Reunion of the Past, Present, and Future!? VS Kairyu!! (Fake)

[PkmnTrainerV]

I feel like Gengar and Dracovish are the only two that haven’t gotten enough focus as of now. Farfetch’d started out that way, but has since been redeemed (at least in my eyes).

That is exactly what I address in the below paragraphs. Pretending that a Pokémon doesn’t exist and then giving it a few focus episodes gives more of a "Hey, we gave it focus, are you happy now?" rather than genuine development. It’s incredibly forced and annoying for me. We got Farfetch'd focus episodes, but where was it when it didn’t even appear in so many episodes before and after that. Why are we going through so many stretches where Ash's Pokemon don’t even appear once? Where are the team dynamics? Where’s the entire team interacting with each other?


I don’t like how Ash's Pokemon are borderline non existent and suddenly become relevant when they need to get their mandated focus episode or evolve.

 

[swiftgallade46]

Spoiler

That is exactly what I address in the below paragraphs. Pretending that a Pokémon doesn’t exist and then giving it a few focus episodes gives more of a "Hey, we gave it focus, are you happy now?" rather than genuine development. It’s incredibly forced and annoying for me. We got Farfetch'd focus episodes, but where was it when it didn’t even appear in so many episodes before and after that. Why are we going through so many stretches where Ash's Pokemon don’t even appear once? Where are the team dynamics? Where’s the entire team interacting with each other?


I don’t like how Ash's Pokemon are borderline non existent and suddenly become relevant when they need to get their mandated focus episode or evolve.

Replied here to keep this thread on track.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

What about Goh not going for even one Pokémon in her presence?

The irony is that Go's actually had some character development where he doesn't instantly gun for wild pokemon - Grookey had to remind him to catch a bellsprout

Now to see how long they remember that...

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

Seeing as I have absolutely zero faith in Axew evolving, I think that's a pretty a good indicator that it's probably a Haxorus now

Everytime I have low expectations for an evolution to happen it always turns out to happen anyways (See Popplio, Sobble and Scorbunny)

 

[AsH KetcHHup]

Seeing as I have absolutely zero faith in Axew evolving, I think that's a pretty a good indicator that it's probably a Haxorus now

Everytime I have low expectations for an evolution to happen it always turns out to happen anyways (See Popplio, Sobble and Scorbunny)

If the title given is correct, I doubt it will be a haxorus as I feel it would be stupid to have it not be the main focus of the battle. That's how I feel at least. Maybe they could pull off fraxure vs pikachu.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

I think the Ash vs Iris battle, if it happens, is going to be a 2v2:

• Gabite/Garchomp vs Dracovish- Dracovish wins
• Angry Dragonite vs Dracovish- Angry Dragonite wins
• Angry Dragonite vs Motherly Dragonite- Motherly Dragonite wins

 

[Okido]

I'm late to the party here but as everyone else has already said, Iris looks super cute in the JN art style! I really like how she got new key art to match, too. Also yay for flashback shots! Those are always welcome, plus I'm just glad Cilan didn't get totally ignored LOL.

I kind of doubt Axew will be fully evolved since that would probably detract focus from Dragonite, but the fact it isn't in any of the other screenshots is indeed a little bit suspicious. I can see it potentially being revealed to be a Fraxure by the end of the episode.

Either way, I didn't realize how much I actually missed Iris until I saw her here, and a battle seems promising so I'm definitely looking forward to this one.

 

[Kurolegacy]

I don’t think the parallels really matter in the grand scheme of things. Ash and Goh have already been shown to be vastly different and unique characters with very different goals. The only fundamental things they have in common are being 10 year old boys from Kanto. So if they repeat a few gags here and there with Goh instead of Ash as callbacks to older series, I don’t mind it personally.

Except that’s the exact reason why I find that them utilizing these gags is forced because Go is completely different than Ash. As such, what’s the point of putting him into the exact same gags? At that point it feels like empty pandering to nostalgia rather than a nice callback, something that Journeys seems kinda infamous for doing.

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

I think people are forgetting Ash actually used the Pokédex to scan what Iris was, and the device picked up that Axew was in her hair. Goh may be a trigger-happy merchant, but I’m assuming he scans Iris, and gets excited at the thought of an Axew, and hastly rushes to get it, akin to Ash. So, in conclusion, I believe Axew will not be appearing as an evolved form, simply for the fact it’s the only reasonable thing that Goh would fall for, as well as Fraxure/Haxorus not being able to fit in Iris’ hair.

 

[Hidden Mew]

The reactions towards the Alola episode here kind of surprise me, mainly the notion that putting more focus on Goh ruined it. I thought that the general reception to the episode was positive, but that they needed to make it at least into a two-parter. I can understand wanting to see Ash interact more with the SM cast since Alola is basically his second home, but Goh getting to know the SM cast was also important so that he would be able to form connections with them as well. I also just love Kiawe being the overprotective friend asking Goh to take care of Ash after their battle. Plus, it's a bit odd when a lot of the other returns of previous characters emphasize the new cast interacting with the old, so this isn't exclusive to Goh. It isn't quite treating him like a scapegoat exactly, but it does feel a bit excessive to put the blame on him for this. I think that the much bigger problem was that they chose to cram in effectively the reintroduction of the SM cast, which is already quite large, into one episode. That would have been the cast even if Goh wasn't involved in the episode.

In the case of Iris' return, there is probably a better chance that they could balance out her interactions with Ash and Goh. Bringing back one character to interact with instead of a large nearly whole cast would make it potentially easier for them to focus on her reunion with Ash and getting to know Goh. I doubt that her Axew has evolved, mainly because it is her signature Pokemon. I could see her with a Gabite though. Ideally, it would be nice if they spent one episode for her reintroduction and then battle Ash in the following episode, but that might be too optimistic for how fast paced Journeys is. Iris being a strong trainer might be easier for me to buy into now than it was in BW due to her being able to make progress off-screen.

 

[swiftgallade46]

Except that’s the exact reason why I find that them utilizing these gags is forced because Go is completely different than Ash. As such, what’s the point of putting him into the exact same gags? At that point it feels like empty pandering to nostalgia rather than a nice callback, something that Journeys seems kinda infamous for doing.

It’s not like the gags are only effective when Ash does them. The point is to make a cute callback to an older series. I don’t really view it so deeply as “forced pandering”, it’s just a simple reference to me.

 

[Kurolegacy]

It’s not like the gags are only effective when Ash does them. The point is to make a cute callback to an older series. I don’t really view it so deeply as “forced pandering”, it’s just a simple reference to me.

It’s not that it isn’t Ash doing it that makes it ineffective, it’s that due to the 2 being so different that it doesn’t work. In plenty of series, they’ve had callback moments in which a character will do something that either a previous protagonist or older character has done before in which it may even be noted by the character observing it how familiar such a scene is. But what makes those moments effective is that the one performing the callback action holds a similarly to the one who originally did it. It doesn’t work to simply put any character into a similar moment and just call it a day just to say it happened. That in itself is just forcing it.

 

[swiftgallade46]

It’s not that it isn’t Ash doing it that makes it ineffective, it’s that due to the 2 being so different that it doesn’t work. In plenty of series, they’ve had callback moments in which a character will do something that either a previous protagonist or older character has done before in which it may even be noted by the character observing it how familiar such a scene is. But what makes those moments effective is that the one performing the callback action holds a similarly to the one who originally did it. It doesn’t work to simply put any character into a similar moment and just call it a day just to say it happened. That in itself is just forcing it.

I guess I just don’t really see “being similar characters” as much of an important criterion at all. I don’t see why two different people couldn’t come to a similar conclusion or find themselves in a similar circumstance.

 

[Superior Serperior]

So excited to see Iris! I've always felt like she (and Dent) had a great dynamic with Ash, and I agree that it will probably feel less "overstuffed" than the Alola episodes by virtue of it just being her. I would definitely not be opposed to her getting more than one episode/becoming recurring though, especially if she ends up as a PWC opponent.

And with Emonga here, I bet money we see at least one Attract

 

[Srebak]

I will admit that I do like the prospective idea of seeing Ash’s Dragonite face off against Iris’, but I am left to wonder just which one of them will prevail? I mean they both seem pretty strong all things considered and as someone who never really liked Iris as a character, mostly because of her annoying and condescending type of personality, the idea of her Dragonite being the victor just doesn’t feel right to me, even if it would somehow make sense in some way.

And, um, while we are on the subject of returning characters, I am genuinely not sure about how to feel about this. I mean Misty’s original reappearances were... okay, I guess, and May’s returning arc was...pretty nice, I suppose; but Dawn’s return was kind of spoiled by Iris’ flaws as a character in my opinion and the returns of both Misty and Brock were both good in theory to me, but ultimately wound up falling short in certain areas, kept me from fully enjoying them (mostly because to them bringing up some old stuff from the original series that I didn’t much care for the initial badge teasing and general heckling that occurred in that Cerulean Gym episode, since it seemed like they should have been passed that by the Johto episodes). And while the Alola gang’s return was, again, good in theory, I found myself not really getting into it for somewhat different reasons (one of which was possibly because it felt like it came at the wrong time for me), so I’m genuinely not so sure about how I’ll feel about seeing Iris’ return, especially since I am certain that her “little kid” talk will be returning with her, even though it will seem even more inappropriate for Ash now than it was in Unova and Ash should have been way passed her Level as a trainer by that point as well, in my opinion.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

I will admit that I do like the prospective idea of seeing Ash’s Dragonite face off against Iris’, but I am left to wonder just which one of them will prevail? I mean they both seem pretty strong all things considered and as someone who never really liked Iris as a character, mostly because of her annoying and condescending type of personality, the idea of her Dragonite being the victor just doesn’t feel right to me, even if it would somehow make sense in some way.

I actually have a somewhat similar dilemma: on one hand, I think that Iris's Dragonite having yet another loss would be majorly irritating because that thing never won a single battle while fully obedient under Iris's command, so him not getting a win would make it seem like Iris has not made much of any progression at all, something that was a major contributor to her problems as a character back in BW. On the other hand, I don't think I'd like to see Ash's Dragonite lose to Iris's, nor for Ash to lose against her altogether. This is why I think the best solution would be for Ash's battle against Iris (assuming it does happen) to be an all-Dragons 2v2: first have Dracovish face Iris's Gabite/Garchomp and defeat it, then Iris's Dragonite defeats Dracovish, and finally Ash's Dragonite defeat's Iris's Dragonite, leaving Ash the ultimate victor. This scenario would be a fair compromise for just about every possible issue: Iris gets to showcase how much she's progressed via her Dragonite defeating a Pokemon while fully obedient (plus her showing off a new evolved Dragon-type), but Ash still gets the win in the end.

 

[Alola]

I will admit that I do like the prospective idea of seeing Ash’s Dragonite face off against Iris’, but I am left to wonder just which one of them will prevail? I mean they both seem pretty strong all things considered and as someone who never really liked Iris as a character, mostly because of her annoying and condescending type of personality, the idea of her Dragonite being the victor just doesn’t feel right to me, even if it would somehow make sense in some way.

When is the last time Dragonite won something under Iris' command? It lost to both Ash's Krookodile and Charizard (yes N called off the latter, but we saw who was dominating the fight), Drayden's Druddigon, and Clair's Druddigon; the anime has made it nothing more than a jobber and I fully expect to see that here, especially given how strong they have made Ash's own Dragonite.

 

[Daren]

Maybe I missed something but is it confirmed it's Dragonite vs Dragonite or just a theory? Maybe the godly power of Fishious Rend will make itself known.

 

[PokeMasterLA]

And with Emonga here, I bet money we see at least one Attract

I hope Emolga uses attract on Cinderace, since that will cause it to reveal it's gender. Which is something I've been curious about since it's evolution from Raboot.

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

Guys....
This is an official Bread cover

I think Axew might have actually Evolved!!!


View: https://twitter.com/AshandSerena/status/1377601362456834056?s=19