One Last Battle with Ash! Serena's Choice!! (941)

[Nerdy McNerdface]

I like this episode a lot:
- Serena's idea of the Special Showcase was great, Jessie(lin)'s included (was kind of good see TRio away of their one-thousand-episode-old-steal-Pikachu plot at least once)
- Grace appearance should be longer, but (for me) it was pivotal to make Serena think broadly on her future and the importance of not thinking on what she would lose by doing this or that.
- Good farewell scene to Shauna's Gang and Sawyer; I hope they would be part of a Pokémon Chronicles 2.0... a man can dream.
- Shauna pulling Tierno's ear not only paid homage of Misty's/Max ones, but also was some kind of DON'T GO THERE ALREADY TOLDYA NOT TO GO THERE.
- Ash's role on helping her having better times was more than OK, it was a great hint on their relation consolidation.
- I like seeing Palermo's attitude less harsh in general; maybe because she now respects Serena.

Maybe most of us shippers expected some kind of confession to Ash on this episode, but I think the ship will be ok till the end.

If sawyer gets his own chronicles 2.0 ep then we all know that they would have to feature Steven somehow.

Please give me.

 

[Navin]

Mal's Review:

You didn't think I'd forget, did you?


Pros:

* "Zettai Akiramenai!" Based OP is based

* Serena remembering the lesson from her Master Class loss

* Jessie joining in

* Ash cheering up Serena in his own way

* Serena picking the path of adventure


Cons:

* So you're going to send your rat that went nuts against a Tyranitar, Metagross, and Charizard against poor Braixen? At least Mr. Big and Reliable would have reliable in making it a fair fight...

* Aannddd of course the battle doesn't end; ah well, at least twas another "XY is the new AG" callback

* Hey Ash, could have mentioned two of your former companions were quite the experts in Contests...RIP continuity

* Should have had the confession in this episode


Thoughts:

* Remember all the folks who thought Grace was an abusive mom? Topu Koku

* Oh...so the rock is still not yet gone? At least they sent the Leprechaun to find it at the end of the rainbow

* Why didn't Serena just do Contests in the first place?!

* So Serena will be in Hoenn, and Ash in Alola, yeah good luck for any cameos...


Obligatory Serena decision episode. Not bad, not great.

5/10

 

[Frozocrone]

Dub was OK I guess.

Serena tells the group about what her goal is.
Dub Ash: That's great! Good for you!
May have laughed a little too hard because the delivery was quite sarcastic

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Wait, what? They already released this episode?

 

[Frozocrone]

Wait, what? They already released this episode?

Yeah, I was surprised to be honest. Hadn't expected it to crop up but yeah. Twenty-minutes of reliving what I knew 2 months ago, with not too much to poke fun at.

Maybe CN is trying to air them all together because of the shift to Disney.

Yes, even in the aftermath it's referred to as the giant rock.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Lol Shauna does the ear pulling gag better than Misty, can't say that Tierno gushing over Serena is better than Brock though
I enjoyed this episode it had some great development for Serena and her interactions with her mom and a few others were nice.

 

[DS0308]

Wait, what? They already released this episode?

That was my exact reaction about 20 minutes ago.

Serena: "You know, I've never had a proper battle against you before"
Ash: "Well, I did. You were a complete ***** too"

That's what should've happened.

EDIT: I am actually curious what country is airing these episodes before the US. Is it Canada? UK? Possibly Australia (although I can easily check this one lol)

 

[UnovaMaster]

It wasn't released in the US.

Frozocrone is spreading misinformation, that or they legitimately don't have enough critical thinking skill to recognize a YT upload might be from another country.

 

[Momentum]

EDIT: I am actually curious what country is airing these episodes before the US. Is it Canada? UK? Possibly Australia (although I can easily check this one lol)

I can actually answer this since I'm the one who discovered the leak! It's Canada.

Teletoon usually puts episodes that have recently aired on their demand page for free viewing. I just happened to be checking their on demand section for Christmas content when I noticed the leak. My guess is it was unintentional since the episode before this one wasn't available. I let my friend know and they recorded it, encoded it, and shared it online.

 

[Soaring Pikachu]

Seeing Performances as the precursor to contests, yes I like this direction. I should have seen it coming but didn't, good for Serena. The pokemon universe has been restored to balance, it all makes sense now.

I also liked how Serena and her Pokemon dancing in performances was reflected in her battle with Ash.

 

[DatsRight]

Seeing Performances as the precursor to contests, yes I like this direction. I should have seen it coming but didn't, good for Serena. The pokemon universe has been restored to balance, it all makes sense now.

I also liked how Serena and her Pokemon dancing in performances was reflected in her battle with Ash.

I just wish they hadn't waited till the very last battle for her to demonstrate that unique battle style, especially since she it could have demonstrated a more broadened display of her getting better in the showcases. Why nothing but 'Dodge and Flamethrower' spamming until now?

As for battles? Whatever. It wasn't a deal-breaker for me. No matter her track record before the TF arc, Serena wasn't battling Lysandre. That was my problem with the Coordinators about how they were often portrayed on par with hardcore battlers. It didn't make sense. There is only so much time for practice. Of course, Contests were inherently flawed with the knockout clause. Heck, Ash would kick butt as a Coordinator. Five minutes to get a KO? No problem.

My problem was more Serena was treated as improving as a battler up until the TF arc, despite this lack of level grinding and display of competence up until this episode. Her Pokemon fainted ONCE, the times they even took a single hit were pretty sparse too. I mean, yeah, I get the twerps generally curb stomp TR to show their competence, but there's some transition of them improving against them and at least a few times they handle a not so harmless challenge from them or someone else. Serena went from being useless against Meowth to just suddenly outdoing and destroying them in one hit. It felt like glorification and trying to convey development that wasn't really there. Not to mention over used plot armour moments saving her whenever this wasn't the case (James' jaded 'Oh here we go' when Eevee evolved said it for me).

If she wasn't a good battler but it wasn't made to be a big part of her role, then fine, but they kept shoving her into battles by the last half and trying to make her look like a winner despite this, and since she never got more skilled, her opponents had to be dumbed down to get thrashed by her basic level, which meant she was making the action of each episode very boring. I still hold Serena partially responsible for spamming the dumbed down TR in XYZ because they wanted her to have a straw loser.

 

[Flame Haze SnS]

CN didn't air today's episode????

 

[Marbi Z]

CN didn't air today's episode????

Nope! They dun goofed! Instead we get a re-run of last weeks ep. Someone at CN must be pissed that it's moving to Disney XD.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

CN didn't air today's episode????

Oddly enough, they didn't.

Eesh. No wonder this is moving.

 

[Frozocrone]

CN didn't air today's episode????

For what it's worth, it was leaked online about a week ago...or two I forget. But it's definitely out there.

 

[The Mega Champion]

So the english dub version of this episode didn't air today.

I know because I had to record it with my DVR because I had to work and it was last week's episode instead.

Does anyone know why?

Is Cartoon Network pissed because they're losing this series or something?

If their that mad then maybe they should have stopped airing XYZ BEFORE now?

When is the english dub episode going to air?

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

So the english dub version of this episode didn't air today.

I know because I had to record it with my DVR because I had to work and it was last week's episode instead.

Does anyone know why?

Is Cartoon Network pissed because they're losing this series or something?

If their that mad then maybe they should have stopped airing XYZ BEFORE now?

When is the english dub episode going to air?

It already aired online and on teletoon I believe.

Otherwise i think it'll air next week on CN

 

[The Mega Champion]

It already aired online and on teletoon I believe.

Otherwise i think it'll air next week on CN

Okay? I don't really see how that's relevant though as to what happened.

The question is why it wasn't aired today.

 

[Daniel31]

Okay? I don't really see how that's relevant though as to what happened.

The question is why it wasn't aired today.

My best guess is that it has to do with the holidays. Anyway, if you look at the list of episodes for XY(Z) on wiki or bulbapedia, this episode isn't suppose to air until 1/7/17.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

My best guess is that it has to do with the holidays. Anyway, if you look at the list of episodes for XY(Z) on wiki or bulbapedia, this episode isn't suppose to air until 1/7/17.

Which still doesn't make sense. The episode is already finished yet they decide to rerun the previous one?