Pokemon XY&Z

[~British Soul~]

*Insert somewhat lengthy post here*

I don't think the Dance Party isn't a showcase thing (even though Pierre and Aria are present), though we won't know till the end of the month anyway. We did see a showcase in the preview and while I do think Serena could win, I'm still on the fence in that regard. I do agree about fleshing out the Flare stuff though, having them appear sporadically between important MC stuff before the big climax.

 

The stuff I was gonna add to my last post was about Noibat and Phanpy/Snorunt, I do agree that it needs to evolve because yeah it hasn't been super useful, ofc it should be after some development like Snorunt when it was practicing Ice Beam.

[Flame Dragon]

I don't think the Dance Party isn't a showcase thing (even though Pierre and Aria are present), though we won't know till the end of the month anyway. We did see a showcase in the preview and while I do think Serena could win, I'm still on the fence in that regard. I do agree about fleshing out the Flare stuff though, having them appear sporadically between important MC stuff before the big climax.

 

The stuff I was gonna add to my last post was about Noibat and Phanpy/Snorunt, I do agree that it needs to evolve because yeah it hasn't been super useful, ofc it should be after some development like Snorunt when it was practicing Ice Beam.

I honestly feel like it could go either way at this point. It has a showcase feel, but at the same time is VERY different from the other ones we've seen. Regardless of when the next one is I'm reasonably certain Serena will win it.

 

Agreed. I honestly enjoyed the little bit we got from it in this episode and we know it has one in a couple weeks. Hopefully we'll see more of it. Though I'm fine with it being on the weaker side since it is still a baby.

[~British Soul~]

 

 

I honestly feel it could go either way at this point. It has a showcase feel, but at the same time it feels VERY different from the other ones we've seen. Regardless of when the next one is, I'm reasonably certain that Serena will win it.

 

Agreed, I honestly enjoyed the little bit we got from it in this episode and we know it has one in a couple of weeks. Hopefully we see more of it. Though I'm fine with it being on the weaker side since it's still a baby.

I'm also on the fence regarding the dance party, though I do believe it doesn't have a key on offer. As for the next showcase, I do think Serena will probs win, I can't see her losing a 2nd time in a row (Could happen, but unlikely), unlike Dawn who lost to Kenny then James before getting her 5th Ribbon.

 

Agreed, we haven't had a Noibat-centric episode since it hatched, so it should be interesting to see.

[Flame Dragon]

For those that care, the US dub picks back up on the 20th of next month. Kind of excited cause I want to see how the handle some of the episodes.

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

Can't really watch the dub anyway (because lack of cable television), but surprised that they're delaying it for that long here.

I haven't watched the English versions for a while, but that's probably due to what happened in the past with other episodes dubbed by 4Kids (and other anime).

 

I feel like most people feel Ash getting top 8 in BW was a MAJOR let down of the series. Honestly, I can't see him just getting top 8 at the very least. Though if he wins it all or gets top 4 or second remains to be seen. Agree that this team really feels like it has a shot and I'm hopeful we'll get to see some of his older pokemon when the league starts up. Though we still have the "who's going to be his 6th pokemon" question totally up in the air. Which is REALLY odd to still have this late. I mean, Ash got Snorunt at 108 in Gen 3, but we are very close to that number and not even the promo poster had a 6th pokemon for him and that spoiled Noivern. Though it didn't spoil Eevee's coming evolution, so maybe we'll get it sooner then it appears.


Side note since I'm flipping through AG episodes, Ash got his 8th badge at 111 and XY has been VERY close to that season in terms of pacing. Wonder if how soon from now he'll get his last badge.

 

 

Yeah, Ash could've done A LOT better in Black and White, had his team been better trained (or at least, fully evolved).

Or heck, bring in stuff from another region (maybe he could've done better if Charizard had come earlier, but can't say for certain).

 

Who in their right mind uses two Stage 1 Pokemon in a competitive tournament (referring to Oshawott and Snivy); well, at least outside of LC?

(Pretty much what he did during his fight with Cameron)

 

I know it's in Ash's nature to make use of whatever he has (even if they aren't evolved), but considering this is the Pokemon League (where people are going to be bringing their best), your team should at least be fully evolved or if you opt not to evolve, be pretty damn good. Pikachu gets an exception for not evolving, but the other two should've been (hell, even Pignite should've been in final form by then). He did have a Krookodile on him, but why he chose not to use it in place of one of the other Pokes, I don't know.

 

Gen 4 was his best; even if he did have to contend with two top-class legendaries (Ash at least has the honor of having KO'd Tobias's Darkrai [although losing half his team]; something the runner-up of that tournament failed to do). Yes, he had Gible as a stage 1, but by this point, it was more than capable of holding its own (factoring in Draco Meteor).

 

----

But in any case, indeed we still don't know what Ash's 6th will be (and hopefully it's something good).

Badge-wise, probably going to break the record for longest time needed to get all 8 badges and enter the Kalos League (or whatever it ends up being called in the anime).

 

Would be nice to see Ash use some of his older Pokemon (to be honest, I kinda wish he'd use something else OTHER than Pikachu; he certainly has a few viable options he can choose from otherwise).

 

I'm going to say he at least makes top 4, but we'll have to see.

(If Noibat isn't as powerful, then it's fine because yeah, it's still a baby and I don't expect it to win many battles on its own yet)

 

Probably guessing it'll be a while before Ash gets that badge and fights in the Pokemon League, so they can delay stuff for Gen 7 plans (and developing Serena and Citron's own teams in the interim). And yes, there is Team Flare to contend with.

[Flame Dragon]

Can't really watch the dub anyway (because lack of cable television), but surprised that they're delaying it for that long here.

I haven't watched the English versions for a while, but that's probably due to what happened in the past with other episodes dubbed by 4Kids (and other anime).

 

 

 

Yeah, Ash could've done A LOT better in Black and White, had his team been better trained (or at least, fully evolved).

Or heck, bring in stuff from another region (maybe he could've done better if Charizard had come earlier, but can't say for certain).

 

Who in their right mind uses two Stage 1 Pokemon in a competitive tournament (referring to Oshawott and Snivy); well, at least outside of LC?

(Pretty much what he did during his fight with Cameron)

 

I know it's in Ash's nature to make use of whatever he has (even if they aren't evolved), but considering this is the Pokemon League (where people are going to be bringing their best), your team should at least be fully evolved or if you opt not to evolve, be pretty damn good. Pikachu gets an exception for not evolving, but the other two should've been (hell, even Pignite should've been in final form by then). He did have a Krookodile on him, but why he chose not to use it in place of one of the other Pokes, I don't know.

 

Gen 4 was his best; even if he did have to contend with two top-class legendaries (Ash at least has the honor of having KO'd Tobias's Darkrai [although losing half his team]; something the runner-up of that tournament failed to do). Yes, he had Gible as a stage 1, but by this point, it was more than capable of holding its own (factoring in Draco Meteor).

 

----

But in any case, indeed we still don't know what Ash's 6th will be (and hopefully it's something good).

Badge-wise, probably going to break the record for longest time needed to get all 8 badges and enter the Kalos League (or whatever it ends up being called in the anime).

 

Would be nice to see Ash use some of his older Pokemon (to be honest, I kinda wish he'd use something else OTHER than Pikachu; he certainly has a few viable options he can choose from otherwise).

 

I'm going to say he at least makes top 4, but we'll have to see.

(If Noibat isn't as powerful, then it's fine because yeah, it's still a baby and I don't expect it to win many battles on its own yet)

 

Probably guessing it'll be a while before Ash gets that badge and fights in the Pokemon League, so they can delay stuff for Gen 7 plans (and developing Serena and Citron's own teams in the interim). And yes, there is Team Flare to contend with.

I'm not THAT surprised. The dub was running REALLY close to the Japanese. Getting everything ready for a TV broadcast in 2 months is hard and since I imagine the Japanese will continue to have periodic breaks its going to close the gap again. The dub is fine overall, but I think the Japanese is better.

 

I don't even think his team not being fully evolved is the main problem. He's done well with teams that weren't before. The issue is him not using his old pokemon is upsetting since a lot of people like them (its also why they normally return for the leagues) and BW being a step backwards. If you look at his teams between series, he gets more and more fully evolved pokemon. Honestly, I think BW was trying to recapture the early seasons but it really failed since you want to keep moving forwards.

 

I think they can always do similar to original, AG, and BW by adding some kind of anime side story. The Battle Frontier worked the best imo so hopefully we'll get something closer to that than the random island hoping in BW. Orange Islands is somewhere in-between those two.

 

Also, something I realized we haven't gotten yet in XY, the return of an old companion. Since they started leaving with Misty the following series always had them come back for a little. I'd assume thats true for XY so we have that to look forward to (or not since his BW companions aren't great based on what's been said here).

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

Don't think a lot of us really cared about Iris or Dent/Cilan, so yeah if they don't show up, wouldn't bother us too much.

I suppose they could bring back the other three (Misty/Kasumi, May/Haruka, Dawn/Hikari) for a short cameo, but they already came around so not likely.

 

Or hell, even Brock would be nice.

 

----

But yeah, Ash should be using his older Pokes for Pokemon Leagues instead of the fresh ones he catches, because a lot of them are iconic and have seen a good deal of combat already in some cases. (Heck, even Charizard would've been a good addition if it came earlier; probably why it came around later on anyway).

 

I know they wanted to market Ash to a newer generation of viewers, but yeah you want to move forward (and Ash should've gotten at least up to top 4 or higher).

He had more battle experience than Cameron (factoring in everything up to that point), but yet lost to him in a quarterfinal match.

 

(Then again, the same could be said for a few other matches in BW.)

 

I'm probably playing too many matches in OU and/or Battle Maison/Institute lately; might explain why I think Ash needed a better team.

(He has them, but just chose not to import anything for that league)

 

Though I haven't watched all of the Gen 1 and 2 episodes (this includes any leagues), so may need to watch those.

 

----

Side-story wise, XY/ORAS really only have the Battle Maison for post-game stuff (though BW had some adventures into side islands, and that's where Alexa was met).

I suppose we'll be getting a slight peek into Gen 7 post-League and Team Flare, if BW says anything. (However, it'll be some time before we even get there)

 

There's also Serena's Master Class tournament (after she gets all her keys), but just gotta see how that turns out.

She might not win (which is fine), but if she does, then great.

[Flame Dragon]

Don't think a lot of us really cared about Iris or Dent/Cilan, so yeah if they don't show up, wouldn't bother us too much.

I suppose they could bring back the other three (Misty/Kasumi, May/Haruka, Dawn/Hikari) for a short cameo, but they already came around so not likely.

 

Or hell, even Brock would be nice.

 

----

But yeah, Ash should be using his older Pokes for Pokemon Leagues instead of the fresh ones he catches, because a lot of them are iconic and have seen a good deal of combat already in some cases. (Heck, even Charizard would've been a good addition if it came earlier; probably why it came around later on anyway).

 

I know they wanted to market Ash to a newer generation of viewers, but yeah you want to move forward (and Ash should've gotten at least up to top 4 or higher).

He had more battle experience than Cameron (factoring in everything up to that point), but yet lost to him in a quarterfinal match.

 

(Then again, the same could be said for a few other matches in BW.)

 

I'm probably playing too many matches in OU and/or Battle Maison/Institute lately; might explain why I think Ash needed a better team.

(He has them, but just chose not to import anything for that league)

 

Though I haven't watched all of the Gen 1 and 2 episodes (this includes any leagues), so may need to watch those.

 

----

Side-story wise, XY/ORAS really only have the Battle Maison for post-game stuff (though BW had some adventures into side islands, and that's where Alexa was met).

I suppose we'll be getting a slight peek into Gen 7 post-League and Team Flare, if BW says anything. (However, it'll be some time before we even get there)

 

There's also Serena's Master Class tournament (after she gets all her keys), but just gotta see how that turns out.

She might not win (which is fine), but if she does, then great.

I'd much rather one of his older companions return than the BW ones. Pretty sure they are the favorites though.

 

Yea, I have a friend who complains on end about Ash not evolving his pokemon (even though more than half can't evolve any further). Its was an early series issue, which came back in BW because dumb. At least XY has handling everything very well imo.

 

I figure with the anniversary he could totally end up traveling around in Kanto again. I'd put the league, master class, and flare at taking up the bulk of this year so they only need another 50 odd episodes worth of stuff before Gen 7 starts. Regardless, we still have some time before we'll know what they do with that time so all we can do is throw out ideas.

[~British Soul~]

I would toss some ideas around, but all I have is the Sevii Islands that I mentioned previously.

 

On another note, we have more movie news courtesy of CoroCoro.

It appears that Volcanion hates humans and the magazine asks what happened that caused it to hate humans. Also in next month's CoroCoro there will be a world exclusive scoop poster and a major announcement that will affect the entire world for the movie.

[Flame Dragon]

Also in next month's CoroCoro there will be a world exclusive scoop poster and a major announcement that will affect the entire world for the movie.

The last bit is so confusing to me. Like, my only guess is that it will have simultaneous world wide release which would be REALLY impressive. Would also explain why the gap between XY and XYZ is a little bit longer here than you would expect.

[~British Soul~]

The last bit is so confusing to me. Like, my only guess is that it will have a simultaneous world-wide release which would be REALLY impressive. Would also explain why the gap between XY and XYZ is longer than you would expect.

A world-wide release would be cool despite how unlikely it may sound, at this point all we can do is speculate.

Heck if they did that, I wouldn't be surprised at all if they did a world-wide distribution of Volcanion in July as well.

[Flame Dragon]

A world-wide release would be cool despite how unlikely it may sound.

Thats honestly my only guess as to what "will affect the entire world for the movie" could mean. I would love to hear other guesses though.

[~British Soul~]

 

 

That's honestly my only guess as to what "will affect the entire world for the movie" could mean. I would love to hear other guesses though.

That's probably the best and most realistic thing to happen though. I would try to speculate myself, but it'd probs look sheet/unrealistic in comparison. For example it could mean "will affect the entire pokemon world" anime-wise, but if that was the case, they would've mentioned that.

[Flame Dragon]

That's probably the best and most realistic thing to happen though. I would try to speculate myself, but it'd probs look sheet/unrealistic in comparison. For example it could mean "will affect the entire pokemon world" anime-wise, but if that was the case, they would've mentioned that.

We'll see in a month. Personally, the thing I find most note worthy is the lack of news for Z. XY were announced this time 3 years ago so I figured they would have done the same for Z. OR/AS wasn't announced until like May though and thats the latest I'd expect it, so we still have a few months.

[~British Soul~]

 

 

We'll see in a month. Personally, the thing I find most note worthy is the lack of news for Z. XY was announced this time 3 years ago so I figured they would have done the same for Z. ORAS wasn't announced till like May though and that's the latest I'd expect it so we still have a few months.

There's also the fact that TPCi are showing a Pokémon ad during Super Bowl 50 next month so there's more hype than next month's CoroCoro.

[Flame Dragon]

Right, almost forgot about the Super Bowl Ad. Honestly, it kind of surreal to me that Pokemon of all things is going to be getting a Super Bowl Ad.

 

So much to speculate on, though I guess with this being the 20th anniversary thats a good thing. Wonder if the anime will do anything for it or if it will save that for the anime's 20th.

[Astro Dude]

Makes sense. btw, Squishy episode is today. Next week, another love triangle story: Noibat vs. Breloom (which is ugly and creepy) for the hand of an Orange Floette.

[~British Soul~]

On another note, we have a basic plotline for the new movie:

 

As Ash continued his journey aiming to become a Pokémon Master, a lump covered in white smoke suddenly dropped out of the sky and landed in front of him and his friends. As white smoke spread around as far as the eye could see, a shape appeared from within it; The mythical Pokémon Volcanion.

Ignoring the worried Ash and his friends, Volcanion, who hates humans, immediately tries to leave the place. However, the impact of the fall caused Ash and Volcanion to be linked together by a strange device, leaving them unable to separate...!

Volcanion runs off and Ash gets dragged along by it, eventually reaching the Azoth Kingdom, a city of super-machinery where gigantic cogwheels are all over the place and rotating. Why did Volcanion fall from the sky? And why did it head to the Azoth Kingdom!? With the mechanical kingdom of machinery as its setting, the hottest legend in Pokémon history begins!

[Flame Dragon]

While we wait for the next subbed episode, the Diancie movie is up over at Pokemon TV. If you haven't watched it, you can now do so legally an hassle free.

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

I bought the Diancie movie on DVD a few months ago, but would like to see the subbed version.

 

Otherwise, new episode was okay, I guess.

Don't know, probably Bonnie acting like a little kid over the loss of Squishy (well, she technically is) was a part I didn't like much. At least it returned so there's that, I suppose.

 

Least we get to hear the other Zygarde Core speak, which is nice. Assuming that it doesn't trust humans at all, unlike Squishy/Puni-chan now (though it too didn't warm up to Ash/co. for a while).

 

Hopefully Team Flare is actually more threatening during this arc than they were in the games; to be fair, they were a bit of a disappointment. Probably will be, but let's see.

[~British Soul~]

I'm sure things will pick once we get to the Flare/Rocket conflict for Z-2. Team Flare weren't that threatening in the games, but the anime has done an ok job so far.

 

EDIT (Thursday):

[spoiler=Notes]

Ash's Noibat learns Acrobatics. It's a new move so there's that.

 

 

 

EDIT (Friday): new episode title

Episode 910: The Explosive Land's Wrath! Operation: Capture Zygarde!! (February 11th)

 

So as you expect, this episode features Team Flare continuing their plan to capture Zygarde.

[Astro Dude]

Remember when I said the Dub will resume in February?

 

http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_the_Series:_XYZ_to_premiere_Feb._20_in_United_States

 

And with the show airing at 7 on Saturdays I can at least see the first half. of each episode. Anyone in America, set the date for Fab Feb. 20th.

 

[Flame Dragon]

Remember when I said the Dub will resume in February?

 

http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pokémon_the_Series:_XYZ_to_premiere_Feb._20_in_United_States

 

And with the show airing at 7 on Saturdays I can at least see the first half. of each episode. Anyone in America, set the date for Fab Feb. 20th.

 

Little late there friend. We've already brought this up.

 

As I said before, with how close the dub was running to the Japanese and the fact that Japanese is like to take multiple breaks this year again, they wanted to give themselves some space to keep from getting too close.

 

I am interested to see how the dub does some of the stuff in Z so I might check it out when I have time.

[~British Soul~]

I'm also interested to see how the dub will handle some things in Z as well, ofc that's a good few months away. (There's also the fact that the previous season, isn't finished over here yet)

[Astro Dude]

I just hope Lisa Ortiz is in it, as one of the female scientists. We should make a poll. Just an idea.

 

BTW, what do you think of my new avatar?