Review S18 EP19: The Moment Of Lumiose Truth!

[Hidden Mew]

XY067 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Please keep future events in spoiler tags. Thank you.

 

[Sakuraa]

Well, I think this is the match a lot of people have been waiting for. How well does it hold up for me? Well...

First off, what does Meyer mean he wants to see how Clemont is as a gym leader? Has he never seen Clemont battle?

I was disappointed by the first match. This battle just felt way too rushed and I feel Bunnelby went down far too quickly. It also doesn't help that the beginning of the match was literally a repeat of the battle in XY1. Bunnelby's new addition of Wild Charge also felt totally pointless being only used once and not having much of a major effect on the battle. I also didn't like how Clemont seemed to spam Dig over and over. I personally wish this battle had been a win for Bunnelby or a tie.

I was surprised to see Ash use Goodra as his second choice. I thought he'd be saved for last. Anyway, I was very impressed by Heliolisk's speed. And Bonnie and Dedenne getting dizzy from it was adorable. I like how Clemont told Goodra that Heliolisk was too fast for him rather than talking to Ash himself. As soon as Goodra got hit by Dragon Tail and they went to the break, I was sure we'd see Dragon Tail's swap effect. Nope However, I was happy to see Dedenne noticing Goodra being okay from the attack and looking happy. So Helolisk really does use Thunder Wave from its tail. Well, I guess now I won't think it's as weird whenever I see it in the games.

Moving on to Heliolisk and Hawlucha, this battle looked awesome and is probably my favorite from this entire match. I loved seeing both of these speedy mons battle. Heliolisk's Flash and dodge particularly looked amazing. I like how Ash noticed Heliolisk opening its frills before it used each attack and using that to win. I'm thrilled that Hawlucha got a win here since he didn't get one in his last gym battle.

Now for Luxray. Okay, my biggest problem with Luxray's battles is how Clemont kept spamming Wild Charge over and over. I did think that Luxray biting on Pikachu's Thunderbolt was cool. It was nice that they'd revealed Goodra's Hydration ability. Though the Bide victory was pretty disappointing seeing as that's how he's won almost all of his previous battles. I think it would have been better had he won with his new Dragon Pulse. I'm glad that he won though. I did find it interesting how Ash and Clemont were talking in their heads, yet seemed to hear each other.

As for something else I really did like, it was how Bonnie was sad for Bunnelby when he lost and cheering for Luxray when beat Hawlucha. I was glad to see that she supported both her brother and friend. I LOVED when Clemont said Ash needed him because he was “cool” and calm. Lol, so cool. I also like how they re-did the "hands in the middle" from XY 3 with Serena and Dedenne.

Overall my biggest issue with this battle was the pace. It seemed really rushed and I think this would have been much better as a 2 part battle. I also wasn't too thrilled that Luxray was the only one of Clemont's Pokemon to get a win. I wish Bunnelby would have at least tied with Pikachu so it wouldn't seem so much like Ash dominated Clemont for most of the match with Luxray just taking out his already weakened mons. In comparison to the last gym battle, I'd say I prefer the former. This one wasn't bad per say, but I just didn't enjoy it as much. I'll say 7.8/10.

 

[Alola]

Well, I think this is the match a lot of people have been waiting for. How well does it hold up for me? Well...

First off, what does Meyer mean he wants to see how Clemont is as a gym leader? Has he never seen Clemont battle?

I was disappointed by the first match. This battle just felt way too rushed and I feel Bunnelby went down far too quickly. It also doesn't help that the beginning of the match was literally a repeat of the battle in XY1. Bunnelby's new addition of Wild Charge also felt totally pointless being only used once and not having much of a major effect on the battle. I also didn't like how Clemont seemed to spam Dig over and over. I personally wish this battle had been a win for Bunnelby or a tie.

I was surprised to see Ash use Goodra as his second choice. I thought he'd be saved for last. Anyway, I was very impressed by Heliolisk's speed. And Bonnie and Dedenne getting dizzy from it was adorable. I like how Clemont told Goodra that Heliolisk was too fast for him rather than talking to Ash himself. As soon as Goodra got hit by Dragon Tail and they went to the break, I was sure we'd see Dragon Tail's swap effect. Nope However, I was happy to see Dedenne noticing Goodra being okay from the attack and looking happy. So Helolisk really does use Thunder Wave from its tail. Well, I guess now I won't think it's as weird whenever I see it in the games.

Moving on to Heliolisk and Hawlucha, this battle looked awesome and is probably my favorite from this entire match. I loved seeing both of these speedy mons battle. Heliolisk's Flash and dodge particularly looked amazing. I like how Ash noticed Heliolisk opening its frills before it used each attack and using that to win. I'm thrilled that Hawlucha got a win here since he didn't get one in his last gym battle.

Now for Luxray. Okay, my biggest problem with Luxray's battles is how Clemont kept spamming Wild Charge over and over. I did think that Luxray biting on Pikachu's Thunderbolt was cool. It was nice that they'd revealed Goodra's Hydration ability. Though the Bide victory was pretty disappointing seeing as that's how he's won almost all of his previous battles. I think it would have been better had he won with his new Dragon Pulse. I'm glad that he won though. I did find it interesting how Ash and Clemont were talking in their heads, yet seemed to hear each other.

As for something else I really did like, it was how Bonnie was sad for Bunnelby when he lost and cheering for Luxray when beat Hawlucha. I was glad to see that she supported both her brother and friend. I LOVED when Clemont said Ash needed him because he was “cool” and calm. Lol, so cool. I also like how they re-did the "hands in the middle" from XY 3 with Serena and Dedenne.

Overall my biggest issue with this battle was the pace. It seemed really rushed and I think this would have been much better as a 2 part battle. I also wasn't too thrilled that Luxray was the only one of Clemont's Pokemon to get a win. I wish Bunnelby would have at least tied with Pikachu so it wouldn't seem so much like Ash dominated Clemont for most of the match with Luxray just taking out his already weakened mons. In comparison to the last gym battle, I'd say I prefer the former. This one wasn't bad per say, but I just didn't enjoy it as much. I'll say 7.8/10.

Do you just copy/paste your review from your review of the Japanese version of the episode?

 

[Queen Cynthia]

Well, I'd call this episode a two-edged sword. It started out great and ended much too fast and a bit disappointing. But let's go into details:

Pikachu vs. Bunnelby was a decent battle, especially for round 1 because those battles usually tend to be just warm-ups and not that thrilling. But this one was different. My only complaint, so to speak, is that when being captured between Bunnelby's ears, Pikachu could easily have defeated him with a powerful Thunderbolt at close range. You see, when Pikachu first used that move, Clemont's Pokemon used its ears as some kind of lightning conductor. But after catching Pikachu, it couldn't have used its ears anymore, so it would have been a perfect opportunity for Ash to elegantly seal the deal.

Heliolisk vs. Hawlucha was probably the best battle. Not only was it intense, both trainers also showed that they had put a lot of thinking into it and that's the combination that makes for a great battle.

And finally, we had Luxray. As this is one of my favorite Pokemon, it goes without saying that I was looking forward to its battle. But the more I was looking forward to it, the more I was also disappointed by how the battle ended. First, just waiting for Goodra's Bide to work was a legitimate but boring strategy. Being an intelligent battler, Clemont could have easily ordered Luxray to just dodge that energy beam. Also, the writers should have shown how risky an attack Bide is because an opponent can easily be defeated in the meantime. The way they presented the attack now makes it look like an all-powerful attack that works against everything.
But my bigger complaint about the last battle is how soon Pikachu went down! I mean we have a gym where the focus is on Electric types, we have Electric Terrain in effect and we have one of Ash's strongest Pokemon that happens to be an Electric-type. What better situation for a heated showdown between Luxray and Pikachu can you get? No matter how often Pikachu has already won the badge for Ash in the last round, but this gym would have been the perfect scenario for our yellow friend. He could have taken advantage of Electric Terrain, too, resulting in those "electrical fireworks" Clemont's dad wanted to see.
What I want to say is that the last battle in an Electric-type gym simply belongs to Pikachu and although all in all I'm glad that Ash won, this gym battle would have been way better if it had been a thrilling two-parter.

 

[Sakuraa]

Do you just copy/paste your review from your review of the Japanese version of the episode?

Well, I edit it to reflect the dub, but otherwise yes. My feelings for the episodes don't change and I don't see any reason to type out entire reviews over and over that'll basically say the same thing.

 

[Muur]

I thought it was a good battle, none of them lost for bs reasons. Unless rain dance doesn't remove Electric Terrain. If anything, it would've made the electric moves even stronger.

Hawlucha was thrown out against the right Pokemon, any other time would've been pretty stupid.

I actually thought Bunnelby took too much damage before going down, it's a Bunnelby! should've evolved just as it was about to take a Thunderbolt, laughed at that Thunderbolt then used some new Gorund move a few times to beat a shocked Pikachu.

I also agree they should've had bide miss, just to teach a lesson.

All in all though, a great gym battle!

 

[Geodude]

Why are people actually complaining about Bunnelby's repeated use of its only supereffective move?