Review S19 EP27: All Hail the Ice Battlefield!

[Playerking]

XY120 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Please keep future events in spoiler tags. Thanks.

 

[Gengarzilla]

I've been looking forward to this one for a while now. Lemme see if I can catch it.

 

[Sakuraa]

Definitely not Ash's best performance. I get that he was supposed to lose, but c'mon.

Well, first things first, I'm surprised that Bonnie named the Ash-Greninja transformation. That seemed more like a "Clemont names, Bonnie mocks for being too straightforward" situation. But it's nice I suppose. But lol, how Clemont actually ended up saying the name was lame. Also that was pretty rude of Ash to just shove the coat at Serena.

Lol at Hawlucha slipping on the ground at first. I really like that they'd showed of Abamasnow's Snow Warning. Wait, what the hell, no vs. screen? Okay...

Hawlucha vs. Abamasnow was honestly pretty pathetic. Wulfric made no attempts to have his Pokemon dodge any of Ash's attacks and only countered one. I know that all of Hawlucha's are SE on Abamasnow, but I felt that he went down way to fast. His hailstorm probably did more damage in the long run. I also found it odd that Hawlucha had absolutely no difficulties running on the ice, despite the fact that he began slipping as soon as he was sent out.

Hawlucha vs. Avalugg...not much to say. It was expected that he'd lose pretty quickly. I am glad to see Avalugg taking advantage of his Ice body ability. In fact, this was a great strategy by Wulfic; sending in Abamasnow first to use his ability so that Avalugg could take advantage of his ability in the later matches. Loved that. Anyway, moving onto to Talonflame vs. Avalugg...poor bird was wronged. Seriously, Ash literally set Talonflame up to lose. He commanded Flame Charge, which really didn't seem to do that much, and then Talonflame took a boosted Avalanche. Then he did the exact same thing again. No different moves (like his long ranged attack), no different method (just another head on charge), no variation. There was no strategy in that match.

Greninja vs. Avalugg doesn't start out any better. Ash just delves into the psychical attacks even though Avalugg have been confirmed to be a tank. I'll give him props for freezing Avalugg's feet with Water Shuriken, but after that it still doesn't get much better. Just more attack spam an subsequently, boosted Avalanche damage, which he never once commanded Greninja to dodge. Wulfric wasn't much better spamming Stone Edge. I did like that Ash was received pain from the match, but that's pretty much it. And aside from everything I just mentioned, Ash seemed way to focused on impressing Sawyer and "getting stronger", rather than actually having a decent gym match.

I know that speech Wulfric gave Ash was supposed to be really serious, but I lol'd when they zoomed out to show Greninja unconscious in the corner.

Aw, Bonnie sleeping on Clemont's lap was so cute Really, though, am I the only one getting tired of Ash saying "stronger"? Also, what the heck happened to Hawlucha and Talonflame? Why was Greninja the only one he asked Nurse Joy about and the only one being treated? I sure hope it's because he took the most damage and that the others had already been healed.

Anyway...better luck next time. I'm pretty Interested seeing what Ash does in the next episode though. I really liked seeing him leave on his own due to being upset. 5.5/10.

 

[Keshav]

I really liked Wulfric's voice. When I battled him in the games, I never expected him to be this kind of person xD
Btw the battle was good IMO, Wulfric was just way too powerful for Ash, especially Avalugg. Greninja needed to lose there to advance the story
Now I want to see what Ash is upto. The episode ends with Ash being upset and he is seen sitting on a bark all alone. Well that was a different kind of ending.
7/10

 

[Gengarzilla]

Haha, I totally laughed at Clemont calling Bonnie out near the beginning.

That battle... I honestly feel sorry for Ash, he hasn't taken a gym battle loss this bad since Brawly from way back in Hoenn. What really gets me is that Ash got the easy first win here, it must seriously suck to take down that first Pokémon with little effort only for the next one to stonewall (icewall?) your whole team.

Avalugg's Ice Body, as well as abilities like Ice Body in general and the presently unseen Rain Dish, now seem seriously terrifying in an anime. Even if you talk or don't move, they still gradually heal. It places immense pressure on Wulfric's opponent to attack and risk that boosted Avalanche, as we saw against Ash with Talonflame. I also must give them props for taking this strategy straight from the games. The only time I prefer to see changes to a gym leader's lineup for the anime is when they're removing repeated species. Valerie's Spritzee and Olympia's male Meowstic didn't do it for me despite the latter being a great battle.

Wulfric himself, oh man I totally love how it was him who crushed Ash when he's apparently not that difficult in the games. It really fits his pre-battle quote about ice being hard yet fragile. He's a pushover to those playing X and Y but he truly was a most challenging opponent for Ash.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I absolutely loved Wulfric's voice and how they took his line about himself being the toughest or easiest opponent from the games. He was pretty well handled in the anime. I feel bad for Ash here, though this loss was one that I thought made sense for him. It was a decent battle and episode.

Edit: Who voiced Wulfric btw. That voice sounds familiar.

 

[Poke Trey]

I absolutely loved Wulfric's voice and how they took his line about himself being the toughest or easiest opponent from the games. He was pretty well handled in the anime. I feel bad for Ash here, though this loss was one that I thought made sense for him. It was a decent battle and episode.

Edit: Who voiced Wulfric btw. That voice sounds familiar.

I was thinking Crasher Wake from DP that's my only guess. BTW loved this week's EP and especially the ending parts man shit is getting real now.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I was thinking Crasher Wake from DP that's my only guess. BTW loved this week's EP and especially the ending parts man shit is getting real now.

THAT'S WHY HE SOUNDED SO FAMILIAR! He was Crasher Wake's VA!

 

[Poke Trey]

THAT'S WHY HE SOUNDED SO FAMILIAR! He was Crasher Wake's VA!

Really?! That was the 1st thing that popped in my head while watching this YO!

 

[Ryu Taylor]

"And you always complain about my names?" Best line right there.

I have to say, "Wulfric" is a much better name than "Urup". "Urup" sounds like that onomatopoeia that RBY used for the S.S. Anne's captain vomiting. Sorry for the gross description, but that's what it sounds like to me. Speaking of Wulfric, that's David Brimmer voicing him. You might know him as Crasher Wake (DP saga), Doctor Proctor ("A Chansey Operation"), Dusknoir ("Explorers of Sky" special), Sir Crocodile ("One Piece" 4kids dub), Odion Ishtar (YuGiOh), etc.

Well, Ash got crushed. That's all I can say about the battle, really. And we got an unusually somber ending out of it.

This'll be yet another consecutive week I gush about Ed Goldfarb being a superb composer, but wow, was this episode's dub soundtrack amazing. All the battles got great themes for them, and everything else got nice and fitting music playing over them. Though I wish they didn't keep the G6 Gym Theme.

One last thing: how did Greninja not get his tongue stuck on the icy wall when he fainted?

 

[Queen Cynthia]

I'd say the first part of this episode, especially the first two batlles start out a bit weak, but it got better and better the longer it lasted and I really loved it at the end.

But first things first: Abomasnow vs. Hawlucha was a bit too quick for my taste. Wulfric could have done more to dodge Ash's attacks. Or was Abomasnow just a necessary "tool" in order for Avalugg to take advantage of his ability? On the other hand, when you think about it, Wulfriy mentioned at the beginning that he's either a pushover or a really hard opponent. Maybe in the first match he wanted to show that he can indeed be defeated easily. But that would be a pretty weird startegy if you ask me.

The next battle was Avalugg vs. Talonflame and I wasn't all too happy that it was Ash's Pokemon that could have been most effective in an Ice-type gym that went down so easily and quickly.

And finally, we got Avalugg vs. (Ash-) Greninja and things started to get really exciting. Of course, I kept my fingers crossed for Ash and his ninja-frog and, of course, seeing them lose wasn't easy. But as weird as it may sound, I was quite happy the writers decided to continue with that great writing from last week! Ash put on a great show against Diantha but to protect him from becoming too overconfident, they decided he should have a losing streak together with the star Pokemon of his team. First, against his biggest admirer Saywer and now against Wulfric although he's so close to the Kalos League. It shows he still has to work really hard to deserve such a great Pokemon like Ash-Greninja and that trainer and Pokemon alike have to earn that special level of power together.
Thus, I particularly liked the last scene when Ash being all depressed was walking into the forest to look for answers. Such a mature fantastic scene!
(The only thing that makes me wonder in this context is how increasingly neglected Pikachu is getting. Ash's most faithful and best friend hardly gets any battle anymore and wasn't even allowed to accompany Ash in times like this)

All in all, very good episode with such a great way to end!

 

[Muur]

Wulfric must have nothing better to do if he was just chilling in his gym just cuz.

I would've liked him to say something other than what he says in the game before the battle with Ash.

"Avalug's body is as hard as steel". Shame it's not a steel type tho, meaning it gets wrecked by Steel lol

Hawlucha did very well there, shame the hail cost him at the end, though if Gyro Ball was still in effect I suppose the High Jump Kick wouldn't have mattered

Damn that's one strong Avalugg. Seems Sawyer may not have faced it since he was making no comments about how to defeat it.

Ooh the ice freezing Greninja's water shurikens, that was good stuff.

Wulfric nearly got crushed there lol.

...that Avalugg was made way too op! this must be like the first time Ash has lost to a gym leader with the leader not even using all his Pokemon... and as someone pointed out, Ice Body is extremely overpowered in the show.

Can't blame Ash for being more upset than usual tbh, that was quite the defeat.

 

[Matleo]

Really good battle that showed more pokemon, moves and their abilities.
(why was Avalug a ice type , not a ice/ghost or ice/dragon??? really? but its a good pokemon indead)
Would be cooler if Avalanche in future would be made more real snow/ice then steam... the pokemon should come out of the snow when hit with it.
Seeing that Ash team is mostly physical oriented he had a hard battle and sometimes you need to lose to win better. Atlest this gym got 2 episodes instead of one seing how many we got 2vs2 that was lame, we need in future more 3vs3 battles for gyms.

(Now why do we don't get a icy terrain move and ability?would make sense seeing the battle field and how powerfull ice types are on it)

 

[Lucifer Angel]

The battles were nice and all, but too bad Ash didn't have a fire type pokemon to help him out here.

 

[Harryghost]

The group finally reaches Snowbelle City; boi, ain't you excited for your battle, Ash! Keep your spirits up.

So, Wulfric just spends his day at his icy cold Gym? He must have nothing better to do then. But I still love him, and the fact that he nearly says what he says in his Gym battle in the Games.

I really wanted to see Bergmite battle, because it's a cute little ice chunk, and I love to see cute little Pokémon battle it out. Also, I am not a fan of another 2-on-2 Gym battle after the last two Gyms. It's a shame that it could not battle in this match.

Spoiler

Though, it did battle in A Real Icebreaker! so I am not disappointed one bit.

Avalugg's physical defenses are really strong, so it is only to be expected that one will have a difficult time battling it if you only use Physical moves. Add to this a tinge of Ice Body, and you get this nearly invincible Avalugg that Wulfric used in his battle against Ash.

Ash loses the battle, fails to show his strength to Sawyer and is ashamed, Wulfric feels that his bond with his Greninja is not very strong, and Ash has to put on a fake smile while bidding Sawyer farewell. Perfect prologue for a depression! Good work, writers.

Ash sets on the forest, and... I love him. The depressed Ash, yes, I love him; he is so cute. Of course, Serena will do something about it in the next episode.