Review JN027: Legends of Heroes! Dande's Greatest Battle!!

[Daren]

I like that theory, but I have an issue with it. If Leon is supposed to be struggling shouldn't he show it, you know, with emotions? Whenever Ash struggled in a serious(or not) match he always showed it with his face expressions. He has panicked, he's been afraid,angry and sad. He always showed that he knew he was struggling and needed to do something smart and quick if he wanted to win. With Leon, though, it's completely different. No matter what happens, he always smiles arrogantly, like he knows he's gonna win no matter what.

If I recall the anime kept the game element that Leon's undefeated so I think it makes sense he's sure he'll win no matter what.

The way I see it, I think Leon’s Charizard could be considered a one-trick pony. Maybe Leon focused so much on maximizing the power of the GMax form that he didn’t polish Charizard’s skills in regular form. It could be considered a case of excessive optimization geared only toward the GMax power, which could kinda explain why regular Charizard isn’t as intimidating.

I was thinking something similar. The game has Dynamax levels; maybe in the anime they raise more than just HP and Charizard has maxed out Dynamax levels so he's incredible at that, but outside a power spot Leon would use something else instead.
I'm hoping we see him battle outside Galar against a powerful opponent and we can see he's not just a Dynamax machine.

 

[Eclipsical]

One thing I appreciate is that Leon changed his entire move-set for Duraludon, he at least has strategy.

The battle felt a little weird since they wanted to show how strong Raihan is but they also couldn’t have him beat Leon since Leon is the end goal for Ash.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

No Champion should rely exclusively on their mascot, but Lance is the only exception.

Why is Lance an exception? Cynthia and Leon's characterisations have lend themselves to using their mascot a lot.

It’s also possible that Gym Battles could count towards your PWC ranking, which would give Ash an incentive to challenge them. I’m fine with either, tbh.

Ash is challenging gym leaders so that’s the way I think they’ll show the Galar gyms.

 

[RileyXY1]

Why is Lance an exception? Cynthia and Leon's characterisations have lend themselves to using their mascot a lot.


Ash is challenging gym leaders so that’s the way I think they’ll show the Galar gyms.

It would be hard for him to do both so I think that Gou will challenge the Galar Gyms instead.

 

[Eclipsical]

It would be hard for him to do both so I think that Gou will challenge the Galar Gyms instead.

It wouldn’t really be that hard for him to do both if they treat the gyms just like the battle with Vasquez, where he learns about them and then goes straight to challenge them because they’re of high ranking in the PWC.

 

[RileyXY1]

It wouldn’t really be that hard for him to do both if they treat the gyms just like the battle with Vasquez, where he learns about them and then goes straight to challenge them because they’re of high ranking in the PWC.

It would allow Gou to do battles without also having him in the PWC.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

Why is Lance an exception? Cynthia and Leon's characterisations have lend themselves to using their mascot a lot.

Except both have proven they can win a) with other Pokemon as well and b) don't need to rely on some locally restricted power gimmicks.

All of a sudden, the announcer's comment makes so much sense: Leon was born and raised in Galar (and probably never left it) ... Now guess why....
The more I'm thinking about it, the angrier I get about Leon and that kind of writing considering what cheap tricks they're using here.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

It would be hard for him to do both so I think that Gou will challenge the Galar Gyms instead.

It would allow Gou to do battles without also having him in the PWC.

How hard is it to fit 6-7 episodes like the Visquez or Korrina ones in a 120+ episode series? Not to difficult. And is pretty clear Go’s goal isn’t battling. He’s the de facto catcher now.

 

[RileyXY1]

How is it "hard for him to do both" especially if they're technically treated as the same? Galar Gym leaders could still very well be PWC participants, even more so than the other regional Gym leaders given how battling is Galar's culture. Gym battles could double as official PWC matches.

PWC challengers I believe can't challenge the Gyms due to how the Gym Challenge in Galar works. You need an endorsement in order to even challenge them.

 

[RileyXY1]

Unless this is confirmed on screen, it'll remain just an assumption of yours with the games as a basis. And even if one is required, do you think Ash can't get an endorsement easily from Leon? Did you miss Ash and Leon's interactions in this episode?

If this is the only reason you believe that the Galar Gym challenge and PWC can't be done simultaneously by Ash, then it's a weak reasoning.

He wouldn't even have any commitment to challenging the Gyms. He would only be doing them to increase his PWC rank. I highly doubt that anyone will take on the Galar Gyms, but that doesn't mean that Ash can't challenge the Gym Leaders themselves in non-Gym matches to increase his rank anyways.

 

[RileyXY1]

This is a really weird strawman. We already know that Ash doesn't back down from any challenge especially if it's in line with his path, so why would he suddenly not be committed to his dream? And what even stops the Gym battles from being both an official Gym battle as well as a PWC match at the same time?

His goal is not the Gyms anymore. It's the PWC now. Gyms are more fitting for a saga where he stays in one region.

 

[RileyXY1]

...

His goal is to be a Pokemon Master, which although being vague, has several paths. Both the PWC and the Gym challenges are paths to said goal, so I don't see any reason why he wouldn't follow either, especially more so when both paths can technically be combined into one. And again, what stops a PWC match and a Gym match being one and the same?

It would turn the anime into a Galar-centric anime, which has never been the writers' intention.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

It would turn the anime into a Galar-centric anime, which has never been the writers' intention.

Who said he can’t challenge the other gyms and other people too?

And what’s the functional difference between battling for a badge and battling for a rank? The Pokemon, the opponent, the stadium, the strategies are same, just the reward is different.

 

[RileyXY1]

Who said he can’t challenge the other gyms and other people too?

And what’s the functional difference between battling for a badge and battling for a rank? The Pokemon, the opponent, the stadium, the strategies are same, just the reward is different.

The writers had a reason that they chose the PWC over the Galar Gyms. They didn't want all the action to take place in Galar, so they gave Ash a goal that can be done in all regions. Ash can't even challenge the Galar Gyms without an endorsement, and since Leon's not involved with the Galar League in this version he can't endorse him. Raihan appears to not even be a Gym Leader in the anime at all, but instead a PWC participant and one of the Top 8.

 

[RileyXY1]

We have another 115 episodes or so left if the past few series are any indication. Out of those, 10-20 episodes can easily be dedicated to Gym battles whenever they travel to Galar (or maybe double battles in cases of Allister-Bea and Gordie-Melony) which would cover up that region as well as the Leon/Darkest Day plot lines. You're still left with 95 episodes at the least to cover the other aspects of this series without all the action being in Galar only. The endorsement part isn't a problem since Leon already likes Ash. If you haven't noticed, Leon still carries all the stickers on his backside which means he definitely carries celebrity status in the region for some reason or the other, the easiest reason to attribute being that he's the regional Champion.

So now tell me, how can't he still be challenging Gym leaders?

Leon's not the regional champion anymore. He's the world champion now, but there's still Rose. They would also have to create an anime OC Gym Leader for the Hammerlocke Gym because it appears that Raihan isn't a Gym Leader at all.

 

[RileyXY1]

When was it said that they're not the regional champion or a gym leader or... you know what? I give up, this is a waste of my time.

It's implied based on the anime. Raihan has no time to be a Gym Leader considering that he's in the Top 8 and any challenger could knock him out.

 

[Eclipsical]

I’m pretty sure Leon is still the Galar Champion and Raihan is still the Hammerlocke Gym Leader.
If Raihan wasn’t running the gym they would’ve introduced him as the former Dragon type gym leader.

All of Raihan’s gym matches could easily count as PWC matches so he wouldn’t have to move.

 

[RileyXY1]

I’m pretty sure Leon is still the Galar Champion and Raihan is still the Hammerlocke Gym Leader.
If Raihan wasn’t running the gym they would’ve introduced him as the former Dragon type gym leader.

All of Raihan’s gym matches could easily count as PWC matches so he wouldn’t have to move.

I was saying that any defeat in a Gym match, not just from Ash, would knock Raihan down in rank and possibly out of the Top 8 entirely. That's why I think that Raihan is no longer the Hammerlocke Gym Leader.

 

[Eclipsical]

I was saying that any defeat in a Gym match, not just from Ash, would knock Raihan down in rank and possibly out of the Top 8 entirely. That's why I think that Raihan is no longer the Hammerlocke Gym Leader.

I don’t really see the connection. Even if he wasn’t gym leader, any of his fights can knock him down. Raihan has to be constantly battling to keep his rank that high because anyone below him can just pass him if he just stops.

 

[RileyXY1]

I don’t really see the connection. Even if he wasn’t gym leader, any of his fights can knock him down. Raihan has to be constantly battling to keep his rank that high because anyone below him can just pass him if he just stops.

It's even worse as a Gym Leader, because battles would become more frequent.