The Semifinals II: Dazzle (1212)

[Blue Saturday]

Ash showing up Iris by beating Gastrodon while at a disadvantage and not relying on a OHKO... even if what Pikachu did result in basically a one shot... hmm

Well, you're forgetting, Toritodon was powered up and reinforced heavily by Acid Armor as well as Rain Dance with Doryuzu being weak to water and Ground-type/Steel-type moves not being very good for this dual Water/Ground-type. Plus the field was flooded by Muddy Water so there was no running where as it was more offensive here because the goal was to get rid of Pikachu since it was a counter to the ace Electric-type. Also this definitely wasn’t a OHKO, a deflected attack is still an attack. It’s like a makeshift Mirror Coat.

Basically her starter beat a Pokemon that Satoshi's starter beat under very different circumstances.

 

[GLTSRY]

Cynthia outsmarted Ash and beat his ace before it had any chance of using that asspull Z-Move.

My headcanon is that she heard from Volkner how the attack somehow worked against Motor Drive Electivire and she was like “oh hell no”. Because otherwise, someone with Garchomp as an ace shouldn’t worry about that attack at all.

 

[Kuzehiko]

Since I'm a Cynthia stan I really enjoyed the episode but on the other hand I deeply can understand why other people say they can't enjoy the episode. I mean just looking at Ash's reserves at Oak's lab watching the episode is completely absurd they are being treated like a joke smh

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Since I'm a Cynthia stan I really enjoyed the episode but on the other hand I deeply can understand why other people say they can't enjoy the episode. I mean just looking at Ash's reserves at Oak's lab watching the episode is completely absurd they are being treated like a joke smh

It's why I refuse to acknowledge any of these wins against champions and elite 4 members especially since it's shown how much he struggled against them in the past series.

 

[Eevee903]

Shame no Paul cameo so far...

 

[GarchompTheAssassin]

I wish we got more interactions between the adult characters like that, Carne call Dande -kun meanwhile Shirona gets called -san which kind of gives us an idea of their dynamic. I always pegged Dande as being the youngest adult champion with Shirona being older than both.

Makes me want to headcanon all their ages

Lance - early or mid 30s
Steven - mid/late 20s (confirmed to be 25 in game)
Cynthia - mid/late 20s, has held position of champion the longest out of everyone
Iris - 10 like Ash, or maybe 11 at a push
Diantha - mid/late 20s or maybe even early 30s as a reference to her real life counterpart
Leon - 20 years old; apparently he's late 20s in the games but then again it doesn't have to match

And Alain could be anywhere between 14-18 - probably the same age as Brock/Cilan

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Makes me want to headcanon all their ages

Lance - early or mid 30s
Steven - mid/late 20s (confirmed to be 25 in game)
Cynthia - mid/late 20s, has held position of champion the longest out of everyone
Iris - 10 like Ash, or maybe 11 at a push
Diantha - mid/late 20s or maybe even early 30s as a reference to her real life counterpart
Leon - 20 years old; apparently he's late 20s in the games but then again it doesn't have to match

Yeah these ages make sense though Leon definitely doesn't look older than mid 20s to me.

 

[Flypikachu]

Another tiny criticism that’s really more of a nitpick: I wish they’d have shown Brock/Dawn/Zoey or one of the Sinnoh rivals when Ash used counter shield. They couldn’t restrict themselves like that when it comes to companion cameos

Imagine if they at least showed a Fantina cameo or something, since the counter shield was very instrumental in Ash's gym battle against her. I feel like that would have been another good choice of a callback.

 

[MegaSalamence05]

Spiritomb vs Dragonite pretty much went as expected through the initial trailer that was shown. Dragonite losing early does leave a bad taste in my mouth but this entire battle was structured like Ash's battle against Paul in the Sinnoh League but with Spiritomb and Sleep being the equivilant of Drapion and poison. If Ash was to win, Dragonite needs a big showing against Leon because it hasn't won a match since the lead up to the Masters 8 tournament.

Draco Meteor gets an ineffective hit, leads into the hypnosis which leads to the quick KO. Putting Ash on his heels early.
How Gengar lost though vs Spiritomb via a Sucker Punch. Like I get the super effective hit. When its 3 hits. (Leaf Tornado, Leaf Storm from Roserade). That one is a little tough because anime logic doesn't equal game logic. Pikachu getting defeated by Destiny Bond. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant strategy by Cynthia there. As She's never seen Dracovish, Sirfetch'd or even Ash's Lucario battle. (Forgot that she was present for the Ash vs Steven battle so she saw Dracovish.). Putting Ash firmly into the unknown from her point of view. With how this battle has progressed Cynthia's 2 steps ahead. How will Ash respond. She's literally begging him to.

 

[GLTSRY]

Spiritomb vs Dragonite pretty much went as expected through the initial trailer that was shown. Dragonite losing early does leave a bad taste in my mouth but this entire battle was structured like Ash's battle against Paul in the Sinnoh League but with Spiritomb and Sleep being the equivilant of Drapion and poison. If Ash was to win, Dragonite needs a big showing against Leon because it hasn't won a match since the lead up to the Masters 8 tournament.

Draco Meteor gets an ineffective hit, leads into the hypnosis which leads to the quick KO. Putting Ash on his heels early.
How Gengar lost though vs Spiritomb via a Sucker Punch. Like I get the super effective hit. When its 3 hits. (Leaf Tornado, Leaf Storm from Roserade). That one is a little tough because anime logic doesn't equal game logic. Pikachu getting defeated by Destiny Bond. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant strategy by Cynthia there. As She's never seen Dracovish, Sirfetch'd or even Ash's Lucario battle. Putting Ash firmly into the unknown from her point of view. With how this battle has progressed Cynthia's 2 steps ahead. How will Ash respond. She's literally begging him to.

She saw Dracovish against Steven!
And besides, since most matches are televised, at least in the Ultra Class, I think most of the champions made their research on each other, but that’s just my head canon

 

[janejane6178]

Highlight of this ep fo rme was watching Diantha, she is so wonderful and beautiful and her interactions and dynamics with every1 are so interesting to me. And ofc her majestic and superior design

 

[MetaMantis]

Yeah these ages make sense though Leon definitely doesn't look older than mid 20s to me.

Also remembering that Leon has a younger brother, which means that they aren't likely to be too many years apart. Leon is most likely around 22 or so.

 

[Kuzehiko]

Since there was no Dawn cameo just like May and Max in Ash vs Steven then I'm assuming the writers are saving all of Ash's friends for the final either be cameo or physical appearance.

 

[GLTSRY]

Shame no Paul cameo so far...

What do you mean with so far? Paul had cameos in episodes 117 and 118, and of course his full return in 114. At this point he’s more of a main character than Chloe.

 

[wellwellwells]

This is one of the better Journeys fights. Which in reality doesn't say mean much. This should be the bare minimum for the Master 8 tournament!

How in Arceus name can Ash beat Leon at this rate?

Well to be fair Ash is not doing THAT bad. He is only losing 3-2.
Dragonite got its ass handled to it but it was him being stupid and not recalling her. I think he was more surprised than anything?
Gengar lost but burned Roserade and got a nice dazzling gleam hit on Spiritomb.
Pikachu was a beast tbh, it barely took a hit from Togekiss and put down both Gastrodon and Spiritomb, he would have probably took care of Togekiss or Milotic too if it wasn’t for destiny bond.
The battle is much more even that what the preview made us to believe.
My predictions remain:
Dracovish (poisoned, refuses to switch) ties with Roserade.
The duck takes out Milotic and loses to Togekiss.
Lucario takes out Togekiss and then mega evolves to fight M-Garchomp.

 

[Kuzehiko]

Diantha tells Cynthia that she's the one who can put an end to Leon's winning streak and unbeatable status. Foreshadowing? Either way Cynthia just comments that she'll be retiring after M8 is over.

 

[Sham]

Since I'm a Cynthia stan I really enjoyed the episode

Glad that you had fun with this episode and you over all enjoyed it!

 

[STICKTOPIA]

Gengar was amazing though? If not for Roserade, whom he weakened considerably too, he’d have defeated Spiritomb. And even with Spiritomb, he managed to deal enough damage for Pikachu to defeat it easily.

You really call that AMAZING? 1 little will-o-wisp and dazzling gleam does not make that “amazing”. Amazing would be it actually doing some hardcore damage and even better defeating a Pokémon. Like pikachu defeating gastrodon the way it did would be described as amazing(for people that love pikachu).

 

[Ragnarok4]

I completely agree with this already not being a battle that will get to that spot, they are really lacking... mostly in the animation department, and ash is indeed the underdog again, but not because his strategies get beaten, but because he's barely allowed to be his usual self, aside from the counter moment... however the dracovish comment, lycanroc didnt want to return vs kukui, same for gliscor vs electivire, hawlucha invited itself onto the field after noivern lost to weavile, ash has gone with what his pokemon desire countless times, that's not a point against the battle imo

you're absolutely right, i have a bad memory i guess

 

[jrizza88]

I am so shook that my prediction of Destiny Bond being the attack to take Pikachu out. They did a good job with showing that Pikachu clearly was ready to take down a few more mons, but I am so happy Dracovish and Sir'Fetched will get the shine they so deserve. I just hope Gengar and especially Dragonite get wins against Leon.