Preview JN104: Hyper Class! VS Dracaena of The Big Four!!

[Unireon]

I think "Journeys" will be a permanent series. Somehow, I don't see any point in having to go back to one region again.

Besides, since the current series is to cover all games in the base series, I don't see a problem with PokéSpain being included in it.

Who would want to see Citeria/Hispania getting the 'Galar Treatment'?

The point in going back to focus on a single region is to flesh it, and its Pokemon and Characters, out.
Journeys shafted Galar and most of it got utterly wasted, for 'having to share' focus with already featured regions.

I am rooting more for Sir Kamon, the best for Uonoragon is a double-knock-out.

 

[Kurolegacy]

I think "Journeys" will be a permanent series. Somehow, I don't see any point in having to go back to one region again.

Besides, since the current series is to cover all games in the base series, I don't see a problem with PokéSpain being included in it.

I keep seeing people saying this and yet never once have I actually seen the people stating this seem to consider that the reason why Journeys exists in the format it does is to be a series that celebrates the franchise’s silver anniversary. I genuinely don’t think that this is meant to be forever, but rather, a single series.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

I personally would be completely on board with Ash losing this battle if he was using Pokemon with better screentime and winrates like Pikachu and Lucario instead of the neglected Dracovish and Sirfetch'd. But he's not, so...

 

[Kurolegacy]

I just wish the Pokémon that Ash was using in this battle actually made sense. Dracovish I get but Sirfetch’d not only isn’t strong against either but is weak to both due to flying type and then fairy type Mega Evolution and has no moves that are super effect either. I have no doubts they’ll have Ash win but it’s just gonna feel nonsensical. Hell, Dransa even has the advantage that both her Pokémon can fly while the only ranged attack Ash’s Pokémon know between them is Water Gun.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I just wish the Pokémon that Ash was using in this battle actually made sense. Dracovish I get but Sirfetch’d not only isn’t strong against either but is weak to both due to flying type and then fairy type Mega Evolution and has no moves that are super effect either. I have no doubts they’ll have Ash win but it’s just gonna feel nonsensical. Hell, Dransa even has the advantage that both her Pokémon can fly while the only ranged attack Ash’s Pokémon know between them is Water Gun.

Sirfetch'd is likely in there because of the "brave knight slaying a dragon" concept.

 

[Kurolegacy]

I get what you're saying, but there are quite a few other factors that point to Journeys continuing past the traditional three-year cycle.

First of all, the Japanese name of the series is just "Pocket Monsters." To me, the lack of a subtitle signifies that Journeys is a new beginning of sorts. This, coupled with the fact that Journeys introduced arguably the most drastic changes the Pokémon anime formula has ever had, makes it seem like the writers are shifting the show to a new style.

Plus, the Journeys formula can easilly be used to promote whichever new game TPC wants to advertise. The region-hopping gimmick basically removes the need for the show to reinvent itself every few years. Now, the writers don't have to alienate older fans by completely changing the characters and settings, and there isn't really a need to reset Ash's strength every generation either. TV audiences like having characters develop and progress over a long period of time. The three-year cycle didn't allow for that.

Additionally, I'm pretty sure the writers don't care about what the games do anymore in terms of the story. Sword and Shield heavily emphasized the gym challenge, yet Ash hasn't even met most of the gym leaders. Most of the Galar promotion came with Ash and Goh meeting Galar Pokémon and a few Galar characters, which could easilly be repeated whenever a new game comes out. Clearly, this new form of promotion hasn't hindered the game sales at all, as Sword and Shield have outsold almost every other Pokémon game to date. All the writers need to do is make a short arc in the new region and have Ash and Goh catch and battle some new Pokémon.

Secondly, Goh isn't like other travelling companions. His goal to catch every Pokémon isn't even close to coming to any sort of conclusion, and unlike other companions, his character isn't tied to a specific generation. Since he's an anime-original character, the writers don't need to replace him to promote the newest generation. He could easilly become another Ash -- working towards his goal without ever truly reaching it.

On the topic of Ash's goal, I'll admit that the World Coronation Series arc seems to be heading to a climax soon. Even so, the writers can easilly find a way to stretch it out for a while, like having Ash hit another roadblock. They could end up changing Ash's goal after the WCS arc ends, but tbh I dont really know how that would play out. I'll have to see how the next few months of episodes play out before predicting Ash's future.

Finally, it's entirely possible that Journeys' formula was made to celebrate the franchise's 25th anniversary. Anniversary or not, however, nostalgia sells. Journeys still hasn't explored all the classic characters or locations. Fan-favorite characters like Misty and Serena haven't even been mentioned yet, and don't get me started on how much Journeys has neglected Pokémon Advanced. I could easilly see the writers continuing to use the nostalgia gold mine for a few more years before they start running out of things to bring back.

So yeah, I dont see Journeys ending anytime soon. I'm sure I've missed a few things, and if there are any flaws with my arguments, feel free to point them out.

The fact that the series is called Pocket Monsters really doesn’t counter the prospect of it being a anniversary series and instead only adds credibility to it since, the franchise is literally called Pocket Monsters. It doesn’t have a subtitle because it’s not just celebrating one region but the entire franchise.

Secondly, while Go wasn’t mentioned, him being an anime original doesn’t mean that he isn’t meant for this series especially when:

A) They tied him to the 8th generation by having that his partner Pokémon and the Pokémon that he was constantly shown onscreen with were the Galar starters, the face of the 8th generation. To have him continue on indefinitely would mean that at very least Cinderace, who would be an artifact of a previous generation being a starter of all things, would continue to be promoted well beyond the series it exists to promote. Hence why at the start of every new series since Hoenn, Ash dumps all of his Pokémon except Pikachu who is the mascot of the franchise. Now if he was paired with any of the other franchise mascots as his starter, he’d have more of a chance, but as things stand, he’s tied to the 8th generation.

B) His very existence is an advertisement of Pokémon Go, a game which you travel around the world to catch Pokémon. Given that Journeys is literally a world tour series, it goes hand in hand with Pokémon Go and makes for the perfect advertisement vehicle. But again, if this concept exists to celebrate the silver anniversary, then it’s not really representing Pokemon Go should they return to a more traditional format.

Also, the reasoning of that X character or location hasn’t been shown in the series yet doesn’t really hold much water when that’s more so the fault of the writers with how they would rather endlessly focus on Kanto above all else and just do endless amounts of pure filler rather than making real use of what had on paper held an interesting premise.

 

[Unireon]

Sirfetch'd is likely in there because of the "brave knight slaying a dragon" concept.

While poetic, there were also some of those that dared and died trying.

In that case, all would depend on Uonoragon.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

While poetic, there were also some of those that dared and died trying.

In that case, all would depend on Uonoragon.

The prerelease material has hinted that Sirfetch'd will be the star of this battle. I hope this means that Sirfetch'd will defeat Drasna's ace and Dracovish can still get a KO.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Besides, while it's true that Sirfetch'd's current moveset is ill-equipped to face off against Drasna's dragons (especially Mega Altaria, who resists literally everything in Sirfetch'd's current arsenal), who's to say it won't learn something like Poison Jab to help it do the job? If Gengar can showcase two brand new moves for its battle against Grimmsnarl, Sirfetch'd can do the same.

 

[Unireon]

The prerelease material has hinted that Sirfetch'd will be the star of this battle.

They have already lied/misled before.

There is always a chance for them to throw a curveball and defy expectations.

However, both Pokemon are so badly developed that it would look contrived to see them win.
If it weren't for the training with Citron, then we would have another DeM.

Edit: Learning in the previous episode will be fine, during the battle it may be too convenient.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Besides, while it's true that Sirfetch'd's current moveset is ill-equipped to face off against Drasna's dragons (especially Mega Altaria, who resists literally everything in Sirfetch'd's current arsenal), who's to say it won't learn something like Poison Jab to help it do the job? If Gengar can showcase two brand new moves for its battle against Grimmsnarl, Sirfetch'd can do the same.

While not impossible especially with what we’ve seen, it really would speak volumes of sheer laziness on the part of the writers especially when we just had a training episode the episode before.

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

I really hope they don't pull a Dawn on Clemont's Pokemon

I really wanna see Chespin.


Wait you guys don't think????

They're hiding Chespin because maybe he.....?

Same for Bunnelby?

 

[Rath]

I just wish the Pokémon that Ash was using in this battle actually made sense. Dracovish I get but Sirfetch’d not only isn’t strong against either but is weak to both due to flying type and then fairy type Mega Evolution and has no moves that are super effect either. I have no doubts they’ll have Ash win but it’s just gonna feel nonsensical. Hell, Dransa even has the advantage that both her Pokémon can fly while the only ranged attack Ash’s Pokémon know between them is Water Gun.

Sirfetch'd has Brutal Swing as its "ranged attack". Last time we saw it use Brutal Swing (the last Bea battle), it tossed its shield Captain America style.

 

[Sai]

They have already lied/misled before.

There is always a chance for them to throw a curveball and defy expectations.

However, both Pokemon are so badly developed that it would look contrived to see them win.
If it weren't for the training with Citron, then we would have another

Ash is only using two pokemon in the battle, there's no way to mislead people over Sirfetch'd doing something when Ash can't win otherwise. It's also being promoted more than Dracovish in this and the previous ep.

Anyway it reminds me of people thinking Gengar would lose again after training with Allister to get Gigantamax, or course it was set up to win its next battle which it did.

Also there's not much time for Ash to lose at this point, so him losing to Drasna wouldn't even fit with the timeframe we have left.

 

[Enzo]

I feel like the "Sirfetch'd fights a Flying type and a Fairy type" is just another consequence of a ideology they have pretty much since the beginning of the anime:

Avoiding the obvious type matchup as much as possible, even if it looks ridiculous, if it would benefit Ash in any capacity.

Like, Ash has 4 other Pokémon that would be better fitted for this fight than Sirfetch'd:

Spoiler: comfort

• Pikachu: All of his moves are neutral against Noivern and base form Altaria, and even if the bird halves his Electric moves when it Mega Evolves, Iron Tail would be cruel against it.
• Gengar: the ultimate best choice for this fight, as it can levitate in the air and is faster than both of them, besides having Ice Punch and Dazzling Gleam, it also has Sludge Bomb in store for M-Altaria.
• Dragonite: a killer for Noivern, and even if it loses a good advantage against M-Altaria, let's not pretend a Dragon Dance-boosted Hyper Beam and Hurricane wouldn't severely hurt that cloud bird.
• Lucario: even if admitelly the second worst choice, well, Steel Beam would also hurt that birdie a lot.

And then we have Sirfetch'd: the slowest, least nimble of the team, who has to pray to least be able to hit Night Slash/Brutal Swing against Noivern, and that ultimately it's entire fucking moveset gets resisted by M-Altaria.

And like, I get it. Sirfetch'd needs it's time to shine after getting it's duck butt beaten by the writers for so long. But it's so funny the chose arguably the worst fight possible to shine the spotlight on it

 

[Rath]

I feel like the "Sirfetch'd fights a Flying type and a Fairy type" is just another consequence of a ideology they have pretty much since the beginning of the anime:

Avoiding the obvious type matchup as much as possible, even if it looks ridiculous, if it would benefit Ash in any capacity.

Like, Ash has 4 other Pokémon that would be better fitted for this fight than Sirfetch'd:

Spoiler: comfort

• Pikachu: All of his moves are neutral against Noivern and base form Altaria, and even if the bird halves his Electric moves when it Mega Evolves, Iron Tail would be cruel against it.
• Gengar: the ultimate best choice for this fight, as it can levitate in the air and is faster than both of them, besides having Ice Punch and Dazzling Gleam, it also has Sludge Bomb in store for M-Altaria.
• Dragonite: a killer for Noivern, and even if it loses a good advantage against M-Altaria, let's not pretend a Dragon Dance-boosted Hyper Beam and Hurricane wouldn't severely hurt that cloud bird.
• Lucario: even if admitelly the second worst choice, well, Steel Beam would also hurt that birdie a lot.

And then we have Sirfetch'd: the slowest, least nimble of the team, who has to pray to least be able to hit Night Slash/Brutal Swing against Noivern, and that ultimately it's entire fucking moveset gets resisted by M-Altaria.

And like, I get it. Sirfetch'd needs it's time to shine after getting it's duck butt beaten by the writers for so long. But it's so funny the chose arguably the worst fight possible to shine the spotlight on it

Since they're showing Drasna battling Wikstrom before the battle, the theme here seems to be a Knight VS Dragons

 

[Enzo]

Since they're showing Drasna battling Wikstrom before the battle, the theme here seems to be a Knight VS Dragons

Well, yeah. Thematically speaking, it works. Alos, Sirfetch'd deciding it wants to ''avenge'' his fallen hero is also a very nice theme.

But it's still unintentionally hilarious they chose arguably one of the absolute worst scenarios and Pokémon (A super fast and nimble Flying type and a bulky, hard-hitting Fairy Mega) for Sirfetch'd to go against.

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

I want Grookey and Chespin interactions
They have some things in common

-Both are Grass Starters

-Both are silly cutemon that provide comedic scenes

-Both share the same color scheme

-Both have Muscular Bara Final Stages

-Both are so far the only Grass starters that didn't go to Ash

 

[R1ke]

Why are people acting like type matchups still matter in the anime anyway

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Why are people acting like type matchups still matter in the anime anyway

My guess is that it's because even though the anime has always played kinda fast and loose with type matchups, it's never been quite to this degree (aside from BW). True, type matchups aren't the end-all and be-all of a battle's outcome, but they were still usually portrayed as being of help, and a Pokemon defeating an opponent with an advantage was played more as a show of skill than one of brute force like Journeys kinda likes to do. With Jounreys defying the type chart as often as it does it comes across as though the entire series just takes place on an Inverse Battle universe rather than it being an actual display of battle prowess like it should be portrayed as.