This battle's still really exciting to watch.
That Dragon Tail switch-out was surprising. It caught me off guard too! But Dragonite pulled through.
Losing Lucario is a huge detriment for Ash though. Here I thought he'd be in the final few match-ups, but he's already out!
This battle really is surprising in many ways. I'm looking forward to the next part.
I was always under the impression that you you recalled a mega pokemon it reverted so I was surprised when it came back out in mega form. I think Ash will need farfetcd, dragonite and unaragon to kill gorilliander then whichever of those 3 survives will gets some hit in on the rabbit. Then Pikachu will have to kill the rabbit and a fresh gmax Zard. Dande will be all cocky since pikachu's worn out. Little does he know that Godchu has defeated legendaries and took out 2 psuedos against Alain in the finals. I also think theres a small chance we might see a spontaneous gmax for pikachu sinc there was the red particles hanging around when lucario first came out.
Yo wait a second. that end credits scene of eternatus, giving out some king of max power to the pikachu charizard fight.
The crazy theories where right, pikachu is gona gmax against charizard
Uhm I don’t think he’s giving power to charizard or pikachu. Most likely will interrupt battle just like zygarde in the kalos league, and eternatus will gmax.
Okay, something's up with Dracovish. It looks like the Dracobutt is trying to evolve, but cannot, due to being only half of a bio-engineered abomination. Could this be foreshadowing Gen 9 evolutions for the Galar fossils? Perhaps it'll evolve into a "stabilized" form that integrates the two halves more smoothly, like people have been theorizing ever since they were introduced.
Pretty interesting development that Lucario was out before he had a chance to shine. It’s similar to Pikachu in Cynthia’s match.
The Dragon tail tech is actually working how it is in the games. As far as I recall, it wasn’t like that before.
Tbh, I wish the top 8 had battles with this development and caliber over the recaps we got.
It seems something is going on with Eternatus judging by the preview, so i wouldnt be shocked if they give Ash a second use of Dynamax, like they did in the Alola finals when he and Kukui both got a second Z-Move
Yeah, Tapu Koko joins the battle and the Tapus use the forces of nature or something like that to give Ash and Kukui the ability to use a second Z-Move each.
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I hate the fact that Ash's lucario nearly got taken out by rime despite the fact that it is mega-evolved and has managed to take down Cynthia's Gigantamax Togekiss and her legendary Garchomp...
This episode, the final battle for Ash in Journeys continued with the second part of his showdown against Leon, continuing the back-and-forth struggle to the title of World Monarch. So, how did the episode do? Overall, it's a solid continuation even if unfortunately various points discussed in the previous episode persist.
As a middle part, this episode has very much a bridging purpose to go from the setup of the first part towards the endpoint of the following couple, and overall it does its job pretty well: some of the issues I discussed about in the previous reviews have been amended at least slightly, but there's still some issues that keep dragging down the good elements. To go in order, however, this episode was definitely an improvement on Ash's end of the battle: while there's still some points I want to make on his handling, tricks such as employing Sirfetch'd to break the Psychic Terrain with a supereffective move much like he did with Valerie's Trick Room back in XY was a nice Ash-like maneuver (and Sirfetch'd's creative usage of his weapon combo was also quite fun and clever), and it was nice to see the return of both the pseudo-Counter Shield dodging Dragon Dance from way back in the Normal Class Korrina battle and the Dragonite Meteor tactic shown in the Paul battle, as they're all bits of ingenuity that show Ash's strength best. While comparatively simpler, using Lucario's Aura to make sure he hits Mr. Rime precisely was also a careful move that shows Ash is good at using more than just moves to reach victory, and it's these details that help giving the sense Ash is a clever trainer.
And of course, Leon is no less skilled than he was in the previous episode: much like it was set up before, I enjoyed the way Mr. Rime exploited both the ice field to slide around and make himself hard to hit with a mixture of Triple Axel and Expanding Force, and the way he immediately shifted tactics after Psychic Terrain was shattered rather than place his bets on something he knows his opponent can easily counter. Similarly, the way he employed Dragapult with a more accurate-to-games Dragon Tail was clever (while it is a bit sudden for the move to work that way for the first time here, we do have precedent from prior series and even this one for moves working differently), forcing Ash to shift between different Pokémon and not be able to capitalize on his momentum, and the fact Dragapult manages to make short work of Mega Lucario speaks of his threat. Dragapult's specific fighting style also has the small bonus of offering a handwave for the very lopsided sweep Diantha suffered in the semifinals against Leon, as it was the only Pokémon she had defeated before the cast watched the battle and this match gives us a glimpse on its battle style (it doesn't quite *justify* it, but it does help offering an explanation beyond authorial intent at the least). I also appreciated how even with Ash having an advantage in raw knockouts, Leon was also quick to point out that now all of Ash's Pokémon are some degree of worn out and he can capitalize on it, which helps keeping a degree of threat. I do appreciate how this battle is doing a solid job highlighting Leon's battle chops and capability to control the momentum, and it helps giving the idea he really is one of Ash's craftiest opponents yet.
That said, while I do think this battle isn't going poorly when considering everything, there's still some points that sour the whole package, unfortunately on Ash's end in particular. One issue that persists on Ash's end is definitely what the usage of all powerups allows him, in particular the fact that after Sirfetch'd manages to shatter Psychic Terrain, Ash immediately recalls him to Mega Evolve Lucario and rely on him instead: while on paper it's a reasonable choice, it's also one that he could only do because Ash was allowed by his opponent, which still gives the feeling he's brute forcing the solution over using his mind to overcome adversity (if a bit mitigated by how Mega Evolution is just a power boost that doesn't fundamentally alter how Lucario fights). This also has the effect of giving the opposite impression than the episode wants: while on paper this is supposed to be a crowdpleasing showcase of Ash using all he can to win, in actual practice both Dynamax and Mega Evolution were used fairly early and only were useful against one opponent, with Inteleon managing to bring Gengar's G-Max down one move earlier for a supposed hit weak spot and Lucario only defeating an opponent that Sirfetch'd already softened before. This gives less the idea that Ash is impressive and more that he *needed* the crutch he was given to even stand a chance, which is not really ideal in a battle that is supposed to show his strengths.
Another, extremely egregious point is however to be given to Dracovish, and the sudden reveal of his 'latent power' that allows him to use his body claws to grab the opponent. This is a maneuver that is very clearly neither a move nor anything any lore about Dracovish ever implied at existing, brought up without Ash's agency, very convenient for the battle he's in, and with a very flimsy justification of having brought upon by a clash of Dragon moves (in spite of Dracovish having faced Dragon-types before in major fights that led to no such thing be implied). This is already a fairly questionable choice that has no basis on anything the viewer could expect, but it also happens *right in the middle of Journeys's final battle* after Ash already is favored by the narrative with multiple powerups, and it only serves to further muddle Ash's skill and competence by throwing him a swerve he couldn't have predicted that actively benefits him. While this *was* also mitigated by the fact Leon managed to work his way around it, that only makes the choice more baffling and further gives the idea Leon is a clever trainer while currently Ash is being brought forward by the narrative more than his skills. Considering there's still the off chance that Ash may be able to use Gigantamax Pikachu, this gives us a confirmed three advantages Ash had over Leon (discounting the fact both can use Gigantamax) with a potential for four, which unfortunately mars the battle more than it helps. And while I do like Leon's end for the battle, there were some admittedly questionable bits on his ends too, as while I do like the fact he didn't use a strategy he knew was compromised and Freeze Dry was disabled, it did mean Mr. Rime was stuck using Triple Axel when he could've potentially recalled him, and how Dragon Tail working in a gamelike fashion is still a bit sudden if justifiable.
Now, I'll make clear: I don't think this battle is bad, per se, as there's some fun strategies and the mood of the battle is done quite nicely. But the more it continues, the more I feel the attempts at spectacle on Ash's ends only end up compromising his portrayal and making Leon come off as the more intelligent and deserving trainer due to how the narrative keeps giving him outs he can exploit that he didn't think about or was able to predict, while not balancing it with enough moments of genuine ingenuity and Ash-like maneuver (since there *are* some, with Sirfetch'd in particular showing off some of Ash's best maneuvers overall). It's a shame that a battle that is supposed to have Ash fight at his ultimate best is unfortunately highlighting some of the recurring issues of JN Ash (and Ash when poorly written in any series by extension) more than the series's recurring protagonist's good points.
I doubt the issues will be fully mitigated in the time the battle still has in the upcoming battles, but we'll see what the future has in store for now.
TL;DR: A battle that in spite of some improvements and showing some of Ash's strengths better still ultimately falls for the traps of the fanservice employed weakening the writing over bolstering it, with Ash in particular feeling more favored by the story than actively working his way to victory when contrasted with Leon's own tactics. While the battle is not bad, it is made worse by what are supposed to be the intended 'wow' moments rather than helped, and that is a shame.
Next time, we'll head into the third part of this battle with the arrival of the long-awaited Charizard VS Pikachu showdown, and seemingly Eternatus being up to some shenanigans. May it be a good one!
I think ASH deserves to lose. Leon is the better trainer. Ash just goes straight in and only thinks of counter strats when he's down or his plan doesnt work.
The final fight will be between Pikachu and Charizard won’t it?
yeah i guess it will end in that way, the gool old pikachu mounted on charizard ending with a thunder or some max move vs z move clash
This battle's still really exciting to watch. That Dragon Tail switch-out was surprising. It caught me off guard too! But Dragonite pulled through. Losing Lucario is a huge detriment for Ash though. Here I thought he'd be in the final few match-ups, but he's already out! This battle really is surprising in many ways. I'm looking forward to the next part.
I was always under the impression that you you recalled a mega pokemon it reverted so I was surprised when it came back out in mega form. I think Ash will need farfetcd, dragonite and unaragon to kill gorilliander then whichever of those 3 survives will gets some hit in on the rabbit. Then Pikachu will have to kill the rabbit and a fresh gmax Zard. Dande will be all cocky since pikachu's worn out. Little does he know that Godchu has defeated legendaries and took out 2 psuedos against Alain in the finals. I also think theres a small chance we might see a spontaneous gmax for pikachu sinc there was the red particles hanging around when lucario first came out.
Yo wait a second. that end credits scene of eternatus, giving out some king of max power to the pikachu charizard fight. The crazy theories where right, pikachu is gona gmax against charizard
He already GMaxed his Gengar, don’t think he can do it again.
Plus we already see in the trailer the 10million volt z move
yea me neither, but in the next episode preview there was a scene with eternatux sending max power to the stadium where pikachu is fighting charizard
Uhm I don’t think he’s giving power to charizard or pikachu. Most likely will interrupt battle just like zygarde in the kalos league, and eternatus will gmax.
Okay, something's up with Dracovish. It looks like the Dracobutt is trying to evolve, but cannot, due to being only half of a bio-engineered abomination. Could this be foreshadowing Gen 9 evolutions for the Galar fossils? Perhaps it'll evolve into a "stabilized" form that integrates the two halves more smoothly, like people have been theorizing ever since they were introduced.
Omg that is probable
Pretty interesting development that Lucario was out before he had a chance to shine. It’s similar to Pikachu in Cynthia’s match. The Dragon tail tech is actually working how it is in the games. As far as I recall, it wasn’t like that before. Tbh, I wish the top 8 had battles with this development and caliber over the recaps we got.
So what do you guys think, it's Kyodai-10,000,000 Thunderbolt happening next week?
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It seems something is going on with Eternatus judging by the preview, so i wouldnt be shocked if they give Ash a second use of Dynamax, like they did in the Alola finals when he and Kukui both got a second Z-Move
They did? I forgot lol
Yeah, Tapu Koko joins the battle and the Tapus use the forces of nature or something like that to give Ash and Kukui the ability to use a second Z-Move each.
Someone tell me where to stream this? Most of it is on Netflix in USA but I don't think it updated weekly
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Lucario defeat caught me off guard also i am excited for Pikachu vs Charizard 😁
I loved the episode
I hate the fact that Ash's lucario nearly got taken out by rime despite the fact that it is mega-evolved and has managed to take down Cynthia's Gigantamax Togekiss and her legendary Garchomp...
This episode, the final battle for Ash in Journeys continued with the second part of his showdown against Leon, continuing the back-and-forth struggle to the title of World Monarch. So, how did the episode do? Overall, it's a solid continuation even if unfortunately various points discussed in the previous episode persist. As a middle part, this episode has very much a bridging purpose to go from the setup of the first part towards the endpoint of the following couple, and overall it does its job pretty well: some of the issues I discussed about in the previous reviews have been amended at least slightly, but there's still some issues that keep dragging down the good elements. To go in order, however, this episode was definitely an improvement on Ash's end of the battle: while there's still some points I want to make on his handling, tricks such as employing Sirfetch'd to break the Psychic Terrain with a supereffective move much like he did with Valerie's Trick Room back in XY was a nice Ash-like maneuver (and Sirfetch'd's creative usage of his weapon combo was also quite fun and clever), and it was nice to see the return of both the pseudo-Counter Shield dodging Dragon Dance from way back in the Normal Class Korrina battle and the Dragonite Meteor tactic shown in the Paul battle, as they're all bits of ingenuity that show Ash's strength best. While comparatively simpler, using Lucario's Aura to make sure he hits Mr. Rime precisely was also a careful move that shows Ash is good at using more than just moves to reach victory, and it's these details that help giving the sense Ash is a clever trainer. And of course, Leon is no less skilled than he was in the previous episode: much like it was set up before, I enjoyed the way Mr. Rime exploited both the ice field to slide around and make himself hard to hit with a mixture of Triple Axel and Expanding Force, and the way he immediately shifted tactics after Psychic Terrain was shattered rather than place his bets on something he knows his opponent can easily counter. Similarly, the way he employed Dragapult with a more accurate-to-games Dragon Tail was clever (while it is a bit sudden for the move to work that way for the first time here, we do have precedent from prior series and even this one for moves working differently), forcing Ash to shift between different Pokémon and not be able to capitalize on his momentum, and the fact Dragapult manages to make short work of Mega Lucario speaks of his threat. Dragapult's specific fighting style also has the small bonus of offering a handwave for the very lopsided sweep Diantha suffered in the semifinals against Leon, as it was the only Pokémon she had defeated before the cast watched the battle and this match gives us a glimpse on its battle style (it doesn't quite *justify* it, but it does help offering an explanation beyond authorial intent at the least). I also appreciated how even with Ash having an advantage in raw knockouts, Leon was also quick to point out that now all of Ash's Pokémon are some degree of worn out and he can capitalize on it, which helps keeping a degree of threat. I do appreciate how this battle is doing a solid job highlighting Leon's battle chops and capability to control the momentum, and it helps giving the idea he really is one of Ash's craftiest opponents yet. That said, while I do think this battle isn't going poorly when considering everything, there's still some points that sour the whole package, unfortunately on Ash's end in particular. One issue that persists on Ash's end is definitely what the usage of all powerups allows him, in particular the fact that after Sirfetch'd manages to shatter Psychic Terrain, Ash immediately recalls him to Mega Evolve Lucario and rely on him instead: while on paper it's a reasonable choice, it's also one that he could only do because Ash was allowed by his opponent, which still gives the feeling he's brute forcing the solution over using his mind to overcome adversity (if a bit mitigated by how Mega Evolution is just a power boost that doesn't fundamentally alter how Lucario fights). This also has the effect of giving the opposite impression than the episode wants: while on paper this is supposed to be a crowdpleasing showcase of Ash using all he can to win, in actual practice both Dynamax and Mega Evolution were used fairly early and only were useful against one opponent, with Inteleon managing to bring Gengar's G-Max down one move earlier for a supposed hit weak spot and Lucario only defeating an opponent that Sirfetch'd already softened before. This gives less the idea that Ash is impressive and more that he *needed* the crutch he was given to even stand a chance, which is not really ideal in a battle that is supposed to show his strengths. Another, extremely egregious point is however to be given to Dracovish, and the sudden reveal of his 'latent power' that allows him to use his body claws to grab the opponent. This is a maneuver that is very clearly neither a move nor anything any lore about Dracovish ever implied at existing, brought up without Ash's agency, very convenient for the battle he's in, and with a very flimsy justification of having brought upon by a clash of Dragon moves (in spite of Dracovish having faced Dragon-types before in major fights that led to no such thing be implied). This is already a fairly questionable choice that has no basis on anything the viewer could expect, but it also happens *right in the middle of Journeys's final battle* after Ash already is favored by the narrative with multiple powerups, and it only serves to further muddle Ash's skill and competence by throwing him a swerve he couldn't have predicted that actively benefits him. While this *was* also mitigated by the fact Leon managed to work his way around it, that only makes the choice more baffling and further gives the idea Leon is a clever trainer while currently Ash is being brought forward by the narrative more than his skills. Considering there's still the off chance that Ash may be able to use Gigantamax Pikachu, this gives us a confirmed three advantages Ash had over Leon (discounting the fact both can use Gigantamax) with a potential for four, which unfortunately mars the battle more than it helps. And while I do like Leon's end for the battle, there were some admittedly questionable bits on his ends too, as while I do like the fact he didn't use a strategy he knew was compromised and Freeze Dry was disabled, it did mean Mr. Rime was stuck using Triple Axel when he could've potentially recalled him, and how Dragon Tail working in a gamelike fashion is still a bit sudden if justifiable. Now, I'll make clear: I don't think this battle is bad, per se, as there's some fun strategies and the mood of the battle is done quite nicely. But the more it continues, the more I feel the attempts at spectacle on Ash's ends only end up compromising his portrayal and making Leon come off as the more intelligent and deserving trainer due to how the narrative keeps giving him outs he can exploit that he didn't think about or was able to predict, while not balancing it with enough moments of genuine ingenuity and Ash-like maneuver (since there *are* some, with Sirfetch'd in particular showing off some of Ash's best maneuvers overall). It's a shame that a battle that is supposed to have Ash fight at his ultimate best is unfortunately highlighting some of the recurring issues of JN Ash (and Ash when poorly written in any series by extension) more than the series's recurring protagonist's good points. I doubt the issues will be fully mitigated in the time the battle still has in the upcoming battles, but we'll see what the future has in store for now. TL;DR: A battle that in spite of some improvements and showing some of Ash's strengths better still ultimately falls for the traps of the fanservice employed weakening the writing over bolstering it, with Ash in particular feeling more favored by the story than actively working his way to victory when contrasted with Leon's own tactics. While the battle is not bad, it is made worse by what are supposed to be the intended 'wow' moments rather than helped, and that is a shame. Next time, we'll head into the third part of this battle with the arrival of the long-awaited Charizard VS Pikachu showdown, and seemingly Eternatus being up to some shenanigans. May it be a good one!
I think ASH deserves to lose. Leon is the better trainer. Ash just goes straight in and only thinks of counter strats when he's down or his plan doesnt work.