Review JN124: The Semifinals III: "Valor"

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Popular =/= Good. And my complaint was about its overuse in this episode.

To be completely fair, the "get Ash's Journeys team" event did have Dracovish's nature as Naive, so it being somewhat childish would be perfectly in character. The real issue is that Dracovish unfortunately hasn't had enough focus or character moments before this point for this aspect of its personality to be apparent.

 

[Sai]

• Jaw bite hitting Milotic although Dracovish and his mouth in particular were completely immobilized and blocked

They showed the flashback to this when Diantha was talking to Leon about it, it was at that point it bit Milotic.

• According to the Pokedex, Stealth Rock creates invisible(!!) rocks. So, Sirfetch'd magically destroying them was not only an insult to every fan taking the battle mechanics seriously but , what's even worse, it's also nothing but impossible nonsense that's still outraging me. And no, Ash's crazy tactics do not count as an excuse here because outright nonsense has nothing to do with tactics.

Out of all the things in this episode, Sirfetch'd destroying the stealth rocks was the best thing of the episode. Not sure why it matters if the games say they're "invisible" or whatever. Also all the rocks were likely floating on the same level in the air, throwing the shield around in a circle should certainly take them out. I have no idea why this bothers you of all things, stealth rock does minimal damage per turn and isn't even an essential move toward winning.

• Last but not least, what angered me the most was the fact that neither Roserade nor Garchomp were allowed to dodge but simply had to stand there and wait for the impact. For God's sake, writers, do you think our great Cynthia isn't actually smart enough to order her Pokemon to dodge? Seriously? How insulting! Roserade could have used Wine Whip to jump and Garchomp could just have soared into the sky... no, what happened instead was the writers were realizing their "golden boy" needed some victories now, no matter how stupid, far-fetched or cheap. Plot Armor says hi once again...

This is a strange thing to bring up, since the same happens on both sides and during every battle in the tournament. Pokemon will always get hit by some attacks, and others they jump out of the way, this is how the entire series has been written for 25 years. The fact that you're ok when Ash's Pokemon get hit but not Cynthia's really does prove as others said above which character you're bias for.

 

[Alola]

I enjoyed this episode a lot! Namely because of Iwane's animation - a lot of the combat felt fluid and we didn't have any background blur for the Pokémon at all (although Cynthia had some when sending out her Pokémon).

• Dracovish Vs. Garchomp. Garchomp's entry animation is so well done - I loved her roaring as well as the way the dust scattered each time. That aside, Cynthia switching was quite curious to me. Garchomp showed she could outmanevuer Dracovish, and after that Dragon Claw it was too stunned - that was a free Scale Shot or Draco Meteor... Using Stealth Rock was nice to see, but it should have been something she began with in the prior episode - Sirfecth'd being the only one hit by it lessened the impact for me; it isn't like she's averse to switching Garchomp in and out of combat.
• Dracovish Vs. Roserade. The weakest battle for me, personally. I enjoyed Poison Jab poisoning and Roserade confirming everyone's Natural Cure suspicions, but its ending felt pretty lackluster; they didn't even have it try to dodge any of Dracovish's attacks, despite being as nimble as it is. This all said, Dracovish got its cleanest win to date, in my opinion. I also agree with GD - Dracovish getting upset would have been more substantial if this was a recurring character trait.
• Dracovish Vs. Milotic. The reveal of Dracovish successfully landing Fishious Rend was unique and satisfying to see. I really enjoyed the music here as well as Milotic revisiting its Iron Head Dragon Killer technique.
• Sirfetch'd Vs. Milotic. Seeing Fury Cutter hit and animated as it was makes me question, again, why Ash's Sirfetch'd doesn't know Leaf Blade; it fits for several great reasons, namely as it uses a plant as a weapon and the move goes with critical hit ratio characteristic of the species... That aside, Sirfetch'd getting rid of the Stealth Rock was pretty cool, as was Milotic knocking away its shield on its return. Meteor Assault continues to impress and another victory for one of Ash's lesser used Journeys Pokémon.
• Sirfetch'd Vs. Garchomp. My favorite battle of the episode; it was short, sweet, and straight to the point. The music was great, too. It may just be me, but I felt like Sirfetch'd's moveset wasn't concrete until now - I feel like it has been a while since we've seen Detect... That aside, I loved the clash between Dragon Claw and Fury Cutter, as well as how Meteor Assault actually caused Garchomp to stumble...which I don't think anyone has done to Cynthia's Garchomp on-screen. The ending was powerful too - Sirfetch'd giving "I may bleed, but I will not fall" vibes. What a good duck.
• Lucario Vs. Togekiss. Air Slash continues to look horrible here and this was such a missed opportunity to have Ash destroy Cynthia's flinching strategy with Inner Focus or Steadfast...but no. At least Lucario got to repeatedly punch Togekiss into the ground though! My brother thought Togekiss sounded too human-like; I loved its voice though, and it was a nice difference from Dawn's. I'm looking forward to seeing how Cynthia uses it Dynamaxed as well as the rest of its moveset (it looks like it has Sky Attack too...).
• Bonus Round: Cinderace. Wow, Cinderace - it couldn't be bothered to watch any of Ash's other Pokémon, but shows up for Lucario...who he hasn't watched battle for a while now. Where was he during the Bea battle? Vs. Raihan? Paul? It would have been a sweet gesture had I not been rolling my eyes at the contrived nature of it all - the writers literally remembered at the last second that the two were supposed to be friends and it showed.

Speaking of Dynamax, while I do appreciate Cynthia powering up another party member, I won't lie - it is disappointing knowing we won't get Mega Lucario Vs. Mega Garchomp; I just won't be able to help with the "What If?" knowing that Ash technically hasn't defeated Cynthia's ace at her very best. Which, at this point of the PWC, should be a given. We don't need to see Lucario defeat another Dynamaxed opponent. And why are Garchomp's offensive moves all of the Dragon type? That seems...so unlike Cynthia; Arceus forbid Ash had a Fairy type in his party. I know it's the anime, but still - they could have made Scale Shot Stone Edge or some other projectile move or something different (and thus a splash of variety) altogether; Bulldoze, Dig, Flamethrower, Brick Break, Stomping Tantrum, the list goes on. But it is what it is. It's also concerning that we still don't have any cameos of others watching Ash's battle with Cynthia; wouldn't Dawn of all people be tuning in to this?

Admittedly, I'm not looking forward to this Friday as much as I did the previous, as I feel this episode was where it was at animation-wise. We'll see, though.

 

[Daren]

It's also concerning that we still don't have any cameos of others watching Ash's battle with Cynthia; wouldn't Dawn of all people be tuning in to this?

There's a theory that Ash's travelling companions are being saved for the finals to cheer him on against Leon, which I consider pretty plausible.

 

[Alola]

There's a theory that Ash's travelling companions are being saved for the finals to cheer him on against Leon, which I consider pretty plausible.

I'm aware, but I still don't think that means that those with relationships to Ash & Cynthia couldn't have a quick cameo like a number of rivals and other people got to have earlier. Dawn was recently with Cynthia in the LoA special, was brought out by Cynthia to Unova, interacted with her during her Sinnoh travels, and has appeared the most in Journeys out of all of Ash's friends - a quick cameo by now at her house with her mom would have been appreciated and not outlandish.

 

[Imtnt]

Bonus Round: Cinderace. Wow, Cinderace - it couldn't be bothered to watch any of Ash's other Pokémon, but shows up for Lucario...who he hasn't watched battle for a while now. Where was he during the Bea battle? Vs. Raihan? Paul? It would have been a sweet gesture had I not been rolling my eyes at the contrived nature of it all - the writers literally remembered at the last second that the two were supposed to be friends and it showed.

Tbh, first thing I got in mind is "omg , they put him there for the spirit bomb"

And why are Garchomp's offensive moves all of the Dragon type? That seems...so unlike Cynthia; Arceus forbid Ash had a Fairy type in his party. I know it's the anime, but still - they could have made Scale Shot Stone Edge or some other projectile move or something different (and thus a splash of variety) altogether; Bulldoze, Dig, Flamethrower, Brick Break, Stomping Tantrum, the list goes on.

But the battle is not over yet.. we prob will see more than just claws against Lucario.
Plus against Dracovish it is the best option (added rocks), and against Sirfetchd it was for the knight showdown(or else it wasnt close to be as good matchup).

 

[Sai]

Regarding Garchomps moveset I don't think the writers even remember or care what moves it had in past series. It's really not a big deal, I wouldn't even remember what moves Garchomp had if I didn't read people posting lists on forums about it. I don't even know how people remember this stuff to begin with.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Regarding Garchomps moveset I don't think the writers even remember or care what moves it had in past series. It's really not a big deal, I wouldn't even remember what moves Garchomp had if I didn't read people posting lists on forums about it. I don't even know how people remember this stuff to begin with.

You'd be surprised how good memory some people have.

 

[Alola]

Regarding Garchomps moveset I don't think the writers even remember or care what moves it had in past series. It's really not a big deal, I wouldn't even remember what moves Garchomp had if I didn't read people posting lists on forums about it. I don't even know how people remember this stuff to begin with.

It’s not so much about remembering as it is paying attention to what’s in front of you.

In her battle with Ash so far, she has clearly used Dragon Claw, Scale Shot, Draco Meteor, and Stealth Rock. 3/4 of those are actual attacks and they are all Dragon type moves. Harmless speculation on what could replace one of them for the sake of variety isn’t something you have recount its previous moves for, necessarily.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

In addition to what @Alola said, it's not about viewers remembering Cynthia's Garchomp's past movesets specifically, but rather the fact that as a species, Garchomp is a dual-type that has a fairly diverse movepool with extensive coverage, so it's really strange that Cynthia would opt to go for something as restrictive as three Dragon-type moves plus one entry hazard. Even just replacing only one of those Dragon-type attacks with a Ground-type attack would already be diversifying Garchomp's coverage quite a bit while still technically being a "three STAB moves plus a filler" kind of moveset. More importantly, having Garchomp rely on nothing but her Dragon-type STAB for offense effectively neuters her as a threat to Lucario, who resists Dragon-type attacks.

And this restrictive moveset isn't even something that can be excused with moves of other types being difficult to animate; Dig, Stomping Tantrum, Brick Break, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Fire Fang, Crunch, Iron Head, Iron Tail, Stone Edge, Shadow Claw, Aerial Ace... all of these are attacks that Garchomp can learn and have been showcased multiple times due to their relative ease of animation. And the first six deal super-effective damage on Lucario.

 

[Eitarou]

So what you're saying is if Ash brought Mimey with him, he'd be nigh-untouchable.

 

[Imtnt]

In addition to what @Alola said, it's not about viewers remembering Cynthia's Garchomp's past movesets specifically, but rather the fact that as a species, Garchomp is a dual-type that has a fairly diverse movepool with extensive coverage, so it's really strange that Cynthia would opt to go for something as restrictive as three Dragon-type moves plus one entry hazard. Even just replacing only one of those Dragon-type attacks with a Ground-type attack would already be diversifying Garchomp's coverage quite a bit while still technically being a "three STAB moves plus a filler" kind of moveset. More importantly, having Garchomp rely on nothing but her Dragon-type STAB for offense effectively neuters her as a threat to Lucario, who resists Dragon-type attacks.

And this restrictive moveset isn't even something that can be excused with moves of other types being difficult to animate; Dig, Stomping Tantrum, Brick Break, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Fire Fang, Crunch, Iron Head, Iron Tail, Stone Edge, Shadow Claw, Aerial Ace... all of these are attacks that Garchomp can learn and have been showcased multiple times due to their relative ease of animation. And the first six deal super-effective damage on Lucario.

The only reason why Cynthia felt comfotable with 3 Dragon type + field moveset is the fact her Ace is going to be switched in and out, and she isnt looking for any covarage but only for whatever she consider best moves (or something).
It was a bad call, AND the use of late Stealth Rock made it even worst. I wonder if we will see her using 5th move.

 

[Soniman]

The arguments are sound however I myself don’t really care all that much because movesets and their coverage don’t matter much in a story based anime where the one who wins are left to the writers, a Pokémon can have a crap moveset and still win a battle handedly and vice versa if the writers so desire, so Lucario being good against dragon type moves will be mostly irrelevant I think, it’ll still be shown to receive heavy blows from Garchomp’s attacks and win by the skin of its teeth most likely.

There’s also the argument that having a more diverse no set would just be more entertaining to watch from a viewer’s perspective which is absolutely true as well

 

[Enzo]

I'm starting to feel as if people are overusing the term "Ash-pull." Its getting to ths point where we're using to to describe EVERY victory. Yeah, there's been some ridiculous ones, like Drasna, but its literally every battle now. If Ash does defeat Champion Cynthia, I'm really not looking forward to the reactions online.

This is exactly why I dreaded this battle and honestly wished it had never happened to begin with it. Yes, I said it.

I sincerely do not believe any "coolness" this might have will outweight how absolutely insufferable the internet will be for years to come when it ends.

 

[Eitarou]

We should just be lucky it's Ash facing her. He's probably the only Trainer here who could beat her and not cause the fandom to suffer a nuclear meltdown ala the Kalos League finale.

 

[Sai]

Well, please don't blame us fans for using that term. It's not our fault after all and it's not that I'm trying to be quarrelsome. I'm just mentioning things the writers(!) messed up with their bad writing

In that case there has to be at least some truth in it after all. As I just said, it's the writers' fault, not the fans'.

Now you're getting my point that they'll come up with all kind of unrealistic nonsense. If the writers decide that Ash has to win at all costs, they will just keep increasing the size oft Lucario's Hax Sphere...sorry I mean Aura Sphere until even the mightiest Champion is defeated. That's Plot Armor to me and that's exactly what's bothering me



That's not quite true I'm afraid. Ash didn't get jack. When Go said, Lucario will be fine, he was referring to his ability Inner Focus. And that's why Lucario didn't(!) flinch.

By throwing a shield around blindly you can at best hit a few rocks by pure chance because you don't know where they are. But precisely destroying all(!) the invisible rocks is a perfect example of Plot Armor and unfair support for Ash by the writer just because he needed it in that situation.

Wouldn't agree here, especially with the "clearly" part. But I admit this is a subjective observation.


You could see it that way but we can't know for sure until we get an official explanation. However, you can't deny either that it smells a lot like "Oh, Ash would be doomed if we allowed Cynthia to use Mega-Garchomp. So let's Dynamax one of her " normal" Pokémon instead to find an easy way out of that dilemma".
And the fact Leon had realized before the Garchomp vs Sirfetch'd battle that Cynthia had a different plan shows it wasn't because of Garchomp being hit by Star Assault but it has always been the writers' (wicked) plan


Plot Armor is when a character is super strong or invincible because he's the protagonist for example. But in the scene you're mentioning it was Ash's free decision to keep Dragonite in the battle. Even if I weren't a Cynthia fan, I couldn't see any Plot Armor for Cynthia whatsoever.


In general, let me say this:
Fans like me wouldn't complain about Plot Armor if the concept of Journeys hadn't been that fundamentally flawed. In the past you didn't know until the very end if Ash wins or loses (once again). But in Journeys you knew right from the start Ash and Leon are now established as the untouchables superheroes and that Ash will inevitably defeat them all.
Seeing how one great (and true) champion after another has been "destroyed" by that bad, flawed concept, as one of the greatest Cynthia fans I simply can't accept that the same should happen to one of the best, greatest and most popular characters in Pokemon

This whole post and all the others in this thread is you claiming "plot armor" whenever Ash's Pokemon manage an attack in on Cynthia. So no matter what Ash did, you would claim plot armor because you're obsessed with Cynthia. I mean this is clearly bad faith posting, and if this was any random character in Cynthia's place but the battle was the same, you would not be saying half the things you're saying now. The gimmick posting isn't enjoyable to read.

The fact that you're so bothered by Sirfetch'd hurting/hitting Garchomp is the most telling part of all. You need to stop treating Cynthia's pokemon as if they're unstoppable Gods.

 

[Konja7]

This is exactly why I dreaded this battle and honestly wished it had never happened to begin with it. Yes, I said it.

I sincerely do not believe any "coolness" this might have will outweight how absolutely insufferable the internet will be for years to come when it ends.

Fear of online reaction wouldn't have made me wish this battle to not happen.

In fact, online reaction makes me like Ash's victory even more. After all, if Cynthia fans will have this behavior, I'm even happier that Ash won the battle.

 

[Imtnt]

I'm just happy it was Reversal as a finishing move + and mega sized aura wasn't one even againt Togekiss (as I was hoping for since his first mega sized aura).

Bad animation in my opinion.. didnt like the double team and the fist fight was a great idea without being awsome animated in my opinion.

Ash's reaction to the win was great, good call for him talking to his current 6 at the end.

Makes me wonder... who will shine in the final?

 

[Sai]

Bad animation in my opinion.. didnt like the double team and the fist fight was a great idea without being awsome animated in my opinion.

I actually liked that double team scene, looked cool since it happened so fast.