Review S13 EP20: A Grand Fight for Winning!

[Mijumaru]

I was actually talking about the main characters competing in a League or a GF. The writers never let them win. It's become pretty depressing and too damn predictable.

While that is true, they actually have a point. They want to show how people react to losses, and show their audience that losing is okay. Though they seem to go overboard at times by having them lose all the time.

 

[matt0044]

Though they seem to go overboard at times by having them lose all the time.

I can understand if it's once in a while but all the time is pretty sad. Can't they show that you can win a tournament but sometimes lose to someone better later on? We get it! Everyone loses at times. No need to remind us all the figgin' time!

 

[Yoshi1001]

Wait, they actually made a brand new song? Cause I don't remember any song like that... I'd expect them to just use an old song (like how they used "I'll Always Remember You" from Movie 10 in the Gliscor ep) but if they bothered to make a new song just for this ep it's awesome! hope that happens more often from now on

It was a little odd for me. I tend to multitask a lot, so I was on my computer. The song was a little faint so I wasn't sure where it was coming from at first. When I realized it was the TV, it was pretty cool.

 

[Mijumaru]

It was a little odd for me. I tend to multitask a lot, so I was on my computer. The song was a little faint so I wasn't sure where it was coming from at first. When I realized it was the TV, it was pretty cool.

It was the same for me, but eventually I was able to hear some lyrics fuch as "...for...", so it takes a while to get used to.

 

[Hellwarden]

One thing I like about this ep, is how it's proof positive that the dub really has improved. Most dubs get a lot of crap, and fairly so, but I don't think Pokemon is one of them anymore.

 

[Cybersai]

I can't believe this is the last time we've ever going to see Mr. Contesta or Sukizo.

Its hard to believe we've been seeing those two for 8 years.

 

[#Daisuke#]

Great episode. It was great to see Dawn and Zoey give it their all. Their battle is definitely one of my favorites.

Though, it is a shame that there will be no more contests. It was such a great element to the show. Oh well. Seeing Dawn make it all the way to runner up in the GF is a great conclusion to them.

10/10

 

[Mijumaru]

I can't believe this is the last time we've ever going to see Mr. Contesta or Sukizo.

Its hard to believe we've been seeing those two for 8 years.

Maybe not, what if they appear to host the musicals?

And one thing I forgot to mention, why did Nando look so mysterious in this episode?

 

[Cybersai]

The last group shot where Dawn thanks all her Pokemon for their hard work, it looked incomplete without Ambipom there.

Just sayin'. Ambipom did win her a ribbon after all.

 

[Rafia]

after watching the Japanese version again and again, the dub felt like it was done by amateurs fans.I am really disappointed, TPCI.

 

[Froakie]

^ Hmm, I thought the dub did a good job. The new song they made was nice too. I thought the dub was as good as the Japanese version.

 

[matt0044]

^ Hmm, I thought the dub did a good job. The new song they made was nice too. I thought the dub was as good as the Japanese version.

Same here. TPCi may not be the best dubbing company but they are pretty good.

I especially love Ultimate Challenge.

 

[Mijumaru]

The last group shot where Dawn thanks all her Pokemon for their hard work, it looked incomplete without Ambipom there.

Just sayin'. Ambipom did win her a ribbon after all.

Ambipom won her two ribbons, the Aqua Ribbon and the Celestic Ribbon, but the former was in the appeals round, so really I don't know if you count that.

And also, she's competed in four contests with Dawn, and even in one with Ash and an unofficial one with Jessie.

 

[Cascada]

This episode was amazing! After watching it in English, I rather enjoy it more, because I knew they would dub it well. It was an amazing episode, both Dawn and Zoey had an amazing rivalry, and I'm not at all disappointed in the results. If Zoey was a bitch, then I'd want her to lose, but she was such a great friend to Dawn, despite being her rival. That made her awesome in my book, and completely deserved of the Ribbon Cup.

I love how Johanna said that they were pretty much even, which almost showed in the point bar towards the end. I've never been so excited to see Dawn in a battle like this before, especially in Japanese, because at that time, I had no idea who the winner was.

I love how this is the final battle of the Grand Festival, and Dawn and Zoey could say that they were there, and their promise was fulfilled. This was one of my favorite episodes, and I am so so so glad Dawn said, "I'm Ok" after losing, that shows how far she's come. Dawn is an amazing person, and coordinator, and I can't wait to see her one day hopefully cameo in BW, whether there is a contest or not.

Dawn is one of the greatest characters this show has ever produced, and whether she won or not, she is amazing, and doesn't need a Champion Title to tell her that, I mean, look at Ash and May, they're not giving up.

I also love the idea of Togekiss being used in the final, Dawn just got it, however, had faith in it, and did very good with it. <3 her, and Togekiss. Piplup did good, and Gallade looked awesome. Glameow is so adorable. I love Glameow, and happy Zoey won using it. Zoey is an amazing coordinator, and I have to give credit where credit is due, and say her win was well deserved.

Zoey was one of the major reasons this Grand Festival was so awesome. I'll miss Zoey, and absolutely and especially Dawn. Even though this anime, you can learn a lot from Dawn and Zoey's rivalry. Being a good person can get you far in life, and nice guys and girls don't finish last! <3

Amazing Episode! A++

 

[J J M]

While Dawn vs Zoey wasn't too bad or anything, it's still a pretty forgettable battle. Other than the epic climax (who could not like it!?) there really weren't any stand-out moments, unlike Nando vs Zoey which pretty much had awesome combinations one after the other.

Kinda depressing when Marian says she'll see everyone in the next Pokémon contest. That's never going to happen...

 

[Cybersai]

Kinda depressing when Marian says she'll see everyone in the next Pokémon contest. That's never going to happen...

That's almost as tacky as the writers continuing contests in the series without the characters that made them popular in the first place. Oh wait.

Anyway so long, Contests, this wasn't the grand finale they should have been, but it was good enough.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

I'm still wondering which attack Glameow used in the Japanese episode at the end of the battle when Gallade jumped on its tail.
As I explained in my review, it must have been a translation mistake in the DUB, because the only two Electric-type attacks Glameow can learn are Thunderbolt and Thunder, but in the US episode it was mistakenly called Shadow Ball.
Thus, I reckon it was Thunderbolt, but who knows.

 

[Ishida]

I'm still wondering which attack Glameow used in the Japanese episode at the end of the battle when Gallade jumped on its tail.
As I explained in my review, it must have been a translation mistake in the DUB, because the only two Electric-type attacks Glameow can learn are Thunderbolt and Thunder, but in the US episode it was mistakenly called Shadow Ball.
Thus, I reckon it was Thunderbolt, but who knows.

I think it was Thunderbolt it could have been Shock Wave since I remember Glameow used Shock Wave before. Anyway I think Dawn losing to Zoey was a pretty good closure for contest they could have had her win but oh well maybe when Dawn makes an appearance in Best Wishes maybe we'll find out if she ever defeated Zoey sometime after she left.

 

[Piplup]

Finally, I did a catch up with the dub! I stopped after Volkner's first ep, so I watched a few scenes of every ep from the first S13 ep to Volkner's first ep, then I watched all eps from Volkner's second ep to this ep in a row
I have to note how I REALLY enjoyed this, I just couldn't stop watching! unlike my rewatch which I can't bother continuing cause I honestly can't enjoy older eps like Orange Islands as much as I enjoy the current eps

Now, back to this ep... extremely awesome! I love Dawn and Contests so much... yes, I know the battle wasn't as good as Zoey VS Nando, but it was still good enough (and its ending is just full of awesomeness) and what's more important to me than the battle, is Dawn's character development... she accepts the lose perfectly fine, returns Johanna her ribbon and says that now she has her own ribbons and her friends to support her
It's really a perfect ending for Dawn and while I wanted her to somehow stay on the show... if she had to leave, then they did it the best possible way
I also really liked the final scene when she takes all her Pokémon out, thank them and say how lucky she is to have them all... <3

As said, I like the fact they bothered to create a new song especially for this ep (like 4Kids used to do... I missed that, hope they continue doing it) but sadly it was really hard to hear the song with all the talking and noise over it... they should've made the song a little more clear to hear during all this talking... but it was still nice

So yeah, awesome episode, best ending Dawn could get and good conclusion for this Grand Festival
I hope now to continue watching every new dub ep every week as I do with the Japanese version... and hopefully I'll bother to continue my rewatch soon

One thing I like about this ep, is how it's proof positive that the dub really has improved. Most dubs get a lot of crap, and fairly so, but I don't think Pokemon is one of them anymore.

Yeah... the dub is actually really good and it's ridiculous some people blindly complain about it so much
Yes, it could be better... but it's not nearly as bad as some make it seem
The only two problems in my opinion are TRio's dialogue (which honestly doesn't annoy me so much when I just watch it, it only seriously annoyed me when I translated eps) and the BGM being replaced, which isn't such a problem in episodes like this when I'm pretty sure they kept most of it (and we even got some eps which kept the whole BGM in this season and the previous one too, so they're improving...)

after watching the Japanese version again and again, the dub felt like it was done by amateurs fans.I am really disappointed, TPCI.

Eh... no, it didn't feel like that at all... if you say it was so bad, you have to explain why

Same here. TPCi may not be the best dubbing company but they are pretty good.

Well, they're NOT a dubbing company XD the studio that is dubbing the show is Duart, not TPCI

 

[Litten]

I can't believe I haven't watched this Sinnoh Grand Festival finale episode! I caught a few glimpses of it in the past when the Japanese episode aired, but not enough to really get the whole episode. Well I've finally had time to watch the whole thing and write about my thoughts on the chain of events in this one. I'm just a bit sad that this seems like the final Contest battle of Dawn since I don't think Sinnoh has anymore Contests open, after the Grand Festival. Well here goes my review/essay on the events of this finale of sorts. First off, I hated this dub title since I didn't get the pun. Just thought I'd get that out of the way first haha. I thought the episodes started out too suddenly though; with not much build-up as we usually have. Pretty different since we usually have a lot of talking before any actual action.

Anyway, the Contest announcer gives them the go-ahead to battle and Dawn sent out her trusty Piplup and the Togekiss she got as a gift. Zoey then sent out her trusty Glameow and a Gallade; which I'm assuming evolved from her old Kirlia. Kind of a shock to me to be honest, since I had assumed all of her Pokemon were female lol. Anyway, I noticed that when Piplup and Togekiss were sent out, there wasn't much of a Seal effect but when Zoey sent out Glameow and Gallade, they were given a cool flowery Seal effect. I call favoritism! Anyway, we got a nice shot of Team Rocket, Ash and Brock, and even Ursula and Nando watching the battle play out; that's great. I like that the writers remembered Nando and Ursula, specifically. Dawn gave Piplup and Togekiss a quick pep-talk and then she started thinking back to the Jubilife Contest and how Zoey said they'd meet at the final stage. Oh la la, a Shipping moment maybe? Lol.

Ash scanned Gallade into his PokeDex, because that's what Ash does. He then confirmed that Gallade did indeed evolve from Zoey's Kirlia. Then Dawn's mom, Johanna, suddenly appears. I'm like, "what?!". I mean, how did she get to Lake Valor so quickly, when she was in Twinleaf Town one episode previous to this one? Weird. She explains how both Zoey and Dawn are even, though I thought Zoey had the advantage to be honest. Anyway, back to the battle. Dawn had Piplup jump on Togekiss' back and then she had Togekiss use Aura Sphere and Piplup use it's Bubblebeam which created a cool new move. Just when I thought Dawn had it, Zoey had Glameow cut the Aura Sphere in half which created a bright light. Zoey then had her Gallade use Psycho Cut on Piplup's Bubblebeam and created a dazzling effect of her own! Both Fantina and Dawn were impressed, though Dawn lost some points. Togekiss surprised Zoey with it's speed and then Piplup prepared to use Hydro Pump.

Sadly, Zoey was prepared for that and had her Glameow use Fake Out to startle Piplup and cancel out the move before it was used. Pretty interesting to see Fake Out in the anime. Brock explained it's effect just as Dawn lost another chunk of points which was irritating to watch. Team Rocket then asked Meowth to learn Fake Out, though apparently, it isn't easy? Silly TPCI dialogue. Gallade used Vacuum Wave on Togekiss, but Togekiss dodged it and used Air Slash, though it missed as well. Both Zoey and Dawn lost points, though Zoey noticed how agile Togekiss was. Gallade then used Signal Beam and Glameow used it's Iron Tail to form another fusion move; a sort of lasso of Signal Beam. Dawn then had her Piplup use Whirlpool but Zoey countered with her own Signal Beam-whirlpool. However, Dawn used her Togekiss' Aura Sphere to give Whirlpool a bright-blue glow and the two Whirlpools collided to form a bunch of fireworks. Typical.

Both Dawn and Zoey lost a few more points on the Contest meter for that one, since the move was equally effective. Zoey had Gallade use Swords Dance which, to be honest, was probably the blandest move I've ever seen in a Contest. No sparkly effect or anything. Dawn took advantage and had Togekiss use Safeguard to protect it from status changes. That cost Zoey some points right there. Zoey tried using Glameow's Shadow Claw on Togekiss, but it wasn't very smart, at least not at first anyway. Togekiss used Sky Attack but Gallade came charging in and used it's Psycho Cut. Piplup used Peck and they pretty much tied there but that was what Zoey wanted. She used that attack as a distraction and had Glameow climb onto Togekiss' back. Smart, since it cost Dawn more points. Glameow then used Thunderbolt, but apparently, Togekiss' Safeguard protected it from damage. Lol, what? It cost Zoey and Dawn more points, once again. Piplup was then preparing to help Togekiss, but Gallade got in the way. Piplup however, just kept on running towards Gallade.

Gallade used Vacuum Wave again, but Piplup used that spinning move and was able to dodge it in mid-air. It then "flew" towards Togekiss and Glameow and knocked Glameow off with it's Hydro Pump! That move both removed Glameow and cost Zoey points. Gallade then used Psycho Cut once more but Togekiss and Piplup dodged that in the air. We then saw some of the other Coordinators watching the battle like Kenny, and even Candice of Snowpoint City was watching the battle! Zoey then wanted to seperate Togekiss and Piplup so she used another Psycho Cut and it worked. Dawn came up with a plan fast and had Piplup use Whirlpool while Togekiss distracted Zoey. It didn't work so well though; Glameow was able to grab a hold of Whirlpool with it's tail. I say, cut it off. Gallade then used Vacuum Wave to destroy the Whirlpool, which was odd, considering Zoey could've been a bit more creative but whatever. Dawn then had Piplup use Peck and Togekiss use Sky Attack!

For some reason, the two moves combined to form a red-colored move that impressed the judges and cost Zoey some points. I noticed that a new song played during all of this and I have to say, whether it's the original Japanese song or not, it sounded pretty nice and fit in with the scene very well. Zoey then came up with her own fusion move by having her Glameow use Thunderbolt to charge up Gallade's arms to form of sort of electric-Psycho Cut. Gallade's Psycho Cut and Togekiss and Piplup's fusion move clashed! There was an explosion of course, and then we saw that both Zoey and Dawn lost a huge amount of points. Right before the Pokemon could do much else though, the timer runs out and the battle ends. We saw everyone look anxious right before a winner was declared, and then Zoey was declared the winner since she had a bit more points left. Zoey and her Pokemon exchanged a hug, though Dawn looked very sad as she thanked Piplup and Togekiss for their hard work during the battle.

Dawn seemed sad, but was able to get over it and feel truly happy for Zoey. Ash and Brock seemed disappointed that Dawn lost, but Johanna merely claimed it was the beginning and not the end. Sure Johanna, sure. Even Jessie was clearly upset that Dawn lost, and she seemed to have given up on Contests for good as she left her old costume behind. Fantina gave Zoey the Ribbon Trophy and the Grand Festival came to a close. After the Contest, Dawn met up with her mom and returned her ribbon which I'm surprised the writer still remembered haha. Nurse Joy then told Ash that Volkner was awaiting him in Sunyshore City, which was a little too convenient. Dawn and Zoey then had a private conversation but were interrupted by Nando who wanted to thank them for the battles. Zoey then left for Snowpoint City and I have to admit, I'm sorry to see her go. Dawn then talked to all her Pokemon and it looks like she hasn't given up on being Top Coordinator yet. Overall, even though the episode ended on a sad note, I think it was 10 times better than the Hoenn and Kanto GF, and it was pretty much perfect. I give it a 10/10 which it deserves