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Review S19 EP23: The Synchronicity Test!

I'll give the episode a 7/10. It did help explain the Ash-Greninja bond thingy, which we kind of already know from following the original version from Japan. I'd be perfectly fine if the dub skipped to the Wulfric gym battles.

Also, I can do without the dramatic mega evolution dialogue Alain gives when he activates his keystone.
 
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Stand Tall works perfectly as an insert song.

I think the English Dub was pretty solid in this episode. It did sound like Alain's voice actor cracked his voice at one point though.
 
So apparently Noivern has an English voice now. What happened to the guy who voiced Alexa's Noivern? Couldn't they have asked him to record a few lines instead of having who i assume is Marc Thompson trying his best to not sound as stupid as Malamar? Cause whoever gave Noivern his new voice really sounds like Malamar saying Noivern's name. And that's not a good thing. Other then that and the fact that the English dub didn't fix that appearance number error (thanks again Cathcart for doing your research before writing the scripts you lazy bastard) this episode was alright. The dubbed version of the Ash-Greninja transformation scene is also slowly but surely getting better. It still aint that good but it aint as bad as it was when it first happened.
 
So the counting error wasn't fixed. Damn it all, I was looking forward to rubbing it in the JP version's face. Of course, I still think whoever wrote that into the original JP episode needs to learn how to count. And Mr. Cathcart ought to have caught the original's mistake and fixed it.

Now that that's out of the way, there's lots for me to say on this one. I wasn't aware until I browsed this review forum that Noivern has a new voice, but his new voice sounds great. Sarah Natochenny was great as Ash in this one; she very believably expressed Ash's pain as he fainted. And the music was fantastic. I hope that theme that went over Ash-Greninja gets to be his official dub theme, and I especially loved how seamlessly it segued into that instrumental version of "Stand Tall". In fact, I think the Ash-Greninja theme is a bit of a mix between Ash's theme and "Stand Tall"; they blend really well.
 
So the counting error wasn't fixed. Damn it all, I was looking forward to rubbing it in the JP version's face. Of course, I still think whoever wrote that into the original JP episode needs to learn how to count. And Mr. Cathcart ought to have caught the original's mistake and fixed it.

Now that that's out of the way, there's lots for me to say on this one. I wasn't aware until I browsed this review forum that Noivern has a new voice, but his new voice sounds great. Sarah Natochenny was great as Ash in this one; she very believably expressed Ash's pain as he fainted. And the music was fantastic. I hope that theme that went over Ash-Greninja gets to be his official dub theme, and I especially loved how seamlessly it segued into that instrumental version of "Stand Tall". In fact, I think the Ash-Greninja theme is a bit of a mix between Ash's theme and "Stand Tall"; they blend really well.
So true. I watched this on YouTube and man the Dub used everything to make this work to their advantage. If stand tall is the Dub's song for Ash-Greninja... I'm down for it:D. Now I'm even more curious at how they'll handle the later episodes with Diantha, Sawyer, Wulfric whatever else.
EDIT: I just realized that the Dub didn't fix that error with Ash-greninja happening 3 times instead of 4 oops.
 
This was a fantastic episode! Seeing Ash-Greninja in action is always a highlight and if that weren't enough, Alan added even more intensity to the episode.
I totally loved the explanation for Ash and Greninja getting in sync because there's so much more behind this concept if you ask me. It might be more or less easy to explain, however, it takes so much effort, strength and also maturity to reach that state and those "new heights of power". I dare say there's even some kind of philosophy behind that concept and I'm so glad Ash is slowly but surely on his way to discover that Pokemon-philosophy and what becoming a Pokemon master is all about. (Yeah, I know, I'm always going into raptures when thinking about that ^^)
And then, of course, we had the battle against one of the arguably most powerful trainers in Kalos. I really like Alan, his Charizard and their impressive strength. Those trainers are the best characters in the show and whenever they show up, the episode is guaranteed to be great! It goes without saying that the battle between those great trainers Ash and Alan was equally great and definitely one of the most intense battles in XYZ so far.

To sum it up, a wonderful episode! Nothing more to add. Please give us more of that.
 
Finally I get to review this episode. Hopefully next time I'll set my alarm correctly.

Well damn, like 5 seconds into the episode and Clemont just decides to start researching the Ash-Greninja transformation out of the blue. They're sure not wasting time with getting this episode going. OMG a mini Clembot. How cute. Aw, it even has it's own little backpack! Wait, how did Mini Clemobot even get this footage? I love how Bonnie was in Clemontic Gear "Part 2" explanation. Also, I have to say that I love how involved Clemont is with this transformation stuff. I'm also thrilled to see Luxray battling someone other than TR or TF for once and NOT USING SWIFT.

Interesting how Squishy hid in Bonnie's bag when Alain showed up. Lol, Alain had no idea what to do while waiting for the Pokemon to be healed. Dang, Pika was so upset when Ash chose Noivern to battle. I'm glad he did though. Like he said, Noivern needs it way more than Pikachu does. I'm honestly surprised that Pikachu was being kinda bratty about it. You think he'd want his teammates to be stronger. The battle was pretty epic. I figured Noivern would lose though due to his only moves being NVE on Metang.

Man, Metang's Who's That Pokemon music was pretty sweet.

Charizard vs. Greninja was pretty cool. I was surprised at how well Greninja held up with MZardX. And damn, Ash looked like he was dying at the end there. OMG. I was surprised. And weird dream. I guess we're going to have even more stuff going on with Greninja.

Thought it was weird how Ash randomly let out his flyers for "marathon training" in the last few seconds of the episode, but I suppose that's not important. Overall a pretty good episode. 9/10.
 
Two awesome battles, great episode! though I dislike the way they had Ash pass out, they should've shown him doing more stuff, show him taking more damage each time Greninja did to the point that his 10 year old body can't deal with it, umlike what Greninja can passing out. I suppose that's what they wanted to go for but it came off badly.

My main question is though.. how did Clemount have that footage of the previous times they combined. With that and his weird tracking plasters... Clemont is a freak

Marin was cute <3. Alain saying "love" too. #ship

and yeah, Noivern wound up being a bad match up for that Metang, which was probably gifted by Steven after part four. As a baby Beldum, like in ORAS.
 
Great episode, Noivern did very well and the main battle was pretty cool. The dub version is getting better since last 2 episodes or so. This episode is probably one of the best episodes of this series. 9.5/10
 
Good grief, I kept meaning to get back to reviewing the episodes and then I kept forgetting... anyway, I really enjoyed this one. I really love these episodes where the animators take advantage of any opportunity to show off the beautiful animations in Pokémon battles. The battles between Ash and Alain were both wonderful to watch.

Haha I love how we have a Clemont invention right off the bat. And this one actually works for once! Not to mention that the Clembot Mini is adorable in and of itself. But how did he get film footage of Ash's last few battles? Was he anticipating this moment? I'm starting to wonder exactly what's in that backpack of his that lets him make all of these crazy inventions. It's nice that the group want to start looking into what exactly makes Greninja change forms, that's a show of initiative from all of them and I like the setup for future stories.

I love watching Clemont and Luxray battle. Also, it's nice when Luxray has a legitimate battle that's not against Team Rocket, because we are reminded that it can use moves other than Swift :p Either way, let's move on to Alain's battles against Ash. I like that Noivern got the spotlight instead of Pikachu, and Pikachu's reaction to that was adorable. I'd say it's really reasonable that Noivern lost to Metang, it's a bad type matchup to begin with and Alain has probably spent much more time training Metang than Ash has done with Noivern so far. The battle between Greninja and Charizard was, similarly, great fun to watch. I love how much action is packed into each individual Pokémon battle these days in the anime - there's less talking in between moves and much more trading of blows than there used to be.

Wow, Ash's collapse was kind of intense. I think Sarah Natochenny did a really good job voicing his pain and confusion during that section, but I really like how the story in this episode turned out because a) it provided a new depth to Ash's connection with Greninja, and b) presented a new obstacle to be understood and overcome. I also like how Ash and Alain's battle is still ongoing - the two of them are essentially in a continuing competition with each other to see who can grow more powerful with his Pokémon.

Also it's nice that Team Rocket took a rain check for this episode. Their presence was not required and I'm glad they didn't interfere with the plotline needlessly.

Anyway, really good episode all in all. I honestly have no complaints that I can think of - 10/10.
 
So, the episodes aims to provide some initial insight into Bond Phenomenon, and it does pretty well at that.

First of all, Mini Clembot is so cute. Secondly, Clemont's Luxray does not just use Swift; I like that writers. But I really wanted to see Ash and Clemont battle till the end, but no worries; I don't mind the plot of the episode one bit.

Also, the fact that Clemont developed Mega Ring-esque Battle Pulse meters... 10/10. (y)

Ash fainting from the battle really sealed the deal for me. Since the beginning of the anime, it is asserted that Trainers and Pokémon must battle as one. And I feel, that the fact that Ash experiences pain alongside Greninja, and in this episode, faints even when Greninja does not, really highlights that assertion.

10/10 for this episode from me...
 
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