#xy067

 the anime DOES stick to the game’s type charts. a fire move will be effective on a grass type, a water move on a fire type, and so on. it is exactly the same. the anime utilizes EVERYTHING in the games. passive abilities, status conditions, EV training, the anime has it all. 

but the anime is about taking the game’s world and expanding upon it in a more dimensional space to make it more interesting. most, if not all trainers in the anime, COULD make use of nothing but type advantage... but in a world so big, with so many options, why would you limit yourself to that?

like... a show that followed the rule ‘one pokemon will always have an advantage over another, and thus, the protagonist will always switch into it’ would be so boring. so predictable. at every single turn, you could predict what the protagonist would be doing. if ash ALWAYS used the pokemon he had on hand based solely on their type up against his opponent’s the anime would be completely devoid of both suspense and heart.

if we use ash as our central example, the reason he doesn’t rely on type advantages is the same reason i don’t want to watch him do that--it’s BORING. battling is ash’s life, pokemon are everything to him and if he asks you for a battle it means that he wants to know you, to befriend you, to share something incredibly special with you. a pokemon battle is, from ash ketchum, the closest thing you will get to a declaration of love. he sees it not as a hobby, but as his one true passion.

and when you love something that much, you don’t want to play it on easy mode. people talk about ash like he’s this normie, but ash is literally the guy playing the game on hard. monotype runs, 'locke runs, all the things we as a fandom have done to make pokemon less predictable and more immersive, i can’t help but wonder if the people bemoaning ash realize that he is one of them. that he agrees it’s a lot more fun to CHALLENGE yourself. 

frequently in the show, a rival will pull out a pokemon, and ash will counter it with a pokemon that has a disadvantage. the scene will cut to his friends in the bleachers, confused--why would he put himself at a disadvantage?--and the scene will cut back to ash, smiling bright. in situations like this, he never has trouble winning.

the core of his team is an unevolved pikachu, one that has toppled psuedolegendaries and clawed him to the top. the anime writes him like this because it’s a million times more interesting than just ‘rock beats scissors’ and it’s better that way.

probably the most definitive moment of ash’s career as a trainer, and i would argue of the anime’s way of presenting battles as a whole, comes in mid-XY, right here:

clemont utilizes a ground type move to take down pikachu, an electric type.

ash doesn’t hesitate for a single second.

and i cannot stress enough, this is not some big ‘woah i can’t believe he thought of that!’ moment for long-time anime fans. ash does this all the time. he utilizes the battlefield to his advantage to fill in gaps where his pokemon might be vulnerable. he’s got an incredible eye for ways to overcome the weaknesses of his pokemon, because he just... cares that much.

and he is just ONE trainer, the one i care about most and have studied the battle style of most intently. he’s not the only trainer who does this, most trainers in the anime build their battle style around pokemon they meet and befriend by fate, not by effort of conscious teambuilding. in the world of the anime, pokemon just kinda stumble into your lives, and you don’t think about building a varied team or whatever... you just meet who you meet, and you grow together from there.

Well I got to watch XY067 with subs this time so I could appreciate it a whole lot more :3 Just a few things to note that I haven’t already said in my previous post.

- Loved the dialogue between Citron and Satoshi in and out of their heads. Idk. maybe it was the sub’s way of presenting what they said but for me, it felt like this was great writing :) Good job both writers and the subbers :D

-As someone noted before, the stock backdrops really have been at a minimal, and today, it was only a midshot of Satoshi and Pikachu. Or idk. Glad that whenever Satoshi declares an achievement, the shot is “minimal” compared to previous seasons. -Angles. Love. the. angles.

So much diode. So much. Review below.

Thoughts

After this episode first aired I mentioned here that it was kind of underwhelming given all the hype it got. However, upon watching it again with subs and less expectations, I really enjoyed this gym battle A LOT. Still some things I wish were different but I’ll get to those in a bit.

There were plenty of things I liked here. I’ve seen plenty of complaints saying that the episode was rushed, but I really don’t get that feel. This episode wasted absolutely no time giving attention to the battle. Obviously there was stuff that had to happen before and after but even that didn’t seem like it didn’t belong. Everything felt very well paced given the 20+ minutes it had to work with. The animation in this episode was fantastic. I’m a big fan of animation but it doesn’t stand out to me in the XY series that often for whatever reason, so that fact I noticed it is a big deal. The battles themselves for the most part were also pretty great. Then that scene at the end where the gang put their hands in just like in the beginning (now with 100% more Serena) was really awesome to see.

But what stood out to me the most was Ash and Clemont’s dialogue - both inner and outer - with each other. Everyone has posted about this to death so I don’t think I need to go deep into it here. It’s just really cool to see what true friends they are and how really into the battle they are. If this episode doesn’t sum up their relationship perfectly I don’t know what does. I’ve mentioned before that I don’t ship diode romantically, but if Ash and Clemont weren’t already my brotp, they would be now.

So now for a few complaints. First, I know the episode didn’t have much time, but I though Heliolisk got knocked out too fast (in terms of hits that is). Hawlucha barely did anything to it. Next…bide. That freaking move should just not exist, it makes no sense at all. Lastly, not much of a complaint but this one really could have benefited with being two parts. I think it did just fine in just one though.

So overall, I really enjoyed this episode. For what it was, it was absolutely great. For many people, I know it may not have exactly lived up to the hype. As I said here, this episode kind of had the same problem XY059 had where too much was spoiled ahead of time which led to some disappointment. This was arguably worse though since this has been something people have been excited for for well over a year. Just another example of how not getting your hopes up will result in a much better viewing experience.

Extras

-For the people complaining about Serena seemingly favoring Ash over Clemont, why in the world would she not? Amourshipping aside, from the point of view where Ash and Clemont are both just friends, it still makes sense for her to favor Ash. Ash’s ultimate goal is to make it to the Kalos league, which requires a badge. Clemont has a badge, so Ash has to beat him in order to obtain said badge. Clemont’s goal was just to give Ash a worthy battle. That doesn’t require Clemont to win and Ash isn’t really standing in the way of anything.

-Let’s talk about Pikachu for a bit. Not in the actual episode, but for inbetween stuff. They changed the voice over for the Pokemon Quiz, which was even cuter than the previous one. Also, they had Pikachu dancing to Getta BanBan during the sponsors part, which was even more adorable. Someone gif that please.

-This is the last episode with DoriDori as the ending. As much as I love Serena, she’s had her time to shine lately. Time for something new.

-GETTA BANBAN. GETTA BANBAN. GETTA BANBAN. MADA MINU MIRAI E. OH YEEEEEAAAAHAAAAHAHAHHAHFRIESUHF;ILADRSJFERSGIADRSH’EPJ

-Face of the Episode:

Bonnie, never stop being you.

Closing

What a gym battle. I doubt anything will generate the level of hype that this episode did and manage to deliver decently at least. Similar to Ash and Clemont, I wish it lasted longer. Any of you all agree or disagree on this one? I know there were a bit mixed opinions here. Let me know your thoughts and I’ll see you in the next one!

To see all of my reviews, click here.