Review JN034: The Solitary Fighter Saitou! The Threatening Otosupus!!

[Dogasu]

Exactly. Gou won an Ebiwalar in battle, fair and square, and so now the Pokémon's standing beside him. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Spoiler

Also this was precious.

 

[Panky..]

Exactly. Gou won an Ebiwalar in battle, fair and square, and so now the Pokémon's standing beside him. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I never argued against the fact that he won it in a battle, I'm pointing out that this is a case of them only telling us that it happened. Just like how they only told us that Goh is friends with his Pokemon and has bonds with them. What I feel is wrong is that the entire premise could have been it's own episode that actually showed the entire battle and development happen instead of whatever the next episode will be (which will be the 3rd Pikachu centric episode in this series without even considering all the other Pikachu exposure so far). The Pinsir example I gave was of this telling only portion and how it translates to things that are hard to believe on screen.

 

[KenzeyEevee]

I miss it when the battle is the whole episode. Noymt the second part

 

[Dogasu]

We do not need to see every single battle that every single character has on this show. Off-screen battles are fine too, every now and then.

 

[lonerlotad]

Having the same attittude of Guzma might be reason. Why she is emotionless?

I wouldn't agree with this if I didn't see Bea's character in Twilight Wings. I like Bea in Twilight Wings better.

 

[Panky..]

We do not need to see every single battle that every single character has on this show. Off-screen battles are fine too, every now and then.

We do need to see it in this case because:

1 - First point and the most important one, this was Goh's first official trainer battle that he supposedly worked towards and actually won. We could have seen what changed between all those other losses and this time, we could have seen Goh in a different mindset during battles. This was supposed to a big event and landmark in his life as a trainer. Yet it all happens off screen which devalues it immensely especially when he gets handed a free Pokemon on top of it.
2 - Bouncing off the first point, said character is supposed to be a 'book smart; street newb' rookie who's had way too much of this off-screen or surface level development or events where he's given far too much success magically without any proper reasoning to that success. Doesn't help that the said character is a totally new one and not an established one from the past who uses a mundane/unimpressive/boring method to do what he does, and that his journey so far feels like a mockery/parody to all the new trainers whom we've seen struggle in their climb in the past.

So them only telling us that he battled and won the Hitmonchan by beating the Karate King off-screen is pretty much akin to another one ball "MONSUTA BOL GO" moment here.

Why are you avoiding quoting me though?

 

[P_S_B]

We do not need to see every single battle that every single character has on this show. Off-screen battles are fine too, every now and then.

I agree in principle, however in this case I think it would have been good to see it. Gou hasn't been shown as being a very proficient battler so I would have liked to have seen how he managed to defeat the Karate King. Plus I think that we could have gotten a good episode out of the concept. Gou challenges the King, loses, tries to get Satoshi to help him train only for Satoshi to be going through his post-loss depression and having no time for Gou, essentially treating Gou the way Gou treated Scorbunny when it was trying to master Ember, fitting into a depressed Satoshi arc as well as giving Gou some character development in both battling and treatment of Scorbunny/his Pokes in general. Gou could end up doing some training program at the Dojo leading to a rematch where he wins the Hitmonchan.

 

[BigDocFan]

Wow, the battle was brutal, especially Grapploct vs Riolu.

I'm glad that Ash was defeated as I felt Ash has had an all too easy time of it

Great work from the animation dream team, really hope we see Bea again and hopefully they'll have a full battle

Farfetch'd certainly proved itself useful

 

[L-05308]

Great episode, but they sure did do a lot of talking.

 

[Max1996]

Another brilliant battle courtesy of Iwane; I cannot decide which I like more-this one or Leon Vs. Lance. Hawlucha vs Farfetch'd was as it should be (what an epic debut for Hone Claws) while Riolu Vs. Grapploct was an excellent example in a difference in strength; I love how Grapploct made sure to bind Riolu's legs with the second application of Octolock, after learning from the first time.

Such moments where the anime shows that Pokémon are pretty smart on their own rather fascinate me.

 

[KrspaceT]

(Found episode for me to catch, why does it have so many peppa pig recs next to it and other freaky things....also subless so I have to rely on other things)

Not sure about Korrina being used as a worf....

Subs really would have been nice...

Ash does recognize Hawlucha: doesn't seem to go 'I have one' but I do see it.

Farfetch'd used a new attack (?)

Speaking of, both Farfetch'd and Gengar have noticeable weakspots: Farfetch'd struggles with close range combat while Gengar starts hitting serious trouble if ever outsped or hit. Those are noticeable battle flaws...

Grapploct moves creepily.

I do like seeing Ash strategies, but I kind of get the sense that Bea beat him at both his games here: Hawlucha as the better agile fighter a la Riolu and Grapploct as the better slower fighter a la Farfetch'd.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I’m fine with Gou having offscreen accomplishments here. It’d be great if the Pikachu episode could be traded for making this one a two parter, but it’d have taken away from Ash's battle.

annon glass gengar, huggy bear dragonite,

They could actually hold their own if Ash would use them...

I haven’t watched the episode yet, but does it say somewhere that Ash is only allowed to use fighting type Pokémon? If not then the attention taken away from Gengar and Dragonite feels a lot more obvious since they’re both resistant/immune to fighting.

 

[Max1996]

Such moments where the anime shows that Pokémon are pretty smart on their own rather fascinate me.

Edited to add a quoted post by @Alola I overlooked during my first look in this thread.

 

[KenzeyEevee]

What now? How will Ash overcome his defeat? He seems as crushed as with Wulfric

 

[KrspaceT]

What now? How will Ash overcome his defeat? He seems as crushed as with Wulfric

...Okay if he is that bummed we need subs. Wulfric had issues brought up with Greninja and a rival he inspired watching. As far as I can tell Bea did not say anything armor piercing. I mean she wasn't exactly ultra friendly but given the way she acts I think that is clearly a case of a stoicer personality than a Silver r Paul esc teardown or rudeness

 

[KenzeyEevee]

...Okay if he is that bummed we need subs. Wulfric had issues brought up with Greninja and a rival he inspired watching. As far as I can tell Bea did not say anything armor piercing. I mean she wasn't exactly ultra friendly but given the way she acts I think that is clearly a case of a stoicer personality than a Silver r Paul esc teardown or rudeness

Idk if it helps if he is down so soon in the series

 

[Daren]

*I find it interesting a sidequest from the games (getting a Hitmon from the dojo) was introduced after being skipped in the original series. I wonder if we'll see more of that?
*So his rank just dropped to 930--not out of the Supers class or that big a fall.

 

[Egakor]

The XY fans on Twitter seem to start mocking Ash's "Alola Champion" tittle after his lost to Bea.
Well, there's not much he can do when the 2 Pokemon he used are still inexperienced.
Actually, it would be a big BS if he won.

 

[BigDocFan]

I was rather disappointed that Bea was only shown using two Pokemon when an image showed her with 11

Really gives me hope we'll see her again