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Mallow & Lana! A Fully Powered Battle of Friendship!! (1073)

Sceptile Leaf Blade

Nighttime Guardian
I'm loving how this league is turning out so far. Only gripe is that it's obvious they just don't have enough time to show everything they want to show. I'm fairly sure they've storyboarded way more than what we're seeing but they have to cut a lot out because of episode time. Last episode sacrificed a lot of character's screentime, especially Kahili, Leo, Olu'Olu, Mallow, Lillie, and Lana, and this episode sacrificed the Hau vs Principle Oak battle. The battles we are getting are all amazing, I just want more.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
I really liked Satoshi versus Sauboh since Meltan won in a way that didn't feel quite as cheap as some of my initial predictions, and of course Guzma versus Ilima was good as well since Guzma managed to defeat Ilima in a way that was both logical and satisfying from my viewpoint. Mao versus Suiren had a predictable outcome as well, but I wasn't that bothered by it since Suiren winning at least made more sense from an objective standpoint given her experience compared to Mao's.
 

DatsRight

Well-Known Member
......

......

......

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Well played SM....Well played...

I seriously did NOT expect them to do this, to actually take the 'reality ensues' approach that Mallow genuinely did not train for a good battler and have her fail to the same level Ash fails at non-battle things he did not train for. Battling has always been that sort of thing that everyone is made to look at least superficially competent at, I was certain they'd pull a Serena and make her randomly fluent for her final display, but no they pulled no punches, she wasn't used to intricate commands or even just battles where she was the one taking damage and that inexperience backfired bad when the plot armour was fully swiped off her (also liked the subtle detail, everyone in this episode that used 'Dodge' added some extra direction or attack to give it more strategy, Mallow used Dodge on it's own and it failed). The climatic speech at the end is also intriguing, acknowledging Mallow is mainly there for support and kind of holds back her own potential in that regard. It's almost like the writers acknowledging they didn't do much with Mallow and tried to write a main character from the agency of a supporting one, it didn't really work.

Now I do still sort of side with some complaints listed. It doesn't excuse at all that it took this long to land anything with Mallow. Most of the other students got their big transformative moment where they stopped being complacent limited characters before the end of the AF arc. Mallow got her's before THE END OF THE WHOLE SERIES. I also agree that Lana herself isn't the absolute best character to compare against, she did train at least and they did most use the bubbles and Z Moves for her strategic use which was fair play, but she's still never done one official battle up until the league (Lana admittedly however is the complacent 'good at everything inherently' character played intentionally for gags, while Mallow just seems like the character that drew blanks with the writers).

I suspect if there is enough time however, Mallow will likely get some sort of vindication moment. SM has been good at those.

Other battles were okay if expectedly brief. Meltan vs Hypno was largely a gag battle, I did like Ash mistaking Faba's cheating for Meltan being enthusiastic and letting him get his moment. They like reminding us while Meltan is there because of Rowlet, Ash does still care about him. Ash will almost certainly get his big battles in the next rounds anyway.

Hau vs Samson was the quickest, but it was nice to see a Raichu NOT be the butt monkey for once. Guzma vs Ilima was interesting, liked seeing Guzma isn't just a guy of brute force and is actually pretty sneaky. Rather surprised that Eevee's injury wasn't the big chekhov's gun of the battle though, it felt like Plumera was intending on that.

One of the students learning another new move offscreen is annoying I will admit, especially with the stagnancy of many of their Pokemon in Ultra Adventures. It's a step up for DEM induced buffs I suppose, it at least implies the trainer EARNED it, but there's still hardly any catharsis in not showing any of that process.
 
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R0shan

Arcaknight
Meltan eating Hypno's coin...Ash and unorthodox tactics, a classic

Technically, Ash didn't use his classic unorthodox tactics though. He actually told Meltan to not look when Hypno used Hypnosis, but Meltan charged forward anyway and melted the pendulum. The battle was played for gags, but it could have been more 'legitimate' if Ash was the one who told Meltan to get rid of the pendulum, sort of like how he used unorthodox tactics with Gible at the Lily of the Valley Conference.
 

Sonnas

Well-Known Member
Now I do still sort of side with some complaints listed. It doesn't excuse at all that it took this long to land anything with Mallow. Most of the other students got their big transformative moment where they stopped being complacent limited characters before the end of the AF arc. Mallow got her's before THE END OF THE WHOLE SERIES. I also agree that Lana herself isn't the absolute best character to compare against, she did train at least and they did most use the bubbles and Z Moves for her strategic use which was fair play, but she's still never done one official battle up until the league (Lana admittedly however is the complacent 'good at everything inherently' character played intentionally for gags, while Mallow just seems like the character that drew blanks with the writers)..
I'm just annoyed how Mallow just decided to give up that easily, in a league or do you understand what she was doing?
 

DatsRight

Well-Known Member
I'm just annoyed how Mallow just decided to give up that easily, in a league or do you understand what she was doing?

It kinda falls into one of those premises like the Rotom leaving episode where I can see what the writers were going for but it doesn't quite mesh with how the character was depicted beforehand. Keeping in mind Mallow has almost never been in a position she was on the losing end, so unused to facing situations where Tsareena risked getting wrecked or humiliated that way, her first choice is to get her out before her Pokemon gets the worst of it.

It admittedly doesn't really blend well with the super spunky and implied to be rather competitive Mallow of the very early episodes, though sadly that side to her was long discarded anyway in favour of her being 'the normal girl'.
 

Sonnas

Well-Known Member
It kinda falls into one of those premises like the Rotom leaving episode where I can see what the writers were going for but it doesn't quite mesh with how the character was depicted beforehand. Keeping in mind Mallow has almost never been in a position she was on the losing end, so unused to facing situations where Tsareena risked getting wrecked or humiliated that way, her first choice is to get her out before her Pokemon gets the worst of it.

It admittedly doesn't really blend well with the super spunky and implied to be rather competitive Mallow of the very early episodes, though sadly that side to her was long discarded anyway in favour of her being 'the normal girl'.
Would you say her giving up feels like an insult in the league or you don't mind it?
 

JC317

Well-Known Member
I felt that it was a neat touch that they set aside areas in the spectator's stands for Pokemon to stay in, it does fit with the vibe of Alola.

However, I'm not that impressed with the battles.
Ash v Faba just exemplifies the worst aspects of the SM anime, throwing in comedy at needless moments; however it does show off Meltan's personality, and we also see that Meltan still ignores Ash's commands when excited.
Ilima v Guzma feels like the closest to a high level match; but as others pointed out, they reused quite a bit of animation for this match, guess the budget for this episode went into Lana v Mallow. I would also rather there was more of a reaction to Ilima losing.
While Hau v Oak might have been good, there's no way of knowing since we only got to see the final moments of their fight.

As for Lana v Mallow, it was alright, but I wish this battle could have happened in any setting other than the league conference.
 

AznKei

Dawn & Chloe by ddangbi
Would you say her giving up feels like an insult in the league or you don't mind it?
I don't mind, as I watch the show for entertainment, whether it's the battles or comedies, not to set a standard of a particular event or a character development in which people would complain regardless because of the writers controversial decisions like many times in the past before.
 

SH65

Victory Over All!
Ash vs Faba - It was short and to the point. Its helps that I don't care about Faba so i'm glad hes gone. 3/5

Ilima vs Guzma - The best battle out of the 4 and it shows how strong Guzma is. 4/5

Hau vs Samson Oak - ..... Samson Oak is out. That's all that this battle got.
1/5

Mallow vs Lana - Didn't really care about this battle. Hated how Mallow tried to give up mid battle and how Lana's Primarina had Icy Wind out of nowhere. 2/5

Overall this ep was meh nothing more nothing less. 2.5/5
 
I just watched the subbed version of this episode. Overall, I really liked it. Here are my thoughts:

-Faba's mischievousness was good, kept him in character. Also, his yearning to battle the Masked Royal.
-However, I hated that the battle between Meltan and Hypno was so short. I know his Hypno hasn't been shown to be that strong, but it really fell to one Flash Cannon? I guess that's a testament to Meltan's strength but still felt super short.
-Hau vs. Oak was an appropriate length in my opinion. They did it justice without dragging it on too long, especially for someone like Oak, who has never really been shown to be a battler.
-Guzma vs. Ilima was great. "He used the child as a shield?!" is a perfect representation of who Guzma is as a person, so well done there, writers. Giving Mega Kangaskhan to Ilima to help highlight both his journey to Kalos and also Guzma's tactics is honestly good writing on their part.
-Mallow vs. Lana: this one easily takes the cake for me. I loved it through and through. I like that Mallow understood that Tsareena hadn't battled much and that's why it couldn't take that many hits from Primarina (she even comments that they need to end it immediately or they'll lose). I loved Tsareena's passion, and their hug leading into Bloom Doom was so cute. I liked that they still lost after continuing the battle because it leaves room for growth. Honestly, SM is great with character moments, and this reminded me of how much I loved Mallow's moment with her mom on Poni Island. This battle was perfection.
-I really didn't mind any of the new moves that others have been upset about. This series has implied throughout its entire run that they train offscreen often, and Kukui no doubt helps them all the time as well in class. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have seen said training, but I don't think it's farfetched for Lana to have trained to combat Grass-types or for Sophocles to have thought to teach Togedemaru Spiky Shield.
 

andrewscott48209

Well-Known Member
I just watched the subbed version of this episode. Overall, I really liked it. Here are my thoughts:

-Faba's mischievousness was good, kept him in character. Also, his yearning to battle the Masked Royal.
-However, I hated that the battle between Meltan and Hypno was so short. I know his Hypno hasn't been shown to be that strong, but it really fell to one Flash Cannon? I guess that's a testament to Meltan's strength but still felt super short.
-Hau vs. Oak was an appropriate length in my opinion. They did it justice without dragging it on too long, especially for someone like Oak, who has never really been shown to be a battler.
-Guzma vs. Ilima was great. "He used the child as a shield?!" is a perfect representation of who Guzma is as a person, so well done there, writers. Giving Mega Kangaskhan to Ilima to help highlight both his journey to Kalos and also Guzma's tactics is honestly good writing on their part.
-Mallow vs. Lana: this one easily takes the cake for me. I loved it through and through. I like that Mallow understood that Tsareena hadn't battled much and that's why it couldn't take that many hits from Primarina (she even comments that they need to end it immediately or they'll lose). I loved Tsareena's passion, and their hug leading into Bloom Doom was so cute. I liked that they still lost after continuing the battle because it leaves room for growth. Honestly, SM is great with character moments, and this reminded me of how much I loved Mallow's moment with her mom on Poni Island. This battle was perfection.
-I really didn't mind any of the new moves that others have been upset about. This series has implied throughout its entire run that they train offscreen often, and Kukui no doubt helps them all the time as well in class. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have seen said training, but I don't think it's farfetched for Lana to have trained to combat Grass-types or for Sophocles to have thought to teach Togedemaru Spiky Shield.
Concerning Meltan v Hypno, while I understand the complaint that it went down in one hit, do remember that once Meltan ate its pendulum, Hypno became defenseless. If the writers had Meltan attack multiple times, then it would look more brutal than it needs to be. And Ash is not a brutal trainer. If I remember correctly, Ash had only sent one opponent rushing to a Pokemon center. And that was entirely an accident due to Pikachu being overcharged after attacking a mechanical Raikou. In the case of Meltan v Hypno, taking it out in one hit is a mercy for Hypno.
 

AznKei

Dawn & Chloe by ddangbi
Concerning Meltan v Hypno, while I understand the complaint that it went down in one hit, do remember that once Meltan ate its pendulum, Hypno became defenseless. If the writers had Meltan attack multiple times, then it would look more brutal than it needs to be. And Ash is not a brutal trainer. If I remember correctly, Ash had only sent one opponent rushing to a Pokemon center. And that was entirely an accident due to Pikachu being overcharged after attacking a mechanical Raikou. In the case of Meltan v Hypno, taking it out in one hit is a mercy for Hypno.
I would still think that Meltan doing a lengthly 20 hits combo on Hypno would be fine as well as long it doesn't break any part of Hypno's body. Sure Hypno was defenseless but it was more in shock but still in shape than completely laying down in pain while Ash & Meltan are laughing at their foes misery. I mean it was fine and not brutal for an opponent to be in dizzy state and get knocked out afterwards in fighting games, except for Mortal Kombat for obvious reasons.
 

Lord Godwin

The Lord of Darkness
The thing I disliked the most were the potential Z-moves which could have been used:
1. Farba/Hypno and The Psychic move
2. Meltan using the Steel move
3. A-Raichu using it's exclusive move

Bonus:
Pleria could've used the Poison one against Eevee.
 

andrewscott48209

Well-Known Member
The thing I disliked the most were the potential Z-moves which could have been used:
1. Farba/Hypno and The Psychic move
2. Meltan using the Steel move
3. A-Raichu using it's exclusive move

Bonus:
Pleria could've used the Poison one against Eevee.
Concerning Plumeria using the poison Z move, that would be betraying Guzma's ideals, in that he believes that he can become stronger without using Z Moves, or going through the island pilgrimage.
 

Red and Blue

Well-Known Member
Hau not using Raichu's Z move makes sense as well. It's electric type which Alolan Exeggutor resists 4x as demonstrated with thunderbolt.

The Battle Royal should have been the time to use most of the remaining Z moves
 

Ryu Taylor

Unwavering beliefs. Richter Taylor is my name now.
I used to defend Ash's loss to Alain as being a matter of Alain being more skilled than Ash, but really, I think that better describes Mallow's loss to Lana.
 

Joltik-Kid

Careful? Where's the fun in that?
If Kiawe goes on to beat Acerola and then has to face Lana... his best chance to win without seeming like a total DEM is his Charizard. Turtonator has no moves that effect Primarina (and it would be soo cheap for him to beat Eevee) in any significant way and I just can't see Marowak getting used consecutively.

As for this episode... blah, they knew it would look like utter garbage if Tsareena lost to a Primarina with only Water attacks, so it was gifted the Icy Wind to further indicate that Lana was the late-season battle girl and Mallow's existence after the start of the show was nothing of significance
 

AznKei

Dawn & Chloe by ddangbi
I used to defend Ash's loss to Alain as being a matter of Alain being more skilled than Ash, but really, I think that better describes Mallow's loss to Lana.
AshVsAlain was more controversial though, even if I cheered at Ash's loss. Their 2 aces were battered so it was a matter of which one fell 1st, in which can be very scripted imo. I wasn't surprised about Mallow's loss though, even with Tsareena type advantage and Primarina's Icy Wind out of nowhere, as she wasn't shown to be really a battler throughout the series so far, unlike Lana.
 
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