Your Final Opinions of The Suzuran Conference

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

What did you think? It had it's great moments, aka Ash vs Paul's epic 3 part showdown. So what are your final opinions and how would you change things?

I thought in some parts the league was rushed sometimes, for example Ash vs. Nando and the Top 32. I do think Takuto was full of trolling and overkill but at least he was nice in the end. Here is what i'd do......

Top 64: Ash vs Nando.....I would've cut out all the TR stuff so Staraptor vs. Roserade could've been a little longer, but most importantly so Quilava could've had an awesome and well fought battle against Armaldo using attacks like Eruption, Flame Wheel, Flamethrower, and showing off his speed. I would've also gave him the victory but he would've been worn out and Krickitune would defeat him but not sweep Quilava, then having Krickitune vs. Herracross.

Top 32: Ash vs. Mystery.....I would've shown a full battle with Snorlax and Grumpig, also giving Totodile, Bayleaf, Glalie, or Muk some screen time.

Top 16: Ash vs. Conway and Paul vs. Barry: I wouldn't change anything here but I would've gave Gible an evo into Gabite.

Top 8: I would've had Ash vs. Takuto here, defeating Darkrai with 3 pokemon, replacing Torkoal with Charizard. I would've had Takuto have pokemon like Lucario, Garchomp, and other Psuedo's or like final stage starters. Ash wins, earns a great deal of respect from Takuto and Takuto cheers for him. I would've done it here to build up tension so people will wonder if Ash vs. Paul will happen.

Top 4: I would've had the 3 part battle between Ash and Paul here, Ash still wins and they end their rivalry.

Top 2: I'd have Ash face and lose to my character: Justin Gaines and his Quilava Blaze But I'd give ash a chance, say like Ash loses 6-4. I don't know what team I'd have Ash use but I'd use any combination of the pokemon i used: Quilava(Blaze), Umbreon, Tyranitar, Feraligator, Vespiquen(Queeny), Ampharos(Sparky), Medicham, Abomasnow, Empoleon(Rico), Sceptile, Garchomp, Jumpluff, Salamence, and Dragonite. But I'd definatley have Blaze vs. Quilava.

 

[Casual Cnidarian]

I don't know, I haven't seen it, yet.
It would have been nice of Ash had one.

 

[Rafia]

The best league ever.
It had the best animation, the pokemon choices were good and unpredictable.
No female opponent was a bit disappointing and it could have used a little more character interaction but everything else was done right.

 

[AuraSoul93]

The way things were handled, I'm not entirely sure. I've got a mixed opinion on this League. The way the writers determined who fought who & how (when I say "how" I mean what Pokemon they used) is questionable, but the quality of the actual battles makes up for it in my eyes.

 

[severus6]

The way things were handled, I'm not entirely sure. I've got a mixed opinion on this League. The way the writers determined who fought who & how (when I say "how" I mean what Pokemon they used) is questionable, but the quality of the actual battles makes up for it in my eyes.

I liked the writers' handling of who fought who. I like that Ash battled Paul, Nando, and Conway, since he had unfinished business with all of them. However, a battle between Ash and Barry would have been pointless. Ash always dominates Barry, so what does he have to prove? However, pitting Barry against Paul proves just how bad Barry is at copying Paul's style.

 

[Rocketshipper]

In terms of battles...very good overall, and *almost* equal to the Hoenn league. Ash vs Shinji was pure ultimate epicness, and may possibly be the best battle in the entire show, and Takuto and Kouhei's battles turned out cool as well. Very dissapointed though about the rushed through Nando battle and them not showing anything from the top 32 battle except a short little clip.

However..in terms of overall *impact* of the tournament, the level of "epicness" and importance that the event carries within the show...I have to say it comes in dead last out of the 4 leagues, behind Johto. It just didn't feel like the "big deal" epic end of the saga tournament that we've had in the past.

I think part of the problem is that we didn't get an introductory "flame" episode this time around. All the previous leagues had an episode where they introduced the tournament and the "flame of *insert pokemon here*" being run to the stadium by a competitor, and it gave the proceedings an epic "olympics" kind of vibe that was missing from this one. This time around, we had an episode (182) where 95% was made up of Ash calling his old pokemon back, and then they crammed the start of the tournament into the last few minutes. Now I'm not saying they should have exactly recycled their old carrying the torch plotlines again, but it would have been nice to have a better intro to the tournament. A better exit too. 95% of 189 was taken up by the Takuto battle, and we barely even got a chance to see the competition wrap up. Would have been nice to see some longer goodbyes between Ash and Shinji and Jun, or a scene with Cynthai and Goodshow talking to Ash, or maybe some more scenes with Takuto to better flesh out his character. Instead it was another rushed conclusion like the Hoenn league (my one real complaint about that league). Back in the day, Indigo had an ENTIRE episode more of the league after Ash lost, and Johto devoted half of its final episode to wrap up. And what ws with the tiny Scale of the Sinnoh league? Only 64 trainers in the ENTIRE region wanted to compete? were they having an off year for badge collecting or something? Indigo had at least 256 competitors (8 rounds total). Johto started out with around that many too, and Hoenn might have had as many as 500+ (9 rounds total). So why the jump down to 64 all of a sudden? Just adds to the whole rushed feeling if you ask me.

Would have also liked to see more new characters. Personally, I think it was great to see Ash battling characters like Mandy and Macey and Jeanette in the past leagues, and I was looking forward to seeing if the writers would come up with some new quirky opponents for Ash to fight this time around. Instead all we got was Takuto, the designated victor, who didn;t even get much characterization. Though his battle was cool, I think he paled in comparison to Tyson and Ritchie, and maybe even Harrison, in terms of character.

Pokemon choice irked me too. One of the things I liked about the Hoenn league was the fact that Ash stuck to his Hoenn team and didn;t trade up at all. EVERYONE got more than enough chances to shine and kick butt and contribute, and none of his pokemon felt neglected in the slightest. The way they did things here though...with so many pokemon to potentially bring back, and only 4 actual battles to show, there was just waay too much drama over "is he going to use this pokemon or that one" and his Shinnou team was a bit neglected. Poor Torterra still hasn;t won a match since evolving .

Finally...I was dissapointed that we didn;t see anything really unique for the tournament this time around. Every tournament before this has introduced something "new" as far as battling. The first league was ALL new, of course, since it was the very first big competition on the show. Johto introduced the "round robin" preliminaries round, and also was the first time for seeing multiple 6 on 6 battles. The Hoenn league introduced double battle rounds. But we didn;t get anything new for the Shinou league; no new unique elements, just 6 rounds of fighting.

So overall, I was dissapointed with the league. Ash vs Shinji was amazing, I won;t deny that, and *almost* makes up for everything else, but I still felt that it was just too anti-climactic and rushed after such a long saga, and after the rest of DP was so awesome. I wanted to see more new characters, I wanted Ash's Shinou team to be in the spoltight and not get stuck sharing it with all the reserves, and I wish it had just felt more "epic" than it did.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Ash vs Paul(seriously why do some people refer to him by his Japanese name, along with many others yet everyone will type everything else in english??? Makes no sense and it's confusing imo) Well Ash vs. Paul was undeniably the high light cause it marks the ending of the series long rivalry.

 

[Jukain]

I have no complaints really. In fact, I'm rather astounded that there weren't any COTD battles (besides the skipped 32 battle). This league meant business, very few participants, and 5 rivals. It got off to a slow start, admittedly, with the Nando battle not being much, and Barry being swept by Paul. Then with Conway, it really kicked in and showed us all sorts of neat things. We got the best battle in the entire anime, and we got to see Ash defeat not one, but two legends. Not to mention Ash got to place one level higher than before, and with the fact he was the only one to defeat that many of the legend trainer's pokemon. This will be an event long remembered. This was more than what I asked for, but only because Ash did so well against the legend trainer. This will be a tough act to follow, but it will be a while before we next see the league.

 

[Tsuness]

Some people refer to him as Shinji because the live in Japan, then again the same people refer to all the characters and pokemon in their japanese names, so it works out.

Anyway, I enjoyed the league very much. Each battle had a purpose and, other than the Takuto battle, featured a major character and not a CotD, which made me happy. The animation was beautiful, the fights were fun to watch, and the Ash/Paul battle had me on the edge of my seat, even though I knew the winner. It will be very difficult for the writers to top the Sinnoh League, other than to have Ash win of course

 

[Aestivate]

I thought the Suzuran Conference was pretty much plum-perfect, actually. The pacing was wonderful, the animation was beautiful, and the music-inserts added a layer of tension and intensity that really got you involved with the battles.

Could have liked more showcase in certain Poke's, but with the way things ended I'm not complaining. Could have also liked more cameos from older characters (less Rocket, as much as I love you, please), but I'm hoping for a Masara reunion.

Takuto being a total tool ex machina was kind of disarming, but at the same time showed Satoshi's growth as a trainer as well as his relationship with his Pokemon.

 

[Miar]

First round - vs. Nando
Seriously, why does he exist? The fight was rushed, and the winner was obvious from the start.

Second round - vs. ??? (we never really got to see it)
Bonus battle - Barry vs. Paul
Ouch, Barry's pride. He didn't beat a single one of Paul's Pokémon.

Third round - vs. Conway
I love the trick room, but Gible stole all the action. It did finally learn Draco Meteor and beat a Dusknoir (to the tune of Mezase Pokémon Master 2001, no less)

Fourth round - vs. Paul
Crowning Moment of Awesome (it's in spoilers), not just for the tournament, but the entire series. I thought Drake in season 2 and Gary in Johto were great, but this was excellent (tied with Harrison for best ever). Ash finally settled his rivalry with Paul and finally advanced past his streak of top 8s.

Fifth round - vs. Takuto
Curb Stomp Battle just waiting to be recognized as one. Ash needed TWO Deus Ex Machina moves to take down two of his Pokémon, and by then Ash had lost all of his. And where the hell did Charizard go? It probably could've taken Darkrai down instead of Torkoal's pathetic KO. Nonetheless, a cool, but predictable way to end the tourey.

Overall: 9.25/10, best one since Johto's. Isshu has big shoes to fill.

 

[winstein]

Well, I cannot really give a detailed description on this one...

I was expecting Ash to win this one, after his failure to reach the champion on some of the final conferences, but well, he didn't, so I was a bit disappointed, but at least the match he lost was a grand match, so it's not all that bad. I think the highlight of the conference was the match between Ash and Paul. That was a long match, but the battlers fought well, and that matters. I think I might be able to look back and say that it was the best part of the Diamond and Pearl run. Ash and Conway's match was clever, so that's worth a mention as well.

 

[Ash6K]

Okay here we go:

Pre-Suzuran Confernece - It was awesome seeing Ash's pokemon again with all their antics. And then we saw Cyndaquil evolve into an awesome Quialva with Eruption, Flame Wheel, and later Aerial Ace as its new moves. A great start to the league.

Nando match - Heracross vs. Kricketune was definitely the highlight of the match. Other than that, it was kind of a bummer with Quilava's 30 second battle.

Paul vs. Barry - This one was pretty good. It was nice to see Barry with his pokemon and the last scene with Empoleon was pretty epic.

Conway match - This is when things got really interesting. Conway's Trick Room tactic was awesome to see and it was nice to see some Noctowl epicness. I liked seeing Donphan again too and it's great that this was finally the time to show Gible's strength in battles.

Ash vs. Paul - I cannot stress enough how amazing this battle was. Epic, awesome, fierce, totally cool...it's really the best battle ever imo. Paul had some cool strategies and cool new pokemon. I mean Gastrodon with its Water Pulse, Froslass' Snow Cloak, Ninjask's speed, Drapion, Electivire...Paul was awesome. And then of course Ash was awesome as well. Buizel used his Ice techniques, Gliscor came back and did awesome against Drapion, Pikachu did great, and of course...Infernape was just epic, awesome, amazing, etc. It dominated and even though Staraptor and Torterra didn't get wins, at the end of the day, I was too impressed and excited for Infernape and Ash and their match against Paul that it didn't matter to me. When Infernape and Electivire exchanged punches, and then Infernape's Blaze exploded...amazing. Then there's the whole Thunder Punch vs. Flare Blitz and the blue and yellow energy swirl, that was probably the most amazing thing that happened in a league, EVER! Ash vs. Paul was just too awesome imo.

Ash vs. Takuto - Another great match imo. Ash beat two legendaries. Not one, but two...in the same battle. Sure he lost but seriously, previously Ash only beat a wild legendary through Noland, and he had to rematch Brandon to get his win against Regice. Now, in one battle alone, Ash beat two well trained legendaries. And they were the type of legendaries that were threats, especially since Darkrai was unbeatable. Sceptile was epic and awesome as usual. The whole dream sequence and its epic samurai style Leaf Blades. And then it was nice to see Swellow again. It didn't do anything but its aerial moves and how it moved around, definitely made me miss its battles and that roar at the beginning of the match was a nice touch imo lol. And then Pikachu vs. Latios was epic, and Pikachu used Volt Tail...icing on the cake.

So overall, I love this league, sure it didn't have a whole lot of battles like Hoenn, but it definitely turned out to be the case of quality over quantity and especially for the Paul and Takuto battles, they were definitely quality imo.

 

[V Faction]

The Conference itself?

If I had to graph it, the chart would be skewed. It wasn't very balanced between the 5 fights.

There was also a lack of build up. They sort've just said "Okay, here ya go, start the tournment". Ash getting his 8th Badge had more of a build up factor. Maybe it really IS a lack of a torch episode, as superficial as that is to say. The Pokemon get together before the tournament wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Suzuran really was a bland place. It was all business really. Come, do your matches, and get out. People remember places like the Indigo Plateau, Mt. Silver, and the Evergrande Conference. I don't think Suzuran itself will be all that memorable.

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

It was phenomonal all in all. That's about all I have to say.

 

[Hellion]

The best league ever.

I completely echo that sentiment. Sure, they were things that could have been tweaked here and there, but overall, it's a step about everything else we've ever had before...

I'll do an un-Gible thing to do and only mostly give positives remarks.

DP182: Great episode, nice to see the varied personalities of Ash's reserves. Cyndaquil finally evolving and getting new moves. But it also sorta contributed to the lack of buildup we had for the League since the pokemon that were featured here... didn't do anything in the League except for Snorlax and Quilava's blink you miss it appearances. As an episode itself, fantastic, as the introduction to the League, it sorta missed the boat.

Maybe it really IS a lack of a torch episode, as superficial as that is to say. The Pokemon get together before the tournament wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

I don't think the lack of the flame and the badges get stolen pre-league episodes has anything to do with it and when you think about it, this League actually had the best buildup... 4 years in the making. All the rivals (sans Takuto) were already introduced, relationships were already established which made the whole League... a bit of a formality. You know that Ash v Paul is gonna go down and that neither is losing before that. Plus, Ash didn't enter this League as the underdog, he entered as a strong contender, which diminish a bit of the "epicness" of some of the early wins.

Suzuran really was a bland place. It was all business really. Come, do your matches, and get out. People remember places like the Indigo Plateau, Mt. Silver, and the Evergrande Conference. I don't think Suzuran itself will be all that memorable.

I'll give you Evergrande Conference but Indigo Plateau and Mt. Silver weren't all that memorable anime wise IMHO. Though I completely agree that the design for Suzuran Island was a bit generic.

DP183: Rushed battle but I like the animation and the epicness of what we saw of the Quilava fight and especially of the Heracross v Kricketune fight.

DP184: Great developpement for Barry, an actually good battle and really serves the purpose of setting up Paul as a really strong opponent.

DP185: Classic epicness the whole way through. That battle was interesting on many levels. First and foremost, actual personality from Ash and his pokemon. Second, unusual tactics and status moves galore.

DP186-188: BEST BATTLE EVER. Infernape gets resolution, Ash and Paul settle their rivalry once and for all and show they respect each other. The only meh side: Gliscor getting a win over Torterra.

DP189: I still haven't warmed up to this episode, but let's not forget it's clearly not the worst battle in the anime's history by a long mile... I don't have a problem with Takuto or his using of Legendary pokemon. If you can catch it, you should use it. The problem with it was it was a bit Regice v Pikachu v. 2.0... It didn't feel like Ash had actually learned anything through his Sinnoh journey. In the Paul battle, he was observant, he used contest combinations, he thought of unusual strategies to counter his opponent's... here nothing. Power v Power and I've see that too many times to really be excited. Latios looked hella cool though.

Battle wise, I feel the League started ok, got great in Paul v Barry, amazing in Ash v Conway, fantastic/extraordinary/insert superlatives here in Ash v Conway. and sorta ok again in Ash v Takuto.

One thing about this League that tops all the others is the interactions between characters. Pretty much any pair of characters interacted at one point or another in this League and it was genuinely interesting to see Dawn/Paul interact (it wasn't ikarishipping hint) or Dawn/Barry or Barry/Ash and especially Barry/Paul. Glad they didn't give Takuto the same treatment too. It was refreshing to see a League opponent not be BFF with Ash.

There... minor things here and there I'd change but overall, Best League ever... by light years.

 

[Rhyperior]

I would have Ash use Kingler and Primeape.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

My personal high light episodes....

DP 182- I was waiting years for Cyndaquil to evolve into Quilava, being my favorite pokemon. It was great seeing pokemon like Totodile and Bayleaf, but it was just amazing to see Cyndaquil stand up for himself and over come his fears and evolve into the best pokemon ever! He needed more showcase which we will hopefullu get in DP 191 if Ash visits his other pokemon at Oak's, and I really want to see how much his personality has changed from a Cyndaquil and if he still suffers around Totodile.

DP 185- I really enjoyed Ash vs that creeper Conway, but damn the way he shows up from out of nowhere is funny! It was a great battle and seeing Gible perfect Draco Meteor was cool, but I would've liked an evolution. Plus Noctowl's redemption was great!

DP 186/187/188/- Amazing and epic battle between Ash and Paul! Great that Buizel got redemption after his losing streak, and Gliscor was great. Infernape could've let Torterra defeat Ninjask, but it ruled vs Electivire. And it was great to see Paul actually showing respect for his pokemon and finally ending the rivalry. Best battle in the series!

 

[V Faction]

I don't think the lack of the flame and the badges get stolen pre-league episodes has anything to do with it and when you think about it, this League actually had the best buildup... 4 years in the making. All the rivals (sans Takuto) were already introduced, relationships were already established which made the whole League... a bit of a formality. You know that Ash v Paul is gonna go down and that neither is losing before that. Plus, Ash didn't enter this League as the underdog, he entered as a strong contender, which diminish a bit of the "epicness" of some of the early wins.

Not the rivals, just the general build up. I mean, if you wanted to, you could say each respective saga was a build up to its own league.

It might just be yammering about nothing. There was the Buck episode and then of course the reunion, so maybe there was build up -- just not build up I liked

Mr. Goodshow didn't say anything either. Cynthia was there, doing Cynthia stuff, but the tournament would've felt no different without her. We didn't really get a sense of who was watching from outside Sinnoh, like Professor Oak, Ash's mom, Tracey, Misty, Gary, and anybody else.

I'll give you Evergrande Conference but Indigo Plateau and Mt. Silver weren't all that memorable anime wise IMHO. Though I completely agree that the design for Suzuran Island was a bit generic.

We spent almost as much time OUT of battle as we did IN battle during the Indigo League. There was significant downtime that had us exploring that place, so I certainly recall it well.

Mt. Silver was on a dang mountain. Ash and gang were relaxing, we saw preliminaries, and got a sense of structure about the tournament. Of course Gary was there and we learned about Ash's and his relationship.

Perhaps knowing the rivals so well ahead of time made for less gabbing in the median of things.

 

[Rocketshipper]

I know this may be kind of a weird thing to complain about, but the absence of CotD also bugs me because its kind of unrealistic that Ash ended up battling 3 people he'd already met over the course of the anime, in the tournament. And one of them was battled in the first round, out of 63 other possible candidates. Reminds me of how May ended up fighting Harley and Drew twice in different GFs, and in the SAME rounds each time. Granted though, I can;t really think of any other combination that would have been preferrable. Ash vs Paul was a given, and I wouldn;t have wanted to lose Ash vs Conway either. I don't know, maybe we could have had Nando vs Barry...and actually seen Barry get a win.