Review XY025: Shōyō Gym Battle! Pikachu VS Chigoras!!

[Sakuraa]

Great gym battle. Great episode.

First off, I loved how the gym was on top of a giant cave and had a giant wall to climb like in the games. I thought it was cute that Bonnie ran up to climb the wall, but Clemont wouldn't let her. And man, Grant is so damn sexy. Ahem, moving on.

Anyway, on to the main attraction, the battle. Froakie truly is a ninja. I love how Ash had him jump across and up the Rock Tomb in order to get to Onix. And then dodging that Iron Tail with the matrix. This guy is awesome. Can't wait to see his later gym battles. I love how Tyrunt's Draco Meteor looked. I also really loved how Clemont, Bonnie and Serena gave each other a triple high five during the battle. I know I've said it a million times, but I love this group's interactions.

Too bad for Fletchling here. Would have hoped to see it get off a few more damaging hits, but at least it got in a nice Steel Wing.

I like how they continued with the technique of bouncing off enemy's attack by having Pikachu use Iron Tail to move across the Draco Meteor. But my favorite was when Iron Tail smacked away the Rock Tomb into Tyrunt's mouth. That was cool. And geez, I knew Tyrunt was like twice Pikachu's size, but man it's big. When Pikachu bounced off its head I was like, "wow".

So overall, a great episode. Looks like their headed for the Tower of Mastery next. I didn't particularly dislike anything other that Fletchling's loss. But at the same time, at least it got some experience and participated in the group effort. So, it's a 9/10 from me.

 

[Flying Christi]

Man, the writers made Satoshi look really strong in this Gym battle.
For starters, there was the little angle after the Battle Chateau episode where Satoshi "trained" to prepare for this battle after knowing how Zakuro and Iwark battle. Then was the sequence of moves used by Keromatsu to defeat Iwark without the latter being able to fight back!

...And then Keromatsu got 1-hit KO'd by Draco Meteor and Yayakoma got its ass equally whooped in quick succession. It still was a great Gym Battle, even though the buildup for the Pikachu vs. Chigoras finale wasn't as great. Also worth noting that the Satoshi from Best Wishes couldn't look half as strong as the Satoshi I saw in this Gym battle.

And speaking of great, how about the soundtrack? Wasn't that Lysandre battle theme followed by the Elite 4 battle theme the coolest thing you've ever heard??

 

[Garren]

Man, I'm a bit nervous after seeing they pulled the horrible "Ash uses more than the opponent" rule they did, like, multiple times in Best Wishes? Alright, maybe two times I think, but they were major battles.

Of course, this time around it doesn't seem like it was done to showcase how much of a beginner Ash was like in Best Wishes, but still...

The episode felt a little rushed though looking over the pictures, once more I gotta wonder if it being pushed up resulted in cuts of parts that weren't finished?

Oh, and I'm glad someone else pointed out the weirdness of Grant's hands. They never cared about drawing the palms of the "white" characters lighter, so it feels odd they felt the need to do it for the black guy.

 

[Alola]

Man, I'm a bit nervous after seeing they pulled the horrible "Ash uses more than the opponent" rule they did, like, multiple times in Best Wishes? Alright, maybe two times I think, but they were major battles.

Of course, this time around it doesn't seem like it was done to showcase how much of a beginner Ash was like in Best Wishes, but still...

The episode felt a little rushed though looking over the pictures, once more I gotta wonder if it being pushed up resulted in cuts of parts that weren't finished?

Oh, and I'm glad someone else pointed out the weirdness of Grant's hands. They never cared about drawing the palms of the "white" characters lighter, so it feels odd they felt the need to do it for the black guy.

That is the dust you apply to your hands before you go rock climbing, as to avoid slippery palms. And if you look closely, you see the referee has it too. Not bright palms

 

[Odinn]

They probably let Ash to use all of his 3 Pokemon because Ash already knew what Onix is capable of, and he had a strategy against it. So, they let Ash to use Fletchling thus allowing him coming up a strategy against Tyrunt, too.
I didn't like the part where Tyrunt with a rock in its mouth. Tyrunt's ability is Strong Jaw for God's sake. It would easily crush that rock with its pure jaw strength. Also what's up with Pikachu's Iron Tail.
I know, it was a Rock-type gym but Ash's Fletchling will be the loser of the Kalos group I think. And Frokie will be the 2nd Sceptile.

The theme selections were the best things in the episode.

Overall, it was an OK episode. 6 out of 10.

 

[R!ck]

Ash's Fletchling will be the loser of the Kalos group I think. And Frokie will be the 2nd Sceptile.

How do you came to this conclusion exactly? Staraptor and Swellow turned out to be strong, reliable members on Ash's team and I have no doubt Talonflame will be a vital part of Ash's Kalos team. I agree with the Froakie part but Fletchling-the-loser-of-Kalos-group is outrageous, wild speculation when we're only 24 episodes into this saga, IMO.

 

[Alola]

Ash's Fletchling will be the loser of the Kalos group I think. And Frokie will be the 2nd Sceptile.

How do you came to this conclusion exactly? Staraptor and Swellow turned out to be strong, reliable members on Ash's team and I have no doubt Talonflame will be a vital part of Ash's Kalos team. I agree with the Froakie part but Fletchling-the-loser-of-Kalos-group is outrageous, wild speculation when we're only 24 episodes into this saga, IMO.

I agree. Just because we have two Gym losses doesn't necessarily put Fletchling on the list for failure. Naturally it would lose to Tyrunt due to the type disadvantage and the fact that it has very frail defenses. Against Viola's Vivillon, well I call experience. Ash had just caught the Tiny Robin while Viola has most likely had many battles with her butterly. Also given her restrictive moves (Sticky Web, Psychic, and later presented Sleep Powder), Fletchling's loss there is perfectly understandable. So I wouldn't count it out yet.

Plenty of Ash's Pokemon have suffered continuous losses in Gyms, such as Ash's Buizel in both the Hearthome and later Canalave City Gyms. Then there is Torterra. However, each of those Pokemon are still strong and amazing in their own right and have pulled off amazing victories despite their losses.

Anyways, both the Fighting and Grass Gyms are coming up, so expect to see Fletchling really shine and be Ash's saving grace (along with its evolution).

 

[Odinn]

Ash's Fletchling will be the loser of the Kalos group I think. And Frokie will be the 2nd Sceptile.

How do you came to this conclusion exactly? Staraptor and Swellow turned out to be strong, reliable members on Ash's team and I have no doubt Talonflame will be a vital part of Ash's Kalos team. I agree with the Froakie part but Fletchling-the-loser-of-Kalos-group is outrageous, wild speculation when we're only 24 episodes into this saga, IMO.

It lost the battle against Vivillon in the rematch horribly.
It fails almost half of the time when the gang needs it to track down TR. It isn't even good at chasing TRio.
The impression in XY023 when it was training with Froakie. Froakie did a perfect job against it, and it got hit by Froakie's bubble. Ash congratulated Froakie first, Fletchling needed to remind itself to get a congratulation.

It's not just about gym battles.

Like it or not, Fletchling isn't being handled like a winner.

 

[Hellwarden]

You know, how many times have seen Onix and its evolution fight? We've seen it twice already in this series alone.

And yet, somehow watching a giant rock snake fight smaller and more agile opponents never gets old.

*reflects on the last sentence*
......Good thing Freud isn't alive to see this post...

Anyway, what was Serena so worried about? Just Ash losing?

 

[Solar Beam]

Anyway, what was Serena so worried about? Just Ash losing?

She's just nervous and anxious about Ash's Gym Battle with Grant. She knows he trained so hard which is why she's nervous about the outcome.

 

[ArvAl]

Anyway, what was Serena so worried about? Just Ash losing?

She's just nervous and anxious about Ash's Gym Battle with Grant. She knows he trained so hard which is why she's nervous about the outcome.

Or maybe there's a hidden feelings towards Ash to it.
Anyway I still consider that this is the unfair competition because really? 3vs2? That's really overwhelming because it should be easy for Ash to beat Grant's pokemons in numbers. ..

 

[Chiplet]

Ugh, the VS. screen reaaaaally bothers me. They way it initiates the battle is just awkward. Not to mention that it this time, instead of only featuring Ash and Froakie on the upper screen, also featured Pikachu. That made no sense, and why wasn't Fletchling featured too if Pikachu was?

Overall, I really quite liked the battle and that's totes not because of Grant's sexiness. I thought it showcased Ash as being quite a powerful Trainer, while Grant on the other hand seemed to be somewhat... bad. It seemed to me as though Grant was taken by surprise a bit too often and was rather easy to counter. There was just very little about this battle that distinguished him as a powerful gym leader in my eyes. I'm also no fan of the 2V3 terms. Like the fact that Ash is allowed to switch his Pokémon out already isn't giving him an advantage, but also giving him the opportunity of using as many Pokémon as he wants to while Grant only uses two... I really hope that won't become a thing this early into the series. Fletchling's role in the battle being quite useless to only made it even more unnecessarily.

Other than all of that, the battle was really good! Both Froakie and Pikachu battled quite well and impressively, and this was one of those few battles that I felt as though Ash was being the one with the upper hand throughout the whole battle. Admittedly, the fact that there no longer is no colorful backgrounds for each attack made and commanded does a whole lot for the battle as it now feels way more realistic.

 

[Solar Beam]

Ugh, the VS. screen reaaaaally bothers me. They way it initiates the battle is just awkward. Not to mention that it this time, instead of only featuring Ash and Froakie on the upper screen, also featured Pikachu. That made no sense, and why wasn't Fletchling featured too if Pikachu was?

Fletching's Pokeball was featured since Grant has a poke ball next to Onix. I think it's like the game where it shows you how many pokemon the opponent has. I think it's showing that Grant doesn't know Ash's second Pokemon, since he only has seen Pikachu and Froakie. The second Pokeball next to Onix shows that Ash doesn't know what Grant's second Pokemon is.

 

[Chiplet]

Ugh, the VS. screen reaaaaally bothers me. They way it initiates the battle is just awkward. Not to mention that it this time, instead of only featuring Ash and Froakie on the upper screen, also featured Pikachu. That made no sense, and why wasn't Fletchling featured too if Pikachu was?

Fletching's Pokeball was featured since Grant has a poke ball next to Onix. I think it's like the game where it shows you how many pokemon the opponent has. I think it's showing that Grant doesn't know Ash's second Pokemon, since he only has seen Pikachu and Froakie. The second Pokeball next to Onix shows that Ash doesn't know what Grant's second Pokemon is.

Ooooooh.... That makes total sense now. Thanks for explaining that! Ugh, still annoyed it about though.

 

[Mr. Bell]

I felt it was a really great episode, tyrant's draco meteor was beautifully done.

I think fletching was in basically to demonstrate how strong tyrant is, to help build its impressive image. I do agree that by now fletching is the least trained pokemon ash has, so i hope it will gain more skills as it evolve and gains the fire typing. I also really liked how cute was pikachu after the battle ended, all tired and exhausted.

Another thing I thought about his how they use movement as the key tactic element in the last few battles. I hope they keep doing so through the season.

 

[Lluksonak]

This gym battle was great.

Highlight was Froakie dodging that Iron Tail lol, looking forward for gyms 3 and 4, where Fletchling/Fletchinder will be in it's prime

 

[Alola]

Ugh, the VS. screen reaaaaally bothers me. They way it initiates the battle is just awkward. Not to mention that it this time, instead of only featuring Ash and Froakie on the upper screen, also featured Pikachu. That made no sense, and why wasn't Fletchling featured too if Pikachu was?

Fletching's Pokeball was featured since Grant has a poke ball next to Onix. I think it's like the game where it shows you how many pokemon the opponent has. I think it's showing that Grant doesn't know Ash's second Pokemon, since he only has seen Pikachu and Froakie. The second Pokeball next to Onix shows that Ash doesn't know what Grant's second Pokemon is.

Great perception skills because I didn't even think of that. Makes a lot of sense.

 

[DashingFox]

Loved this gym battle.

I immediately became annoyed when Zakuro told Satoshi he could use all his Pokemon, because it gave me flashbacks of the Homika battle, but it turned out so awesome!

Yayakoma's role was so small, normally I'd be upset about how quick it went down, but I didn't expected it to be used anyway. At least it got a hit in!
What really made me love this battle - I think someone mentioned earlier in this thread - is how it felt like Satoshi was in charge from the get go. It felt like he dismissed everything Zakuro flung his way and was able to counter so beautifully. He felt so skilled the whole time, it really was wonderful. I especially enjoyed the way Iron Tail was used to counter Draco Meteor.

Also, I must mention how Keromatsu dodged Iwark's Iron Tail - simply marvelous.

So yeah, I classify this gym battle as excellent, just like Voila's. I can't wait for the 3rd one.

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

Not much I can add, but I still found it to be a decent gym battle, despite the 3vs2-matchup victory - but at least he didn't use double the amount of Pokémon here like in the Virbank Gym. But, given how little Fletching contributed to the match, at least it showed that Ash could've won with only Froakie and Pikachu. Still pointless, though.

Sounds rather dangerous that Grant would have his challengers rock-climb a high cliff all that way to the battlefield without any kind of safety belts - or, hey, how about giving them some of that grease dust that you use, Grant? - as part of their test. But I suppose that is something many trainers may have to do out on the field, anyway (and that is how it was in the games, too).

It's nice to see that Ash still flips his hat when about to face a challenge.

 

[G50]

This episode was pretty good. I was disappointed that Fletchling was used, since it only did very minor things against Tyrunt. Other than that, the battle itself I really liked. The animation of Froakie vs Onix battle was great. I liked how Froakie was able to just jump on the Rock Tombs and avoid any damage to be able to hit Onix easily with Water Pulses. I'm glad Froakie got a win in this Gym Battle, since it really needed a win after quite a few loses and working so hard.

Pikachu vs Tyrunt was ok, I liked how Pikachu knocked the rock into its mouth and then easily knocked it out. Tyrunt looked great, it made me like the Pokemon more than I did before.