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Will the Z-Move Work?! Challenging the Grand Trial!! (953)

nuzamaki90

nuzamaki90

Well-Known Member
The battle is good, but again, the silly faces and overdramatic reactions kind of kills some of the tension going on. It makes it feel like Ash and his Pokemon aren't taking things seriously. Rowlet fell asleep after fighting even though it did a good job.

And yay to Tapu Koko showing once against that Sophocles being a member of the cast is completely pointless.
 
Genaller

Genaller

Silver Soul
YES!!! I freaking believed and I was rewarded though I wasn't expecting a clean sweep :)! I'm so happy that between this episode and SM 009 Ash's battling competency seems preserved. I just hope the writers keep treating Ash well when it comes to actual battles.
 
Almighty Zard

Almighty Zard

He has returned.
I don't know why everyone is saying Sophocles is pointless just because Tapu Koko gave Ash Electrium Z, something he can use.

Hopefully this means Ash won't get all the Z-crystals, I feel that would be overkill.

I'm just glad he won.
 
345ash-greninja

345ash-greninja

Auto-Memories Doll
Parts of the battle looked funny, but how awesome Pikachu's Breakneck Blitz was! It sent Haryama out of the battlefield. And it was also nice that Tapu Koko replaced Fightium-Z with Electrum-Z(none of Ash's Pokemon knows Fighting type moves so far). So Pikachu will get to use two Z-moves now!
 
GLTSRY

GLTSRY

Sorry not sorry for my smugness
For me this episode was just...so underwhelming. Easily the worst so far.

I expected a great battle, with Ash losing because of the Z-Move timing. And while I'm happy that he won 2-0 and that he and Pikachu seem to be still in form, the battle was really boring. First of, stock footage. Why? Why did they have to use stock footage again after XYZ? Then we have Rowlet getting trashed for the majority of the battle, until Ash comes up with a strategy which he figures out thanks to Rowlet not focusing on the battle. Once again, I liked that Ash could come up with a solution so quickly, yet the battle was so unsatisfying and predictable. And then Rowlet fell asleep. FFS. I loved the comedy in SM at first, especially the fillers were great thanks to it. But this is Ash's first Grand Trial for crying out loud, why did they have to force comedy into this episode? So far Rowlet is just an annoying Oshawott 2.0, just there to sell toys. And then we have Pikachu vs Hariyama. Basically the same as above, Pikachu's getting trashed, then Hala uses a redundant Belly Drum, wastes his Z-Move, and Ash just perfectly uses a Z-Move that he never tried before in-battle to finish Hariyama.

I hope the next battles will be an improvement, so far I liked the SM series, but the episode which I had the highest hopes for is the weakest so far: 3/10
 
345ash-greninja

345ash-greninja

Auto-Memories Doll
GLTSRY said:
For me this episode was just...so underwhelming. Easily the worst so far.

I expected a great battle, with Ash losing because of the Z-Move timing. And while I'm happy that he won 2-0 and that he and Pikachu seem to be still in form, the battle was really boring. First of, stock footage. Why? Why did they have to use stock footage again after XYZ? Then we have Rowlet getting trashed for the majority of the battle, until Ash comes up with a strategy which he figures out thanks to Rowlet not focusing on the battle. Once again, I liked that Ash could come up with a solution so quickly, yet the battle was so unsatisfying and predictable. And then Rowlet fell asleep. FFS. I loved the comedy in SM at first, especially the fillers were great thanks to it. But this is Ash's first Grand Trial for crying out loud, why did they have to force comedy into this episode? So far Rowlet is just an annoying Oshawott 2.0, just there to sell toys. And then we have Pikachu vs Hariyama. Basically the same as above, Pikachu's getting trashed, then Hala uses a redundant Belly Drum, wastes his Z-Move, and Ash just perfectly uses a Z-Move that he never tried before in-battle to finish Hariyama.

I hope the next battles will be an improvement, so far I liked the SM series, but the episode which I had the highest hopes for is the weakest so far: 3/10
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I agree with you, I also didn't like the comedy in the episode, but if Ash sweeps the battle, I don't mind it too much.
 
U

uber gon

Accept Change
J

Janovy

Banned
Can someone explain to me why people want Hau in S/M?

Is it because he's a compelling character in the games? Or is it so Ash can finally get a rival?
 
E

Epicocity

Well-Known Member
Janovy said:
Can someone explain to me why people want Hau in S/M?

Is it because he's a compelling character in the games? Or is it so Ash can finally get a rival?
Click to expand...

If I were to guess, it's probably a myriad of things ranging from the fact that he's outright related to Hala to the fact that he's a sunshine child and would make a nice rival for Ash: someone who's happy-go-lucky, would probably have great chemistry with him, never let things get him down instead of the usual serious rival that everyone but Barry (and maybe Morrison) was.
 
Xenon Blue

Xenon Blue

No Hard Feelings
Remember when people said Ash/Pikachu was going to get a complete reset because the series looked more "goofy"? It has the endurance to tank a Belly-Drum Z-move from an E4 caliber Pokemon and proceed to one-shot it with it's own Z-move. I can safely say SM Pikachu is already at or close to Peakachu level.
 
NPT

NPT

Just a member
Holy smokescreen, that was an awesome battle! Ash totally swept Hala! Pikachu is as strong as ever! Also, Sinnoh Gym Leader battle theme FTW.

The last few episodes of the SM series have been really good. Hope they keep the quality up.
 
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345ash-greninja

345ash-greninja

Auto-Memories Doll
DrLazyEyes said:
Remember when people said Ash/Pikachu was going to get a complete reset because the series looked more "goofy"? It has the endurance to tank a Belly-Drum Z-move from an E4 caliber Pokemon and proceed to one-shot it with it's own Z-move. I can safely say SM Pikachu is already at or close to Peakachu level.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree with this. This is the best of Pikachu I have seen aside from the Brandon, Tobias and Alain battle. It's doing brilliantly and it's also powered up with Z-moves.
 
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T

tuxego

New Member
Are Pikachu's Z moves more OP than usual? Tapu Koko, and now Hala and Professor Kukui, seemed to have shocked expressions from something they should've known was already powerful. Perhaps they just underestimated Pikachu?
 
UltimateNinja

UltimateNinja

Praying for the holy relics
Meh episode.

A 2:0 victory also made the whole battle not as intense as previous first gyms. Also a clean sweep now without any drawbacks not only hurts the pacing, since the first island now is pretty much over already, but there was so less happening in those first 10 episodes that the whole battle felt cheap. Also the animation has some flaws. The battle itself was ok, but no Johto/Sinnoh/Kalos first gym or even Hoenn's first one.
 
Satomine Night

Satomine Night

The Power of Z!
Well, THAT was an episode! The Z-move certainly worked! I was hoping Ash would win, and I'm glad that hope wasn't crushed, but I'm also happy his victory wasn't at the expense of showcasing Hala's strength. Rowlet and Pikachu may have swept the match, but Hala was quite tough; he forced Ash to be strategic (and I always like seeing Ash use that brilliant battle mind of his). I didn't expect Rowlet to win, so that was a pleasant surprise. That owl is most certainly a Crouching Airhead, Hidden Bad*** - right down to falling asleep after its battle.

And HOLY **** PIKACHU! That Breakneck Blitz was something else! :eek: Overall, Pikachu was pretty awesome in this battle. The mouse has certainly not been reset. As DrLazyEyes said, SM Pikachu is already at or close to Peakachu levels.

Tapu Koko be trolling again. :p "Fightinium-Z? Screw that, I want this kid to have Electrium-Z. I'll be taking that Fightinium-Z now..." At least this means Ash won't have to wait until Ula'ula Island to earn Electrium-Z and be able to use Gigavolt Havoc again. (Also, there goes my theory of Z-Crystals earned through trials foreshadowing Ash's eventual team roster - at least for now. Perhaps he won't get a Fighting-type Pokémon after all.)

It was a nice touch to have Hala and Ash pray at Tapu Koko's shrine before their battle. (I actually would have liked to see that in the game.) LOL at Ash being impatient. I like that Hala just seemed to know Tapu Koko was watching the battle from the trees. Overall, I get this sense that Hala is somewhat "in tune" (for lack of a better phrase) with Tapu Koko, which makes sense, given that the Tapus choose the Kahunas.

Kaye Cruiser said:
It DID explain. Kukui was about to teach Ash the dance until Ash stopped him and told him that he already researched it and practiced it on his own before the day of the Grand Trial. Rotomdex and Pikachu then confirm the same, impressing Kukui.
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Hold up, Ash actually thought to research and practice something ahead of time? :eek: Whatever happened to the idiot who never thought ahead or thought things through? My mind has been blown! Though this does show how serious Ash is about learning to use Z-moves.

satoharupika said:
-DAMN! Pikachu is getting man slapped! DAMN! Pikachu is fast! DAMNNN!! Hala is flexible! :eek:
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I know, right? For such a portly man, he can sure move those limbs. :p
 
J

Janovy

Banned
The episode was pretty great.

- Some great strategy from Ash.
- Z-moves looking as dope as ever.
- Pikachu being a beast.
- Rowlet being a beast.
- Troll Tapu Koko.
 
Frozocrone

Frozocrone

Miraculous!
One thing that kind of bothered me about the episode was the slow pacing of the battle. I felt they were cutting to the humans a little too often with extended pieces of dialogue that slowed the pace down. I'd rather have the Pokemon fighting with voiceovers issuing a command so as to not disrupt the flow of the battle.

I can understand this for Totem Pokemon since there should only be Ash and it's a new format but for Grand Trials which are sort of like Gym battles, it's a little jarring.
 
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