Review S19 EP37: Finals Not for the Faint-Hearted!

[Neo Blaze]

XY130 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Please keep future events in spoiler tags. Thanks.

 

[Simpsons138]

Got the popcorn ready

 

[PockyAddict]

Got the popcorn ready

Spoiler

me too, I've been waiting for the dub of this episode, just for the dub only fans reaction.

 

[Sakuraa]

I never thought I'd see the day where Ash stands on the league field for the finals. This is beautiful.

Ok, so...I'm pretty disappointed in Tyranitar's performance. To me it felt like it fell way too quickly. I also didn't like how that massive Sand Stream amounted to nothing and just faded away after Pikachu splashed the water. I guess boosting Pikachu's electric moves by soaking Tyranitar in water was nice since iirc, that hasn't been done in a while.

Seriously Ash? 2nd time he just threw out Noivern and the opponent ended up sending out a Pokemon with an advantage. Why not keep Pikachu out just to see what Alain had first? Sigh, anyway the battle was good. I liked how Noivern used his echolocation abilities to detect Weavile in the Double Team. It still sucks that Noivern didn't get a solid win the the league though.

Now Hawlucha was great. He popped out of his PokeBall to get revenge for his fallen son. That was amazing. The battle was great too, though I am slightly confused by Hawlucha being able to heat up his body within seconds to become more powerful.

I figured Bisharp was sent out because Alain had some sort of strategy to get a quick knock out on Hawlucha considering the massive type disadvantage. Thunder Wave to slow him down, then Guillotine for a 1HKO. Yep. The fact that Bisharp was called back immediately afterwards imo, shows how Alain wants to keep him for to maybe repeat the strategy for later. But really, why the hell does Alain have 3 dark-types? If this were the games, Ash would have slaughtered him with just Hawlucha

Damn, those birds weren't playing around. That was just awesome. It just escalated into a sky war within seconds of Talonflame being sent out. I'm a bit disappointed that Talonflame tied instead of getting a whole win, but I guess he got one against Slacking last time, so it's fine.

Man, that has to be the fastest Metagross I've ever seen a Metagross move. I love how after Pikachu got hit with Rock Slide, he just pushed off rocks like it was no big deal. I did like how he defeated Metagross using a similar strategy like when he battled Tyson in AG. That said though, I think this win should have gone to another Pokemon. Pikachu getting two wins just seems so unnecessary.

Damn, Alain sent out Charizard like, "I'm done playing around now!". And again, it seems like Bisharp really is being held back to get quick KO's with Thunder Wave and Guillotine. Or maybe he just knows Charizard can quickly destroy Pikachu. Either way, this next battle is going to be tight.

Overall, this final battle is starting out wonderfully. My only issues are Pikachu getting two solid wins while Noivern and Talonflame didn't. I think it would have been better if Pikachu would have started out battling someone and Noivern was sent out to finish it off. But I'd still say it was a good match. 8/10.

 

[Pokefan19]

A Battle so nice well regarded interesting we all had to watch it twice... or watch it for the first time if your a dub only type

Why does the dub refuse to use the amazing soundtracks from the original airing? That Pikachu/Tyranitar match was slightly more intense because they used the Gym theme. In the dub, it was like stock music.

Diantha saying Ash has been on fire since the Semi Finals... So was there a there another match I didn't know about, because Semi finals always come before the final match lol

I usually love the dub, I do... but come on, is there like some law preventing them from using the superior music from the Japanese version? All this stock music makes this far less intense. Here's hoping they don't ruin next week's literal final battle, but I highly doubt that

Spoiler

How fitting that Alain's opening line was he was excited to fight Ash but claim he won't let him win it

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

The first half of the battle was so good to watch. Hawlucha avenging his son, Noivern, Pikachu being a complete boss and taking down Metagross and Tyranitar, and that amazing aerial battle between Talonflame and Unfeazant.

Spoiler: SPOILERS

I still do not agree at all with the writers decision to force Ash to lose to Alain. It was the worst decision they ever made.

 

[Poke Trey]

Welp, the finals are here and Geez when was the last I posted here BTW? Anyway, these league episodes were good and I expected such from the finals as well. However, next week it's all over and I want to see everyone's reaction to it! Also, I am aware of the S/M series, but not anything else from XYZ so far. So HYPE

 

[Simpsons138]

I think I'm gonna need some Super Size Popcorn for this, and a Large Size Dr. Pepper for drinks

 

[Keshav]

What a fantastic battle! It is even better than the Semi's! Now, for the first time, I feel like it's actually the Pikachu that has been to 5 more regions. This aerial battle we had was the best battle ever between 2 flying types. Noivern lost and I wasn't surprised due to the type disadvantage. Hawlucha avenging him was very neat. Alain used a good strategy with Bisharp to beat Hawlucha. Metagross, OMG, it is the fastest Metagross!
Pikachu really struggled there but he won it. Next episode will be the end to this league.
10/10

 

[Queen Cynthia]

You know I usually tend to write longer reviews but this episode has simple taken my breath away: What a fantastic and great battle!
Strategy and action to the max! Everything was just breath-taking.
I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this excellent episode and I've got nothing to add except that it was without a doubt one of the best Kalos episodes and probably also one of the best episodes of the entire Anime.
Simply great!

 

[Muur]

Those were some pretty cool battles, though I don't really get the whole stuff about the ice stopping Hawlucha from not dying to all those Weaville moves. Anyway, Alain had some really random Pokemon, weird he's never shown any of them off... or even used them before this round really since they said he's only used Charizard and Metagross so far.

Also, throwing out two Pokemon double weak to Fighting against Hawlucha, brilliant thinking there.

I did like the call back to when Ash last(?) killed a Metagross back in gen three. Took Ash like 5 Pokemon to do it then though lol.

 

[Syrinaris]

Well, this was certainly a very exciting first half to the league finals battle. Alain & Ash both blew through the bulk of their teams in a short amount of time.

I know there are many who don't like the little yellow mouse, but I have always had a great affection for Pikachu, and seeing him and Ash curb-stomp Alain's Tyranitar, and later put the beat down on Metagross, made me very happy. Lol at Pikachu pushing out from under the rock slide attack like, 'I ain't takin' your crap.'

I feel bad for poor Noivern ending up on the wrong end of a type disadvantage. Noivern using supersonic to find the real Weavile from the copies was a great move, but I don't understand why it didn't cause Weavile to become confused since that is the effect it has in the games. Unless this is one of those things where the moves don't necessarily translate to the anime the way it works in the game. *shrugs* Ash, you really should have put more effort forth into training Noivern properly.

Happy that Hawlucha got to avenge its best buddy against Weavile. That effect of Hawlucha turning literally red-hot and emitting steam was really weird, though. I don't think that was bide? Clemont's comment about Ash using the ice in Hawlucha's favor to reduce damage didn't really make any sense to me, but whatever.
I had a bad feeling things would not end well, when Alain told Bisharp to dodge the high jump kick and Hawlucha slammed into the ground. That guillotine, yikes.

The aerial battle between Unfezant & Talonflame was pretty awesome. They seemed to be both equally matched in speed even though Ash had Talonflame use flame charge. That head on collision was brutal, holy cripes. I was hoping Talonflame would get a clean win here, but I guess a double knock-out will have to do.

So now we're down to Charizard & Pikachu. I know Pikachu got in some early hits against Char, but he did take some damage from his battle with Metagross.
It will be interesting to see how this all ends up next week. And I'm glad to see Ash has finally made it into the actual finals in a league tourney for once.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Yeah, regarding next week's ep America sure is gonna be up in arms.

 

[Harryghost]

So, it has finally begun. Ash and Alain's battle. What joy!

Okay, so how does a splash of water cancel out an entire sandstorm; I don't know! But I liked the idea that the splash soaked Tyranitar, and gave Pikachu a boost in Thunderbolt, so I believe I can give this a pass.

Noivern versus Weavile, next. I kinda thought Noivern would actually win this one despite the type-disadvantage, because he was doing so good; but I was let down. Also, I legit bad for Weavile after seeing the expression on its face, as it is about to be hit by Dragon Claw. Though, that sadness vanished just as it spread, when Weavile used Double Team to raise its evasiveness.

Hawlucha. He was pretty great, pulling off an Oshawott and popping out of his Poké Ball to check on Noivern. That was sweet. Also, I did not, and still do not understand what happened to Hawlucha after it was hit by a (super effective!, no less) Ice Beam. Clemont said that he was using the ice to negate the damage done to it (how does that work; don't ask me!), but it appeared as he was just heating up (how did that happen; still don't ask me!). Nevertheless, Hawlucha successfully knocks out Weavile, and that's all that matters.

Now, Alain battled really well with his Bisharp. Paralysis and Guillotine, good strategy, there! And then he calls it back, to wreck havoc sometime again. Good job, Alain!

The Flying-type battle was really awesome, and I adored how instead of the straight up battling, the two decided to display their aerial capabilities instead, like there's no tomorrow. Also, Talonflame actually used Brave Bird; I don't think I have seen it in a while.

Metagross versus Pikachu, umm... I did not like it that much. First things first, I liked how Alain decided to use Agility to match up with Pikachu's speed. But after this point, I don't think I liked how the battle went. Pikachu was hit by a Metal Claw, a Rock Slide and a Meteor Mash, back to back, from what is apparently Alain's second best Pokémon, and despite taking two STAB attacks, still managed to hang on. WHAT??? It was at this point that I realized that I am done with this round. I mean, Pikachu knocks out Metagross with a not very effective... move, despite the two having taken nearly the same amount of damage by that point. AARGH! I just did not want Metagross to go down like this. Still, I would say it was quite entertaining, and I kinda giggled, but for most part was mad, at Pikachu's shaking off the rocks like nothing happened!

Damn, Alain meant business when sending out his Charizard. He just seems so ready to rock and roll now!

Spoiler: Major spoiler, mixed with a bit of Fairy Tail. Click at your own risk

Honestly, seeing such a first part of a battle, one only expects Ash to win the Kalos League, but *sigh* nothing of that sort ever happens.

Allow me now, to quote some lines by Future Levy McGarden, which I found just fitting for this scenario. (It's the Japanese subs, not the English dub; so any Fairy Tail fans, don't hate me, if (like me, yes!) you love the dub more than the sub.)
"That day (August 11), we believed in victory. The final day was a really hard-fought battle. Do you remember it, Lu-chan? And then...July 7th August 18th. We lost...to fate."