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

Ah, if only the windows were shatter proof, wonder how many times they have to clear up the glass and put in new windows, that was a nice touch as it helps show the power of the attacks
And a nice callback to EP014 too. Tomioka remembered even that little detail and made a subtle callback to it.
 
Fun fact, Atsuhiro Tomioka wrote this episode and the Ash vs Lt. Surge episode, Tomioka is certainly one of the shows longest serving writers

Have to wonder what those things were on the walls though, don't think anyone clarified it but Go did notice them
Mr. Tomioka even wrote episode 3--the first episode not written by Takeshi Shudo.

Another notable is that he wrote both parts of the Orange League champion match--Ash's first full battle. I'd say he's the series' biggest veteran writer.
 
Episode 14 was just okay. It didn't feel distinctly Tomioka and I wouldn't have guessed he wrote it. This one on the other hand hits the spot, it very much has the Tomioka Touch™. A well-animated battle with good tactics, and lots of callbacks! Looks like we've got a setup for a rematch with Surge too! Plz let Tomioka write all the World Championships episodes kthx.

Apparently Pisces is a girl!?

.....Am I the only one who is shocked by that?

I was wondering why the hell Pisces sounds like a boy Ash's age. Didn't make the connection myself.

American-accented Rotom might be my new favorite thing.
 
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Now that hit the spot. A well-animated battle with good tactics, and lots of callbacks! Looks like we've got a setup for a rematch with Surge too! Plz let Tomioka write all the World Championships episodes kthx.

Really hope he does, he's established himself as a writer of great battles, Ash vs Surge, this episode, 3 of the 4 Ash vs Kukui battles to name a few
 
I don't know why but I laugh every time they show the 4-panel cutscene of the gym stadium wall. Probably the sound makes it over-the-top ridiculous and they showed it I think 3 times during the whole episode.

Okay, seeing Raboot being fascinated with battle gives me this wrong feeling. I don't see Gou doing gym battle or joining PWT so he might join Ash's team soon just like what happened with Buizel back then. But I don't think it won't happen since he was established to be Gou's starter Pokemon.
 
If only gengar remembered it could turn intangible and completely avoid attacks
Yeah, the inconsistencies regarding Gengar's incorporeality kinda bothered me a bit, too. Technically speaking, I don't see any real difference between Raichu attacking with its tail and Electrode ramming itself against Gengar, so it's a bit weird that the latter works while the former doesn't. My headcanon is that Gengar actually has to see the attack coming in order to phase through it, so Electrode's erratic movements prevented Gengar from easily predicting the direction of its attacks.
 
Oh my stars, two good episodes consecutively? I haven't been this excited at saga prospects since the beginning of Best Wishes.

If you know me, you know I love episodes with amazing, intense battling-this one is no exception.

  • Pikachu vs. Raichu. Unfinished, but great-the rodents both gave it as good they got, although I do think Raichu had the edge. Seeing Volt Tackle is always a pleasure. Even better was how Ash took a strategy from 10 years ago and incorporated it modern-day with Iron Tail. Admittedly, I wouldn't have thought to diffuse a physical Electric attack like that, so that was cool to see. Tails were the highlight of the battle for sure, as Raichu showcased its limb manipulation beautifully while Pikachu made excellent use of Iron Tail repeatedly. Speaking of which, giving Reflect to a Raichu? Yes. But don't let this distract you from the fact that we still haven't had a Pikachu vs. Alolan Raichu battle.
  • Gengar vs. Raichu. Probably the coolest fight, imo. Like many, I didn't see this coming as I thought the fight would have been Gengar vs. Electrode>Gengar vs. Raichu>Pikachu vs. Raichu. As for the fight, it's been a while since we've seen one of Ash's Pokemon absolutely dominate. It was also cathartic to watch Ash be the one, for once, to take advantage of a Ghost type's intangibility and the ever OP Psychic-that's the first time he's used it! Like so many opponents have done to him, he was the one stopping an opponent cold. I nearly fainted.

    That being said, I’m a little miffed a gym leader would try to use Slam on a ghost...

    The Gym Leader actually never said Slam or たたきつける at any point. She only told Raichu to use its tail (although I can see why you'd think it was a Slam move given what it did to Pikachu).

  • Gengar vs. Electrode. The most visually appealing fight and a great showing of "what goes around comes around." Like a lot of you, to see an Electrode battle like that? With no exploding barring the Aftermath Ability? Which is understandable? It was great. As was Visquez's use and reasoning behind Magnet Rise. Although, I don't understand why Gengar was able to phase through Raichu's tail and not Electrode's similarly physical body. A simple fix to that would have been to have Electrode use Spark (or Rollout, in hindsight) during the pinball sequence; it had an open move slot too, and would have made the fight more realistic and brutal (add in some paralysis too, to really convey Gengar's inability to respond). I was hoping Cursed Body would activate at some point, but it seems the writers are still averse to having contact Abilities work in Ash's favor.
  • Pikachu vs. Electrode. This one was ehh. I was expecting more than an Iron Tail KO, but at least the Rollout shenanigans were cool.
Man, there's a bit to unpack with this. So, previous accolades have no bearing on World Championship rank? Then that means those other top 8 Trainers may not even be the other regional Champions like we all thought; they could very well just be really strong Trainers. Still, I like this distinction; it feels more inclusive. Besides, your ability would speak for itself and those of champion level should, theoretically, reach the highest levels regardless. If Ash keeps going after the big fish, he may reach this goal sooner than later. And can we talk about how nice it is that Ash finally has a battle related goal with checkpoints? I'm sorry, but I feel he's at his best with structure rather than wandering around aimlessly. Now we can have a healthy balance of shenanigans as well as episodes like the one today.

Speaking of today, the continuity was great to see; Lt. Surge was so moved that he ingrained Ash's feats within his subordinates. I mean, wow. Like several have said already, when's the last time a CoTD acknowledged Ash's prior actions in such a positive light? With respect? I'm so used to no one having any reaction from "I'm from Masara Town." I hope this isn't an isolated incident and that future episodes continue with the continuity; it's such a heartwarming element, especially for us fans who have been around since 1997. Seeing the windows shatter once more was nice too, although you'd think stronger windows would be in place after last time. It was nice to see the helpers cleaning it up, though; I love realistic moments like that.

Let's chat about Raboot for a bit, shall we? I honestly didn't expect any follow-up from the previous episode given how this saga has been handling its character development (Ash's Gengar, Koharu, etc.), so I feel that this'll be a slow burn. Still, Raboot still chose to be in Go's presence (albeit in a distant fashion), so I guess the writers aren't going with the immediate disobeying/"you need to apologize to me" route. If anything, today looked more like it was following it's species characterization. You can't hide your love of battling from us, Raboot. Now it's a question of how the writers will handle it... They could opt to have a) Go participate in the World Championships b) lend Raboot to Ash for several battles or c) even have Go trade it away to Ash. That last idea is outlandish, but personally what I desire most at the moment. Raboot would get so much more out of being with Ash than Go, at this point, while Go's number one is still Mew as far as I'm concerned.

It just seems like the pieces are lining up for a swap in Trainers, like Buizel and Aipom before it. However, this isn't Dawn's Piplup or Ash's Pikachu, so, again, it's highly unlikely.

Anyway, overall lovely episode. The animation was superb, I liked the music choices, the very English-sounding Rotom threw me off, Gengar looked great battling (here's hoping Dragonite is next), and Pocket Monster's future looks brighter for me than it did before. Also, I agree @FinnishPokéFan92 and @PkmnTrainerV -it was awesome seeing Raichu animated today; I'm a big fan of the rodent as well. It was lifting weights with its tail! :bulbaLove:
 
I don't understand why Gengar was able to phase through Raichu's tail and not Electrode's similarly physical body.
The explanation I tried to some up with was, that Gengar consciously has to decide when to let things phase through it, and Electrode caught it too off guard to do that. I too agree that it was weird, though.
 
Even better was how Ash took a strategy from 10 years ago and incorporated it modern-day with Iron Tail.
More like 20 years ago, which is even more better. That's some sweet continuity, right there!

EDIT:
the ever OP Psychic-that's the first time he's used it!
He used it with Mr. Mime before, remember?
 
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does vesquez/pisces use any gendered language?
I thought they could also be a trans man since they are rather flat chested and their top looks a bit like a binder...

when I saw scorbunny in the opening I said to myself 'oh no raboot is going to deevolve
 
According to the subs, its neither Visquez nor Pisces.

Its Bisces.

It also said that regarding of your previous career, normal trainers and Gym leaders all start in the normal rank (Which is just plain dumb if you ask me).

Subs kinda confirm the Raichu is Surge's.
Those subtitles aren't always reliable with undubbed names. They spelled Shaymin as "Xiemi". And she only said that her Raichu had trained with Surge, not that it was his.
 
*Gengar using psychic to toy with Raichu cartoon-style before finishing him feels a bit different from how Ash's Pokémon usually battle. I wonder if we'll see more of that from him later. I do wish Raichu hadn't just gotten instantly steamrolled by him.
*It's a bit funny how much Electrode relied on ramming instead of electric attacks even if it used Discharge for the KO. Did sort of remind me of Whitney's Miltank battle (as was pointed out earlier).
 
Probably the best SwSh episode so far!
An honest, intense battle that reminded us again what the series' main focus actually is: Ash challenging other trainers and giving us some great battle action.
So what can I say? It was a typical Ash-like battle:
  • Having Pikachu deflect the power of Volttackle by using Iron Tail so cleverly
  • Using Gengar's intangibility to avoid Raichu's tail
  • Totally dominating Raichu with Gengar which was really refreshing to see, especially when Ash's Ghost-type Pokemon stopped Raichu cold with Psycic, a move Ash had to struggle with many times in the past.
  • And finally Pikachu using Electrode's own strategy against it and protecting itself with Electroweb! Great! Our Ash sure has grown!
I could still go on, but for now all there's left to say is that it was really a great, intense battle that kept me at the edge of my seat and giot me all fired up. A well deserved victory for Ash and a pleasure to watch for us!

(But please, writers don't give us the same boring intro scene with Leon every episode. I'm tired of seeing that poser guy already)
 
I am so glad they finally acknowledge something outright from the past series instead of slight hints, especially one of the best battles from there. That was the first time when Ash getting a badge felt truly earned (even though he was totally winning against Misty).
 
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