Review JN045: Sword & Shield IV - The Ultimate Sword and Shield

[PkmnTrainerV]

It's literally Goodra and Rain Dance all over again smh

At least it evolved in the rain... They completely disregarded it with Riolu. It’d be like what if Sligoo evolved in a sandstorm and not rain.

Both evolutions are a huge mess with Ash making borderline criminal errors of judgement. They should've given Oleana some other Pokémon... The evolution (Cinderace) would've been miles better if they had picked literally any other Pokémon from Oleana's team: Tsareena, Froslass or Salazzle.

 

[El Squibbonator]

Regarding Eternatus, you could make an argument that the writers were just trying to follow what happens in the games, where you're forced to catch it in order to progress the story (and if you don't have a Poké Ball with you at the time, the game automatically gives you one).

But that doesn't explain why they had Goh be the one to do it. For practically the entire history of the anime, Ash has been the stand-in for the player character in the games. Anything important that affects the game's plot, Ash does in the anime. In previous generations, you weren't forced to catch the pre-League Legendary Pokémon, and indeed Ash doesn't try to. But in Sword and Shield you are, so it stands to reason that Ash would catch Eternatus. But instead, Goh does it.

 

[Sobble Bubble-O-Seven]

For real. Even his pokemon have mad plot armor. It makes no sense how his raboot can just withstand any attack even if they’re super effective and justs get up and somehow is at full energy. Did goh ever even lose a battle yet?

Not to mention, knocking out a water-type with a fire-type move. The Goh slurpage on the writer's part has already gotten old and I wish it would stop.

(though if that were to happen, then Sobble would probably suffer even more as a result.....ugh)

 

[Knightwolf09]

Why're you guys acting like type advantages haven't been ignored in the anime before? Sometimes hitting things really hard just works in this show.

 

[Beary]

Why're you guys acting like type advantages haven't been ignored in the anime before? Sometimes hitting things really hard just works in this show.

It’s not just that. I don’t even remember goh losing a battle ever before. How can his raboot take out a milotic only by using one move. That’s just stupid and given complete plot armour. It’s like whenever goh battles an opponent they are like half asleep or something because they just stand there while goh beats at them. For example, Zapdos, aerodactyl kind of, and then milotic all just kind of stood there while goh beats at them. Somehow raboot is shown to have god tier endurance despite never training its just BS honestly. How can raboot survive multiple super effective hits and then dragonite gets hits on the nose and gets knocked out?

 

[Knightwolf09]

It’s not just that. I don’t even remember goh losing a battle ever before. How can his raboot take out a milotic only by using one move. That’s just stupid and given complete plot armour. It’s like whenever goh battles an opponent they are like half asleep or something because they just stand there while goh beats at them. For example, Zapdos, aerodactyl kind of, and then milotic all just kind of stood there while goh beats at them. Somehow raboot is shown to have god tier endurance despite never training its just BS honestly. How can raboot survive multiple super effective hits and then dragonite gets hits on the nose and gets knocked out?

He's lost plenty of times before. Especially early on. Heck his first loss against a trainer is what made him not want to be a battler. The reason he's losing less now, is simply this thing called "improvement". Plus again, the anime is very inconsistent with how much damage a pokemon can take. Sometimes they refuse to stay down, other times they go down like chumps. I thought we'd be used to this by now

 

[VetProf]

And wth was up with Riolu's Evolution?
Riolu's Evolution requires it to level up with Max Friendship during the DAYTIME.
So why did Riolu evolve at Night?
The writers just straight up tossed logic out the window for the sake of hype. It's literally Goodra and Rain Dance all over again smh

Technically it was still daytime, assuming not much time has passed since the previous episode when the Black Night event first began, so Riolu evolving here was perfectly fine according to game logic. Then again, I guess you could also argue that the Black Night phenomenon should've simulated nighttime and prevented Riolu from evolving, similar to how Rain Dance simulated natural rain and allowed Sliggoo to evolve, so... eh, I guess it's up for personal interpretations.

 

[Craiden]

...I really hope people are joking with the "daytime evolution" complaints.

 

[Max1996]

...I really hope people are joking with the "daytime evolution" complaints.

Seems like they're not?

 

[Rocket Messiah]

Sorry I still think Go can catch Legendaries. My stance on that won't change

You keep doing your loops and give no logic explanation.

Gou's Cinderace has good showings (and a good offscreen showing) vs the Dojo Master, Flygon, and Zapdos (somewhat). So, especially the grunt, I thought the

I will say it again. How do you know it was good if it was offscreen?

I'm not mad with Cinderace,to be fair I dont care. But for a guy that catches 60 Pokémon you expect to have some kind of balance in his team. There is not. Look at what Aerodactyl and Heracross did up to this point.

And let's not talk about Ash "I forgot I have other Pokémon in the bag" I mean I dont know about Farfetch'd but Gengar was there. I want this to be very clear: He prefered that Riolu got baddly hurt than using freaking Gengar use Shadow Ball to keep Copperajah and Ferrothorn away.

This was not an oficial battle he could do that. He did that 100 times against Team Rocket. If you do that atleast have him incapacitated or something, I know that Pikachu was hurt, but not him.

These writters man...

...I really hope people are joking with the "daytime evolution" complaints.

That would be like Pikachu evolving via level up. Does that sound logic to you?

Technically it was still daytime, assuming not much time has passed since the previous episode when the Black Night event first began.

We all should now at this rate that the flow of time of the anipoke universe is a mess.

 

[Alola]

Blueish- Black Boi & Whiteish- Red Boi
+I like Cinderace (favorite Galarian Starter) and Lucario, so I enjoyed seeing them animated here-especially the former. My favorite moment of the episode remains the high-five kick because it was Cinderace's thing as a Scorbunny and speaks to the feelings it has for Go. Seeing it hug Go as well as it high paw Lucario were heartwarming moments.
+Ash...finally has a Lucario! This feels like a fever dream, my goodness. It's such an "Ash Pokémon" that was denied to him for so long. But, now we're here! At first I thought about the eventual time when they will have to part...but then I remembered Sceptile, Infernape, Greninja, etc.
+ I enjoyed the battle Pikachu and Riolu had that led up to Lucario; we got to see some impressive speedwork from the two and Riolu was animated even better than usual.
- Goh vs Oleana. I know there is the power of friendship, type advantages, and all of that, but this was utterly ridiculous. Even a casual Pokémon fan would be startled with Embers coming from a Raboot giving a Milotic trouble. It was funny reading @PkmnTrainerV's comment, because I thought about that too when I watched the episode for the first time-if Oleana would have used any other Pokémon, the battle would have been 100% better and less outrageous. Why even bring up type-advantages if we aren't going to be realistic about it? I would have rather have seen Oleana's Garbodor give Raboot a tough time due to poisoning and tricky movements (like Roxie's) than this. Ember go brrrrrrr.

• + Something to note though, is how Go did in fact try to change tactics at a certain point. I feel like he was in a catch-22 situation there because if he kept spamming Ember, people would chastise him for being stupid. But if he didn't continue to spam Ember, then he would be disregarding Raboot's wishes like what happened the first time they tried Ember (which people understandably criticized him for). Personally, I liked that we saw both aspects, but that he ultimately chose to support his Pokémon's desires, even if they were not the most logical. I think that's some character development right there.

- Ash choosing to sit by like an idiot rather than call out a perfectly healthy Gengar was rather egregious on his part; I won't even assume he brought Farfetch'd with him. While I was frustrated with his Trainer, it was admittedly cool of Riolu to tank both of those blows like that.

A Rose by any other name
+He explicitly cared about Copperajah and Ferrothorn (after being done in by another Steel-type)!
- Remember when I praised the anime for their anime adaptation of Rose? I take it back. They torpedoed any respect I had when they demoted Rose into a generic villain who would hurt a child (and ultimately does not care for the welfare of Galar's citizens and Pokémon). His fanatic cheering for Eternatus was such a departure from the affable persona he had until that moment. Him getting away scot free at the end was another nail in the coffin; admittedly though, I cannot help but chuckle when I think of Rose and Oleana (of all people) running through Galar as fugitives. What happens to Macros Cosmos? How can you ditch your large business conglomerate at the drop of a hat? I know Rose felt that Eternatus was what he needed to propel Galar forward, but forsaking everything else that he had done up until this point felt like...poor writing, pretty much.

Eternatus...dun dun dun
+ Go caught Eternatus. Regardless of Ash volunteering to help him throw the enlarged Dynamaxed Poke Ball, Go had the idea, Go used his Poke Ball, and Eternatus registered in Go's Pokedex. I cannot fathom why others cannot accept that. I'm not championing the moment as an indicator for Go's captures down the road, nor am I saying this suddenly turns Go into this amazing character for doing so (the boy still has some glaring faults). The writers literally followed the source material, but since they have two protagonists for this saga rather than the definitive player character, Ash got to help. And regardless of the fact that Go, or anyone else for that matter, does not own Eternatus, he still caught it. That is a first for a main character in this series and I think it deserves the appropriate recognition. I would feel the same if the role was reversed with Ash.
+ Thank you Leon, for trying to use an Ultra Ball. And kudos to him for defending the boys as did Charizard with their Pokémon.
- We saw the same stock footage of Pikachu, Lucario, and Cinderace attacking three times.
- Team Rocket deserved better than that. They at least could have allowed Meowth to connect G-Max Gold Rush or soak in the fact he Gigantamaxed for the first time.
- The fact that Go only utilized one of his many Pokémon for this regional crisis is not lost on me. Not even Sobble got to do anything!
- That last explosion at the end with the Hero Duo was so cheap, lmao. But I guess the targeted little kids will like it.

RANDOM DANC-wrong show
+ Professor Magnolia has a silver Rotom...phone thing. I like.
- Sonia does not deserve to be a professor yet in this iteration, sorry. What did she do aside from ferry Go across Galar? She took and depended on direction & insight from a child, threw herself into a situation where she had to be saved, and could only cry over Leon for the finale. She was handled so poorly in her moment to shine; why does Pocket Monsters handle its female characters so poorly? Like with Oleana...who was nothing more than a one-note pony (I know they are separate continuities, but from Twilight Wings to this? Even the games presented her better...and that's saying something).
- Here lies the screentime of Galarian Farfetch'd (who couldn't even partake in the honor of defending its own region)...and quite possibly Gengar. We hardly knew ye.


Preaching to an already powerful chorus, this arc needed more time-at least one more episode, for obvious reasons. The finale was a rollercoaster, with some ups and quite a few downs. But I will give them this-they used every minute of this episode, by golly.

 

[Craiden]

That would be like Pikachu evolving via level up. Does that sound logic to you?

If one knew nothing of Pokemon, what sounds "illogical" about Pikachu evolving via level up? Or (and I didn't even know about the daylight thing until I was reading reviews) Lucario not needing the daylight to evolve?

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

For real. Even his pokemon have mad plot armor. It makes no sense how his raboot can just withstand any attack even if they’re super effective and justs get up and somehow is at full energy. Did goh ever even lose a battle yet?

He did lose his first Trainer battle at the Flute Cup, at the very least.

It was kind of subtle, but I guess Meowth somehow absorbed the Dynamax energy that Leon was about to use, which is a little confusing since he was already Gigantamaxed by time he got to the roof. I guess it's the "only one Dynamax Pokemon per battle" rule in play.

Nah. I think it was because Eternatus was sucking up Dynamax energy, undoing both Gigantamaxes.

Doubt it, they've already established her as a Gym leader, they aren't going to take her Gym away. It's a safe bet that the final Ash/Bea rematch will take place there. As for the Yamask, there's an abundance of them on route 6 (outside Stow-on-Side).

Her Gym could always be somewhere else in the anime. And their final rematch could also take place somewhere else, like at Wyndon Stadium.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

We saw the same stock footage of Pikachu, Lucario, and Cinderace attacking three times.

First when I was watching the episode, “Where are the other Pokémon?” was just a peeve. But when they reached this point, it genuinely impacted my enjoyment of the episode.

And to rub salt on the wound: literally all three attacks are not very effective.

 

[Rocket Messiah]

If one knew nothing of Pokemon, what sounds "illogical" about Pikachu evolving via level up? Or (and I didn't even know about the daylight thing until I was reading reviews) Lucario not needing the daylight to evolve?

Did you watch the episode where Go catched Raichu?

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

If one knew nothing of Pokemon, what sounds "illogical" about Pikachu evolving via level up? Or (and I didn't even know about the daylight thing until I was reading reviews) Lucario not needing the daylight to evolve?

Why is that a point of discussion on the Pokémon forums, on the Pokémon anime whose sole job is to market and spread Pokémon to its consumers?
"If one knew nothing of Pokemon" could justify anything and everything.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

This is nothing new. Serena's Eevee also evolved into Sylveon without knowing a Fairy-type move.

 

[Flynn]

Rewatching this a second time and I noticed a Miyazaki track was used in the scene where Leon tried to catch Mugendaina.

 

[JeoDude]

So the similarities with the Necrozma arc continu for me. In the Necrozma Arc the Matori Matrix, Ultra Necrozma and the aftermath got the short end of the stick. In the Darkest Day arc this applies to the Eternatus second form battle, Team Rocket, Farfetch and the legendary Sword and Shield Pokemon. Both arcs are rushed, have some good/awesome moments and some very awkward scenes because of the pacing.
With this episode I found it very awkward that the final form of Eternatus was beaten because of spamming the same attacks. Zacian and Zamazenta appeared for a minute or so, another part that is rushed. I also didn't like that when the doggo's appeared, there was no tension anymore.

+ I liked the battles Ash vs Rose and Go vs Oleana, despite it being decided by evolution shenanigans. Leon is also a great character in this arc and series, they do him better in the anime than in the game where I found him a bit arrogant and cocky.
+ Finally some nice ''Sakuka'' moments in terms of animation, it's been a while
+- The music was great, but predictable. I don't know how its for you guys, but I don't like it when I get the feeling I can predict which song will play in which scene. Its also a bummer we didn't get any remix from the legendaries from SWSH and/or the Rose/Olivia battle from the games. Hopefully Hayashi will came up with new music in season 2 or use some older tracks like they did in this episode.
+ Go is for me the MVP in this arc. I enjoyed everything he did, from the interactions with Sonia to searching for a opportunity to beat Milotic with Ember. This is where the development with Scorbunny and Raboot comes full circle, because they struggled heavily with using Ember in the past. The hug between Cinderace and Go was very pure and wholesome, something like ''We did it, and this was awesome!''.

This episode and the arc as a whole gets a 7/10. Enjoyable and good in some parts, but with too much flaws (especially the build up, animation and pacing) to it to give it any more praise.

 

[Craiden]

Why is that a point of discussion on the Pokémon forums, on the Pokémon anime whose sole job is to market and spread Pokémon to its consumers?
"If one knew nothing of Pokemon" could justify anything and everything.

That's not quite what I was going for, so let me try it from another angle. Outside of "the games say so" what is "logical" about Lucario evolving during the daytime?