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Review SM109: The Birth of an Island Queen! Satoshi's Grand Trial!!

Seriously disappointed

Pikachu vs Mudsdale, won by using Gigavolt Havoc, reminds me of Ash vs Brock

Too much talk from the spectators, no battling whilst the happened

Loved the night battle, techtonic rage was amazing, nice that Ash earned the Steelium-Z, just wish Bulbapedia was up and running
 
Very forgettable episode, Although, I'll liked the battle of idea by splashing the water at Mudsdale and attack with Electroweb, before finishing with Z-Move. Despite, the anime logic doesn't make any sense.

Overall rating: I give it B+
 
I guess the Grand trials never surpassed the Double battle with Olivia...
 
Seriously disappointed

Pikachu vs Mudsdale, won by using Gigavolt Havoc, reminds me of Ash vs Brock

Too much talk from the spectators, no battling whilst the happened

Loved the night battle, techtonic rage was amazing, nice that Ash earned the Steelium-Z, just wish Bulbapedia was up and running
Now that Ash's got a Steelium-Z, that means he will perform it with Meltan or Pikachu.
 
I agree all of you! This was the worst grand trial ever. As for this episode, Ash won that and received the Steelium-Z by defeating Hapu'u. And Ash and his classmates left Poni Island.
 
Would have been so much better if Rowlet was used instead of Pikachu, the battle would have been more bearable
Well, guys, look at the bright side, at least Ash finished all four grand trials. The only thing left is the Alolan Pokemon League and goodbyes then the new series.
 
Once again, the writers defy basic logic of the games by having a Ground-type be affected by an Electric-type move when Pikachu can't learn Soak. Either they'll soon release Pikachu (or Eevee) knowing Soak for either SMUSUM or LG as an event, or the anime will fall further into infamy.

Would have been so much better if Rowlet was used instead of Pikachu, the battle would have been more bearable
It's just like with Eliza in Best Wishes. Eleminate anyone with a chance for more Pikachu shilling, and making him look like a creator's pet. And this is from someone who proudly had a Pikachu in their Ultra Sun team that also played a role in the battle with Hapu.

Well, guys, look at the bright side, at least Ash finished all four grand trials. The only thing left is the Alolan Pokemon League and goodbyes then the new series.

And to know who Ash will lose to at the league. A sue? An idiot? A rusher? Or to Gladion, Ilama, or Hau?
 
Where did Hapu get the box of Z-Crystals from? I only have seen the Serebii stills so far...
 
That reminds me of an episode when Pikachu defeated Brock's Onix despite being a dual ground/rock type.
That was season 1. The anime was very weird back then. This is twenty seasons later. They should be above that kind of Deus ex Machina things.
 
At least it was consistent with the anime rule that wetting a ground type makes it susceptible to electric attacks... ah, to hell with it. I'm reaching. Yeah, total bullshit.

At least Satoshi was offered his choice of Z-Crystal to handwave him getting Steelium-Z from a ground type specialist. Certainly prefer that to "Oh look, I have one specific to your Pokemon lying in my pocket..."
 
More importantly, the opening theme was updated to include a wild Shaymin during the final scene, and it looks like Tsareena is carrying it around.
 
While I usually wait for the subbed version to be uploaded before I make a review (since context matters in a review), this episode was so badly written that one can tell just by watching it. It takes way to long to get to the Grand Trial (you know, the main focus of the episode which appears in the title) and the Grand Trial is a 1v1 that is basically won by through Ash using a Deus Ex Machina that defies any kind of logic. Why do the Sun & Moon writers hate 3v3 battles? And why do they have to make the Grand Trials (which are supposed to be the grand finales of an island's story arc) so... un-grand? Basically, this was bad episode. The only good thing that came out of it is that Ash got a Steelium-Z, which further adds the "Ash might catch Meltan argument".

And with that, the Poni arc has officially ended. And while better than most Sun & Moon story arc done up to this point, it still had some problems. Or 3 to be more specific. The set-up episode wasn't all that great (way to many "comedic" moments, to the point that they made confusing change to the past island kahunas of the island, all for the sake of a two minute joke), the evolution episode barely focused on poor Lana and had an unnecessary returning character that just dragged the Sophocles plot down and this episode... well, you already know how bad it was. But on the other hand, we had a cool episode that sets up the next story arc for the aether family, as well as some an (almost) amazing battle between our favorite edge lord and Ash, a Kiawe episode that gave him a new Z-move and finally focused on his Charizard (and all it took were 107 episodes) and a incredibly emotional Mallow episode that's among some of the best episodes in the anime (thou I still think it could have been better if they... I don't know, did at least a little FORESHADOWING?). Also, a small nitpick that I have is that this arc ended too fast (but, than again, Sun & Moon has always had a problem with rushing through story arcs).

All in all, I'd say the Poni arc was comme ci comme ça. Half of the episodes in this arc were amazing, while the other half were mediocre to terrible.
 
Didn’t even see much of the episode today, missed the first few minutes but alas I probabrly didn’t miss much because we have another trial that is utter horse-shit in almost every aspect.

Terrible, terrible stuff indeed. S/M, just why have you turned my adorable little Pikachu into a walking talking Deus Ex Machina causing disaster?

Though I’m thankful they didn’t pull a Pikashunium Z out of nowhere, that would have just made the whole episode even more worse.
 
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