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Sun & Moon Pokémon Speculation Thread

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Eddieursa

Marsh Trainer
Well the preview for 145 shows Naganadel seemingly saying goodbye, looks like it’s flying off and Ash looks sad in the next frame looking up. So looks very much like Naganadel is leaving. Incineroar seems fine tho, munching away on his food. Happy Ash won the exhibition battle, good saga for Ash

I hope you are wrong, pal. I don't want Ash losing Naganadel.

By the way, there's something weird in the pictures of the new institute where Ash is going to pass most of the time this season. I think there's a picture showing up a "teleporter room". Is that how Ash is going to travel to the old regions?
 

Zoruagible

Lover of underrated characters
So Jigglypuff came back for fan service and did nothing else? Ok then.

I could see the last team change being Vulpix evolving and Magearna “officially” becoming Lillie’s. Lillie really only had 1 team change which was getting a Pokèmon so it’s really disappointing she didn’t get any changes. Mallow should have gotten something else and Lana should’ve gotten Dewpider.


So the only unevolved Pokèmon on the cast are Rowlet, Vulpix, and Eevee (who also did nothing of importance). Everyone else is fully evolved. That’s kind of impressive and wouldn’t have predicted that 100 episodes ago.

I'm convinced they forgot they even brought her back lol
It's so sad those of us that complained about it and called it utterly pointless to bring her back were proven right in the end.

Same with the complete waste of time Dewpider episode.... spend half an episode solely with a Pokemon we never see again? Stellar A+ writing there! Lana should have caught Dewpider, Eevee should have gone to Mallow or Lillie... especially since it didn't evolve.
 

Revolver Furious Dragon

Well-Known Member
I completely forgot about that ice stone Lillie picked up. Honestly we should've gotten an episode about her evolving it before the League so that match between her and Gladion wasn't a waste of time

I dunno. I think it would be appropriate if Lillie decides on a goal in the last episode (kanto maybe?) And vulpix decides it's ready to evolve to help Lillie with her goal
 

DuquÊ?

Too lazy to pick a pic
I'm convinced they forgot they even brought her back lol
It's so sad those of us that complained about it and called it utterly pointless to bring her back were proven right in the end.
I'm disappointed they didn't let Ash finally catch jigglypuff and end this. I thought they had learned their lesson about overused gags with Brock, but nah.
 

Ash-Greninja4life

Well-Known Member
I hope you are wrong, pal. I don't want Ash losing Naganadel.

By the way, there's something weird in the pictures of the new institute where Ash is going to pass most of the time this season. I think there's a picture showing up a "teleporter room". Is that how Ash is going to travel to the old regions?

Me neither, I was hoping after it all it would stay, but I suppose it was only ever just for the 6 on six with Kukui.

as for the teleporting, i am I sure, would certainly be an interesting way of showing them travel, would explain how they can travel to different regions every day
 

Zoruagible

Lover of underrated characters
I'm disappointed they didn't let Ash finally catch jigglypuff and end this. I thought they had learned their lesson about overused gags with Brock, but nah.

If they insist on having it follow Ash back to Kanto, they better make Go get tacked onto the gag, wanting to catch it but always falling asleep. At least do something new with it... and he does want to 'catch them all'
 

Henry's Journey

Well-Known Member
Final teams for everyone.

Ash: Pikachu, Rowlet, Incineroar, Lycanroc, Melmetal, Naganadel (probably returning to US) - what an impressive final team for my boy :D the best he ever had imo. :p
Kiawe: Charizard, Turtonator, Marowak - he got no changes since SM134 but they developed well.
Lana: Primarina, Eevee - Primarina alright but Eevee needed a bit more development.
Mallow: Tsareena, Shaymin - probably Shaymin will stay with her?
Lillie: Vulpix (& Magearna?) - the ice stone was for what? I was hoping she would evolve her but it's ok.
Sophocles: Togedemaru, Vikavolt - another mon for him would have been good.
 

DatsRight

Well-Known Member
Final teams for everyone.

Ash: Pikachu, Rowlet, Incineroar, Lycanroc, Melmetal, Naganadel (probably returning to US) - what an impressive final team for my boy :D the best he ever had imo. :p
Kiawe: Charizard, Turtonator, Marowak - he got no changes since SM134 but they developed well.
Lana: Primarina, Eevee - Primarina alright but Eevee needed a bit more development.
Mallow: Tsareena, Shaymin - probably Shaymin will stay with her?
Lillie: Vulpix (& Magearna?) - the ice stone was for what? I was hoping she would evolve her but it's ok.
Sophocles: Togedemaru, Vikavolt - another mon for him would have been good.

Naganadel and Melmetal could have used more development time, even if Melmetal did okay for its compressed run. Naganadel should have at least officially battled or learned a new move as Poipole, especially since so little happened in Ultra Adventures. Incineroar and Rowlet had long bouts with no battles, but did make up for lost time well. Pikachu and Lycanroc were handled pretty damn well.

Turtonator and Marowak were fun, but Charizard should have had more characterisation and interactions. It only stopped being a prop very late in.

Same really. Sandy needs to do something relevant to Lana's agendas. Learn Bouncy Bubble or evolve into Vaporeon.

Mallow needs way more agency with her Pokemon, and I really hope she does something noteworthy with Shaymin before it supposedly changes forme and leaves.

Snowy had a nice bond but stopped getting development itself quickly in. And we still haven't even got to Magearna.

Vikavolt was well handled. Togedemaru was fun as comic relief but ended up rather stagnant. Could have used more than one fleeting move learn.
 

Locormus

Can we please get the older, old forum back?
Naganadel and Melmetal could have used more development time, even if Melmetal did okay for its compressed run. Naganadel should have at least officially battled or learned a new move as Poipole, especially since so little happened in Ultra Adventures. Incineroar and Rowlet had long bouts with no battles, but did make up for lost time well. Pikachu and Lycanroc were handled pretty damn well.

Turtonator and Marowak were fun, but Charizard should have had more characterisation and interactions. It only stopped being a prop very late in.

Same really. Sandy needs to do something relevant to Lana's agendas. Learn Bouncy Bubble or evolve into Vaporeon.

Mallow needs way more agency with her Pokemon, and I really hope she does something noteworthy with Shaymin before it supposedly changes forme and leaves.

Snowy had a nice bond but stopped getting development itself quickly in. And we still haven't even got to Magearna.

Vikavolt was well handled. Togedemaru was fun as comic relief but ended up rather stagnant. Could have used more than one fleeting move learn.

Melmetal did okay for its compressed run? A joke win, a loss and a win that was largely unimpressive to watch. For a pokemon that was really hyped, it fell flat. Compare it to Glalie for a pokemon thay entered the team late. Glalie literally tore up teams in the Hoenn League. *Though I have to admit that the Hoenn League also simply had the most battles.

For how many battles it got, Torracat shouldn't have evolved to Incineroar. I know some find it deserved, but honestly thought it had very few memorable battles at all to even warrant fully evolving - compared to say, Pignite, Bayleef or Quilava. It's definitely one of those pokemon where I believe it shouldn't be in that stage in a negative way. (Cyndaquil or Pignite could've evolved fully in their respective series, but due to the Kanto starters being present in early Johto and taking over again at the end of Johto (Claire+League) and the Unova Squad simply being too crowded they just didn't happen (aside from Emboar's less then stellar popularity).

Rowlet was fine, but I will not forgive them for turning the Hau battle into a joke. 1. Hala, you can't pull that one on Hau and 2. It should've been a 2vs2 at least.

Naganadel. I'm in the camp that couldn't give a crap about the USUM-games and couldn't give a crap when it was forced onto Ash's team. I'd have much rather seen Ash with a Hakamo-o as opposed to SOLELY being a marketing tool, which Poipole/Naganadel was. Didn't give a crap over its win over Lucario. Animation vs. Tapu Koko was nice, but I'd rather seen Hakamo-o vs. Lucario, that would've been awesome in my eyes.

Pikachu and Lycanroc were handled great. Nothing to add there. Hoped that Lycanroc could fight Silvally again, but you can't have it beat Silvally AND Midnight in the same battle..

Completely agree about the rest of the cast. Though I can't for the life of me tell you Vikavolt's personality.. xD
 

Red and Blue

Well-Known Member
People keep criticizing Melmetal for losing against Silvally even though it wore that Pokemon down to the point that Pikachu beat it with a single attack. I'd say that's impressive. They could have easily went the opposite route and not have had Melmetal make an impact on it
 

DatsRight

Well-Known Member
The thing was Melmetal was handed to Ash so late that it had to develop throughout the actual league. In the finals Ash was still getting the hang of its evolved form and trying out its new attack. They had to plausibly approach this, couldn't have TWO super powered Pokemon just handed to him fully formed, and even then, as mentioned above, they tried to make its contribution worth something despite losing (I still think legendary vs mythical was pretty cool). I also count general screen time and characterisation, for which Melmetal was handled pretty well.

I feel like the writers were still kind of cautious steps about the elusive Pokemon this series until near the very end. They didn't even show Mallow battling with Shaymin onscreen, though added a quick moment with her healing Primarina with it to lightly demonstrate her helming it afterwards, while Meltan transitioned from 'rule of funny' battling to gradually becoming competent in its matches. I think it took the final battle with Kukui before they felt truly comfortable letting the high tier Pokemon use their full potential under trainers.

I'm gonna be honest and admit I actually wanted Torracat to stay Torracat, especially under the speculation it will end up Delia's house cat (Mimey already takes the humanoid Pokemon role). I feel like its personality worked better as a moody little quadruped cat, though I've warmed to a few other evolved forms this series so maybe I'll change my mind if it gets more screen time.

I generally didn't mind Ash vs Hau, even if I admit it wasn't a top tier battle for a league. I admit to feeling sorry for Hau though.

Vikavolt seemed largely the 'creepy but affectionate' type Pokemon similar to James' Carnivine and a more quiet counterpart to Togedemaru. I think it got a better personality handling than Primarina at least, I don't think they ever quite figured what it was like besides 'happy performer' type (really should have let it interact with Sandy more often).
 
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Zoruagible

Lover of underrated characters
Torracat evolving is what help makes him stand out from Ash's other Fire types. Especially if he actually does have Darkest Lyriat, I hope he does.... I want it, but it'd also be nice for all the 'Ash can't have Dark moves' people to be proven as wrong as they were about Torracat evolving lol

Melmetal may have come in late, but I do like they avoid what they did with Noivern, he actually got a win. AND the handlement of Dusk Lycanroc and Poipole, he didn't suddenly start hogging all the battles and focus like a certain doggo, nor was he useless and just floated around before a garbage release that topped Greninja on the BS scale... even further now that he's gone again. No amount of defending can save that, Naganadel should have gone home with Ash and that's that. Especially as we didn't get to see it evolve, it just happened!
 

DatsRight

Well-Known Member
I can see why it happened (and it shut up a lot of people about Ash's under cooked team), I just had a soft spot for Torracat and think it could have maintained its dynamic with Delia that it had as Litten better.

I like Meltan's evolution didn't have the same BS scale as Noivern either. Noibat was depicted as fairly weak and then suddenly evolved from 'the power of really really wanting it' and they tried to hype it getting a shot on a Zapdos (they conveniently ended the "battle" before reality could hit) before turning it into Ash's jobber tier. It felt like overhyped padding material without much agency between trainer and Pokemon. Meltan meanwhile was very similar in structure, but it was consistently depicted as powerful from the start, just in an untapped way. It evolved through its natural biology methods and got a full and proper battle against a legendary, where it shown it could put up a good fight but experience still came into play. Ash was shown training it for a win afterwards.

Naganadel kinda lets down the handling of Ash's team. There was ZERO reason Poipole couldn't have battled or at least shown a new move in all that filler time in Ultra Adventures. Even then though, there was SOME substance, it was an Ultra Beast, something the anime consistently treated as powerful. Plus it trained itself offscreen combined with Ash being an experienced battler. You could buy they could combine their efforts well, even if they should have at least shown Ash getting to grips with it first like he did Melmetal.
 

Ash-Greninja4life

Well-Known Member
Torracat evolving is what help makes him stand out from Ash's other Fire types. Especially if he actually does have Darkest Lyriat, I hope he does.... I want it, but it'd also be nice for all the 'Ash can't have Dark moves' people to be proven as wrong as they were about Torracat evolving lol

Melmetal may have come in late, but I do like they avoid what they did with Noivern, he actually got a win. AND the handlement of Dusk Lycanroc and Poipole, he didn't suddenly start hogging all the battles and focus like a certain doggo, nor was he useless and just floated around before a garbage release that topped Greninja on the BS scale... even further now that he's gone again. No amount of defending can save that, Naganadel should have gone home with Ash and that's that. Especially as we didn't get to see it evolve, it just happened!

Not sure how Torracat evolving sets it apart from Ash’s other fire types? Sure Incineroar is cool and I suppose it is half dark type which none of his other fire starters are, but Charizard and Infernape are both fully evolved starters as well. Who are the same as Incineroar in a sense?

I mean generally yeah it’s different. In another league to Torkoal for sure

Talonflame
Quilava
Infernape
Charizard are all amazing

Pignite is a bit so so for me
 

DuquÊ?

Too lazy to pick a pic
Naganadel was basically SM's version of Goodra. A Pokemon captured mid-series...that also leaves mid-series...and doesn't return till the league.

Personally I hope the writers stop doing this, there's no point to have one of Ash's pokemon off-screen for half the series.
There's no point of Ash releasing his pokemon, anyway.

But, I never liked that thing as a poipole, I won't miss it now just because it evolved and fought in the league.
 

SerGoldenhandtheJust

Deluded Dreamer
Looks like incineroar wins the award for most pointless evolution on ash's team. It evolves and does nothing

The evolution was supposed to be symbolic , representing ash taking over the champion belt from kukui. It's better than no evolution. We already got a lot of incineroar action with kukui. While I too would have preferred incineroar vs kiawe rather than lycanroc I think the writers wanted to make up for lycanroc being the fall guy and restablish that it too is strong, and didn't wanna show incineroar since it just got so much screentime with kukui.
 

ShadowForce720

Well-Known Member
The evolution was supposed to be symbolic , representing ash taking over the champion belt from kukui. It's better than no evolution. We already got a lot of incineroar action with kukui. While I too would have preferred incineroar vs kiawe rather than lycanroc I think the writers wanted to make up for lycanroc being the fall guy and restablish that it too is strong, and didn't wanna show incineroar since it just got so much screentime with kukui.

Also I'm inclined to think that they will probably have Ash use his Incineroar at some point in the next series, because they seem to like to show the pokemon battle to show off. I mean looking at it if you look at Ash's Pidgeot for example even though it left after battling Fearow, it did wind up evolving against Fearow and battling as a Pidgeot, and so far all of Ash's pokemon that have evolve wind up getting showcase in a battle at some point after their evolution to show them off.
 
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