Preview Project Mew

[BigDocFan]

Watching these reactions to the trailer is great, shows how high our hopes are for this arc

 

[JeoDude]

I don't know if it's already mentioned, but is that Blastoise's leg in the special preview at around 0:05 sec? It would be sick if that's the case and that we will see Gary's Blastoise, but I won't get my hopes up.

Edit: Looking at it more carefully with 0,5x speed, the background where I think I see Blastoise looks very similar to the shot with Ash, Go and Gary and their pokemon.

I am so excited about Levi/Akashi's voice actor appearing in the anime in the badass role that fits his voice. The other things in the preview makes me very hyped and it looks promising, but we have to wait and see.

 

[BigDocFan]

I don't know if it's already mentioned, but is that Blastoise's leg in the special preview at around 0:05 sec? It would be sick if that's the case and that we will see Gary's Blastoise, but I won't get my hopes up.

OMG, that would be fabulous if it is Gary's Blastoise

Hopefully we'll see Umbreon as well and some new Pokemon of Gary's

 

[DynoStretch]

I had a thought on the subject of Ash using his reserves, what if he completely jobs to Iris in their 2v2 battle, and he realizes if he's going to advance to Hyper rank, he's going to have to stop with his self-imposed 'fresh start' philosophy and start using his reserves to progress?

Unlike most of the regions where he doesnt care about winning or losing random battles, this is time when winning battles actually are important, as every ranked battle puts him closer or further from his goal of being in the tournament. He can't really afford to handicap himself for the sake of a challenge.

 

[R1ke]

Uh HOLY SHIT what did I just wake up to? Just when they start piling up on fillers, they drop this absolute banger of a trailer like it’s nobody’s business. Wow, just wow. This is actually insane, the type of stuff you’d dream about seeing anipoke do.

This is a great way to adapt crown tundra with Journey’s setting. I always prefer it whenever the anime takes its own creative liberties on these game arcs to make them more interesting. It’s pretty boring imo if things play out 1:1 with the games (cause it’s predictable). I’m soo glad that they’re actually taking advantage of past characters/pokemon since they’re literally sitting on a gold mine of it. Also relieved that we don’t have to worry about Ash/Goh getting Kubfu/urshifu now.

I legit need a minute to process this man. Just, yes. Fingers crossed everything goes well here.

 

[VetProf]

I had a thought on the subject of Ash using his reserves, what if he completely jobs to Iris in their 2v2 battle, and he realizes if he's going to advance to Hyper rank, he's going to have to stop with his self-imposed 'fresh start' philosophy and start using his reserves to progress?

That still doesn't solve the issue that many people here have already pointed out, which is the lack of meaningful battle screentime and development that Ash's Journeys team has been getting so far. If anything, having Ash job to Iris would highlight how poorly his team has been handled throughout this series. Gengar performed quite well in the battle against Visquez before jobbing against Korrina's Mienshao and then promptly being forgotten. Dragonite's last meaningful achievement was beating Mega Lucario, which was several dozens of episodes ago. Riolu received plenty of screentime before it evolved, but it's barely done anything notable as a Lucario so far. G. Farfetch'd jobbed in the first battle against Bea, and then the writers just awkwardly forgot about it for a dozen episodes or so before they remembered "Ah right, this thing should be getting some development." There were plenty of opportunities to develop all of these Pokemon, but it seems like most of those opportunities went to Pikachu instead.

I absolutely agree that having Ash use his reserves as he's slowly getting closer to Master Class is something that makes perfect sense on paper considering that he's gonna be facing against powerful trainers from many different regions, but when I look at how poorly his Journeys team has been handled so far, I start to have some doubts. If Ash lost in the very first battle that Dracovish is featured in and his immediate first thought was "I should bring back my reserves" instead of "I should train my current team more", I think that's gonna raise a few eyebrows.

Don't get me wrong, seeing Ash's reserves in Journeys is definitely something that I'm super happy about. It's just that, in the context of the Pokemon World Championships in particular, I'm a bit wary of the idea of Ash using his reserves since Journeys hasn't done a good job developing his current team so far. Outside of that, I'm glad that we've been given a chance to see Ash interacting with his old Pokemon again, with Gou's reactions to them being a nice possible bonus.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I had a thought on the subject of Ash using his reserves, what if he completely jobs to Iris in their 2v2 battle, and he realizes if he's going to advance to Hyper rank, he's going to have to stop with his self-imposed 'fresh start' philosophy and start using his reserves to progress?

Unlike most of the regions where he doesnt care about winning or losing random battles, this is time when winning battles actually are important, as every ranked battle puts him closer or further from his goal of being in the tournament. He can't really afford to handicap himself for the sake of a challenge.

I think that it would be really out of character for Ash to think that way. Responding to a defeat by saying that he needs to rely more on his reserves instead of training his current team just would be jarring. It's also extremely odd to think of Ash sticking with his current team as being a handicap when it's a mostly fully evolved team. They're not unbeatable by any means, but they aren't inexperienced either. I'm kind of surprised by that notion given how people were generally excited with how different and unexpected Ash's team was seen at the start of the series. Even if they weren't mostly fully evolved, it seems kind of harsh way to view his current lineup instead of wanting them to become stronger/more prominent in the series.

I also don't think that the whole winning battles is actually important this time around really works with how the PWC has been handled. Yeah, each ranked battle puts him closer to his goal, but the matches clearly aren't given that kind of importance. Ash can climb up the ranks off screen, most of his matches aren't the main focus of an episode and the bulk of his progress in the Great Class has been off-screen too. Suddenly making it seem like he can't afford to lose when it is possible for him to just climb back up again would feel kind of forced. Ash wants to win all of his battles of course, but he's most likely going to be more laid back and just enjoy the battle rather than focused on how he can't afford to lose.

Besides all that, this doesn't really fix the issue of how his current team would just continued to be sidelined. I can't really blame people for being excited to see Ash's reserves and want to see them be used more frequently going forward. Ash hasn't used his reserves since the Sinnoh League and we haven't seen his BW or XY teams since the end of their respective series either. My concern is that if they can't really give a good amount of screentime/development for Ash's current team as it is, adding his reserves into the mix is just going to make that problem worse, or at least not really resolve it. If I had more confidence for them to balance out that focus and/or Ash's Journeys team was handled better up to this point, then I think I'd be more into the idea of Ash using his reserves. As cool as it would be to see Ash use some his fan favorite Pokemon again, I still would rather see him get new Pokemon and develop his current team instead.

 

[Johtoo]

I think that it would be really out of character for Ash to think that way. Responding to a defeat by saying that he needs to rely more on his reserves instead of training his current team just would be jarring. It's also extremely odd to think of Ash sticking with his current team as being a handicap when it's a mostly fully evolved team. They're not unbeatable by any means, but they aren't inexperienced either. I'm kind of surprised by that notion given how people were generally excited with how different and unexpected Ash's team was seen at the start of the series. Even if they weren't mostly fully evolved, it seems kind of harsh way to view his current lineup instead of wanting them to become stronger/more prominent in the series.

I also don't think that the whole winning battles is actually important this time around really works with how the PWC has been handled. Yeah, each ranked battle puts him closer to his goal, but the matches clearly aren't given that kind of importance. Ash can climb up the ranks off screen, most of his matches aren't the main focus of an episode and the bulk of his progress in the Great Class has been off-screen too. Suddenly making it seem like he can't afford to lose when it is possible for him to just climb back up again would feel kind of forced. Ash wants to win all of his battles of course, but he's most likely going to be more laid back and just enjoy the battle rather than focused on how he can't afford to lose.

Besides all that, this doesn't really fix the issue of how his current team would just continued to be sidelined. I can't really blame people for being excited to see Ash's reserves and want to see them be used more frequently going forward. Ash hasn't used his reserves since the Sinnoh League and we haven't seen his BW or XY teams since the end of their respective series either. My concern is that if they can't really give a good amount of screentime/development for Ash's current team as it is, adding his reserves into the mix is just going to make that problem worse, or at least not really resolve it. If I had more confidence for them to balance out that focus and/or Ash's Journeys team was handled better up to this point, then I think I'd be more into the idea of Ash using his reserves. As cool as it would be to see Ash use some his fan favorite Pokemon again, I still would rather see him get new Pokemon and develop his current team instead.

[Bold 1] That isn't out of character at all. Ash literally did this against Claire in the Johto region. His regular Johto team couldn't cut it, so he brought in Snorlax and Charizard to pick up the slack. In fact, it is in Ash's character to rely on his reserves in battles that he considers to be difficult for him.

[Bold 2] This is an important point here. Ash hasn't used his reserves since Sinnoh, and this has been long overdue. Is Ash supposed to just forget his Pokemon forever? What about the other undeveloped Pokemon on his list? Should they just fade into obscurity? The anime has always been careful about this in the past and made sure that previous Pokemon that were left underdeveloped were developed later on. Look at Quilava, phanphy, etc. Instead of worrying about Infernape stealing the spotlight, think about the possibility that other Pokemon that deserve greater development might actually get that.

 

[Johtoo]

Anyway, i think maybe we should just focus on the positive side of this. The anime hasn't been nearly this hyped since Ash winning the alola league and this will bring a lot of people (including myself) back to the anime.

 

[Jewel the Quaxly]

That still doesn't solve the issue that many people here have already pointed out, which is the lack of meaningful battle screentime and development that Ash's Journeys team has been getting so far. If anything, having Ash job to Iris would highlight how poorly his team has been handled throughout this series. Gengar performed quite well in the battle against Visquez before jobbing against Korrina's Mienshao and then promptly being forgotten. Dragonite's last meaningful achievement was beating Mega Lucario, which was several dozens of episodes ago. Riolu received plenty of screentime before it evolved, but it's barely done anything notable as a Lucario so far. G. Farfetch'd jobbed in the first battle against Bea, and then the writers just awkwardly forgot about it for a dozen episodes or so before they remembered "Ah right, this thing should be getting some development." There were plenty of opportunities to develop all of these Pokemon, but it seems like most of those opportunities went to Pikachu instead.

I agree with all of these things except on Pikachu getting development-Pikachu hasn't received any proper development since OS. The writers clearly have an issue on remembering the fact that Ash's Journeys' team even exists, which is really disappointing since all their individual personalities are actually all really interesting but we never see how they operate as a team. The closest thing we ever got to that was Dragonite holding Riolu and Pikachu in one of the Darkest Days episodes...and...that's it. That was the closest thing to a sense of camaraderie I felt from this team. A background scene. How would Dragonite and Gengar interact? We have no clue, despite them living in the same place. How would Gengar and Sirfetched interact? No clue, once more. We don't even see team shots except in the opening. Despite the heavy marketing and attempt at showcasing every kind of pokemon more than any other series, Journeys is ridiculously bad at making the pokemon feel an essential part of the show. They don't even feel relevant at this point.

 

[Hidden Mew]

[Bold 1] That isn't out of character at all. Ash literally did this against Claire in the Johto region. His regular Johto team couldn't cut it, so he brought in Snorlax and Charizard to pick up the slack. In fact, it is in Ash's character to rely on his reserves in battles that he considers to be difficult for him.

I remember the Claire battle, but I would say that's an exception rather than the norm. Plus, I do recall people being upset or annoyed with the Johto team being sidelined in favor of Ash's Kanto Pokemon. I don't know if that's how people felt when the episodes were airing, but I definitely recall that being at least not an uncommon complaint about Johto and/or the Johto League I've seen over the years. I wouldn't really say it's in Ash's character when he's only relied on reserves for battles he considers too difficult for his current team with Claire and possible his final match with Brendan.

[Bold 2] This is an important point here. Ash hasn't used his reserves since Sinnoh, and this has been long overdue. Is Ash supposed to just forget his Pokemon forever? What about the other undeveloped Pokemon on his list? Should they just fade into obscurity? The anime has always been careful about this in the past and made sure that previous Pokemon that were left underdeveloped were developed later on. Look at Quilava, phanphy, etc. Instead of worrying about Infernape stealing the spotlight, think about the possibility that other Pokemon that deserve greater development might actually get that.

I'm not saying that Ash should forget about his Pokemon forever or that his Pokemon should fade into obscurity. I am saying that I don't think that they can balance out the screentime with Ash's current and reserved Pokemon if they can't provide good screentime/development for his current team. It generally worked for Sinnoh mainly because most of his DP Pokemon were already developed and the reserves didn't take the spotlight away from them like Ash's Kanto Pokemon did for his Johto team. They really should have given Torterra a much needed victory and have Quilava featured in more matches, but I think it worked relatively well.

As much as I love that they finally had Quilava evolve when it came back, I wouldn't really say it was developed. It evolved and had one mostly off-screen battle that ended in a draw. That really isn't a good example, especially when Quilava's battle is one of the more common complaint about the Sinnoh League that I've seen at least. Phanpy is a better example by comparison, but I don't recall being that impressed by its development. Part of that could have been due to the Battle Frontier being too rushed for my tastes or how I didn't really care much for Phanpy to begin with, but it just doesn't really stand out to me as a good thing. Honestly, I kind of would have preferred for Ash to keep Torkoal for the Battle Frontier arc instead.

There is the possibility that they could provide some attention to some Ash's underdeveloped or underused Pokemon, but I would say it's a really small amount. I love Ash's Torkoal. I thought it had a great capture episode and it really should have been handled better instead of mainly being a jobber. I don't think that they'll give it more screentime when they have Charizard and Infernape on standby instead. Even Quilava's chances of getting attention are just slightly better due to possibly tying in with Legends Arceus promotion down the road. To be clear, I'm not saying that it's impossible for them to give some of Ash's underrated Pokemon some attention and development, but I do think it's much more likely that they'll focus on the more popular/marketable Pokemon Ash has under his belt. I still expect for them to somehow bring back Greninja given how popular it still is.

 

[CyberKitten05]

I just hope we'll at least get a mention or even just a cameo from Tracey. I know a lot of people really hate him for his Orange Islands role, and I think he was kinda lame there too, but I really liked him as a supporting character as Oak's assistant, especially in Chronicles. Although I know his original voice actor died so idk.

 

[KenzeyEevee]

Wait i just realized. The opening has a shot with a lot of Pokemon in it, but we also see Corphish and Palpitoad there. Initally, we thought this might point towards Goh catching them. But what if Ash takes all of his Pokemon with him to Sakuragi or slowly puts them in there.

I hope so, really. The battles wont get easier. So we can forget the possibility of Gary in the PWC due the Project Mew trailer?

 

[KenzeyEevee]

Having reserves in PWC would be cool. But I wont hope for it. I am already happy they are recognized. Cant believe it has been 10 YEARS since we saw (the most) Satoshi's pokemon together.

 

[nickdt]

I won't mind Ash using his reserves if, and only if, they are fall guys, so the current team can shine. Gengar (And too a lesser extent Dragonite) are really scraping by for screentime and development, which will be even worse if Ash decides to use his reserves.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I just hope we'll at least get a mention or even just a cameo from Tracey. I know a lot of people really hate him for his Orange Islands role, and I think he was kinda lame there too, but I really liked him as a supporting character as Oak's assistant, especially in Chronicles. Although I know his original voice actor died so idk.

Both Tracey's English and Japanese voice actors are still alive, so I'm not sure where you heard otherwise. It would still be nice to see Tracey again. I didn't mind that he wasn't in the field trip to Professor Oak's lab in SM since they'd want to focus on Misty and Brock's return, but we should have gotten at least a throwaway line to explain why he wasn't there. He hasn't had a speaking role since AG, so giving him a cameo at this point would be really nice. He isn't one of my favorite characters, but I still generally liked him despite how bland he was.

 

[KenzeyEevee]

How many episodes will this last? 4/6?

 

[VetProf]

I agree with all of these things except on Pikachu getting development-Pikachu hasn't received any proper development since OS.

Yeah, I was trying to say that many of the opportunities (i.e. PWC battles) that could've been used to showcase or develop Ash's Journeys team were used to just give Pikachu more screentime instead. Probably should've made that clearer.

 

[GrookeyFan77]

I am hyped

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Also relieved that we don’t have to worry about Ash/Goh getting Kubfu/urshifu now.

There's still the other form of Urshifu that Ash could get as a counterpart to this one. Perhaps during a future Isle of Armor arc.

[Bold 1] That isn't out of character at all. Ash literally did this against Claire in the Johto region. His regular Johto team couldn't cut it, so he brought in Snorlax and Charizard to pick up the slack. In fact, it is in Ash's character to rely on his reserves in battles that he considers to be difficult for him.

Johto was a time when Ash hadn't yet adapted the philosophy of resetting his team for every new region, so I don't think it really counts as evidence.