Preview JN018: Satoshi Participates! The Pokémon World Championships!!

[PkmnTrainerV]

In an ideal world, we'd have had Lt. Surge and Ash, a flashback to Pikachu vs Raichu. Lt. Surge has mellowed out and acknowledged how far Ash has gotten, and requests a battle without Pikachu to demonstrate if he has trained his other Pokémon as well as Pikachu.

I'd have loved Electrode and Electivire/Electrabuzz vs Gengar and Dragonite.

If you have to stuff a Pikachu vs Raichu in at all costs, it would be an exhibition/preliminary whose result will not have much impact on the result.

 

[LazySpy]

Btw, from what I saw on Twitter, Japanese audiences are also confused about Pisces being acting Gym Leader of Vermilion Gym since they also expected to see Surge here.

But remember, internet fandom as a whole is a minority, especially in comparison to a bunch of japanese children with no access to internet who are totally not a part of it, so that doesn't prove anything. /sarcasm

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

But remember, internet fandom as a whole is a minority, especially in comparison to a bunch of japanese children with no access to internet who are totally not a part of it, so that doesn't prove anything. /sarcasm

But it's true that the people on the internet are only a minority of the viewership.

 

[LazySpy]

But it's true that the people on the internet are only a minority of the viewership.

Your evidence?
Also, are we talking about active Bulbagarden/Serebi/both members or Pokemon fans with access to internet?

 

[BigDocFan]

Whilst disappointed that Raichu is being used against Pikachu again, I'm glad that we're seeing Electrode used in a battle, I can't recall the last time this happened

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Your evidence?
Also, are we talking about active Bulbagarden/Serebi/both members or Pokemon fans with access to internet?

The last one. ...Wait...

 

[Silktree]

Btw, from what I saw on Twitter, Japanese audiences are also confused about Pisces being acting Gym Leader of Vermilion Gym since they also expected to see Surge here.

Expected when? As soon as the episode title was announced, we knew what was going on. Maybe the Japanese fandom speculated about Lt. Surge's return even earlier, but I saw nothing like that on this forum (let's remember that most people wanted a standard Galar badge quest). Well, except for some post about Lt. Surge being the leader of the new gym, which didn't make sense and still doesn't (Pisces is just the interim leader). I'm still waiting for a clarification on that gym.

 

[DynamicFusion]

This episode is going to be a huge turn-off for the casuals who don't read previews/summaries, imagine Ash walking into Surge's Gym and battling someone else completely different. They'll be confused and have no clue. I already see some people confused in YT Comments of why Ash isn't battling Surge. And this includes the kids watching, they don't even know the Acting Gym Leader, he's not from the Current Games nor is he the Popular Surge from LGPE (to them). It'll just be Ash battling a random trainer in a Gym.

 

[Singaporean]

Second and final preview of the episode:

 

[hiverstone]

But if Ash is just starting in the ranking system, it doesn’t really makes sense that his first battle is against a gym leader.

I think they were planning to have Ash facing a character of the day from the very beginning and just came up with the substitute gym leader thing as a way to try to make Pieces more of a treat to Ash, therefore more appealing to the audience. Rather than having a character of the day with no background.

 

[DynamicFusion]

But if Ash is just starting in the ranking system, it doesn’t really makes sense that his first battle is against a gym leader.

I think they were planning to have Ash facing a character of the day from the very beginning and just came up with the substitute gym leader thing as a way to try to make Pieces more of a treat to Ash, therefore more appealing to the audience. Rather than having a character of the day with no background.

It just makes the situation more angry to fans though and could be grouped in as a "bait and switch". There could be a problem with the World Championships and that is the Lack of Well-Known Opposition. At least during the Island Challenge or Gym Battles he faced the Island Kings/Queens or the Gym Leaders. Not only that but the viewers had familiarity because of the games but also known that they are decently strong enough. Here he may be facing COTDs all the way up until he gets to the Top 8. This could be a growing problem.

 

[Silktree]

But if Ash is just starting in the ranking system, it doesn’t really makes sense that his first battle is against a gym leader.

I think they were planning to have Ash facing a character of the day from the very beginning and just came up with the substitute gym leader thing as a way to try to make Pieces more of a treat to Ash, therefore more appealing to the audience. Rather than having a character of the day with no background.

I actually don't agree with that. Pisces is likely to be stronger than most/all early gym leaders, which would have been demolished by unreset Pikachu and Gengar.

It just makes the situation more angry to fans though and could be grouped in as a "bait and switch". There could be a problem with the World Championships and that is the Lack of Well-Known Opposition. At least during the Island Challenge or Gym Battles he faced the Island Kings/Queens or the Gym Leaders. Not only that but the viewers had familiarity because of the games but also known that they are decently strong enough. Here he may be facing COTDs all the way up until he gets to the Top 8. This could be a growing problem.

The Elite Four members say hi. There are 28 of them (27 if Olivia doesn't count), and Galar has 8 gym leaders, too. There is no problem here, but Ash is allowed to challenge COTDs early on.

 

[DynamicFusion]

I actually don't agree with that. Pisces is likely to be stronger than most/all early gym leaders, which would have been demolished by unreset Pikachu and Gengar.

The Elite Four members say hi. There are 28 of them (27 if Olivia doesn't count), and Galar has 8 gym leaders, too. There is no problem here, but Ash is allowed to challenge COTDs early on.

Nothing has confirmed that every Elite Four Member across 8 regions and Galar Gym Leaders are participating in the World Tournament. And since the First Challenge is a COTD, it is a fair worry that most of everything will be that way.

 

[Silktree]

Nothing has confirmed that every Elite Four Member across 8 regions and Galar Gym Leaders are participating in the World Tournament. And since the First Challenge is a COTD, it is a fair worry that most of everything will be that way.

You might want to save your skepticism for when we get to the Great or Ultra tier with only COTDs in sight. You're extrapolating way too much.

Not at the cost of bait-and-switching continuity portions. Pisces could have been any other trainer from any city/town/village in any other region.

Again, there was no bait-and-switch because they gave us a summary alongside the episode title. Chances are that Go will tell Ash about Pisces before they get to the gym, so the "kids know what hit them!" argument doesn't work, either. Actually, the preview itself took care of that.

 

[DynamicFusion]

You might want to save your skepticism for when we get to the Great or Ultra tier with only COTDs in sight. You're extrapolating way too much.

It's not "skepticism" neither is it criticism or anything else negative towards the series so you can calm down. It's just a "growing" problem (meaning something that could happen if they don't do it well) with this WC Format. I'll be more than happy if we got to see E4 Members and Galar Gym Leaders. After All, everyone in this forum has passion for Pokemon and wants it to be the best it can ever be in every aspect.

 

[Daren]

It's not "skepticism" neither is it criticism or anything else negative towards the series so you can calm down. It's just a "growing" problem (meaning something that could happen if they don't do it well) with this WC Format. I'll be more than happy if we got to see E4 Members and Galar Gym Leaders. After All, everyone in this forum has passion for Pokemon and wants it to be the best it can ever be in every aspect.

Galar Gym leaders strike me as a pretty safe bet, at least. They'll want to show them somehow.