Preview JN122: The Semifinals I: "Overwhelming Victory"

[Queen Cynthia]

How on Earth is Leon disrespecting Diantha by... going all out against her in a fair battle????

If anything, Leon not going all out against her would be actually disrespectful to her, because it's almost as if she "can't take it" and he has to go easy on her because she's a woman. Treating a female opponent like she's less than a male opponent would actually be disrespectful.

Listen, I get it. You don't like Leon, and that's absolutely fair and square and I'm not holding it against you. But please don't go around treating him like he's some sort of "mindless brute", because he's not one, obviously.

Then you got me wrong, sorry.
None of Leon's battles are fair to begin with. Simply because he isn't portrayed in a realistic way that would make sense at least a little bit. Instead, the writers keep shovelling the message down our throats he's some kind of super-human character from another world. And to make things worse he's making all those renowned and great champions look like stupid, inexperienced rookies. We've got to know those champions over many years and started to cherish and respect them for what they have accomplished. And then they introduce that exaggerated DEM-character out of nowhere just to destroy it all!
Look, all great sportsmen and women (or scientists or take whoever you like...) had to struggle and work hard to finally become what they're famous for nowadays. So, throwing a new character in the ring and more or less forcing the audience to assume that he's "perfect" right from the start and automatically surpasses all the other champions whose careers we've been witnessing for many years is completely frustrating. Don't you agree?

Now this brings me to my second point. I wasn't criticizing Leon for not going easy on Diantha because she's a woman. I was criticizing the fact that due to Leon's role mentioned above, Diantha has to be his next "victim" and the title implies that she'll be totally humiliated. Not because she's too weak to handle him (which she's clearly not!), but because she is forced by the plot to act that way.
And that's what my original point was: In Japanese culture (at least that's what a friend from Japan told me) people avoid humiliating or unmasking others publicly. If I'm not mistaken samurai warriors even used to commit suicide if they were humiliated by their enemies. So, as the title implies, Diantha will probably suffer a humiliating defeat because the flawed concept behing Leon's character forces her to. In my eyes, it's pretty surprising to see a lady getting such treatment in a Japanese show. Of course, Leon has to win in the end but why can't it be a very close and exciting battle, for example, which would surely be an acceptable and, above all, a face-saving solution for Diantha? Why another round of Leon wreaking havoc on all those great characters? (And to make things worse, this will make Ash's victory over Leon even more far-fetched, forced and implausible)

Last but not least, I never treated him as a "mindless brute". I'm just saying that character's totally flawed and it's not acceptable he undermines the importance of a tournament that could otherwise have been the greatest thing in the Anime so far.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Staff list, courtesy of Dephender.

Screenplay 冨岡淳広 (Atsuhiro Tomioka)
Storyboard 尼野浩正 (Hiromasa Amano)
Episode Director 野田泰宏 (Yasuhiro Noda)
Animation Director 山崎玲愛 (Rei Yamazaki)
Animation Director 大西雅也 (Masaya Onishi)

 

[nickdt]

So... my guess is that Leon only needs three mons to defeat Diantha's six.

 

[Imtnt]

It depends.. if he is using Charizard from the start, from the 2nd, 3rd...

 

[Enzo]

Okay, so... I got this info off a leaker on Twitter, so spoiler alert, and please, remember: we have to wait and see. Take this with a good spoonful of salt.

Spoiler: (POSSIBLE) MASSIVE SPOILER, WATCH OUT

• Ash x Cynthia starts in this ep. Whether that means Diantha got destroyed on a cataclysmic level Alain-style, or they just straight up skipped their battle and just told us the results and/or showed us a clip show/still image is still unknow;
• Cynthia has a Spiritomb and a Roserade;
• Ash begins with Pikachu and Cynthia with Spiritomb. Pikachu gets wrecked hard and loses, being Ash's first loss;
• Ash sends out Dracovish. It's unkown whether Dracovish manages to defeat Spiritomb or Spiritomb gets swapped out for Roserade;
• Roserade defeats Dracovish.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Okay, so... I got this info off a leaker on Twitter, so spoiler alert, and please, remember: we have to wait and see. Take this with a good spoonful of salt.

Spoiler: (POSSIBLE) MASSIVE SPOILER, WATCH OUT

• Ash x Cynthia starts in this ep. Whether that means Diantha got destroyed on a cataclysmic level Alain-style, or they just straight up skipped their battle and just told us the results and/or showed us a clip show/still image is still unknow;
• Cynthia has a Spiritomb and a Roserade;
• Ash begins with Pikachu and Cynthia with Spiritomb. Pikachu gets wrecked hard and loses, being Ash's first loss;
• Ash sends out Dracovish. It's unkown whether Dracovish manages to defeat Spiritomb or Spiritomb gets swapped out for Roserade;
• Roserade defeats Dracovish.

Spoiler

Passing on the spoonful of sugar (which of course helps makes the medicine go down too) but as for my thoughts:

Oh no. Oh no no no. This is NOT looking to be a good start to their battle if it does happen, and especially even worse for Diantha if they're just gonna run through her battle in the first half.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Okay, so... I got this info off a leaker on Twitter, so spoiler alert, and please, remember: we have to wait and see. Take this with a good spoonful of salt.

Spoiler: (POSSIBLE) MASSIVE SPOILER, WATCH OUT

• Ash x Cynthia starts in this ep. Whether that means Diantha got destroyed on a cataclysmic level Alain-style, or they just straight up skipped their battle and just told us the results and/or showed us a clip show/still image is still unknow;
• Cynthia has a Spiritomb and a Roserade;
• Ash begins with Pikachu and Cynthia with Spiritomb. Pikachu gets wrecked hard and loses, being Ash's first loss;
• Ash sends out Dracovish. It's unkown whether Dracovish manages to defeat Spiritomb or Spiritomb gets swapped out for Roserade;
• Roserade defeats Dracovish.

Spoiler

Ouch, poor Diantha. And poor Tyrantrum for that matter. This was a great opportunity to see the t-rex get more proper screentime but the most it's going to get is a greyed-out silohuette cameo from the look of things...

That said, Pikachu of all Pokemon supposedly being both the first one to go down and the designated fall guy on Ash's side does make me hugely skeptical of at least part of the leak. Because while, yes, the writers making Leon just barrel over Diantha as his upteenth display of how strong he is compared to everyone else is believable to the point of being painfully obvious, turning Pikachu into the jobber when it's been ages since they let him participate in matches with 2 or more Pokemon without taking at least one win is... quite a bit harder to buy.

 

[Daren]

Spoiler

Ouch, poor Diantha. And poor Tyrantrum for that matter. This was a great opportunity to see the t-rex get more proper screentime but the most it's going to get is a greyed-out silohuette cameo from the look of things...

That said, Pikachu of all Pokemon supposedly being both the first one to go down and the designated fall guy on Ash's side does make me hugely skeptical of at least part of the leak. Because while, yes, the writers making Leon just barrel over Diantha as his upteenth display of how strong he is compared to everyone else is believable to the point of being painfully obvious, turning Pikachu into the jobber when it's been ages since they let him participate in matches with 2 or more Pokemon without taking at least one win is... quite a bit harder to buy.

Spoiler

Not impossible but I'm also a bit skeptical. Pikachu is the JN member who can most afford to be fallguy once, but I don't think it's happened in quite a long time and it'd be weird to go from beating Stephen's ace to that, especially when he's one of the two characters who might be allowed to defeat Charizard.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Spoiler

Not impossible but I'm also a bit skeptical. Pikachu is the JN member who can most afford to be fallguy once, but I don't think it's happened in quite a long time and it'd be weird to go from beating Stephen's ace to that, especially when he's one of the two characters who might be allowed to defeat Charizard.

Spoiler

tbh, I'd even argue that Pikachu jobbing here would be rather strong evidence that Lucario will be the one to beat Leon's Charizard after all.

Granted, I personally wouldn't mind either of those things happening (like you said, Pikachu is the Pokemon who has the least to lose by being the fall guy, and Cynthia being able to pull off that stunt would certainly soften the blow of her losing to Ash for her fans), but I'd be very surprised if they did considering how well Pikachu has had it plus the fact that Ash's Lucario doesn't really have anything to prove by beating Leon's Charizard. Pikachu at the very least has actually met Charizard and battled him before, so there are stakes there unlike Charizard vs Lucario.

 

[Imtnt]

Okay, so... I got this info off a leaker on Twitter, so spoiler alert, and please, remember: we have to wait and see. Take this with a good spoonful of salt.

Spoiler: (POSSIBLE) MASSIVE SPOILER, WATCH OUT

• Ash x Cynthia starts in this ep. Whether that means Diantha got destroyed on a cataclysmic level Alain-style, or they just straight up skipped their battle and just told us the results and/or showed us a clip show/still image is still unknow;
• Cynthia has a Spiritomb and a Roserade;
• Ash begins with Pikachu and Cynthia with Spiritomb. Pikachu gets wrecked hard and loses, being Ash's first loss;
• Ash sends out Dracovish. It's unkown whether Dracovish manages to defeat Spiritomb or Spiritomb gets swapped out for Roserade;
• Roserade defeats Dracovish.

Spoiler

Sounds wrong.. Leon's battle could be shown from the middle, no worries there. But Pikachu lose in the first round and then Dracovish is losing just to create 3 episodes 4 vs 6? They could just make it 3 vs 3 without both of them and without Gengar.. Maybe starting with Pikachu and lose as the end of the episode sounds more realistic...

 

[Sai]

I think we just won't see the full battle of Diantha/Leon and it'll just cut to her last two or so Pokemon standing. That sounds far more realistic than seeing 6 Pokemon of hers go down on-screen in an episode. It makes more sense to montage it.

 

[Enzo]

Spoiler

I mean, Pikachu can afford to be the fall guy. Would it be weird as fuck and very controversial? Definitely. But my guys, JN (heck, even the anime as a whole) has done weirder things than that.

Also, I'm assuming it's cuz they want Lucario, Sirfecth'd and Dragonite to truly shine in this battle, but still, it's weird. Especially since, if Ash wins this, Pikachu is most likely gonna be his answer to Leon's Charizard and therefore the star of the battle, which would make this choice of making him go down to Cynthia so easily 10x as strange as it already is. Ehh....

Btw, I gotta say this. I'm in no way wanting to say this into existence, but guys,,, I have a dreading feeling Ash is not gonna survive Cynthia. Idk why, I just feel it deep in my bones.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Spoiler

tbh, I'd even argue that Pikachu jobbing here would be rather strong evidence that Lucario will be the one to beat Leon's Charizard after all.

Granted, I personally wouldn't mind either of those things happening (like you said, Pikachu is the Pokemon who has the least to lose by being the fall guy, and Cynthia being able to pull off that stunt would certainly soften the blow of her losing to Ash for her fans), but I'd be very surprised if they did considering how well Pikachu has had it plus the fact that Ash's Lucario doesn't really have anything to prove by beating Leon's Charizard. Pikachu at the very least has actually met Charizard and battled him before, so there are stakes there unlike Charizard vs Lucario.

Spoiler

If the leak is true, I think Pikachu going down early is not so much of an evidence towards Mega Lucario being used as Ash's last mon against Leon, but rather as his last mon against Cynthia's Mega Garchomp. That way, Ash will also use his second gimmick in this match and leave his last one, namely Dynamax/Gigantamax, until the last match with Leon. (Also, my guess is Ash will use Gigantamax Pikachu instead of Gigantamax Gengar, as a callback to Ash and Leon's first unofficial match.)

 

[flowerfun]

Okay, so... I got this info off a leaker on Twitter, so spoiler alert, and please, remember: we have to wait and see. Take this with a good spoonful of salt.

Spoiler: (POSSIBLE) MASSIVE SPOILER, WATCH OUT

• Ash x Cynthia starts in this ep. Whether that means Diantha got destroyed on a cataclysmic level Alain-style, or they just straight up skipped their battle and just told us the results and/or showed us a clip show/still image is still unknow;
• Cynthia has a Spiritomb and a Roserade;
• Ash begins with Pikachu and Cynthia with Spiritomb. Pikachu gets wrecked hard and loses, being Ash's first loss;
• Ash sends out Dracovish. It's unkown whether Dracovish manages to defeat Spiritomb or Spiritomb gets swapped out for Roserade;
• Roserade defeats Dracovish.

Spoiler

Hey, remember what I said about thinking the masters 8 will improve when these battles come out? Well, I take it back. The masters 8 has been so...disappointing so far, so many of the battles feel like they're rushed with most of the pokemon being taken out in like 2-3 hits. Not to mention how sluggish the battles feel, even when pokemon dodge it feels slow like they have weights tied to their backs. The battles here are just underwhelming so far and this is not helping in the slightest...

 

[Sai]

Most pokemon in leagues have always gone down in a few hits till the last Pokemon standing even in the Kalos League. Iwane is on Cynthia's third episode so I am not concerned about the animation here. The Steven fight also had good animation for this series and a step above the previous two.

 

[flowerfun]

True, however, the pokemon in those leagues didn't go down so quickly, they at least put up a decent fight. We don't see pokemon constantly getting taken down in 2-3 hits in other leagues, the masters 8 on the other hand has some incredibly rushed battles with a lot of questionable moments. Pokemon just get taken out too quickly in the masters 8, other leagues had that too but not like this.

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

Okay, so... I got this info off a leaker on Twitter, so spoiler alert, and please, remember: we have to wait and see. Take this with a good spoonful of salt.

Spoiler: (POSSIBLE) MASSIVE SPOILER, WATCH OUT

• Ash x Cynthia starts in this ep. Whether that means Diantha got destroyed on a cataclysmic level Alain-style, or they just straight up skipped their battle and just told us the results and/or showed us a clip show/still image is still unknow;
• Cynthia has a Spiritomb and a Roserade;
• Ash begins with Pikachu and Cynthia with Spiritomb. Pikachu gets wrecked hard and loses, being Ash's first loss;
• Ash sends out Dracovish. It's unkown whether Dracovish manages to defeat Spiritomb or Spiritomb gets swapped out for Roserade;
• Roserade defeats Dracovish.

Spoiler

PIKACHU AND DRACOVISH JOB AND ASH IS DOWN 2-0 EARLY ONLY TO COME BACK AND WIN? HOLY FUCK JN STOP DOING THIS IM TIRED OF THIS IN EVERY SINGLE FUCKING ASH BATTLE

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Spoiler: Episode summary

Courtesy of Anipoke Fandom

 

[Twilight-Kun]

Spoiler: Ash & Cynthia

Man, wouldn't it be stupid if the pokemon with literally over a decade of experience lost to a pokemon that's less than a year old given its trainer was ten when he got it, ten when it evolved, and still ten when it battled in matches against the world's (current) strongest trainers

 

[Daren]

Spoiler

tbh, I'd even argue that Pikachu jobbing here would be rather strong evidence that Lucario will be the one to beat Leon's Charizard after all.

Granted, I personally wouldn't mind either of those things happening (like you said, Pikachu is the Pokemon who has the least to lose by being the fall guy, and Cynthia being able to pull off that stunt would certainly soften the blow of her losing to Ash for her fans), but I'd be very surprised if they did considering how well Pikachu has had it plus the fact that Ash's Lucario doesn't really have anything to prove by beating Leon's Charizard. Pikachu at the very least has actually met Charizard and battled him before, so there are stakes there unlike Charizard vs Lucario.

Spoiler

On one hand as has been observed before Pikachu is a Pokémon who least needs extra wins.
However Pikachu beating Charizard with a type advantage and tons of experience would make more sense than Lucario doing it, and it feels fitting for Ash's starter to be the one who defeats the world champion--and as I've noted before, all of Ash's major boss victories (Drake, Brandon, Kukui) were by Pikachu.

Spoiler

Btw, I gotta say this. I'm in no way wanting to say this into existence, but guys,,, I have a dreading feeling Ash is not gonna survive Cynthia. Idk why, I just feel it deep in my bones.

Spoiler

Ash losing to Cynthia would be odd considering it would render the interviews hyping Ash reaching his apex, becoming "more unbeatable", and fighting an ultimate battle all pointless, but this series and franchise have done much, much weirder things than that.