That instrumental of the first anime's OP when Pikachu was using its Z-Move was just 🤩

Also, more cameos. Tracey is here, when his last appearance was the first episode of Diamond and Pearl. So are some of the trainers Ash fought at the Hoenn Pokemon League, Professor Birch, and Drew and Harley, some of the Pokemon coordinators from the Ruby & Sapphire anime. There was the suspicious absence of a certain bandana-wearing girl and her bespectacled brother, but they'll probably wait until the semi-finals or the finals before showing Ash's most notable partners.

Hope they show them since they are the ones that haven't had a reunion cameo yet.

I found the first half of the ep a bit slow and boring - but when they cracked out the remixed OP, I will admit, I was grinning. ^__^

Really been that long since Tracey showed up ?

The first JP OP is such a classic

I'm just hoping they'd show him in ash's next match and that the author didn't forget 'bout him.

bro just tried to dodge a z move lmao, imagine you gave up mega evolution and dynamax to use z move but your opponent just simply dodges it

Pikachu finishing off Metagross with Iron tail is a nice nod to Pikachu finishing off Alain's Metagross with Iron tail in the Kalos series

yeah even in game z move cannot miss. todays pokemon is more consistent with the rules the same as in the game.

Not necessarily . Pikachu defeated Electrivire with motor drive ability with a electric type Z move .In the game ,it wouldn't work

No surprise Satoshi/Ash was going to win with that plot armor but I was expecting Gengar to be the finisher though.
Also next episode is titled" Koharu/Chole and Eevee- The Mystery of Evolution." Which means it's gonna equal a recap (I think).

Same I thought it will be Gigantamax Gengar with Daigo, Z-move Pikachu with Shirona and Mega Lucario with Dande

it actually make sense I mean he represents alola so it makes sense for him to use his the alola region special z move in the 1st round to show them that he is the champ

We think a like, but now it will be clear Gengar is gonna be in the next battle with Gigantamax and Lucario is gonna mega evolve against Leon

Yeah, which also a given I guess, now that I think about it Pikachu electric move is useless against Garchomp so using Z-move Pikachu was a bad move.

Indeed.

It bypassed Motordrive Ability of Volkner's Electivire and one shotted it too.
I think it also ignores immunity.

I predict Mega Lucario vs Mega Garchomp.

I actually predict him using Mega Lucario with Cynthia to match with her Mega Garchomp. I honestly don't see a way how they'll implement G-Max with Cynthia's battle and I honestly would be sorely disappointed if they do. I originally thought he was going to use G-Max Gengar on Steven but I was utterly surprised that he used Pikachu's Z-move. Which is why I'm wondering if Ash will use G-Max Gengar against Leon's G-Max.

I think Gengar and Dragonite play important roles against Cynthia. Hopefully Dragonite gets the final blow on Mega Garchomp with Gmax-Gengar weakening her.

I still find it hilarious that the ace of almost all the champions have either a pseudo legendary or full evolution while we have Ash with a pikachu.

Well Pikachu is a evolve pokemon soo ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But I hate they keep nerfing pikcachu's electric move pool going from thunder to all the way to electro web as it is.

but I like Electro web, he can use it as a trampoline to jump, or a trap to restrict movement, it just feel more suitable for Ash unpredictable battle style compared to Thunder or Electro ball

It's why I have no problem with electro web because he's so versatile with it.
But I still am a little bit sad that he doesn't have Volt Tackle since that was one of the best moves ever shown in the anime and Ash was quite creative with it at times too. Maybe remove Quick Attack with it, though I sometimes like what he does with quick attack since it's not always used physically. Agh I wish there was 5 moves so he could get volt tackle back somehow!

True.. It's a good fit.

Leon keep changing his charizard move set. Maybe one day Ash would learn from someone how to change move set more freely.

I hope pikachu learn SURF

Can you imagine Pikachu using surf in the anime ? I cannot

Thunder is always there, but they always change the extra electric moves to electro ball, volt tackle now electroweb

Pikachu haven't used thunder in ages . Thunderbolt is always here since Pikachu first learnt it

No, Pikachu doesn't have Thunder anymore. His current moves are: Quick Attack, Iron Tail, Electro Web, and Thunderbolt.

In Hoenn, Thunder got replaced by Volt Tackle
In Unova, Volt Tackle got replaced by Electro Ball
In Alola, Electro Ball got replaced by Electro Web
Thunder is no more.

My favourite was Volt Tackle.

Yep

Pikachu still going struggle and getting damage heavy agaisn't pokemon strong ace. He might need new evolution (not raichu) to keep up with these Ace.

If nxt episodes a recap then Im bloody dissappointed

next eps is about Chloe

Depends if we finally get the conclusion of Eevee's story. Also the episode title just had to be a pun on Eviolite.

no. satoshi is alola champion, so for 1st round he should use Z-move

I expected pikachu since he is the alolla champion he would use a Z-Move

Steven's Metagross definitely has the light metal ability. Normally it shouldn't be faster than Dracovish. Since it predicting moves it kinda makes sense that it is quick.
They should have has Chloe's episode as a one hour special instead of two seperate episode over a span of 2 weeks. But since the next few episodes are pretty much a recaps they have almost three weeks from making the semifinal battles insanely good.

Satoshi as a alola champion, showing everyone the z move is such a emotional moment as the only one who is able to use z move among the 8

They should've shown them after making that move to win for the alolan people

IG 10,000,000 volt still gives goosebumps

Yep

next ep kinda kills tournament immersion. Unless eevee evolves most wont care.

Finals has been a blast bc its more battle focused than the series has been in ages.

Congratulations!
Your Eevee evolved into an Eevee! :P

Well so far all the outcomes have been obvious and if they keep going like that, Ash is on his way to make history as the first and only trainer to defeat Cynthia's Garchomp on screen.

In this battle it showed that while he is stronger, Ash isn't as experienced as the older champions even though he existed before all of them with him struggling against Steven.

I legit wonder if this season is Ash last one as protagonist, because if he becomes the Monarch it would be pointless to have him start a new journey on another region as basically a rookie trainer.

I think it's because of age. All the champs we know (iris exception obviously) reached late teens to adult so maybe ash is still learning more even if he becomes the strongest. It's never impossible for the strongest to lose anyways, so maybe that's when he'll have more experiences just to keep winning and not losing the title. I just hope they make ash age at least starting from when he becomes the strongest champ(btw, if he actually does become the strongest champ)

Iris' best wishes line at the end is a reference for the Pokémon Black and White/Best Wishes, right?

Numerous characters said it throughout BW, it's comparable to the Alola regions "alola" greeting