Review SM139: Birth! The Alola Champion!!

[Panky..]

I love even Ash himself is just shocked by this turn of events. Like "Wow, I never thought I'll get this far."
View: https://twitter.com/AshandSerena/status/1173166304104046592

I feel like that look of disbelief for a few moments straight was the crowning moment of this episode. So simple and realistic unlike the previous league winners.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

I think people are overlooking the fact that Bewear must be pissed. Did you see what it did to the Oranguru robot?

Team Rocket are going to die sometime soon, I'm pretty sure that's accurate.

Giovanni to the rescue!

At least when he gets information about Galar anyway.

 

[JeoDude]

Wow the animation in this episode was amazing! This was a thriller from start to finish. Pikachu vs Zoroark was short, but it was also action packed. When you think about it, it is pretty realistic to knock-out Zoroark with a Thunderbolt and Z-move. Pikachu took a lot of damage before the Z-move as well so it makes sense. I can understand that people would have liked to last the battle a little longer and skip the Bewear scene though.

Some other points:

• I am wondering where Ash and Gladion were laughing about..
• I loved the flashback sequence when they showed the Lycanroc rivalry
• Dusk Lycanroc was pretty much dominated by Midnight Lycanroc's Counter and Outrage. How the hell did he survive al that? I loved the battle tho because of the strategies (jumping on stone edge and counter against counter), intensity and fantastic music.
• The ceremony went by a little to fast for me, hopefully they make up for that in the upcoming episodes

And last but not least, congratulations Ash! You were dominated by Hau, but for the rest of the tournament you did a great job and every pokemon on your team had a moment of fame.

 

[Gengarzilla]

Well blow me down, he actually did it. What a very pleasant surprise. Yeah, it being brand new did make this feel like the most lax and casual League Tournament he's ever participated in, but a win is a win.

 

[Lone_Garurumon]

He actually did it. After less than 1 year of travelling because he's still only 10 years old, the boy has finally won a Pokemon League. I'm proud a' ya kid.

Spoiler: So, Ash, what's next for your Pokemon career?

 

[DarkraiKnight]

Heh...Heh heh...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'm sorry. It's just...I feel like a little kid again.

The trophy scene in that preview wasn't clickbait. It wasn't a lie created strictly to get us to watch the episode.

It was REAL. THIS IS REAL.

Ash Ketchum has WON THE LEAGUE.

And the BATTLE, yo! That was a GREAT fight! Ok, Pikachu vs Zoroark was too short, and that one scene with the flashbacks was way too long and a waste of Type: Wild, but everything else was top notch. At long last, Fujisaku has written a fight without ANY Tauroscrap involved. No super-sturdy Electrowebs, no splashing Ground-types, and no Pokemon falling asleep in the middle of the fight (though to be frank, I had little to no problem with any of them except for the last one). It was a clean, awesome fight! And I LOVE that little scene where Ash and Gladion laughed with each other; they were enjoying this SO MUCH.

Frankly, I was terrified after that trophy scene was leaked. If Ash had lost this fight, or if the fight itself turned out to be garbage...I probably would've been done with Pokemon forever. But they did it. They pulled it off. This was the real deal.

Congratulations, Fujisaku. Congratulations, Ash Ketchum. And congratulations to US for being around to finally see it come to pass.

#Pokemon4Life

 

[Alola]

I think people are overlooking the fact that Bewear must be pissed. Did you see what it did to the Oranguru robot?

More like people are exasperated from it stealing screentime that could have been dedicated to improving the League Battles we've been watching for the past month and a half. I, for one, was indifferent to what I already assumed (six episodes ago) it would eventually do to the robot.

 

[DunnoInsertName]

I'm sorry, but how did Dusk Lycanroc take so many hits, Gladion's Lycanroc is normally the tanky one. And Ash's Lycanroc should have lost long before he countered the counter. Which isn't believable to me, I guess it would technically be possible to constantly counter, counter with your own counter.

 

[Shadao]

I feel like that look of disbelief for a few moments straight was the crowning moment of this episode. So simple and realistic unlike the previous league winners.

I just realized what that face reminds me of...

View: https://twitter.com/rex_shadao/status/1173179351468167173

 

[DarkraiKnight]

I'm sorry, but how did Dusk Lycanroc take so many hits, Gladion's Lycanroc is normally the tanky one.

Hard work, grit, and maybe a eeeeeensy wensy bit of plot armor.

 

[ShadowZone1996]

Overall I think the Lycanroc battle kinda sucked (Stone Edge, Stone Edge, Counter, Counter) but after over 20 years he finally did it. I can't help, but smile like an idiot.

 

[Macsen]

This is probably where Ash's story ends.

 

[Gengarzilla]

This is probably where Ash's story ends.

Without defeating any Elite Four and Champion group? Not likely. Contrary to the popular "the show's over if he wins" line, this was just a stepping stone. Ash ain't gonna pack up his wanderlust after one win.

 

[Panky..]

This is probably where Ash's story ends.

Says who? Even Yuyama had to come out and clarify that League Conference win =/= Pokemon Mastery. And given the excitable and curious nature he has, he won't just call it a day after this win. He didn't do so back in Orange or when he was offered a Frontier Brain position (the latter probably being a high paying, high ranking job), why would he do now? Especially when there's a new region and new Pokemon to uncover.

 

[Shadao]

Satoshi will always continue his adventure, for a Pokémon Master is far greater than all of the world's strongest Pokémon Trainers combined. It's never the end goal, it's only the drive.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

The Lycanroc battle felt pretty lackluster to me to be a final League battle, but it's fine, because finally people can say Ash has really won a League! The satisfaction of seeing that trophy was so great that it overshadowed that lackluster-ness pretty quickly.

And the Guzzlord appearance near the end was hype as well!

 

[BraixenFennekin]

wow! It finally did it. Ash finally won the Pokémon League Conference! I waited 20 years for Ash becoming the champion.

The batle was so intense. Ash's Lycanroc vs Gladion's Lycanroc. It end up with Ash winning with Lycanroc's Counter, which caused Gladion's Midnight Lycanroc to be fainted when he crashed at the door.

I give this episode an A+.

 

[A Wild Luxray]

He finally did it! His first should have been the Kalos League, but he finally did it! Congrats, Ash Ketchum! Alola's first Champion!

Fujisaku did a lot better than I expected with this. The battle could have been a lot better, but having Counter deal the final blow was decent. The reactions though were great. Ash couldn't even believe he finally won. The arrival of Guzzlord was pretty hype also.

Overall, a great episode.

 

[KrspaceT]

I'll be very dissapointed if no one does an edit of the AZ 'It's been 2000' years.....

I'll admit to not being the biggest fan of the Alola League, but Ash.....good job.

...I hope the internet is nicer to you now.

 

[JeoDude]

A small and unimportant question, but does counter work the same in the anime as in the games? First taking a hit and then using the move? For example, Midnight Lycanroc countered Acceleroc where it didn't seem like it was hit, but after using Counter you see Midnight looking tired (maybe implying it took damage). If you take that into consideration, then the Lycanroc fight was more even.