Preview JN115: Opening! Masters Tournament!!

[Lightning Flame Blast]

Another page from Spoon magazine

They really got the worst angle possible for Garchomp, yikes.

Ash’s setup is looking pretty badass though.

 

[isrrael120]

Fully translated interview with Tomioka (who's writing the tournament)



The part about the original plan being to have all battles not featuring Ash be still screens but that plan changing gives me hope

that makes me wonder how many episodes are going to be used for PWC?

 

[Kurolegacy]

that makes me wonder how many episodes are going to be used for PWC?

Depends on how they handle the battle. If round one are all 1 part battle, round 2 2-part and round 3 2-3 parts, We’re looking at 10-11 episode. Of course it all comes down to whether they rush battles or not.

 

[BigDocFan]

I'm hoping that the next few episodes will continue the Master 8 tournament, no filler or Project Mew stuff between battles

 

[JinksChow]

I'm hoping that the next few episodes will continue the Master 8 tournament, no filler or Project Mew stuff between battles

I think there's two routes that the writers can take, each of which would be similar to XY or SM:

Route 1 (XY-like, less focus on tournament): 2-3 filler episodes, 9-10 Masters Eight episodes, 3-4 Project Mew episodes, 2 farewell episodes for companions, 2 Ash-less special episodes

Route 2 (SM-like, heavy focus on tournament): 16 Masters Eight episodes, 2 Project Mew Episodes, 2 farewell episodes for companions

 

[BigDocFan]

We have a summary for the episode

Spoiler

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[FinnishPokéFan92]

So the Gigantamax Rillaboom could actually belong to him instead of Leon.

 

[swampertus]

So, Hop is male version of Mairin in XYZ. Mairin was MAIN reason Ash lost to Alain in finals as remembering her and her cheering helped Alain to beat Ash. I hope writers won't make same stupid mistake Hop being the MAIN reason Ash will lose to Leon in finals

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

So, Hop is male version of Mairin in XYZ. Mairin was MAIN reason Ash lost to Alain in finals as remembering her and her cheering helped Alain to beat Ash. I hope writers won't make same stupid mistake Hop being the MAIN reason Ash will lose to Leon in finals

Both Ash and Alain had a strong desire to win. I don't think Mairin was that big of a deciding factor in Alain's victory.

 

[swampertus]

Well,

Both Ash and Alain had a strong desire to win. I don't think Mairin was that big of a deciding factor in Alain's victory.

Actually, she was. And now we see same thing happening in Journeys

 

[Broseph08]

Another page from Spoon magazine

Having two Charizards in this lineup is still so goofy. I really wish anyone other than Alain had made the Masters 8 lol

 

[isrrael120]

Well,

Actually, she was. And now we see same thing happening in Journeys

I don't know if it was really a factor or not during XYZ but I have no problem if Ash loses during PWC for whatever reason!
although if Ash wins I'll make memes with "Pokemon Super"! XD

 

[isrrael120]

Having two Charizards in this lineup is still so goofy. I really wish anyone other than Alain had made the Masters 8 lol

Charizard is one of the staff's favorites, you should be glad there are only Two and no more!

 

[Rath]

Spoiler

Apparently we're going to see Cynthia vs Diantha in this episode



And if Diantha has a Chesnaught, then the Champion's teams could indeed be totally different from the games

 

[isrrael120]

Spoiler

Apparently we're going to see Cynthia vs Diantha in this episode



And if Diantha has a Chesnaught, then the Champion's teams could indeed be totally different from the games

well that was possible I mean, we all know Iris's team in the anime!

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

Does Hop have a CRAMORGOD?

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

Who wants Ash-Greninja in the masters 8? Ash-Greninja or riot!

 

[DuskAstral]

Who wants Ash-Greninja in the masters 8? Ash-Greninja or riot!

I don't want to, because for me, protecting a region from destruction is more important than a selfish battle.

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

Idk how some people can deal with Ash-Greninja never beating MCX. Ash-Greninja has to beat MCX someday and the best opportunity is now in the Masters 8. If it doesn’t happen then there should be immense backlash. Ash-Greninja battled MCX three times. It deserves to beat it now in the biggest of stages. Bringing Alain back to hype up Leon’s Charizard would be stupid. Alain and Ash have to battle, and Ash-Greninja has to defeat MCX. How many specific Pokémon matchups have battled three times and never beaten that same Pokémon? It would be like Infernape loosing to Paul’s Electivire, Pikachu loosing to Trip’s Serperior Ash’s Lycanroc loosing to Gladion’s Lycanroc in the Alola League and never being able to beat it.

 

[VetProf]

Idk how some people can deal with Ash-Greninja never beating MCX. Ash-Greninja has to beat MCX someday and the best opportunity is now in the Masters 8. If it doesn’t happen then there should be immense backlash. Ash-Greninja battled MCX three times. It deserves to beat it now in the biggest of stages. Bringing Alain back to hype up Leon’s Charizard would be stupid. Alain and Ash have to battle, and Ash-Greninja has to defeat MCX. How many specific Pokémon matchups have battled three times and never beaten that same Pokémon? It would be like Infernape loosing to Paul’s Electivire, Pikachu loosing to Trip’s Serperior Ash’s Lycanroc loosing to Gladion’s Lycanroc in the Alola League and never being able to beat it.

Personally, I feel like a rematch between Ash-Greninja and Mega Charizard X is kinda pointless at this point considering that Ash-Greninja hasn't had any meaningful developments since its last battle in the Kalos finals. Not only has it spent the past couple of seasons away from Ash, but it doesn't seem like it's gotten that much stronger either considering that its moveset has been shown to still be the same (it still has Cut, for god's sake). Meanwhile, Alain and his Charizard have presumably been training together this entire time, to the point that they've finally regained their Mega Stone.

Rematches are fun when we get to see how both sides have grown since their last battle, but I feel like Ash's Greninja hasn't had enough recent development to warrant a satisfying rematch with Alain's Charizard. Even if only one side of the rematch has had any noticeable growths since their last appearance, then it should be the previous match's loser, not the winner. If Charizard and Greninja were to have a rematch in their current state, then I feel like Charizard would have even more reason to win again considering that, unlike Greninja, it has been training together with its trainer this whole time. If the writers really do bring back Ash-Greninja for the sole purpose of having it defeat Mega Charizard X, then it'll most likely feel quite forced. Almost as if the writers will be screaming into our ears, "HEY, we finally did the thing that everyone's been asking us to do, ARE YOU SATISFIED NOW?"

If Ash really is going to be battling (and defeating) Alain in this tournament, then I'm all for it. But oddly enough, I feel like Greninja should sit out of this rematch. The writers already missed the perfect opportunity to have Ash-Greninja beat Mega Charizard X back in the Kalos finals, and I don't think a simple rematch here is enough to fix that. Not when both Pokemon have been irrelevant to the story for the past two seasons.