Preview JN132: The Finals IV: "Partner"

[El Squibbonator]

I’ve been thinking about that too. It would be more unusual than not for Ash to lose an official battle against a game character. Granted, he had to battle Brandon three times, but I don’t think anyone seriously thought he would never defeat him. Defeating Leon is a necessary part of Leon’s role in the story, after all. Remember that, for all the deviations the anime makes from the games, Ash does ultimately represent the player character. Any opponent the player is meant to defeat, Ash will defeat as well. This is arguably the reason characters like Tobias, Alain and Cameron even exist, and why they seem to come out of nowhere. If Ash isn’t allowed to lose against game characters, introducing new characters is the only way to keep him from being invincible, from a writing perspective.

The endings of the various anime arcs reflect this. Ash won the Alola League because, in the games, the player's story concludes with them becoming Alola's first ever champion. Previous regions were shown in the anime to have a League tournament, whose relationship to the Elite Four and the Champion is not always made clear. Ash usually loses in these, always to anime-original characters. In Alola, it is stated both in the games and the anime that there is no such thing. The player is the first Alolan Champion, and therefore so is Ash. In Galar, likewise, the player's story arc concludes with them dealing Leon his first-ever defeat. We know Leon is also undefeated in the anime, as this fact has been repeatedly mentioned.

So if Journeys is at all like Sun/Moon, it will end with Ash attaining the game protagonist's goal and defeating Leon. If not, I imagine Ash will at least tie with Leon, with Pikachu and either Cinderace or Charizard fainting at the same time.

 

[Eitarou]

If Morpeko doesn't shove a sandwich down its black hole of a stomach, then all these eating scenes are for nothing. It's such an obvious nod/promotion for the next games.

 

[JinksChow]

True. He's even defeated every Gym Leader he's battled against, excluding only Cress (not required to rematch since beating Cilan and Chili was enough), Cheren (unofficial battle), and Opal (unofficial battle). Elite Four members and Champions were an exception before Journeys, as defeating them wasn't necessary for Ash and showed he still had room to grow.

Not exactly, there are at least two examples that I can think of:

• Ash only tied against Maylene in their official gym battle
• While Ash beat Wattson in their official gym battle, Pikachu was supercharged and thus it shouldn't be considered that Ash won using his own power. Upon their rematch, Ash lost to Wattson, meaning Ash never defeated Wattson in a fair battle

And this is without going into OS shenanigans, with Erika and Sabrina being prime examples

 

[El Squibbonator]

Well, in the original series, the "rules" for what the anime did and didn't do hadn't really been set in stone yet. You didn't really see Ash getting gym badges without defeating the gym leader in question after Kanto. There was Wattson, admittedly, but Ash still defeated him even if Pikachu was overpowered, so I don't know how much it counts.

Regarding Alola, keep in mind that Gladion is also a game character, so in hindsight Ash's victory over him was a foregone conclusion. Is it still possible he might lose? Yes. But it would be very unlike the show's writers to have him lose against a character from the games who exists to be defeated.

 

[Singaporean]

Regardless of such, all the buildup of special preview, all the blessing from Alola and all the advantages (All three mechanics allowed to used). There is simply no way, Ash will lose. Unless is a draw.

 

[El Squibbonator]

Are you saying "There's no way, Ash will lose" or "there's no way Ash will lose"? Very different things.

 

[Daren]

You know, as far as I can recall this is probably the most uncertain I've been on how I think a major battle will go. I thought he was probably going to lose in Kalos and probably win in Alola even though I had doubt both times (probably most strongly in Alola before the leak). Here I'm unable to quite lean either way because I see what I feel are strong arguments either way.

 

[Alola]

Who do I think will win? At this point, Leon. Cinderace is ridiculously strong, evident from its skirmish with Pikachu and battle with Dracovish; it's taken absolutely no damage and can render half of Pikachu's moveset obsolete and the other half ineffective with Libero. And before that, we have Charizard, which is clearly not going down without a tremendous fight. What I think the writers will grant Ash is a victory over Charizard, which will be unprecedented in-universe and celebrated in its own right, but Cinderace will come in and clean-up an exhausted Pikachu. It feels appropriate given the writers usual penchant with Ash - they've allowed him to be a regional Champion, but I don't think they're okay yet with giving him the title of strongest Trainer in the world.

Of course I could be wrong, but it's what I think. I also don't think they have too much time to fit everything in 22 minutes. They've got to tie up Eternatus's screentime, do the final Pikachu Vs. Charizard, as well as throw in Cinderace somewhere, and then victory shenanigans. Oh, and anymore cameos too should there be any as well as comments from those allowed to speak, like Dawn and Professor Oak.

Whatever happens, it will be eventful. And I love how it isn't clear what the outcome will be given everything that has happened before and how the fight is being handled at the moment.

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

You know, as far as I can recall this is probably the most uncertain I've been on how I think a major battle will go. I thought he was probably going to lose in Kalos and probably win in Alola even though I had doubt both times (probably most strongly in Alola before the leak). Here I'm unable to quite lean either way because I see what I feel are strong arguments either way.

I personally think that Ash will for sure win.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Not exactly, there are at least two examples that I can think of:

• Ash only tied against Maylene in their official gym battle
• While Ash beat Wattson in their official gym battle, Pikachu was supercharged and thus it shouldn't be considered that Ash won using his own power. Upon their rematch, Ash lost to Wattson, meaning Ash never defeated Wattson in a fair battle

And this is without going into OS shenanigans, with Erika and Sabrina being prime examples

Forgot about those. I'd still think Ash did technically beat Wattson, and Ash tried to return the Badge after what he felt was an unfair win, which is more than what can be said about many of those Kanto Badges, but Wattson allowed him to keep it. And Maylene I legitimately forgot about. Should've added that to the list of exceptions.

 

[flowerfun]

Sooo we have new episode titles now.

 

[RileyXY1]

Sooo we have new episode titles now.

What are these translated into English?

 

[flowerfun]

What are these translated into English?

JN133: Project Mew
JN134: Grasp the future!
JN135: Pokemon!

It is worth pointing out that this could be fake. Also tbh none of these sound like actual episode titles, though it's probably just twitter's translator feature.

 

[XavierAnime]

JN133: Project Mew
JN134: Grasp the future!
JN135: Pokemon!

It is worth pointing out that this could be fake. Also tbh none of these sound like actual episode titles, though it's probably just twitter's translator feature.

Yes, I believe it is fake.

 

[nickdt]

JN133: Project Mew
JN134: Grasp the future!
JN135: Pokemon!

It is worth pointing out that this could be fake. Also tbh none of these sound like actual episode titles, though it's probably just twitter's translator feature.

Soo... Pokemon is probably the last episode then... before Paldea starts.

 

[El Squibbonator]

I’ve seen some leaks on Reddit suggesting that Ash will win, but I’m not sure how seriously to take them.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I’ve seen some leaks on Reddit suggesting that Ash will win, but I’m not sure how seriously to take them.

Reddit is a place where it's wise to not take anything (or at least most) of the stuff you see there at face value.

 

[El Squibbonator]

Have there been any reputable leaks for this episode?

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

Have there been any reputable leaks for this episode?

Spoiler