The Curtain Rises! The Masters Tournament!! (1204)

[Yuugis Black Magician]

Mega Lizardon X kept taking blows to the head and y'all wonder why he lost? Come on.

Listen, if they had more time and resources they'd have given the fight more time and resources. They didn't. Simple as that.

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

I lowkey hope the performance on this match helps boosting Chesnaught's popularity. He could use some.

Darn, you are sure on a roll with the good Chesnaught art.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1538401190488449025

OMG GUYS

Ash and Alain actually interacted!! We didn't get to see it in the actual episode but, it happened! 10/10 episode.

Too little too late to randomly figure out how the character was supposed to be like.
This meaningless attempt of an apology makes the whole thing even more pathetic

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1538130934259924992

She is sad the episode with her crush was bad

Japanese isn't that great currently, but the Alain/Ash artwork is basically Ash telling Alain that he'll take care of it and Alain's telling him to take over and that's he's entrusting it with him. Could be wrong, but that's what I got so far. Wish this was in the episode.

I think it's more like "carrying on Alain's will/wishes" but yeah, it's something like this. You've understood the main point of the lines. Congratulations!

Besides the best anime of the season would be out before the next M8 battle.......Rent a Girlfriend S2

Love after world domination. It's not even a contest. Shame it's ending next week

Lol some Japanese fans are saying Alain is ooc in this

More than he was in the actual episode?

 

[Ragnarok4]

Considering her goal of wanting to make people to smile, which also was established by the end of XYZ, yes it is a very important part of it.

Heck, the whole showcases winners were choose by popularity. Very little understanding of Serena for a "serena fan"

Stop destroying him PLEASE RafaSceptile have mercy you ****ing monster

 

[AARTX]

The only manga where the comment section is better than the actual material

I’ve always loved seeing the subreddit losing their sh!t everytime a new chapter drops

 

[KukuiFanatic501]

By the way, can I just say how ironically hilarious it is that the actual execution of Alains representation in the M8 made a complete and utter 180 against all the fan made hype and expectations a lot of the fanbase had?

Fans: “Ooh Alains in the M8 too?! YES. Now Ash can finally get a rematch against him and take the W!”

Writers: “Nah. We having Alain battle Leon instead.”

Fans: “Oh, okay. Well we don’t know anything about the tournament format, we could have a round Robin so Alain battles them both!”

Writers: “Uh uh. The tournament will be normal single elimination.”

Fans: “…Oh. Well, Alain and Leon never battled, so seeing them have a Mega Charizard vs Gmax Charizard battle will still be cool!”

Writers: “Nope. We’ll be having Leon Gmax his Rillaboom this time.”

Fans: “…..okay. Well, Charizard vs Charizard should still be a cool match to see.”

Writers: *Drops this episode*

Fans: “O__O. SERIOUSLY?! ”

Writers: “^__^”

It’s like the writers knew or saw the expectations fans had for Alain, how much fans were pushing for them to meet them, especially those who wanted the M8 to rectify the Kalos league result, and they just decided to purposely crush a lot of peoples dreams lmao.

 

[Ragnarok4]

By the way, can I just say how ironically hilarious it is that the actual execution of Alains representation in the M8 made a complete and utter 180 against all the fan made hype and exceptions a lot of the fanbase had?

Fans: “Ooh Alains in the M8 too?! YES. Now Ash can finally get a rematch against him and take the W!”

Writers: “Nah. We having Alain battle Leon instead.”

Fans: “Oh, okay. Well we don’t know anything about the tournament format, we could have a round Robin so Alain battles them both!”

Writers: “Uh uh. The tournament will be normal single elimination.”

Fans: “…Oh. Well, Alain and Leon never battled, so seeing them have a Mega Charizard vs Gmax Charizard battle will still be cool!”

Writers: “Nope. We’ll be having Leon Gmax his Rillaboom this time.”

Fans: “…..okay. Well, Charizard vs Charizard should still be a cool match to see.”

Writers: *Drops this episode*

Fans: “O__O. SERIOUSLY?! ”

Writers: “^__^”

It’s like the writers knew or saw the expectations fans had for Alain, how much fans were pushing for them to meet them, especially those who wanted the M8 to rectify the Kalos league result, and they just decided to purposely crush a lot of peoples dreams lmao.

In fact, it would have been much worse if Ash fought Alain without Greninja, so it's not too bad for us Gekkouga fans.

 

[mystreon]

Its killing me we have to wait 19 more days to see the diantha vs lance fight, theres no wait they will let lance win when we already seen him battle leon, i hope atleats that the writers have THAT ammount of sense, the tiniest ammount to see that, two leon vs lance battles would be boring.

Wait, hold the phone, why does lance have a hydreigon, one of iris signature mons, like that sboring.

 

[Jibanyan]

More than he was in the actual episode?

they are complaining about the way Alain talks to Ash, using different pronouns(omae vs kimi). It's a weird mistake tbh

 

[British Soul]

Actually do we know when Alain got his new mega stone for Charizard? Did they show that at the end of XY or is it just offscreen between XY and JN?

Offscreen. At the end of XY, he mentioned handing his original mega stone/key stone over to the authorities as he got them from Lysandre.

Its killing me we have to wait 19 more days to see the diantha vs lance fight, theres no wait they will let lance win when we already seen him battle leon, i hope atleats that the writers have THAT ammount of sense, the tiniest ammount to see that, two leon vs lance battles would be boring.

Wait, hold the phone, why does lance have a hydreigon, one of iris signature mons, like that sboring.

I wouldn't consider Hydreigon as a signature 'mon for Iris tbph. (Ghetsis moreso imo) Yes she leads with it in BW2, but Haxorus is more of a signature 'mon for her than Hydreigon.
As for Lance having Hydreigon, in BW2, Lance can use a Hydreigon in the PWT Champions Tournament.

 

[DigitalTrainer]

Eh, not much skin off my back. I don't follow this series/franchise as closely as I used to, largely because interacting with the fandom too much has proven bad for my mental health due to jerks like you...so thanks. Thanks helping to see how unhealthy my worship of Pokemon was and actually get into other stuff.

Might I recommend Digimon?

 

[Soniman]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1538401190488449025

OMG GUYS

Ash and Alain actually interacted!! We didn't get to see it in the actual episode but, it happened! 10/10 episode.

It’s usually kinda tiring to here people constantly say “why wasn’t this in the episode” whenever one of these art works are posted…,,,,

…..

BUT SERIOUSLY, WHY WASNT THIS IN THE ACTUAL EPISODE WHAT ARE THESE WRITERS THINKING?????

 

[FlygontheRavager]

Might I recommend Digimon?

Already into it. Ghost Game has been going great so far.

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

they are complaining about the way Alain talks to Ash, using different pronouns(omae vs kimi). It's a weird mistake tbh

What a silly complaint when episode's done way worse. I wish the issue was only the use of a wrong second-person pronoun.

Might I recommend Digimon?

Already into it. Ghost Game has been going great so far.

True.

Its episodic like Journeys but it actually TRIES doing things differently and makes actual USE of its premise. They are doing the story they WANT while meeting the executive mandates. No pretending to like the premise while doing something else

Best part is the show's main writer Masashi Sogo is a Pokémon veteran. In fact, he's done DP 189, aka the Tobias match.

 

[Panky..]

You know... unironically, Ash vs. Tobias was a good showing of an underdog who has no chance of winning against an insurmountable/undefeated opposing force. Yes, Ash lost, but he also went out in a blaze of glory in his highest standing (at the time).

It's a shame BW spilled water all over that just a few episodes later.

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

In fact, it would have been much worse if Ash fought Alain without Greninja, so it's not too bad for us Gekkouga fans.

Exactly.

 

[KukuiFanatic501]

What’s actual regression is Alain’s personality. Completely detached from his last appearance in XY&Z. He made Ash promise him that they’ll battle again when Alain has found himself but then in this episode he just side eyes Ash and doesn’t even speak to him.

If I didn’t know any better it even arguably looked like Alain hated Ash or something lol. That glare between each other and Alain didn’t even smile at Ash.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1538130934259924992

Poor Cherry. Only came back to cry us a river.

 

[masdog]

I'll just keep repeating it. The episode added nothing to Serena's character and showcased no new growth that wasn't shown at the tail end of her arc in XY besides her taking on a mentorship role.

This probably isn’t the thread to explore this comment too deeply, but I will just say this. Sometimes growth isn’t adding anything new to a character - it’s seeing something come to its logical conclusion.

In Serena’s case, they didn’t need to add anything new. They only needed to let the seeds that were planted at the end of XY bloom.

It's such an easy thing for me to prefer that nothing happened with Kalos versus what we got. Don't mention any of the significant XY characters at all.

Why? We the returns really that bad?

Why were SM fans so annoyed that JN didn't mention Ash's full title in the Masters 8? Shouldn't be that big of a deal since we know what happened with the tournament in Alola right? The episode with the two kids should have been enough " rep " for that no?

At the time, it was irritating that Ash wasn’t being repped at the Alola champ. But looking back, it makes a lot of sense.

The dialog in the Alola race episode kind of sets everything up. Ash saw his Manalo Conference win as just another tournament. He didn’t see himself as the champ. That changed as he moved through the Ultra Class and the returned to Alola after the Arthur family reunited with Mohn. Ash only accepted that he was the Alola region champion when he finally heard the crowd chanting Champion in the battle royale dome.

Not to mention the active retcon of a core part of XYZ with Ash-Greninja, the latter alone should just throw the whole thing in the trash.

How do you know this is an active retcon and not a mistake? The dialog for that episode does not match the art.

 

[Dragonsoldier77]

How do you know this is an active retcon and not a mistake? The dialog for that episode does not match the art.

I mean the whoe ‘we become one’ line doesn’t actually hold much defense when in the episode itself we saw how they connected ans synched up only to form a bigger shuriken. A skill that was then passed on to lucario, and what people would think the line is about unless they already specifically know about AG. So no, the dialogue doesn’t contradict anything in the episode.

So we have what would be definite proof the the form existing in the flashback being changed, which in itself is a big red flag, and a vague line that still work in the context of the episode. It is functionally a retcon until they give clear indication of the opposite.

 

[Red and Blue]

You know... unironically, Ash vs. Tobias was a good showing of an underdog who has no chance of winning against an insurmountable/undefeated opposing force. Yes, Ash lost, but he also went out in a blaze of glory in his highest standing (at the time).

It's a shame BW spilled water all over that just a few episodes later.

In a way Ash was the true runner up of the Sinnoh League since he was a tougher opponent to Tobias than the actual runner up