Preview BW083 + BW084 Fierce Fighting at Tachiwaki Gym! VS Homika!! Part 1 and Part 2

[Masurao]

At this point, I hope he does go for 10 badges. That allow him to battle Shizui, and Drayden as well.

It doesn't make any sense, after years in this series to randomly, out of nowhere, completely drop the last badge received in the games. Replacing the established 8th gym leader, with the 2nd leader in the games (with a possibly modified team).

Just because Iris has a connection to Drayden doesn't mean that Ash should be gipped out of getting the Legend Badge, or the Drayden arc should be all about her.

 

[Spindae2]

Ash will face Drayden! I don't know why there is a drama about this! After Drayden battles Iris, and he crashes her again! Ash will beg for a match and he will get it! Done deal!
And than the friendship between Ash and Iris will raise and in a training battle with Ash maybe Axew even evolves

 

[Hellion]

When was the last time Ash said that a certain gym leader was stronger than another one? He doesn't even know Drayden.

He knows him from when Iris talked about him. He knows that there's a gym in a Souryuu City and it was told last episode that he would get his badge there. Satoshi wants to battle any opponent, the stronger the better, and he wouldn't pass the opportunity to battle Shaga.

Ideally, the reason for Ash not going to Opelucid will be the realization that the gym there has been closed due to Drayden being promoted to the Elite Four (assuming that happens in the games).

That's internal logic. I'm talking about external logic, about what makes sense from a storytelling point of view. Satoshi and his team got stronger made progress, some of them evolved. It's only natural that they'd face they're strongest challenge yet and have a foe with more gravitas to culminate and close their badge journey and show they're ready for the League.

Homika will actually be a substitute for Iris rather than for Drayden.

Neither Iris or Homika really strikes as eight gym leader material, because neither fulfills the role stated above. Funny thing is, the writers don't have to use either because they have Shaga at their disposal.

And by your logic, Iris would have won the Don Battle, faced an Elite 4 member got super powers, possibly a really powerful Dragonite... while Satoshi gets... what? a 3-on-3 against Homika... big whoop.

 

[투 애니원]

And by your logic, Iris would have won the Don Battle, faced an Elite 4 member got super powers, possibly a really powerful Dragonite... while Satoshi gets... what? a 3-on-3 against Homika... big whoop.

Better than being a tree.

And who knows, this Koffing might be like Elesa's Tympole. I just hope she has an Arbok or an Ekans but it looks like her signature Pokemon might be Scolipede.

 

[Masurao]

And who knows, this Koffing might be like Elesa's Tympole. I just hope she has an Arbok or an Ekans but it looks like her signature Pokemon might be Scolipede.

Oooh, how exciting. Battling a Koffing, Ekans, and Scolipede for that last badge... instead of a Zweilous (to replace Fraxure), Druddigon, and Haxorus.

 

[H.M]

And who knows, this Koffing might be like Elesa's Tympole. I just hope she has an Arbok or an Ekans but it looks like her signature Pokemon might be Scolipede.

Tympole? Don't you mean Tynamo?

I really wish Ash would've fought Drayden for his 8th badge, but I'm hoping Homika packs a punch.

 

[Hellion]

And who knows, this Koffing might be like Elesa's Tympole.

Which Satoshi handled already. We know he can deal with an average strength's Gym Leader's unevolved Pokémon that have a special ability or special fighting style. We've seen it and that's very good for your average Gym Battle. This isn't an average Gym Battle, this is the last Gym Battle of Isshu, and it should kick things up a notch or two... or three... to really show how much Satoshi has grown and show us how much he is ready for the League.

I would really be looking forward to this Gym Battle if this was the second or even the seventh, but not the eight. It just doesn't cut it for me. I'm sure it'll be a good match, I know Homika is gonna have a great personality, but this is just not eight Gym material.

 

[Missingno. Master]

Fierce Fighting again? How exactly will a battle against a Koffing get fierce?

Excuse me. Koffing has such a versatile movepool that it is completely unpredictable. What with the various status afflictions it can induce with Will-O-Wisp, Poison Gas, and Toxic, the sheer type diversity displayed with Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, and Psybeam, the defensive capabilities made possible by SmokeScreen, Stockpile, Pain Split, and Double Team, and the sheer power it could potentially put behind its Poison attacks such as Sludge, Sludge Bomb, Sludge, Venoshock, and Sludge, there's no way of telling what sort of strategy this lovable gas ball's got cooking. And as a guy who wrote a fanfic which features at some points an insanely overpowered Weedle, I think I know what I'm talking about when I say that a battle against any Pokémon, given the proper dosage of anime logic, can get fierce.

For a posion gas ball its pretty versatile in the moves department.

^That sums it up quite nicely.

So, with that done, let's start speculating Koffing's moves. My bet is, when the battle starts, it will know SmokeScreen, Sludge, Psybeam, and Flamethrower, and that it will evolve into Weezing mid-battle and replace SmokeScreen with Hyper Beam.

I would really be looking forward to this Gym Battle if this was the second or even the seventh, but not the eight. It just doesn't cut it for me. I'm sure it'll be a good match, I know Homika is gonna have a great personality, but this is just not eight Gym material.

Personally, if Ash winds up facing off against a Weezing for his final Gym Badge, that's one fantasy of mine come true. The others being as thus;

*Ash losing to a Weezing in a Pokémon League tournament
*James getting back his Weezing
*Ash getting his own Weezing
*Ash's Bulbasaur learning Sludge

 

[Shinneth]

There's something I don't quite understand about this sudden change-up.

Ash's line-up of Gym Leaders to face was predetermined the moment he got his badge case. Because there are eight indentations precisely shaped like the 8 badges of the original BW games, just like the badge case in the games is.

Unless Homika is suddenly handing out Legend Badges (which I really can't picture her doing in the games), whatever badge she gives to Ash isn't going to fit in that last slot.

I did imagine Ash might just pin the badge beneath his jacket like he did in Kanto (because BW loves to be pseudo-Kanto however it can), but it just doesn't seem right for Ash to go on with an incomplete badge case. Especially not for Iris' sake. Backstory or not, Iris really has no more justification to battle Drayden than Ash does. Iris wasn't even really bothered that Drayden beat her and killed her winning streak back when she was a little kid when normally little kids with big egos like that would have been devastated. There is no drama or intrigue behind Iris and Drayden having a rematch. Just Drayden needing to say to Iris what many of us viewers have been saying about her for months in regards to her (lack of) progress; nothing more.

It's a pity, really. I too think Homika would make for a fun character and Gym Leader, but her case just reeks of wrong place and wrong time.

 

[Bandit Keith]

Who said he's even battling Homika for more than a trophy badge?

He could easily save it(and possibly Shizui's...POSSIBLY)as a extra, then face Drayden for the one he uses as his final one in the Badge Check Gates(which I want to happen(ASH Flying like Sceptile in Commerce City, lol).

And was it ever said that the Unova League requires 8 badges? It could require 10, assuming Shizui is seen(ASSUMING). We only have seen 8 slots, but the way the badge case is animated makes me suspect that there are more slots that the sequence hides with speed and misdirection...

And to all Iris haters:She DOES deserve a Rematch, for Excadrill's sake(He needs plot closure with Haxorus)/set up her apprenticeship-based departure that you hatas so want...

Then again, there is the possibility that Homika and Shizui AREN'T official Gym Leaders yet, due to no timeskip occurring, so there's potential comedy with 2 false badge alarms, with Ash having to head all the way back to Opelucid for the last licensed Gym Leader to get the official 8th badge. And this scenario adds season time all the way up to AT LEAST 191 episodes, which is the standard from AG-onwards.


Plus, I'm hoping for a Cress episode, since we've had a Chili one, so another rematch is in order, so Ash can defeat Cress(since conversely, Chili had to beat Ash). The balance of battles must end with Ash winning against every in-game licensed Non-Elite 4 and up opponent at least once, so he still has to beat Cress, Iris, Homika and POSSIBLy Shizui(with a narrow chance at Cheren).

That's all I have for now.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

Wasn't tying with Beartic closure enough? I mean other the fact that Drayden beat her once She has little reason to battle Drayden. She doesn't battle others so what's the point. I don't see how a rematch would get in the way of Ash's battle.

 

[Bandit Keith]

Beartic =/= Haxorus.

Let's hope Homika is awesome enough to please the complainers.

 

[Shinneth]

Excadrill's problems were completely and totally resolved since Iris apologized to it. There's been absolutely nothing insinuating that Excadrill's longing for a rematch with Haxorus or that it needs to validate itself as a worthy battler by defeating it in a rematch. Excadrill's been responsible for the majority of Iris' victories this entire series, so this thing about it needing to battle Haxorus again is total conjecture. Iris hasn't expressed any desire to battle Drayden again either, her expressions in last week's episode would insinuate the opposite, in fact, so no, Iris is not entitled to a rematch against Drayden over Ash. Like I said, there's nothing dramatic about it to make it interesting, and there's no real development that would occur as a result of the rematch, ESPECIALLY if Iris used Excadrill against Drayden. So it's got nothing to do with how anyone feels about Iris personally; just by looking at the cold hard facts, there's nothing that supports this dire urge for Iris to usurp the right to battle Drayden from Ash.

And I personally find the theory of "Since they never said you need EIGHT BADGES to qualify for the Unova League, that obviously means Ash needs more than that and there are obviously secret compartments in his badge case that he's gone the entire series not knowing about and everyone he knows doesn't bother ever telling him that because that's how we do plot twists in the BW anime" completely stupid and also full of conjecture. This is kind of a critical detail to the main plot of the entire series; there's no sense in withholding that detail from a storytelling point of view, and I can only see that happening if the writers were too lazy or incompetent to think of another reason why this is happening.

And that is a terrible reason for that kind of "plot twist" to even be happening. So pretty much every bit of this scenario is dumb until more details come in and hopefully make this less dumb.

 

[Moe]

Excuse me.

I was more complaining about the fact this is about the fifth episode in BW to be titled Fierce Fighting - they seem to throw that label around.

Homika is an early Gym leader in the games, there's no reason Ash should have any trouble beating her.

Sure it'd be nice to see a well handled Koffing, but it still should be no match for a trainer of Ash's skill level, and that should be apparent in an eighth Gym battle, regardless of who it is against.

And I personally find the theory of "Since they never said you need EIGHT BADGES to qualify for the Unova League, that obviously means Ash needs more than that and there are obviously secret compartments in his badge case that he's gone the entire series not knowing about and everyone he knows doesn't bother ever telling him that because that's how we do plot twists in the BW anime" completely stupid and also full of conjecture. This is kind of a critical detail to the main plot of the entire series; there's no sense in withholding that detail from a storytelling point of view, and I can only see that happening if the writers were too lazy or incompetent to think of another reason why this is happening.

And of course the fact Trip did say exactly that in the first episode - "That's basic, Pokemon trainers go around challenging different Gyms and try to win eight badges, so they can enter the Unova league".

 

[Paulisthebest]

And another thing...they COULD let this be Badge #8, but have Ash want to get as many badges as possible regardless. We all know how gung-ho he is...

Iris or Dent: Why would you want to fight more Gym Leaders when you have all 8 badges?

Ash: For the challenge/To battle strong opponents/Get even more badges!

I can see that happening. He's like Goku (but more stupid/not as interesting): he lives for the thrill of battle and to tackle new challenges

At this point, I hope he does go for 10 badges. That allow him to battle Shizui, and Drayden as well.

It doesn't make any sense, after years in this series to randomly, out of nowhere, completely drop the last badge received in the games. Replacing the established 8th gym leader, with the 2nd leader in the games (with a possibly modified team).

Just because Iris has a connection to Drayden doesn't mean that Ash should be gipped out of getting the Legend Badge, or the Drayden arc should be all about her.

I love BOTH of these posts because the image that pops into my head is Gary flashing his 10 Kanto badges in Ash's face! I mean Ash will go the extra mile and I hope he does!!

 

[Masurao]

Because there are eight indentations precisely shaped like the 8 badges of the original BW games, just like the badge case in the games is.

Actually since the episode "Scraggy and the Demanding Gothita!", Ash badge case indentations were changed to a bunch of ovals.

 

[Musashi]

Spoiler

The gym battle is going to be 6 (Satoshi) vs 3 (Homika).

No way is he losing this.

 

[Bandit Keith]

Are you S******g me...

What an unfair challenge...I call TROLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL on Homika's part!

Something isn't right here...I am now thoroughly convinced she's not officially licensed as a Gym Leader.

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

A 6 vs 3 Pokemon battle? That's a new one; didn't think that was allowed. Homika must be confident to allow Ash to use his entire party against her three.

 

[Masurao]

6 vs 3.

Wat