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medea10 · 1 year

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My Review of Pokemon: Aim to be a Pokemon Master

Previous Pokemon Reviews Here:

Pokemon: Indigo League/Orange Islands/Johto

Pokemon: Advanced Generation

Pokemon: Diamond & Pearl

Pokemon: Best Wishes (Black & White)

Pokemon: XY

Pokemon: Sun & Moon

Pokemon: Journeys

This is it. The big one!

This might be my shortest Pokemon review ever or my longest-short review. Whatever!

When we saw that Ash beat Leon and became the strongest trainer in the world, what do you think we were going to get afterward? He’s the top trainer in the world. He beat the likes of Steven Stone, Cynthia, and Leon. There’s nothing above this since it seems that Red doesn’t exist in this universe. But still getting the news about this truly being the end of Ash and Pikachu’s journey really took a toll on everyone.

I spent days after the announcement looking at all of the thoughts from people all over the globe. There was excitement for the new protagonists. There was sadness for those attached to Ash and Pikachu. There was gloating from people who were waiting for this moment. My opinion on this was all over the place. I was excited, sad, nervous, and absolutely ship-wrecked all rolled into one. That last emotion is understandable as there’s a very glaring chance that after these final eleven episodes, I will never see Tracey Sketchit again. EVER! And not just him, but everyone else that made a dent in Ash’s journey. Even my mother got sad when I told her they were ending Ash’s adventure and wondered how they were going to do it. Keep in mind, my mother is in her 70s and has only watched a handful of episodes (mostly Wooper related).

But the reactions that really kicked me in the feels came from Ash’s former and present English voice actresses, Veronica Taylor and Sarah Natochenney. Regardless of your opinions on which Ash was superior, these ladies both had a hand in Ash’s journey in the English version. Sarah especially since she not only grew up watching the show, but joined the cast when she was like 18 or 19 and has been voicing him ever since. Lisa Ortiz also should get a nod here because she’s the official voice director for Pokemon and has been with the show from literally day one. Seeing their reactions to the news was such a feeling.

There have been many opportunities to retire Ash and Pikachu. I thought it was going to be over after Kanto. I even had several dreams where either Ash, Misty, or Brock died…and for some reason Gary became a Klan member with a drinking problem. My 13-year-old mind was certainly an enigma. Thankfully, it was not the end. It could have been over at the end of Johto when Ash split from Misty and Brock. But it wasn’t over then either. Things could have ended when Brock left for good after Sinnoh. Could have saved us a lot of lull and nothingness of Black and White. But it wasn’t over then either. We in fact got some of the best moments of Ash’s path to becoming a Pokemon Master. Ash was able to go further in a pokemon league when facing of against Alain. He surpassed that when entering the Alolan League by becoming the champ. And finally, world champion.

So…does this new title make Ash a Pokemon Master?

I really hope so. If Pokemon has the ambitions to end Ash and Pikachu’s career in 11 episodes, they better do it tactfully and satisfies everyone. Obviously, satisfying everybody is never going to happen. I will of course find fault with everything. If you recall my thoughts in the 20th movie I Choose You, I said that the perfect ending for Pokemon would involve a fight against Ho-oh, Pikachu speaking, and Ash possibly dying. That movie already did all of that and that came out a good 5 years before this whole thing. With all of that said, let’s hit it!

RETURNING FRIENDS: Just as the promotional poster advertised, this will mostly contain the original trio, Ash, Misty, and Brock. Misty joining Ash for a while kinda brings back a lot of memories. In the second episode, we witnessed an old-fashion battle between the two. In fact, this episode was eerily similar to an episode from the Johto arc where the two fought over who was going to keep Totodile, except it’s with a Clauncher. As for Brock, he’s spotted by them, they save him from illusions, and he hangs out with the two for a while.

It's just these two traveling with Ash. Oh sure, Cilan ran into them. And kudos for getting both Mamrou Miyano and Jason Griffith back to voice Dento-fruit! But that was just for one episode. Best wishes to you and be on your way. And…nope, I’m saving that for later.

So, if you were expecting May, Dawn, or Serena to return, they do not. If you were expecting a nod to Clemont because Cilan knew him too, it doesn’t happen. If you were expecting another trip to the Alolan region where Misty and Brock meet Ash’s adopted Alolan family again, nope! If you were expecting an update on Goh and Chloe, sit and spin.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, JAMES: There really aren’t that many people left that have been with Pokemon from episode 1. James Carter Cathcart was one of those lucky individuals. If the name seems unfamiliar to you, he’s gone by several aliases over the years including Billy Beach, Carter Cathcart, and Jimmy Zoppi. That last one is the one I always called him by. This guy has been around since episode 1 voicing Gary Oak and a myriad of other voices in just about every season. He was Todd during Kanto, he was Pryce during Johto, Mr. Briney during Hoenn, and that ass-wipe mayor from the Orange Islands. Dude plays a corrupt politician really well. My kudos there! Outside of Pokemon, remember that bug-freak from Yu-Gi-Oh that did the thing everyone hates him for? That was him. He played Weevil! But most youngins know him as the current voice of James, Meowth, and Professor Oak. I know I was never a fan of Cathcart’s voice for any one of those characters and was very vocal about that. But this guy stuck with it for the last 16 years and that’s very commendable. Not to mention his work with scripts and ADR for Pokemon for many years. So why bring this up now?

At the beginning of 2023, Cathcart was diagnosed with an advanced case of Throat Cancer. Any cancer diagnosis is frightening, but he seemed to stick with his work schedule with voicing and working on scripts. That was until the cancer didn’t react to the treatment like intended. As of April 2023, James Carter Cathcart had retired from voice acting and ADR/Script work. In the Pokemon English dub community, that’s a biggie. This guy has been there since day one. He has been in every season and after season 8, every episode. I don’t want to say he’s the Unshou Ishizuka here, but both did play Professor Oak and voiced many voices throughout the years. Despite the many critical things I’ve said throughout the years, there are two roles I’ve enjoyed from him the most. First is Miki from Revolutionary Girl Utena. And the other is Gary Oak. I loved him as both and it’s great that he comes into reprise Gary when it calls for it and that he continued to voice Gary even after the big voice change.

Thank you for your years of service.

WITH. THAT. SAID. The final eleven episodes will showcase the new voices of James, Meowth, Professor Oak, and Gary Oak. And no, they aren’t voiced by Eric Stuart, Maddie Blaustein, or Stuart Zagnit. Stuart burned those bridges down long ago and Blaustein’s been dead for over 15 years now. Not sure what Zagnit is doing now as I think the last time he voiced for Pokemon was during Black & White. Okay, here’s the new people!

*James is now voiced by Edward Bosco (known for Udon on Boruto)

*Meowth & Prof. Oak are now voiced by Mick Wingert (known for Po on Kung-Fu Panda [TV], Lovecraft on Bungo Stray Dogs, and Matsuyo on Mr. Osomatsu)

[this has gotta be like the seventh fucking voice for Professor Oak, I kid you not]

*Gary is now voiced by SungWon Cho (known for Hyoudou on Aggretsuko)

RETURNING POKEMON: It’s been a long time coming. Ash is shuffling around his pokemon in each episode of this final season. We’re seeing pokemon from other generations mingling with other pokemon. It’s just so special! On top of that, we saw two of Ash’s former pokemon like Squirtle and Lapras as both got their very own episode. It’s always special to see Squirtle not only with its squad, but with it’s best buds Charizard and Bulbasaur. Was their last reunion back in AG? Has it been that long?! And as for Lapras, it’s still with it’s family surfing around the world. I just wish the episode it was in didn’t annoy me.

Yeah, fillers still exist here.

THE STORIES: And this is where I begin sighing. These stories really should be showcased in past seasons. Ash and gang help a stuck Wailmer. Ash and gang help a Beartic control its ice type attack. Brock is caught in a slump because the girl he likes has a boyfriend. The episodes here are very formulaic in terms of Ash and friends get in a jam with a pokemon of the day, get in it with Team Rocket, do the task. And some of these episodes feel like a re-hash of past episodes. I guess it's because Ash is traveling with Misty and Brock again, they want people to get some nostalgia before the end happens. Now, there is one episode that was my fav…TRACEY!

Yeah, I know, besides that! I’ll get to my crazy ramblings soon enough.

Hands down, the best of the 11 was Getting to the Heart of it All. This episode was where Ash and Gengar help a Banette. That one will kick you in the feels, but will make you smile because there’s a happy ending. And we all love a happy ending!

MUSIC: Oh, the original music is really making me feel nostalgic. All of the background music from season one and thensome returns in a big way and featured in most episodes. Even a few surprising music tracks like in episode 10 where we got the music from the fifth movie. Big surprise there! When it came to the opening, we are once again blessed to hear Rica Matsumoto sing a version of Mezase Pokemon Master. Normally, I will tire of the same song being played again, but this song is a classic. It’s up there with Sailor Moon and Hunter x Hunter. Those openings are classics. The ending themes were mostly the very first ending theme, Hyakugojuuichi by Unshou Ishizuka. But there have been a couple of episodes that featured other past ending themes including one of the Team Rocket endings, Takeshi’s Paradise, and Lapras ni Notte. That last one, you know what that means!

Medea spends a minute and thirty seconds screaming, “THERE’S TRACEY! THERE’S TRACEY”!

Damn skippy, I did!

Did the U.S…I don’t even need to finish this question. You all know the answer. Generic ending theme. I think it was copy and pasted from Journeys. The opening followed the same footsteps as the original by giving us another version to Gotta Catch em All. Both opening themes gave us nostalgia from the past.

ENGLISH OPENING CUT OUT THAT CROPPED TRACEY PICTURE! YOU ARE DEAD TO ME, ENGLISH VERSION!

Okay, let me get through this portion before I go back to outbursting again. As for other musical aspects, did they keep the background music? Some, not all. But some! I know that the U.S. version was never going to play Mezase Pokemon Master, Hyakugojuuichi or anything else Japanese. But what could have been awesome was if they could play some of the old Pikachu Jukebox hits. It was never going to happen, but it’s a nice thought. The last time they even played one of those was during DP and they slipped in that classic Team Rocket song.

BANNED IN THE U.S.A.: Ah, welcome back annoying friend. I think I forgot to speak about the passed-over episodes from Journeys when I reviewed earlier this year. But the U.S. never airs the clip-show episodes, so it’s not really banned. Editing out Brock’s maracas when he’s about to go into his Takeshi’s Paradise song, that’s something to discuss.

For the love of chicken noodle soup, what are you doing? Really?! Maracas had to be edited out like they’re fucking riceballs?! Has any group ever found fault with Brock shaking maracas?! There was a Family Guy cutaway where Peter is shaking maracas while thinking about murdering children. That’s an eyebrow raise, NOT BROCK SINGING WHILE SHAKING HIS MARACAS!

Okay, I’m done beating this dead horse.

TEAM ROCKET’S END: With the end of Ash and Pikachu’s adventure, this meant the inevitable end to Team Rocket tailing the twerp and their schemes to steal Pikachu. But how?! Jessie, James, and Meowth have been together through it all. Granted, there were several episodes where they would go their separate way. But they would always patch things up by the end of the episode. There were two Team Rocket centered episodes in this arc. One of them was totally like that Orange Island episode Pokemon Double Trouble. Don’t even get me started on that! But the other had Jessie and James reunited with all of their pokemon from the past. I mean, not all of them. At least they remembered Weezing, Arbok, Victrebel, Lickitung, Dustox, Mimikyu, and Maerine.

Team Rocket decided to come up with a convoluted plan involving all of their pokemon to separate the twerps and steal Pikachu once and for all. But when their plan ended up in failure thanks to Pikachu and a wild Latias of all things, Team Rocket just called it quits. The three went their separate ways and that was it.

While it felt very rushed and was put at the end of an episode instead of the beginning like most Team Rocket split-up episodes, I feel like this isn’t over. I know it doesn’t look good on paper. Team Rocket has lost to the twerp more times than one can count and that includes with borrowed pokemon from the boss. Maybe they felt defeated when they realized that they couldn’t beat them even with all of their pokemon. Or maybe it was an overwhelming feeling after getting their ass kicked by a legendary pokemon out of nowhere.

THE LATIAS ARC: Throughout 10 of these episodes, we would see Latias in some form. I wrote off Ash and Latias back at the fifth movie. Ash will never catch a Latias. He will not get together with Latias from Alto Mare. He will not fly around Hoenn on the back of a Latias or mega-evolve one like the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire games. Fool didn’t even mega evolve Charizard or Glalie and I swear that’s the last time I’ll scream about that. So on and so forth! In the first episode of this arc, Ash saves a Latias after it was injured. I honestly thought nothing of it. But after the events of that episode, every episode in this arc showed Latias in invisible mode observing Ash. So, I’m wondering if Ash is going to do something for Latias near the end of this series. Catching it is so out of the question though. In some instances, Latias even saves Ash and Pikachu.

And seriously, Misty and Brock don’t even question Ash flying through the air with ease and unhurt. The fuck, guys! He’s not riding around on Wonder Woman’s invisible ride.

Latias confides in Ash, Misty, and Brock to help a Latios who has been hunted by a poacher. This poacher is giving off every kind of vibe that Hunter J had. In answer to everyone’s question here, there is no mention of Hunter J despite having technology that stones pokemon in their place. Hunter J’s death will remain up in the air…with her scattered ashes. Ash was able to stop this hunter with aid from Latias and Latios. Officer Jenny conveniently shows up after all is said and done. But after that, Latios and Latias fly away…to Alto Mare?

OH MY GOODNESS, LOOK AT THIS GUYS! THE FIFTH MOVIE IS CANON TO THE POKEMON ANIME! Bianca and Latias from the fifth movie get a cameo. Of all the movies I’ve wanted to be canon to the anime…I mean besides the second and third movie, I’m glad it’s the fifth one. There, we survived 10 episodes of Latias stalking Ash. He didn’t catch it. See, told you it wouldn’t happen.

Medea was secretly hoping he’d catch it though.

THE FINALE: Those eleven episodes seemed to piss on by, huh?! Japan has prepared its fans that the end of Ash and Pikachu’s tale was near. Tribute videos were out on social media. Notifications were all around Tokyo. And a panoramic video in Shinjuku station shows Ash’s greatest moments. Meanwhile in America, Sarah Natochenney is getting melancholy as her time as Ash could be coming to a close. Netflix America is slow as fuck getting these fucking episodes out while Canada and even South Fucking Africa aired these long before America.

Medea was sleep deprived due to a night meeting at work, but still woke her black ass up at 2:45am to see if Tracey was going to show up.

Don’t I always?

The final episode begins with the splitting up of the OG group. Misty goes back to Cerulean and Brock goes back to Pewter. Ash and Pikachu go back to Pallet Town for a nice soak in the tub and rest. The next day, Ash returns to Professor Oak’s lab…

Nope. Stopping this right there! I’m not getting my hopes up with your stupid bait-and-switch. You’ve been dangling this fucking carrot in front of my face for the last 23 years. Oh, maybe if there’s an episode at Oak’s lab, I might see Tracey. What have I been getting since the end of Advanced Generation? Nothing! Pbbt! Zilch! Go fuck yourself with your Oak lab episode. I ain’t falling for this shit. Go on, break my heart like you always do and let’s finish this anime on some kind of note.

gasp

I…can’t…he’s speaking. His voice, I can actually hear it. There’s actual lip movement. WE HAVE LIP MOVEMENT, PEOPLE! And his Marill. Ohmygersh, his cute little blue boy! Tomokazu Seki is actually voicing Tracey for one possible last time. And he even shows up twice in the same episode. And GASP! HIS VENONAT EVOLVED! OOOOOOH, and Scyther is still alive. This is ecstasy!

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

A MOMENT LIKE THIS! I’VE WAITED SIXTEEN AND A HALF YEARS FOR A MOMENT LIKE THIS! FOR HIM TO SPEAK AGAIN! OHHHHH I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S HAPPENING TO MEEEEEEE!

I’m crying. I’m really crying. These are tears of joy dammit! You like him, you really, really like him. OH MY GOD, THANK YOU ANIPOKE! I wanna, I wanna thank everyone in the Pokemon anime. Behind the scenes and otherwise. I want to thank Tomokazu Seki for taking time out of his busy Gilgamesh schedule to voice Tracey again. You truly are the greatest seiyuu in the universe.

Hey, I waited 16 and a half years to hear my boy speak again. I am gonna rub it in the haters faces. And when I rub it in haters faces, I smother it in their face. I’m sure the ONLY reason we’re hearing this is because the game Pokemon Masters EX casted Tomokazu Seki to voice the creepy Ball Guy around that time. And I’m sure he was enticed to voice Tracey Sketchit again. Like, since you’re already here…Whatever the case, I am happy. I am ecstatic. I am elated. I am pretty sure I woke up the dead when I screamed at three in the morning. No, seriously. I was all ready to write off this final episode as the day Pokemon screwed Medea out of seeing Tracey for the billionth time. But when I got the message from one of my girlfriends saying she was happy for me during the broadcast. I knew something was coming and that I was going to be very, very happy. I was.

This episode gets a perfected 10/10, you gave me life and a perfect way to cap off the series. The only way this moment could get better is if Donald Trump gets arrested.

six days after this broadcast, he was

Holy fuck, that’s two-for-two. The only way this moment could get any better would be if they could get Ted Lewis to voice Tracey.

HE TOTALLY DID! Craig Blair no longer voices Tracey and this pleases me. No disrespect here. It's just Ted Lewis is the G.O.A.T.

I’m on a roll. Better start asking for more shit. Okay, I wish for more Yuri on Ice content. Um…those last two episodes of Empire to be filmed. A legitimate streaming service to air Boston Public. Video footage of the Spongebob cast voicing the episode “Sailor Mouth”. A bottle of Ting. Animated movies getting respect from the Academy. My student loans paid off. An all-expenses paid trip to Italy…

Excuse me Medea, you still have to talk about the final episode.

Oh. Ash goes to Oak’s lab. Tracey is shown and the world is great again. He leaves for a couple of days and has Ash take over in his place. Quickly finds a missing Charmander. Gary helps Ash out. Gary then finally brings up the burning question of what comes next now that Ash is a World Champion? This kinda left Ash wondering for a good chunk of this episode. It really impacted him to the point where his mom gives him new shoes for a new journey and he hasn’t put them on at all. Meanwhile, Jessie, James, and Meowth are working the slop kitchen at TR headquarters.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH, I TOLD YOU, I TOLD YOU! They were going to come back together. And my marked words were correct-o as they went in trying to steal the twerp’s Pikachu solo, but reunited with their motto. Team Rocket’s plan of catching Pikachu ends with a surprise encounter. Pidgeot.

Well, I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting that to happen in this episode. I’ve made my peace with Ash never seeing certain former pokemon again, with Charizard and Squirtle being major exceptions to that. But the previous arc had me questioning all of that logic when Ash sees Greninja again and that final snapshot of him and Butterfree. During this final season, we not only got Lapras, but Pidgeot. Two pokemon I thought I would never see again outside of a league memory hole or opening sequence and here they are. Back to the lamenting, Ash wonders what’s next in life. The good thing is that he doesn’t see his winning the world championship as a stopping point. That leaves an opening to seeing Ash again sometime in the future. Ash sees a rainbow (without a Ho-oh this time) and goes on a new journey…with his new shoes. Next time, a new adventure.

That’s literally what the final message was said before playing the iconic Type Wild. In the English version, there was no message and we got a slow piano version of Gotta Catch em’ All.

Okay, where to begin? Going into these 11 episodes, I thought that Ash was going to see not only all of his old pokemon, but his old friends as well. That totally was not the case. In fact, the only ones to show up in these eleven episodes were Misty, Brock, Cilan, and Tracey. Somebody’s been reading my thoughts and hand-delivering them to me. Yeehaw biatches! While I’m all for more Tracey and Cilan, I honestly wouldn’t have minded seeing everyone else too. Yes, even Serena. Not Dawn, though. She got enough screentime during Journeys. I am Dawn’d out again. Pokemon Journeys did this task almost flawlessly by having all of the former travelmates watch Ash as he competed in the finals against Leon. Except for Goh. Hey yeah, Goh and Chloe are not in these episodes. Same for the Alolan gang. That’s a bit of a sore spot.

But silly me and my fantasies. There was no way that was ever going to happen where we get all of Ash’s teammates together. Do you know how hard it is to get certain voice actors after a lengthy period of time? May’s voice actress is permanently retired. Who the hell knows where Max’s seiyuu is? And the fact that they even got Mamoru Miyano and Tomokazu Seki for anything without being charged a fortune is beyond me. Plus, after the massive wave of toxic fan-people with Serena, it’s best that we don’t go with any of that. They literally had to sneak her in an episode of Journeys without saying she’s going to be in an episode. I think we should all remember that this is the Ash and Pikachu show and everyone else is coming along for the ride. Yes, even the popular ones. And I guess because Misty and Brock were his first travel mates and the ones who stayed with him the longest, it would seem most obvious to have Ash, Misty, and Brock travel again.

I was however miffed that the majority of these episodes were a bunch of fillery type of episodes. But the way I see it, we finally get to see Ash switch out his pokemon and have new team setups we never saw up to this point. Hell yeah, I like seeing Rowlet and Totodile together. Kudos for a team-up with Snorlax and Talonflame! But then you get the dilemma of the day end with an invisible Latias staring at Ash, it’s building to something worthwhile. I mean, not Ash catching Latias like any decent person would have loved to see, but it led to a very thrilling conclusion. I honestly thought the last couple of episodes were the best of the lot. This includes the lonely Banette episode, the Team Rocket reunion episode, the Latios/Latias episode, and the finale. Everything else, I could take or leave.

Okay, I take it back. I did enjoy Cilan being all Cilany and OH MY GOD, I DIDN’T EVEN SAY THE THING IN MY LAST REVIEW!

This moment is brought to you by Dento-fruit! Dento-fruit: 100% Fruit for 100% Fangirls

Is this the need-all, end-all perfect cap to the Ash and Pikachu journey?

No. But what could they do if they wanted to keep our boy still forever 10?

Will it satisfy every Pokemon anime fan out there?

Again, no. The DP and XY fandom will dislike it for obvious reasons. Hey guys, Dawn got like a billion and a half cameos during Journeys and Serena still got that fucking kiss. I had to wait 16 and a half years for my favorite character to even speak. Fuck off with your wants.

Were these final episodes good?

Some. Not all.

Would I recommend this to disenchanted Pokemon anime fans?

Eh, probably the last couple of episodes. Unless they’re OG trio fans, then the whole thing.

Will Medea make a pentagram on the ground and ask for the otherside to have Tracey show up again?

Who said I stopped doing that?

Who knows what is to come of Ash and Pikachu in the future if we’re to get anything. We could get another project featuring Ash and Pikachu from the alternate universe. It could happen! Currently, Pokemon Horizons has been gaining a lot of positive traction between old and new Pokemon anime fans. I’m just beyond happy that Liko is NOT a product of Ash. Not sure if there’s a time-leap here, but for now I’m breathing a sigh of relief. I’ll save my happiness of certain casting choices for the Horizons review in the coming years. Crispin Freeman in the cast is the chef’s kiss of perfection. But it’s good to see several voice actors (both sub and dub) returning to voice new characters. Just to name a few people, Kazuya Nakai, Billy Bob Thompson, Yuka Terasaki, Kei Shindou, Erica Shroeder, Megumi Hayashibara, Ikue Ootani, and Lisa Ortiz. Those last three are a given as you cannot have a Pokemon anime anything without those three.

It would be nice to see a mention of Ash and Pikachu every now and then. Just something to keep Rica Matsumoto and Sarah Natochenney in work. While I’m mentioning them, I want to thank Ash’s voice actors. Hell, let’s add Veronica Taylor too! Thank you for the many wonderful years of memories. I’m going to miss the hell out of Rica and all of those banger opening themes she gave us for the past 26 years. Veronica, we all grew up listening to you. You are indeed the O.G. And Sarah, while I was skeptical of you for the first few years of you voicing Ash, I grew to enjoy it. Best of all, you exceeded my expectations in the last few years, especially your performance in the twentieth movie I Choose You. Thank you.

Hmm…do I have any other high hopes for the anime as a whole? Aside from more Tracey…I will never stop saying it. The other things I want is for a credible sight to give us the Japanese version and no more of this waiting months on end for Netflix to drop a batch of episodes. That ruined Pokemon and it ruined Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Pt. 6. You know it, I know it, and the entire anime world knows it. If Yu-Gi-Oh can have the Japanese version play on Crunchyroll, something like that should happen for Pokemon. That’s my high hopes for the future.

As of September 8th, 2023, the final eleven episodes (or Pokemon: Aim to be a Pokemon Master) will be available to stream on Netflix. Alongside the eleven is the Journeys episode that takes place in the alternate universe for Ash and Pikachu. If you live in Canada, Japan, or South Africa, you’ve already watched these episodes.

#anime review #pokemon #ash ketchum #tracey #cilan #dento-fruit #misty #brock #jessie #james #meowth #pikachu #latias #latios

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fiddletwix · 1 year

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Pokemon Episode 67 Analysis: The Pi-Kahuna

CotD: Victor – A passionate surfer who lives on Seafoam Island, Victor desires nothing more than to be just like his hero, the legendary surfer, Jan. Victor relies on his blue-eyed Pikachu, Puka, to detect waves for him, hoping to predict when the monster wave, Humungadunga, is arriving. Pokemon: The aforementioned Pikachu, Puka. Reappears?: No. Plot: Ash is running along the road in Seafoam…

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#4kids #analysis #anime #Ash should have used this opportunity to train Krabby and Squirtle while also using it as an excuse to surf.#indigo league #pokemon #review

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thefcguy · 2 years

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Pokemon: Journeys – Review of the Saga

Inspired by @natedogx15 ‘s reviews, I decided to make this review.

Many of you might not you, but I really like Pokemon! I love the franchise, specially the anime.

For a long time, though, I stopped watching it for some complicated reasons. However, I returned watching it in Journeys! I haven’t watched all of the chapters yet, but I have seen reviews and scenes of future chapters, so, I know basically everything that happened on it.

Since I am such a big fan, I decided to give my review and PERSONAL opinion on it (it’s just my opinion, don’t judge).

(There are some spoilers below, but I don’t think they are that big)

1- The Structure:

The pokemon anime from gen 1 to 6 had the same formula. Ash with a group of friends would travel through a new region so that they could achieve their dreams.

Ash would fight the gyms, catch at least six pokemons, and help a lot of people along the way, usually having a rival that would be his opposite in some way.

His teammates would usually be gym leaders, monotype trainers, a coordinator/performer, and sometimes a little sibling.

They would usually have less pokemon than Ash, and arcs that would be solved in the saga they were a part of, returning on the next one showing how much they had grown after solving their issues.

This formula was pretty good and interesting, because it allowed us to get attached to the region and show us many different places with detail.

Besides, the camping scenes would usually give the pokemons time to interact with one another and have their own arcs.

However, Alola… broke this whole formula. Ash started going to school, had lots of companions, there were no gyms to challenge because Alola has the kahunas and trials systems, and there were no contests or showcases.

It was not bad, but it didn’t interest me that much back in the day. Nowadays, if I could, I would probably try to rewatch it, but, there is no easy way to doing it in my country, so… I know my judgement of Alola probably isn’t fair.

Now, on Journeys, I will be honest, there probably wouldn’t be an easy way to go back to the old formula, and there was no school in Galar so that they could use the same formula as in Sun and Moon.

So, that’s why I think that the idea of making Ash and Goh the assistants of Professor Cerise was a good solution, and I understand why they did that.

We need to remember that the original formula was created in 1997, and, back in the day, when kids stayed less time at home and actually went out to play more, the idea of Ash travelling with friends world-wide was more relatable than nowadays.

Nowadays, with technology, kids leave their houses less, and play mostly on smartphones.

To appeal to the new public, this idea of sporadic travels and always returning to the institute and the ending of the day probably makes things more relatable.

This was also probably the reason they changed how the friendships are shown here

I will be honest, I am not from the generation of those who started watching from gen 1, because I am not that old (I started on BW and then watched all the old seasons), but narratively speaking, the original formula was better at showing and presenting new regions.

Reason why Galar is the region with the most wasted potential (BW didn’t show Unova that well, but, at least we saw all of the Gym Leaders and Ash battled them all).

As for the World Championship thing… I think it was a pretty good idea actually. It was an interesting way of finishing Ash’s arc… and a quicker one than making him rechallenge all of the past leagues and defeating the champions.

I will talk more about Ash on his section.

The new formula isn’t perfect, but had it’s good points, and allowed us to see a lot of past characters. So… I give it 3,5 points out of 5.

2- Characters

2,1- Ash Ketchum:

Before anything, I have to say, I feel bad for the writers that had to develop the new Ash for journeys, because it was a hard job. You guys probably didn’t understand what I meant, so, allow me to elaborate.

This Ash we accompany nowadays isn’t the same of when the show started. No, this isn’t one of those creepy theories. He is the same boy, but not the same character.

Gens 1 to 4 had the same Ash from beginning to end. The Ash that started as a childish and slightly arrogant boy, that became more and more mature until the point of entering the Sinnoh league with many strong pokemons. An Ash that had fun and silly moments, but also had experience and cared for those around him.

Then, we have Gen 5 Ash, who was… softly rebooted, lets be honest. I don’t hate BW like many, but I recognize that this Ash doesn’t feel the same as Sinnoh Ash (my personal favorite).

When Gen 6 came, they tried to bring Sinnoh Ash back… but they made him a bit too mature. He is not a bad character, but he is a 10 year-old that act like he is 15. He is not bad, but needed a more mature context of Ash growing up to reach its highest potential.

The writers noticed that, and tried to make him more childish in Gen 7… but they were a bit too extreme, and the character lose most of his seriousness. Again, he is not bad, but he was clearly reseted.

So, the writers in Gen 8 definitely had a hard time deciding on the new Ash.

He could be the continuation of Gen 1-4 Ash, but, it has been so long, that they probably wouldn’t know how to write for him anymore.

Making him a continuation of Gen 5 would be an awful idea, considering how much he was hated.

Gen 6 Ash wouldn’t fit in the new context, and Gen 7 Ash also wasn’t that beloved.

That’s why they combined what worked from each Ash, and made Journey!Ash.

And, I have to say, the result was pretty good too. He is not that great like Sinnoh!Ash, but he has Ash’s silly side and he remembers his experiences.

He also has lots of good moments, like his bond and story with Riolu, the fact that he remembered the pokemons in the lab, and all of the support he gave his friends.

He also had lots of interesting battles during the World Championship.

The biggest issue with Ash this season were his new pokemon and the lack of screen time.

The fact that the old formula is gone, and that they don’t camp anymore, made that Ash’s pokemon didn’t have much of an arc this saga, and not much individuality or personality.

They aren’t bad but could be better.

As for the lack of screen time, this is a result of the writers not being able of balancing the attention on Ash and Goh.

Goh’s captures had a lot more of focus than Ash’s battles and arcs.

In the end, I give Journey’s Ash 4 stars. He is not perfect, but I am happy with what we got.

2,2- Goh:

What I am going to say about Goh might seen contradictory, but it makes sense. I like Goh’s personality, arc, and concept… but I hate his role.

I really like characters like Goh, characters that are smart, always had few to no friends, and through a new friend, they learn to open up and be more confident.

It’s also really nice how he is so smart and so interested in researching pokemon, basically being a better version of Tracey.

Even his goal is interesting: Catching Mew!

The problem is how he manages to achieve his goal. As I said before, the pokemons of the trainers are also characters.

That’s why they need focus, arcs, stories, specific personalities and moments on the spotlight!

The fact Goh captures so many pokemons makes harder for them all to have great arcs or be interesting, which, combined with the new form, make them all more forgettable than the rest of Ash’s companion’s pokemons.

I think that if they made Goh be more like a trainer that wanted to be a researcher/professor in the future, it would have been better.

Like, instead of capturing every pokemon, Goh would travel to places, study their behavior, draw them, make notes, and them verify if the info on the pokedex is right about them. Perhaps, he could even discover new things!

And, during his travels, he could catch pokemon that he developed a bond with, or that would be useful in future research!

Or, I don’t know, he could have been a coordinator. A male protagonist being a coordinator would have been a nice addition, considering it never happened before.

Anyway, I just think they could have done more with Goh and his arc. I know that he was just advertisement of Pokemon Go, but he could have been better.

In the end, I also give him 3,75 stars. He is great but could have done more.

2,3 – Chloe Cerise:

This character is the definition of wasted potential.

Chloe could have been so much more than she ended up being.

First, her personality is kind of unique compared to the other girls. She is not overly girly (like Serena and even Dawn) nor a hot headed tomboy (like Misty and Iris).

She is a kind, shy person, but not defenseless. She is smart and sassy.

Besides, her whole plot with Eevee and wanting to understand what she wants to become is really good.

Sadly, she got just a few chapters to shine, and just two pokemon to use (and Yamper wasn’t even technically hers).

I think that if she joined Ash and Goh earlier on their adventures, she could have had a better development.

Maybe catching some more Pokemon that also feel confused like her. Like Oddish, Poliwhril, Slowpoke or Kirlia!

And the end of her character being that she still doesn’t know what to do, but continues researching, would be great, showing how there is no hurry to find your dream!

I just think that they could have shown her more and keeping her ending the same.

Her interactions with the pokegirls were also great, and I wish we could have seen more of that too. Maybe Misty or Iris could have helped (sadly, I know May couldn’t appear).

In the end, I give Chloe 4 stars, because of what she could have been.

3- The Interactions and Character Dynamics:

This was definitely the best part of journeys. Goh, Ash, and Chloe had such good chemistry with each other!

Remember when I said about the new formula being more relatable for kids nowadays! Well, I say the same about the friendships.

Ash and Goh’s friendship of supporting each other, teasing each other and arguing with each other was a lot alike real friendships we see in our day to day lives!

Like the scene on the train where ethey compare their drawings.

They care about each other and talk to each other about how they feel.

And Chloe being so done at the two, but keeping on hanging out with them, is also a great example of friendship.

Friendship isn’t this magical perfect thing were we never get annoyed at someone, there are times there are arguments, and differences, but we all solve that in the end.

I feel like the friendship that the three have is a lot closer to real friendships nowadays than those in the past sagas.

And I also like how there was no forced shipping between Chloe and the boys. The three were friends and nothing more than that (but I don’t judge the shippers though, everyone is free to have their opinions. So, if you guys like AshxGoh, AshxChloe or GohxChloe, don’t worry, because I don’t judge).

So, for the interactions, I give it 5 stars! The three have amazing interactions with one another.

4- Team Rocket:

Okay… this is probably the weakest part of the season.

Team Rocket in this season was… terrible.

Usually, Team Rocket had great comedic moments, and good episodes were they bond with their pokemon.

But the biggest issue this season is that they don’t have pokemon of their own, and neither an arc.

Their highest moment this saga was the radio episode, which, to be fair, was good, but… it was just that.

There is so little to talk about them, that their section is just that.

In the end, I give them… 2 stars. Not entirely bad, cause they are Team Rocket, but this is probably the worse they have ever been.

5- The Cameos:

Other good thing that they did this season was showing us lots of characters from the past sagas.

Not all of their returns were perfect, but they still were really good at its majority.

I really like the return of Alola’s gang episode. Now, you are probably wondering why, because I haven’t watched Sun and Moon. I just really like the idea of introvert guy becomes best friend with extrovert guy, and now he needs to handle all of the thousands of friends that his bestfriend has.

Iris’s return made her character a lot better. Again, even if I don’t hate BW, I know that it has problems. And it was great to see that they made Iris less annoying, made her more mature, and actually have powerful Dragon Types! They also made her the champion which is also great!

It's amazing to see what they have done with the character.

Dawn’s return, though, it’s complicated for me. I always say that DP is my favorite saga, and that Dawn is my favorite companion. But… I don’t think Journeys gave her all that she deserved.

I loved her interactions with Chloe and how her friendship with Ash is recognized by the writers, but the fact that they gave her no new pokemon, and didn’t update her outfit, makes it seems like she didn’t have much development.

The episodes she appears are far from bad, some being really good, but I think she deserved more, considering how great she was in DP.

Serena’s return for me was both good and bad. I loved how they made her more mature and confident on herself, her new design, how supportive she is of Chloe, and how she became more than “The girl who openly likes Ash”.

The bad thing about the chapter is how they made Contests so boring. Contests on gens 3 and 4 were amazing! The appeal stage being limited to one or two pokemons at a time gave them the chance to shine.

And the battle stage was amazing! The combinations, the strategies, the tensions, the unpredictability, and a lot more!

Now… Contests are basically Showcases 2.0. Not bad, but I really prefer how they were before.

Lillie’s return and the ending of her story was done flawlessly. I really liked Lillie’s character on the games, and it was great seeing her finally achieving happiness.

Clemont and Bonnie’s return was also good. They weren’t amazingly great characters on the XY saga, and their episode followed the same pattern. I like Clemont, Bonnie, and their return, but it was not that special.

Gary’s return was also fun, honestly. I always though him to be annoying, but enjoyed what happened to him in DP. And it was great seeing Gary motivating Goh to be better, like he did with Ash. It was great seeing him finally return.

Paul’s return was also fantastic! Seeing Paul and Ash battling was nostalgic. This time, though, he is less villainous than he used to be, but it’s great to see him as this weird source of advice. He is also a Gym Leader now, which is cool.

Cyntia’s return was also amazing, and I loved that she and Ash finally had an official battle.

It’s sad Cilan didn’t have an official return, because that could have been a way to redeem his character, like they did with Iris, but, considering how much he is hated, maybe it was for the best he didn’t return.

I already talked about the May situation, so, I won’t repeat.

And Tracey… well, no one cares that much about him, so, it’s not worth it to talk about him.

In the end, I give 4,5 stars out of 5 for the cameos. It was almost flawless.

6- The Pokemons:

I will be quick on this one, since I already talked too much.

The good part is that they gave Ash a lot of pokemon that he should have had back in Kanto, like Dragonite and Gengar.

The bad part is the whole thing of pokemon not having that deep character arcs because of the new formula.

But, Chloe’s Eevee was good, Gengar’s backstory was sad but also interesting, and the episode of Goh and his Floette was pretty emotional.

I also like Sirfetched.

So, I guess I am going to give… 3 stars out of five. Not bad, but not that good.

7- Conclusion:

Pokemon Journeys wasn’t perfect. In its majority, it was pretty good, but some problems ended up appearing, and it didn’t reach its highest potential.

In the end, I give Journey on its entirely… 3.85 stars out of 5. It was a good saga, but not one of my favorites.

#pokemon #pokemon journeys #pokeanime #anipoke #pokemon anime #pokemon review #review #ash ketchum #goh #chloe cerise

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mrssimply · 19 days

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The Burning of Rome : Ashes

Hello folks,

So, after... Two years and a half, I finally finished the Wild Animals Rebelion series.

I'm still trying to find the words to express what I feel about my own stories so... For now I'll just tank people: @koda-shoulda-woulda-but-didnt, first and foremost, for his audience testing, for pushing me when I needed to be pushed, for listening to me whine, for supporting me when I hated that story with all my heart and when I thought I would never finish it.

Thank you @bluelolblue for your enthusiasm and energy, it helped a lot to push through the writer block!

To all the readers who ever took an interest in that series, with additional kudos to those who took the time to comment: thank you so much for that, all of your reviews were little gifts I treasure with all my heart.

As for the Burning of Rome, the final part start at Chapter 13, in the afternath of the assault on the Archives, where it's time to deal with the consequences of everything that happened before : Read Ashes on AO3

#john wick #John Wick 4 #Santino D'Antonio #John x Santino #wickblr #my writing #fanfiction

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atlaculture · 1 year

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Live-Action Promo Pics - Katara

I’ve been hesitant to comment much on the the live-action series, as most of the discourse has revolved around the casting. I’ve already made my ideal ATLA fancast pretty well-known and I don’t feel comfortable harshly critiquing children/teens for not looking like my favorite cartoon characters. At the end of the day, it’s the casting directors that we should hold responsible, not working actors trying to make a living.

However, I have no problem reviewing the costumes--- which I presume were made by industry professionals of adult age. In fact, I’d say the goals of this blog obligate me to give my two cents. So, enjoy my completely subjective take on the promotional costumes:

Katara

What I Liked

Braided hair loopies! This has been fanon for years now, so it’s nice to finally see it done in an official adaption.

They did a good job of translating the wave pattern on Katara’s coat into something more elaborate.

The fur trim is good, although I wish the fluff around her hood was a bit fuller and thicker.

I like her hair beads.

What I Didn’t Care For

It feels like cosplay. Mind you, I love cosplay, but it’s a very different beast from movie costuming. Cosplay is about imitating the 2D designs as closely as possible; movie costuming is about taking the 2D designs and making them functional.

The blue color-coding in the show works for a cartoon, but less so in real life. A coat for a live-action Katara should look like it was made from real animal furs, and synthetic blue fur is just never going to give that effect.

The coat looks too new. It should look more worn, considering this is everyday wear for her.

In general, the coat looks nice but cheaply made. Like it could be a costume you’d buy for Halloween called “Arctic Water Girl”.

Overall, I give it 5 water whips out of 10.

Like what I’m doing? Tips always appreciated, never expected. ^_^

https://ko-fi.com/atlaculture

Click below for links to how I wish her coat looked.

I had a feeling this would be the direction they would take with the Water Tribe, but I still can’t help but feel disappointed. I’ve been spoiled by the better realized interpretations I’ve seen in fanart, with more realistic fur parkas and blue detailing. This is all personal preference, of course, but just take a look at all of the beautiful interpretations of Water Tribe clothing out there:

https://www.tumblr.com/ash-and-starlight/704817804388548608?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/ash-and-starlight/693847558563430400?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/chiptrillino/717611956655325184?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/chiptrillino/698450671239921664?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/chiptrillino/692656226353463296?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/chiptrillino/642057819823243264?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/atlaculture/719418204708061184?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/bernard-the-rabbit/705601232213049344?source=share

#avatar #atla #Avatar The Last Airbender #water tribe #atlaculture

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acquired-stardust · 2 months

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Acquired-Stardust's First Anniversary!

It's the one year anniversary of Acquired-Stardust! A huge thank you to everyone who's supported us so far. Read on for some more detailed thoughts from both Ash and Larsa looking back on our first year.

Wow, so it's been a year already huh? And what a roller coaster of a year it's been, with so many more highs than lows. Larsa and I originally started Acquired-Stardust to help motivate us to experience some of the overwhelming amount of media on our backlog and to hopefully help share some enjoyment of things new to us that was deserving of it alongside stuff we already knew and loved. Two specific goals were to avoid dwelling on negativity with a focus instead on what's worth our and your time, and to avoid trying to quantify fun or quality with traditional scored reviews of things. In that pursuit I utilized some of my enjoyment of virtual photography (which started in part due to being a Tumblr user as far back as 2011), finally getting around to writing more in a public capacity and we even learned how to make gifs specifically for this blog. All that in and of itself has been really rewarding to do, but the reception that you all have given our posts has been overwhelming and far exceeded our wildest dreams.

Low points come with a silver lining. Dealing with our content (so far almost entirely visual works) being reposted without any credit or permission by large Twitter accounts has been frustrating, and necessitated the creation of a Twitter account of our own (which you can find here) to try and hopefully get out in front of stuff like that and bring more stuff that people might want to see to more eyes. The account has struggled mightily with visibility, but it's been a great reinforcement of our original choice of platform in Tumblr. Tumblr's community has an integrity and emotional depth not seen elsewhere, and the platform itself allows people to connect with the sorts of things they want to see much more organically without the heavy-handed forcing of algorithms incentivizing people ripping each other off. Tumblr users are the kind of people I want to make things for, and Tumblr is the platform I want to make things for. Sharing our journey through media worth experiencing with you has been and will continue to be an honor and a pleasure.

We have plenty more ideas for stuff to post. For one we'd like to cover anime much more frequently, though it's a crowded space with lots of very talented and dedicated people covering it. We'd also like to write more often about games and anime both, and have plenty of subjects in mind including various things of a wider focus than just singular pieces of media. We'd like to create a pinned post that has a directory of sorts with links to an about section alongside things like filters for popular posts and writing. We've also been thinking of occasionally reblogging some of our older posts to bring them to newer followers who might've missed them the first time around. Hopefully you all will continue to enjoy the stuff we make even half as much as we've enjoyed bringing it to you all.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making this first year so special for us, and here's to many more. Treat yourselves to something nice today in our honor so you can share in our joy as well.

-- Ash I cannot believe that it has already been a year since Ash and I decided to start this blog together as a team. I suppose the saying must be true that time files when you are having fun because my time spent on this blog has a been a great experience. We started this blog expecting that our posts may never be seen by anybody and that was okay as long as the cool things we were passionate about had a chance to be seen by anybody at all even just one extra time. However, quickly our posts started to get some eyes on it and our fellow Tumblr users actually enjoyed the stuff we posted so far. My gaming background has been many RPGs, fighting games, strategy games, third person shooters, and then that extended further to other hobbies like trading card games such as "Yu-Gi-Oh!". Oh and I shouldn't forget to mention an unhealthy amount of monster taming games. It's cool to see on this community that so many of you love these things too. Likewise we have enjoyed when you all would share your feelings with us in replies or reblogs about the subject matter. Seeing what the subjects of our posts mean to you means the world to us. Personally I had never been involved on Tumblr much until this blog maybe due to my severe shyness. The platform to me always felt like something that passed me by back in the day like a ship in the night and perhaps people weren't active on it anymore. I was completely wrong in that assumption the community here is not only active everybody is almost unanimously incredibly thoughtful and nice. Sometimes the world can feel like a pretty awful place especially when you are disabled while living an alternate lifestyle. I think we all deserve some light to brighten things up in life. Thank you all for the support over the past year, it means a lot to us and we will keep working hard to keep bringing more to the blog. My goal is to keep spreading positivity and writing about more subjects to share with you. Please look forward to the future and let's all be kind. -- Larsa

#written posts

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haupkmn · 2 months

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Any Alola Gang headcanons?

Sun & Moon are twins who are both poke american from Unova

Their dad moved to Kanto for work and their mom lives in Alola researching Meowth. They're still together, they just work apart 99% of the time.

Sun is the older twin, Moon is the evil twin. Both of them attended the pokemon school for a bit before going into different child-carrers Moon doesn't have a gender. Sun is a cis guy. Maybe. They're both bi. Moon is Not Normal about Lillie. Sun has a weird crush on Kiawe. Moon can be smart if she feels like it, Sun is dumb as bricks and only knows book smarts over street smarts. Moon could probably steal anyone's wallet.

Ash Ketchum is a very distant cousin. He visits on occasion (Kukui has weird partial custody with Burnett) and after the championship travels the world with a group of his past companions.

Gladion & Lillie are Poke-French and are from Kalos. Gladion is 2-3 years older than Lillie and is a trans guy who's in denial about liking Hau and Moon. He's a horse girl who loves Type Null more than most people, but he has a soft spot and tries to be cool. Tries.

Lillie doesn't really have time to worry about gender since she has to work on her Lusamine Trauma™ she's some flavor of her gender being "i like girls but im not one". After game canon she gets into fashion design and travels to Kanto and Johto to do research with Vulpix. Nebby is usually with her (whether she knows it or not) and she wants to explode Bean Island™ one day.

Mallow is transfem and wanted a name like her mom's. Post game she, Lana and Kiawe all work in a silly little strip mall selling mostly food. (Plants, fish and dairy) and she's Just Roommates with Lana. She's a lesbian.

Lana being the little gaslighting fuck decides to catch water types with her not-wife and realizes that gender is fluid. Like water. She's genderfluid. Dresses exactly the same but Kiawe will look at her and say "Boy day?" and he goes "yup. B )". Lana grows up to be an Entity who most of the gang hopes she's joking about things like seeing ghosts or catching Kyrogre again but nobody can really tell.

Kiawe is in a relationship with Ash, he usually watches over Torracat and Rowlet when Ash is traveling the world. He has the option to go, but prefers the quiet of the farm and the peace of knowing the CANON FUCKING COLONIZER is dead. (Lana killed him)

Harper, Sarah and Mimo all attend the pokemon school when they're not playing with Lei (the Kukui breeder baby) or trying to catch their starters. They hang out with Bonnie on occasion.

Sophocles is ace/aro and is pretty chill with that. Togedemaru is his emotional support animal when he has to work at the lab with Big Mo and if Lillie is in Alola, he researches ultra beasts and ultra wormholes. Sometimes he films videos for a food review channel with Mallow.

Acerola & Hapu are business partners in a sense, Acerola scares equine pokemon and Hapu tries to corral them. Acerola spends most of her time traumatizing Guzma and Team Rocket. They're lesbians, Harold.

Hau is cousins with Raihan & Iris. His parents work in Paldea most of the time as chefs, he's genderfluid and just likes everyone. He got the alola champion when Ash got to be the pokemon master.

#pelipper mail!#malasada break!#alola gang #sophocles #lillie #gladion #me #hau #moon #sun #lana #mallow #kiwae #ash ketchum #pokemon sun #pokemon moon #pokemon pkmn

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centrally-unplanned · 5 months

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As far as I can tell, Frieren is done. What's the final verdict?

6/10 I would say?

Like its good at what its want to be, and I am a peaks over consistency guy. I think its the best-looking anime of the season, Frieren is a solid character with a strong dynamic with Fern+, you watch it and you care about her because its core conceit of playing with time and the attachments that transcend it is a good hook. Also Sein is a goat, should've kept him around.

It just lacks a story worthy of all that. As I mentioned before it essentially should just be an OVA, it has about ~6 episodes of plot in actuality. But its not 1991 so they stretch that out and add a ton of padding instead. They could have made it a slice of life thing where there is no plot intentionally and I think that could have really worked with its tone and lush worldbuilding? But they chose shounen battle academy arcs (worst) and demon army battles (those are okay but wear out their welcome, the demons are boring) instead.

I think I wouldn't recommend it to a non "srs anime" or genre fan. Like most people *don't* want the tradeoff of "intricate animation & layouts but weak story" right? They don't really value the first part that much. But if its your genre, if you are an anime head, hell if you wanna fuck one of the main cast or w/e, then yeah, its good enough to justify watching it if you want a fix of your go-to. Otherwise I think one would be disappointed and feel like they wasted their time.

#frieren #ash anime reviews I guess #ty for the ask is nice ^_^

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ecargmura · 6 months

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Metallic Rouge Episode 13 Review + Final Thoughts - Their Free World

Well, that was disappointing. What do you mean the anime ends like that? I finally managed to understand what the heck is going on now and it ends. It kind of sucks when one of the animes you were anticipating to watch soon becomes a train wreck.

To no one’s surprise, Roy Yunghart was the Puppetmaster, but the twist goes even deeper as the Roy in front of them isn’t the real one; the real one died and the one in front of them is a Nean copy. It turns out that he likes to body jump and Cyan is his third body essentially as he jumps to her body once Sylvia stabs him. The fact that he was the one who ordained everything feels like bullcrap. I know it fits with the freedom and will themes but at this point, I don’t care anymore.

The final battle between possessed Cyan and Rouge was pretty cool, though. Naomi deciding to sacrifice her vessel and permanently be fused into Rouge’s body was something I didn’t expect. The fusion form between them was cool; it sort of looks like a Digimon with the pupils and wings. Maybe it’s just me, but it reminds me of a robotic/mecha Digimon.

The surprise twist that Opera was a Usurper and is still out and about feels like a cop out. I feel like this anime was intentionally made to be two cours, but given that it’s an original anime project and those normally don’t get two cours means that everything has to be bunched up and thrown in as much as possible. The fact that the ending of Metallic Rouge ends with Rouge facing off against Opera shows this.

I’m glad the Neans became free, but the ending doesn’t show what happens to them or what happens to the other characters. What happened with Jean? Ash? Noir? Aes/Alice? Is Giallon even alive? What happened with everyone else?

Final Thoughts

Metallic Rouge’s concept and premise was cool. Watching the trailer legit got me inserting this show into my already long watch list for Winter 2024 but as weeks went by, it started dropping in terms of story quality. I feel like Bones had high ambitions for this project, but couldn’t really execute them properly due to time constraints. It’s unfortunate that an anniversary project ends up becoming mediocre since I do like BONES’s works—The Case Study of Vanitas is my favorite anime and they animated that beautifully—but this one was a miss.

I enjoyed the first five episodes but then after episode 6, the episode quality starts dropping. So many unexpected and unnecessary reveals; so many characters were introduced; a sudden liberation plot came into play. It’s really hard to keep up with the story when too many elements spoil the soup.

It also makes it hard to enjoy some of the characters. I did enjoy the characters, but it’s kind of hard to get attached to anyone not named Rouge or Naomi; though, I did like Ash and Noid—I kind of wished they were built up a bit more. For example, Grauphon was an Immortal 9 member but I knew nothing about him to care. The best character and the most underutilized was the drifter granny from Episode 2. She needed to be in the show more.

Though, the writing choices did make it hard to enjoy some characters. Like, why did Naomi have to betray Rouge and then reveal that she’s a Nean created by the Visitors. Like, why is everyone not named Ash a Nean? Jean is half-Nean and we’re not even sure how Neans can reproduce if they’re mass-produced like smart phones.

I did enjoy the animation and music. The dramatic music reminded me of sci-fantasy RPGs like Xenoblade and I feel like some songs here could fit in Xenoblade or Star Ocean given the similar settings. The animation was fluid, especially with the mecha fights. The fights were what made the show shine. I really liked the opening song, though. It felt like listening to 90’s anime openings.

The anime got a great cast of voice actors, but not having a great story or plot sort of ruins it. I liked Tomoyo Kurosawa as Naomi and Yui Ogura and Jill/Sylvia but why did they have to be in this rather mediocre show? They all rocked in terms of performances, but this anime is one of the cases where the voice acting, animation and music are great, but everything else isn’t.

I feel like I’m ranting, which I deserve to after enduring 13 weeks of this show. I heard that there will be a manga adaptation for this show, so I hope that it expands the lore more because the anime fumbled hard with consistency. Would I recommend this show to anyone? Nope. There are better sci-fi/mecha shows out there and with better story, so don’t waste your time with this one.

#metallic rouge #rouge redstar #Naomi orthmann #roy yunghart #jean yunghart #cyan bluestar #aes #alice #ash stahl #eden vallock #opera #review #anime #anime review #final thoughts #ecargmura #arum journal

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digikate813 · 2 years

Video

youtube

The next Let’s Talk About video, about Ash Ketchum’s Pokemon journey just as it’s about to come to an end after 25 years, will be premiering tonight at 7:00PM EST! You can set a reminder now.

A special thank you to @orangeoctopi7 and everyone else who helped give Ash the sentimental send off he deserves

I’d tag the others, but they don’t have Tumblr lol

#Let's Talk About #pokemon #ash ketchum #Video Review #pokemon anime #anipoke

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medea10 · 2 years

Text

My Review of Pokemon Journeys

Um…is that really the title you guys are going with? Not Pokemon: Around the World? Pokemon Sword and Shield? Pokemon 8 Ways from Friday?

Get it? Because there are 8 regions and it airs on…oh forget it!

Whatever, Japan! Whatever!

America: Okay, how about Pokemon Journeys?

Eh…sounds like reusing titles from the Johto arc, but it’s better than Japan’s sad attempt.

At least The Pokemon Company was gracious enough to give us a simple title. Pokemon Journeys! HOW FUCKING HARD WAS THAT?! Pokemon 2019 makes it sound like this is a reboot. It is NOT a reboot, it’s a continuation! There are butt-loads of people from Ash’s past that make surprise appearances and he remembers most of them! Not a reboot!

WARNING: Medea gets a little ‘mouthy’ in certain moments of this review. If you don’t know why, you will eventually. Please note she does not think everyone here is an asshole. She loves each and every one of her readers. But it goes without saying here…Viewer discretion is advised.

RINSE AND REPEAT! Ash leaves the previous region to go back home to Pallet Town and start from zero AGAIN. What does that mean? It means we reset all the stats. Ash will be 10 years old again, Pikachu can be trumped by a level 5 pokemon, and the animation will change again making the viewer forever confused. Yet with all the resets, all of Ash’s previous accomplishments are heavily implied and shown.

WHAT THE WHAT?!: So, as you can tell, this series of Pokemon is going to be extremely different from all the past seasons. For one thing, Ash is not traveling by foot with a boy-toy and a piece of arm candy to the next town like we’ve seen in the past. Nor is he going to take on gym battles. At first it was uncertain of what Ash was going to do aside from traveling the world with Goh. But after an eye-opening experience in Galar, Ash is going to enter the Pokemon World Championship and face off against the world’s greatest trainers. This actually feels like the step in the right direction in becoming a pokemon master. In this journey, Ash is going to go up against a bunch of trainers so he can rise up in the class system these trainers are now under. This is in hopes for Ash to one day face-off against undefeated trainer and Galar champion, Leon.

As for the boy-toy of this arc Goh, his mission in life is to catch Mew. But in order to do that, he’s going to catch as many pokemon this world has to offer. In this way, almost like the mobile app game Pokemon GO! Even though these boys have different goals, they’re going to travel together and maybe learn a little bit from each other. Ash and Goh are under supervision with Professor Cerise (who is the G-rated version of Shou Tucker), along with his daughter Chloe, and his two assistants.

BEFORE TAKING OFF: The first episode took us waaaaaaay back! Professor Oak held summer camps, Ash was six years old, and a baby electric pokemon by the name of Pichu was born. This episode barely showed us Ash because…dude likes to sleep in. And because of that, he missed the pokemon camp. But half the episode consisted of Pichu being taken in by a mama Kangaskhan and the other half revolved around a young Goh at the camp seeing Mew. This of course was the start of Goh’s fascination with the rare phenomenon of Mew.

NEW CHARACTERS INTRODUCED: So, we shorten the cast list a bit from what we had in Sun and Moon. Ash travels the world with his new companion, but finds himself starting off at a professor’s lab in Vermillion. Which seriously begs the question of how long does it take to get from Kanto to all the other regions in the Pokemon world? Better question, how can anybody afford all of these planes, trains, and automobiles…oh right, no one cares! New characters time!

Goh is the young lad with one goal in mind and that is to capture the elusive pokemon, #151, Mew! Ever since he was young and ran into Mew, he’s made it his mission to find and capture Mew! So now, he travels with Ash to capture as many pokemon as he possibly can in the hopes that one day he can find and capture…okay you get the picture! One track mind with this kid! Halfway into the journey, he does meet Ash’s old rival Gary and joins an exploration group called Project Mew.

Chloe has known Goh since she was a child and would go to school with him. She’s easy to point out Goh’s faults, but offers advice from time to time. She’s also aided by her little corgles pokemon, Yamper. While Chloe loves Yamper, she’s not a pokemon trainer yet. In fact, during this series she’s unsure of what she wants to do as she has several options presented to her. Much like the Eevee she catches later on, they both have many possibilities. Will she be a pokemon professor like her father, an illustrator like her mother, a coordinator like Serena, Dawn, and Lisia? Who can say?

Professor Cerise is the new professor in the Kanto region and will eventually commit the greatest taboo by fusing his daughter and her dog together.

MEDEA, THAT’S STILL TOO SOON TO MAKE THAT JOKE!

Professor Cerise is the father of Chloe and the professor in Vermillion City. Him, along with his two assistants send Ash and Goh on their way to different missions to different regions of the world.

Leon is the #1 trainer in the not only Galar, but the world it seems. With the introduction of the Pokemon World Championship, Leon has been undefeated as we see him taking down heavy-hitters like Lance and Raihan. But he’s happy to encourage any and all challengers. As long as they battle a bajillion trainers before that and then make it to the top 8 trainers in the world.

Horace was friends with Goh a couple of years prior to the events of this series. But due to a misunderstanding, Goh thought Horace stood him up. But they made up years later and both boys end up becoming members of Project Mew.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: The sub finally got Kana Hanazawa! Now if y’all can just obtain Daisuke Ono, life would be complete in the Pokemon World!

*12 episodes of this series later*

OH THANK YOU ARCEUS! Yes, I know this picture from Lucky Star. I happen to like it! I gotta say, when I first saw Leon in the game, I thought Daisuke Ono would be awesome as that character. Who knew you were going to read my thoughts and go with sexy voice Daisuke Ono? Hey, can you guys get Junichi Suwabe to play anything next? I’m not picky, just someone that makes the butter melt on my toast. No? Okay, fine!

The dub…Okay, so you know how at the beginning of a new arc, the company would usually give us an early tease and then air the rest of the series a couple of months later? Not this time! Yeah, in almost all other arcs (except Best Wishes), America would get a world premier around the same time as Japan. I guess because Sun/Moon was still airing and in the middle of the Pokemon League saga, they didn’t want to interfere. I mean, that league was a pretty big deal! As it turns out, Pokemon made YET ANOTHER move to a different channel…or should I say platform! Seven months after its debut in Japan, Pokemon Journeys made its debut on Netflix.

Boy oh boy, tracking down Pokemon was a fucking journey! From the WB to Cartoon Network to Disney XD to Netflix! Hey U.S., Japan only needed TV Tokyo to air Pokemon the last 25 years and it was fucking successful for them. I don’t know what your hang-up is! Actually, I do because the WB fell apart and 4Kids lost the rights around the same time, Cartoon Network wanted to focus on rotting kid’s brains with Teen Titans GO, and not many people tune into Disney XD unless Ducktales or Gravity Falls repeats are on (plus it’s on the expensive channel package). I see the good and the bad here. It’s just that I really miss catching Pokemon on a weekly basis. Again, I’m not a binge-watcher and I’ve grown accustomed to watching things weekly. ESPECIALLY POKEMON!

I honestly think the switch to Netflix was the worst decision yet. Yes, Netflix has improved significantly when it comes to animes airing simultaneously. But not by much! Some animes have been given weekly updates, others there’s a several month wait. Pokemon gets released with a batch of episodes (12-15) every 3-6 months. Meanwhile, Teletoon in Canada is airing episodes once a week and FAR AHEAD from Netflix’s schedule. So really, not helping out with piracy that everyone seems so hung up on! And so much for the hope of FINALLY getting subbed Pokemon on a legitimate streaming platform. Nope! I’m sure there’s so much deeper things I can’t get into that’s involved, but from a viewer standpoint this was shit.

Moving away from Netflix drama, let’s talk about dub voice actors. Cherami Leigh is a main character. Let me repeat, Cherami Leigh of Sword Art Online, Fairy Tail, and Railgun fame has graced us with her prescence on Pokemon! Huh…and so has Ray Chase! I know technology has gotten better so that just about anyone can record in a studio from just about anywhere, but the Pokemon Company is really reaching hard for L.A. voice actors as of recent. The anime has mostly been NY-based, but things like Pokemon Origins, Generations, Twilight, Evolutions, Snap, GO, and Masters EX, they’ve enlisted a lot of L.A. voice actors like Robbie Draymond, Brianna Knickerbocker, Michelle Ruff, and Bryce Papenbrook.

Oh good fuck, Screamy McYellsALot!

One addition that really made me happy was to hear the return of Megan Hollingshed. She was everywhere in the Pokemon anime for the first 6 seasons with playing gym leaders, mothers, Nurse Joys, and so on.

And now for a somber note, Billy Kametz! I was happy to hear Billy Kametz as Ren, one of Professor Cerise’s assistants. I’ve really enjoyed his work and am very glad I got a chance to hear him in a dub one last time before tragically passing away from cancer. At the end of the episode, “It’s All in the Name” Netflix was kind enough to put up an “In Memory Of” for Billy Kametz. I’ve never seen this happen before for the Pokemon anime. At least in the English version! The only other English voice actor that passed away fast and suddenly was Maddie Blaustein. But because she wasn’t voicing for Pokemon anymore at that point (ahem, because she was replaced), there were no memoriums for her on the anime. Well, I will always cherish Meowth and Ren. R.I.P. Maddie and Billy!

And finally, there’s the subject of all these cameos from back in the day. Did everyone’s original voice actor come back to voice their original characters? Hell no! But some did. Let me put it to you this way, if it’s a character who was once a main character like Brock, Dawn, and the cast of Alola, more than likely their original voice actor would come back (not Eric Stuart though). If it’s gym leaders we haven’t seen in 3000 years, more than likely it’s changed. Flint, the Elite Four member of Sinnoh has a new voice actor. As does Drake from Hoenn! And Gym Leader Erika’s changed for a third time (yes, I count the 20th movie here). Honest opinion, Lauren Landa as Erika is the best Erika. I ain’t even sorry for that opinion! WITH ALL OF THAT SAID, here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Goh is played by Daiki Yamashita (known for Deku on My Hero Academia, Joro on Oresuki, Zeke on Attack on Titan, Umino on Sailor Moon Crystal, Sakamichi on Yowamushi Pedal, and Shion on UtaPri)

*Chloe is played by Hana Kanazawa (known for Nadeko on Monogatari, Anri on Durarara, Mayuri on Steins;Gate, Kanade on Angel Beats, Shiemi on Blue Exorcist, Kuroneko on Oreimo, and Onodera on Nisekoi)

*Prof. Cerise is played by Yuuichi Nakamura (known for Greed on FMA: Brotherhood, Tomoya on Clannad, Gray on Fairy Tail, Shigure on Fruits Basket 2019, Karamatsu on Mr. Osomatsu, and Kyousuke on Oreimo)

*Leon is played by Daisuke Ono (known for Sebastian on Black Butler, Shizuo on Durarara, Jotaro on Jojo’s Pt. 3, Erwin on Attack on Titan, Fafnir on Miss Kobayashi, William on Black Clover, and Koizumi on Haruhi Suzumiya)

*Horace is played by Ayahi Takagaki (known for Erika on Durarara, Kuro on Blue Exorcist, Lisbeth on SAO, Doll on Black Butler, Itori on Tokyo Ghoul, and Sylvie on Baccano)

ENGLISH CAST: *Goh is played by Zeno Robinson (known for Hawks on My Hero Academia, Shuuji on Tokyo Revengers, Garfiel on Re:Zero, Genya on Demon Slayer, Alan on Ben 10, and Blackluster on One Punch Man)

*Chloe is played by Cherami Leigh (known for Asuna on SAO, Lucy on Fairy Tail, Uiharu on Railgun, Minako/Venus on Sailor Moon redub, Patty on Soul Eater, Lizzie on Black Butler, and Sarada on Boruto)

*Prof. Cerise is played by Ray Chase (known for Roswaal on Re:Zero, Puripuri Prisoner on One Punch Man, Yuu on Charlotte, M on SAO: GGO, Yukiatsu on Anohana, and Saburouta on Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Arc)

*Leon is played by Alejandro Saab (known for Kuga on Food Wars, L’Arc on Shield Hero, Tatsuya on Irregular at Magic High, Tsukauchi on My Hero Academia, Takezou on Kono Oto Tomare, and Shizuru on Free!)

*Horace is played by Jenny Yokobori (known for Kaie on 86, Umino on Blue Period, and Kumiko on The Simpsons)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Ahem.

Right here. Best boy right here!

Besides the obvious…it’s hard to say anything this time. This season gave me so much happiness with the return of several of my favorite characters like Bonnie and Lana. And of course, just slapping on a two-second cameo for my boys Tracey and Cilan! Or even that one-second cameo of Harley (yes, I care about that too). But I suppose my answer would be Piers, Marnie, or Allister. And truth be told, I loved all three characters in the game as well as the anime. But I feel something lacking here. Maybe it’s the fact that I only see them once or twice and then they’re forgotten.

But seriously, Allister is a sweet wittle cinnamon roll.

DISLIKED CHARACTER: Ooh boy! With the return of many of my favorite characters, seeing the banes of my existence were sure to pop up. And the worst return to come from this show were every single rabbid Amourshipper to scream for a straight-month about Serena showing up unannounced. You people are the reason why the writers had to sneak her in. Otherwise, they’d just get endless emails and letters from the rabble about Serena returning to the show. Rabbid Amourshippers are worse than cancer and truly the worst part of Pokemon as a whole. Remember all of those idiot fans that put out petitions to have Misty return? Y’all are officially worse than that! You are on par with fucking MAGA.

Um…Medea, that really wasn’t a take on ‘disliked characters’. And I’m pretty sure you just pissed off a lot of people including some of your friends.

I know, I just felt really good getting that off my chest! Anyways, I do not hate Serena. If you read my XY review, I said that she wasn’t a bad character and was actually refreshing compared to some of the other crybaby powder kegs the show has given us. And I might add, her character has improved significantly during this series. So high praise from me! Now onto the butt-warts I’ve hated during the ages.

Thankfully, only Alain and Paul were the ones I hated to show up in this series. Now I have kinda officially laid off Alain despite his rap-sheet during XY. But then there’s Paul! Paul, as I live and breathe! The worst scum to appear since Damien. But Paul seems to have changed for the better. I can’t confirm it fully. But the fact that he would prepare Ash for his Masters 8 tournament by having him fight pokemon that belong to these champions really speaks volumes. I see that he somewhat respects Ash enough to spar with him and prepare him for the worst. Now does Paul still abandon pokemon that don’t reach his potential? I do not know. But for now, he is a few notches up and not so sucky.

And Paul’s return did reignite my demented love for Comashipping.

Oh yeah, this’ll be the one Pokemon review where I do not put a shipping category. I have absolutely no need for one this season. Nothing romantic. Kukui x Burnet set sailed last season. Serena didn’t blush like an idiot this season. No Pokeshipping either. Contestshipping is alive in my heart but dead everywhere else. And nothing to tickle Ash’s pickle.

DISAPPOINTED IN…: Out of the many, many, many, many, many, many cameos and reappearances we got, there were some characters I was happy to see, some I rolled my eyes at, and some that surprised me and made me have a new-found respect in! But then came one character whom I’ve loved from his first game appearance, yearned for his anime appearance for years, praised it when he finally appeared and then…Journeys just made me not like it.

And that dishonor goes to Wallace! I don’t know if he took a class in Ego 101 from Kanye West or what, but something felt off. Anime Wallace and (later) Game Wallace felt different in terms of his demeanor and seeing that change was kind of a bad taste in my mouth. Plus, I feel like a battle between Ash and Wallace should have been something more than just a B-story. Wallace deserves better than playing second-banana to fucking Serena and Chloe.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: I know I use this portion to put up some random ship I support or find a doppelganger of a character from years past. But for now, I would like to use this time to put up a picture of…

This. Fucking. Angel!

Look at this cute baby! LOOK AT THIS BABY! This is Kukui and Burnet’s baby. They made one cute baby! Pardon my Maes Hughes impersonation here, but this is one cute baby! The only other couples who could possibly make a cute mutant child are May and Drew or if my anime counterpart shags Tracey and we…

Stick to the topic, moron!

Right! I fucking hate kids, but I am just so happy Kukui and Burnet had this baby. Mostly because I was thrilled to see someone grow in this series. Ash is eternally 10 until the day we die and the fucking world blows up. But with this, can Ash please, for the love of Arceus, turn 11 years old? I’m just saying!

HALF AN EPISODE: I think I pissed off many people with this picture alone. This was an episode that many fans have dubbed the worst episode ever. I’ll stay out of that one. It was bad. Just not, dropping your child out of a helicopter and blaming it on your wife bad like a certain episode we don’t talk about ever.

Pokemon Journeys has decided to put two shorter stories in one whole episode. I gotta say, it’s weird. When they first did this, I thought there was a reason why two totally different stories are in the same episode. But when I see it happen again, maybe Pokemon realized that they should learn from that slump of the filler and condense it a bit. I think we could have gone through Johto in half the time if we cut most of those fillers and put two in the same episode. With that said, the majority of these half episodes are total shit. Everyone has their own opinion on which filler stunk the worst this season. For now, I’m going to praise one of them in the next category.

FUNNIEST EPISODE: Huh! I never thought I would have this section ever again. But this season is full of surprises. The Team Rocket podcast episode caught me by surprise, but my guilty pleasure of rap battles tickled my funny bone once again. Whenever an anime has this random moment, no matter how long it may be, I will more than likely laugh. Kaguya-sama, Clannad, and Zombieland Saga are prime examples.

But then we get several episodes where Ash and Goh end up on these islands inhabited with Slowpoke and a Slowking crown would attach itself to either Ash or Goh. Let the hilarity ensue. But the second Slowpoke Island episode had me in stitches with Ash and Goh in a literal rap war. Hearing Rica Matsumoto go, “YO YO YO” is a thing of beauty and I’m happy to witness it.

TOUCHING EPISODE: I am so glad Journeys gave a happy conclusion to Lillie’s family story. Throughout Sun & Moon, I would wonder so much about Lillie and her development, even watching it before my eyes. Lillie has definitely had the biggest amount of character growth of anyone from the Alola gang. And despite the drastic contrast between the anime and games, we didn’t see anything torn from Lillie and watched her thrive. With the changes of Gladion and Lusamine compared to their game counterparts, there was one character I was always nervous on how the anime was going to tackle it. Fortunately, the anime has been improving on serious issues.

But admit it, you were scared just as much as I was about what Lusamine and the kids would do if they ever found Mohn again. Mohn suffered massive amnesia after an incident with an Ultra Beast and the wormhole. And yes, their reunion was just as heart-breaking as I anticipated. And it only gets even sadder. When Mohn was unconscious, a shiny Nihilego carried him to a wormhole entry (in Crown Tundra, Galar) where they lived for several years. Nihilego took the form of what Mohn’s eyes thought his daughter would look like. So, hearing Mohn in present time say he doesn’t recognize Lusamine, Lillie, Gladion, or even Zoroark and say that he’s living with “his” daughter, it’s painful. But we finally get to the touching part where Mohn finally gathers is memories. I’m happy with this. Good for Lillie. Good for the family.

A FIRST IN 22 YEARS: I’ll get to Ash’s accomplishment in catching some pretty choice pokemon in a bit. Now I would like to bring up this ugly, old wound. COVID-19, it seems like only yesterday we were learning how to social distance and called the president a fucking retard for suggesting to inject household cleaners. But because of this deadly virus, many productions in Japan were put on hold. Still are! And yes, that included our beloved Pokemon anime. In fact, this was Pokemon’s first hiatus since their four-month hiatus in 1997 when Electric Soldier Porygon mucked things up. And this series survived several recessions, the Fukushima disaster, many other natural disasters, and 9/11.

Not only the series was put on the back-burner, but the bloody movie, Pokemon Coco was delayed for 5 months! Yeah, the first summer we all went without a Pokemon movie hitting the theaters in Japan. Believe it or not, Japan had no intention of putting their newly-released movies available on a streaming or on-demand service like us greedy-fuck Americans. Yet, Japanese Netflix is somehow on a good system of putting things out once a week while American Netflix lumps everything together. Profiteering is hard! Point is that this was quite a monumental moment. Totally called for because the Covid was no fucking joke! It’s still not a joke. It’s still around. Get vaxxed, ya dummy!

GOTTA CATCH EM’ ALL: This series definitely surprised us in many ways. First, I’ll begin with Goh. Because Goh wants to one day catch Mew, he’s gonna make it his mission to capture each and every pokemon as humanly possible. Goh goes the distance by catching anywhere between one pokemon to 13 pokemon in a single episode. And it wasn’t like that time Ash caught all those Tauros in one episode, he catches different ones throughout the episodes. Goh catches small pokemon, big pokemon, fossil pokemon, pokemon that Ash has caught before, pokemon that Ash will never get in his life (like Raichu), starter pokemon, and even legendary pokemon. And not just some one-and-done catch, he’s caught more than one legendary! I just wish Goh’s Suicune catch didn’t feel so…dumbassary.

And then Ash…well, I sort of got my wish of Ash getting a psychic pokemon. I just wish it wasn’t Mr. Mime! Although, this wasn’t a catch! Delia just loaned Mr. Mime so he would watch over Ash while he stays at Professor Cerise’s lab. But Ash wound up with some really, big and surprising catches. And it breaks all sorts of protocol!

First of all, you know how many of Ash’s first catches in a new arc are usually a bug type, the flying type of the region, or a starter? His first catch was a Dragonite! YEAH! DRAGONITE! Fully evolved form Dragonite!

Then, do you remember every now and then, Ash will catch a fire-type that was previously abused or had a rough time before being captured? Replace that with Gengar and you’ve got his next catch!

Ash caught a fossil pokemon! Yes, one of the messed-up ones from Galar, but still…

And then…after waiting 14 years for Ash to one day get a Lucario (or at the very least Riolu) it finally happened. Ever since the 8th movie, fans have wanted Ash to catch Lucario. Even in Sinnoh, that was never gonna happen. Apparently, Riley was never gonna give Ash a Riolu egg. Fast-forward 11 years after that and Ash is drawn to a Riolu egg and catches it. Riolu and later Lucario was one of Ash’s best in this arc.

BUT NOT JUST THAT!!! Ash finally, finally, finally, FINALLY gets to mega evolve! Do you have any idea how big this is? We had a whole arc filled with people who could mega evolve. All of Ash’s rivals and villains were able to do it. Even during Sun & Moon, Misty and Brock were able to mega evolve their pokemon. I understand Misty, but Brock is studying to be a doctor. He’s not a friggin’ gym leader anymore. Stop giving this guy more air to breathe! He’s been in too many episodes and arcs. Make him disappear and…Whoa, I’m being mean to Brock again. Where was I?

Don’t get me wrong, the syncro with Greninja was bad-ass. But Ash had at least four pokemon from his past that had the ability to mega evolve. Do you have any idea how fucking awesome it would have been if Ash mega evolved Charizard, Heracross, Glalie, or Sceptile?! Well, we’ll never know because it never happened. However, I think they wanted to keep Ash to his pokemon in Kalos and not even look at the past whatsoever in that arc. Kalos was really stingy with cameos. And that’s why I will always bad-mouth Kalos more than normal.

COMEBACK: When I learned that Ash was going to pop in and out of every region throughout this series, I refused to let myself get happy at this. Besides the fact that I’m a die-hard Tracey fan and sadly know he’ll never be shown again. But the fact that Ash has revisited a few places in the past and would never come upon the same person twice (including gym leaders unless under special circumstances). However, with the addition of Ash preparing to be in the Pokemon World Championship, there’s been an array of past folks either mentioned, cameo’d, or would straight-up battle Ash! And these cameos are far more than just the usual surprise pop-in from Misty and Brock. Please note, I will not count Delia and Professor Oak. They don’t count, they’re seen in EVERY SEASON. Here we go!

Kanto: *Gary “Mother Fucking” Oak returns after a short cameo in the 20th movie, a cameo in the sky at the end of Best Wishes, and his last speaking role being in during DP. Gary is involved in Project Mew, an expedition in search for the rarest pokemon in the world. Him and Ash’s relationship has improved significantly. Goh hates his guts at first, but tolerates him later on. *Lance (16 long years after his last anime appearance) reappears to battle Leon in Galar. Later in the series, Lance became the 4th strongest trainer in the Pokemon World Championship. *Lt. Surge is mentioned by his temporary replacement at the gym and remembered by Ash. *Misty was shown in shadow form when it was discussed about gym leaders and the world championship competition. But Misty was finally shown at her gym watching Ash compete against Leon. She is also shown in the final episode as Goh visits the Cerulean gym. *Brock got a mention in the first DP special to come from the anime and I would have hoped this would be the end for that glory hog. Oh, but no! He shows up with not just a doctor degree, not just a fully evolved Blissey, but a license to drive a fucking jet. I call bullshit! *Mewtwo. Yes, that Mewtwo. Yes, the Mewtwo from the first movie. There was a moment. It passed. Moving on! *Erika, the Celadon City gym leader returns after a very long time. Her last anime appearance was in 1997, but she did appear in Pokemon I Choose You. Here, she holds a flower arrangement class. *Cassidy and Butch return after…I think Diamond and Pearl was their last appearance. However, things have changed for them. They’ve gone straight! Cassidy is running an inn and Butch runs a bakery. Either this was a mirage that was hallucinated by Jessie and James, or this really is a thing. *Richie appeared (after nearly 15 years since his last appearance) to watch Lance in the Masters 8 conference. *Todd. I can neither confirm or deny that he was outside Wyndon Stadium, but looking at the back of that guy’s head after Eternatus arrived is making me say, yeah, that’s totally him.

Johto:

*Professor Elm is mentioned by Professor Cerise when the topic of pokemon eggs is brought up. *Chuck (after 19 long years since his last appearance) reappears when Ash has a rematch with Bea. And best of all, Chuck is still voiced by that booming voice mother trucker, Dan Green! *Clair gets a nod when Ash learns of Iris’s full transformation. Do note that Iris and Clair have been training together. There was an episode 10 years ago with the two of them that was never released in English. *Jimmy, Marina, and Jackson/Vincent (from the Raikou special and Johto League) made a small cameo while watching Lance compete in the Masters 8 conference.

Hoenn:

*May got one mention. ONE! And that’s only because she participated in the Wallace Cup. They’re really holding out hope Kaori will make a recovery so she can voice May again! At least she was seen watching Ash fight Leon.

*Max was seen once watching Ash fight Leon alongside her sister May. *Drew and Harley (my second-tier baes) made a cameo while watching Steven compete in the Masters 8. And honestly, seeing both Drew and Harley in the same episode as several Tracey cameos was one of the best things I have ever seen in Pokemon history. Easily a 10/10 episode! *Drake was actually the first person from Hoenn to be featured. Quite surprising since he is the only Elite Four Hoenn member featured in the anime and was only featured in one episode. Is it any wonder he barely remembered Ash’s name. *My sexy boy Wallace re-emerges in his fabulous updated outfit from the ORAS games and battles Ash in a plot b, not important as contests battle. *Steven Stone is mentioned by Ash and Wallace is angry Ash remembers Steven but not him. Steven is still a top-tier trainer and champion as he is ranked #3 in the world and he ends up battling Ash in the Masters 8 conference. *Professor Birch, Kelly (one of May’s other rivals), Janet (one of May’s other rivals), Katie (Hoenn league competitor), Tyson (Hoenn league winner), Morrison (Hoenn league competitor), Jimmy (from Judgement Day), Kain (from Going for a Spinda), and Vito Winstrate of the Winstrate battling family ALL APPEAR IN ONE SHOT to prove that Advanced Generation hasn’t been neglected.

Except, yeah, they were neglected! Hoenn got butt-fucked and you all know it. I don’t remember Hoenn getting this much attention in the anime when the ORAS games came out. Oh-ho-ho, but when Diamond and Pearl gets a remake, what do you suppose happened there? Look down below!

Sinnoh:

*sighs*

So, remember during the Kalos arc when we got the Ruby and Sapphire remakes and how much the anime gave us nostalgia to remember them by? Yeah, me neither. Kalos only gave us Steven Stone and fuck all. HERE, they decide to shove every bit of Sinnoh up every ass. They give us not one, not two, but three hour-long specials including one exclusive to Amazon. And they shoved every fucking bit of it to the fans. Because who doesn’t want to see Cynthia and Team Galactic and Dawn’s prissy bitch-ass? Um, hi! I don’t! Sit the fuck down! There are far more deserving characters that should get more air time despite game promotions. But we’re here anyways!

*Dawn returns several times throughout the course of this series. Actually, they mostly came out around the time the remakes to Diamond and Pearl released. But Dawn seems to be a bit of a mentor to Chloe as they are seen together numerous times throughout the series. *Johanna (Dawn’s mother) makes a cameo as she is interviewed on TV. *Paul gets a small cameo when his battle with Ash in the Sinnoh Pokemon League was mentioned. And then the little cock-sucker got another appearance by battling Ash at Oak’s lab. Okay, this anus-tart gets a point for doing this! *Volkner battles Ash when Ash made it into the Hyper Class. He’s later seen with Flint watching the Masters 8. *Cynthia returns! And best of all, her seiyuu came out of retirement to voice this champion. Just like Dawn, Cynthia is seen in several of these specials and other episodes. Best of all, she is the second strongest trainer in the world. I truly find that hard to believe since I really do believe she could beat Leon. *Professor Rowan returns during the Dialga/Palkia wormhole episode. *Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, and all of the Team Galactic grunts make their appearance after 10 long years to hopefully bring Cyrus back to the living world. *Cyrus…um…he is talked about in the special and we see him in flashbacks. But that’s it. He’s still a bag of bones floating around in a different dimension. *Flint of Sinnoh’s Elite Four cameoed as he fought (and lost to) Leon. Ash remembered him! He is later seen watching Cynthia compete in the Masters 8 conference. *Reggie (Paul’s older brother) has a cameo when he watches Cynthia and Ash compete in the Masters 8.

Unova: *After being butt-fucked by the anime, Iris finally returns. And she’s gone through a lot of changes. She’s champion of Unova. Her Axew is fully evolved. She can communicate with dragon-types telepathically. And near the end series, Iris became the 7th strongest pokemon trainer in the world. She even went toe-to-toe with Cynthia of all people and managed to have her bring out the big-guns. Did she win, fuck do you care? This was a big leap for someone like Iris. All of you haters can eat a buffet of dicks and choke on it. After Tracey-bashers, I hate the Iris-bashers. Iris doesn’t deserve the hate she got. *Cilan was first seen in a flashback flash when Ash remembers traveling with Iris. He later appeared alongside Brock and Alexa watching Ash fight Leon. Do note that Cilan has met Brock prior to this appearance. There’s an episode that was never released in English. *Drayden returns as well as the Iris vs. Ash match took place in his gym. *Bianca, Georgia, Trip, Stephan, and Alder all have quick cameos as they are watching Iris compete in the Masters 8.

Kalos: *Clemont and Bonnie make a return when Ash prepares for his big Hyper Class battle against an Elite Four member. And even better, when the narrator mentions these two, they neglect to mention Serena making me enjoy the salty tears of Amourshippers. But as I learned long ago, this bitch never dies and comes back stronger. And one week later… *Serena returns with a new look and helps Chloe in her contest debut. Give the bitch some credit as she didn’t blush once. She appears again alongside May and Max to watch Ash compete in the world championship. *Korrina challenges Ash as part of the Pokemon World Championship and helps Ash in search for the Lucarionite. *Gurkinn (Korrina’s grandfather) also returns with Korrina in several episodes. *Diantha makes a cameo appearance on a magazine and later in Pokemon World Championship as the 5th strongest. She does well in the championship…except for one battle. *Greninja has returned and about a thousand pokemon fans just pissed themselves in excitement. *Alain gets a cameo when Ash reminices about Greninja. Not only that, but has gone on a journey of self-discovery to become the 6th strongest trainer. And got a new mega stone! *Professor Sycamore and Mairin were shown watching Alain when he competed in the Masters 8. *Sawyer, Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna all cameo when Diantha competed in the Masters 8. *Alexa (gym leader Viola’s sister) appeared alongside Brock and Cilan to watch Ash in the Masters 8.

Alola: *Professor Kukui, Kiawe, Lana, Mallow, Sophocles, Rotomdex, Samson Oak, Professor Burnet, and all of Ash’s Alolan pokemon are featured in an episode when Ash visits Alola. *Sophocles gets his own episode where he gets the chance to work in a space program in Mossdeep City (in Hoenn). *Gladion and Lillie (while not there in the first Alola episode to see Ash), were seen in an update. Later in the series however, they appear in the Crown Tundra of Galar in search of their father. *Anna was a reoccurring character throughout Sun & Moon as she was the one who would commentate on certain pokemon events and races Ash and the gang might participate in. Anna returns during a random race Ash and Goh participate in. *Mohn is alive and well. Unlike the games, he does regain his memories and return to his family to Alola. *Abe, Ulu, Hala, Wicke, and Faba return during the celebration of the Aether family reunited. *Hau, Guzma, and Team Skull cameoed when Ash participated in the Battle Royal match against Kiawe, Gladion, and Kukui. *All the memorable pokemon make several apperances including Bewear, Mimikyu, Maerine, Ash’s Alolan team, and Tapu-Koko.

…

Orange Isl…

HE’S ALIVE! HE FUCKING EXISTS! YOU SEE THIS HATERS? THIS IS TRACEY SKETCHIT AND HE STILL EXISTS! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU IN THE ASS! TRACEY IS STILL OAK’S ASSISTANT! HE’S THERE! HE’S MENTIONED! EAT A WHOLE PLETHORA OF DICKS AND CHOKE ON IT!

AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Not only that but he’s the only one of Ash’s past travel companions to watch him compete in the Masters 8, the semi-finals against Cynthia, and the finale. Where was your precious Brock and Misty? They were out taking a shit. Tracey watched. Tracey’s there. He stood there watching the whole thing. He cares! Look at him elbow-bump Snorlax. He’s awesome!

GALAR CHARACTERS: Because Pokemon decided to do things a little differently with this arc, only several characters known in the Sword/Shield games were featured in the anime. Let’s see who got in and who got shafted.

*Leon! No way were they going to leave out the hammy champion of Galar. He was featured several times throughout the series from being a Master Class Trainer in the Pokemon World Championships to the big fight against Eternus to just him getting lost in a forest.

*Sonia was there to talk about the Darkest Day and was later featured prominently throughout the big battle against Chairman Rose and Eternus. But she returns from time-to-time when Ash and Goh are in Galar, including to see Leon’s final match.

*Professor Magnolia was mentioned early in the season by Professor Ceriese. But she became a supporting character during the Darkest Day arc. Extra points here because she’s voiced by the same woman who voiced Izumi Curtis on FMA.

*Bea, the fighting-type gym leader made several appearances. As it turns out, she’s one of the toughest trainers in the Hyper Class for the championship. She even defeated Ash pretty bad during their first interaction.

*Raihan! He battles Leon, he appears during Darkest Day, he takes a selfie, he bakes pastries with fairy types, he takes another selfie, he’s voiced by Tatsuhisa…whoops, not anymore, he’s voiced by dude who did Kirito now, he takes another selfie, he loses to Leon, he punches a wall, and he takes another selfie! Raihan is one of the 8th strongest trainers in the world. He takes another selfie. He is demoted from 8th best. And yes, takes another selfie!

*Chairman Rose and Oleanna appear quite early and leave quite fast after the Darkest Day arc. Yeah, the whole thing came and went as did their appearances.

*Opal still loves pink! If you lack pink, she’s not afraid to say so. And I still say she’s a lost member of the Triplets of Belleville. But she briefly appears when Ash and Goh are separated from Chloe and again when she hosts a baking competition for the kids, Raihan, and Leon.

*Allister makes his debut with helping Ash when he’s possessed by a Spiritomb and helping his Gengar Dynamax.

*Piers, Marnie, and the hooligans of Team Yell make their debut as well. Marnie fought against Ash in hopes of advancing further than “Hyper Class Trainer”. Piers is there to be a supportive big brother. And as for Team Yell, they made Ash late to his own match against Marnie.

*Mayor of Freezington! I didn’t expect to see this dude here, but in the Lillie and Mohn episode, he appeared.

*Hop, Leon’s younger brother is seen in the audience of the PWC cheering for his big bro. I really wish they would have used him more than just cheering for Leon. But, we get what we get here.

CHARACTERS WHO EXIST IN OTHER POKEMON STUFF BUT NOT ANIME UNTIL NOW: Long title for this segment, but definitely called for. As this arc is very unorthodox, there were several characters who exist in other things like the games or manga, but never made it into Ash’s inner space until now. These are characters that should have made their debut years ago.

*Wikstrom if you recall was an Elite Four member in the Kalos region. He however never made an appearance in XY. Too much focus on Malva and Diantha I suppose. He makes his debut by offering some sword play for Ash, Farfetch’d, Goh, and Scyther.

*Drasna was also an Elite Four member in Kalos, but was never shown until Ash competed in the Hyper Class tournament. You’d think her being a person who can mega evolve would have already made her appearance, but alas no. Admit it, you forgot she even existed.

*Rita and Phil…wait, from Pokemon Snap? Yes! They made a short, five-second appearance in the movie Pokemon: Secrets of the Jungle.

*Lisia, coordinator introduced during Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire finally debuted in anime form. She gives Chloe her contest pass and is a rival to Serena.

*Rei from Pokemon Legends Arceus makes a cameo at the end of the 4-part Arceus special. He literally had more screentime than his descendant Lucas.

BIG TEAM BATTLE: So, this portion happened earlier than what we’re used to. By episode 40, Ash and Goh found themselves dealing with the Marco Rose company and their bringing about “The Darkest Day” to the Galar region. Goh and Ash get split up while the random dynamaxing happens to pokemon in the wild area. Goh ends up researching with Sonia, while Ash is helping these affected pokemon with Leon.

While short and unexpectedly fast approaching this arc was, we got some pretty momentous happenings. For starters, during the big battle, Ash’s Riolu and Goh’s Raboot both evolved at the same time (not in the same place however) into Lucario and Cinderace. And then, something unheard of for a main character in the anime! Goh and Ash caught Eternatus.

Let me repeat this. Goh and Ash caught Eternatus after battle. Just don’t expect to see them use this monster in battle. It’s sealed away in a pokeball, inside a glass case, inside a safe, covered with sutras, armed with lasers and Dick Cheney with a gun.

Now as for bad guy stuff afterwards, it feels a lot like Sun & Moon where Team Rocket try to disturb a legendary pokemon’s habitat and try to catch it. Probably because Team Rocket is the only bad guy team where their leader is still in tact and in this series we have Ash and company go to every region. It’s not like we’re going to see any of the other villains like in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. No, the anime won’t do us like that. Archie is doing 20 to life, Maxie is on probation but still has an ankle monitor, Cyrus is a bag of bones in another dimension, Ghetsis is doing life for attempted mass genocide and child endangerment, and no one has found Lysandre’s body or Hunter J for that matter. But that’s just my opinion on that matter!

Going back to Cyrus of Team Galactic, while we don’t see him currently, we do see the rest of Team Galactic as they attempt to find him. This is the Arceus Chronicles special (exclusive to Amazon Japan and U.S. Netflix). I honestly found the special a cheap ploy to whore out the Legends Arceus game and for Dawn to have more screen time.

MUSIC: One song, several versions! You would think I would get tired of that? A little bit, but not as bad as you’d think. Pokemon has been known to have one or more versions to an opening theme. Mezase Pokemon Master has been used countless times in countless ways with several revamps to it. It’s still a classic! Many others had remixes like Saikou Everyday and V(Volt). Yeah, V(Volt) is still annoying. 1, 2, 3 however didn’t feel annoying to me. Probably because there’s a T.M. Revolution version and a Rica Matsumoto version!

English opening. Generic. Moving on.

MOVIE: Normally, the Pokemon movies would hit theaters in Japan during the second or third week of July every year consecutively. For this arc, we got ONE movie. Just one! As usual, Pokemon’s 23rd feature film was on track for release in July 2020. Ah-ha, you see that year, right?! You know that shit got bumped. And bumped, it was! The release date got pushed to Christmas of 2020 and the U.S. release date wasn’t for another ten months later. Thanks a lot Netflix! At least when Sailor Moon Crystal came out in Japan, it only took four months for Netflix to get it!

Pokemon: Secrets of the Jungle. You ever see Disney’s Tarzan? It’s Disney’s Tarzan but with pokemon. You’re welcome.

Okay, okay, I’ll be kind. Actually, this was a very good story. It does follow Ash down that alternate timeline from the I Choose You story. It follows Ash as he meets a boy who lives with the Zarude. And you know Tarzan, it has a bad guy, dead parents, monkey-type pokemon, Team Rocket…Yeah, you know. Spoiler alert, the bad guy doesn’t die horribly like Clayton. I’m loving these alternate universe movies. My only gripe is that we never see any of Ash’s other pokemon.

TEAM ROCKET UPDATE: Hmm…They don’t go out for the world championship spot like Ash. Jessie doesn’t enter contests. They don’t break up. And they don’t catch the twerp’s Pikachu. Don’t tell me they spend another arc doing jack-ass-shit!

Podcast!

My God, that’s perfect for them. And honestly if Megumi Hayashibara and Shinichiro Miki ever start their own podcast together, I would pay any amount of money to hear that regularly. I’m going to be honest here. Aside from the podcast episode, Morpeko shenanigans, and the episode where they temporarily go their separate ways again, I barely remember or acknowledge Team Rocket’s existence for this season. Did Jessie actually catch a pokemon this season? I don’t know. It's like later season Black/White here. What are you doing Team Rocket?! Are you going to take what Cassidy and Butch say seriously about how there’s more to your life than just Team Rocket? Or are you just going to chase Pikachu until the inevitable end?

CHLOE’S CHOICE: Unlike many of the other girl protagonists in the past, Chloe isn’t featured in every episode. In fact, a lot of episodes Chloe doesn’t even appear. She’s at home or at school. She’s not technically a trainer, but she does have one pokemon and a Pokedex. When we do get Chloe-focused episodes, the earlier ones feature her contemplating her future. Because of her father being a pokemon professor, people automatically would say she should follow in her father’s footsteps. Not for Chloe! And she’s not going to become a graphic artist like her mother.

It wasn’t until Chloe traveled to Sinnoh on her own that she learned about Pokemon Contests. She got curious watching an interview with Johanna and then Dawn talked about her love of pokemon contests to her. But it wasn’t until Chloe went to Lilycove City in Hoenn where she met Lisia and Serena that she really enjoyed taking the stage with Eevee. Does Chloe become a coordinator like the travel-mates of Ash’s past? Chloe’s whole saga was given the permanent halt once Masters 8 started and it only got mysterious from there. Yeah, the series ends with Chloe going on a journey of her own. Where is unknown. What she will be doing is unknown. Is she and Eevee going to give contests another try? Will she catch a Galarian Ponyta? Will she become an Eeveelution trainer? Who fucking knows?!

ENDING FOR GOH: Goh has been an interesting character to say the least! And the fandom for this character runs both hot and cold. They either love him or hate his guts. The hate is because Goh wound up catching all three Galar starters and Ash didn’t catch any of them. At the beginning of the series, Goh had a one-track mind in catching Mew and that’s that. It even caused some friction when Scorbunny wanted to be his first pokemon early in the series. Thankfully, Goh and Scorbunny (later Cinderace) made a great team.

Throughout the series, Goh caught many pokemon during his time with Professor Cerise and Ash. He caught fossil pokemon, legendary pokemon, pokemon of different forms, shiny pokemon, starter pokemon, pokemon Ash will never own in his lifetime, throw-aways, and the occasional surprise pokemon like Suicune. None of them are Mew! In the middle of this arc, Goh gets introduced to the Project Mew group by Gary Oak. Throughout the series, we got a few episodes dedicated to special missions Goh got in order to go further in this group. Goh was even able to catch a rare Regi pokemon (alongside Gary) and stop Regiggias from being Dynamaxxed. That was kind of a cop-out because I thought Regiggias was going to be a bigger episodic thing. After that, Goh was able to join the big expedition with Project Mew. Will he get closer to his dream of catching Mew?

Goh got the message on a big lead with finding Mew. Only problem was that he had to leave right when Ash was about to fight the biggest battle of his life. Goh left Ash before his masters finale against Leon. This is actually a first! Every single one of Ash’s companions were there to witness his finale in whatever league. Even Tracey and Max! YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT ASSHOLES! TRACEY WITNESSED THE ORANGE, JOHTO, HOENN, AND MASTERS 8 LEAGUE. SUCK IT!

I promise, this’ll be the last time I call you ‘assholes’.

No…it probably won’t be. Sorry!

Goh did leave Ash. His final mission with Project Mew was his toughest yet where communication was cut off, pokeballs were unable to be used, and legendaries are out for your heads. Goh, Gary, Horace, and the rest of the expedition team finally came in contact with Mew. This is the closest anyone has come. And also, nice that they made a mention to Jessie’s biological mother as she did search for Mew too. But the fight against Mew was pretty intense as this is the one pokemon that has the capability of taking on any form and can learn any move it damn-well wants to. But, it also has the ability to give those it comes in contact with knowledge of the world. Did Goh catch Mew? Fuck no! But there’s a respect and this experience is something he’ll hold onto for the rest of his life. We’ll see what happens with Goh’s own journey.

ENDING FOR ASH: Ash has certainly done wonders throughout this arc by entering that Pokemon World Championship and catching some major powerhouse pokemon. Next to his Sinnoh and Kalos teams, this team he has this time around is amazing. And it has taken him to the Master Class status. This championship has had Ash face up against old gym leaders from his past, old friends who have grown exponentially, and new challengers. As we remember in Ash’s past, going up against an Elite Four member ended in utter failure. Let’s never forget his failures against Agatha, Prima, and Drake. He did get lucky against a champion once, but his synchronization with Greninja went haywire so we really don’t discuss that.

In Pokemon Journeys, Ash has faced a lot of tough challengers. And I thought that day would never come since we all know Ash’s peak perfection team was during Sinnoh. But his team now is pretty fucking stacked and now has the ability to mega evolve, synchronize, gigantamax, and z-move with several of his current team. Not only that but go up against some of the toughest trainers in the world. I mean let’s face it, Ash in the past has gotten his ass handed to him by some pretty boss trainers. Even here, Bea, Volkner, and Iris gave him a run for his money. Did anyone think he could hold his own and become the 8th strongest trainer in the world?

Ash’s biggest moment is here and now with going up against the heavy-hitters. Iris, the champion of Unova. Alain, the winner of the Kalos Pokemon League. Diantha, the champion of Kalos. Lance, the champion of Kanto and Johto. Steven Stone, the champion of Hoenn. Cynthia, the champion of Sinnoh. And Leon, the UNDEFEATED champion of Galar.

Is Ash going to fight ALL OF THESE TOP DAWGS?! Hell no! Just some of them. For starters, Steven and Cynthia. These two are champions of Hoenn and Sinnoh. They’ve shown how bad-ass they were in certain parts of the anime. And now Ash has to go up against both of them in the quarter finals and semi finals. In a three-on-three match, Ash was able to take out Steven and his mega evolved Metagross and move onto the semis. His match against Cynthia will be his toughest yet. Even gamers are annoyed with Cynthia in battle as well as her ancestor Volo. That guy was a real fucker! Ash faced off against Cynthia and won. It wasn’t easy. Roserade’s Poison Point, Milotic’s iron head, a Dynamaxed Togekiss, and Garchomp make Ash’s battle pure hell. Give this battle some credit as we didn’t see Cynthia be predictable with a Mega Garchomp. Togekiss dynamaxxing was a surprise. Prior to fighting Ash, Cynthia was planning on retiring. But after that battle, the retirement plans are on hold.

And now for the finale, Ash vs. Leon. Will Ash get lucky here? Hard to tell. Even Japan knows that the stats are highly in favor of a Leon victory. But as I learned from looking at polls and stats for politics, DO NOT LISTEN TO THE POLLS AND STATS, THEY ARE ALL SHITE! Also, Ash is unpredictable so anything can happen in battle. Leon decided to allow Ash use all of his battle enhancements. That means Gengar can be Dynamaxed, Lucario can Mega Evolve, and Pikachu can do a Z-Move. Ash was able to take out some of Leon’s pokemon early on. Leon is no pushover, his pokemon are tough. Tough enough for only 2 of them to take out all of Diantha’s pokemon. Dragapult and Mr. Rime gave Ash the toughest time. Soon enough, Ash found himself with only Pikachu left against a Cinderace with Limber ability and a Dynamaxed Charizard.

Enter Eternatus! Yeah, Satan’s tapeworm escaped from its captivity. I guess it wanted to give Dynamax energy for Ash and Leon’s pokemon to go Gigantamax again. Wish granted as Pikachu and Cinderace went Gigantamax. And even though Pikachu’s past experiences with Dynamax didn’t go well, it was successful against Cinderace as he was able to take it down. So, it’s down to one-on-one. This moment between Ash and Leon was one of the most finely animated battle I’ve seen since both Sinnoh’s and Kalos’s pokemon league. And Charizard was so powerful that Pikachu almost died.

Yeah, you heard right. It looked like Pikachu almost died on the floor. But Pikachu saw all of Ash’s pokemon from past to present. ALL OF THEM! EVEN PRIMEAPE! EVEN PIDGEOT! EVEN LAPRAS! AND LITTLE LARVITAR TOO! THEY COUNTED HIM TOO! And all of Ash’s friends were watching from wherever they were to catch this moment. Misty at the Cerulean gym, Tracey at the Oak lab, Brock and Cilan at a pokemon center, Clemont and Bonnie at the Lumiose gym, May, Max, and Serena at a contest, Iris in a tree, and the Alolan gang in the classroom were there together in unison for this. Goh didn’t watch, but he’s there in spirit. LAME! Victory! Pikachu defeated Charizard. Ash is world champion!

So…what now? Ash is literally world champion! Unless there are pokemon on other planets with pokemon trainers, I don’t think Ash can get anything higher than that. This is something that won’t be answered in this series I’m afraid. Stay tuned. For now, it’s time to focus on what this show is going to do with Ash, Chloe, Goh, and Team Rocket. Team Rocket will do whatever they do. They do their usual last episode thing by visiting the boss and lying to him to get praise.

Of course, in the finale we get a falling out between Ash and *insert name here*. It happens almost every arc to this story it’s almost formulaic. Misty has a moment at the end of Johto. Max was depressed at the end of Hoenn. Dedenne has a panic attack in the middle of an airport in the Kalos finale, and the less I remember about Piplup’s meltdown, the better for my sanity. This time it was Goh. Apparently, Goh doesn’t know Ash well enough to realize that bro goes on journeys by himself all the time. Usually, it’s his friends that leave him. Actually…EVERY FRIEND HAS LEFT ASH! Except for the Alolan gang. Stay cool Kiawe and Lana!

Thankfully, this moment passed as Goh and Ash come under attack by…well, yeah, Team Rocket did attack them in their usual manner. But I was talking about Lugia! This was indeed the very same Lugia from the second episode of Pokemon Journeys. They fought. They flew together. They even ran into Ho-oh. And you know whenever Ash runs into Ho-oh, it’s an omen for their journey continuing. For now, anyways.

We end this season with a party for Ash and Goh. Many decisions were made about their future. Goh and Ash are splitting up to go on their own, but will remain good friends. And Chloe is to go on her own journey.

EPILOGUE…SORTA: A week after the Pokemon Journeys finale, we get one special episode. However, this is Alternate Universe Ash. I Choose You, Secrets of the Jungle, Power of All movie universe. Ash meets a dead boy. Yeah, it’s like I said. He meets the spirit of a dead boy who loved pokemon. Meets his parents. A familiar scene with a Mankey and Ash’s hat. And talks about Ash’s DAD?!

Yeah, they really mention Ash’s dad more often than not in the alternate universe. We never see him and neither does Ash. But he leaves behind a new hat for his son. And we get this choked-up scene where Ash eats and cries. Shit, I was ready to write off this episode, but damn that almost kicked me in the feels.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I’m not going to lie, I have a love/hate relationship with this series. I feel like the Galar region was just crammed and stowed to the side and it really shouldn’t have been. Call me old fashioned, but I would have loved to see Ash collect gym badges again. We only saw, like half of those characters. I would have loved to see Ash take on the likes of Kabu, Melony, Gordie, Nessa, and Milo. It would have been awesome to see Ash go to the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra. Do you know how bad-ass it would have been if he got a Kubfu? We didn’t even get to see the Isle of Armor! Ah, what would have been.

What we got with Pokemon Journeys wasn’t all bad. Pokemon gave another chance to anime-only main characters again and I’m always a proponent of that. Unlike so many haters of Goh, I really couldn’t hate him. Yes, he did irritate me at the beginning for other reasons. But I grew to like him. This addition of a Project Mew side-story was inventive. But it also feels…I don’t know, crammy?! And as for Chloe…I have a strict, no-hate policy on everything Kana Hanazawa plays. And that goes double for Cherami Leigh. I’m not breaking that clause so deal with it. I just wish more was done for Chloe, especially at the end. But I feel like more was planned and possibly scrapped due to that baby hiatus back in 2020. I can’t be the only one who thinks that is a proponent to this. I’m sure it isn’t, I’m just putting it out there.

As for Ash being a helper at the Cerise lab, I guess it’s great to see him do other stuff besides collecting gym badges. I would have preferred he kept doing the status quo, but in order for him to be a Pokemon Master, I suppose he’s gonna have to step out of the box every once and a while. Seeing him take on old rivals, gym leaders, and such was awesome. There would have been so much I would have preferred to see. And I’m just going to say this and it’s probably not going to be popular with some. I really think Ash should have gotten at least ONE Galar starter pokemon. They all didn’t have to go to Goh!

With the World Champion arc, I was so happy to finally see people like Cynthia and Steven Stone battling for real. In this anime form, we never saw that. We would only see snipits of Cynthia battling someone and then they lose. Every battle Ash was in, I was not disappointed. Others however, don’t get me started. Iris and Alain were automatically dealt a shitty hand when they both had to go up against the #1 and #2 strongest trainers. In fact, Alain lost so bad that Trevor felt it all the way in Kalos and laughed. And then there was Diantha! First of all, I’m pissed we didn’t get to see that entire fight. But at the same time, if she lost 6-2, I think I would have felt nothing but sickness if I watched the entire thing. On the other hand, STOP GIVING US LOST POKEMON FILLERS DURING A TOURNAMENT ARC PLEASE!

Another thing that I felt was lacking was of rivals in a sense. Ash competing in the world championship has him going up against old and new gym leaders like Bea, Korrina, and Volkner. But what about the other trainers that don’t have a gym leader status to their names? We see Ash battle people like that early on and then we never see them again. We saw this guy Rinto for a couple of episodes and then we never see him again. And then there’s Hop! You would think we would see Ash and Hop spar from time-to-time. If Ash wanted to fight with Leon, he might as well get his feet wet with his baby brother. Instead, we are introduced to Hop during the tournament and all we see him do is be in the stands cheering for his onii-chan. What a waste!

But now that Ash has actually become the champion of the world…what’s next?

Here comes the bittersweet moment. In December 2022, it was announced that Ash and Pikachu’s journey was going to come to an end. With the ending of Pokemon Journeys, we were to get only 11 final episodes. Pokemon as a whole will continue and thank goodness for that. But Ash and Pikachu…man, that’s a lot to take. I’m going to separate this review from the final 11. I feel like that would be in my best interest. But with no more Ash and Pikachu, we run the risk of never seeing anyone he’s associated himself with again. That means Misty and Brock. That means Professor Oak. That means Iris. That means Cilan. That means freakin’ Team Rocket. That means Blushy McIdiot, Dawn, the Alolan gang. And for me, it runs the risk of never, forever-ever, never ever, ever, ever gonna see Tracey Sketchit again. I nearly vomited at that thought. He’ll stay alive in my fan-fictions. You best believe that! I’m just going to feel worse than when he left before Johto started. I will definitely say more in the following review for the final 11.

As for Pokemon Journeys, yeah I enjoyed it. Watch it. Stay away from several fillers. Don’t get your hopes up for Chloe. Keep an open mind about Goh. R.I.P. Billy Kametz. Long live Daisuke Ono! Every episode will be up on Netflix. Other seasons, check out Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney XD, and Pokemon TV.

DID MY HIGH HOPES COME TRUE?!: I won’t be doing a high hopes section here. With only 11 episodes left and several of them have aired as of posting this review it would really defeat the purpose. But let’s see if any of my silly wants came true.

*Yes, Tracey exists in this season. Everyone does apparently! Tracey has been given the bum’s rush at nearly every turn since…well, his last speaking role was September 2006. To give you an idea how long ago that was, I have moved 3 times since then, my eldest cat Harley wasn’t even born yet, my fan-fic “you-know-what” was in the early stages of writing, Naruto Shippuden wasn’t airing yet, Death Note and Code Geass haven’t aired yet either, Kanye West was still respectable, Justin Timberlake’s SexyBack was #1 on the charts, Jackass #2 was in theaters, I still thought George W. Bush was the worst president in history, and Robin from One Piece just uttered the words “I want to live” for the first time. THAT’S HOW LONG IT’S BEEN!

And to this day, he still hasn’t uttered a word. I had to survive all of Kalos and Alola without seeing his face at all. Or even being mentioned. Seriously, there were episodes back at the lab and you don’t even mention your assistant, Oak. The fuck is wrong with you?! That’s how stingy and fucked this has been. But this season, Professor Oak at least mentions him without having him be at the lab when we get an episode AT THE LAB. But when it came time for the big tournament, Tracey was watching. He watched the whole thing. We didn’t hear him, but he was there. I am so happy. I think it’s because getting Tomokazu Seki to do it-bits here and there might be expensive. I mean, he is a really big freakin’ deal in the seiyuu world. Yes, he’s even more expensive than Yuuki Kaji and Mamoru Miyano. Ted Lewis would happily do it and I would be happy to hear it. To sum up, I saw Tracey. Was it a lot? No. Did he speak? Hell no. Do I want more? Fuck yeah! Are you happy? Fuck to the infinity yeah!

*I was quite expletive when it comes to seeing May and Iris again. We saw May in voice-less cameos. That’s pretty much what I’ve come to expect due to her seiyuu Kaori’s illness. Kaori has fully retired from voice acting and singing due to a vocal condition. She had this problem when she voiced May one last time during Diamond and Pearl. Even though I only saw May once, at least the anime acknowledged her existence. She’s known as the Princess of Hoenn in the contest world. She’s still doing contests and even made friends with Serena.

As for Iris, boy did we get the upgrade of Iris and I couldn’t be prouder. Since leaving Ash and Cilan, Iris has trained and has become the champion of Unova, is able to telepathically communicate with dragon pokemon, has fully evolved Axew into Haxorus, earned the respect of Dragonite and Excadrill, and is currently the 7th strongest trainer in the world. We got Iris in several episodes in full and I am beyond happy. I wish she could have had more screentime than Dawn this season, but I shouldn’t complain since Iris went through all of this.

*Did I see Clefable…no, not really. We did get a touching episode with a Cleffa. I’ll accept that.

*Yamper!!! This got confusing. Chloe is Yamper’s owner. But she doesn’t carry him in a pokeball nor does she travel with him once she got her pokedex. After that, it just became the Eevee show. I guess Yamper is the family pokemon and I’ll leave it at that. I got to see the poke-corgi more often than not and I’m okay with that.

*Did Ash battle around in Galar? Sorta. The only people he met up with or battled with were Leon, Raihan, Bea, Opal, Allister, and Marnie. Qutie a puny list. I’ve already beat my thoughts about this into the ground so let’s move on.

*Much to my dismay, none of those fun game characters from Team Rocket ever showed up and I suppose they never will.

*No, we did not see Ash go to any Battle Frontier or Battle Tower this season.

*James did not get a Galarian Weezing. I don’t think we even saw one. Did we? Just a flash in the final episode. This season didn’t even show all of the Galar pokemon.

*Rica Matsumoto eventually sang the opening theme. It was a duet, but even her best songs are duets. High Touch, anyone?

*Ash…sadly got a psychic pokemon…it was on loan from his mother and it was Mr. Mime. I am not amused by this at all.

*And finally, PROFESSOR BURNET GAVE BIRTH! Thank you for not keeping her pregnant for three years. People finally aged here!

AND FINALLY…IN MEMORIUM (SILLY EDITION): Usually I do an in memorium if someone notable passes away during the production of an anime. Last season, I wrote one for Unshou Ishizuka. I mentioned Billy Kametz here, but for my full memorium be sure to read my Rising of the Shield Hero second season review. This is not going to be that. It’s going to be quite absurd.

This is a dedication to all of the characters I wished would have made an appearance in Pokemon Journeys. Here’s to all of the trainers, gym leaders, coordinators, elite four members, random bros, etc. that for one reason or another never made it to this special season of pokemon. And because they never got to appear, I’m putting up my own stock-photos here to make it even more sillier. Mwahaha! May the Poke-Gods be kinder to you in another realm than they would have here. I WILL REMEMBER YOU. WILL YOU REMEMBER THEM?