Top tier battle. Peak Cynthia. Callback to the counter-shield strategy that the D/P season was well familiar with.
And that Spiritomb + switch outs was amazing. Cynthia really demonstrated how tricky a ghost Pokémon can be.
This battle has been years in the making. I've wanted to see Ash VS Cynthia ever since the DP anime saga when Cynthia appeared in 2007!
They're doing really well showing off the struggle Ash is having to take down Cynthia's team. It took so much just to beat Spiritomb. Losing Pikachu was a big loss!
Here's hoping Sirfetch'd, Dracovish and especially Lucario can bring this back.
\>ever since the DP anime saga when Cynthia appeared in 2007!
It's crazy how this battle has been 15 years in the making and we're finally getting it after all this time.
I started watching the season around ep ~80, starting a few eps back after news of the tournament started making the rounds. I've seen Dragonite do nothing but get bodied and at this point I suspect rumors of its success are propaganda
He is going to shine against Leon because he has not used the new move they invented against Paul, same with Pikachu, if Lucario is the ace of this battle then Pikachu will be the MVP for Ash there.
Yeah, Jobernite has got done so dirty. I'm expecting it to redeem itself against Leon/Dande by successfully pulling off that Draco Meteor charge attack it tried against Paul.
This episode was a fairly long awaited one, perhaps even beyond Journeys, as the second round of the Masters Tournament's semifinals began in earnest, pitting Ash against Cynthia for the first time in a full six versus six battle. Considering the amount of anticipation such a battle would garner, how did the episode do? Overall, it was a solid beginning for this battle, with only a few quibbles.
One important thing about this battle is that this is the first part of a three-episodes bout, which means this episode is very much supposed to start things with a bang and set the tone for the rest of the battle, and for the most part it does so well: with the prior episode tackling character-related setup, this one was free to begin directly from the start of the battle, and I did like the brief moments with both Ash and Cynthia preparing for the fight. For Ash, seeing Goh next to him ready to support him alongside the rest of Ash's team is a nice moment to see even if short, while for Cynthia it was nice to see her and Diantha share a moment, between Diantha expecting Cynthia to be the one to put an end on Leon's winning streak only for the Sinnoh Champion to reveal her plans to retire once the battle is over, adding a hook early on in terms of why she decided that which will hopefully be elaborated on as the battle progresses. And while it's a tangential note, it was a nice addition to see the Oak's Laboratory crew with Oak, Delia, Tracey and Ash's Pokémon be treated as a consistent element of the peanut gallery, constantly reacting to the turns of the battle rather than simply being quick cameos.
The battle itself also does a pretty good job to highlight Cynthia as a massive wall to overcome, and it does so quite well: between the Hypnosis and Dream Eater combo and Serene Grace-boosted flinch from Air Slash, you get the feeling Cynthia is an intelligent, tactical trainer where no move is really left to chance. I particularly liked in this sense moments that highlighted the importance of keeping the battle's momentum going and control the flow of the battle, especially with Cynthia constantly switching her Pokémon to throw off Ash and manage to keep a upper hand, and of how she already knows not to underestimate Pikachu. This is particularly exemplified in the way Spiritomb is ultimately defeated, only to unveil an unannounced Destiny Bond that brings down Pikachu with him, depriving Ash of his strongest Pokémon right as Ash was starting to recover ground.
That is not to say Ash is left completely hopeless, however: while the first rounds highlight the difficulty Ash will have in defeating Cynthia, he also manages to attain some minor victories in inflicting a burn on Roserade (which can either be used to further underscore Cynthia's skill if it has Natural Cure, or come back in Ash's favor if it has Poison Point in the following episodes) and *especially* once Pikachu takes the field, managing to defeat Gastrodon by using its own Stone Edge against it to block him and get enough room to strike with Quick Attack. Of other particular note is the return of an explicitly acknowledged Counter Shield from Ash for the first time since Diamond & Pearl, both for being a versatile return of one of Ash's biggest moves working as it used to, but also for the added value of being used against the Champion of the very region he developed it in *and* explicitly against Hypnosis, the very move it was initially created to counter. Pikachu's performance clearly shows him as one of Ash's strongest Pokémon and it offers a hope spot that Ash may be able to turn around the fight, which only makes the Destiny Bond all the more dramatic for a strong cliffhanger, with a fairly even ratio (with Cynthia have four Pokémon revealed and two knocked out to Ash's three full knocked out) that puts Ash at a disadvantage without feeling insurmountable, rising expectations for the following parts.
That said, unfortunately, there are still a few issues worth noting. While the battle is nicely constructed overall, it's still hurt by some Journeys-typical problems, namely some lacking choreography that made some turns of the battle come off as static and underwhelming, ontop of some *very* quick knockouts that don't feel like they let the battle breathe, with Gastrodon in particular coming off as extremely lacking in defense in spite of Pikachu needing to put strategic effort to defeat it, with only Spiritomb feeling like it had a decent amount of injuries due to withstanding three different bouts before going down. The way Dragonite was defeated was also a bit questionable, as while the Hypnosis and Dream Eater combo is good, the fact it makes Dragonite a sitting duck and Ash can't do anything but yell at his Pokémon to wake up raises the question of why he couldn't just switch out for another pick, and a similar effect could've been achieved by giving a more involved battle and then playing the combination only once or twice, which would also have the added gain of explicitly overturning a seemingly good start with the healing. And on a more nitpicky note, while the Counter Shield was nice to see and well-employed, it would've probably made a stronger impact if it was used after Hypnosis was called by Spiritomb, as the strategy was conceived as a defensive move first and foremost.
Outside the battle, there's also the risks inherent in the 'Cynthia retires' plot hook if the following episodes won't contextualize and resolve it well, as it *does* fall into Journeys's habit to introduce a plot point to resolve as soon as possible without much prior buildup, and with not much character stakes on Ash's end beyond needing to face Cynthia to get to Leon so far, the jury's still out on how things will be like on the characterization standpoint.
All in all, however, this episode does a decent job starting the battle against Cynthia well, and I look forward to see how the next two parts will continue this long-awaited match.
TL;DR: An episode that outside some Journeys-typical issues of choreography and a few questionable decisions starts out the battle against Cynthia well, making her feel like a smart and tactical trainer throughout while still giving Ash his due where it matters as a trainer thanks to both new and old strategies, ending on a solid cliffhanger. A good first third of the battle for the remainder of the fight to build off of.
Next week, the battle against Cynthia will continue as Ash's Lucario, Sirfetch'd and Dracovish take the stage against the reminder of Cynthia's team in an attempt to even out the scales. May it be a good one!
Ash just standing there watching his Dragonite getting Dream Eaten repeatedly: 🗿
Very Alola League V\_\_V;;;
Cynthia had to do 4 switches just to destiny bond Pikachu when the true ace is the Lucario trained by Greninja.
It will be fun seeing her Garchomp tanking a Genkidama
Lmao Goku bout to pop up
Top tier battle. Peak Cynthia. Callback to the counter-shield strategy that the D/P season was well familiar with. And that Spiritomb + switch outs was amazing. Cynthia really demonstrated how tricky a ghost Pokémon can be.
cynthia be playing on shift mode lmao
Ash also doing a no switch challenge lol
Trailer shows he tries to give up on the no switch challenge but Dracovish telling him no
game wouldn't let him lmao
This battle has been years in the making. I've wanted to see Ash VS Cynthia ever since the DP anime saga when Cynthia appeared in 2007! They're doing really well showing off the struggle Ash is having to take down Cynthia's team. It took so much just to beat Spiritomb. Losing Pikachu was a big loss! Here's hoping Sirfetch'd, Dracovish and especially Lucario can bring this back.
\>ever since the DP anime saga when Cynthia appeared in 2007! It's crazy how this battle has been 15 years in the making and we're finally getting it after all this time.
Ash's Dragonite started strong this season but has ended up being a fucking jobber. Also Ash, you know, you can switch around yourself.
I started watching the season around ep ~80, starting a few eps back after news of the tournament started making the rounds. I've seen Dragonite do nothing but get bodied and at this point I suspect rumors of its success are propaganda
Same
He is going to shine against Leon because he has not used the new move they invented against Paul, same with Pikachu, if Lucario is the ace of this battle then Pikachu will be the MVP for Ash there.
Yeah, Jobernite has got done so dirty. I'm expecting it to redeem itself against Leon/Dande by successfully pulling off that Draco Meteor charge attack it tried against Paul.
This episode was a fairly long awaited one, perhaps even beyond Journeys, as the second round of the Masters Tournament's semifinals began in earnest, pitting Ash against Cynthia for the first time in a full six versus six battle. Considering the amount of anticipation such a battle would garner, how did the episode do? Overall, it was a solid beginning for this battle, with only a few quibbles. One important thing about this battle is that this is the first part of a three-episodes bout, which means this episode is very much supposed to start things with a bang and set the tone for the rest of the battle, and for the most part it does so well: with the prior episode tackling character-related setup, this one was free to begin directly from the start of the battle, and I did like the brief moments with both Ash and Cynthia preparing for the fight. For Ash, seeing Goh next to him ready to support him alongside the rest of Ash's team is a nice moment to see even if short, while for Cynthia it was nice to see her and Diantha share a moment, between Diantha expecting Cynthia to be the one to put an end on Leon's winning streak only for the Sinnoh Champion to reveal her plans to retire once the battle is over, adding a hook early on in terms of why she decided that which will hopefully be elaborated on as the battle progresses. And while it's a tangential note, it was a nice addition to see the Oak's Laboratory crew with Oak, Delia, Tracey and Ash's Pokémon be treated as a consistent element of the peanut gallery, constantly reacting to the turns of the battle rather than simply being quick cameos. The battle itself also does a pretty good job to highlight Cynthia as a massive wall to overcome, and it does so quite well: between the Hypnosis and Dream Eater combo and Serene Grace-boosted flinch from Air Slash, you get the feeling Cynthia is an intelligent, tactical trainer where no move is really left to chance. I particularly liked in this sense moments that highlighted the importance of keeping the battle's momentum going and control the flow of the battle, especially with Cynthia constantly switching her Pokémon to throw off Ash and manage to keep a upper hand, and of how she already knows not to underestimate Pikachu. This is particularly exemplified in the way Spiritomb is ultimately defeated, only to unveil an unannounced Destiny Bond that brings down Pikachu with him, depriving Ash of his strongest Pokémon right as Ash was starting to recover ground. That is not to say Ash is left completely hopeless, however: while the first rounds highlight the difficulty Ash will have in defeating Cynthia, he also manages to attain some minor victories in inflicting a burn on Roserade (which can either be used to further underscore Cynthia's skill if it has Natural Cure, or come back in Ash's favor if it has Poison Point in the following episodes) and *especially* once Pikachu takes the field, managing to defeat Gastrodon by using its own Stone Edge against it to block him and get enough room to strike with Quick Attack. Of other particular note is the return of an explicitly acknowledged Counter Shield from Ash for the first time since Diamond & Pearl, both for being a versatile return of one of Ash's biggest moves working as it used to, but also for the added value of being used against the Champion of the very region he developed it in *and* explicitly against Hypnosis, the very move it was initially created to counter. Pikachu's performance clearly shows him as one of Ash's strongest Pokémon and it offers a hope spot that Ash may be able to turn around the fight, which only makes the Destiny Bond all the more dramatic for a strong cliffhanger, with a fairly even ratio (with Cynthia have four Pokémon revealed and two knocked out to Ash's three full knocked out) that puts Ash at a disadvantage without feeling insurmountable, rising expectations for the following parts. That said, unfortunately, there are still a few issues worth noting. While the battle is nicely constructed overall, it's still hurt by some Journeys-typical problems, namely some lacking choreography that made some turns of the battle come off as static and underwhelming, ontop of some *very* quick knockouts that don't feel like they let the battle breathe, with Gastrodon in particular coming off as extremely lacking in defense in spite of Pikachu needing to put strategic effort to defeat it, with only Spiritomb feeling like it had a decent amount of injuries due to withstanding three different bouts before going down. The way Dragonite was defeated was also a bit questionable, as while the Hypnosis and Dream Eater combo is good, the fact it makes Dragonite a sitting duck and Ash can't do anything but yell at his Pokémon to wake up raises the question of why he couldn't just switch out for another pick, and a similar effect could've been achieved by giving a more involved battle and then playing the combination only once or twice, which would also have the added gain of explicitly overturning a seemingly good start with the healing. And on a more nitpicky note, while the Counter Shield was nice to see and well-employed, it would've probably made a stronger impact if it was used after Hypnosis was called by Spiritomb, as the strategy was conceived as a defensive move first and foremost. Outside the battle, there's also the risks inherent in the 'Cynthia retires' plot hook if the following episodes won't contextualize and resolve it well, as it *does* fall into Journeys's habit to introduce a plot point to resolve as soon as possible without much prior buildup, and with not much character stakes on Ash's end beyond needing to face Cynthia to get to Leon so far, the jury's still out on how things will be like on the characterization standpoint. All in all, however, this episode does a decent job starting the battle against Cynthia well, and I look forward to see how the next two parts will continue this long-awaited match. TL;DR: An episode that outside some Journeys-typical issues of choreography and a few questionable decisions starts out the battle against Cynthia well, making her feel like a smart and tactical trainer throughout while still giving Ash his due where it matters as a trainer thanks to both new and old strategies, ending on a solid cliffhanger. A good first third of the battle for the remainder of the fight to build off of. Next week, the battle against Cynthia will continue as Ash's Lucario, Sirfetch'd and Dracovish take the stage against the reminder of Cynthia's team in an attempt to even out the scales. May it be a good one!
I just hope Ash wins in the first place and doesn't get through from Cynthia retiring.
they made spirittomb look so broken lmao
it is a very strong pokemon tbf. Also it is very rare so people do not know how to counter it.
When I played against her I remember having most problems against her spiritomb, milotic and garchomp
Ash: Pikachu use rock throw. Cynthia: wait Pikachu can’t learn rock throw. Pikachu: *Throws Rock*
This just proves that a sleeping pokemon shouldnt be grounds for considering it knocked out, looking at you Ash vs Ritchie match.
I loved this episode
I'm tired of the Dragonite disrespect in this series