Review SM143: Conclusion! Gaogaen VS Nyaheat!!

[Gabo2oo]

Torracat evolving after the battle was the best icing on the cake ever. Evolving mid-battle would feel like a justification for its win, so they switched it around for once. It makes it feel more unique (I don't recall many times where that has happened).

The way Tapu Koko showed up and dismissed Kukui's sixth Pokémon was pretty in-character for it, I'll give them that much, but I wished it was revealed Kukui knew about this beforehand. It just doesn't feel right to change Kukui's plan at the very last moment. It's literally the only part of this whole battle I haven't liked that much.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

When Ash get Firium Z?

Also why is Incineroar's 10 second faint still a loss but, Rowlet is allowed to take a powernap. WHAT THE HALA?

 

[Knightwolf09]

When Ash get Firium Z?

Also why is Incineroar's 10 second faint still a loss but, Rowlet is allowed to take a powernap. WHAT THE HALA?

Ash got it from a Totem Trevanent when he went back in time and met Kid Kukui.

Also Rowlet was just asleep, to which it can wake up. Incineroar was literally knocked out and thus unable to battle.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

@Knightwolf09 What's the fucking dfifference though? Rowlet loss consciousness due to exhaustion then woke up a minute later was able to battle. Incineroar loss consciousness due exhaustion woke up ten seconds later and still looked fighting fit. It's a dumb ruling.

 

[Knightwolf09]

@Knightwolf09 What's the fucking dfifference though? Rowlet loss consciousness due to exhaustion then woke up a minute later was able to battle. Incineroar loss consciousness due exhaustion woke up ten seconds later and still looked fighting fit. It's a dumb ruling.

Rowlet just slept cause it's a narcoleptic. A shout or shaking him would easily get him up. Being knocked out from taking too much damage however means you get back up at all for a while. That's a major difference

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

@Knightwolf09 @Panky.. the last thing that happened to it before it napped was it getting hit to a point where its lose was believable. It likes sleeping but, it's temptation to sleep was increased by being tired. It was still able to abuse the situation to recover vitality.

 

[Knightwolf09]

@Knightwolf09 @Panky.. the last thing that happened to it before it napped was it getting hit to a point where its lose was believable. It likes sleeping but, it's temptation to sleep was increased by being tired. It was still able to abuse the situation to recover vitality.

Again Rowlet's a narcoleptic. It sleeps whenever it feels like, it chose the absolute worst time to do so making it looks like it fainted. Plus if Rowlet was really that tired it wouldn't have woken up and be immediately back in fighting shape after a few seconds of sleep.

 

[radek.tadajewski.7]

Well, Torracat's evolution was the best thing I've ever seen, except it fainted while it used too much energy on Kukui's Incineroar. Anyway, the ending theme Type: Wild was updated to include Ash's Incineroar in place of Torracat. I guess the next episode will have an updated opening theme with Ash's Incineroar instead of Torracat for the final shot with Ash and his classmates.

 

[Sakuraa]

Take it as a championship belt, I guess

The win itself could have been the "champion belt". The evolution added nothing imo.

 

[Knightwolf09]

The win itself could have been the "champion belt". The evolution added nothing imo.

I see it a the final sign of Torracat's growth from a little Litten. It overcame it's obstacles and achieved it's full potential. Even if he might not get used, just look at it as a character growth moment, watching him grow up.

 

[Sakuraa]

I see it a the final sign of Torracat's growth from a little Litten. It overcame it's obstacles and achieved it's full potential. Even if he might not get used, just look at it as a character growth moment, watching him grow up.

Again, the evolution wasn't necessary for that, at least for me it wasn't. Just beating the tiger was enough of a character growth moment.

 

[Panky..]

Review.

Pros:

• Let me get this straight and aside initially. No Team Rocket, Bewear, Stufful or any useless off-topic filler scenes again for the third time in a row (!!!). Why did they not adapt this mentality for the League? We could have had much more useful screentime.
• I totally expected Naganadel to job or the match-up against Lucario to be a tie. Was genuinely surprised how it turned out and how long the battle actually lasted. @FinnishPokéFan92; according to subtitles, Ash did intend for the two to clash so that he could pin down Lucario and prevent it from moving. Which means it's definitely a callback to the Pikachu-Electivire clash as well as the Incineroar-Melmetal clash last episode (how did I miss this one...?) given the similar way Naganadel took out its opponent.
• The next match-up... Torracat vs. Incineroar. Oh boy, I don't even know how to describe it. It was stupendo fantabulously awesome, easily the best match-up in the SM series so far and thanks to it, this battle is easily my second favorite battle after Ash vs. Paul (though the latter sentiment can change depending on next week's episode).
• Torracat's speed boost from all the Flame Charges finally paid off as it managed to overwhelm Incineroar and kept attacking it relentlessly, not to mention its on Monster Energy Blast Burn boost. I almost thought Incineroar had absorbed Fire Blast in a similar way to Torracat but turns it out it was Bulk Up enduring the hit and cancelling it.
• I genuinely had my heart in my throat with all the close calls for Torracat, especially that scary little Throat Chop repeat. Those glows on both Torracat and Incineroar was definitely Blaze activating even if it was never stated (edit Bulbapedia with appropriate information). It's the only logical thing possible.
• Torracat gets a much deserved and well earned win against its rival (unlike a certain owl), and an evolution to boot as icing on the already fiery hot cake, not to mention Incineroar's own little proud chuckle before fainting. I'm actually glad it fainted the way it did even if we might never see the evolution in action. It would have been very disastrous writing and a cheap fake-out for Incinecat to be jobbed by Tapu Koko so soon after its glorious moment.

Cons:

• It's official, I finally hate a Pokemon more than Ash's Rowlet and I never though this possible... Tapu Koko. Not only did it interrupt when Kukui was about to send out his 6th mon, it did so in the worst way possible by getting into Kukui's face and literally slapping out the 6th mon's Pokeball away. Absolute a-hole, inconsiderate and selfish... I'm kind of annoyed no one had a negative comment about its behavior.
• There was an unnecessary over usage of action lines and stock backgrounds which clashed negatively with the otherwise fantastic animation, just a bit jarring that they were even brought back to the anime after XY.

Extra:

• The animation and framerate was the best so far in this series, topping even that of the Celadon Gym battle episode during the Kanto visit. Not to mention the choice of music itself (LetZ Go!). Even the segments without any music were fitting given how tense they were.
• Dunno why Ash would use Sludge Bomb against Lucario. Were they trying to show beforehand that Naganadel knows the move, and that it'll factor into its next match-up? Glad to see that Ash realized the mistake right away though. Also, Ash called Naganadel "guy", so does that mean it's male confirmed (there's also the UG Amulet).

Verdict: A perfect episode, if you don't include Tapu Koko being a jerk. I'll give it a 10/10.

P.S: Which soundtrack was used during Naganadel vs. Lucario? I can't put a name to it.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

@FinnishPokéFan92; according to subtitles, Ash did intend for the two to clash so that he could pin down Lucario and prevent it from moving. Which means it's definitely a callback to the Pikachu-Electivire clash as well as the Incineroar-Melmetal clash last episode (how did I miss this one...?) given the similar way Naganadel took out its opponent.

Yeah. I saw the subtitles too already.

It's official, I finally hate a Pokemon more than Ash's Rowlet and I never though this possible... Tapu Koko. Not only did it interrupt when Kukui was about to send out his 6th mon, it did so in the worst way possible by getting into Kukui's face and literally slapping out the 6th mon's Pokeball away. Absolute a-hole, inconsiderate and selfish... I'm kind of annoyed no one had a negative comment about its behavior.

The guardian deities have been established to be quite capricious. It's perfectly in-character for it to do that, and it didn't bother me pretty much at all.

Dunno why Ash would use Sludge Bomb against Lucario.

He's a child. He sometimes forgets how certain type matchups work. This isn't the first time this has happened.

 

[Panky..]

The guardian deities have been established to be quite capricious. It's perfectly in-character for it to do that, and it didn't bother me pretty much at all.

True, but I'd never thought that such behavior would go to such extremes. I expected it to just float in front of Kukui and stare down at Pikachu before turning its head to Kukui... not get into his face and slap away the Pokeball like an antsy and demanding child.

He's a child. He sometimes forgets how certain type matchups work. This isn't the first time this has happened.

Fair enough. Hate to admit it but I guess even I've done a few of these mistakes.

 

[TheAerialAcer]

Dunno why Ash would use Sludge Bomb against Lucario.

I’m just happy Ash said “shoot I forgot” instead of “WHAT?!? Why didn’t that work!” As long as he realizes he made a mistake I don’t really mind him making one.

 

[Gabo2oo]

Oooh, another thing that bothered me: Tapu Koko allowing Kukui to act as its Trainer should have been way more of a deal than it was. I mean surely that must mean something important for Kukui, shouldn't it? He's basically being recognized as worthy of commanding a Guardian Deity. If they pointed that out it could've added a little bit of development for him as well.

Also a little detail I liked: after Ash's Incineroar fainted, it was still shown as a Torracat on the scoreboard. I'm just glad it wasn't magically updated.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

I love that the way Ash’s Incineroar fainted made it look more like he got cramps from standing up too fast and couldn’t move.

 

[CaptainBuggles]

I'll excuse Ash's one mistake with Lucario because to be fair, Lucario really doesn't look much like a Steel-type... and Torracat beat Incineroar so I got the main thing I wanted anyway.

As a bonus, Torracat evolved afterwards, which I actually prefer to mid-battle because it makes more sense to me.

Like, I know it's just a cartoon and Pokemon seem to have magical instincts that let them rapidly adapt to an evolved form, but the concept of a quadruped suddenly becoming a much larger biped and instantly being able to battle even better with no drawbacks would've been weird.

 

[Kurolegacy]

You know, not gonna lie, while I’m really not a fan of Incineroar, but I’m definitely happy for Torracat evolving. It took until the very end of SM, but Ash’s team has really shaped up and he definitely earned his win (unlike Rowlet) and his evolution.

 

[Alola]

• This is one of my favorite battles in the series, along with Ash Greninja vs Mega Sceptile, Nando vs Zoey, and several others. I'm not saying it's on par with the others, especially as next week's battle looks like it'll out-do this one, but it is a favorite. I enjoyed Naganadel vs. Lucario as well as Torracat vs. Incineroar.
• Speaking of the two fights, seeing Naganadel animated like so was amazing; its stationary 3D model in USUM didn't do wonders for my imagination. Shame on Ash for using Sludge Bomb ineffectively (you just became a regional Champion, dude), but I'm glad the anime at least acknowledged it. And on that note, this is the first time Ash has battled a Lucario without using Pikachu-and won with no losses from it at any point (this is also the first Lucario we've seen truly lack Aura Sphere). I know there are several detractors who feel that Naganadel's victory rings hollow when you remember Ash did nothing to actually achieve that level of strength and the moves used, which is true to a degree, but if you take it for what it's worth then the bout is quite enjoyable. It didn't get jobbed, surprisingly, and didn't get a double knock-out either, unlike its fellow purple predecessors. For that alone, I'm grateful. Bonus points for Naganadel having the best move-set among Ash's Alolan squad; diverse, with both STABS, and powerful.
• Yet again with the Battle! Regirock, Regice and Registeel track; it's officially been used more times here than in the Hoenn saga. Alola has plenty of great music like the Tapu Battle theme, Guzma's battle theme, Red & Blue's battle theme, and so on; yet we reuse this, nearly every League episode.
• That aside, I enjoyed Torracat vs Incineroar. You see Jun'ichi Fujisaku, this is how you conduct an evolutionary stage battle, where the first/middle stage defeats the final one. Smh. Also, I don't know why Tomioka or whomever refrained from calling those power boosts towards the end Blaze for Torracat & Incineroar; the anime continues to criminally under-use Abilities (hopefully that'll change down the road). Ash finally making use of Revenge was great to see and I'm charmed that Torracat essentially withheld its evolution until after it defeated Incineroar with its current power. And furthermore,
• Ash has an Incineroar now! I figured it could happen, but I also felt that it wouldn't due to evolving kinda undermining the rivalry between the felines. However, evolution as a reward for overcoming a huge obstacle is alright with me. Stoutland would be proud. I'm a sucker for Ash fully evolving his Starters; it's a shame there aren't too many episodes left in the series for it to have screen-time though. At least we can say his Alolan team is finally respectable.
• Next week is going to be amazing.