Pokémon anime

Well tonight in a few hours the first part of Ash Vs. Alan airs in Japan. Hopefully its up online for everyone else not to long after, I don't think I'll be able to watch it myself till late tomorrow.

I really hope this battle is good. I assume it will be, but I really want a well done 2-parter especially since its one of Ash's only other full battles.

And then the week after the conclusion, which I'm both anxious and nervous for because it will determine if Ash won the league or not. I really hope the writers don't screw us over in the last minute, I don't think I can take it.

edited 10th Aug '16 8:23:52 PM by precita

In anticipation for the build up of the Kalos League finals, I finally finished my artwork on Art Academy.

I was planning to release it on August 18th, but then I had a better idea in mind.

edited 10th Aug '16 9:00:53 PM by Shadao

less than 2 hours, man I can feel the anticipation

and we've got good staff under the two eps even

edited 11th Aug '16 12:59:08 AM by Ookamikun

Is it bad that once I saw Alolan Raichu the first or second thought I got was "Great, we're going to get another Pikachu Vs. Raichu episode"?

Who knows.

Anyways, the first half of the final results are in:

• Pikachu vs Tyranitar: Pikachu wins easily hands down. Pikachu is recalled.
• Noivern vs Weavile: Noivern puts up a good fight and nearly tracked Weavile for Dragon Claw. Weavile however has Ice Beam and handicaps the poor fellow. Weavile wins with Night Slash (Crossroad Killing). Hawlucha comes out of the Poké Ball and decides to avenge Noivern
• Hawlucha vs Weavile. Hawlucha has some kind of secret move/ablity where he stands for a long time and glows read. It's red and hot enough to melt the ice on the stream. Hawlucha proceeds to Flying Press Weavile to the ground. Hawlucha wins.
• Hawlucha vs Bisharp. Bisharp is fast and relentless. Bisharp wins. Bisharp is recalled.
• Talonflame vs Unfezant. It's the most epic aerial dogfight seen in Pokémon, with neither side gaining the advantage. Result: Double KO.
• Battleground changes to grassy field due to three knockouts on both sides.
• Pikachu vs Metagross. Metagross is ultra fast and it really beat the snot out of Pikachu. Pikachu looks like it could barely walk. But surprise, Pikachu is able to jump on Metagross's head and proceeds to Thunderbolt it before finishing it off with an Iron Tail. Winner is Pikachu
• Alain isn't messing around. He sends out Charizard to finish Pikachu off. Pikachu stills shows he has strength by using Thunderbolt to bring Charizard to its knees.

The first half of the match concludes:

Alain has two standing Pokémon left. Ash has three, two of which haven't been used in battle. It's Goodra and Greninja's time to shine.

edited 11th Aug '16 9:59:22 AM by Shadao

Shit son, this battle is something else.

Based on the preview, I am going to guess that Pikachu might faint against Charizard who is then recalled, Goodra will probably faint against Bisharp assuming that the move it uses is Guillotine, but not before Goodra can set up Rain Dance, after which it is all for Greninja.

I think this track will be fitting for the two parter:

Pikachu is in straight up beast-mode here. Really impressive showing.

Based on the next episode preview, I think it's safe to assume that Pikachu goes down to Charizard, Goodra beats Bisharp and loses to Charizard X. Pretty interesting strat on Ash's part that he has Goodra use Rain Dance.

Maybe that's why Greninja is able to use that massive Water Shuriken next episode.

Also, shout outs to Pikachu taking down two pseudo-legendaries.

Another reason why Hawlucha is one of my favorites.◊

You can see in the preview that Charizard is sent out while Greninja is already on the field. Goodra either ties against Bisharp or loses.

Is this the first time a pseudo-legendary was straight-up curbstomped?

I think you mean 'two'.

I just find it sad that Noivern jobbed. Oh well. But that revenge moment with Hawlucha though.

Oh yeah while the animation for Hawlucha looks like Bulk Up (turns red, smokes, gains power and defense), in the show itself Ash didn't command it and instead it is a throwback to Hawlucha's early appearance where it lets his opponents hit him to test their strength and get motivated.

Don't want to read too much into this, but does this match come off as an apology to anyone else for that Tobias match back in DP?

Alain curbstomped his way through the League just like Tobias, only losing his Metagross in the Semi finals, and now he and Ash are evenly matched.

Ultimate Metagross fusion gif◊.

Considering how Ash is actually thinking like a competitive player instead of someone with the best wishes in heart...

Yeah, it's more than just an apology for just one league match.

You gotta appreciate the classics same way he beat Dragonite all those years ago

&

The best part is that these two episodes were written by the same writer as part two of Ash vs Cameron and it's like night and day in terms of general writing quality and depiction of Ash's competence.

Its funny that Greninja gets all of the focus, but its Pikachu who's putting in most of the work.

Pikachu is Spanner in the Works for Alain's battle strategy. Based on how the last full battle with Remos, Alain's method is to use one of his powerful Pseudo Legendaries to wear down his opponent's full team and thus weed out his or her strongest Pokémon (which is likely a Mega Evolution). When he reaches that strongest or is close enough to not worry about any possible setbacks, he dishes out to Charizard to finish the job (as making Mega Charizard X strong is his goal).

What he did not expect was that Pikachu is a lot tougher than he realizes. The mouse took out two of his powerhouses and is still standing despite all the beating it has taken. If it continues, then it might be possible for Alain to never reach Greninja at all. This forces him to call out Charizard to take out Pikachu to assure it wouldn't cause any more trouble. But Pikachu manages to damage Charizard to an extent, meaning that Alain will have to defeat Goodra without losing Bisharp as a Greninja at full health and strength while Charizard has taken damage is not the best set up for Alain to determine who is the stronger of the two.

edited 11th Aug '16 10:46:15 AM by Shadao

I'm guessing that Mega X Charizard vs. Synchronized Greninja is going to be especially intense, considering that Ash has already taken out 2/3 of Alain's team (granted, Alain took out 1/2 of Ash's team as well, but still). Kind of curious as to who's going to take out Bisharp; I'm guessing either it's a double KO between Bisharp and Goodra, or Goodra takes out Bisharp but loses to Mega X Charizard.

The preview shows Charizard sent out when Ash only has Greninja left, so it's double KO or Greninja quickly puts Bisharp down.

Now that I think about it, that's hilarious. Nobody would expect it ahead of time unless they looked into Ash's history.

From what I can gather, Bisharp apparently knows Guillotine and that's why it took out Hawlucha so fast. Based on the preview, it looks like it's trying to use Guillotine on Goodra. I wouldn't be surprised as Alain would want the inevitable final clash be on equal grounds, and if his Charizard took damage beforehand, then he should inflict the same on Greninja with Bisharp. This would be the scoreboard if Bisharp defeats Goodra:

Ash

Pikachu: 2 wins, damage Charizard
Noivern: 0 wins
Goodra: 0 wins
Hawlucha: 1 win
Talonflame: DKO
Ash-Greninja: 1 win prior to final match
Alain

Bisharp: 2 wins, damage Greninja
Tyranitar: 0 wins
Metagross: 0 wins
Weavile: 1 win
Unfezant: DKO
Mega Charizard X: 1 win prior to final match

edited 11th Aug '16 11:04:04 AM by Shadao