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Review JN117: VS Shirona! Iris's Road to Dragon Master!!

At first I was going to jokingly chide Iris for not developing a counter to Draco Meteor as the move proved her undoing last time. But then I realized she did - it's just, her modified strategy with Dragon Pulse didn't account for a Mega version of Draco Meteor.

That Cynthia felt the need to Mega Evolve her Garchomp to keep up with Iris' Haxorus speaks volumes to how strong Haxorus has become. Since its battle with Ash, anyway.
 
Sad that Iris didn't get any gimmick like z-moves or Mega evolution. I was expecting her to pull off a z-move since her pose in BW2 always reminded me of the dragon z-move. If only she had gotten cameos in XY or SM and picked up either z-moves or Mega evolution...

I wish Ash would have given her a hug when she cried.

Excited to see Ash fight Cynthia after all these years though! I hope the battle is 6 v 6. I miss DP battles, Paul vs Ash was my favorite battle in the anime. Journeys battles feel a little bland in comparison.
 
I wish Ash would have given her a hug when she cried.
Agreed. I found it incredibly off-putting that he just...watched her, as well as Go. Compare that with when he at least put his arm on May's shoulder when she lost the Grand Festival. But then again, I shouldn't be too surprised given that the animation wasn't the best in this episode to begin with.
Excited to see Ash fight Cynthia after all these years though! I hope the battle is 6 v 6.
If you don't mind being spoiled, but the fight is apparently going to be another 3 on 3, with Lucario, Dragonite, and Sirfetch'd (or everyone not fighting against Steven). It seems they're saving a six on six fight for Leon.
 
We all knew who was almost certain to win here, so that was no surprise but this was still an enjoyable battle.

This week's cameos were Shinji, Reiji, Ohba, Denzi (and their signature Pokemon), the BW rivals and even former-Champion Adeku... but no Dent surprisingly. Maybe they're saving him for further down the road. I'd also liked to have seen Zuruggu watching at Okido's when Ononokus entered the field but nope.

The animation this week was far better than the previous two battles, the highlights being Milokaross's entrance and the Draco Meteor/Dragon Pulse explosion.

I liked how Iris and Shirona's personalities contrasted each other. While Iris was jumping around being excitable the whole time Shirona was calm and collected throughout, not even flinching when a Hydro Pump when right past her.

Doryuzu was a real trooper in this episode, managing to survive being stuck under Muddy Water for several seconds and still managing to knock Toritodon out afterwards. On the other hand, Iris's Kairyu did a terrible job and went down way too quickly. All it took was one Disarming Voice and an Iron Head to knock it out.

I loved the dramatic organ music that accompanied Gablias entering the field. Really gave off a sense of how powerful she was.

I really wish the fact that Shirona could Mega Evolve Gablias hadn't been spoiled. Also, Iris, you might have won if you'd picked up one of the three gimmicks before heading into this battle. Ononokus and Gablias had seemed evenly matched up until that point.

Iris cries her heart out after her loss, which was a great character moment from her.

All in all, a very decent episode. Now for our main guy to have his turn.
 
Agreed. I found it incredibly off-putting that he just...watched her, as well as Go. Compare that with when he at least put his arm on May's shoulder when she lost the Grand Festival. But then again, I shouldn't be too surprised given that the animation wasn't the best in this episode to begin with.

If you don't mind being spoiled, but the fight is apparently going to be another 3 on 3, with Lucario, Dragonite, and Sirfetch'd (or everyone not fighting against Steven). It seems they're saving a six on six fight for Leon.
A 6 v 6 for the final match would be great but I don't have high hopes it right now, prove me wrong Pokemon, prove me wrong
 
:bulbaLove: The Best:
  • Drill getting his victory

:bulbaWave: Good:
  • Reggie and Paul watching Tournament properly at home with big TV and refreshments :cool:
  • Flint and Volkner chilling like bros again
  • Cynthia not flinching one inch while Milotic being catapulted behind her back
  • Haxorus being arguably the MVP of the match, has come really far

:confused: Bad:
  • Too many Dragonites, so Iris's gets to job - expedient, but again writers writing themselves into corner
  • Where is Cilan? Where is Lance?
  • Iris not having proper gimmick against Cynthia is like playing NFL without helmet
  • (pending till subtitles) Hopefully Alain was having more insightful comments this week and not spilling these "I read the brochure last night, so that you all Champions know, Dynamax lasts only 3 rounds compared to Mega" - don't get me wrong, it has its place for someone to repeat these facts, but Alain from all others telling these obviousnesses in room full of Champions after losing his match rather briefly borders on sarcasm
:bulbaFacepalm: Ugly:
  • How to put it - boys, I know that hug would be probably too much at the age of ten, but at least pat her on shoulder or hold her hand when she is sobbing like that? :rolleyes:
 
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Sad that Iris didn't get any gimmick like z-moves or Mega evolution. I was expecting her to pull off a z-move since her pose in BW2 always reminded me of the dragon z-move. If only she had gotten cameos in XY or SM and picked up either z-moves or Mega evolution...

I wish Ash would have given her a hug when she cried.

Excited to see Ash fight Cynthia after all these years though! I hope the battle is 6 v 6. I miss DP battles, Paul vs Ash was my favorite battle in the anime. Journeys battles feel a little bland in comparison.
The fact she didn't use any of the battle gimmicks at all, and yet managed to get to Cynthia's ace with one Pokémon left on her roster speaks volumes on how she improved greatly, especially when Cynthia felt it was needed to Mega Evolve to keep up with Haxorus. That said, Cynthia's Milotic was exceptionally brutal too...that Iron Head at close range while Iris's Dragonite was hopelessly wrapped up, was.....ouch.
 
Really? In my eyes, the animation here looked great. Not absolute top tier, but great still.
There were a lot of still shots, with the biggest offenders being when Haxorus used Outrage to counter Draco Meteor; we literally spent several seconds on each still akin to a flashback memory. There were also blurred backgrounds for several of Excadrill's moves, recycled animations from Iris' previous battle, and just some lethargic periods and stills. It felt similar to Diantha Vs. Lance, which makes me less optimistic for Ash vs. Steven. I'm guessing the Ash Vs. Visquez/Ash Vs. Volkner/Ash Vs. Paul/Ash Vs. Bea quality won't come until its Leon's turn.
 
The fact she didn't use any of the battle gimmicks at all, and yet managed to get to Cynthia's ace with one Pokémon left on her roster speaks volumes on how she improved greatly, especially when Cynthia felt it was needed to Mega Evolve to keep up with Haxorus. That said, Cynthia's Milotic was exceptionally brutal too...that Iron Head at close range while Iris's Dragonite was hopelessly wrapped up, was.....ouch.
In the games, if Garchomp didn't make you want to throw your DS/Switch, Milotic will more than make up for it.

I should note that this is perhaps the first time that Cynthia's Pokémon was actually defeated on-screen. Before that, she was pretty much invincible and untouchable.

Iris being able to push her way to Mega Garchomp despite being a new Champion shows promise not only for her, but also Ash. There's now a believable path for Ash to defeat the two strongest champions before Leon.
 
In the games, if Garchomp didn't make you want to throw your DS/Switch, Milotic will more than make up for it.
Flashbacks to Mirror Coat reflecting Thunderbolt and Giga Drain...
I should note that this is perhaps the first time that Cynthia's Pokémon was actually defeated on-screen. Before that, she was pretty much invincible and untouchable.
Haxorus taking out Milotic was cathartic, especially after that Iron Head stunt it pulled.
 
Please note: The thread is from 1 year ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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