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Finals IV: Partner (1221)

A

AJ97

Well-Known Member
Really enjoyable episode altogether. Pikachu vs Charizard is arguably the best anime battle to date.

Was a little disappointed with Cinderace getting knocked down that easily; but I guess that can be overlooked considering the extra time was put toward Pikachu vs Charizard.

However, the only really issue from my side, was the celebration or whatever happened after the win. It honestly felt anti-climatic considering how serious of an accomplishment this is for Ash.
I hope they touch on this with a dedicated episode after Project Mew.
 
Shadao

Shadao

Aim to be a Pokémon Master
There are... no words to describe this episode. For words fail to do this episode justice. This is perhaps the episode that will go down in legends. The one that everyone will talk about for generations. I will say this however:

Nothing will ever top this moment in the history of the Pokémon anime. Everything from the build up to the tension to the cameos to songs to voice acting, etc. It's all perfectly done. Everything you could have hoped for... and more. The moment where Pikachu nearly faints but has that vision of ALL of Ash's Pokémon. I repeat, ALL of Ash's Pokémon he has ever caught or befriended, including Butterfree and Pidgeot. They're all with Pikachu, encouraging him to press on and fight on against Leon. This moment is what made this episode possibly the best one in the history of the entire anime. It's that moment where you realize... Ash Ketchum is going to win. Ash is defeating Leon. Ash is becoming the World Champion. He believed in his first Pokémon, Pikachu. And Pikachu will not fail Ash.

Because of this, yeah. This is the End of the Anime as we know it. Nothing could ever come close to achieving what this episode did.

I once told people several times here and everywhere on social media that becoming a Pokémon Master is not a goal, but a drive. It's a never-ending, open ended quest with infinite possibilities. Thus, it's impossible for Ash and Pikachu to actually become Pokémon Masters, and that's why they've remain our leads for 25 years. But if there was ever an episode that ever came close to Ash and Pikachu finally becoming Pokémon Masters, this is the episode.

This is the last climax of the main anime series. Oh sure, there'll be future anime series but I think it would more akin to the Arceus specials. Mini-series that feature our main heroes for a contained adventure.
 
DuquÊ?

DuquÊ?

Too lazy to pick a pic
Pepsi_Plunge said:
Iris was alone also.
Click to expand...
My bad! Also, Cilan is still in Sinnoh.

Anyway, cinderace going down in one hit is probably the only down side, after all the problem libero gave, but, eh, serves Leon right.

So...what happens with Ash & pikachu from now? This thing could be pretty much the series finale. That yellow mouse who had problems with spearows just defeated the (supposedly) strongest charizard in the world.

On a side note, it's fun to see lucario so proud when its high point in the battle was defeat Charles Chaplin.
 
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Hu Tao

Hu Tao

Serebii Lurker for at least half a decade
I'm a bit late watching this, so far I watched to the point where Cinderace lost in G-Max. I get that 2 Gigantamax clashes would be excessive, and they've already shown off the moves G-Max Cinderace could have used except G-Max Fireball, but it kinda sucked that the Libero ability didn't see much use and Cinderace basically got one shot by G-Max Volt Crash (it barely took much, if any, damage against Dracovish). A gimmickless finale will be coolthough and lots of time for a finale longer than Lucario vs Garchomp I suppose. I'd have to hold judgement until I finish the episode.

Edit: Okay, literally 1 minute later and I got showered by cameos. The episode has already exceeded my expectations
 
GLTSRY

GLTSRY

Sorry not sorry for my smugness
It still somehow feels weird that only Chloe and Dawn were watching this live from the stands. They could‘ve send Goh to PM after the battle, and the others only watching from the TV felt weird
 
GLTSRY

GLTSRY

Sorry not sorry for my smugness
Hu Tao said:
I'm a bit late watching this, so far I watched to the point where Cinderace lost in G-Max. I get that 2 Gigantamax clashes would be excessive, and they've already shown off the moves G-Max Cinderace could have used except G-Max Fireball, but it kinda sucked that the Libero ability didn't see much use and Cinderace basically got one shot by G-Max Volt Crash (it barely took much, if any, damage against Dracovish). A gimmickless finale will be coolthough and lots of time for a finale longer than Lucario vs Garchomp I suppose. I'd have to hold judgement until I finish the episode.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the only part of this episode that I didn‘t like that much is that Leon didn‘t go for Max Quake to make use of Libero. Felt out of character.
 
Sonic Boom

Sonic Boom

@JohanSSB4 Twitter
Pepsi_Plunge said:
Iris was alone also.
Click to expand...
Yeah but at least we knew that beforehand.

I’ll still take this kernel and go hopium my way into thinking something’s coming up. They could have easily had Brock there, but he buddied up with Cilan instead, a pair up that’s only been seen in a sidestory episode.
 
Dragonsoldier77

Dragonsoldier77

Bittersweet Satisfaction
Well now that the emotion have calmed down for me, my thougts on the episode as whole.

As previously mentioned, the whole thing with cinderace was shite. As expected it was just dealt in the cheapest way possible, and really should’ve been taken care of in the previous eps to allow this ep to be purely charizard vs pikachu

First half of the pikachu vs charizard was okay. No real standout strategy aside from electro web shield. Would say it was just a bit above avarage in terms of JN quality.

It’s still nice to see them continuing the leon perspective of it reminding him about the joys of battle

The 12 minute mark is where the animation started go ham. Easily the best battle sequence in JN. Nice choreography and cinematography, a 1 minute bit that probably rival the shorts.

Then the companion and ash’s pokemon montage. Easily the best thing of the ep. No matter which series you love and hate, there’s something for everyone. Also neat that alexa was also there. Lisia sure since it’s with serena and may, but didn’t expect alexa.

The final clash was great, the animation was nice even if the action was rather simplistic with a head on crash. Really loved the juxtaposition of leon and ash also butting heads tho. Also like the little detail of how the ground by charizard turned to lava from the heat.

NGL, the celebration felt pretty lackluster and kinda took the hype down again.


Overall definitely enjoyed the episode, but as i said in the past that i felt little to no hype going in, i do not feel as emotional or excited as others. Without the hype, i found it okay for the most part, and finding it technically engaging at the middle. I don’t really have much to criticize on the art and animation, but also don’t find it to be best animated ep of all time like some people do.

I wanted to at least give it a 10/10 as it’s own ep, but the g max fight was a real sour point for me, so probably a 9/10. It’s definitely flawed, but still some of the most enjoyment i’ve had from JN in a long while.
 
J

Jikkle

Volcano Trainer
Animation was top notch throughout the entire episode and best I've seen in the series. It wasn't movie quality but close and you could tell the poured everything they had into this episode.

Cinderace vs Pikachu dragged the episode down a bit and I wish they gave less time to the earlier fights to more time to this fight. Libero felt like a wasted opportunity to have Ash exploit it with one of his crazy ideas and having a quick G-Max battle between the two was clearly rushed. Could've used less Mr. Rime and Dragapult to squeeze more time into this one.

Pikachu and Charizard fight made up for it though. First time in the entire series they made Pikachu feel powerful and an actual ace for Ash's team. Only thing I could think of at the end is where has this Pikachu been all these years? They also made Charizard feel extremely powerful as well so they did a great job of making the battle feel like an epic clash between two of the top trainers in the world.

I do wish they gave Ash a bigger victory lap and would've like to seen more reactions of his winning than just a quick trophy at the end. He pulled off one of the biggest upsets ever and became world champion but it didn't feel much different than his other wins.
 
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