Preview JN065: Dragon Battle! Satoshi VS Iris!!

[Unireon]

At least it's not Satoshi's Numerugon, that'd be really crazy.

Jokes aside. I'll have to get used to the idea that she becoming the Unova Champion will never get an explanation that could satisfy me.
At most, they'd handwave the whole issue or give us vague details.

Just don't feature another of Kibago's boosts that won't make any sense. Like the mentioned Outrage episode.

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

I remember there was a discussion that Iris was Leon and Hop’s cousin. Whether that’s actually official or not (Don’t think Pokemon Masters is exactly a reliable source to confirm it), it would be interesting to see what Iris’ goals are in the PWC - test her strength against her cousin (like Leon invited her to participate) or simply become stronger/learn more about Dragon Pokemon against people like Raihan?

 

[skiittylalis]

oh god i missed like 5 whole pages of discussion what the hell happened here lmfao

whatever. if iris is supposedly champion, the writers have ABSOLUTELY no excuse to not reference ash being alola champion!! though it makes me wonder why ash is fighting (supposed) champions this early on....... cant we save the big awesome battles for later?? yikes but now im rattling my cage even harder GIVE ME IRIS

also clair my beloved

I remember there was a discussion that Iris was Leon and Hop’s cousin. Whether that’s actually official or not (Don’t think Pokemon Masters is exactly a reliable source to confirm it), it would be interesting to see what Iris’ goals are in the PWC - test her strength against her cousin (like Leon invited her to participate) or simply become stronger/learn more about Dragon Pokemon against people like Raihan?

that screenshot was proven fake a while back

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I'm a bit surprised Gary didn't get promoted to champion as well.

Gary is a researcher now. Iris is still an active Trainer.

 

[Daren]

Gary is a researcher now. Iris is still an active Trainer.

Yeah, but I assumed they'd just ignore that and make him a top level trainer again to cash in on gen 1 nostalgia. They already had the Gary come back to crush Ash easily right after his victory over Brandon despite him supposedly not being an active trainer.

 

[Jewel the Quaxly]

Yeah, but I assumed they'd just ignore that and make him a top level trainer again to cash in on gen 1 nostalgia. They already had the Gary come back to crush Ash easily right after his victory over Brandon despite him supposedly not being an active trainer.

I really doubt that considering considering how Gary will be introduced in Project Mew as a researcher. I feel it more likely Ash and Gary might not even battle at all.

 

[Daren]

I really doubt that considering considering how Gary will be introduced in Project Mew as a researcher. I feel it more likely Ash and Gary might not even battle at all.

I agree with what we know now, but I had assumed before we learned what Gary was doing that he was going to be a high ranking PWC opponent/possible champion.

 

[Unireon]

I'll insist, it's so soon for battling Champions.
The writers surely have a bad sense of timing.

Still believe that not even Satoshi would reveal that he's a (Coughing) 'Champion'.
League Conference Winner would be more accurate.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I'm a bit surprised Gary didn't get promoted to champion as well.

I was going to say that promoting Gary to Champion would be a jarring decision, but if they're fine with making Iris into a Champion off screen, then they could have easily done the same with Gary before confirming he was still a researcher. I'd still be okay with him becoming the new Viridian Gym Leader. It would be another case of the anime trying to match the games possibly too much, especially when I don't quite know why Gary would decide to become a Gym Leader all of a sudden, but I don't think it would be that big of a stretch. Plus, the anime never confirmed who the new Viridian Gym Leader was. It's a minor detail all things considered, but I feel like they have more wiggle room to make that twist work compared to off-screen Champion Iris.

You know I'm actually wondering if they'll have Iris win. I can see them wanting to put Ash into the next rank before going into Project Mew, but I also have this feeling they may not want Ash beating a champion at this point. I suppose we'll see in a handful of days.

That's a good point. I assumed that maybe part of the reason they made Iris into a Champion was so that Ash defeating her would be a bigger deal, but they could also use it to indicate that Ash isn't quite ready to get to Hyper Class despite his own off-screen accomplishments. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if the match ended in a draw. That would potentially give both Ash and Iris a chance to shine instead of Iris being a stepping stone for the Hyper Class rank after all this hype.

I imagine that the writers are well aware that few would see Ash defeating a former travelling companion as a big deal, even if she became a champion off-screen, so they see no need to make it into a massive event.

Yeah, that makes sense. Most of the PWC battles haven't been in front of huge crowds either, so maybe they didn't see the need to have the battle in a stadium as well.

I remember there was a discussion that Iris was Leon and Hop’s cousin. Whether that’s actually official or not (Don’t think Pokemon Masters is exactly a reliable source to confirm it), it would be interesting to see what Iris’ goals are in the PWC - test her strength against her cousin (like Leon invited her to participate) or simply become stronger/learn more about Dragon Pokemon against people like Raihan?

I thought that fans thought that they were related just because of their skin tones and purple hair, which I always thought was kind of a weird assumption to make. As far as I know, there is nothing official to suggest that they are related in the games.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Still believe that not even Satoshi would reveal that he's a (Coughing) 'Champion'.
League Conference Winner would be more accurate.

Regardless of how hard or easy you view Ash's Alola League victory as, the fact of the matter still remains that it granted him the Champion title. In other regions, "Conference winner" would be a more accurate term, but not in Alola.

 

[SammyW27]

oh god i missed like 5 whole pages of discussion what the hell happened here lmfao

I here ya, sister!

I'm away for a couple of days because of work...and look what I come back to!

 

[Sweet Veil]

That's perfectly understandable. As I've said before, if I liked Iris, I would be happy about this development too. As much as the decision frustrates me, I am happy for Iris fans too. I don't think it's good to talk down to fans who dislike her though.

If people don’t like a character and are set in not liking them why would anyone be super wrapped up in changing their mind? I wasn’t talking down to her critics but just acknowledging how the vindication line is for people who actually like the character. If you don’t like Iris I don’t expect any of these developments to really matter to you is what I mean or to please you?

Speaking in general. Not you directly. But the general opinion on character like Iris and Gou on these forums that it seems mostly everyone hates along with Journeys itself. I wouldn’t watch or entertain characters I hate. Negative energy is just bad for my health, I’m trying to focus on what I love y’know?

 

[Daren]

I wouldn’t watch or entertain characters I hate. Negative energy is just bad for my health, I’m trying to focus on what I love y’know?

Well, sometimes people don't have any perfect options. If someone dislikes Gou but wants to see what happens with Ash in the PWC they don't have an option to not watch Gou if they want to see the PWC, because Gou is in every episode.

 

[Hidden Mew]

If people don’t like a character and are set in not liking them why would anyone be super wrapped up in changing their mind? I wasn’t talking down to her critics but just acknowledging how the vindication line is for people who actually like the character. If you don’t like Iris I don’t expect any of these developments to really matter to you is what I mean or to please you?

Ah, I misunderstood the vindication line since it came as talking down to people who disliked Iris before. My mistake.

Speaking in general. Not you directly. But the general opinion on character like Iris and Gou on these forums that it seems mostly everyone hates along with Journeys itself. I wouldn’t watch or entertain characters I hate. Negative energy is just bad for my health, I’m trying to focus on what I love y’know?

I can understand that. I love Goh and despite my complaints about Journeys, I do still want to enjoy it. I don't think that people shouldn't be allowed to describe what they dislike about a show or character, but it can get excessive to say the least.

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

Every character in this show loses to Ash.

Except for Alain apparently

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

The Gym feels more appropriate for Iris IMO.

That's like saying it’ll be fine to hold Diantha's champion battle in Wulfric's gym.

 

[Alola]

Wow, what a development.

I even compared the katakana for Champion between the tweet and word used in the games, and sure enough yes - Iris is a Champion (provided this isn't some sick joke akin to those misleading titles anipoke loves to do). That is crazy! Iris has been busy! It's baffling seeing her become a Champion of all things given how it was something that wasn't on her radar, let alone something she was amassing enough strength to feasibly be anyway. I'm not a huge fan of her, but I am happy Iris fans get such progress with her. As Iris in-game becomes the Champion, her being a Champion here is something I don't mind, off-screen development or no; still shocked, though. It will be an interesting fight between her and Ash; I expect to see her battling skills having improved notably.

I am also stoked to see a Goodra again! If Axew/Haxorus isn't used in the battle, seeing Goodra battle will suffice for me - hopefully it will put on a wonderful showing and stay the hell away from Bide; I still have not forgiven Ash/the writers for how they had a Pokémon with such potential stick to spamming Bide as its main form of offense. Iris branching out and collecting more Dragons is also a plus for me.

 

[CyberKitten05]

Gary is a researcher now. Iris is still an active Trainer.

I hope that they have him participate in the PWC on the side, on his free time, and still have him get very far into the rankings. Gary was OP in OS.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I hope that they have him participate in the PWC on the side, on his free time, and still have him get very far into the rankings. Gary was OP in OS.

I doubt he does that. WCS is not something you can really do "on the side", at least when he's more focused on being a researcher now.

 

[dawn dusk]

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