Preview JN039: Satoshi VS Saitou! Conquer the Octopus Hold!!

[Islander Princess]

Lol, poor Farfetch'd.

I knew we'd see another side of Bea! I know this is only going to be the second time we see her, but I really like how they've portrayed her in the anime so far.

Still don't want to see Ash win here. I definitely want a closer battle, but I don't want to see him able to overcome Bea just yet.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

The dream team, I assume?

Correct. Iwane, Asada, Tomioka, and Shimura, the whole group.

 

[Beary]

Uh, I’m not sure if anyone got this yet. But towards the end of the new opening riolu puts together the two vacuum waves to makes an aura sphere shape. I would say he’s evolving here

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Knowing that the opening shows Ash with Lucario facing Eternatus, and that we're gonna see an arc based on the Darkest Day starting in October, what are the chances that Riolu could evolve here?

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Knowing that the opening shows Ash with Lucario facing Eternatus, and that we're gonna see an arc based on the Darkest Day starting in October, what are the chances that Riolu could evolve here?

I at least hope it won't be a victory through evolution. Maybe an Incineroar situation where it evolves as soon as it's won?

 

[Eclipsical]

Here’s what the preview said subbed:

Ash: “Our next adventure is in the Johto Region!”
Goh: “The stage is Tamba Gym!”
Ash: “It’s our rematch with Bea! I got back into the Super Class! Please battle me!”
Bea: “I accept your challenge.”
Goh: “How will you deal with that powerful Octolock?”
Ash: “Just wait and see!”

 

[Daren]

I got back into the Super Class!

So either he got his rank back off-screen or more likely we'll see a quick filler battle at the start--that could be where either Galarfetch'd or Dragonite come in.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Okay, so Ash has gotten back into the Super Class off screen.

 

[Rocket Messiah]

Okay, so Ash has gotten back into the Super Class off screen.

I will wait on a better translation but... what are the writters of this show thinking?

 

[Kurolegacy]

Okay, so Ash has gotten back into the Super Class off screen.

At that point, what was even the point of Ash’s tank falling back to Normal class?

 

[Daren]

At that point, what was even the point of Ash’s tank falling back to Normal class?

It does sort of feel tacked on at this point, like it was just tossed into episode 36 to give Ash something to do when Gou caught Flygon and the others.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

It really feels like there are two groups of writers with completely opposite ideas alternating between episodes without knowing what the other did.

 

[Kurolegacy]

It really feels like there are two groups of writers with completely opposite ideas alternating between episodes without knowing what the other did.

That’s the problem when each episode basically exists in its own little bubble.

 

[Nicolas721]

From an in-universe perspective, Ash doesn't want to risk losing ever again and maybe he realized Farfetch'd can't do much against agile opponents yet. And from an out-of-universe perspective, Dragonite is too big and destructive for a dojo and Gengar and Mr. Mime would make things too easy for Ash with their imminuties and defensive powers respectively. So I don't mind he's using Pikachu, the focus is still placed on Riolu anyway.

Hitmontop is here I really hope he lasts more than 2 minutes.

I like that we're getting a lunch scene, but couldn't it have taken place at the beach for some world consistency?

 

[ixsaz]

Haha seriously all u you have to chill out XD pokemon has never been a master piece or anything like that, it has always been a slug fest of waiting for those good episodes, no episode is perfect and no season is perfect they all had problems.

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

The episode will probably pan out with:

Riolu winning a match (ofc it will), getting Ash back to the Super Class, as he was only a few rankings out after he lost.
That same battle took place in a market in Cianwood City.
Go hypes up Ash that he’s back on form.
Ash and Go check out the local medicine, food, etc.
There, they run into Chuck and Bea
Ash challenges Bea, then beats her, with Riolu evolving after the fight.

 

[Kurolegacy]

The episode will probably pan out with:

Riolu winning a match (ofc it will), getting Ash back to the Super Class, as he was only a few rankings out after he lost.
That same battle took place in a market in Cianwood City.
Go hypes up Ash that he’s back on form.
Ash and Go check out the local medicine, food, etc.
There, they run into Chuck and Bea
Ash challenges Bea, then beats her, with Riolu evolving after the fight.

You forgot about the obligatory scene of Go seeing x random Pokémon and critical catching it on the spot.

 

[Islander Princess]

Ash: “It’s our rematch with Bea! I got back into the Super Class! Please battle me!”

Oh. Okay. So...I'd say his chances of winning this battle just went way up. Meh.

I agree that this seems to make the whole issue of him slipping back to Normal Class kind of pointless. I might feel slightly better about it if we actually see him move back up into Super Class with a battle at the beginning of this episode, but either way, it just ends up feeling superfluous.

 

[R1ke]

Well maybe if they cut down on the Go focused episodes, we could have some episodes where Ash’s neglected Pokémon get some focus and training.

Actually, I don't really mind the Go focused episodes. He's got some notable development recently (reuniting with his first friend, actually battling/bonding with his captures) which I think he really needs. It's still early to say how much this will impact his character moving forward (I'm real uneasy about Zapdos), but if he was on the sidelines the whole time he'd feel pretty reduntant to Ash in my opinion. Remember is the same Ash from Alola (as he literally revisted his old friends there), so his development transitions directly into this season. Goh is a completely new character on the other hand, so they're trying to balance him out with Ash and put them on more equal footing. And I definitely don't want to sacrifice Chloe focus to give Ash a training episode.

Honestly, I think Ash only would've needed 1 training episode to get back on his feet. A lot of his rematch episodes happen pretty close to the initial gym badge, and if we got any more than that, it would feel a bit unnecessary in my opinion. Here we'd see his slump, him regaining his confidence and him devising a strategy against Octolock/tentacle based pokemon. This was split up into episode 36 (slump) and 39 (training). They've still got all the components for his arc but they just spread it out rather than doing in a single episode (which is ironic given the format).

Now, I am still bitter about farfetch'd being shafted, and the writers should've given it screentime, but given the backbone of the Ash-Bea 'rivalry' is almost fully focused on Riolu (due to the connection with Korrina and all), he still has a complete arc in here. So I don't his story will feel rushed, since this episode will likely end in Ash winning, Riolu evolving and Ash gaining Bea's respect and all.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

Torracat/Incineroar had a really unique evolution, and I definitely don't expect (or want) to see that copy/pasted here with Riolu.

A mid-battle evolution would feel incredibly cheap and would undermine Ash's victory, but at the same time it's pretty unbelievable that a Riolu could succeed where Mega Lucario failed without evolving. I don't know, it really seems like they've written themselves into a corner. Unless they have some massive surprise up their sleeves, I think the only way to salvage this it for Ash to lose again, which is extremely unlikely at this point.