Review JN116: Champions' Pride! Wataru VS Carne!!

[VetProf]

It's odd seeing Lance willingly put his Dragonite in a vulnerable position twice due to the recharge of Hyper Beam, especially since we know he has a countermeasure for that, as shown by his initial battle against Leon early in the series. Coupled with Diantha's defensive battling style using the dual screen support, it made this battle feel quite sluggish. It's a weird contrast to the Alain vs Leon battle that had more active movement, despite most of the Pokemon in that battle dropping like flies once an attack connected.

With that said, I definitely enjoyed this battle more than the previous battle, since this one was at least a full 3 vs 3 that gave both trainers an opportunity to shine. Diantha made excellent strategic use of her non-aces, and Lance showcased the sheer might of his Pokemon. Even though it seemed like Lance was simply brute forcing his way through the battle, there was still some strategy/skill on his part, such as when he accurately timed his Gyarados's Dragon Pulse with Light Screen going down.

Anyway, assuming that Diantha will be reusing her dual screen strategy in her battle against Leon, then I'm hoping that Leon will be bringing Screen Cleaner Mr. Rime to counter it. Not only would it be a perfect counter to Diantha's strategy, but it would also be a good opportunity to showcase a new Galar Pokemon in battle. God knows Galar needs as many opportunities as it can get to showcase its Pokemon in what little time the current season has left before it ends.

 

[nickdt]

It's odd seeing Lance willingly put his Dragonite in a vulnerable position twice due to the recharge of Hyper Beam, especially since we know he has a countermeasure for that, as shown by his initial battle against Leon early in the series. Coupled with Diantha's defensive battling style using the dual screen support, it made this battle feel quite sluggish. It's a weird contrast to the Alain vs Leon battle that had more active movement, despite most of the Pokemon in that battle dropping like flies once an attack connected.

With that said, I definitely enjoyed this battle more than the previous battle, since this one was at least a full 3 vs 3 that gave both trainers an opportunity to shine. Diantha made excellent strategic use of her non-aces, and Lance showcased the sheer might of his Pokemon. Even though it seemed like Lance was simply brute forcing his way through the battle, there was still some strategy/skill on his part, such as when he accurately timed his Gyarados's Dragon Pulse with Light Screen going down.

Anyway, assuming that Diantha will be reusing her dual screen strategy in her battle against Leon, then I'm hoping that Leon will be bringing Screen Cleaner Mr. Rime to counter it. Not only would it be a perfect counter to Diantha's strategy, but it would also be a good opportunity to showcase a new Galar Pokemon in battle. God knows Galar needs as many opportunities as it can get to showcase its Pokemon in what little time the current season has left before it ends.

I think thats also 100% what Leon would do, since he seems to be a tactical planner (So he most likely studies his opponents) from the start of a battle, especially with his Charizard, since it uses moves to counter different opponents (It will probably carry Steel Wing or Iron Tail for counter vs Gardevoir).

Leon vs Ash will be interesting in that regard as well, since with Leon being the Tactical planner, Ash can think of strategies on the fly and that is most likely a keypoint into winning the whole thing.

 

[PokeMasterLA]

Just finished the episode and I think it was it was pretty cool watching two regional championships having a battle.

I really enjoyed seeing Jessie fangirling over Gourgeist. We very rarely see Team Rocket mention their previous Pokemon after they move on to the next region, so it's nice to see them acknowledge Jessie owning a Gourgeist too.

I liked the way the battle ended with the winning opponent using a Pokemon/move with type advantage over the losing opponent (fairy type vs dragon type). Since the anime has a habit of making the opponent with the type disadvantage win. Or maybe that only applies to Ash .

 

[Queen Cynthia]

What actually surprised me a bit was Lance's hot-headedness that reminded me of the hot-headed Ash from previous regions who used to act first and think second.
It's surprising because let's compare that attitude with Lance's first battle against Leon, in which he was much much calmer and collected and that's why, in my opinion, Lance dominated the first part of said battle.
This time, however, he seemed a bit too self-assured when relying on literally bulldozing his opponent with pure strength. Not that it would be a bad thing! I would probably have a similar battling style if I were a Pokemon trainer. But when I realized what Lance was up to, I knew that he would lose the battle in the end.

 

[Gabo2oo]

Just some additional thoughts.

I'm really concerned about how they introduced Iris vs. Cynthia right at the end of the episode. That means next episode won't have any build-up before the battle and I really wanted to see more of Iris' thoughts on all of this, flashbacks of her progress prior to Journeys, etc. I've complained a lot about how barebones-y her re-introduction as Champion has been and this was pretty much the last chance to sorta redeem it. Here's to hope we'll still get some of that during the next episode, since at least they'll have plenty of time to develop the battle.

I love the "artwork" used for the Lance vs Diantha screen, it's very on-model and perfectly reflects their personalities:

Too bad that's not the actual official art they've been using for promos and whatnot.

Am I the only one not happy to see Richie? Did everyone forget how much of an obnoxiously perfect character he was back in the Kanto league?

Can't speak for everyone but I'm in for the continuity nods that make the show feel more cohesive, more than anything else. I wouldn't "hold a grudge" against a character like that, same way I like the Unova references we've been getting despite BW being my least favorite series, for example.

 

[Nicolas721]

Very mixed feelings on the battle. It had the pros others have already mentioned (the cameos, the pacing, Gourgeist being well-handled and Jessie's fangirling over it) but at the same time it's a new peak of battles losing their touch to be more similar to the ones from the games, with most attacks landing without problem or being countered in unimpressive ways and the Pokemon' sizes and movement options being irrelevant. My theory is that it was made on purpose so Ash's "unpredictable" style would look more distinct later, but even then it could have been written better.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we've ever seen a Gigantamax/Dynamax beating something that isn't another Gigantamax/Dynamax?(Mega evolutions and regular Pokemon always beat them, only once they drew) The writers really hate Gen 8...

(EDIT: I remembered Ash's Gengar beat Flygon but that wasn't even the main battle of the match)

 

[jjliang]

Considering the last time we heard Diantha's Gardevoir's voice in the dub, do you think Horace's Gardevoir's voice in the dub will sound more like Melodi's from DP020? Which Gardevoir actually sounds more like a Gardevoir? How are Diantha's and Horace's Gardevoir different from each other?

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

That moment when you realize this is the second time we've seen a giant Dragonite in the anime.

Actually, just learned something interesting: if the two-week break hadn't happened, the two "giant Dragonite" episodes would've aired 25 years apart to the date.

 

[EXGShadow]

I really liked the battle, Diantha used Aurorus and Gourgeist's support movepool gracefully, and Lance's Dragonite is a beast. It took 3 supereffective moves to the face and still kept going. That thing has multiscale for sure.

After a really boring start, the tournament seems to be heading in a good direction, with Iris and Cynthia having a full episode dedicated to their battle.

And keep those cameos coming!

 

[PokeMasterLA]

Considering the last time we heard Diantha's Gardevoir's voice in the dub, do you think Horace's Gardevoir's voice in the dub will sound more like Melodi's from DP020? Which Gardevoir actually sounds more like a Gardevoir? How are Diantha's and Horace's Gardevoir different from each other?

Each Pokemon species in the English dub seem to pretty much be voiced the by the one VA that gets the role of that specific Pokemon.

For example all Lucario in the English dub (not including Movie 8) are voiced by Bill Rogers regardless of which Lucario it is, and they all use the same cry provided by the VA.

In the case of Gardevoir, that Pokemon is voiced by Michele Knotz which means Horace’s Gardevoir will most certainly be voiced by her and will most likely sound like all the other Gardevoir she has voiced.

There has been a few cases where they use different VAs for the same Pokemon in the English dub. A good example would be Ash’s Snivy and Trip’s Snivy, due to their gender differences. So they did go out of their way make Ash’s Snivy sound more “feminine”.

 

[Paulisthebest]

Oh, I REALLY loved the moment where Hydregion took out Gouregist and Lance took out Gyarados' Pokeball to thank it because the victory was due to how hard it fought to weaken it prior to fainting.

Not a fan of how EASILY the shiny serpent went down, but that one little moment of appreciation from Lance was great

 

[Eitarou]

OK, finally watched the ep. Lance, what hell is wrong with you, leading with a not very effective Hyper Beam against a friggin Rock/Ice-type?! You might've actually won if you didn't leave Dragonite open like that. Twice, even!

 

[Paulisthebest]

OK, finally watched the ep. Lance, what hell is wrong with you, leading with a not very effective Hyper Beam against a friggin Rock/Ice-type?! You might've actually won if you didn't leave Dragonite open like that. Twice, even!

Seriously! Light Screen was called BEFORE Lance yelled for a Hyper Beam! He should've used that chance to immediately go for a 4x effective Body Press, so he could've avoided the Hyper Beam recharge time to get hit with that Blizzard!

 

[Queen Cynthia]

Just wondering if Lance had added a bit more strategy to his style, then he would probably have won it. But leaving his Pokemon open and vulnerable for counterattacks and obviously not having any dodging techniques (which really surprised me) was the key to Diantha's victory

As a sidenote: Anybody here who agrees with me that Gourgeist's Pokedex entry is not only disturbing but pretty horrifying? ("It's singing joyfully while watching the suffering of its opponent") I knew that entry already, but I was surprised they actually mentioned it in the show.

 

[Gard81]

I'm so happy Diantha won. It's not exactly a rewarding experience having her as a fave Champion, what with the constant denigration of people calling her the weakest. So this felt really gratifying.
Though I'm not exactly looking forward to her next match, where her opponent has been built up by the series as Ash's final challenge. Still, she'll at least be in the Top 4, that's definitely better than when she entered the Tournament.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

 

[Max1996]

What little Japanese I know tells me that Jessie's wondering "Is my Gourgeist doing all right now?" or something along those lines.

 

[Imtnt]

I think it was overall a great episode, mainly because of good animation and being a whole epiaode for that 1 match.

I'm still not sure if Im cool with the match being too much like the game. And I think it wasnt what I wanted to see from a match between champions. Only one of the was struggeling and he lost because of overall type disadvantage realy..

 

[nickdt]

This episode had me wishing James's Inkay evolved into a Malamar, then we could have the same as in this episode with Jessie.

 

[Vincentz0811]

Too bad they didn't have Tobias to participate in this Masters Tournament and I think he'll still going to KO all of them again.