September 9th: PM2019 124 - The Semifinals III: Valor

[Pkjoan]

Few of the people here are truly lifeless with infinite negativity.

Even I know Journeys is Dogshit Level, but complaining each and everything is just dick riding nitpicking

Huh, that's a new one, dick riding nitpicking.

 

[LazySpy]

I mean, whether it is dogsh!t level is subjective and entirely someone's opinion.

As someone who believed in objective quality.

Based.

 

[LazySpy]

There's an objective perception of certain things, but perception and reception are two different things.

Perception, being how you perceive things. There's a right answer, which is what is happening on screen, and then there's everything else.
Reception, is your reaction to it. Do you like what you see? or not?

One is objective, the other is subjective. Yes, there's a generally agreed upon standard of quality, but not everyone goes by that standard. This applies to everything you are rating. TV shows, movies, food, potential partners, etc...

Bingo.

We can measure objectively whether something is inconsistent but whether it's a flaw - and how big of a one - will be subjective, as will whether something is good or bad.

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

A reminder to everyone here, please don't talk about leaks here as we used to in the past
Now all the leaks and the discussions surrounding them go to the leak containment thread
Dont discuss leaks here, atleast not without a spoiler tag,ty

Hoping his remaining 3 finish the fight well but especially looking forward to what Dracovish does. Sirfetch'd at least makes it to Garchomp which is good on its own and we know Lucario will finish the match so curious on what it'll do.

I really REALLY hope Dracovish atleast gets a victory against Roserade, even if it faints to the poison after. I dont want it to not get a single victory again!!

*sigh*

You know what? You win. I give up on this thread.

Have it your way.
This episode was flawless. It was perfect, it was amazing, it was glorious. No issues with it whatsoever.

People who do have problems with this episode should likewise understand that there's nothing to dislike about this episode.
Any criticism you may have is mere nitpicking and childish complaining.

Accept that the episode was a solid 10/10 and move on with your life.
After all, no other opinion will be tolerated.

(Apologies to others for taking up so much of this thread with this waste of time, now you can go back to actually speculating about the episode.)

I already regret quoting and talking about this topic again and being petty
But GODDAMN the victimising here after being called out for your **** is HILARIOUS
A perfect parody, you really thought you did something with this post while trying to twist the narrative of what people were arguing about into 'toxic positivity' and 'no criticism to this perfect battle allowed'.
Too funny

 

[GLTSRY]

The one thing I’m most curious about is how many hits Negigaknight and Uonoragon will be able to take?

They were absolute beasts against Drasna, but Uonoragon was quickly defeated by Daigo. Even if there is a gap in strength between him and Drasna, that felt quite weird.

Hope this episode will show us how strong those 2 really are.

 

[Bortgreen]

For sure. Team Rocket being Ash and Pikachu's biggest supporters is heartwarming to see.

Like the TRio said, they're partially responsible for training Pikachu to be as strong as he is today. Thanks for the EXP, Jessie/James/Meowth.

Not just Pikachu, heh
A big amount of pokemon boosts happened in TR battles, specially in OS-DP
It even feels uncreative

 

[Kazuniya]

Not just Pikachu, heh
A big amount of pokemon boosts happened in TR battles, specially in OS-DP
It even feels uncreative

When Ash wins that Champion trophy, he should give a big speech, thank everyone who got him here and then invite Team Rocket to join him on stage to share the trophy with them!

 

[Kazuniya]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1567437517485674497

Confirms Dynamax I guess

Eh, not quite confirming it.

In episode 124...
Cynthia's partner Garchomp is finally ready for battle!
Garchomp evolved in the first round of the Masters Tournament, right?

Ash is also wary of the Mega Evolution, but...

 

[MetaMantis]

Imagine Ash dynamaxes the duck.

 

[Kazuniya]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1567452621258244098

The tweet is drawing attention to the moves Stealth Rock and Fishious Rend.

Stealth Rock hype!

 

[sutellakiara]

Cynthia you're supposed to use SR turn 1...
Further proof that they're nerfing Cynthia.

 

[GLTSRY]

Lol Stealth Rock has like zero effect on Lucario and not that much effect on Dracovish or Sirfetch’d either, just neutral.

Maybe it’ll have the PLA effect?

 

[GLTSRY]

Still Garchomp’s moveset can barley hurt Lucario.

Maybe that’s why she won’t ME it? After all, she knows that Ash can only use ME right now, she doesn’t have to worry about Gengar or Pikachu anymore

 

[GLTSRY]

I mean you would think that Cynthia wouldn't underestimate Lucario. It feels like she underestimates Lucario somehow.

I mean, there is a reason why she smirked so smugly after defeating Pikachu. To quote myself from the last episode discussion:


Cynthia has Ash right where she wanted him to be: He has only 3 Pokémon left, and even better, he can only pull off Mega Evolution. His biggest asset was always the unpredictability of which gimmick he’ll use and which Pokémon to look out for, she eliminated that danger entirely. So far Ash lost his ace Pikachu, his Dragonite which could have caused problems for her Garchomp and his Gengar that was the MVP of his Master Class battles. His remaining Pokémon are one-trick ponies that rely on brute force and thus can easily be rendered useless by Roserade’s poison, Togekiss‘s hax and Milotic’s bulk - and any remaining Pokémon will be eliminated by Garchomp. Ash did well so far, but it’s obvious that Cynthia sets the pace and that Ash has been acting according to her plan - hence her smug smirk upon Pikachu’s defeat.

 

[Akashin]

I don't know, I actually don't really mind the use of Stealth Rock or the lack of Mega Evolution (besides the loss of a potential Mega showdown).

It does make a certain degree of sense. As things stand Cynthia has the advantage, and what we now know of her mid-game strategy--Stealth Rock, poisoning Dracovish with Roserade, etc.--points to a more stall related strategy that capitalizes on that advantage. Ash is on the backswing, and any chip damage she can inflict while maintaining that advantage is to her benefit.

Using a different gimmick rather than pinning all of her hopes on Garchomp fits with that. Garchomp we can reasonably guess stands a fighting chance against Mega Lucario regardless, but can the same be said of the rest of her team? Using a different gimmick to prop up the rest of her team doesn't feel like a bad move, all things considered.

 

[GLTSRY]

I get that. But never underestimate your opponent. Cynthia should know that,especially with Ash. He can be very predictable

But isn’t it actually the opposite of underestimating him? If she’d use ME on her Garchomp that has no real effective moves against Lucario, that would’ve been underestimating him. She clearly views him as a threat and thus goes for Togekiss

 

[GLTSRY]

I mean why let your ace work if you can use a Pokémon with a disadvantage and waste your gimmick? Depends how they execute it I guess. Also Lucario has beaten 2 Gigantamax Pokemon so far,a third isn't really a problem.

It is weird that Cynthia has no coverage for Fairy types with Garchomp

Togekiss is clearly quite strong, as it easily dodged Pikachu’s attacks. It could be that they made it this strong as a reference to Volo using Togekiss as his ace?

I’m looking forward to it to be honest. I like it if a trainer doesn’t have one ace to do all the work, but several options depending on the battle. Ash has 3 gimmick users, Leon has Rillaboom, Volkner and Bea have 2 aces - it’s a nice change and closer to the games imo.

 

[Pteranodonte]

Lol Stealth Rock has like zero effect on Lucario and not that much effect on Dracovish or Sirfetch’d either, just neutral.

Almost 0 against the dog, not very effective against the knight and neutral on the bite boy. If she really uses it I see no point since Dracovish will already be down and the only 2 mons left would be almost not affected by it.

 

[GLTSRY]

Almost 0 against the dog, not very effective against the knight and neutral on the bite boy. If she really uses it I see no point since Dracovish will already be down and the only 2 mons left would be almost not affected by it.

I think it’ll have the PLA effect and will be used to wear Negigaknight down with the chip damage.

 

[Akashin]

I mean why let your ace work if you can use a Pokémon with a disadvantage and waste your gimmick? Depends how they execute it I guess. Also Lucario has beaten 2 Gigantamax Pokemon so far,a third isn't really a problem.

It is weird that Cynthia has no coverage for Fairy types with Garchomp

Is it a waste? If I had to guess, the purpose of relying on Togekiss isn't to beat Lucario; Togekiss just needs to wear down Lucario enough for Garchomp to finish the job. Togekiss is in a good position to tank Aura Sphere--if we're going off of game type matchups--and just needs to hang on long enough to get a good Max Move or two in. Realistically, Cynthia expecting that to be enough for Garchomp to finish the job seems reasonable.

The alternative would be Togekiss being little more than sacrificial fodder to make way for a Mega showdown, and taking a comparatively riskier gamble that Garchomp can defeat Lucario almost entirely 1v1.