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Review JN012: Daimax Battle! Dande, The Greatest of Them All!!

This was the Rocket trio's best appearance in this series to date. They felt like their old Sun & Moon selves here, which for some reason is something the writers have been having trouble giving us these last few months. Maybe if they'd appear more than once every six weeks...

I wasn't a huge fans of just how slow the first half of the episode was. I know why everything was dragged out so much - they wanted to make sure the battle proper started right after the commercial break - but that doesn't make it any less annoying.
 
This was the Rocket trio's best appearance in this series to date. They felt like their old Sun & Moon selves here, which for some reason is something the writers have been having trouble giving us these last few months. Maybe if they'd appear more than once every six weeks...

I wasn't a huge fans of just how slow the first half of the episode was. I know why everything was dragged out so much - they wanted to make sure the battle proper started right after the commercial break - but that doesn't make it any less annoying.

As someone who has a well known dislike for the trio, I have to agree. Brief appearance in the audience and no interaction with Ash or attempting to steal Pokemon, they try and legit catch a Wild Pokemon only for unforeseen circumstances to strike

Definitely their best so far
 
This was the Rocket trio's best appearance in this series to date. They felt like their old Sun & Moon selves here, which for some reason is something the writers have been having trouble giving us these last few months. Maybe if they'd appear more than once every six weeks...

They appeared in Episode 10 before this, you know. Hopefully, they won't be absent for too long from now on.
 
Good episode, did a good job establishing Leon's strength.

Iwane's animation felt off though, like it was missing the exaggerations that make his work so good.
 
This is my favorite Pocket Monster episode so far and has one of my favorite battles of the series; I rewatched Leon vs. Lance at least 10 times.

  • That animation. It was so smooth, with no stock footage, and only a couple reused scenes (Gyarados's Aqua Tail). This is how I like my Pokemon Battles to be animated. I know we can't have it like that all the time, but this was a real treat.
  • That battle. They got straight to it and it actually lasted a decent chunk of the episode; no rushing. I was worried Lance & Leon would immediately Dynamax and just start chucking moves at each other in a stationary fashion; so, I was relieved to see them battle it out normally first (and for a good while)! So much so, I think Lance would have won if Dynamax wasn't used from both sides; Leon clearly had the upper hand with experience in the mechanic. And as it should be! They're both Champion-level fighters, so I'm glad the battle wasn't entirely one-sided in either's favor. The Ice Fang+Dragon Dance combo (as well as Dragon Dance itself) was gorgeous, as was the clash between Aqua Tail and Thunder Punch. Then we got another 3 minutes of Dynamax action; I see even here, Leon is fascinated with type-matchups, lol. G-Max Wildfire was animated splendidly. Also, I'm relieved to know there's an energy-field that protects the audience; there's been various hilarious media portraying the reality of Gym Battles and such due to Dynamax.
  • We got three Galarian music tracks, right after the other! Wild Battle, Trainer Battle, and Gym Battle, I believe; I loved every second of it.
  • I liked the TR scenes, especially with the strong Bellsprout (a call back to the OG Indigo League)? Also, TR has a Pokedex now! Wow! I like it and it's little cunning entry for Drednaw; " etc. etc."
  • I found it slightly weird that Ash was cheering for Leon despite knowing Lance on a personal level and him being from the same region, but whatever.
 
Yes, an excellent episode. I was worried about having such a huge battle take place near the beginning of the series, but was indeed treated as a massive, important event like it should. I think spending the first half of the episode for the build-up and battle introduction actually helped this time. The battle itself was fast-paced, but not rushed, and had pretty good animation (shoutouts to the amazing line weight for Charizard's Fire Spin), and even the Gigantamax section didn't fell flat as I thought it could do due to the Pokémon having less movement. Team Rocket were also perfectly characterized, their scenes made for nice comedy like the buff Bellsprout and them getting a careless Pokédex (which I hope we get to see more of in the future).

As for continuity:
- Ash aknowledges Lance.
- He keeps his original voice actor.
- They mention him being a member of the G-Men.
- They added retroactive lore explaining his HGSS outfit.

Lance got it way better than Steven did in XY. IMO the G-Men reference is on the same level as Ash mentioning the Johto sumo competition in Best Wishes: something so forgettable nobody would mind if it wasn't mentioned, but there it is anyway. I also love how Lance claims he based his outfit off from the Hammerlocke Gym uniform. For starters this is the first time we see him in the anime with his HGSS oufit instead of the FRLG one, but I didn't expect that getting an explanation of all things. And to top it off they add a nice, believable connection that's not even mentioned in the games! Mentioning the PWT from B2W2 was also a nice addition, considering that tournament never actually appeared in the anime.
 
And to top it off they add a nice, believable connection that's not even mentioned in the games! Mentioning the PWT from B2W2 was also a nice addition, considering that tournament never actually appeared in the anime.
I think PWT did happen off-screen in the anime. The writers decided to show us the Junior Cup instead of the real one.
 
While I haven't had the chance to fully watch the episode yet, I have seen a couple of clips and I really like the voice actor they chose for Leon. He just fits the role so perfectly. The moment I heard him speak I'm like "yep, that's Leon right there!"

Definitely looking forward to the time I can actually watch the episode.
 
Jessie and James should got two more Pokémon each.(James has no Pokémon at dispossalBTW)
Not only does James not have a Pokémon but when the gacha machine distributes a single pokeball it is always for Jessie ^^
 
Lance, the second best champion, losing to the utterly worst champion ever conceived was just pure crap. Even if it was obvious it'd happen, in reality Lance would be destroying Leon not the other way around. God I can't wait for Ash to kick Leon's ass, I never liked that guy.
Thanks man. You've hit the nail on the head!

Don't worry, I won't start the "Cynthia would have crushed Leon if she hadn't been neglected by the writers" debate from the preview again, because it no use anymore. You can't fix what's already broken (or should I say what's already a mess?)
With this episode I'm done with Pokemon 2019... I might continue to watch it but it has eventually become terrible and meaningless for me ... so, whatever... :cautious::cautious:

Just a few thoughts: Writers, I hate you! That Hellfire-attack should have come over you, not over Gyarados! I feel literally betrayed. All the messages they have tried to convey over so many years feel like a betrayal to me now. And I'll tell you why:
I wonder why nobody actually mentioned how terribly arrogant and badly Leon behaved ? Acting as if he was some kind of god, acting as if he had already won that match? (Even Lance scolded him for that indirectly) That guy should never ever have been allowed to win. How many episodes have we seen where (bad) people or villains acted in an equally arrogant and self-regarding way?? (Latest examle: Guzma) And what did all those gyus have in common? They were punished or lost miserably because of their behavior.
But what happend today? Nothing! That wannabe-champ was even rewarded for his absolutely non-champion-like behavior. A champion is supposed to be a symbol of superiority, elegance and heroism, but should not be a blunt, arrogant showman and idiot. (Even when Lance was so nice as to compliment him for being a skilled trainer at the beginning, he seemed to be too arrogant to compliment Lance in return, but instead was only talking about himself. What a prime example of an anti-hero... terrible if you ask me) I'm only referring to the subbed version but I'm pretty sure the translation is correct.
By letting that anti-champion with his awfully arrogant attitude win, the writers willingly threw everything overboard that was good and desirable about Pokemon to me. And so I have no other choice than call it a huge betrayal in my eyes.

Cynthia was cheated out of her legitimate right to be in that battle, Lance, the second best champion, was just fooder for the plot's sake, and Ash's title seems to have become irrelevant and forgotten. So I've got little left I can look forward to. I'm done with that new series (Still, Cynthia will always be the true World Champion, no matter what those writers will come up with next....)
 
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The entire shtick with Leon being "undefeated" was so that he could be beaten in the games, and I have no doubt that it'll be done in the anime as well. They did stick true to the 'first Alolan Champion' aspect from the SM games after all. That, and Ash has never lost in pivotal battles against game characters.
Right. They're not gonna short circuit the entire point of Leon's character by having him lose his first on-screen battle.

Being incredibly arrogant is the point. Leon's mostly nice and even generous in the games but he's very sure of himself--if I recall he even tells you early on to do your best so it'll be even better when he defeats you later. It's part of his whole "Leon is a player character grown up" schtick. He's never, ever lost--why wouldn't he be like that? Winning a championship at the age of ten and then running an unbroken streak? It would take an incredibly self aware person to not be arrogant as all out at that point.

That guy should never ever have been allowed to win. How many episodes have we seen where (bad) people or villains acted in an equally arrogant and self-regarding way?? (Latest examle: Guzma) And what did all those gyus have in common? They were punished or lost miserably because of their behavior.
Guzma wasn't defeated until the semi finals of the Alola league, though. He had the advantage in his first battle with Ash and defeated Lana and Ilima during the league.
Leon is almost certainly going to lose to Ash at the end of this series. He showed up early because he's supposed to be Ash's most formidable opponent and they want to build him up.
 
So...this is what happens when one becomes too obsessed with a single character.

Man, I hope I never get like that over Roxie.
It's not just because of what you call obsession (I just call it being a true fan of somebody), it's also because I think the battle itself wasn't written very well. I'll try to be as unbiased as possible now, ok?
At the beginning it was still balanced and Lance battled just the way you would expect from a champion, but the Daimax part was really one-sided! I had the feeling they put some invisible chains on Lance (for the plot's sake?), so he and Gyarados hardly moved anymore but had to endured hit after hit while standing there pretty statically.
Lance first attacked directly with Max Geyser and obviously didn't think about what his opponent might have up his sleeve. Running into a battle so blindly is rather Ash's style but here we're talking about Lance in one of his most important matches. Lance knew that Charizard had an electric-type attack, so he could have predicted Max Lightining and easily defend himself by directing that Max Geyser or a Max Guard towards the sky. Leon said that of course Lance would use the Water-type move. But are we supposed to believe that that Lance doesn't have the same abilities when it comes to strategy or predicting moves? It's hardly believable.
Then Lance used a Max Strike (?) but he could have known that Charizard will dodge it by flying and basically did nothing against Max Vent and Max Hellfire/Flare in return, although he could probably have avoided them by counterattacking.
And the final move wasn't done very well either if you ask me. Sure, you could argue that Leon is more familiar with the Daimax mechanics, but again, this isn't a common rookie but Lance and I'm sure he has trained like crazy before the match and can handle Daimax just as well. Plus, he admitted that he was inspired by a gym in Galar, so I guess he must know that region and the daimax phenomenon pretty well (And after all, Daimax just means bigger Pokemon that keep their stats except for Hit Points and just get different attacks). And that's why I couldn't buy Lance's surprise and passiveness after Leno's Max Flare. Of course, you would study your opponent thoroughly before such an important match and of course, you'd expect Lance of all people to know how the attack works.

To sum up, that wasn't Lance the Champion in the Daimax part if you ask me. It could have been rookie-Ash instead. And that's why I think it wasn't written well. If they really needed Lance as fooder so desperately, they could at last have made it an almost-draw
 
Right. They're not gonna short circuit the entire point of Leon's character by having him lose his first on-screen battle.

Being incredibly arrogant is the point. Leon's mostly nice and even generous in the games but he's very sure of himself--if I recall he even tells you early on to do your best so it'll be even better when he defeats you later. It's part of his whole "Leon is a player character grown up" schtick. He's never, ever lost--why wouldn't he be like that? Winning a championship at the age of ten and then running an unbroken streak? It would take an incredibly self aware person to not be arrogant as all out at that point.


Guzma wasn't defeated until the semi finals of the Alola league, though. He had the advantage in his first battle with Ash and defeated Lana and Ilima during the league.
Leon is almost certainly going to lose to Ash at the end of this series. He showed up early because he's supposed to be Ash's most formidable opponent and they want to build him up.
Well to be fair, it has happened before that Ash meets someone it looks like he's supposed to defeat despite losing constantly, only to never win against him. *ahem* Alain *cough*. Ash may be a good trainer, and the protagonist, but this is the World Champion we're talking here. If Ash beats him, that might as well be the equivalent of Pokemon master right there.
 
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