Preview SM138: The Finals! The Strongest Rival Showdown!!

[Daenerys]

I’m just going to ask one question...if in the event of Ash actually winning the league, would you consider this an actual win, or would it be as valuable as the Orange League victory, or even less so?

I'd count it as an official league win, as in on par with winning one of the other major leagues from regions introduced in the core games. Some people are too salty about the dynamics of this league given all the 1 on 1 battles and no apparent full battle on the horizon, so they place it on par with the Orange league, but this league is an actual tournament unlike that 99 cent excuse for a league that only involved one battle for the championship.

 

[Henry Suarez]

This league has now over 10 episodes (if one counts 128 as the starting point of the Alola League) record breaking! I hope this means Ash will win his first league ever.

About the talk about "worst league" I wouldn't say so, it seems some people have bad memory, the Unova one was a fiasco, my rank of leagues would be:

1. Sinnoh
2. Kalos
3. Johto
4. Hoenn
5. Alola*
6. Kanto
7. Unova

There are still 2 battles left in the top 8 + 2 battles in the semifinals + the final so I think it has chance to topple both Johto and Hoenn leagues, a semifinal/final similar in spectacularity to Sawyer/Alain battles would tie it with Kalos, Sinnoh will be hard to lose the #1 spot.

I think both Kiawe vs Sophocles and Guzma vs Lana look great so far (in a matter of hours we'll see) Guzma vs Ash has a good writer + super animator so it should be great, I hope Fujisaku redeems himself and makes a decent Gladion vs Ash and if there is a a second part I hope is handled by someone else NOT named Shinzo Fujita.

 

[DynamicFusion]

I’m just going to ask one question...if in the event of Ash actually winning the league, would you consider this an actual win, or would it be as valuable as the Orange League victory, or even less so?

I would count it as an official win. Of course if Ash wins or not has never been important to me, it's more of how he progresses as a trainer and as a person. But a win is a win. Wins sometimes come undeserved, wins sometimes need luck, it's what happens in real life as well. One time, it's not your day, the other it is. I just think some people are salty that this League doesn't follow the previous Leagues style and they either don't like the series or nothing has gone their way in the past three years. I think those people are continually under the impression that there’s a rule to how things work, whether it be the Pokémon anime or writing in general, and think when something doesn’t follow those rules, it’s immediately bad.

 

[Panky..]

I'd count it as an official league win, as in on par with winning one of the other major leagues from regions introduced in the core games. Some people are too salty about the dynamics of this league given all the 1 on 1 battles and no apparent full battle on the horizon, so they place it on par with the Orange league, but this league is an actual tournament unlike that 99 cent excuse for a league that only involved one battle for the championship.

Of course it's an official league, so was the Orange Islands.

That doesn't mean people have to be "salty" to dislike it. I mean, a preliminary Battle Royale (an actual BR, not even the Alola 1v1v1v1 BR for that matter) where you could slip into the first rounds by teaming up or doing nothing... no skill dependency at all. The 1v1 rounds are just insult to injury on how laid back this 'League' is.
Even the Orange Islands final was a full 6v6 which doesn't seem likely for Manalo's final.

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

Thing is, Ash hasn’t really done anything so far to impress me, his Pokemon have. Meltan was largely responsible for the win against Faba, and Rowlet had to improvise, twice. Using his Z-Move straight off the bat isn’t a bright idea, as shown in the episode, and normally Ash is more reserved than that. Even in the 151 battle, Ash almost got caught out twice, and had to be saved by Kaki and Gladion. I’ve partly enjoyed the league so far, but it feels like Ash has went backwards.

 

[Pulsaro23]

I’m just going to ask one question...if in the event of Ash actually winning the league, would you consider this an actual win, or would it be as valuable as the Orange League victory, or even less so?

As much as I dislike a good portion of this League (as well as how it's sometimes treated like a circus)... it is an official league. So, if Ash actually beats Gladion in the finals (and unless they pull something like having Mr. Goodshow suddenly return to say that the League wasn't officially sanctioned by the committee and that, thus, the results are irrelevant and don't matter), then it would be an official league win for Ash. And whether or not I think it was deserved or done well (or any other feelings I might have regarding it) wouldn't change that.

 

[Poke Trey]

I just have a question but: What is it about the writer of this episode that's making all of the internet go mad saying that this'll be the worst finals ever? Just curious.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I just have a question but: What is it about the writer of this episode that's making all of the internet go mad saying that this'll be the worst finals ever? Just curious.

He can't write a good battle if his life depended on it. He wrote the Pikachu vs Mimikyu trial battle, the Ash vs Hapu battle, and the second half of the Ash vs Hau League battle. All his battles have a similar pattern: Ash gets pummeled at first and the situation looks hopeless, until he suddenly pulls off a Deus Ex Machina way to win out of nowhere and, well, wins, despite being on the ropes like a minute earlier.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

I’m just going to ask one question...if in the event of Ash actually winning the league, would you consider this an actual win, or would it be as valuable as the Orange League victory, or even less so?

Given its complete divergence from previous leagues and the source material, it's definitely as "canon" as the Orange Islands

But people still count that as a "win" as well, but it's still not going to matter going forward, not unless the fact he has a League win under his belt is what gets him a sponsorship in Galar

 

[Rath]

Given its complete divergence from previous leagues and the source material, it's definitely as "canon" as the Orange Islands

But people still count that as a "win" as well, but it's still not going to matter going forward, not unless the fact he has a League win under his belt is what gets him a sponsorship in Galar

The anime has ALWAYS diverged from the source material. This isn't even the furthest it's diverged.

 

[Daenerys]

I just have a question but: What is it about the writer of this episode that's making all of the internet go mad saying that this'll be the worst finals ever? Just curious.

The writer in question is a maverick. I feel like he does things more for his own enjoyment and not necessarily because he has the audience's best interests in mind. Whether it's him writing unorthodox strategies in battles or him doing fake outs for comedy purposes, he's in his own little world imo.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

The anime has ALWAYS diverged from the source material. This isn't even the furthest it's diverged.

I don't recall any of the other Leagues being open invite battle royales

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I don't recall any of the other Leagues being open invite battle royales

That's because Battle Royal wasn't an official battle format in Pokémon until Generation VII.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

The anime has ALWAYS diverged from the source material. This isn't even the furthest it's diverged.

“This isn’t even the furthest it’s diverged”

The SM anime literally changed its entire genre, so it’s the furthest it’s diverged... The entire premise of Ash travelling has been changed.

Clarification: Even though it’s divergent, I’ll count the league as an actual win, with the reasonings @Pulsaro23 gave in their post.

 

[Rath]

I don't recall any of the other Leagues being open invite battle royales

Battle Royals didn't exist back then.

 

[Panky..]

That's because Battle Royal wasn't an official battle format in Pokémon until Generation VII.

Battle Royals didn't exist back then.

True on both counts, but they could have used the Alolan traditional Battle Royale (1v1v1v1, you know... the signature battle format for the region) instead of all out literal BR like it was some sort of Fortnite game.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

True on both counts, but they could have used the Alolan traditional Battle Royale (1v1v1v1, you know... the signature battle format for the region) instead of all out literal BR like it was some sort of Fortnite game.

I personally didn't mind the way they did it.

 

[Pkmndub]

not unless the fact he has a League win under his belt is what gets him a sponsorship in Galar

Woah, that'd be pretty awesome if that's how Ash gets the endorsement from Chairman Rose for the Gym Challenge

 

[BigDocFan]

Woah, that'd be pretty awesome if that's how Ash gets the endorsement from Chairman Rose for the Gym Challenge

I'll be honest, I'm hoping to see Rose maybe appear towards the end of Sun and Moon having watched (off screen) Ash take part in the league and offer him an endorsement even if he wins or loses

 

[KyseL]

I don't recall any of the other Leagues being open invite battle royales

I don't recall the leagues in the games being tournaments at all.