Review S18 EP45: All Eyes on the Future!

[PokémonGamer]

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Aired in Canada.

Discuss the dub here. Please keep future events in spoiler tags.

Spoiler

Who's that Pokémon?: Sigilyph

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

This is the most epic gym battle in the anime. I wish I could see the dub though. The US doesn't get it for another week.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

Yeah, this episode was pretty neat. It is cool seeing a tag battle this time.

 

[DracoMan]

Okay, Ash using Pikachu as a metronome to time the Future Sight attacks? That's pretty damn clever. Ash really is good at unorthodox strategies (at least, when he's not being a dumbass). He did take a pretty big chance that his Pokémon would last long enough to make that strategy viable.

I could've done without the TRio. Their appearance in this ep harkens back to when TPTB would shoehorn them into every ep, regardless of whether or not they did anything useful or entertaining. An unnecessary addition to an otherwise fine ep.

And I hope that the new Dexes with Megalution info means that Ash will finally be getting a Megavolving Pokémon. I'm still holding out for the return of Super Special Awesome Charizard, and I'm really hoping that Ash gets the Y form and gets to battle Alain and his Megazard X.

 

[Sakuraa]

This gym battle was epic. Definitely my new favorite gym battle this season.

Well, thank goodness Olympia is replacing the equipment Carrie destroyed. I really like that Sycamore was watching battle with the rest of the gang. I'm thrilled beyond belief that Talonflame was in this gym instead of Pikachu, but I honestly felt a bit bad for him when Ash chose told him to just to cheer and sent out Talonflame when Pikachu was already in battle ready mode.

I love the way Olypmia started the battle; using Light Screen to increase her defenses from the start and Future sight to catch Ash off guard later on. Frogadier catching Talonflame after he got hit was really cool, but at the same time, why does Talonflame look so small in this episode? He was taller than Frogadier in his evolution episode as he should have been, so why is he so puny here? Anyway, I liked how when the two of them fell, Pikachu called out the them and they responded.

Weird how Sycamore just assumes the Meowstic’s abilities based on what was happening in the battle. I mean, the male could have just been really fast and the female good at controlling her moves to follow opponents. But whatever, I guess the professor knows best. Using Pikachu to time the Future Sight was really smart on Ash's behalf, but I kind of wish it had been done by one of the Pokemon actually in the battle. I realize that probably would have been a lot with how tough Olympia was, but still...thought it would have been nice.

Frogadier protecting Talonflame from Thunder Wave was great and is probably what ended up winning Ash the battle since Talonflame's speed is that really came through for them at the end. I love how Talonflame got in front of Frogadier to protect him.

I get that Meowstic are supposed to use their ear eyes to attack, but it still creeped me out that their other eyes were closed like 90% of the time. Anyway, Talonflame's spinning Steel Wing was super epic. I know we already had Frogadier catching Talonflame, but Talonflame catching Froagadier in the air was extra special to me since he wasn't even commanded to do so. Too bad the moment was ruined by the Future Sight hit.

Frogadier riding Talonflame in the air was too cool and all that air dodging was so epic and beautifully animated. Making the Meowstic attacked themselves and throwing them into Future Sight immediately after was probably Ash's best play in this match.

I loved Talonflame once again saving Frogadier after he was slowed from paralysis. Ash using Flame charge to protect the two from Meowstic's attacks was great. It was great having Talonflame and Frogadier split up to knock out both Meowstic separately. And while I'm still not happy about Frogadier's upcoming hideous evolution and the even uglier transformation, the scene where he powered up his Water Pulse with his future form being show was pretty cool. I like how this gym battle was won with the combined efforts of the original 3 of Ash's Kalos team.

What the hell, Olympia just produced random psychic orbs. What was that even for? Whatever. This woman is a mystery. Also, idk why, but all of her excessive talk about love was really weird to me. Again, not sure why. But anyway, can't wait until we get to those "green flames and eyes" she's been seeing.

Amazing battle. 10/10.

 

[sc190191]

Really awesome episode. It was great to see Talonflame for the first time in a long while, and doing really well teamed with Frogadier. The only problem i had with the episode was I couldn't understand Olympia when she commanded Psyshock, I rewinded and still couldn't understand what she was saying. Otherwise the battle was super cool and I really like the strategies involved. Great episode, makes me sad there will probably be a break before S19 starts and that we won't see a gym battle again for probably a super long time.

 

[Desdar300]

That Ash-Greninja thing was awesome. Great battle in deed

 

[Lucifer Angel]

Easily the best gym battle of Kalos by far totally enjoyed the whole Ash-Greninja thing and the ending sets up the next series.

 

[Muur]

I think Ash's Pokemon took too much damage and her's too little for Ash to win but either way it was a great battle!

Kinda felt he cheated a bit with Pikachu but ehhhhhhhhh. Why would Pikachu even know the timings of Future Sight?

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I think Ash's Pokemon took too much damage and her's too little for Ash to win but either way it was a great battle!

Kinda felt he cheated a bit with Pikachu but ehhhhhhhhh. Why would Pikachu even know the timings of Future Sight?

They did take a lot of damage and it didn't really show. Normally Pokemon that take THAT much damage have markings.

As far as I can remember, female was hit with Brave Bird, her own Dark Pulse, her own Future Sight, and Flame Charge. Male was hit by Steel Wing, his own Psyshock, the female's Future Sight, and Water Pulse. One of them took a Water Pulse with Light Screen I know.

And Pikachu only knew after timing it the second time. He was counting it and the move usually takes the same amount of time.

 

[Ryu Taylor]

The Snowbelle gym sure has a tough act to follow. So far, the Astrolabe gym battle is in first place among the Kalos gym matches.

I gotta admit that while Ed Goldfarb comes up with some great BGM for many situations, he still needs work with battle music. It was no problem for this episode, though.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

I completely agree with you this has been the Kalos region's best and most epic gym battle so far. Impressive moves, intense atmosphere and, above all, really clever strategies from Ash's side made this an episode that was a pure pleasure to watch! Simply fantastic! There's nothing more to add

(Just one tiny nitpick: What was the point of Team Rocket showing up at the end and just flying by the sundial talking weird things about how it was getting cold? I don't get it)

 

[Necrozma]

(Just one tiny nitpick: What was the point of Team Rocket showing up at the end and just flying by the sundial talking weird things about how it was getting cold? I don't get it)

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this was a specific Japanese reference that the dub couldn't carry over.

In China, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan, there is a superstition that if talking behind someone's back causes the person being talked about to sneeze; as such, the sneezer can tell if something good is being said (one sneeze), something bad is being said (two sneezes in a row), even if someone is in love with them (three sneezes in a row) or if this is a sign that they are about to catch a cold (multiple sneezes).

Olympia talked about Team Rocket and them playing some sort of role and TRio sneezing was probably because Olympia mentioned them.

Again, I might be wrong on this, so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Ryu Taylor]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this was a specific Japanese reference that the dub couldn't carry over.

In China, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan, there is a superstition that if talking behind someone's back causes the person being talked about to sneeze; as such, the sneezer can tell if something good is being said (one sneeze), something bad is being said (two sneezes in a row), even if someone is in love with them (three sneezes in a row) or if this is a sign that they are about to catch a cold (multiple sneezes).

Olympia talked about Team Rocket and them playing some sort of role and TRio sneezing was probably because Olympia mentioned them.

Again, I might be wrong on this, so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

No, you're right. I saw a Wind Waker manga use the same joke once. I'm not sure about the sneeze count, but the general premise of the myth is that gossip about someone makes the subject person sneeze.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this was a specific Japanese reference that the dub couldn't carry over.

In China, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan, there is a superstition that if talking behind someone's back causes the person being talked about to sneeze; as such, the sneezer can tell if something good is being said (one sneeze), something bad is being said (two sneezes in a row), even if someone is in love with them (three sneezes in a row) or if this is a sign that they are about to catch a cold (multiple sneezes).

Olympia talked about Team Rocket and them playing some sort of role and TRio sneezing was probably because Olympia mentioned them.

Again, I might be wrong on this, so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Cool, thanks for your explanation. And by the way, somebody must just have said something good about me

 

[Jolty94]

Definitely the best Gym match in Kalos so far, it gave me even more hope for Ash's future this series too. Pikachu counting Future Sight with it's tail was epic, "Pi, pi, PI, pi, PI" lol. I hope the Snowbelle city Gym match is this good. I also loved Ash and Frogadier's synergy in battle, foreseeing the Ash-Greninja thing. Awesome.

 

[Aggron989]

Absolutely one of Ash's best Gym battles to date in Kalos. I'd call it outclassed only by the match against Clemont, if for no other reason because of the meaning behind the fight for the Voltage Badge. But anyway, I thought this episode was great. I really like Olympia's character in the anime, because in the games she was one of the more forgettable Gym Leaders to me.

I love that Ash chose Frogadier and Talonflame for the battle - Frogadier especially, because Olympia already made the prediction about Frogadier's new power last episode - and I liked how Olympia saw the shadow of Greninja behind Frogadier as it was preparing to launch its attack. Also, Olympia's male Meowstic is one of the first Pokémon I've seen in the anime that is confirmed to have its Hidden Ability, and it's not even a signature Ability like the Darmanitan's was. It's a relatively minor thing, but I thought it was great that they gave Meowstic the Prankster Ability, because it really showed how the two genders of Meowstic are different from each other - the male for support, the female for offense, because the last time both genders of Meowstic were seen at the same time, I don't think that was really made clear. Either way, the battle in and of itself was wonderful. Ash really used his head the entire time. Having Pikachu time the Future Sight was a great idea. However, I for one am glad that Pikachu sat out for two Gym battles in a row - it's nice to have other Pokémon fight the really important battles. Back to the point, though, I still enjoyed that Pikachu got to really participate in his own way by helping Ash with his timing. And hitting the Meowstic with their own Future Sight was a great way to end the battle. It's the classic Gym battle recipe from the anime, but it works well - presenting Ash with a seemingly impossible fight, and then having him think of a clever way to get around the problem.

This is a little thing, but I'm also glad that it was Bonnie who was nervous for Ash and not Serena. It's nice that this time, Serena's the one who's showing the most confidence in Ash rather than worrying for him.

I give it a 10/10. Great battle, excellent strategy on Ash's part, and definitely one of Ash's more memorable Gym challenges in Kalos.