Review JN108: Lucario and Gekkouga! The Wave Guidance of Destiny!!

[Max1996]

JN108 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

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Let's discuss the episode with Greninja's return.

 

[BigDocFan]

It was a surprise that Frogadier evolved, shame it didn't accompany them to Kalos

No Zygarde which was a shame

 

[Handy Man]

With the Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena episodes recently, XY hype has been at an all-time high. This episode had some great moments in it. I loved seeing Ash take his Masters Eight promotion match seriously and had all of his Pokémon train. I liked that we got to see Raihan take the upcoming match seriously as well. The XY flashbacks, one of them including Alain, was a nice touch as well. I also loved how excited Ash sounded when he saw Greninja again. However, I am pretty disappointed that the Ash-Greninja form didn’t appear, and Greninja itself only showed up halfway through the episode. The vines also don’t seem to have much explanation or resolution in this episode. There were some nice moments with Lucario, and the Spirit Bomb Lucario pulled off looked exciting. This episode is fantastic as build-up for next week’s episode, but as a stand-alone episode, it feels slightly underwhelming for Greninja’s first apprearance since XY ended. I’ll post more thoughts later, but overall, this was a great episode and I enjoyed it a lot. This episode and JN105 got me really excited for the future of Journeys.

 

[WatcherMark]

Really surprised that Puni-chan didn't make an appearance... wasn't it supposed to be helping Gekkouga with the vine removal? Also, if the vines are popping up that frequently and dangerously in that forest wouldn't it be better to cut it off to visitors?

Still it was a nice episode that gave me what I expected... a reunion with Gekkouga which was pretty much all I expected. A lot of the visuals were nice, the music was mostly XY stuff which is already great and if this is the last time we ever see Gekkouga (which I wouldn't be surprised at) I'm satisfied.

Kibana's appearance in this episode was a very nice set-up for next week. It's clear he's not underestimating Satoshi, he knows the kid has skill and that he's got everything to lose if he's defeated especially as he's desperate for a rematch with Dande.

In case you're wondering, no new move for Lucario. It just seemed to power-up Aura Sphere.

And yes, it is hilarous that Shooty is now Satoshi's only main rival to make no kind of appearance this series... and honestly, who cares about Shooty?!

 

[90'sPokéfan]

An episode with good moments, a lot of XY music and the return of a fan favorite Pokémon.

Greninja guiding/helping his new 'little brother' was nice.

Maybe a missed opportunity to show the Ash-Geninja form, but I guess this focus needed to be on Lucario this episode to show him growing.

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

Did Goh's Froakie just... Randomly evolve???

I know I really shouldn't be surprised at this point but still what?

Welp Goodbye forever Greninja. Shame you'll be a gardener forever but at least Goh's inevitable Greninja will take your place

 

[BigDocFan]

Full VA list courtesy of Adamant

Rica Matsumoto: Satoshi
Daiki Yamashita: Go
Ikue Ohtani: Pikachu
Megumi Hayashibara: Aceburn
Kana Hanazawa: Koharu
Yuichi Nakamura: Professor Sakuragi
Shinichiro Miki: Negigaknight
Yuji Ueda: Gekkouga
Daisuke Namikawa: Lucario
Kenta Miyake: Kairyu
Kei Shindo: Eievui
Yasuhiro Mamiya: Gangar
Hana Takeda: Sarunori
Haruka Shamoto: Keromatsu
Daisuke Ono: Dande
Yoshitsugu Matsuoka: Kibana
Sayaka Senbongi: Kikuna
Noriaki Kanze: Renji
Marina Aicholtz: Go's Smartphone Rotom
Kenyu Horiuchi: Narration

 

[ShashaR]

Did Goh's Froakie just... Randomly evolve???

I know I really shouldn't be surprised at this point but still what?

Welp Goodbye forever Greninja. Shame you'll be a gardener forever but at least Goh's inevitable Greninja will take your place

Fun fact : Ash-Greninja not appearing ( which is so Fu**ing wild ) is a refernence to the upcomic great Gou-Greninja

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Did Goh's Froakie just... Randomly evolve???

It evolved while having a brief training match.

 

[UxieLover1994]

I doubt we'd see a repeat of the Ash-Greninja arc should Goh's Frogadier evolve into Greninja in a later episode. Although at this point, the odds of Frogadier evolving again is greater than Grookey evolving.

Fun fact: Mega Evolution just went a major revamp in Pokémon GO today (although since I'm from Australia, I got the revamp a few days early), so maybe this episode was somewhat of a teaser? Frankly, I see it as a coincidence, as Mega Kangaskhan debuted today instead of Mega Lucario.

Did Goh's Froakie just... Randomly evolve???

This wasn't the first time we've seen a "random" evolution in the same episode featuring a Pokémon of the same species or family. JN037 had Goh's Exeggcute evolve into K-Exeggutor before he and Ash went to Alola and Goh caught A-Exeggutor. JN066 had four of Goh's five Flabébé evolve before he went with the final Flabébé to Kalos where she was released after evolving.

 

[Shadao]

I don't think we've seen the last of Greninja. There's line from Ash during the plane trip that hints at a double meaning that was omitted in the flashbacks...

From Dephender:

"When we get excited during battles, I become like Gekkouga and Gekkouga becomes like me. The sensation we get when that happens kinda resembles Lucario's wave guidance".

Yet, Ash-Greninja doesn't appear... Not even in a flashback.

Reminds me of a certain someone that didn't appear in the previews or flashbacks until her episode actually debuted.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I think the opening TV broadcast confirmed what I had heard earlier: Ash vs Raihan is the last qualifying match of the season, so Ash is definitely going to win.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Did Goh's Froakie just... Randomly evolve???

I know I really shouldn't be surprised at this point but still what?

Welp Goodbye forever Greninja. Shame you'll be a gardener forever but at least Goh's inevitable Greninja will take your place

That’s the annoying bit when it comes to this episode. Like, at that point the writers are just taunting the fans again. They know that the fans want Ash to get his Greninja back and so, rather than allow it to happen, they instead create a plot to prevent that while further feeding their writer’s pet. The monkey’s paw aspect of the writing just gets so tiring.

 

[Sai]

That’s the annoying bit when it comes to this episode. Like, at that point the writers are just taunting the fans again. They know that the fans want Ash to get his Greninja back and so, rather than allow it to happen, they instead create a plot to prevent that while further feeding their writer’s pet. The monkey’s paw aspect of the writing just gets so tiring.

If Alan is truly in the Masters 8 I am sure Greninja will return again. Ash knows where it is and they didn't show off the AshGreninja form in the ep. The flashback also specifically showed Ash and Alan's pokemon

Nobody expected Greninja to rejoin Ash in this episode but it feels like setup for the future.

 

[LeonMagnus]

That’s the annoying bit when it comes to this episode. Like, at that point the writers are just taunting the fans again. They know that the fans want Ash to get his Greninja back and so, rather than allow it to happen, they instead create a plot to prevent that while further feeding their writer’s pet. The monkey’s paw aspect of the writing just gets so tiring.

I mean they eventually brought Charizard back permanently after having pretty much rejoin his team as a memember for an arc in BW, but I think that was at a time when the ratings were pretty low wasn’t it?

I still for the life of me don’t know why Squirtle is ball and chained to his squad though. He basically got Primeaped.

 

[Sai]

I mean they eventually brought Charizard back permanently after having pretty much rejoin his team as a memember for an arc in BW, but I think that was at a time when the ratings were pretty low wasn’t it?

I still for the life of me don’t know why Squirtle is ball and chained to his squad though. He basically got Primeaped.

Squirtle got a brief cameo in the first SM ep in Kanto, it visits Oak's lab and rotomdex took its picture

 

[Adelon]

How cool it would had been if Tobias had reappeared. And Ash fought Tobias and Paul in a double battle with Alain.

Not for this episode but for the climax of Journeys.

 

[CyberMonsterTrainer]

This was awful. First you‘re telling me Goh’s Frokie just gets to evolve to Frogadier out of nowhere like that, which pretty much hints that they’re just gonna hand him a Greninja cause “Durrr we‘re just gonna keep Ash’s in Kalos, but we can give Goh one”

Second did they really just retcon Greninja’s bond form like that? What the frack anipoke writers? You can’t just take something special away from Ash and Greninja like that

Third the training and animation was sloppily done and the whole reunion was incredibly disappointing, and what did it all amount to? A bigger Aura Sphere? That’s it? I think this is one of the worst episodes I’ve seen in Journeys!

 

[Sai]

Second did they really just retcon Greninja’s bond form like that? What the frack anipoke writers? You can’t just take something special away from Ash and Greninja like that

Third the training and animation was sloppily done and the whole reunion was incredibly disappointing, and what did it all amount to? A bigger Aura Sphere? That’s it? I think this is one of the worst episodes I’ve seen in Journeys!

They didn't retcon any AshGreninja form, not showing it in one flashback isn't a big deal. This episode also allowed Greninja to show how strong it was in its base form without powering up.

Like I thought all the training scenes were fantastic. We see Greninja knocking Lucario around easily, then Greninja going to train its sense in the lake, and then both powering up their attacks together. You honestly thought this was awful? This was probably the best training ep they did this series.

 

[KrspaceT]

Everyone kept saying they wanted a proper training episode. Honestly this is one. At worst it just decided to have a Goh mon train in a way we don't like.