Review JN045: Sword & Shield IV - The Ultimate Sword and Shield

[jbmasta]

Goh did catch it. It was his Poké Ball, and the capture was registered on his Pokédex. Ash just helped to throw the Ball because it was so heavy. Even if he's never going to use it, he still technically owns it.

Key word technically. There's no way Go would use it even if he had the chance (and not just because he rarely uses the pokemon he does catch), and a Snorunt's chance in aech eee double hockey sticks Eterantus would actually listen to him. It's been described as evil and just being out in the world unrestrained is a crisis level threat that took two legendary pokemon to weaken. Not even Unova Ash or Team Rocket would be stupid enough to mess with that after witnessing the Darkest Day.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Well, you can't really capture one Pokemon with two different balls, and registering it twice on two different Pokedexes would be unnecessarily redundant. That, and you totally missed the symbolism about this arc if you're going to stick by what you said.

Also by that logic, Mimikyu never belonged to Jessie because it was James' ball that was used to capture it. And for all we know, it was Misty's ball who caught Totodile even if Ash became its trainer.

The problem is Mimikyu then, since then the same applies for it, since it was James's Pokeball, not Jessies, despite her being the one throwing the ball. It would have been a different matter if James gave his Pokeball to her, but since she stole it, it remains James's Pokeball in that argument, since he never gave Jessie permission - meaning Mimikyu is his.

It was Jessie who threw it. That's what counts. And a Pokémon can only have one Trainer. Goh was the one whose Ball it was and he also participated in throwing it. Ash just helped.

Key word technically. There's no way Go would use it even if he had the chance (and not just because he rarely uses the pokemon he does catch), and a Snorunt's chance in aech eee double hockey sticks Eterantus would actually listen to him. It's been described as evil and just being out in the world unrestrained is a crisis level threat that took two legendary pokemon to weaken. Not even Unova Ash or Team Rocket would be stupid enough to mess with that after witnessing the Darkest Day.

Lack of usage doesn't affect ownership.

 

[jbmasta]

We've seen ownership, for lack of a better word, be transferred by simply handing over the pokeball. It's how professors give new trainers their first pokemon, at least in the first season. The games have continuously allowed you to obtain your starter before you have the chance to get any balls and that's how gift pokemon, in-game and through events, have worked. Dawn's Togekiss was given to her by Princess Salvia just by the princess handing Dawn the pokeball. It's likely Go entrusted it to Leon or whoever put it in the safe and put the safe somewhere, well, safe. As for systems that record who has what on their team, that's an invisible system like the currency of the pokemon world.

 

[nickdt]

It was Jessie who threw it. That's what counts. And a Pokémon can only have one Trainer. Goh was the one whose Ball it was and he also participated in throwing it. Ash just helped.

Then one of Ash's Tauros is Brocks, since he threw the Safari Ball Ash bought (Just like James who bought/got the Luxury ball). Tauros alone already completely destroys your argument.

Another potential problem is Froakie - It was owned by multiple trainers before it went back to Sycamore. However, we don't know if Sycamore needed to trade another Pokemon to get the Froakie back, if not, it technically means Froakie's first trainer still technically owns it (At least Damian and Paul officially released Charmander and Chimchar and Tepig was also officially released).

You can make the argument that a professor doesn't need to trade the first time it hands out a Pokemon (Because the other trainer is a starter), but when the professor get the starter back, he needs to trade to make the return official so he can hand it out again.

If it was just a simple case of - You can give a Pokemon to a trainer, what was the point in Dawn and Ash trading Buizel and Ampibom through a machine anyways if they just could have handed the Pokeballs. Oh... but wait... that was done to make the switch in ownership official.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Goh did catch it. It was his Poké Ball, and the capture was registered on his Pokédex. Ash just helped to throw the Ball because it was so heavy. Even if he's never going to use it, he still technically owns it.

It is a "technically" in the most soulless mechanical "technically" way possible, ignoring the entire nuance, purpose and depiction of the capture.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

This argument is going nowhere. Let's just agree to disagree.

 

[nickdt]

This argument is going nowhere. Let's just agree to disagree.

Lol. Can't win the argument - just move on.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Lol. Can't win the argument - just move on.

Both sides clearly hold too firmly to their beliefs to back down on them.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

If someone wants to look at Pokémon like numbers or something, just the technicalities, Gou did catch Eternatus. Hence I arrived at this on my previous post.

It is a "technically" in the most soulless mechanical "technically" way possible, ignoring the entire nuance, purpose and depiction of the capture.

But if someone EVER manages to look at the story, the context, the situation and the aftermath (you know, the entire purpose of an anime), it was supposed to be a team effort. Note how it’s both Ash and Gou in the after catch celebratory animation.

SOMEONE had to use a Pokeball; SOMEONE’s Pokédex had to react, so they picked the guy who collects Pokédex entries. That’s all. Ash and Gou were marked as equals. End of story.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

A random detail I noticed when I first saw the episode: Aura Sphere's animation here is very similar to the one used in the Black 2 and White 2 Animated Trailer.

 

[KrspaceT]

A random detail I noticed when I first saw the episode: Aura Sphere's animation here is very similar to the one used in the Black 2 and White 2 Animated Trailer.

And the Pokemon Masters trailer....ick.

 

[Panky..]

I lost motivation to do this earlier due to this episode. The writing quality needs to really pick up and be consistent, the next few episodes (excluding the Mewtwo one) don’t exactly instill a whole lot of brightness in that regard.

• ++ Leon was the saving grace of this episode, and one of the best highlights of the arc as a whole, I can easily say that he's my most favorite Champion now. Even if his role was cut short in this episode, he was still fantastic in the moments dedicated to him and I'd rather have his moments show him a better light instead of repeating him "struggling/weak against Eternatus" over and over. Him being taken out by Eternatus comes down to his selfless nature and wanting to protect the boys from further harm rather than because he's weak. And thankfully, Rose didn't get a cheap redemption for his atrocities like with Faba, and they left his fate open for any number of potential future plotlines with him appearing as an antagonist. This episode would have been worsened if Rose's fate was resolved right away (because there were far too many resolutions already crammed into it).
• ++ The only other pro point I can think of is... IT HAPPENED. After 14 long years, Ash finally has the Pokemon that he was long connected with and deserved more than some characters (a certain boy in Unova especially) who have it, one who shares its affinity with (that little aura communication to let Ash know about Aura Sphere, hell yeah). And thankfully, it does seem like Lucario retained some of the enthusiastic traits it had as a Riolu (even if this episode had a serious tone overall that didn't allow for much exposure of those) if that little group high-five is any indication. I was worried that it would be a generic 'stoic and serious' specimen like the others of its species. Or outright lack in any personality traits post-evolution like Greninja.
  
  
• - - Let’s begin with what I mentioned last week. This arc definitely needed one or two more episodes to wrap up properly, because this episode was terribly handled and rushed to oblivion. First off, what was even the point of TRio if all they did was get chased and then blast off prematurely? Seems like they just had them there so they could proclaim “here’s G-Max Meowth being showcased, now they’re not useful anymore”. Something as simple as letting Meowth complete its Max move would have been better. The end battle against Eternatus also suffered a lot with Leon, Ash, Goh being tossed aside relatively easily and then the Wolves resurrecting and ending with a couple of signature attacks in a minute or two. While the animation itself was decent here, there was also a lot of blatant recycling. Like seriously, they recycled the same set of moves from Ash, Lucario, Pikachu, Goh and Cinderace three times and that too back to back. Somehow, Sonia gets to be promoted to a Professor despite not doing much in the latter half of the arc and having others take over for her, terrible handling of her by turning her into a second fiddle character.
• - - - The initial battles against Rose and Oleana each needed more screentime to be properly fleshed because they ended on underwhelming notes with a deus-ex machina evolution power-ups. The one against Rose was at least considerably better though, because at least some manner of tactics/strategy was used and the battle was dynamic, where the opposition’s Pokemon took proper damage that could justify them being knocked out by a supereffective STAB move each at the end. On the other hand, the one against Oleana was pure Cameron level of rubbish. Raboot barely even scratched Milotic with non-effective moves while taking a whole lot of direct supereffective STABs, yet proceeds to somehow defeat Milotic. It’s like they didn’t even bother trying to write that battle in a proper way and just gave up on thinking about a unique situation (like with Copperajah and Ferrothorn having a offense-defense combo). At least with Flygon, it took a deflected Draco Meteor (a Dragon type move which it’s weak to) that justifies it going down so easily. And why is it that they’re not bothering writing in the boys’ other Pokemon, instead using a limited roster in such a major crisis, especially when the OP shows a 'team' for both? That’s just lazy.
  
  
• ~ It’s a personal complaint of mine, but it’s annoying how a normal Pokeball worked on capturing Eternatus (yes, it was a Max’d Pokeball and Eternatus was severely weakened by the Wolves) whereas an Ultra Ball failed. Like, what was stopping the boys from picking up the earlier Ultra ball and throwing it again? Or Leon giving them another Ultra ball of his own?
• ~ I still stick by what I said that it was a double capture, and neither of them formally have trainership of Eternatus after it got sealed away (whoever made THAT edit on Bulbapedia as if Eternatus is something that can be called upon later to be used, please note). If one can’t see the symbolism that it was supposed to be a collaborative effort to bring down Eternatus, then... I don't know what to say. Using this capture as a glorification excuse is just silly especially when the Wolves did most of the carrying with minimal (if not negligible) effort from the boys and their Pokemon. The boys even credit the Wolves for the victory in the episode itself, if it wasn't already clear enough. Also, Eternatus somehow having Dex data despite it and the wolves being unknown myths for centuries is also a silly oversight.
• ~ Is it just me or did anyone else finding Zacian biting something akin to a toy sword, and Zamazenta with that shield plastered on its nose, some what comical?
  
  Spoiler: Multiple images

  

  

A disappointing finish to an arc that was actually shaping up to be much better than its original game counterpart, but one which hopefully leaves some open threads for future Crown Tundra or even the Galar Royalty plotlines. I give it a 5.5/10.

Both sides clearly hold too firmly to their beliefs to back down on them.

But @nickdt actually elaborated on their point of views with proper facts from the anime's past events to back it up.

 

[Moe]

I'm kinda disappointed that Riolu got an evolution here with the generic tough battle pushes through evolution that makes up half of anime evolutions - it really should have been something more special than that. I did like that there was the slight hint with the use of the aura communication afterwards to let Ash know it has Aura Sphere now, but the first episode with Riolu's egg set up a backstory I certainly don't feel has been delivered yet.

Part of that is the general rush and lack of backstory that is plaguing this series - but it felt worse here just because of how special Riolu was supposed to be. I was expecting at least vaguely hinting at Ash-Greninja levels of build up in terms of how special their bond was - whereas now it seems like just a set up for proxy revenge for Korrina against Bea?

In general - ultra rushed - and therefore lacking any real feeling. Most 'the whole region is being destroyed' plots should be emotional - because the story has developed stakes, all the friends they meet along a journey and they think about to draw strength to keep fighting on to save everyone they care about. This series feels like it could have ended this episode with the entirety of Galar being wiped off the face of the earth and the only consequence in subsequent episodes would be Ash's World Championships ranking going up slightly.

It just needed to come much later - allowing more general Galar episodes to occur, to more completely develop Ash's understanding of the region - and make the transition of Rose from the generic boss to evil villain slower.

All that said - Sonia's cute so 10/10 good arc.

 

[Sobble Bubble-O-Seven]

Plot twist: the people who made the Pokeballs in the first place are the real owners of these Pokemon.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Regardless of how rushed this was, I still liked it. Ash has a Lucario, Goh has a Cinderace, a main character caught a Legendary Pokémon for the first time ever, and so on. The rushing does weaken it a bit, but not so much that I wouldn't genuinely enjoy it.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Even if Eternatus wasn't placed in secure storage its very presence was a crisis level problem. Go's happy with the 'dex entry anyway.

Honestly it seems the dex entry is the only reason that the writers had it be Go’s pokeball since it’s his goal to fill the Pokédex. Having it be Ash’s pokeball wouldn’t really benefit him. The way they did it was their way of having their cake and eating it too; Go didn’t come across as a writer’s pet and overshadow Ash in the scripted event and it contributed to Go’s goal. That said, if Ash’s Pokédex shows all the Pokémon he’s captured, I wonder if there’s some Ultra Beasts listed in his own collection considering that he captured a few as an Ultra Guardian.

 

[nickdt]

Now Ash needs to get Braviary, Empoleon and let his Bulbasaur fully evolve to share the exact same Pokemon with Kukui.

 

[Craiden]

I'm kinda disappointed that Riolu got an evolution here with the generic tough battle pushes through evolution that makes up half of anime evolutions - it really should have been something more special than that. I did like that there was the slight hint with the use of the aura communication afterwards to let Ash know it has Aura Sphere now, but the first episode with Riolu's egg set up a backstory I certainly don't feel has been delivered yet.

Part of that is the general rush and lack of backstory that is plaguing this series - but it felt worse here just because of how special Riolu was supposed to be. I was expecting at least vaguely hinting at Ash-Greninja levels of build up in terms of how special their bond was - whereas now it seems like just a set up for proxy revenge for Korrina against Bea?

In general - ultra rushed - and therefore lacking any real feeling. Most 'the whole region is being destroyed' plots should be emotional - because the story has developed stakes, all the friends they meet along a journey and they think about to draw strength to keep fighting on to save everyone they care about. This series feels like it could have ended this episode with the entirety of Galar being wiped off the face of the earth and the only consequence in subsequent episodes would be Ash's World Championships ranking going up slightly.

It just needed to come much later - allowing more general Galar episodes to occur, to more completely develop Ash's understanding of the region - and make the transition of Rose from the generic boss to evil villain slower.

All that said - Sonia's cute so 10/10 good arc.

I do get wanting "more buildup" (I would've liked Riolu around a bit more too, so I was all ready to ...not bash, but not be a fan of the evolution. That being said, I actually like this evolution for a few reasons, one of which being it isn't "related" to anything. Of course, I do like most of the time the story evolutions happen, but it was nice to see (I think this happened with Treecko) evolution...just because regarding "theoretical" aces (at least until I see it). I do also like that, and this could be me remembering wrong, that this is one of the few times evolutions happen in a "big" arc, as most of them are story-related, and I especially liked Riolu's here (though Raboot's was fine) because Ash wasn't necessarily losing the battle, it got interrupted, and sort of put him out of commission, so Riolu's moment (plus what I think adrenaline) was cool to me. Though I would guess we're not done with the "Aura" stuff.

 

[Panky..]

For the people who complained about Riolu's "night evolution", Ash vs. Rose and Leon vs. Eternatus happen at the same time, and in one of the frames, we can clearly see if it's sunset when Charizard is using Dragon Claw. Riolu can evolve during sunset hours in the games. Then again, it's not a really well thought out episode with attention to detail in the first place, seems like they just wanted the events done and dusted with. Michihiro Tsuchiya is no Atsuhiro Tomioka after all.

 

[Nicolas721]

I thought it was because they had the sword and shield?

Nope, remember that in the last episode Goh asked Zamazenta for help but it refused it, and then it magically changes its mind in this episode.