Review XY139: Farewell, Satoshi Gekkouga! Xerosicy's Counterattack!!

[Arceus the Dragon]

No, Greninja was clearly shown to appear in the Pokenchi Preview in its normal form with the two Zygarde cores. This can mean one thing- maybe Greninja will return to Ash before Ash leaves Kalos? Otherwise why does it appear in its normal form and not Ash-Greninja form? Maybe Greninja has finished destroying the roots along with Zygarde or Greninja reconsiders its decision of parting ways with Ash because of its strong bond with Ash? I know this might be too much hoping but we all know Dawn's Pachurisu who was released and recaught.

Greninja is not coming back to Ash. Ash has released permanently no thanks to the writers.

 

[Shadao]

Greninja is not coming back to Ash. Ash has released permanently no thanks to the writers.

INB4 Greninja pulls off a Charizard in Sun & Moon and permanently stays with Ash.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

INB4 Greninja pulls off a Charizard in Sun & Moon and permanently stays with Ash.

Do we really need a Charizard 2.0? Then again, I take that over a full release any day to be honest.

 

[345ash-greninja]

Excuse me, I have said before that Ash-Greninja's looks doesn't match with Ash in SM. Ash-Greninja resembles XY Ash and his XY outfit. So, Ash-Greninja isn't coming back in SM- because it would then look really look weird as its looks won't match with Ash anymore. A major feature of Ash-Greninja is that it resembles Ash, which it did in XY.

 

[Max1996]

Excuse me, I have said before that Ash-Greninja's looks doesn't match with Ash in SM. Ash-Greninja resembles XY Ash and his XY outfit. So, Ash-Greninja isn't coming back in SM- because it would then look really look weird as its looks won't match with Ash anymore. A major feature of Ash-Greninja is that it resembles Ash, which it did in XY.

I'm sorry, but that alone won't make it completely impossible for Ash-Greninja to appear in Sun&Moon. After all, Ash-Greninja wasn't redesigned for its appearance in the demo, even though the PC was wearing different clothes.

 

[345ash-greninja]

I'm sorry, but that alone won't make it completely impossible for Ash-Greninja to appear in Sun&Moon. After all, Ash-Greninja wasn't redesigned for its appearance in the demo, even though the PC was wearing different clothes.

Games and Anime are different. In the anime, Ash-Greninja is exclusive to Ash- a phenomenon that occurs in 100 years, i.e., bond phenomenon. A major feature of bond phenomenon is that the Pokemon takes some of the trainer's appearance. Ash-Greninja's design was originally made to look like Ash- Ash's current outfit was the XY outfit then- so it's design is similar to XY Ash. It was included in the games later on- first it was anime-exclusive. So, in the anime, Ash-Greninja only suits with XY Ash.

 

[The Outrage]

Thank Arceus Ash never had a change of clothes during XY, otherwise Greninja might have had trouble transforming

Its really amazing how people can be watching the show for this long and still be caught off guard when stuff like this happens.

 

[Max1996]

Thank Arceus Ash never had a change of clothes during XY, otherwise Greninja might have had trouble transforming

I think that even then, Greninja wouldn't look different after transforming.

 

[345ash-greninja]

I think that even then, Greninja wouldn't look different after transforming.

That is why Ash never had a cloth change in XY. Because it would have looked really weird if Ash-Greninja didn't look like Ash. Ash-Greninja's design was based upon Ash's XY outfit.

 

[Zweilous]

Finally saw the episode in subs, some quick thoughts:
-Goodra's second farewell was very rushed, I'm not surprised since we've just gone through it once, but it really highlights how lackluster its development and especially its return was in the first place for me.
-It felt like it was meant to be two episodes as the farewell of Greninja felt separated from the main plot of Xenosic. Greninja was involved in the latter, but the focus mostly fell onto the latter and Clemont more then it did Greninja. I feel that for a farewell episode, Greninja should've gotten more time dedicated to its ability to detect the vines/his relationship with Ash then Xenosic, or at least update Xenosic's plot so that the vines factor into it more.
-Speaking of the vines, they didn't factor into the episode as much as you'd expect. They pop in three times, at the beginning, middle, and end, and as I said before, it's disjointed from the main plot and doesn't really get important until the farewell itself happens.
-As for Xenosic, I liked that they brought his relationship with Clemont into the spotlight here as it wasn't the huge highlight of the episode it initially appeared in and seeing it brought to its conclusion here made it more satisfying. It's especially helpful to both of their characters since it showcases the differences between them, gives a slight insight into how much Clemont values his friends, and Xenosic being impressed by how much it's made Clemont into the better scientist.
-I don't agree with the reasoning behind Ash-Greninja having to leave. I understand it had the ability to sense the vines, but it seems off that the Zygarde Cores can't sense it themselves when it was an offshoot of their power in the first place and they're powerful Pokémon in and of themselves anyway. It also wasn't a major component of Ash-Greninja's ability compared to other aspects of him, so that being the driving force to have him leave felt lackluster. I feel Greninja's farewell should've been for something that more involved his character, such as the aforementioned example of taking care of abandoned Pokémon as mentioned before as that I feel would've made for a more satisfying departure for him.
-With that said, I will give Ash's voice actress a lot of credit because you can tell she put a lot of emotion into the scene. She definitely made the best of the script she was given.
-Z1 and Bonnie's farewell was well handled despite us seeing it happen before, as their final words to each other were touching.

All in all, decent episode, but I'm not as fond of Greninja's departure as I'd hope. He's probably going to return later down the line since I doubt a popular Pokémon like him would be completely shoved off permanently, but I feel they could've handled his departure better.

 

[Ryan Massey]

ash ketchum, why are you so stupid releasing every good Pokemon you have

 

[Shadao]

ash ketchum, why are you so stupid releasing every good Pokemon you have

Blame Squishy and Z2 for being bad at their jobs.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Blame Squishy and Z2 for being bad at their jobs.

Squishy and Z2 clearly showed how capable they are and it truly seemed as if they solved the crisis in Kalos, but the writers decided to take their power down a notch to the point where they needed Greninja. Creating this problem of vines resurfacing and a reason why they can't take care of it, despite being able to before, is why Greninja's release felt forced.

 

[IncineROAR]

ash ketchum, why are you so stupid releasing every good Pokemon you have

Well, I guess it's better than spending the next 20 years at Oak's lab watching Heracross attempt to eat Bulbasaur's bulb.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

I rather have Greninja at the lab where Sceptile and Charizard is than to see it protect Kalos when clearly it has Zygarde and trainers like Diantha to protect it already. This episode is considered the worst episode of the show in my opinion.

 

[Nala]

Although the Zygarde duo's appearance was unwarranted to me as well, I was actually kinda glad to see them. The way they floated off at the end of the big fight made me think they had died!

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

@The Outrage ; Only five of Ash's pokemon fell into the released category. Adding primeape, Aimbipom hell let's tack on Squirtle too because he hasn't appeared since Hoenn that leaves only eight pokemon of Ash's in the permanent gonzo category most of which are gen 1.

As viewer you can say releasing and Oaking are the similar but in universe those are very different things. I have been invested in Ash's story for a long time. People like seeing protagonists succeed not all the time mind you but the "good guys always win" wouldn't be a thing if there wasn't an appeal to it. If Greninja was Oaked yeah we wouldn't see that much but in universe he'd be just a phone call away he'd be in walking distance from his mom hell Oak is hugely important part of Ash's life. Long story short Oaked pokemon are still part of his family even if they are under utilized.

I mean you could say well it made you sad so it is better because you're suppose to feel emotion from stories.


Maybe still don't like it though... fuck those vines!

 

[thomaswiencek]

I'm very sorry to tell you guys. But many Greninja fans have hated the way that Ash has released Greninja instead of keeping at Professor Oak's Laboratory, so that Greninja could protect Kalos, along with Squishy and Z2.