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- Oct 12, 2014
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This episode started off on a wonderful note, but began to spiral downwards the moment Gengar got jobbed again. So I've got mixed feelings; it was animated very well, but some of the narrative choices could have been better.
So, I guess I'll talk about what I disliked first.
What I loved:
- Ash & Pikachu's Z-Move magically bypassing Motor Drive was cheap writing, made even more blatant as Pikachu's prior Thunderbolt was something Electivire was rendered immune to thanks to Motor Drive; they specifically called mention to this Ability during the fight a couple times, too. I figured it was coming, but I really hoped the move wouldn't work and reality would kick in. I mean damn, they could have had Ash & Pikachu use it on Volkner's other Pokémon. Really ended the fight on a sour note, for me.
- Gengar gets j/robbed again. It's just sad, at this point. I'm glad it landed hits on Luxray, but they could have given it a KO; at least a double KO if they still wanted it to go down.
- Lucario took out Luxray too quickly and in an anticlimactic function. I thought we were going to see more from the Gleam Eyes Pokémon; it was kind of stagnant in battle, which is the opposite of how it fought before, against Infernape. Also, Lucario...got rid of its paralysis?
Through the power of Affection?- I really think Ash should have lost, because I feel Volkner was the better battler of the two.
Also, I wouldn't be quick to confirm that Gengar's official Dazzling Gleam move was an error or nonexistent, just because Ash didn't use it here. Gengar only used Psychic, Ice Punch, and Night Shade during its battles, so the jury is still out on whether or not Shadow Ball has been forgotten for Fairy coverage.
- Hoo boy, the animation. I don't know, this may be the best animated fight in Journeys so far, if not one of them. Everyone and everything looked good. Some of my favorite moments were Lucario scoping the Electric Terrain, Luxray getting thrown by Psychic, and Pikachu and Electivire's mid-air Iron Tail jousting.
- Volkner's battle style was powerful and calculated. He made use of Electric Terrain for his team, as well as Rising Voltage (which looked great), utilized Hex's secondary effect through paralysis twice, switched accordingly with Electivire and Rotom - F, and overall hit hard. He dominated the first half of the match, before plot dictated that Ash win instead, smh.
- Speaking of Volkner's team, Rotom - F was the highlight for me. Those Hexes were chef's kisses. I also appreciate that Electivire was given a complete moveset with electrical moves this time around, rather than Fire/Ice Punch.
- They got right to the battle, which was appreciated. No captures, no conversations, just a near 22 minutes of nicely animated battling action.
- Cynthia has been confirmed as one of the last PWC members, if not the last one. Congrats to everyone who speculated so! I think a Ash Vs. Cynthia match would be awesome, but I don't want to see her lose to Ash - especially not with what happened today. So, I am looking forward to how that plays out.
Dazzling Gleam replaced Psychic in the segment clip. It still used Psychic in todays episode. So you can safely assume it was nothing more than an error for this episode at least. Its still possible it learns it in an upcoming episode though and replaces Psychic then.