Pokémon anime

Ash would be tired regardless of whether he wins or lose. You've seen it in the aftermath of the semi-finals. Really, Lysandre is someone who seeks the most powerful Pokémon for his "research" and an Ash-Greninja that defeated a Mega Charizard X who defeated an Elite Four Pokémon is his kind of alley.

So Worf Had the Flu. That's not helping the initial reaction much.

Although... I'd have to wonder if Ash would have his Pokemon on him at the time of the attack. Strike suddenly enough and Ash's Pokemon are still in recovery. Ash would run out without Pokemon to see what was going on. Which suddenly puts a whole new light on Serena and Clemont only having 3 Pokemon each, not counting Dedene and Squishy. Of course, if Lysandre wants Greninja as well as Ash, then he'd have to wait until Ash has his full team with him. Which means that Ash would've had time to recover, putting us right back at the Distress Ball. Pikachu could escape, though.

Although a thought just popped into my head. We may see the cashing in of a Chekhov's Gag or two: Someone asked earlier if Team Rocket had a role and we all know that they will have one. And Serena's been absent from the summaries as well. Now what has Team Rocket (specifically James) and Serena both done? Impersonate Ash. So, once they get to his cell, either Serena "sits in" for him or else she and James run interference while Ash goes on to confront Lysandre.

And it's too bad that we don't have old allies tagging along because we could've added Ritchie & Sparky and Duplica & Ditto for maximum effect. Imagine all four Flare Girl Scientists thinking that each one has cornered "Ash" while the real Ash (sans Pikachu) and Greninja, along with Jessie and Alain, have just beaten down Lysandre's door.

Of course, now another thought comes in: Delia and Samuel finally arrive in Kalos only to discover that Ash had been captured and Lysandre escaped with him. At this point, a certain scene from Mega Man 8 gets referenced:

EDIT: I've decided to redact my sidebar for now until we get more summaries; there's certainly still a good deal of time for other characters to shine in this upcoming act before Alain and Ash kick ass.

edited 5th Aug '16 10:07:05 PM by DonaldthePotholer

The fact that Lysanndre specifically captures Ash leads me to believe that Ash beats Alain. I can't imagine Lysanndre taking much interest if Greninja wasn't able to beat Charizard and it would serve as Alain's finally ouch to redemption to help save Ash. Because Alain winning it all and then saving Ash would not be a compelling conclusion to his arc.

Anyone find it ironic that in the games, Team Flare is the least popular villain team, yet the anime seems to be giving them the best treatment?

When the XY games originally came out I don't recall many people caring for Team Flare at all. They seemed to be the least popular villain team so far, yet the anime is doing the most with them.

I've always talked about how, despite having a terrifying goal and an Ultimate Weapon powered by the lives of Pokémon, Team Flare doesn't really hold up as a legitimate villainous team. I remember how I talked about the evil Malamar's plot being basically the same as the Ultimate Weapon plot line (to prove that Team Flare's genocidal goal is possible on this show), only to realize just how much more interesting the Malamar gang are as villains.

Then I saw Lysandre in his first official appearance in the Mega Evolution Special Part II. Surprising, he came off a pretty nice fellow with no signs of evilness (his greatest sin there is his desire to run research on that Megalith, but that's fairly normal for scientists and giant rocks). A great contrast to his game counterpart, who was Obviously Evil and didn't really try to hide his goals (unlike anime Flare which I still don't know what their ultimate goal is). I mean, this comic short sums up the game Lysandre.

Even the Legendary they are targeting feels more in-depth than Xerenas and Yveltal combined. Zygarde feels natural in the way it is introduced and we did not get any last-minute foreshadowing or arrival of the game's mascot.

And of course, game Team Flare never actually gets to cause this much damage before (sure they knocked down a few houses in Genosenge Town but other than that, nothing else).

Yeah I have a good feeling Ash will win this time. And regardless on who wins, the episode at least confirms Lysandre won't interrupt the match since he is invested in it.

And it's giving me funny if awkward signals of a terrorist organization attacking what is essentially Poké-France.

I wonder if these episodes will have trouble being aired in the West. I'm sure no-one will be shown dying (aside from probably Clembot going by the title of episode 41, but he's a robot so he gets a pass), but the descriptions make it sound like there will be extensive destruction.

Good thing I don't care about the dub.

Maybe in France, but I think the rest of the West wouldn't have a hard time with it. They were able to get away with Hunter J and her crew sinking into the depths of the ocean and Cyrus seemingly dying in his new world.

Besides, Cartoon Network has done dramatic and intense stuff before. And Pokémon hasn't killed anyone on-screen outright.

edited 6th Aug '16 1:33:08 AM by Shadao

Team Flare's biggest issue was that it took so damn long for them just to have relevance in the main series, with loads of filler played over them actually getting to do anything.

Still their characters seem a bit more interesting than previous adapted teams, which in contrast usually had all their complexities and charm erased to be another serious, generically evil 'so much better than Team Rocket' antagonist group. They also bounce off of the cast's current interpretations a little better (eg. the minion group's smug, stoic demeanour made them good foils for the goofy but Not So Harmless Team Rocket, even if we only saw it come into fruition for one episode).

edited 6th Aug '16 3:00:03 AM by Psi001

I too am curious about what Team Rocket is up to. They're the one plot thread that wouldn't normally be resolved by the end of things.

EDIT: I'd laugh if Team Flare's goal after all this buildup was the same one as in the games.

edited 6th Aug '16 7:59:21 AM by lalalei2001

Psi, you sure do love to insert Team Rocket into a lot of subjects, even when they're not who we're talking about atm :V

Cross posting this post I made in the Pokemon General thread:

I find the idea that Ash has become the super Bad Ass that everyone started portraying Red as to be pretty hilarious.

Hmm... Maybe his clash with Team Flare might cause Ash to go into a Heroic BSoD, and runs off to Alola to save his friends from getting hurt.

That's fanon Red though, always has been. The most recent official portrayal of Red was in Pokémon Origins and he was as much of a sperging idiot as Kanto Ash if not worse, only carried by the power of plot armor.

and I find more Irony in terms of who Ash's final opponent in the League is. It's a tall Bishōnen who is aloof, stoic, prefers to work alone, badass, older than 10, and a Charizard that can evolve into a Mega Charizard X.

Are we talking about Fanon Red◊ or Alain?

edited 6th Aug '16 3:15:18 PM by Shadao

and Heh.

That's a good point.

Maybe they were more influenced by Pokemon Adventures Red, particularly in later arcs?

Also, i had a thought—if Ash IS in Sun/Moon, maybe the entire series will end with him making the journey to Aloloa and the viewer's told to continue his story in the games.

edited 6th Aug '16 12:23:32 PM by lalalei2001

Fanon Red was born entirely out of his appearence on Mt Silver in the gen 2 games. He was alone at the top of a secluded mountain, only spoke in ellipses and his sprite had his eyes concealed by his hat. That was all it took for fans to forge this badass and edgy personality for him. Adventures Red is certainly cool but he's pretty enthusiastic and goes full keet in some instances, such as when he gets teased by Blue about Yellow.

Implying that there is a "canon personality" for Red. In terms of games, that is. Like I am sometimes annoyed when people compare Ash to Red as where Ash actually has personality, Red is just the player. The only things he has done really is beat Team Rocket and defeat the Elite Four and Blue when he was the Champion. How he did it is all up to the imagination of the player.

There is some canon pandering from the hands of Game Freak of the anime/manga producers though. Even though every canon is different, some things generally carry over. For example May's canon starter in almost every continuity is Torchic. She gets it in the anime, the manga gives Sapphire Torchic, in the games she's associated with Torchic, and in that ORAS short she got both Torchic and Mudkip, oddly.

Also Red in the games had a Pikachu, rather than a Raichu, and the new Red figure/statue coming out also depicts Red with Pikachu.

Adventures Red also had Pikachu and not Raichu.

There's actually only been one version of Red who actually had a Raichu, and it was due to his Pikachu willingly evolving to help Red with the Elite Four.

Game Freak/TPC: What is a Raichu?

Another funny thing to consider to think that in regards to his ultimate team, he only caught either one or two of his party members: Snorlax (who is a mandatory encounter) and Pikachu, and that is only if you don't think Yellow should be considered. Eevee and Lapras are freebies and there is no way for him to have caught the starters from the wild. And IIRC, you do get the starters for free in Yellow. What a trainer Red is: practically uses Pokémon given to him.

Well, his name was Satoshi in this.