Review JN128: Climax! The Night Before the Decisive Battle! Satoshi VS Dande!!

[FinnishPokéFan92]

To sum up: The Cynthia-part of this episode was just wonderful while the rest was nothing special to comment on.

I respectfully disagree: the reveal of Leon's full team was a pretty big piece of news.

 

[jbmasta]

How much of the episode is new footage and how much is skippable if you prefer not to watch clip show episodes?

 

[Queen Cynthia]

I respectfully disagree: the reveal of Leon's full team was a pretty big piece of news.

Haha and who ares about Leon? Btw his team is pretty unbalanced from a competitive point of view

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Haha and who ares about Leon? Btw his team is pretty unbalanced from a competitive point of view

I'm sure there are lots of people who like Leon, me included. He's a pretty interesting take on a Champion, being basically a grown-up player character. I know Cynthia is popular, but different people have different favorites, and Cynthia is not at the top of everyone's list of favorite Champions.

And, in fact, the fact that Leon has two Fire types was actually addressed in the clip show, likely foreshadowing the fact that Cinderace has Libero and can thus change its type on a moment's notice.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

And, in fact, the fact that Leon has two Fire types was actually addressed in the clip show, likely foreshadowing the fact that Cinderace has Libero and can thus change its type on a moment's notice.

But let's not forget his Fire-type weakness due to Mr Rime and Rillaboom being Ice and Grass-types respectively

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

But let's not forget his Fire-type weakness due to Mr Rime and Rillaboom being Ice and Grass-types respectively

Cynthia has Pokémon that share weaknesses as well, like both Milotic and Togekiss being weak to Electric, and Garchomp and Roserade both being weak to Ice. Everyone's teams have shared weaknesses.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

We'll see what they' ll come up with. But personally I wouldn't be too confident.

 

[Audino1008]

But let's not forget his Fire-type weakness due to Mr Rime and Rillaboom being Ice and Grass-types respectively

It doesn't really matter because the only Fire-Type move Ash's team has is Will-O-Wisp and that's a status move.
This is just the team he chose for this fight against Ash, I'm sure all champions have like, at least 20 reserves each.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

 

[Alola]

I know the commentator's comment on Leon having two Fire-types is to draw attention to the eventual subversion with Cinderace's Libero, but with Ash's team literally having two Dragon-types (who share weaknesses unlike Lucario & Sirfetch'd) and two Fighting-types, it rung a bit hypocritical to me.

 

[Greninjaman]

I just looked at Ash's team in a team builder:
He has three weaknesses to Ground: Lucario, Pikachu, and Gengar (assuming it does not have the ability Levitate)
He has three weaknesses to Fairy: Dragonite, Sirfetch'd, and Dracovish
He has two weaknesses to Dragon: Dragonite and Dracovish
He has two weaknesses to Psychic: Gengar and Sirfetch'd

He at least one resistance against every type except Ghost and Psychic.

 

[BigDocFan]

VA list translated courtesy of PaperSplash

Ash - Rica Matsumoto
Goh - Daiki Yamashita
Pikachu - Ikue Ohtani
Spiritomb - Megumi Hayashibara
Charizard (Leon) - Kenta Miyake
Charizard (Alain) - Kensuke Satō
Lucario - Daisuke Namikawa
Haxorus - Tatsuki Kobe
Togekiss - Hana Takeda
Commentator - Yuji Ueda
Lance - Susumu Chiba
Steven - Kenichi Suzumura
Leon - Daisuke Ono
Cynthia - Tomo Sakurai
Diantha - Fumiko Orikasa
Alain - Kenshō Ono
Iris - Aoi Yūki
Dan - Yō Kitazawa
Josie Announcer - Kei Shindō

 

[Gabo2oo]

I totally forgot to watch this episode before JN129 lmao

So, as a motion graphics specialist, these "episodes" are always interesting to see. The editing is really clean and they make the most of it with pre-existing assets, I love what they did with the poster for example. I also love the details such as putting "sample footage" for Leon's Pokémon since... well, we don't have much of that.

All that aside, the clip shows themselves are mostly a borefest of course. I probably would've liked them way more if they were hosted by actual recurring characters like Team Rocket or Professor Oak but I guess there's no budget for that sort of thing either?

---

Here’s some tidbits from the news someone on 4chan translated:

Pikachu is the smallest Pokémon to ever be in the Masters 8
Pikachu likes to go around the local shops searching for the best food
Pikachu’s favorite food is milk bread with ketchup

When Lucario was a Riolu he spent most of his time training with Raboot and Mr. Mime
Lucario watches videos of Ash’s previous League battles at Sakuragi Institute
Lucario was both proud and moist when it defeated Garchomp

Sirfetch’d was trained by Wikstrom of the Elite Four
Sirfetch’d protects Ash and his friends outside of battle
Sirfetch’d got in a fight with the press after a post-battle interview

Things that sway catch Dracovish’s attention
Dracovish fell in love with Cynthia’s Milotic because of its tail
Garchomp stops Dracovish from making any advances on it

Gengar loves to surprise people and Pokémon
Gengar performed a lot of pranks on everyone in the waiting room
Gengar scared Cynthia’s Spiritomb and it got mad and they ended up getting into a fight

Dragonite loves hugs
Dragonite’s hugs give a tranquil feeling
Dragonite gave Iris’ Dragonite a hug and it smiled

Leon’s Charizard’s nickname is Mr. Daimonji, which literally means Mr. Great Blaze

Just a shame we had to be told it rather than shown it because these would’ve been great.

I'll paraphrase the translations from certain, more reliable fansubs here for accuracy's sake, since some of them differ greatly from that 4chan post.

Pikachu​

• The smallest and lightest Pokémon in the tournament, he's also a big eater
• He's sometimes seen stuffing his cheeks with local delicacies
• His favorite one is ketchup-filled Watchog buns (from Unova, seen in JN048)

Lucario​

• Mr. Mime was often his training partner as a Riolu
• It watches over its pupil over the TV from the Sakuragi Institute
• He's said to have a proud expression and misty eyes

Sirfetch'd​

• An Elite Four member taught him his knightly ways (obviously referring to Wikstrom)
• He protects Ash and his friends even outside of battles
• He constantly drives away the press after their battles

Dracovish​

• It can't help but bite onto wiggling things
• It seems to be after Cynthia's Milotic's tail
• So far Garchomp has kept it from taking even one bite

Gengar​

• He loves to scare people and Pokémon alike
• He pulls off pranks in the waiting rooms for the tournament
• He even scared Cynthia's Spiritomb, but it ended up taking its revenge

Dragonite​

• She has a kind and gentle personality and loves hugging others
• It's said that her hugs are very comforting
• Even Iris's Dragonite couldn't help but smile when hugged by her

From what I gathered, "Mr. Daimonji" is the name of the host for this episode, no connection with Leon's Charizard.