:

• Eternatus
  • The whole Darkest Day simulation felt just like a play to get Eternatus out to give them an extra G-Max
    • It just feels like a tacky play to try to get G-Max Pikachu in while still being able to get G-Max Gengar without breaking the 1 gimmick at a time game rule
      • I don't even mind them trying to bring back G-Max Pikachu cuz I like all the gimmick chaos, it just feels like the method was tacky
    • Pretty much just a tackier version of the Z-Move revival from Ash vs. Kukui without the meaning behind it
• Cinderace
  • One-shot OMEGALUL
  • I don't care about your in-universe justification
    • Well you see the G-Max form of Cinderace is mostly the ball instead of Cinderace, so when Cinderace jumps off the ball and has to deal with the G-Max Volt Crash, it does not have nearly as much stamina as Chonkychu blocking the G-Max Fireball, so it makes sense that it fell in one shot
      • I made this up to try to justify it for fun, but I totally do not agree that this is a justification. Feel free to use this as a bad faith argument to troll people
  • The worst part about this is Ash never found a way to deal with Libero. Every other Pokemon who posed a specificproblem had that problem dealt with
    • Mr. Rime's Psychic Terrain was shut down and Mega Lucario out-patienced Mr. Rime's speed on ice
    • Dragapult's darts got shut down by Draco Meteor
    • Rillaboom's vines got brain-freezed on
    • Inteleon + Charizard didn't pose a specific problem to figure out; they were just strong
      • Even Inteleon's Counter Shield got worked out via Will-o-Wisp
    • This just felt like Ash got an unsatisfying win because he never figured out how to deal with Libero Cinderace
    • Totally felt like they realized Leon still had Cinderace and had to figure out how to get Cinderace out in time for Pikachu vs. Charizard
      • Low-key, this should've been like a 30 minute episode or something; it didn't justify a part 5 but it feels like they didn't have enough time to finish out Cinderace vs Pikachu
• I guess I still don't care about Morpeko

Pros:

• Literally everything else god damn
• I'm never going to get sick of the Galar Gym Battle/Dynamax theme
• Every companion coming back as cameos
  • Seeing Serena knowing May is great
  • Brock and Cilan meeting again
  • Alexa being part of this is an unexpected but pleasant and welcome surprise
  • Seeing everyone back is just a great way to tie the saga
• Pikachu vs. Charizard
  • Good lord
  • Partner showdown between the 2 most popular Gen 1 Pokemon is the coolest way to end this
  • Jump off the Ancient Power to boost the Quick Attack
  • The shot of Charizard staring down at Pikachu with Air Slashes, and the sun flare in the camera is sick
  • Electroweb to block the Fire Blast
  • Why does Charizard have pecs to block Iron Tail
    • Immediate punish with Dragon Pulse
      • Immediate uncommanded Thunderbolt to get out of Dragon Pulse
  • The Electric/Fire radiation from Pikachu and Charizard
  • Gen 5/6 Gym Battle Theme
  • Dynamic Camera shot
  • Super fast Quick Attack
  • Pikachu jumping to the roof and running along it
    • This made no sense but I don't care
  • Aerial Iron Tail vs Air Slash clash like what the hell
  • The intense Pikachu breathing after getting hit by Fire Blast
    • You can hear the intensity with headphones pretty well
  • I don't think I need to say anything about seeing all of the Pokemon back, that scene is perfection
    • I guess F's out to Haunter?
  • Mezase Pokemon Master
  • LIZARDON, CHAMPION TIME DAH!
  • Ash's pose during Thunderbolt is insane
  • Leon going all in for Fire Blast
  • The Thunderbolt looks amazing
  • Charizard burning extra red hot
  • Everything about the final clash JFC
  • The way Charizard goes down is just fantastic - exactly like a boss finally falling down
  • Leon's slow pose changes as he realizes he lost

Overall, Eternatus/Cinderace moment was very bad IMO. I'm all for giving them another G-Max, but I don't think the execution around it was good, and the fight was rushed. Easily the worst part of the full battle. However, when the final battle is a 20/10, you can overlook some things when trying to rank this battle cuz good lord, what a way to end the PWC. It was a rocky road to get here, and while I won't say it makes up for the rest of the Masters 8, it sure comes close. Definitely worth the recaps and wait, applause to the animators, storyboarders, production, everyone else who was involved in the final battle. That was the greatest moment in the Pokemon anime.

Pretty much summed up my thoughts about the whole cinderace eternatus fiasco. Even with that hole this still ranks as my second favorite battle in the series.

 

[mystreon]

Omg guys, i never even noticed larvitars there too, in the vision pikachu had, my god man this is too much,

 

[Bortgreen]

And in a meta sort of way, holy **** is it so weird and surprising to see SO MANY IRL people want to get back to the anime around me and asking me to tell them which episodes to watch to see the tournament and battle lmao. I'm recommending them the 4 episodes of Ash vs Kukui, Alola champion episode in JN, Paul's episode in JN, and the 4 first round matches, 4 semi final matches and finally 4 finale matches. So yeah 18 episodes worth of homework which I believe will be enough for them and they should really need, obviously it still won't hit as hard with other prior context and I'd love to recommend like all the PWC battles as much as I can, but this is the bare minimum imo for a returning anime watcher to catch up properly with the battle in the shortest time possible

I'm sure the tournament will be more interesting to new/returning watchers than the usual critical PAD user

 

[Ryker101]

Honeymoon period over, time for review brain. Gonna mix it up a bit on the ordering:

Cons:

• Eternatus
  • The whole Darkest Day simulation felt just like a play to get Eternatus out to give them an extra G-Max
    • It just feels like a tacky play to try to get G-Max Pikachu in while still being able to get G-Max Gengar without breaking the 1 gimmick at a time game rule
      • I don't even mind them trying to bring back G-Max Pikachu cuz I like all the gimmick chaos, it just feels like the method was tacky
    • Pretty much just a tackier version of the Z-Move revival from Ash vs. Kukui without the meaning behind it
• Cinderace
  • One-shot OMEGALUL
  • I don't care about your in-universe justification
    • Well you see the G-Max form of Cinderace is mostly the ball instead of Cinderace, so when Cinderace jumps off the ball and has to deal with the G-Max Volt Crash, it does not have nearly as much stamina as Chonkychu blocking the G-Max Fireball, so it makes sense that it fell in one shot
      • I made this up to try to justify it for fun, but I totally do not agree that this is a justification. Feel free to use this as a bad faith argument to troll people
  • The worst part about this is Ash never found a way to deal with Libero. Every other Pokemon who posed a specificproblem had that problem dealt with
    • Mr. Rime's Psychic Terrain was shut down and Mega Lucario out-patienced Mr. Rime's speed on ice
    • Dragapult's darts got shut down by Draco Meteor
    • Rillaboom's vines got brain-freezed on
    • Inteleon + Charizard didn't pose a specific problem to figure out; they were just strong
      • Even Inteleon's Counter Shield got worked out via Will-o-Wisp
    • This just felt like Ash got an unsatisfying win because he never figured out how to deal with Libero Cinderace
    • Totally felt like they realized Leon still had Cinderace and had to figure out how to get Cinderace out in time for Pikachu vs. Charizard
      • Low-key, this should've been like a 30 minute episode or something; it didn't justify a part 5 but it feels like they didn't have enough time to finish out Cinderace vs Pikachu
• I guess I still don't care about Morpeko

Pros:

• Literally everything else god damn
• I'm never going to get sick of the Galar Gym Battle/Dynamax theme
• Every companion coming back as cameos
  • Seeing Serena knowing May is great
  • Brock and Cilan meeting again
  • Alexa being part of this is an unexpected but pleasant and welcome surprise
  • Seeing everyone back is just a great way to tie the saga
• Pikachu vs. Charizard
  • Good lord
  • Partner showdown between the 2 most popular Gen 1 Pokemon is the coolest way to end this
  • Jump off the Ancient Power to boost the Quick Attack
  • The shot of Charizard staring down at Pikachu with Air Slashes, and the sun flare in the camera is sick
  • Electroweb to block the Fire Blast
  • Why does Charizard have pecs to block Iron Tail
    • Immediate punish with Dragon Pulse
      • Immediate uncommanded Thunderbolt to get out of Dragon Pulse
  • The Electric/Fire radiation from Pikachu and Charizard
  • Gen 5/6 Gym Battle Theme
  • Dynamic Camera shot
  • Super fast Quick Attack
  • Pikachu jumping to the roof and running along it
    • This made no sense but I don't care
  • Aerial Iron Tail vs Air Slash clash like what the hell
  • The intense Pikachu breathing after getting hit by Fire Blast
    • You can hear the intensity with headphones pretty well
  • I don't think I need to say anything about seeing all of the Pokemon back, that scene is perfection
    • I guess F's out to Haunter?
  • Mezase Pokemon Master
  • LIZARDON, CHAMPION TIME DAH!
  • Ash's pose during Thunderbolt is insane
  • Leon going all in for Fire Blast
  • The Thunderbolt looks amazing
  • Charizard burning extra red hot
  • Everything about the final clash JFC
  • The way Charizard goes down is just fantastic - exactly like a boss finally falling down
  • Leon's slow pose changes as he realizes he lost

Overall, Eternatus/Cinderace moment was very bad IMO. I'm all for giving them another G-Max, but I don't think the execution around it was good, and the fight was rushed. Easily the worst part of the full battle. However, when the final battle is a 20/10, you can overlook some things when trying to rank this battle cuz good lord, what a way to end the PWC. It was a rocky road to get here, and while I won't say it makes up for the rest of the Masters 8, it sure comes close. Definitely worth the recaps and wait, applause to the animators, storyboarders, production, everyone else who was involved in the final battle. That was the greatest moment in the Pokemon anime.

Defs agree about Cinderace. It was the weakest part of the battle for me in general. They set up Libero at the beginning but it didn’t go anywhere. Dracovish just threw random attacks without any strategy, even weird combos like using dragon rush when it was a steel type. It’s also a shame he didn’t take a single hit there, bc that would’ve made losing to Pikachu more believable. Otherwise have it miss hjk or something. Compared to Inteolon/Rillaboom it’s battles were just relatively worse

But it’s literally my only problem with the battle, everything else was top-notch

 

[mehmeh1]

I'm sure the tournament will be more interesting to new/returning watchers than the usual critical PAD user

From what I've seen, the less of JN people have seen, the more they've enjoyed this battle......doesn't speak that greatly of the buildup, but won't deny that there was a lot of satisfying stuff for longtime fans in this battle on a vacuum