Review Kalos League Review

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Mega Charizard X, by contrast, remained undefeated throughout the whole league tournament.

My biggest issue about that Charizard. It was hyped up so much as this unstoppable force, very similarly to Darkrai. We had to see it sweep Trevor's entire team, and Remo's Mega Garchomp. Why did they go through the trouble of hyping it up and having Ash lose twice to it before, only for Ash to fail to beat it once again?

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

If Ash is going to release two out of his six pokemon he has in his team then he didn't deserve to win the league. The only time he should release pokemon is if he has more than 6 pokemon. In Kalos, he just had a full team with no 7th or reserve. So Ash losing was a good thing. The overhyped was bad but the loss is fine by me now.

 

[Shadao]

You can always use Alain's association with Team Flare to deny him any sort of victory in the League. No matter what amends he tries to make in the future, he has and always will be inferior to Ash as a trainer.

Personally, I think they missed a good opportunity of revealing that Alain unwittingly cheated because the Mega Ring provided by Lysandre is unnaturally helping Charizard without his knowledge. We know it was capable to absorbing Mega Evolution energy and that's how Lysandre has been getting them to control Zygarde. If there was a side-effect to that stored energy, it would be secretly giving Mega Charizard X more energy to remain active longer than it should.

And it's not like it would alter the story that much considering that Alain ends up tossing the Mega Ring into the garbage can known as the Police Station and he intends to find a legit Mega Stone and Keystone for himself. Meaning that he views his old one as being unearned and a badge of shame. And thus all of achievements he got with that ring to be null and void.

After all, by throwing the Mega Ring away, he essentially loses Mega Charizard X for good (unless the writers decide to bring him back and do a proper rematch between him and Ash).

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

You can always use Alain's association with Team Flare to deny him any sort of victory in the League. No matter what amends he tries to make in the future, he has and always will be inferior to Ash as a trainer.

Personally, I think they missed a good opportunity of revealing that Alain unwittingly cheated because the Mega Ring provided by Lysandre is unnaturally helping Charizard without his knowledge. We know it was capable to absorbing Mega Evolution energy and that's how Lysandre has been getting them to control Zygarde. If there was a side-effect to that stored energy, it would be secretly giving Mega Charizard X more energy to remain active longer than it should.

And it's not like it would alter the story that much considering that Alain ends up tossing the Mega Ring into the garbage can known as the Police Station and he intends to find a legit Mega Stone and Keystone for himself. Meaning that he views his old one as being unearned and a badge of shame. And thus all of achievements he got with that ring to be null and void.

After all, by throwing the Mega Ring away, he essentially loses Mega Charizard X for good (unless the writers decide to bring him back and do a proper rematch between him and Ash).

Wrong. Ash is inferior. He loses six leagues in a row, releases his best pokemon and always resets each region. Alain is his superior and that is a fact. End of discussion.

 

[Shadao]

Wrong. Ash is inferior. He loses six leagues in a row, releases his best pokemon and always resets each region. Alain is his superior and that is a fact. End of discussion.

From the words of Alain in Episode XY 137:

"I've always been saved by you. This time is no different. I cannot win against you."

Alain always had a weak core to his character. Driven by a guilt complex, he is easily manipulated by villains to do bad things (such as capturing Z2) and he couldn't even muster the will to turn against Lysandre on his own when he realizes how much of a fool he was. Even Malva, who was more involved with Team Flare's machinations, didn't need Ash's speech of inspiration to fight Lysandre for his treachery.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

From the words of Alain in Episode XY 137:




Alain always had a weak core to his character. Driven by a guilt complex, he is easily manipulated by villains to do bad things (such as capturing Z2) and he couldn't even muster the will to turn against Lysandre on his own when he realizes how much of a fool he was. Even Malva, who was more involved with Team Flare's machinations, didn't need Ash's speech of inspiration to fight Lysandre for his treachery.

That line made no sense. Alain crushed Ash three times. Ash may have saved the day but he is not better than Alain in terms of battling.

 

[Shadao]

That line made no sense. Alain crushed Ash three times. Ash may have saved the day but he is not better than Alain in terms of battling.

It was from Alain's monologue when he talks about Ash. Therefore, what Alain believes is fact. And clearly there was something about Ash that Alain realizes that no matter how many victories he may have won against Ash, he could never best him in the end. Perhaps this will clear it up:

Alain has always been victorious against Ash in the three separate battles they have; two times in a one-on-one match and a third time during the Kalos League finals. However, he is easily driven by guilt and his attempts to remedy the situation only make things worse thanks to Lysandre's teachings and orders. Alain doesn't find happiness until he meets Ash, whose battle prowess gives him a Worthy Opponent that Alain hasn't faced for a long time. It is Ash who snaps Alain out of his Heroic B.S.O.D. during the Team Flare climax, while also taking the power of Ash-Greninja to a whole new level. By the aftermath of Flare crisis, Alain begins to take notes from Ash's method of starting over again and privately sees him as the one trainer that he could not best.

Alain's entire storyline essentially takes apart the goal of To Be a Master piece by piece. His total focus on becoming the strongest causes him to neglect the people important in his life and be an Unwitting Pawn for Team Flare. He believes that beating every strong trainer would make him stronger yet finds himself helpless when actual danger arrives. He stops enjoying his wins and never considers what to do after he became the strongest, his reasons behind it constantly changing to justify his path. And despite always winning battles, Alain finds himself feeling inferior to Ash Ketchum, who encompasses the happiness and wisdom that he never got under Lysandre's guidance.

In short, Alain is a deconstruction of an ace trainer who desires to be the best like no one ever was. And the fact that he depends on Ash's guidance, the official "runner-up" of the League, in order to fix his mistakes and rebuild his life makes Alain the Learner... And Ash the Master during this story.

I've told you that this would be the case even if Ash were to lose to Alain during the Kalos League.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

Ash will never be a master. His losing streak and releasing of powerful pokemon prove that. Alain doesn't need to learn anything from Ash. In the end, Ash was better off losing the league.

 

[Johtohfiller]

After all, by throwing the Mega Ring away, he essentially loses Mega Charizard X for good (unless the writers decide to bring him back and do a proper rematch between him and Ash).

If they do bring him back I hope it's with Zard Y. I remember seeing quite a bit of fan speculation that he might switch to the brighter-looking Y to represent turning away from the dark side.

 

[Daren]

That's entirely understandable. I can see why losing faith in the show would prevent you from enjoying the series. I honestly don't care that much about Ash winning a League and haven't for years, so I don't think that the lack of a victory here bothered me as much as it did for other fans. If he lost to someone besides Alain, I probably wouldn't have been upset about Ash's defeat here. The lack of a game related region League victory isn't a deal breaker for me, but I can understand why it wouldn't be for other people, especially after this lackluster League.

It's not just the league, so to speak. It's that winning the league would be a a real, concrete step forward; the first in a decade.
However, I would have (with grumbling) went along to S/M if
(flare arc spoilers, since some here may not have seen it or read)

Spoiler

He'd saved the day instead of Zygarde, or defeated Lysandre alone, and Alain did absolutely nothing of use. Megazard being one shotted would have helped

Those were the two situations I was willing to accept as "good enough". Neither happened, so I tossed it in "this entire series will have never happened in a few months" pile.

 

[Shadao]

Ash will never be a master. His losing streak and releasing of powerful pokemon prove that. Alain doesn't need to learn anything from Ash. In the end, Ash was better off losing the league.

Quite frankly, as much as I dislike the idea of Ash going to school after all he has done in the past 20 years, I am glad that the next anime is about school instead of Leagues. Because we are in need of a huge education of what dictates a Pokémon Master and why caring about winning is overrated and poison to the fanbase.

And you know, I would have more positive thoughts about the League if it weren't for the fact I keep seeing this "Alain is better than Ash" notion being shoved down my daily readings. I'm considering taking back my praises about Alain and tempted to simply forever label him as a Team Flare associate who should never be seen as champion.

 

[Hidden Mew]

You can always use Alain's association with Team Flare to deny him any sort of victory in the League. No matter what amends he tries to make in the future, he has and always will be inferior to Ash as a trainer.

Personally, I think they missed a good opportunity of revealing that Alain unwittingly cheated because the Mega Ring provided by Lysandre is unnaturally helping Charizard without his knowledge. We know it was capable to absorbing Mega Evolution energy and that's how Lysandre has been getting them to control Zygarde. If there was a side-effect to that stored energy, it would be secretly giving Mega Charizard X more energy to remain active longer than it should.

And it's not like it would alter the story that much considering that Alain ends up tossing the Mega Ring into the garbage can known as the Police Station and he intends to find a legit Mega Stone and Keystone for himself. Meaning that he views his old one as being unearned and a badge of shame. And thus all of achievements he got with that ring to be null and void.

After all, by throwing the Mega Ring away, he essentially loses Mega Charizard X for good (unless the writers decide to bring him back and do a proper rematch between him and Ash).

That would have at least provided some short of explanation for why Mega Charizard X was so insanely strong. I'm not sure if that would have made things better when that could have made the backlash for the League even more intense among fans, but it would have been better than nothing I suppose. I'd rather not see Alain again, but a part of me wouldn't mind it if he did come back for a proper rematch. It wouldn't even be about making up for the League or anything like that. I just want to see Ash defeat Alain and his broken overpowered Charizard. It could just be a one-on-one match for all I care. Not sure if it would really mean much without Ash-Greninja since that was pretty much the basis of their rivalry to begin with, but I'd be fine either way on that point too.

 

[Johtohfiller]

This is only a thought of hindsight in retrospect, but when the Kalos League itself is just a MacGuffin using to setup the TF arc, the final result of the league is thus meaning it is just unimportant, so I do not understand why the anime staff think it is utterly necessary to include a result. If the rampage of Z2 core made to be a bit earlier, where the final match was interrupted by the event to be feature in next week episode, I don't think the fandom will then be in such big rampage, and also it will not hinder the story plot by a bit. Then after the TF arc is resolved, despite the stadium had been destroyed, Ash and Alain may always ask for an unofficial rematch. So then despite Ash and Alain can neither be the official champion, but then both the characters and the audience will happily accept either of the result of win or lose.

This is a very good point - why not just have Team Flare begin their attack during the match, leaving it unresolved? I doubt most people in-universe care too much about the League outcome considering that everyone almost died afterwards.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

Quite frankly, as much as I dislike the idea of Ash going to school after all he has done in the past 20 years, I am glad that the next anime is about school instead of Leagues. Because we are in need of a huge education of what dictates a Pokémon Master and why caring about winning is overrated and poison to the fanbase.

And you know, I would have more positive thoughts about the League if it weren't for the fact I keep seeing this "Alain is better than Ash" notion being shoved down my daily readings. I'm considering taking back my praises about Alain and tempted to simply forever label him as a Team Flare associate who should never be seen as champion.

Alain was tricked by Lysandre. It can happen to anyone. He was never a team flare associate and it is completely false. Ash could be tricked the same way. Ash shouldn't be treated as though he is better than everyone because he is not. He is better by choosing the right path but Alain is better with battles. Alain won fair and square. Ash did his best and got top 2.

 

[Decaboyz]

If they do bring him back I hope it's with Zard Y. I remember seeing quite a bit of fan speculation that he might switch to the brighter-looking Y to represent turning away from the dark side.

I would love to see Alain in orange clothing.

 

[Superblast]

Alain was tricked by Lysandre. It can happen to anyone. He was never a team flare associate and it is completely false. Ash could be tricked the same way. Ash shouldn't be treated as though he is better than everyone because he is not. He is better by choosing the right path but Alain is better with battles. Alain won fair and square. Ash did his best and got top 2.

You're missing the point. It's obvious Alain is more powerful of a trainer than Ash. He's the single most powerful trainer in the entire anime barring Tobias, and he's dangerously close to rivaling Tobias at that. That's precisely the problem.

Alain is supposed to be, for lack of a better term, "believable". We're supposed to root for him and be invested in his arc. Which is exactly why people get so pissed off about his near-unparalleled levels of power. How are you supposed to root for someone who's all skill and no effort? Someone who's quite literally proven that he's impossible to truly challenge? He went from 0 to 8 badges in only a few episodes. He openly admitted that he didn't give a flying shit about the league and still swept through it effortlessly. So yeah, as a Trainer, he "earned" his win. But as a character, I can't think of anyone less worthy.

 

[Alola]

8.8/10, too much charizard.

 

[Shadao]

Alain was tricked by Lysandre. It can happen to anyone. He was never a team flare associate and it is completely false. Ash could be tricked the same way. Ash shouldn't be treated as though he is better than everyone because he is not. He is better by choosing the right path but Alain is better with battles. Alain won fair and square. Ash did his best and got top 2.

Considering that you used Bulbapedia as a source before, you would know that Alain is listed as a member of Team Flare. And thus, he is a member/assoicate of Team Flare by your standards. And really, what kind of character is he when he couldn't immediately turn against Lysandre the moment he realized he was tricked? He needed Ash to snap him out his depression and did nothing to help until Ash freed himself. That is a sign of a character with a weak will. He never became the strongest trainer that he sought to be. Because he was on the wrong path the whole time.

Malva was technically tricked by Lysandre's lies, but she knew she had to act immediately and then deal with her guilt afterwards. She didn't need Ash to do anything for her nor did she just watch helplessly while Team Flare destroys an entire city. If Ash was in Alain's shoes, he would cry in guilt but immediately resolves to stop Lysandre to make up for it. Just like he did in the Erika episode.

Also word of note, Alain no longer considers the Mega Ring and Stone to be his anymore. Only Lysandre's now. And thus in some retrospect, Alain will likely never see his victory as fair and square considering that the Mega Ring helped him get him there. It wasn't something he had earned (as it was given to him under false pretenses) nor did it help him grow as a character (only Mairin and later Ash did that). And that's why he starts his trainer life over.

 

[Johtohfiller]

You're missing the point. It's obvious Alain is more powerful of a trainer than Ash. He's the single most powerful trainer in the entire anime barring Tobias, and he's dangerously close to rivaling Tobias at that. That's precisely the problem.

Alain is supposed to be, for lack of a better term, "believable". We're supposed to root for him and be invested in his arc. Which is exactly why people get so pissed off about his near-unparalleled levels of power. How are you supposed to root for someone who's all skill and no effort? Someone who's quite literally proven that he's impossible to truly challenge? He went from 0 to 8 badges in only a few episodes. He openly admitted that he didn't give a flying shit about the league and still swept through it effortlessly. So yeah, as a Trainer, he "earned" his win. But as a character, I can't think of anyone less worthy.

Blasting through the Gyms so fast was a red flag in retrospect.

I actually like Alan and his storyline aside from Overpoweredzard being, well, overpowered. People accuse the ninja frog of getting too much hype but they never made it invincible.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I think Alain would have been a lot more likeable to me, if they didn't make him so invincible. I thought his character arc towards the end was good, and I liked how they wrapped things up with him, but the absurdity of his power as a trainer was something that bothered me immensely. I mean, his Charizard didn't have a scratch or bruise after taking seven strong hits, including the Mega Shuriken the writers overhyped to death. What was the point if it was going to fail and never be seen again?