SPOILERS: Masters Eight Discussion/Speculation Thread

[Imtnt]

Some of you think if there will be a final 6 vs 6, and Ash will use all of his 6 in the first 2 rounds... Then we can evaluate from the start the chance for some reserves in the final? Just a thought from the break, no promises

 

[DuskAstral]

Some of you think if there will be a final 6 vs 6, and Ash will use all of his 6 in the first 2 rounds... Then we can evaluate from the start the chance for some reserves in the final? Just a thought from the break, no promises

There will be no reserves in the final battle.
Even in opening you are shown that in the fight against Leon, Satoshi will only use the team from JN.

 

[isrrael120]

I really don't have preferences and excitement for the M8 tournament, I really wouldn't feel anything if in the end the Ash vs Leon battle ends up being a 3vs3 or even a 1vs1!
also I don't think there will be a scenario to bring Ash's old Pokemons!

 

[Sai]

Leon will be 6 on 6 so he can use his full JN team

 

[Imtnt]

Yeah this speculation thread went uninspiring in epiaode 115 when Alain was crashed. It was a very big thing for us...

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Spoiler

So it looks like we are indeed getting Ash vs. Champion Cynthia. The strongest opponent he has ever faced, and we know he's PROBABLY gonna win because of Leon. I'm not ready for the outrage from all the Ash haters.

 

[Daren]

Spoiler

Spoiler

So it looks like we are indeed getting Ash vs. Champion Cynthia. The strongest opponent he has ever faced, and we know he's PROBABLY gonna win because of Leon. I'm not ready for the outrage from all the Ash haters.

I shall drink their tears like a salt vampire.
Edit: Can sympathize with Cynthia fans being disappointed but the haters who'll try to find some way to argue it doesn't count? That's a different story.

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

Spoiler

So it looks like we are indeed getting Ash vs. Champion Cynthia. The strongest opponent he has ever faced, and we know he's PROBABLY gonna win because of Leon. I'm not ready for the outrage from all the Ash haters.

Spoiler

Can’t wait for all the salty Cynthia simps when she loses lol

 

[Hidden Mew]

Spoiler

A part of me almost would have been okay with Iris winning just because I liked the idea of all the chaos it could have brought. Just imagine everyone complaining about Iris getting to battle Ash again, Cynthia losing in the first round and more Iris glorification. It would have been nothing but chaos until the next match at least and a part of me apparently would have been there for it. Although, I also liked the idea of Leon vs. Cynthia for similar reasons. I still don't know how they can make Ash defeating Cynthia believable.

 

[Konja7]

Spoiler

A part of me almost would have been okay with Iris winning just because I liked the idea of all the chaos it could have brought. Just imagine everyone complaining about Iris getting to battle Ash again, Cynthia losing in the first round and more Iris glorification. It would have been nothing but chaos until the next match at least and a part of me apparently would have been there for it. Although, I also liked the idea of Leon vs. Cynthia for similar reasons. I still don't know how they can make Ash defeating Cynthia believable.

So far, most battles in Master Eight have been believable, so I don't think it would be so difficult.

Of course, if someone thinks Cynthia should be invincible, there's no way they're going to find her defeat believable.

 

[Hidden Mew]

So far, most battles in Master Eight have been believable, so I don't think it would be so difficult.

Of course, if someone thinks Cynthia should be invincible, there's no way they're going to find her defeat believable.

I can't really judge the quality of the battles thus far, but I don't think that Cynthia should be invincible exactly. Given how her immense popularity, how Champions were treated as unbelievably strong prior to Journeys and I don't think Ash's Journeys team is really that strong despite getting to the Master Class, I'm just not sure how well they could pull off Ash defeating a popular Champion like Cynthia.

 

[PrettySylveon]

Although Journeys has its flaws, one thing I love was how Pokémon had Ash start off as one of the most incompetent trainers that won by sheer luck half of the time to a well skilled trainer that is out here battling champions.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Although Journeys has its flaws, one thing I love was how Pokémon had Ash start off as one of the most incompetent trainers that won by sheer luck half of the time to a well skilled trainer that is out here battling champions.

Yeah. Each of his journeys has taught him something, with him going from an immature child into a respected and undoubtedly strong Champion. He has earned his place amongst the best of the best.

 

[Daren]

I can't really judge the quality of the battles thus far, but I don't think that Cynthia should be invincible exactly. Given how her immense popularity, how Champions were treated as unbelievably strong prior to Journeys and I don't think Ash's Journeys team is really that strong despite getting to the Master Class, I'm just not sure how well they could pull off Ash defeating a popular Champion like Cynthia.

I'm not sure there was much they could do to make it feel natural after Elite Four and Champions were made vastly stronger than mere league winners since the games don't really have any adaptable content to bridge that gap after the Battle Frontier stopped appearing.

 

[Sai]

People generally overhyped the Champions/Elite 4 for years, so in their minds they think they're these unbeatable trainers in the anime but they were never supposed to be like that. In the older seasons we almost never see champions battle (it took all the way until Cynthia and it was just to defeat Paul and Iris back then), and we saw Ash being on decent ground with Diantha even back in XY.

Lance never had a proper battle in the OS/AG, Steven only had 1 episode, Alder had an ep battling a rookie like Trip, etc. So people grossly overestimate how unbeatable they were supposed to be.

 

[PrettySylveon]

and we saw Ash being on decent ground with Diantha even back in XY.

Speaking of Diantha, the anime actually did her justice. Diantha gets a bad rep in the fan base due to her being the easiest and most forgettable champion. The anime did a very good job at portraying her character. She gained a personality, played a huge role and she even got a win on screen.

 

[Hidden Mew]

People generally overhyped the Champions/Elite 4 for years, so in their minds they think they're these unbeatable trainers in the anime but they were never supposed to be like that. In the older seasons we almost never see champions battle (it took all the way until Cynthia and it was just to defeat Paul and Iris back then), and we saw Ash being on decent ground with Diantha even back in XY.

Lance never had a proper battle in the OS/AG, Steven only had 1 episode, Alder had an ep battling a rookie like Trip, etc. So people grossly overestimate how unbeatable they were supposed to be.

I think it's more like the writers have put them on a high pedestal for years as opposed to people grossly overestimating how strong they are. It isn't just the battles themselves, but just how Elite 4 and Champion trainers were presented in general. Even before DP, Elite 4 members and Champions were seen as a big deal and that they were stronger than regular trainers. We didn't see Lance battle outside of that one Team Rocket grunt, but they still made a big deal about him being the Champion of the Elite 4. Considering that Paul was just about as experienced as Ash was at the time, Cynthia defeating him wasn't really on the same level as Alder beating Trip. Ash was on decent ground with Diantha with Ash-Greninja, but not so much with their first battle, or at least I don't recall their first battle being particularly noteworthy.

Since DP, they've glorified the Elite 4 and Champions more, but that's been the case in the earlier series to varying degrees as well. I think it's less like Champions were never that strong and more like they just want to make Ash look stronger by defeating them, regardless of how well that works or how well with what they've established in the past.

 

[Imtnt]

I think they used to make them invincible champions before moatly because they wanted to put a light on how much work it should take to get this level. While Ash was far from close. For example the interaction between Lance and Ash in the episode of red Gyarados - it is not like Lance was world champ but they wanted us to see the hype about an exp trainer, and it is not like Ash could match him as a 10 yo boy back then.. no mater what progress he got with his team realy.

Another reason is the need of this overpowered trainers next to Ash in the arcs/movies when the world is in great danger... against legendary pokemon.. or against the evil boss/team.. Like Steven in the special of mega evolutions.. Sometimes a champ like Cynthia or Leon is there to do nothing important like in JN.. but it heleped to notice the power scales of the other pokemon.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Spoiler

So knowing JN118 is gonna see Ash using the Z-Move and its possible they'll use 1 gimmick per round, is it possible Lucario is gonna Mega Evolve for Ash's battle with Champion Cynthia then he'll use Gigantamax Gengar OR Pikachu against Leon?

 

[Broseph08]

Spoiler

So knowing JN118 is gonna see Ash using the Z-Move and its possible they'll use 1 gimmick per round, is it possible Lucario is gonna Mega Evolve for Ash's battle with Champion Cynthia then he'll use Gigantamax Gengar OR Pikachu against Leon?

Spoiler

I don't trust the openings and never have. I think he will mega evolve Lucario against Cynthia and Gengar will G-Max against Leon although the final battle will come down to Charizard vs. Pikachu