Preview JN007: The Hoenn Region, Site of Fierce Fights! The Battle Frontier Challenge!!

[JinksChow]

I do want to be fair after what happened with SuMo, though. It's still really, really early. Most past series' hadn't even reached a Gym by this episode.
I definitely don't think the new series had made a great first impression though.

I'm pretty sure most past series have reached a gym by this episode, looking at the first gym/frontier challenge/island trial of all past series:

Kanto - 5th episode
Orange Islands - 5th episode
Johto - 15th episode
Hoenn - 16th episode (Technically 3rd episode)
Battle Frontier - 4th episode
Sinnoh - 16th episode (Technically 15th episode)
Unova - 5th episode
Kalos - 5th episode (Technically 1st episode)
Alola - 9th episode

So unless this new series will be 4 years like AG or DP, we're gonna be behind schedule for gyms pretty soon

 

[Daren]

I'll be honest, I thought when I checked a few days ago that Unova's first Gym was much later than that.
I also didn't look at the OI or Battle Frontier since I consider them continuations of their respective series' rather than new ones.

 

[Dahara]

I think the most concerning thing isn't a Pokemon series having a slow build-up, it is that this Battle Frontier episode is happening now practically out of nowhere without any real build-up and then we move on to another region right away meaning the results here likely won't matter much at all. That last episode would have been the perfect time for Satoshi to train Go on how to handle his first official Pokemon battle.

 

[Almonds]

Kalos - 5th

Technically the first episode if we're just counting when Ash reached a gym and attempted to challenge it. He tried to challenge Lumiose right away but got thrown out because he needed more badges.

 

[JinksChow]

Technically the first episode if we're just counting when Ash reached a gym and attempted to challenge it. He tried to challenge Lumiose right away but got thrown out because he needed more badges.

Good catch! I'll edit my post

 

[Panky..]

Why do people have a problem with the son borrowing the family pokemon :/ I'm genuinely confused why so many people find the idea unacceptable.

Maybe because you're not bothered to try and understand the root of the problem? Maybe because you're being a TPC apologist for some reason? Maybe because you ignore or dismiss all the valid points regarding this issue, made by other people? For examples check @sc190191's and @Pulsaro23's posts

The problem isn't technically Ash using Mimey, it's the writers going the roundabout route to straight up avoid having him get a new capture or return his old Pokemon... they're stagnating his character by making these weird choices and downgrading him to being unnecessary comic relief despite the premise being "double protagonists". There's also the fact that they're baiting with details like "Battle Frontier" and "surprise Pokemon". I was one of the first people who theorized that Mimey might join Ash but not in this way, if Mimey were to join Ash then I'd rather it have shown interest in battles and later join Ash, having an entire episode dedicated to it like the Buizel-Aipom trade... not be asspulled suddenly just to avoid having Ash use reserves, which they have no reason to not show. Talking about the tournament itself, like I stated earlier, there's no point in naming it "Battle Frontier" if at least Scott is not going to be around. This might as well have been those filler Don George tournaments.

 

[Silktree]

Mr. Mime can be a very cool Pokemon in battle, and Ash is likely to get a Galar starter and/or at least one of his Kanto starters soon judging from marketing. We might see them in the 2020 preview in 16 hours. So it isn't all bad.

 

[pokepal_123]

I wonder why they specifically used Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charizard in the marketing(both posters and placing them in Pallet as well) instead of Charmander but seem to ignore Ash's past Pokemon so far.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I wonder why they specifically used Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charizard in the marketing(both posters and placing them in Pallet as well) instead of Charmander but seem to ignore Ash's past Pokemon so far.

Because Kanto's the best thing to ever exist!

 

[Silktree]

The parents of the target audience are likely familiar with the Kanto season, but not necessarily anything else.

 

[nickdt]

Hear me out here: What if all the battles are 1v1, except for the final one (This way Gou also doesn't go out in the first battle). Ash and Mimey both realize Ash has only 1 Pokemon on hand, so Mimey, who is part of the audience because Ash wasn't planning using another Pokemon than Pikachu, decides to step in because Delia gave Ash Mimey's Pokeball. Ash recalls Mimey and instantly throws it out again.

 

[Panky..]

Hear me out here: What if all the battles are 1v1, except for the final one (This way Gou also doesn't go out in the first battle). Ash and Mimey both realize Ash has only 1 Pokemon on hand, so Mimey, who is part of the audience because Ash wasn't planning using another Pokemon than Pikachu, decides to step in because Delia gave Ash Mimey's Pokeball. Ash recalls Mimey and instantly throws it out again.

This would make sense if not for the fact that there's no reason for Ash to not carry a team around. It's the Nimbasa Gym battle all over again and seems a bit out of character for Ash.

And before someone points out that he only took Pikachu to new regions, that's because those were starts of new journeys whereas this one is an obvious continuation that revisits old regions. And when he only took Pikachu, he'd make an effort to catch new Pokemon native to that particular region, hence having backup Pokemon on hand. They had him do no such thing when he visited Galar, instead making him OOC with the food stuff and not being excited by the new region/Pokemon and degrading him into a gag character.
The point of him only taking Pikachu is to give more focus to new characters and Pokemon, developing them all the same. Him not carrying around any extra in this series makes no sense at all, especially given that he has no new captures till now whereas he had one by the end of the 2nd or 3rd episodes in the previous series.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

This would make sense if not for the fact that there's no reason for Ash to not carry a team around. It's the Nimbasa Gym battle all over again and seems a bit out of character for Ash.

And before someone points out that he only took Pikachu to new regions, that's because those were starts of new journeys whereas this one is an obvious continuation that revisits old regions. And when he only took Pikachu, he'd make an effort to catch new Pokemon native to that particular region, hence having backup Pokemon on hand. They had him do no such thing when he visited Galar, instead making him OOC with the food stuff and not being excited by the new region/Pokemon and degrading him into a gag character.
The point of him only taking Pikachu is to give more focus to new characters and Pokemon, developing them all the same. Him not carrying around any extra in this series makes no sense at all, especially given that he has no new captures till now whereas he had one by the end of the 2nd or 3rd episodes in the previous series.

Not to mention that they’d be fucked if they came across big and dangerous ground types along the way.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Not to mention that they’d be fucked if they came across big and dangerous ground types along the way.

Not really, all they need is a nice sprinkler system and/or a glass of water nearby.

 

[nickdt]

Not really, all they need is a nice sprinkler system and/or a glass of water nearby.

Or you know, Go and Ash are both males, problem solved.

 

[nickdt]

Huh...?

There is no need for a sprinkler or a glass/water nearby. Ash and Go are two walking sprinklers.

 

[Pulsaro23]

Why do people have a problem with the son borrowing the family pokemon :/ I'm genuinely confused why so many people find the idea unacceptable. At the very least Ash could ask Delia for her permission and I don't think she'd say no.

Well, let's see. Form an IRL point of view, there's the summary for the episode and how it was designed to hype up the fans and how the wording made them believe that the "mystery Pokémon" would be one of Ash's reserves (which goes hand in hand with the crew's promise that the series would be geared towards the old fans and the new ones alike), which makes those of use who were hoping for a reserve feel cheated. From an in-universe perspective, there's the fact that it doesn't make sense for Ash to use Mimey, since, theoretically, he should have access to his reserves this time around, who would be better choices than Mimey in every way. As I said before, Mimey doesn't have any battling experience, it doesn't have an interest in battles, it's been nothing but bland comic relief since the start of the series, Ash has no reason to use it and it doesn't belong to Ash (which is not the same as using a Pokémon that was gifted/passed down to you or a Pokémon that you received form a trade or a Pokémon that you rented or a Pokémon that was caught for you but that you can't legally own because you're bellow the age of 10 or whatever other case that you might try to connect to this one, even though it isn't the same as this one).

Gee, I wonder why people would hate this and consider it stupid?

 

[FCBayern]

Maybe because you're not bothered to try and understand the root of the problem? Maybe because you're being a TPC apologist for some reason? Maybe because you ignore or dismiss all the valid points regarding this issue, made by other people? For examples check @sc190191's and @Pulsaro23's posts

The problem isn't technically Ash using Mimey, it's the writers going the roundabout route to straight up avoid having him get a new capture or return his old Pokemon... they're stagnating his character by making these weird choices and downgrading him to being unnecessary comic relief despite the premise being "double protagonists". There's also the fact that they're baiting with details like "Battle Frontier" and "surprise Pokemon". I was one of the first people who theorized that Mimey might join Ash but not in this way, if Mimey were to join Ash then I'd rather it have shown interest in battles and later join Ash, having an entire episode dedicated to it like the Buizel-Aipom trade... not be asspulled suddenly just to avoid having Ash use reserves, which they have no reason to not show. Talking about the tournament itself, like I stated earlier, there's no point in naming it "Battle Frontier" if at least Scott is not going to be around. This might as well have been those filler Don George tournaments.

I agree with you on that absolutely, so much hype and speculation only for it to end up being a major disappointment..

This tournament gives Mimey some extra development apart from being Ash’s caretaker and he gets to use his first ever Psychic/Fairy type in an official battle..

This is a horrible cop out by the writers to make Ash use his mom’s Pokémon when he was 50 other Pokémon he caught and trained sitting at Oak’s lab who are more battle tested than Mr. Mime..

If you want to give Mimey a bigger role in the series, ease it in and give us an episode to see how Mr. Mime desires to battle and become a a part of Ash’s team..

I just hope Mr. Mime doesn’t disappoint us viewers and Ash manages to win the tournament easily, he does have the type advantage against the opponent he’s facing so I expect him to come through

From looking at this pic, it seems like Mimey is doing well and isn’t afraid to battle like it was in the Sun and Moon series when ur was with Delia..

Guess Ash is good at making his Pokémon believe in themselves aye?

 

[nickdt]

They are pulling reverse SM

Ash is like: Mom used Litten in battle, let me use Mimey then.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Mr. Mime can be a very cool Pokemon in battle, and Ash is likely to get a Galar starter and/or at least one of his Kanto starters soon judging from marketing. We might see them in the 2020 preview in 16 hours. So it isn't all bad.

Except that’s essentially based on nothing that the series has presented us with while the people’s frustration is based on what we’ve been given. It’s always nice to hold out hope, but this series really hasn’t given us any reason to especially with this troll move.