Sun & Moon Pokémon Speculation Thread

[Zoruagible]

I can see Ash having 3 on-screen battles:

Ash Vs. Gladion, Ash Vs. Hau, Ash Vs. Kiawe. Anything else would be a bonus. But these 3 battles have been pretty foreshadowed for Ash at least. I'll honestly be disappointed if he doesn't battle Kiawe, since Gladion/Hau Vs. Ash is probably guaranteed to happen.

I'll be just as disappointed, they practically teased Ash vs Kiawe the entire series!
I want to see Ash and Kiawe have an epic battle.... starting with Charizard going down first so the fight can end with Marowak or Turtonator. Still Charizard'd out from last saga

It'll just suck if Ash battles say Lillie instead of Kiawe. Like... no. Have Gladion be the one to take her out and show how she's grown. Sophocles is the only other classmate I wanna see Ash fight, but that's only because of Lightning Rod

 

[MidnightMelody]

I'll be just as disappointed, they practically teased Ash vs Kiawe the entire series!
I want to see Ash and Kiawe have an epic battle.... starting with Charizard going down first so the fight can end with Marowak or Turtonator. Still Charizard'd out from last saga

It'll just suck if Ash battles say Lillie instead of Kiawe. Like... no. Have Gladion be the one to take her out and show how she's grown. Sophocles is the only other classmate I wanna see Ash fight, but that's only because of Lightning Rod

Kiwae has a huge disadvantage.

 

[dman_dustin]

I really don't think it's realistic to expect five battles from Ash. They have five other main cast members that all also need battles. It's not just Ash participating, and even with just Ash they never managed five battles in one league. He only had two on-screen battles at the Kalos league. Personally I'm not expecting more than three battles, meaning that neither Meltan nor Torracat would get to use a Z-Move. I also don't really see it as shafting as much, they can still contribute in other ways in the battles. It can't get any worse than Kalos was which was basically just the Greninja marketing show. And even if Torracat doesn't get to do as much, it still does get its promotion through Masked Royal's Incineroar.

I think people aren't considering the number of Pokemon any of the trainers have.

Of all the trainers that we know that will battle in the league, Ash by default has the most with 5 Pokemon. Even Gladion has only ever showed 3 Pokemon.

Most other trainers at best have TWO Pokemon. Other Pokemon leagues had full battles, which unless they pull the stops with Ash's final league battle (which would be hard to do with only 5 Pokemon, unless Poipole comes back), is extremely unlikely.

If they can shove a full battle in a single episode, they can shove three two vs two battles in an episode. Plus the classmates may only get focus on episodes they lose or do extremely well, focusing only one 1 vs 1 (with their Pokemon winning, so not a lot of focus there).

The only thing I might have overlooked is if rental Pokemon are a thing, which so far doesn't seem like it.

 

[Deleted member 384931]

Image if Ash gives his reserves to his classmates to make the league more powerfull

 

[DatsRight]

Kiwae has a huge disadvantage.

Depends on the numbers formation for each battle, otherwise Kiawe has actually trained throughout the series and took part in non-jobber battles to tune up his actual battle tactics. The last time they sparred Kiawe was keeping pace with Ash. 1 to 3 Pokemon per battle, Kiawe can do fine. A full team however, yeah, he doesn't stand a chance.

Oh and Ash lacks a water type this series.

 

[MidnightMelody]

Depends on the numbers formation for each battle, otherwise Kiawe has actually trained throughout the series and took part in non-jobber battles to tune up his actual battle tactics. The last time they sparred Kiawe was keeping pace with Ash. 1 to 3 Pokemon per battle, Kiawe can do fine. A full team however, yeah, he doesn't stand a chance.

Oh and Ash lacks a water type this series.

But he has a rock type Plus i f he really wanted to he could just use an older pokemon which he might for the full battles assuming they keep the slot open. If he does battle Gladion and Kukui in a full battle him bringing back two older pokemon over a rushed capture would be fine with me as long as it is not Charizard. -_-

 

[DatsRight]

But he has a rock type Plus i f he really wanted to he could just use an older pokemon which he might for the full battles assuming they keep the slot open. If he does battle Gladion and Kukui in a full battle him bringing back two older pokemon over a rushed capture would be fine with me as long as it is not Charizard. -_-

Meltan and Rowlet are equally screwed against Kiawe's team however and Torracat's entire moveset is nerfed against Marowak right now.

Unless Mallow gets Psychium Z, I'm still wondering whether those 'Ash uses Mimey' hints turn out to be true....Or Delia ends up in the league.

Image if Ash gives his reserves to his classmates to make the league more powerfull

I remembered wondering whether Ash would end up lending Z Crystals for the league so each trainer had their representing element, though they seem to have worked around that anyway.

Mallow and Sophocles borrowing Rowlet and Pikachu could have been interesting, though admittedly made their progress even more farcical.

Truthfully I want some demonstration of needing competence to USE that extra power in the league. Right now they seem to be fine excusing the non-battlers' inexperience with 'more power boosts makes them better battlers' which seems contradictory to how the actual battling trainers work in terms of development.

 

[ShadowForce720]

Meltan and Rowlet are equally screwed against Kiawe's team however and Torracat's entire moveset is nerfed against Marowak right now.

Unless Mallow gets Psychium Z, I'm still wondering whether those 'Ash uses Mimey' hints turn out to be true....Or Delia ends up in the league.

Given how the training battles go between Ash and Kiawe it seems pretty likely that there battle will be a 3vs3 where Kiawe uses his Charizard, Alolan Marowak, and his Turtonator while Ash uses his Pikachu, Torracat/Incineroar, and his Dusk Lycanroc, given that every time they train together those are the pokemon that tend to be used. Also if Torracat does evolve into Incineroar then it will likely have access to Darkest Lariat, which would help it against Alolan Marowak, and given how well Pikachu does against Turtonator, I don't think Ash would have that big of a problem against Kiawe.

 

[jinnrob]

Image if Ash gives his reserves to his classmates to make the league more powerfull

Ugh, Fanboy geekout.

Imagine:

Kiawe: Charizard, Turtonator, Marowak, + Quilava, Torkoal, & Talonflame
Lana: Primarina, eevee, (Lapras?), + Kingler, Corphish, Buizel, & Squirtle (Surprise Let'sGo Tie-In?) - though, TBH, I'm hoping she gets that Mantine!
Mallow: Tsareena, Shaymin (Does it count?), + Bulbasaur, Bayleef, Leavanny, & Snivy (and/or Torterra if no Shaymin)
Sophocles: Togedemaru, Vikavolt, + Snorlax, Muk, Heracross, & Scraggy
Lillie: Snowy, (Magearna? for now, I'm not counting on it...) + Glalie, Totodile, Unfezant, Donphan, & Hawlucha (Honestly just picked what was left + had a personality match.)

Even if we didn't get to see them all in battle, just an episode or two or training would be more than enough to satisfy. Then again... I've been hoping for a real Palet Town transition episode between sagas where ALL former pokemon are shown and that hasn't happened in generations so... I won't hold my breath.

 

[DatsRight]

Given how the training battles go between Ash and Kiawe it seems pretty likely that there battle will be a 3vs3 where Kiawe uses his Charizard, Alolan Marowak, and his Turtonator while Ash uses his Pikachu, Torracat/Incineroar, and his Dusk Lycanroc, given that every time they train together those are the pokemon that tend to be used. Also if Torracat does evolve into Incineroar then it will likely have access to Darkest Lariat, which would help it against Alolan Marowak, and given how well Pikachu does against Turtonator, I don't think Ash would have that big of a problem against Kiawe.

Pikachu only dominated Turtonator in their first spar, before Turtonator had been bulked up to use a more offensive battle style. In their more recent training spars, Turtonator has been keeping better pace with Pikachu.

 

[MidnightMelody]

Meltan and Rowlet are equally screwed against Kiawe's team however and Torracat's entire moveset is nerfed against Marowak right now.

Unless Mallow gets Psychium Z, I'm still wondering whether those 'Ash uses Mimey' hints turn out to be true....Or Delia ends up in the league.



I remembered wondering whether Ash would end up lending Z Crystals for the league so each trainer had their representing element, though they seem to have worked around that anyway.

Mallow and Sophocles borrowing Rowlet and Pikachu could have been interesting, though admittedly made their progress even more farcical.

Truthfully I want some demonstration of needing competence to USE that extra power in the league. Right now they seem to be fine excusing the non-battlers' inexperience with 'more power boosts makes them better battlers' which seems contradictory to how the actual battling trainers work in terms of development.

I doubt he would even using Torracat or Meltan in a battle with him. Lycanroc alone might be enough or at the very least enough to take out two of his pokemon. As for the lending Z crystals or pokemon that just makes this league seem really out of place. Why would Ash help them win? Sure in every series he plays by the rules but he treats it like a real competition. This league and series it seems they are just giving handouts left and right.

 

[Deleted member 384931]

I cant help but feeling like they want to stretch the SM anime

 

[RileyXY1]

I cant help but feeling like they want to stretch the SM anime

They can't do that because Sword & Shield are going to be released this year.

 

[DatsRight]

Yeah unless there's some long term transitional point at the start of the SS series, they're gonna really cut it close here.

There is part of me that hopes Lillie sticks around, especially since she's now likely not going to have her secondary for even twenty episodes now, but even that I see unlikely.

 

[p96822]

I rather have no old characters in Sun and Moon be in the Sword and Shield. I just want them to pass the torch

 

[lemoncatpower]

They have around 20 episodes left of sun and moon presumably, so they have time to finish Up Ash’s team, get competitors for the league together, do the league, and some post league stuff, besides a bit of filler too.

 

[Kintaro]

SM will probably end right after the league, with maybe 1-2 episodes for the usual goodbyes. With Guzma being in the league I guess there's no need for a traditional Team Skull villain arc, I mean the rest of the team are just jobbers and comic relief.

 

[DatsRight]

SM will probably end right after the league, with maybe 1-2 episodes for the usual goodbyes. With Guzma being in the league I guess there's no need for a traditional Team Skull villain arc, I mean the rest of the team are just jobbers and comic relief.

What about the supposed Mohn arc however, plus graduation and setting about what exactly all the five companions are going to do now?

 

[Kintaro]

I think Mohn will get a 2-parter at most, probably right before the league so he can be a spectator and watch Gladion and Lillie compete in it. It doesn't really need more than that. Then of course the usual goodbye eps at the end of the region likely won't be more than 1-2 episodes, they'll likely just quickly establish what the SM characters will do, some 5 minute graduation story, and Ash leaving his "vacation" to get back to being a shonen serious protagonist when Gen 8 starts so we can have AG/DP/XY 4.0.

 

[Red and Blue]

What about the supposed Mohn arc however, plus graduation and setting about what exactly all the five companions are going to do now?

Mohn Arc can happen before the league. Plus they don't need to dedicate a bunch of episodes to the classmates deciding what they want to do in life. One episode should do