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

[Queen Cynthia]

Why was Greninja so cold towards Ash in this episode?

Greninja has never been famous for being overly emotional or extroverted like for example Dragonite or Oshawott.
Still, this is a point that I wasn't happy with, either. Considering Ash and Greninja share a unique bond that not even Pikachu and Ash seem to have in common, you might expect the reunion to be at least a bit emotional and special. If someone didn't know Greninja, they might think he was a random encounter. Some real Ash-Greninja-interaction was the only thing this episode was lacking.

Spoiler

Oh by the way, does somebody happen to have the link to that Alain leak? Is it still publicly available?

 

[Handy Man]

After rewatching this episode, I feel like it’s interesting how Greninja has been independent for so long, that it’s basically its own trainer at this point. It’s reminds me slightly of Mewtwo in JN046. Greninja is able to decide for itself how to best handle Lucario’s anger, it’s comfortable deciding attacks without a trainer’s input, and it doesn’t mind stopping what its currently doing if it means he needs to work on a task immediately.

Other Pokémon that Ash has released are surrounded by other Pokémon, like Butterfree, Charizard, Squirtle, Lapras, and even Goodra. However, as Greninja’s only company when he was released was Zygarde, who wasn’t even mentioned in this episode, we can assume that Greninja is fighting by itself for survival very often. This would definitely force Greninja into being good at self-care and being its own trainer, and I like how this episode portrayed that.

I really hope we see more of Greninja later, especially since they completely ignored Ash-Greninja. It would be hype to see him in at least one Masters Eight battle. With Clemont, Bonnie, Serena, Greninja, Alain, and even Brock all making appearances in the recent April 2022 episodes, it will be a month I won’t forget anytime soon. As a XY fan who watched all of the episodes when they first aired, I feel fulfilled. The only major XY characters that are missing in Journeys now are Ash’s Goodra and Sawyer.

 

[JinksChow]

Why was Greninja so cold towards Ash in this episode? This is exactly what I fear would happen when Paul came back - Making characters edgy and angsty for the sake of AMV shots for 12 year olds. Worst kind of fanservice.

Don't worry, the anipoke Twitter account has got you covered with their after story comics!



You see? Greninja does care about Ash! The anime staff just didn't want to show that to us during the actual episode! Why bother with all that effort of animating, when they can just give us a 1-Koma Twitter-exclusive comic instead! I am certain that this is the best method of delivering story to its intended audience of young children, who I'm sure are very capable of browsing Twitter all by themselves.

(But seriously, why couldn't the anime staff just continue with the after episode scenes/gags that they used during SM.)

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Don't worry, the anipoke Twitter account has got you covered with their after story comics!



You see? Greninja does care about Ash! The anime staff just didn't want to show that to us during the actual episode! Why bother with all that effort of animating, when they can just give us a 1-Koma Twitter-exclusive comic instead! I am certain that this is the best method of delivering story to its intended audience of young children, who I'm sure are very capable of browsing Twitter all by themselves.

(But seriously, why couldn't the anime staff just continue with the after episode scenes/gags that they used during SM.)

Greninja was just focusing on the training and battling in this episode. It wasn't being uncaring towards Ash. Just calm and collected.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

unique bond that not even Pikachu and Ash seem to have

Sun & Moon: I get that I'm a joke, but am I a joke to you?

 

[JinksChow]

Greninja was just focusing on the training and battling in this episode. It wasn't being uncaring towards Ash. Just calm and collected.

And? What does that have to do with not actually including the comic in question as an extra after episode scene in the anime itself? Remember that Pokemon SM did that with no problem at all, with these after episode scenes often giving us some extra context to plot development, light-hearted comedy/gags, insight into other characters, or even all the above at once.

If it's a matter of runtime, the anime staff could easily cut out the obligatory fluff at the start of every episode that regurgigates to us the goals of our beloved protagonists. Let's face it, the anime staff just finds it easier to slap a jpeg on Twitter and call it a day. (Not to devalue the artist's efforts, they have definitely made some good comics)

Plus, this method allows for quick engagement and produces hype easily, something we know the producers of the current series place heavy emphasis on.

 

[Sai]

Because those comics are just meant to be epilogues to the episode. Same with the one that showed Serena/Lisia starting an idol group together. They're not meant to be seem in the ep itself. I don't see what the point of bringing that up is since it doesn't have to be shown in the episode.

 

[Audino1008]

Greninja was just focusing on the training and battling in this episode. It wasn't being uncaring towards Ash. Just calm and collected.

There's a balance.
He didn't even greet Ash after not seeing him for a dimensionally unstable Anipoke Time Period. He was completely unexpressive throughout the whole Episode.

 

[Soniman]

There's a balance.
He didn't even greet Ash after not seeing him for a dimensionally unstable Anipoke Time Period. He was completely unexpressive throughout the whole Episode.

Yep that’s Greninja alright, don’t know what you were expecting. Being stoic, calm and collected is kind of it’s thing. He’s not gonna hop on Ash’s head and death hug him like Infernape but the episode pretty clearly emphasized their bond so it’s not a big deal

 

[90'sPokéfan]

It would be nice if those comics were shown in the show itself. Like when the narrator is giving the outro, the comic is shown onscreen for a couple of seconds. Or if it's shown between the episode and the outro.

I don't know. I think it would be nice.

(But I don't know when they draw those comics. Maybe even after the episode aired?)

 

[Audino1008]

Yep that’s Greninja alright, don’t know what you were expecting. Being stoic, calm and collected is kind of it’s thing. He’s not gonna hop on Ash’s head and death hug him like Infernape but the episode pretty clearly emphasized their bond so it’s not a big deal

Like I said, there's a balance. A simple greeting like a hand raise or a nod would have been nice.

 

[nickdt]

So... i am pretty sure they have retconned the form.

Yes, they said Ash and Greninja became one, but they pretty much showcased that with without Grenina turning into the form (Which makes no sense).

 

[Sai]

So... i am pretty sure they have retconned the form.

Yes, they said Ash and Greninja became one, but they pretty much showcased that with without Grenina turning into the form (Which makes no sense).

They just kept it out of flashbacks, they didn't retcon anything. We also have AshGreninja toys and plush dolls slated to release in Japan this fall so they're still marketing it. You can't pretend a whole form that Ash trained to fuse into never happen they seem to be holding it back the same way they purposely hid Serena and didn't advertise her at all till the ep aired

 

[Weddingbells]

They just kept it out of flashbacks, they didn't retcon anything. We also have AshGreninja toys and plush dolls slated to release in Japan this fall so they're still marketing it. You can't pretend a whole form that Ash trained to fuse into never happen they seem to be holding it back the same way they purposely hid Serena and didn't advertise her at all till the ep aired

The difference with Serena is that they used a generic flashback. You could say that was before they let her join them

Greninja, not only did they choose a scene where AG is activated , even though they aren't short of scenes with AG not activated, they also just removed it.

It would be like ash having a flashback where ash used pikazanium when fighting tapu Koko and they just removing it and putting a generic thunderbolt

 

[Shadao]

The difference with Serena is that they used a generic flashback. You could say that was before they let her join them

Greninja, not only did they choose a scene where AG is activated , even though they aren't short of scenes with AG not activated, they also just removed it.

It would be like ash having a flashback where ash used pikazanium when fighting tapu Koko and they just removing it and putting a generic thunderbolt

Impossible. Chespin didn't joined the XY gang until after Serena joined.

 

[Weddingbells]

Impossible. Chespin didn't joined the XY gang until after Serena joined.

Either way, they deliberately chose a scene with AG activated and changed it. Even though there was no reason to do that at all. If they wanted to hide it, tons of scenes where AG isn't activated.

Not saying 100% they retcon it. But the way they are apparently trying to "hide" it is just so baffling. Especially considering kids can just go online and find out about it

Like can you imagine them trying to hide Serena kiss, but instead of just, you know not showing it and just show any other flashback scene, they decide not only to choose that scene, but they have him hug ash instead of kiss him. Like they deliberately changed it for nk reason

 

[Shadao]

Either way, they deliberately chose a scene with AG activated and changed it. Even though there was no reason to do that at all. If they wanted to hide it, tons of scenes where AG isn't activated.

Not saying 100% they retcon it. But the way they are apparently trying to "hide" it is just so baffling. Especially considering kids can just go online and find out about it

Like can you imagine them trying to hide Serena kiss, but instead of just, you know not showing it and just show any other flashback scene, they decide not only to choose that scene, but they have him hug ash instead of kiss him. Like they deliberately changed it for nk reason

Ash mentions that Greninja was used for the Kalos League Finals. And keep in mind, the highlight of the match was Ash-Greninja vs Mega Charizard X. There is no other image to replace that one since Greninja made short work of Bisharp.

And while I think kids are much smarter than people believe, I do believe that an Ash-Greninja would more likely motivate them look into that episode online than a regular Greninja. A regular Greninja won't incentivize them to look into the XY episodes, but a different looking Greninja with no explanation would.

They hide Serena for a reason. Considering how everyone on Twitter was convinced Journeys erased Serena from existence, I say they did a fairly good job of it. It wasn't until leaks and rumors circulated that Serena was the Sylveon trainer and has a brand new look that fans change their tone fairly quickly.

 

[Gabo2oo]

I'll never stop lauding the creative decision of directly adressing the similarity between Aura and the Bond phenomenon. If they hadn't done this at some point, then the whole aura connection between Ash and Lucario would've felt like a rehash.

I think they ommitted Ash-Greninja and Zygarde to simply avoid cramming too much exposition onto the episode (we don't see Ash explaining the vines to Goh on-screen either). Replacing Greninja in the flashbacks was a terrible choice nonetheless.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

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

This aged well.