A Grand Fight for Winning! (645)

[Brumrha]

An interesting thing: Zoey now has a Gallade.

Anyhow, the finals had so much stuff happened that it made my head spin all over the place, & that also made my memory get all scrambled up. I can't remember all of its details, but what I do know is that Zoey had an advantage at the beginning, but when Dawn caught up, it all came down to one last clash, with Gallade's electric-charged Psycho Cut VS the flying Togekiss & Piplup Duo.

But when it came down to it, Zoey won by the skin of her @#$%ing teeth. That meant Dawn has given her some stiff competition, & quite frankly, Zoey is one of those rivals that is actually someone that I would like to see win, as she's a great person all around. So, I tip my hat off to her...

Anyhow, Dawn's storyline is all but finished with the conclusion of the Razzle Dazzle Festival. Now we can concentrate on our main attraction, Ash. & with the news that Volkner has finished refurbishing his gym back in Sunyshore, we can get to that right now! Weeeeeee!!!

[Marbi Z]

That episode was good. But personally I liked the previous episode with Zoey and Nando, I even recorded it! But I didn't give two ****s about the plot of the episode... I just wanted to see Lopunny's sexy body!! I even got a bonus by seeing it's sexy legs up close! That's why I LOVE LOPUNNY!!!

[Charmed]

I can't believe I haven't watched this Sinnoh Grand Festival finale episode! I caught a few glimpses of it in the past when the Japanese episode aired, but not enough to really get the whole episode. Well I've finally had time to watch the whole thing and write about my thoughts on the chain of events in this one. I'm just a bit sad that this seems like the final Contest battle of Dawn since I don't think Sinnoh has anymore Contests open, after the Grand Festival. Well here goes my review/essay on the events of this finale of sorts. First off, I hated this dub title since I didn't get the pun. Just thought I'd get that out of the way first haha. I thought the episodes started out too suddenly though; with not much build-up as we usually have. Pretty different since we usually have a lot of talking before any actual action.

Anyway, the Contest announcer gives them the go-ahead to battle and Dawn sent out her trusty Piplup and the Togekiss she got as a gift. Zoey then sent out her trusty Glameow and a Gallade; which I'm assuming evolved from her old Kirlia. Kind of a shock to me to be honest, since I had assumed all of her Pokemon were female lol. Anyway, I noticed that when Piplup and Togekiss were sent out, there wasn't much of a Seal effect but when Zoey sent out Glameow and Gallade, they were given a cool flowery Seal effect. I call favoritism! Anyway, we got a nice shot of Team Rocket, Ash and Brock, and even Ursula and Nando watching the battle play out; that's great. I like that the writers remembered Nando and Ursula, specifically. Dawn gave Piplup and Togekiss a quick pep-talk and then she started thinking back to the Jubilife Contest and how Zoey said they'd meet at the final stage. Oh la la, a Shipping moment maybe? Lol.

Ash scanned Gallade into his PokeDex, because that's what Ash does. He then confirmed that Gallade did indeed evolve from Zoey's Kirlia. Then Dawn's mom, Johanna, suddenly appears. I'm like, "what?!". I mean, how did she get to Lake Valor so quickly, when she was in Twinleaf Town one episode previous to this one? Weird. She explains how both Zoey and Dawn are even, though I thought Zoey had the advantage to be honest. Anyway, back to the battle. Dawn had Piplup jump on Togekiss' back and then she had Togekiss use Aura Sphere and Piplup use it's Bubblebeam which created a cool new move. Just when I thought Dawn had it, Zoey had Glameow cut the Aura Sphere in half which created a bright light. Zoey then had her Gallade use Psycho Cut on Piplup's Bubblebeam and created a dazzling effect of her own! Both Fantina and Dawn were impressed, though Dawn lost some points. Togekiss surprised Zoey with it's speed and then Piplup prepared to use Hydro Pump.

Sadly, Zoey was prepared for that and had her Glameow use Fake Out to startle Piplup and cancel out the move before it was used. Pretty interesting to see Fake Out in the anime. Brock explained it's effect just as Dawn lost another chunk of points which was irritating to watch. Team Rocket then asked Meowth to learn Fake Out, though apparently, it isn't easy? Silly TPCI dialogue. Gallade used Vacuum Wave on Togekiss, but Togekiss dodged it and used Air Slash, though it missed as well. Both Zoey and Dawn lost points, though Zoey noticed how agile Togekiss was. Gallade then used Signal Beam and Glameow used it's Iron Tail to form another fusion move; a sort of lasso of Signal Beam. Dawn then had her Piplup use Whirlpool but Zoey countered with her own Signal Beam-whirlpool. However, Dawn used her Togekiss' Aura Sphere to give Whirlpool a bright-blue glow and the two Whirlpools collided to form a bunch of fireworks. Typical.

Both Dawn and Zoey lost a few more points on the Contest meter for that one, since the move was equally effective. Zoey had Gallade use Swords Dance which, to be honest, was probably the blandest move I've ever seen in a Contest. No sparkly effect or anything. Dawn took advantage and had Togekiss use Safeguard to protect it from status changes. That cost Zoey some points right there. Zoey tried using Glameow's Shadow Claw on Togekiss, but it wasn't very smart, at least not at first anyway. Togekiss used Sky Attack but Gallade came charging in and used it's Psycho Cut. Piplup used Peck and they pretty much tied there but that was what Zoey wanted. She used that attack as a distraction and had Glameow climb onto Togekiss' back. Smart, since it cost Dawn more points. Glameow then used Thunderbolt, but apparently, Togekiss' Safeguard protected it from damage. Lol, what? It cost Zoey and Dawn more points, once again. Piplup was then preparing to help Togekiss, but Gallade got in the way. Piplup however, just kept on running towards Gallade.

Gallade used Vacuum Wave again, but Piplup used that spinning move and was able to dodge it in mid-air. It then "flew" towards Togekiss and Glameow and knocked Glameow off with it's Hydro Pump! That move both removed Glameow and cost Zoey points. Gallade then used Psycho Cut once more but Togekiss and Piplup dodged that in the air. We then saw some of the other Coordinators watching the battle like Kenny, and even Candice of Snowpoint City was watching the battle! Zoey then wanted to seperate Togekiss and Piplup so she used another Psycho Cut and it worked. Dawn came up with a plan fast and had Piplup use Whirlpool while Togekiss distracted Zoey. It didn't work so well though; Glameow was able to grab a hold of Whirlpool with it's tail. I say, cut it off. Gallade then used Vacuum Wave to destroy the Whirlpool, which was odd, considering Zoey could've been a bit more creative but whatever. Dawn then had Piplup use Peck and Togekiss use Sky Attack!

For some reason, the two moves combined to form a red-colored move that impressed the judges and cost Zoey some points. I noticed that a new song played during all of this and I have to say, whether it's the original Japanese song or not, it sounded pretty nice and fit in with the scene very well. Zoey then came up with her own fusion move by having her Glameow use Thunderbolt to charge up Gallade's arms to form of sort of electric-Psycho Cut. Gallade's Psycho Cut and Togekiss and Piplup's fusion move clashed! There was an explosion of course, and then we saw that both Zoey and Dawn lost a huge amount of points. Right before the Pokemon could do much else though, the timer runs out and the battle ends. We saw everyone look anxious right before a winner was declared, and then Zoey was declared the winner since she had a bit more points left. Zoey and her Pokemon exchanged a hug, though Dawn looked very sad as she thanked Piplup and Togekiss for their hard work during the battle.

Dawn seemed sad, but was able to get over it and feel truly happy for Zoey. Ash and Brock seemed disappointed that Dawn lost, but Johanna merely claimed it was the beginning and not the end. Sure Johanna, sure. Even Jessie was clearly upset that Dawn lost, and she seemed to have given up on Contests for good as she left her old costume behind. Fantina gave Zoey the Ribbon Trophy and the Grand Festival came to a close. After the Contest, Dawn met up with her mom and returned her ribbon which I'm surprised the writer still remembered haha. Nurse Joy then told Ash that Volkner was awaiting him in Sunyshore City, which was a little too convenient. Dawn and Zoey then had a private conversation but were interrupted by Nando who wanted to thank them for the battles. Zoey then left for Snowpoint City and I have to admit, I'm sorry to see her go. Dawn then talked to all her Pokemon and it looks like she hasn't given up on being Top Coordinator yet. Overall, even though the episode ended on a sad note, I think it was 10 times better than the Hoenn and Kanto GF, and it was pretty much perfect. I give it a 10/10 which it deserves

[Shneak]

A great episode, with a great battle, with a great final Grand Festival.

What is that song called that played during the battle? It sounds like the same person who did Battle Cry.

[AstralEon]

Last and final episode of the Grand Festivals, Dawn vs. Zoey, and not a minute too soon, episode starts at the starting point of the battle.

We finally got a Gallade in an episode besides the movie. Hooray. See some new Pokemon action and he’s paired up with Glameow.

And on the opponent side; it’s Piplup and Togekiss.

Johanna shows up in person in this round. At first, I thought the crowd will go wild at the name being mention by Brock and Ash… loud mouths….
She had a worried impression throughout the whole battle as if she didn’t have much confidence over Dawn.

Dawn starts out first with a simple combo move of Aura Sphere/Bubblebeam. Not much to see there. Zoey counters it with Shadow Claw and Psycho Cut, giving Dawn a bad start.

Draw tries to go for a distracting using Togekiss but Zoey keeps her focus and negates Piplups attack with Fake Out. Personally, I always hated the Fake Out move as I find it annoying during in-game battles. It’s one of those small canceling moves that gets me on my nerves.

Gallade launches a Vacuum Wave on Togekiss but Togekiss was able to dodge it gracefully giving Zoey a hard time to think of a counteract plan.

Zoey continues with a combo move of Signal Beam/Iron Tail, creating a swirly vortex of multiple colors. Pretty. Dawn does the same but with Whirlpool/Aura Sphere. Cool. Both coming out equally

Both Dawn and Zoey switch to defensive moves by powering up with Sword Dance and Safeguard, but Zoey was outclassed by Dawn. Still, I say Sword Dance is more of a threat over Safeguard.

Things get tricky as Zoey calls out an attack to fool Dawn and taking her attention away from Togekiss for Glameow to saddle herself on top of Togekiss.

At first I thought Togekiss was done for as Glameow struck Togekiss with a direct hit from Thunderbolt but that Safeguard came into effect and protected Togekiss. Didn’t expect that to happen.

With a few Piplup moves of his own, he was able to free up Togekiss and call down a Whirlpool from the sky while Togekiss tries to distract Zoey once more.

Dawns plan fails as Glameow holds the Whirlpool giving Gallade that chance to use it against Dawn.

Dawn calls her final attack by combining a combo move of Sky Attack/Peck. Looks awesome and powerful, something I didn’t expect to see from Dawn but it gave her the lead.

Zoey follows up with Psycho Cut/Thunderbolt. I was amazed how this was accomplished. It looked painful for Gallade but he still manages.

As the two awesome moves collided the whole stages goes into a dramatic scene and the stage is lit up with power.

Both Zoey and Dawn were so evenly close but as the light subsides, time runs out and scoreboard reveals that Dawn was just mere pixels away behind Zoey, making Zoey the champion and earning the title of Top Coordinator.

And there you have it. The Grand Festivals is now over and Zoey walks away with the trophy. Congratz for her. Well, there’s always next time for Dawn.

I’m also guessing this is the end for ‘Jessilina’ as well. Jessie storms off, leaving her contest clothes behind, which I guess it’s a sign for no more ‘Jessilina’.

Overall, it was a superb battle and episode but not as good as last week’s episode.

Soo... 8/10. Again, I liked it but not as much at the other with Nando and Zoey.

With the festivals now over, we go back to Ash and Co. journeys. Time for Ash to earn his last badge.

[Typhlosion Trainer]

This was a good battle to end the Grand Festival.

[Rebeccag]

I know i thought the crowd would have gone nuts at joannas name being a ex grand festival winner etc. Anyway im glad Zoey won but Dawn pushed her pretty close. Dawnd done well since the beginnng. Shame to see Jessie give up on contests as well and its kinda sad to see Zoey leave although she probably had to go back home. Anyway onwards towards Sunyshore city for Ashs last badge

[nktrainer92]

I was in complete suspense till the end as always Zoey and her Glameow were as strong as ever 10/10

[Niri]

I'm disappointed that Dawn didn't win and never got to defeat Zoey during her run. That aside, I believe that this battle wasn't as good as the battle that Zoey and Nando had.

[matt0044]

You know, fans say that Dawn may win the next GF and that may be true but, the sad thing is, we won't see it. If she cameos in BW and says she did win, it won't feel as good as actually seeing her win. That will just blow chunks. The phrase is "show, don't (just) tell."

And another thing, while Dawn's loss to Zoey allows her character to develop more, she should've been fully developed in time for the Grand Festival by the writers so that she'd win instead of focusing the episodes mostly on fillers and COTDs. Sorry, but I prefer my favorite characters to be fully developed in time to achieve their goals. I just hate open endings that forget to tie up some loose ends sometimes.

And before you tell me to stop whining about Dawn's loss, let me remind you that this is my opinion, this is a forum where said opinions are allowed to be discussed, agreed with and disagreed with and that I don't mind Dawn's loss that much. I'm just saying that (in my opinion) having Dawn lose wasn't the only option that the writers had.

P.S. While I hate that Dawn lost, I loved how she made it to the finals and came so close to winning. Zoey may have won and be the better coordinator but she's not my favorite character (I'd like it if she had a more lively personality). Dawn did her very best and I'm glad she did. But if the writers had her win (in the best way possible), I would've jumped for joy and cried in happiness.

Also I rooted for Dawn as I watched DP177 even though I knew she wouldn't win. I don't switch sides just because the opponent is "better."

[Shego]

I'm sorry that Dawn lost, but I'm glad that Zoey wins the Grand Festival and she was happy for it. Ash and Brock seems to be disappointed that she lost but it was a great battle. Zoey also point out that Dawn will be cheering for Ash in the Sinnoh League and he'll take out his rivals including the one who is the opposite of him.

[Marbi Z]

Last and final episode of the Grand Festivals, Dawn vs. Zoey, and not a minute too soon, episode starts at the starting point of the battle.

We finally got a Gallade in an episode besides the movie. Hooray. See some new Pokemon action and he’s paired up with Glameow.

And on the opponent side; it’s Piplup and Togekiss.

Johanna shows up in person in this round. At first, I thought the crowd will go wild at the name being mention by Brock and Ash… loud mouths….
She had a worried impression throughout the whole battle as if she didn’t have much confidence over Dawn.

Dawn starts out first with a simple combo move of Aura Sphere/Bubblebeam. Not much to see there. Zoey counters it with Shadow Claw and Psycho Cut, giving Dawn a bad start.

Draw tries to go for a distracting using Togekiss but Zoey keeps her focus and negates Piplups attack with Fake Out. Personally, I always hated the Fake Out move as I find it annoying during in-game battles. It’s one of those small canceling moves that gets me on my nerves.

Gallade launches a Vacuum Wave on Togekiss but Togekiss was able to dodge it gracefully giving Zoey a hard time to think of a counteract plan.

Zoey continues with a combo move of Signal Beam/Iron Tail, creating a swirly vortex of multiple colors. Pretty. Dawn does the same but with Whirlpool/Aura Sphere. Cool. Both coming out equally

Both Dawn and Zoey switch to defensive moves by powering up with Sword Dance and Safeguard, but Zoey was outclassed by Dawn. Still, I say Sword Dance is more of a threat over Safeguard.

Things get tricky as Zoey calls out an attack to fool Dawn and taking her attention away from Togekiss for Glameow to saddle herself on top of Togekiss.

At first I thought Togekiss was done for as Glameow struck Togekiss with a direct hit from Thunderbolt but that Safeguard came into effect and protected Togekiss. Didn’t expect that to happen.

With a few Piplup moves of his own, he was able to free up Togekiss and call down a Whirlpool from the sky while Togekiss tries to distract Zoey once more.

Dawns plan fails as Glameow holds the Whirlpool giving Gallade that chance to use it against Dawn.

Dawn calls her final attack by combining a combo move of Sky Attack/Peck. Looks awesome and powerful, something I didn’t expect to see from Dawn but it gave her the lead.

Zoey follows up with Psycho Cut/Thunderbolt. I was amazed how this was accomplished. It looked painful for Gallade but he still manages.

As the two awesome moves collided the whole stages goes into a dramatic scene and the stage is lit up with power.

Both Zoey and Dawn were so evenly close but as the light subsides, time runs out and scoreboard reveals that Dawn was just mere pixels away behind Zoey, making Zoey the champion and earning the title of Top Coordinator.

And there you have it. The Grand Festivals is now over and Zoey walks away with the trophy. Congratz for her. Well, there’s always next time for Dawn.

I’m also guessing this is the end for ‘Jessilina’ as well. Jessie storms off, leaving her contest clothes behind, which I guess it’s a sign for no more ‘Jessilina’.

Overall, it was a superb battle and episode but not as good as last week’s episode.

Soo... 8/10. Again, I liked it but not as much at the other with Nando and Zoey.

With the festivals now over, we go back to Ash and Co. journeys. Time for Ash to earn his last badge.

Agreed. But personally... I just wanted to Nando's Lopunny.

[Lance The Champ]

That Peck and Sky Attack combo was really awesome and Zoey countered it brilliantly. I guess that counter got her the win. Awesome match

[Linkdarkside]

yeah ,the battle was intense and the last attack combination whit the awesome music was epic? by the way any one knows the name of the song?

[Painkiller2001]

I'm glad she didn't cry which i could have understood if she did.

Yeah, I know.
I was actually expecting the writers to give her the May treatment and have her take this extremely close loss hard. But wow! She really took it well, didn't she?

This might sound petty of me, but I'm gonna come out and say it anyways: would it kill the writers to let a main character WIN a grand tourney at least ONCE? Seriously, EVERY SINGLE TIME, Ash and co end up losing and forfeit the win to someone else. Can't the writers let them taste total victory at least once? Or is that some sort of taboo in anime these days?

(Oh, and I don't count Ash's victory at the Orange Islands as a grand tourney win. He only had to fight one opponent in that, not several.)

I REALLY hope they don't repeat this in Ash's next tournament. I know the likelihood is about 99.99% due to some rule, but I honestly think they should just let Ash WIN FOR ONCE. Jeez...

And if they can't do that, at least don't have Ash take it in stride when he loses this time! I want to see some frustration; that'd be more HUMAN of him, not adhering to some anime cliche.

Who else agrees with me?

Agreed! 100%!

At this rate, I won't be surprised if they have Ash lose the Sinnoh league.
They just can't have a main character win the biggest event of their life, can they?

Zoey then sent out her trusty Glameow and a Gallade; which I'm assuming evolved from her old Kirlia. Kind of a shock to me to be honest, since I had assumed all of her Pokemon were female lol.

Me too!
As soon as I her say "Gallade", I was thinking "Gallade? Would've thought she'd have a Gardevoir."

1.) At first I thought Togekiss was done for as Glameow struck Togekiss with a direct hit from Thunderbolt but that Safeguard came into effect and protected Togekiss. Didn’t expect that to happen.

2.) Zoey follows up with Psycho Cut/Thunderbolt. I was amazed how this was accomplished. It looked painful for Gallade but he still manages.

1.) Me too!
When she said "Thunderbolt" I thought "Uh-oh..."
And then Safeguard happened. What a save!

2.) I know!
I thought Zoey was done for when this happened!
--
Now that was a close match between Zoey and Dawn! I thought for sure Dawn was going to win this for sure! But no, it just wasn't good enough. She was so close!

Well that's the end of the Sinnoh GF, and the (possible) end of contests in Pokemon as we know them. I got to say, I'm going to miss them now that I can actually enjoy them as much as I do gym matches/league matches.

Well, now on to Sunnyshore city... again.

[matt0044]

Honestly, Dawn should've won and the writers should've developed her more rather that spending so many episodes on CoTDs.

Not to mention, what's really stopping the writers from letting our "heroes" win tourneys? It's simple: develop the characters so they win a great victory? And just because Ash, May or Dawn win, it does NOT mean that they're story is over. There are still more leagues, GFs and trainers for them to beat all over the world. Plus, all the Pokemon for them to catch and train. Why would they stop training just because they're the best in one region?

This isn't very complicated, PEOPLE!

As for this episode, it was good but I felt that Dawn's loss ruined it for. I really wanted her to win and see her happy. Sure she took her loss well and that's great but I still wanted her to taste the sweet flavor of victory.

[G50]

This episode was very cool. It was great to see Gallade for the 1st time. I like Gallade better than Gardevoir. The Sky Attack+Peck combo was so cool! Unfortunately Zoey won, but only just barely. It was interesting to find out that Jessie decided to completely give up Contests and being a Coordinator. It was great to finally hear that Volkner was ready to accept Ash's Gym challenge.

98/100

[shadow_zoroark]

I didn't even know vaccum wave was a real, move.... how does a gallade even learn it

[Littlemyuu]

Zoey's Gallade is really awesome =D it also got pretty good moves =3

[Zoruagible]

It made me sad to see Dawn lose

[Vern]

It was terrible to see Dawn lose and have Zoey win. It's not so much that I'm a fan of Dawn than I dislike Zoey a lot. I seriously found Kenny more interesting than her by the end of Sinnoh. I don't see why the writers couldn't have May or Dawn win a Grand Festival. It's not like they were going to be on the show much after their generation had gone by anyway.

[Victory]

It was a super awesome fantabulous battle! But Dawn should have won

[Hikari10Girl]

This was a great contest episode but I think Dawn should have won.

[TurtwigFan1]

AWESOME EPISODE! The battle was totally awesome, imagining it in real life would be amazing. Totally gutted that Dawn didn't win, personally I think she deserved it but of course the writers can never let a main character win. Congrats to Zoey for winning though, she fought really well too. I hope Dawn wins a Grand Festival one day!

[wobbanut]

Interesting that Dawn managed to get farther than May did in two regions and still didn't win. -_- At least a character we know did win.

I wish they hadn't dropped the contests after this episode. I really miss them in the Unova region right now. At least Team Rocket has an awesome new storyline going on, but I still miss the side storyline of the contests. Apart from the two Don George tournaments, which at least Iris and Cilan have been participating, it's like Kanto/Orange Islands/Johto time again, where Ash has the only ongoing storyline of his team.

7/10