REVIEW: XY122: Satoshi Gekkouga VS Mega Yukinooh! Unleash the Giant Water Shuriken!!

[Playerking]

XY122 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Discuss the episode here.

 

[ii kanji]

I missed the end of the damn battle between Geckouga and Yukinooh, what happened?!

The rest of the battle felt like Urup was totally in control and let Satoshi have some wins. Mega Yukinooh is a beast though, I would want that thing at my back as well <3 I also don't understand how Fiarrow so quickly finished Crebase after it singlehandedly took out his whole team last time, felt so anticlimatic!

Love the beautiful moment where Pikapi cradled Pikachu in his arms. I found it painful when Pikachu sounded like it was begging Satoshi at the beginning of the match to let it battle though, waaaaah Pikachuuuuuu!!!

Also that XY&Z electric guitar remix is ace!

 

[Shadao]

Greninja used its frozen cut swords as ice skates, out sped Mega-Abamosnow and basically send it flying into the ceiling with Aerial Ace. And Ash has gotten ninja-athletic ever since he mastered Ash-Greninja.

 

[WatcherMark]

So here's a brief rundown

- This episode wastes no time. Satoshi and friends head immediately into the gym. No Kachikōru to meet them this go, it's straight to the battlefield where Urup is waiting
- Urup welcomes Satoshi back, and the two exchange words. They're about to being when the referee runs in and reminds them he needs to officiate the battle. To think, this came so close to being 'No Holds Barred'...
- Urup sends out Kachikōru, while Satoshi brings in Pikachu for what feels like the first time in years.
- Kachikōru is very quick on the ice, and manages to hit Pikachu with a Blizzard dead on. Pikachu's back legs are partially frozen, which prevents him from using Quick Attack although he manages to get a Thunderbolt in. Kachikōru uses Sharpen (the move's first appearance since the Porygon episode) to encase itself in an energy diamond, which looks pretty cool, then uses Rapid Spin to beat Pikachu around. I'm putting the fact he hasn't battled in a while to be the reason Pikachu is struggling so much.
- Pikachu starts running about, which thaws the ice on his legs. Free to use Quick Attack, Pikachu sends Kachikōru flying. Satoshi then does what he should have done right at the start and has Pikachu use Iron Tail which hits. Kachikōru is down. Side note: the show seems to have completely forgotten Electro Ball by now.
- Urup brings out Crebase, and Satoshi leaves Pikachu in. Pikachu hits with Thunderbolt, but then gets an Avalanche in return. Crebase uses Gyro Ball, however Pikachu uses Iron Tail on the ground, leaving a hole in which Gyro Ballin' Crebase is stuck. This doesn't do much, however, as Crebase uses Stone Edge. Pikachu tries to Thunderbolt in away (instead of, you know, AVOIDING it) but it naturally doesn't work and is knocked out.
- Satoshi brings out Fiarrow for a revenge match. Nothing really special to report here, some Flame Charges and a Steel Wing later Crebase is finally taken down. No special strategy or anything.
- Finally, it's Yukinooh. Snow Warning takes effect again and the hail begins. Fiarrow (which is already getting hurt by the hail) gets in a hit, but gets slammed with Wood Hammer and Ice Shard and is knocked out.
- Satoshi, remembering how easily Luchabull knocked out Yukinooh last time, brings it out again... oh wait, he doesn't. It's Gekkouga, of course.
- Satoshi starts off with Gekkouga's Aerial Ace. Now it animates as all the limbs lighting up which is cool. Several hits are gotten in, however Yukinooh retaliates with Blizzard and Wood Hammer.
- Gekkouga is weakening, so Satoshi decides to Synchro Evolve it. A new animation for the evolution begins, making it look a lot more like Mega Evolution. No water veil this time, Gekkouga's Water Shuriken immediately appears.
- Gekkouga begins to completely overpower Yukinooh (which includes him summoning two water daggers from the shuriken, which is cool), so Urup plays his trump card by Mega Evolving it. It turns out he had his Key Stone is the pendant around his neck while Yukinooh was hiding its Yukinoonite in its fur. Satoshi isn't worried by this twist, he's happy enough seeing another Mega Evolution.
- Now the match is even, as the two trade blows. Satoshi still feels Gekkouga's pain... guess there had to be some trade-off.
- When Gekkouga gets in some hits with more water daggers, Yukinooh manages to freeze them. Satoshi has Gekkouga use them to its advantage and Gekkouga puts them on its feet and boosts its speed by skating on the ice (similar to how Hikozaru did when it went up against an Yukinooh in a Gym).
- Gekkouga finally starts to really overpower Yukinooh, the XYZ instrumental starts, and the Frost Tree Pokemon is sent flying into the air and crashing into the ceiling with Aerial Ace. Yukinooh is knocked out, and Satoshi finally wins.
- Later, Satoshi's friends congratulate him on his victory. All of Satoshi's Pokemon are present, because why not? Urup gives Satoshi the badge, completing the set, and wishes him luck in the Kalos League.
- Outside, Satoshi thanks his Pokemon for their hard work in getting him the eight badges. Now its time to head to Miare City for the league.

Poke TV: Satoshi and Citron enjoy a hot spring. Yukinooh comes along and decides to help by making it snow, only to use Blizzard and freeze the two boys instead.

 

[Necrozma]

It was an okay battle, I kinda expected more. Hilarious how Avalugg suddenly forgot to use Gyro Ball vs Talonflame.

Olympia's gym battle is still head and shoulders above every other Kalos gym battle.

 

[A Wild Luxray]

It was a decent battle, though it still doesn't beat Ash's battle with Olympia.

 

[Gengarzilla]

Hiding the Abomasite like that was pretty freaking cool, but Talonflame vs Avalugg was horribly unsatisfying. I suspected that Abomasnow going last would set Avalugg up for a difficult time.

 

[Dogasu]

Yay! A Fire-Type actually defeated an Ice-Type!

*Firarrow gets knocked out by a Grass-Type attack*

Goddammit.

 

[Poke Trey]

This gym battle was awesome, but I'll admit Olympia's still tops this one by a bit. At least we got a remix of XYZ which was really entertaining to hear!

 

[Playerking]

I also don't understand how Fiarrow so quickly finished Crebase after it singlehandedly took out his whole team last time, felt so anticlimatic!

Maybe it trained before the battle and/or because of Pikachu's Thunderbolt hitting Avalugg.

 

[TyphoonStrom]

Maybe it trained before the battle and/or because of Pikachu's Thunderbolt hitting Avalugg.

Without its ice body capability it took one special attack, and two 2x effect moves to bring avalugg down. The last flame charge though was especially strong just Looking at the visuals.

So, ashs strategy was to simply take out avalugg asap, becuase of its avalanche attack. Not very many tactics anyone can come of with to play around that.

 

[Gard81]

After the show that Avalugg performed in the previous battle, I can't help but feel a little let down this time. On the other hand, the S-Greninja vs M-Abomasnow match was pretty cool, especially the ice-skating. Though, I'm still trying to wrap my head around how can Hawlucha beat regular Abomasnow relatively easily, while Greninja just can't seem to knock it down until it goes Gomu-Gomu no Bazooka on it.

 

[Gengarzilla]

After the show that Avalugg performed in the previous battle, I can't help but feel a little let down this time. On the other hand, the S-Greninja vs M-Abomasnow match was pretty cool, especially the ice-skating. Though, I'm still trying to wrap my head around how can Hawlucha beat regular Abomasnow relatively easily, while Greninja just can't seem to knock it down until it goes Gomu-Gomu no Bazooka on it.

You and me both on every single point, buddy. Can't say it any better myself.

 

[Alola]

The Snowbelle City arc as a whole has been lackluster, with the finale being no different.

This Gym Battle was good as far the XY standard goes, but it lacked that final gym adversity that many of us have come to appreciate and expect. For me, there were two main points of ire. The first was that I was really anticipating seeing how Ash would deal with Snow Warning constantly healing Avalugg, and I would assume Bergmite, as it really interfered with his usual battle flow previously. Perhaps find a way to negate the Snow mid-battle? Have Talonflame learn Sunny Day? It didn't have to be perfect, but it had to be something. And it isn't too much to ask because that's been a recurring theme for Ash's XY Gym Battles (dealing with Viola's own ice and sticky webs, Grant's Rock Tomb, Ramos's Poison, Valerie's Trick Room and the acclaimed tactics from Olympia's Meowstics). But alas, nothing of the sort happened. The writer's took the easy way out by sending Abomasnow in last (not even first, then switching it out!), thereby stripping Bergmite and Avalugg of any additional tenacity they could have otherwise had.

The second is Abomasnow's power discrepancy. When we were first introduced to it, it was handily defeated by Hawlucha with minimal effort. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising to think that Avalugg was Wulfric's ace like in the games. But here, we have it outmaneuvering Ash's Talonflame (who is now little more than a glorified battering ram in terms of battling) and taking a great deal of hits from both Greninja and Ash-Greninja without fainting until the very end. That's pretty jarring and only happened due to the obligatory mega Abomasnow vs Ash-Greninja show off (which wasn't very epic itself either).

This didn't bother me as much, but does warrant mention-Talonflame again under performed here. It's victory against Avalugg felt hollow due to: no Ice Body activated, Pikachu damaging Avalugg before and Talonflame's own tactics remaining the same. Then it had to go and get beat by a Pokemon it has several 2x-4x advantages over. Where is the Talonflame that fought Olympia and co?

For me, the highlight of the episode was Pikachu's sheer determination to beat the shit out Wulfric and win his trainer their 8th Kalos badge. I love how more expressive they've made Pikachu this series regarding it's love for battling-"like Pokemon like Trainer" really applies to them both. Again, the battle overall was good and will pander to your typical Pokemon fan's need. But I wouldn't consider it as the best XY Gym Battle like I was expecting to.

 

[Hifen]

After the show that Avalugg performed in the previous battle, I can't help but feel a little let down this time. On the other hand, the S-Greninja vs M-Abomasnow match was pretty cool, especially the ice-skating. Though, I'm still trying to wrap my head around how can Hawlucha beat regular Abomasnow relatively easily, while Greninja just can't seem to knock it down until it goes Gomu-Gomu no Bazooka on it.

Maybe because Luchabull has landed two "Flying Press", a move 4x super effective against Yukinooh? Also, Luchabull rocks =D

 

[Kairyu]

I also had a problem with Ash not having the overcome the obstacle that is Ice body with Hail. But it is what it is. At least it meant that in return we got to see both Avalugg and Abomasnow kick some ass in their respective episodes as Wulfric's ace. The gym battle wasn't the best one I've seen but will probably re-watch it a fair number of times thanks to Iwane's beautiful animation.

Ash's Talonflame (who is now little more than a glorified battering ram in terms of battling)

Oh so I'm not the only one who has a problem with Talonflame's battling style? The problem is that its movepool is so incredibly one-sided. All three of its available moves can basically be described as ram-your-body-into-your-opponent. Hard to achieve a fun battling style when that's all there is to work with.

 

[Max1996]

This episode was just AWESOME!

 

[DashingFox]

So here's a brief rundown

Side note: the show seems to have completely forgotten Electro Ball by now.

Lol, Electro Ball is literally the first move Satoshi used in the battle.

Pretty decent battle, but Gojika's is still the best. Glad everyone on Satosh's side got a win. I hope Fiarrow starts using Razor Wind again; it needs a long-ranged move badly.

 

[L-05308]

This battle seemed to have no continuity with the last. Why wouldn't he set up a Ice Body, I was expecting Bergmite to use hail and set it up for the itself and Avalugg. Avalugg went down way to easy but strangest of all is that Abomasnow, Who was destroyed last match, beat Talonflsme and battled Grenija without Mega evolving for ages.

Good battle but only when you judge it as if the first one never existed

 

[Gabo2oo]

After having amazing gym battles in XY, this one felt way too generic.
It didn't seem like Wulfric was using a particular, creative strategy for Ash to deal with in a unique way. In fact, it seemed like he discarded it, as he didn't even use Avalugg's Ice Body, which was the main problem the previous time. I was seriously expecting this battle's central plot to be Ash coming up with a way to overcome it.

Also, why didn't Hawlucha and Noivern get to watch the battle at all?