• Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Review JN132: The Finals IV: "Partner"

When Leon recalled Charizard, I was worried he was going to gigantamax it once again

Was pleasantly surprised when it was Cinderace that he gigantamaxed, bet Goh wishes he could try Gigantamaxing
 
I can't believe it. HE DID IT! THE HIMBO HAS FALLEN!! OUR BOY ASH IS WORLD CHAMPION!! I'm not even gonna let all the people who will scream plot armor ruin this. I don't wanna hear it. I just wanna celebrate the fact that after all these years, Ash Ketchum is World Champion! So many doubted him, but he pulled through!

I can't even begin to describe it. The episode was packed with top tier animation, emotion, and cameos when it really mattered. The only complaint I even have is Cinderace fell way too fast after spending the whole battle being one of the biggest threats thanks to Libero. Its not gonna make me change how I feel about Journeys as a whole, but this episode was perfection! Congrats to our boy Ash Ketchum!!
 
Last edited:
Finally calmed down enough to write about this episode in full, subs be damned.

Within those twenty minutes of watching this episode, it felt like all the problems I had with Journeys had prior to this episode didn’t even exist just because they delivered so hard with the finale. This would officially be the first time in over twenty two years that features a physical appearance from every single main cast member, and even if they were not able to all have lines, I appreciate the lengths they went to bringing as much fanservice as possible to this finale.

Aside from Cinderace being knocked out relatively quick, I think the battle was great overall with the stakes it presented and visually speaking was on par with Pikachu vs. Tapu Koko. To be able to bring out such an amazing looking episode even with the current circumstances of the production was very impressive on the staff’s teams part, and the segments like Pikachu running on the walls of the stadium is probably some of most gorgeous action I’ve seen from the series :love:

And as many people have said already, the scene featuring every single Pokémon of Ash’s was amazing, and it felt like such a reward for being invested in all of the series growing up that it managed to make me emotional at 5 in the morning :bulbaLove: Seeing that they went the extra mile to animate some of the deeper cuts like Pidgeot, Primeape, and Larvitar really made it all that much more special

No idea where the series takes Ash from here but I am very happy that his climax in Journeys was able to be given as much justice as possible

OVERALL SCORE:
9/10
 
Last edited:

Rose appeared in today's episode, and Todd snap.

So Ash won, not gonna lie they had me with the fake out. Great battle and it feels like they tied a neat bow on the last 25 years of the anime. Wish cinderace had gotten a bit more but it was nice to atleast see its gmax. Now all that's left is Goh. Still no word on gen 9s anime either.

I swear if after this pikachu loses to a level 5 smoliv lmao
 
Not gonna lie that thing with the soundtrack kept bugging me and I woke up today fully expecting to learn Ash lost.
...
...
...honestly, although I defended the idea he could beat Leon in my heart I never, ever thought I'd see this happen. After DP I didn't think Ash would ever be allowed to do anything except maybe win a regional league at the end of the series.
 
Daren said:
Not gonna lie that thing with the soundtrack kept bugging me and I woke up today fully expecting to learn Ash lost.
Click to expand...
Oh, yeah. You can't even begin to describe how happy I am to know that track Weakness was never proof he'd lose. See! I knew there was no way they'd spoil the results of a big match through the OST. It got annoying seeing it being spammed in response to people who thought Ash would win. After all this time, it was literally nothing. Ash won!
 
For the first time in YEARS, I watched a new episode of Pokemon going in blind; you know aside from the Ep 132 preview from last week. I woke up around 6:03 and I didn't jump on Twitter or Facebook after I woke up. I went straight to YouTube to see the episode with 0 spoilers. Thankfully, the first video that popped up when I opened the app didn't have a spoilery thumbnail.

I've had around half a dozen friends of mine (all in our 30s) acting like kids again over the past week talking about possible ways Ash vs. Leon could go down. Thankfully, my predictions turned out to be right haha but regardless, we all messaged each other, and it felt like we were on a school bus losing our minds over how crazy the battle was!

I legit CRIED when I saw Butterfree & Pidgeot! Yes, I had tears coming down because I literally yelled F**K when Pikachu ate that Fire Blast. I was so hopeful when Electro Web blocked the first one, yelled for Ash to STOP using Iron Tail because it wasn't doing much damage only to see him use the move shortly after to deflect several Air Slashes. Yo, I was on the edge of my seat! The animated was as crispy as a hot dog roasted by one of Charizard's Fire Blasts!

Our boy did it...

One of the only misteps I can think of was Cinderace going down after ONE hit....really? It would've been easier to stomach had Dracovish inflicted SOME damage on the bunny. If memory serves, it suffered 0 damage for the entire fight but that ONE attack from Pikachu shut it down? Eh, ok...

Pikachu waking up in the Pokemon Center literally made me yell F**K again because I thought they lost, but unlike Yuskue waking up in the hospital after passing out during the fight with Yomi and losing (Yu Yu Hakusho); Pikachu WON!!!! Gosh, I love this so much!

I can't wait to watch this later tonight in GREAT HD quality with English subs.

*Did Eternatus only give Ash & Leon enough Dynamax juice for ONE attack? I was confused why Pikachu & Cinderace reverted back to normal after their one attack each was executed
 
Paulisthebest said:
Pikachu waking up in the Pokemon Center literally made me yell F**K again because I thought they lost, but unlike Yuskue waking up in the hospital after passing out during the fight with Yomi and losing (Yu Yu Hakusho); Pikachu WON!!!! Gosh, I love this so much!
Click to expand...
Holy shit, that fake out was a war crime. My poor heart
 
Paulisthebest said:
One of the only misteps I can think of was Cinderace going down after ONE hit....really? It would've been easier to stomach had Dracovish inflicted SOME damage on the bunny. If memory serves, it suffered 0 damage for the entire fight but that ONE attack from Pikachu shut it down? Eh, ok...
Click to expand...
I think Cinderace is more of an attacker than a tank. Its policy is to hit hard and avoid getting hit. A Glass Cannon, to put it simply. So I personally don't have much of a problem in it going down with one hit.
Paulisthebest said:
Pikachu waking up in the Pokemon Center literally made me yell F**K again because I thought they lost, but unlike Yuskue waking up in the hospital after passing out during the fight with Yomi and losing (Yu Yu Hakusho); Pikachu WON!!!! Gosh, I love this so much!
Click to expand...
Personally, I was reminded of Neon Genesis Evangelion and how Shinji suddenly wakes up in the hospital during the fight against the first Angel and later recalls how the fight ended.
 
Paulisthebest said:
Did Eternatus only give Ash & Leon enough Dynamax juice for ONE attack? I was confused why Pikachu & Cinderace reverted back to normal after their one attack each was executed
Click to expand...
I’m guessing the thing feasted on some of the sweet new exotic Z-Move/Mega Evolution energy that it heard from Zygarde tastes good before handing over the leftovers to Ash and Leon.

Or alternatively I guess it just gave them enough to have some fun and NOT destabilise the power spot again.
 
The scene with all of the Ash mons does make me fear this may in fact be an end, for Ash or the series. We'll have to see, but that was a bigger omen of the end than any trophy.
 
Please note: The thread is from 1 year ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.

Similar threads

BigDocFan
Review HZ046: How Thrilling! Orange Academy
2 3
Replies
50
Views
3K
KatrinaSForest
KatrinaSForest
BigDocFan
Review HZ043: A Letter of Challenge from the Explorers
Replies
17
Views
1K
skynerel
skynerel
Eitarou
Review HZ042: Transform! Hero of the Seas, Irukaman!!
2
Replies
34
Views
3K
Poke Trey
Poke Trey
Eitarou
Review HZ045: To a Place Far, Far Away
2
Replies
39
Views
3K
Squad_Broke_Down
Squad_Broke_Down
BigDocFan
Review HZ040: Farewell, Nyahoja?
2
Replies
29
Views
2K
HilbertIdeals5
H
Back
Top Bottom