The Semi-Final Frontier! (657)

[yeminied]

Dark Void had a pretty good animation, I liked the fact it was a bloby thing it was cool.

This episode was fantastic. The Latios vs. Pikachu battle was just brilliant. I felt so much urge for Ash to defeat it when Pikachu was using Volt Tackle against Luster Purge and it kept saying "Pika! Pika! Pika! Pika! Pika."

Pikachu has gone up in my books, same with Sceptile. The most Sceptile and Swellow really did was tire Latios marginally so I would say that Pikachu defeated Latios single handedly. This makes me so proud of Pikachu that he can defeat a legendary all by himself.

One problem: When Sceptile was in its dream thing and we heard Ash pleading him to get up I wish we could have seen shots of Sceptile as a Treecko and Grovyle to show how much the two have experienced together.

The line-up of Ash was alright I suppose. Heracross, Sceptile and Pikachu were the only ones who did anything. I'm quite proud of Gible really. Despite being owned by a trainer for a short amount of time he managed to get a super-effective Rock Smash on Darkrai, which is more than I can say for Torkoal and Swellow.

Speaking of Torkoal he is now a contender for Ash's most pathetic, useless Pokémon. It did absolutley nothing and fell in a matter of seconds. Swellow at least had some form of strategy going on.

9/10 for this episode, I was literally on the edge of my seat the whole episode.

[Cobalt_Latios]

Okay, I figured the popularity of this episode would warrant an easy find on Youtube, and my suspicion's proved correct. Watched, wow, even knowing what would happen, an amazing battle.

Latios's appearance was just amazing. Appears from pokeball, zooms across the field and back to Takuto's side of the field. Yep, worth the wait.

I've got a French Translation, and I know French far better than I know Japanese, so if anybody was curious, the ending conversation went something like this:

Dawn: Ash!
Ash: Dawn!
Dawn: It's finally finished
Ash: Yeah
Dawn: We've gone a long way to get here.
Dawn: This will make great memories.
Brock: No!
Brock: The journeys are not over yet
Brock: Our journey is just beginning!
Ash: Yes! It's just the beginning, to become the Pokemon Master!
Dawn: Yes! I will also do my best to become Top Co-ordinator!
Dawn: With you, Piplup!
Brock (in head): Ash.. Dawn.. You must not lose sight of your goals.
But me.. What shall I do?

Barry then comes in and tells Ash that he has become stronger, that one day he'll become stronger and come back and 'thrash' him. Then he ran off saying 'See ya!'.

Even not knowing Japanese, but knowing brief information about what was going to happen in the next two episodes, I kind of figured something like this might have been said.

I actually find it marginally believable that Ash can become a Pokemon Master. He's already shown his skills here, I doubt it's far behind.

So for all of those complaining about the Legendary Pokemon under Takuto's control: Well, aren't there so many multiples of Legendaries? We know many Shaymin exist, at least 2 Mew exist, 3 Lugias, 2 Celebis, 4 Deoxys, among many others. Also if I remember Latios and Latias did something so that another Latios and Latias (2) are born from the ashes of an old Latios or Latias (1). So there could be MANY Latios and Latias out there. They aren't really one of a kind (with the exception of Mewtwo; we KNOW he's a one-shot), they're just really hard to find.

I'm starting to like Takuto more and more each time I see this battle.

I'm glad you think that way. Like I said before in this topic, they're not the "godlike" ones as the version mascots, more like the very rare, but still somewhat plentiful ones.

Wonder if Takuto has a Shaymin? It would be hilarious if he did.

He would probably have it in Sky Forme. But I would have probably died laughing it were the case!

Now that I have seen the episode I can comment (IMO seeing the pics didn't do enough for me).

(Can I do bullets please? I know I'm not known for them, which is why you'll notice they aren't chronological...)

• Hyper Beam seems to be one of those moves that a fully evolved Pokemon can just know without the "WTF moment" of it learning the attack.
• I thought Heracross did well. What's with people saying it's 4x effective? Darkrai is only a Dark Type. You can't really say it's 4x effective even though each of its types are both 2x effective...
• Poor Torkoal...like Cyndaquil (pre-evolution) you'll always be my favorite underdog.
• Sceptile vs. Darkrai was a very good match. I was impressed. People who questioned the OHKO of Leaf Blade...in the games it does have the increased crit chance (blah blah blah anime =/= games). Something to ponder. Plus it kinda got 2 hits in.
• Gible was a pretty interesting choice to me. I love the thing. It's turning into a pretty good battler. Too bad Ash caught it too late in the saga. I wish he'd take it to Isshu.
• IMO Leaf Blade was a poor choice to use against Latios (not for type disadvantages). He should have started with Leaf Storm, because when Giga Impact was ordered, perhaps it could have dodged and actually done something to Latios.
• Once again, I hate that that damn bird was used; however, it was so wonderful seeing it go down so fast. Awesome aerial battle, what? All it did was fly around. Staraptor could have done that, and it probably would have landed a hit!
• Pikachu vs Latios is probably one of my most favorite battles. I don't know if it's because the episode was in Japanese (where far more emotion is put into the anime) or what, but I really felt exhilarated watching this one battle. It felt like I could feel Ash's (or should I refer to him as Satoshi) drive. Say what you will about its battle with Regice, but Pikachu totally and believably defeated Latios. I'm glad it only got that one win against Froslass. Otherwise people would be complaining about its power again.

To your point for Gible, gotta agree with you there. He lasted longer than either Swellow or Torkoal, and managed to actually get a hit on Darkrai. And it dodged it's Ice Beam. It's a shame Ash couldn't use it more.

I'm hoping we get to see it more later on.

Also, I have agree with the Pikachu vs. Latios one as well. Volt Tackle + Iron Tail was an epic combo. I have more faith in what the dub will do, and I can see them keeping the silence that followed the explosion intact.

And yeah, Sceptile getting 2 Leaf Blades on Darkrai, I'd also like to point out that Leaf Blade's power actually increased between gens. Therefore, even in gaming terms, 2 Leaf Blades could have potentially OHKOd Darkrai. I also liked how Sceptile heard Ash in his "Nightmare", woke up and went to business.

edit: another point I want to mention. Notice how the crowd does cheer normally for when Ash's Pokemon get defeated by Darkrai... then the instant Darkrai's defeated, the cheer is just insane (they pan to show the whole stadium to give it that: HOLY CRAP!!! HE DID IT!!!)

Questions:

What did Takuto say to Ash before Sceptile joined the fight? I think that's the most he said in his run.

I'm pretty sure he also said stuff after the battle too.

Are Ash and Takuto going to be fined for blowing up the screens after their battle?

That would be absolutely hilarious.

League Official: Hey, wait up you two...
Ash: ?
Takuto: ??
League Official: Great battle and all... but you destroyed our monitors.
Takuto: Surely your insured for this, right? It would be ridiculous not to be.
League Official: ...oh yeah, guess I should ask.
Ash: Would they really have expected us to pay for damaging something like that?

I wish Ash used Noctowl. While he wouldn't be able to use Extrasensory against Darkrai, at least it wouldn't fall pray to Dark Void. We could have seen more Sky Attack and Air Slash, and maybe a new one.

Same with seeing Quilava again.

In this same topic, Serebii posted a rather valid reason for Swellow being chosen, along with other members of Ash's team: they all had some experience battling legendaries. In Swellow's case, it kept up with Speed Forme Deoxys and managed to get in an Aerial Ace.

Check back on my first post in this topic, it's not too far behind. I quoted it.

I have to say, I loved this episode mostly because of Latios. Never thought Luster Purge would act like a Hyper Beam... but hey, I'm not complaining. Amazing battle.

I'll wait till the dub hits the Sinnoh League before I watch the Ash vs. Paul battle. I do want to see that one, but this one had a bit more of an epic condensation to it; something the writers seem to have a bit of an issue with.

C_L

[Yuko]

The battle itself wasn't very interesting to me - seems they were trying to rush Satoshi's defeat. And please dear god, don't tell me this'll be the start of more legendary trainers to come. I really don't want to see uber/OU users in the anime, too. I've seen enough of that crap in the games.

I loved Pikachu's battle against Latios, though, so for that I'll rate it 6/10.

B-But... Jun is leaving. /SOBS SOBS SOBS

[LexSuicune]

The episode felt indeed pretty rushed.

[Z I L L I O N Z]

If pikachu can tie with a latios, he better not lose to some joke next season.

[Mayfan]

OVERALL: 9/10

Great battle. It was nice to see Sceptile pwn Darkrai, and Pikachu vs. Latios was spectacular too. The only thing that bothered me were the insane amount of OHKOs and the overall briefness of it all. But still, I loved this episode and would definitely watch it again. Especially when it's dubbed into English!

[falchion]

Though to be fair this defeat was expected that he would be hammered even after defeating paul.

just didnt think the defeat would be this severe? Maybe the writers should of let Ash use all his strongest pokemon ??

Sceptile
Charizard
Infernape ( if not too injured?)
Torterra
Snorlax
Pikachu

Even if its not much varied in types go for brute power might of lasted longer will never know.

Torterra LOL You're funny. Torterra was awful ever since it evolved. People only consider it powerful because of its massive size. It's nothing compared to Paul's Torterra. Replace it with Muk, Kingler, Glalie, or Primeape.

[uber gon]

If pikachu can tie with a latios, he better not lose to some joke next season.

He'll probably lose to the new Rattata of the next gen.

[GalladeRocks]

If Pikachu loses to Minezumi, I will kill...somebody. Now, losing to Chillarmy, on the other hand...

Anyway, I just watched the episode, and here's my diagnosis:

• The battle's starting already. At least Barry's not Caramelldansen like last time.
• Exactly how did Takuto catch Darkrai in a Poke Ball? That's almost as messed up as a Whiscash eating a Master Ball.
• Ash picks Heracross. Didn't see that one coming.
• Heracross uses Hyper Beam and Darkrai uses Kamehame-Ha. Somehow, they're evenly matched.
• I knew Sleep Talk would come in handy. That is, if Darkrai didn't give Heracross a heart attack first.
• Hey look, it's Tork-oh wait he's dead already.
• Captain Gible uses LandShark Punch, but Black Darkrai escapes the explosion and kills him. So much for that ending.
• And Sceptile finally appears. I can here the collective squealing of fanboys.
• Sceptile breaks out of Dark Void? This reminds me of Bulbasaur vs. Dusclops back in the Battle Frontier.
• And Sceptile's dea-Wait a cotton-picking second! Darkrai's down! And here I thought that Ash would get swept like dust under the rug.
• By the way, how does Sceptile keep its twig from falling out when its mouth is wide open?
• Great. First a Darkrai that can sweep almost every trainer in the League, and now we've got a Latios that would sweep everyone in the Grand Festival if given the chance. And it's in a Poke Ball too. There's something fishy about Taco, although I do have to give Latios props on its entrance.
• Poor Sceptile. That's why Legendaries and Giga Impact should be banned when used in combination.
• Woohoo! Super Swellow Battle-Cry Time! Latios is in for it now!
• Or not. Didn't Swellow used to be...I don't know, more durable?
• Ooh boy. The hat's been turned. Tiko'd better watch out now.
• Pikachu vs. Latios has just started and it's already the second-best battle of Sinnoh. (Sorry, Pika and Lati, but Infernape and Electivire's swirling vortex of electrical firey doom was just too awesome.)
• Luster Purge: Who knew exploding atomic death could be so pretty?
• Ultra Thunderbolt! I'm suddenly reminded of the Orange Islands Championship...
• Annoying @&# Light Screen, right on cue.
• Volt Tail vs. Luster Purge: One of the single greatest attack collisions ever. Not even the scoreboards could handle the sheer awesomeness.
• Pikachu takes out Latios, even though he falls as well. Congratulations, Ash! You get a great feeling of accomplishment!
• ...And it's official. Tacquito has won the League. Wonder if he'll fight Cynthia.
• Ooh boy, talking! Oh wait, I can't understand them. But I just come for the action anyway.

Overall, I'd rate it the second best battle of Sinnoh, being only barely beaten by the obvious Ash vs. Paul.

[Mythic Mist]

This was the most hilarious episode of Pokemon ever. I hadn't read any spoilers or seen any pics before I saw the episode. When Darkrai went down and LATIOS came out, I burst out laughing. Good show, Pokemon Anime, good show.

[Gipauchii]

Ash should have used all of his strongest Pokemon in the battle. I don't know why Charizard never returned. Although it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Seeing how that Takuto is a legendary noob, Ash would have lost anyway. Did Takuto also have a Lugia or Deoxys as well. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if Mewtwo pooped out of his Pokeball. Using a legendary trainer to rush the ending wasn't the best idea IMO.

[AcethePuma]

This was the most hilarious episode of Pokemon ever. I hadn't read any spoilers or seen any pics before I saw the episode. When Darkrai went down and LATIOS came out, I burst out laughing. Good show, Pokemon Anime, good show.

Lol i also waited for the episode and the moment darkrai went down i thought "hell yeah at least the legendary is down now wait for....WTF? Latios?" then i laughed my *** of and just thought about ash singing why does it always rain on me....

Poor boy

[jolteonjak]

In this same topic, Serebii posted a rather valid reason for Swellow being chosen, along with other members of Ash's team: they all had some experience battling legendaries. In Swellow's case, it kept up with Speed Forme Deoxys and managed to get in an Aerial Ace.

I can admit, I see why Swellow was chosen even though those two episodes (the Deoxys 2-parter) are now two of the few episodes I have yet to see. I just really dislike it.

And LOL at Galladerocks' commentary.

[uber gon]

Wonder what over the top method will be used to beat Ash in the next league? Maybe Arceus could be his opponent.

[Cazak]

Wonder what over the top method will be used to beat Ash in the next league? Maybe Arceus could be his opponent.

I seriously hope they dont go for a legendary battle again in the next league. 1 was pretty much enough. It would be a huge depriciation on poke'mon if every league trainer was shown to caught them.
Ash:OK Now I am all ready for the league.
In the league, a guy comes up who has legendaries
Ash:No way! Not again! I lost the Sinnoh League because of a guy with 2 legendaries, and now I have to fight another legendary trainer, atleast give me a legendary poke'mon if you are just giving them away writers.
EDIT:Though it was a real good episode.

[freedomrise]

I was like many here that went "OMG, THAT'S A CHEAP WAY to get Ash out of the league" when Latios was sent out after Darkrai was defeated. Ash barely used any strategies when he used Torkoal in this battle, but there again, he didn't have any time to think before it was taken down with one hit. Considering the power of this Darkrai, I think the 1st time use of Overheat is the only thing could have blocked out dark pulse.

What Ash did with Swellow is a direct ripoff of what Winoa used against him, did he honestly think it will work? Really? Seems to be Takuto didn't have to use any strategies, because his pokemons are clearly strong enough to rely on pure power.

Let's hope there isn't going to be a battle against a trainer with so many legendaries in the next league. If there is, I hope it's up against Takuto again to 1st, prevent the overuse of legendaries and 2nd, show improvement in Ash's strength and strategy against someone he lost so badly to.

[raz1337]

Torterra LOL You're funny. Torterra was awful ever since it evolved. People only consider it powerful because of its massive size. It's nothing compared to Paul's Torterra. Replace it with Muk, Kingler, Glalie, or Primeape.

Uhh, Kingler, Glalie or Primeape? WTF. Look back at the battle frontier. That was a display of Ash's strongest Pokemon right before Sinnoh. Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Donphan, much?

[Gaiash]

Torterra LOL You're funny. Torterra was awful ever since it evolved. People only consider it powerful because of its massive size. It's nothing compared to Paul's Torterra. Replace it with Muk, Kingler, Glalie, or Primeape.

It's been unlucky to only be sent out against stronger opponents but it has proven that it is powerful. Yes looking at the team you were quoting Bulbasaur would have been a better choice but Torterra's still pretty strong.

[john A.K.A. young LJ]

it was ******** that ash lost to somebody that had legendaries in the sinnoh league

[Locormus]

I was like many here that went "OMG, THAT'S A CHEAP WAY to get Ash out of the league" when Latios was sent out after Darkrai was defeated.

Ash barely used any strategies when he used Torkoal in this battle, but there again, he didn't have any time to think before it was taken down with one hit. Considering the power of this Darkrai, I think the 1st time use of Overheat is the only thing could have blocked out dark pulse.

What Ash did with Swellow is a direct ripoff of what Winoa used against him, did he honestly think it will work? Really? Seems to be Takuto didn't have to use any strategies, because his pokemons are clearly strong enough to rely on pure power.

Let's hope there isn't going to be a battle against a trainer with so many legendaries in the next league. If there is, I hope it's up against Takuto again to 1st, prevent the overuse of legendaries and 2nd, show improvement in Ash's strength and strategy against someone he lost so badly to.

I have to agree, it's a cheap way. But when you look at the sidefactors of it all:

- The Ash vs. Paul story arc ended, and there was no need for DP to go on beyond that, since that was the thing this saga was constructed around. In a sense Ash beating Paul and proving him right was the story and not necessarily Ash trying to become the champion, in contrast with prior seasons.

- Having Ash be the only person to beat several of this guys' pokemon, is a feat none in Sinnoh did. It makes Ash look better then the finalist. Ash is somebody who can defeat legendaries, other people can't. Ash therefore is special.

Ash didn't use much strategy at all this battle, although some of his pokemon have the moves to do so.

Heracross: Used the most strategy out of all of them, and you can tell Ash picked him because of that: Sleep Talk. Ash was expecting Darkrai to make his pokemon fall asleep and he hoped that he could counter it with one pokemon. Or at least with Heracross being his top counter and the rest was chosen as back up with some form of advantage over Darkrai.

Torkoal: No strategy, just Flamethrowering at Darkrai? Ash.. What happened to Counter Shield??? Or just start of with Iron Defence if you're using a defensive pokemon..

Gible: Rock Smash is the move Ash probably picked it for. But Gible itself could've been used far more effectivily in my opinion. I doubt that Darkrai had a move that could've done anything to Gible if it were using Dig. Then Gible could've shot a Draco Meteor from one of his holes while still being covered. Then it could've hit Darkrai again with Rock Smash when it would've let its guard down after dodging the meteors. I don't see Gible winning, but it could've done a lot better then it did. It even dodged Ice Beam on the ground. The best option would've been for it to just use Dig to evade every attack.

Sceptile: No strategy.. at all.. Just pure luck.. Using Leaf Storm while in range for a Leaf Blade? Why would you do that?

Swellow: No move that's good against Darkrai, so I don't know why it was picked. I think it was a decision of the writers to have an air battle between it and Latios. To took four pokemon to battle Darkrai, and then the remainder to battle Latios. Swellow is Ash' fastest pokemon, so it was the obvious choice, but other then that.. It has no strategies to use other then it's maneuverability and colliding head on with stuff. So no wonder why it didn't use any strategy against Latios.

Pikachu did well enough.. Aside from trying to hit Latios head on, just keep on TBolting when somebody uses Light Screen! xD However, that's also why using 'Volt Tail' was such a good way to go. Psychic attacks like Luster Purge do half damage against Steel types. Iron Tail is a Steel type move so it would gain the upperhand in the clash that they had, and it's also combined with a Stab move, and it's physical, making Light Screen useless.

On Takuto's side..

Darkrai relied on it's offence to defend. When this failed it put something to sleep and stole health. That's probably the trick it did throughout Sinnoh. Makes you wonder why nobody has defeated the thing at all.. Nothing with Insomnia was strong enough or something?

Latios didn't rely so much on speed as I thought it would. Well when it went in for direct damage with Giga Impact it did, and nothing could stop it. But it used Luster Purge from a distance. And if something tried to get a special hit in while it was using Giga Impact, it would use Light Screen.

Latios would otherwise pretty much be a bull in a bullfight.. The red cloth would be the special attack like Thunderbolt, while the pokemon it tried to attack is the matador and attacks it. Light Screen would've covered up this moment of frailness. Since Ash only tried to counter Giga Impact with physical moves, there was no need to use it yet.

It would've been like when a train drives towards a car in a collision clash.. The car would be done for while the train has minimal damage.

You see what Takuto did was basically covering up any possibilities of his pokemon getting in a situation where they would lose the upperhand.

Darkrai: Ow you're strong that you can bust through my attacks? Here's something that will shut you up immediatly, regain my health and go on to the next victim!

Latios: You're going to attack me with beams when I want to hit you directly? I'll put up a Light Screen and it wont hurt!

It's been unlucky to only be sent out against stronger opponents but it has proven that it is powerful. Yes looking at the team you were quoting Bulbasaur would have been a better choice but Torterra's still pretty strong.

Agreed.. Torterra doesn't deserve the shower of complaint its getting.. People say that Torkoal was crap and that the battle against Brandon's Registeel redeemed it sort of. Grotle did the exact same thing against this region's frontier leader, and did the best out of all Ash' pokemon against an Elite Four pokemon.

So what if Registeel is a legendary, they're ain't gods as this episode proved, and they are beatable. Rhyperior is was a beast, so what Grotle did was more then enough redeeming, and I think people are just giving the grass turtle a hard time. That or they're putting Brandon over Palmer for some reason.