They really went and ended this subplot on a reference to a movie that aired before half of the audience was even born

Well, one more episode to send Ash off. Let’s see how it goes.

Still one of the best movies imo. Loved it so much growing up.

Also, my feels are NOT ready for next week.

I kinda forgot what happen in the movie.
Some info I checked. The city of "Alto Mare" The girl painting name Bianca with hat and the girl on swing is Latias no hat. The one that gave Ash his first kiss on cheek. lol Latios died in the movie. So the one we see now are different pokemon. Kinda cool the movie is becoming canon.

Cool Ash comanding Latios. I really thought Ash would caught legendary at near end. I don't feel his journey would end even after the last episode. I want a time skip Ash when he age up in his teens for aleast.

Yeah, it is a big letdown that this was brought up with Latias following and needs help and just not catch one of those two legendary pokemon ( ' 3 ' )

Well, it wouldn't be Ash's first kiss there, since his first one is in the movie 2000, the girls that plays Lugia's theme on the ocarina, she gave Ash a kiss too, and we can see Misty getting mad when she does it.

Yeah, it's explained in the Japanese dub that multiple Latios and Latias make the city their home.

Also, thanks to Bianca's Japanese name, we can now say that Kanon is canon.

The Pokemon movies were always canon, excluding the one that take place in the alternate timeline (the 20th movie onwards).

It's time for his 11th birthday at the very least...

Oh shoot... It did feel nostalgic... I remember owning its DVD back in 2002-3, still somewhere up there in the attic... I had a crush on those two bad ass team rocket gals...felt like they were watching me all the time.. 😐

For a moment I thought I should find the DVD and re watch it.. But then I just realized it's just one click away from here, how times have changed.. 😅🥲

Funny enough, something that I learned while researching the movie for this episode: in the Japanese version, Annie and Oakley don’t even mention Team Rocket. They’re independent criminals.

Lol you're right I just confirmed it myself, but funny thing is.. back then I just subconsciously affiliated them with team rocket as a kid, I don't remember them saying it. probably because team rocket was the only main villain in the series, especially the character designs, costumes, hairstyles like Jessie and james. Etc

English Version:
In the present day, Team Rocket agents Annie (ザンナー, Zannā) and Oakley (リオン, Rion) acquire a book detailing the history of Alto Mare, plotting to control the D.M.A. Ash, Misty, and Brock are touring by and see an invisible Latias. Annie and Oakley stalk Latias, disguised as a human girl, trying to capture her using their Espeon and Ariados. Ash and Pikachu come to the rescue, guiding Latias to safety but she vanishes when Ash's back is turned.

Japanese Version:
The Japanese version had a few key differences from the English version.

Annie and Oakley were not affiliated with Team Rocket.
The original Soul Dew may or may not have the soul of a Latios inside it at all. The one that appears after Latios' death still does.
Latios' Japanese voice was not retained in the dub, which opted to use Latias's voice clips instead.
The American version edited out the prologue where Annie and Oakley were reciting the legend of Alto Mare from the book they were about to steal. The prologue is as follows:
A long time ago, Alto Mare was just a small town. One day, an old couple walking along the beach found two unconscious children lying in the sand. They brought the children home and took care of them. But a dark cloud above Alto Mare rained down shards of darkness. Anything these shards touched became dark as well. One shard was about to hit the old couple when the children started to glow and all the shards were destroyed. The children revealed themselves as Latios and Latias. More appeared, one of them carrying the Soul Dew. Their power, combined with the Soul Dew's, shone upon the dark cloud, vanquishing it. In gratitude for their help, the two Latios and Latias gave the Soul Dew to the old couple.

Source: Wikipedia

I wish Ash caught the Latias

This whole series special of 11 episodes is dedicated to the OG fans that kept the show alive. It's called respect and honor.
My generation will pass down the torch to the next generation of new fans to enjoy the second generation of Pokémon.

(25 years being the 1st generation)

It should make almost all the movies canon by now, up to volcanion since they remade the newer ones

Yeah, I think in general that’s the case. There’s nothing saying the movies AREN’T canon.

The only exceptions are the more recent movies which are in a different continuity.

Thats what i said. The movies werent connected til now, except for the newer ones ofcourse. Also, shows Ash was catching some ladies

just like doraemon lol

Well most of us who are all emotional about Ash (The one constant in our lives for the past 2 decades and some years) leaving were alive and going to school at that point.

Curious on how the next episode will go down

Dude what? Movie 5 is iconic. So iconic it was voted Japan’s favorite Pokémon movie last year and they put it in theaters for the first time since 2002. Alto Mare was trending on Japanese twitter for a good few hours, this was a huge moment for the anime.

Didn't know that, but I would have to agree with them. It has a real mystical air to it, same with a lot of the older movies which I love. Side note, love your name

Yeah I know

wasnt it 12 episodes? i swear it was 12

And also the future wife of Ash. Where Liko and Biance from Movie 5 are resemble each other.

AYOOOOOOOOOOOO Movie Bianca!

Shame Latias took off, was hoping she'd stay with Ash until the end. Oh well.

Random thought though, but imagine that hunter vs Tobias. Dude held his own against BOTH Latis as well as the entire gang (sure he had that gun, but like).

Also, was Steelix ALWAYS that fast? Dude has like 30 base speed.

Anyways, 1 more episode to go. My feels aren't ready man...

Me too

dude woulda got clapped by tobias no question they jus had to make bro powerful for the plot

Gonna watch the last episode with friends next week but watching this episode I was surprised it made want to watch movie 5

Yeah this totally feels weird... It's been decades for me lol... Considering the change in animation over the years, might feel weird re watching now.. 😅
But also excited to see my crushes from back then.. The two bad ass rocket gals.. XD

I am glad that I have watched the movie , just because of that I really enjoyed that last scene in the episode

So the latias of the film is still going undercover with the girl appearance after all this time.

i wanna believe this Latias and that Latias are one and the same, in my head it would explain how affectionate that one was to Ash.
And with the newer movies making multiverse a thing in theory Heroes could also be a multiverse Ash during his journey

They aren't the same, because this new Latias didn't trust Ash at all during its first appearance at that lake until the very end of the episode.

HEROES IS CANON HOLY FUCK

I KNOW HA!

*Finishes watching the episode* OuO
*Watches the preview for the next episode* O_O
*Realizes that next episode's the last one* O__O ... *Sniff* ;_;

Are you Greek by any chance?

No. I'm French. OuO

I'm amazed that they just forget where they actually met a latias in the first place, like oh I wonder what kinda home they are going back to wow plus i love how they are using the movies' soundtrack, and we got to see Bianca she's like ash never aging lol

I mean, you could also say that this is them telling us how the movies are actually not canon with these Latios and Latia obviously not knowing Ash or Brock while being the ones from that specific town.

There are multiple Latios and Latias that visit that town. It's confirmed in the movie, and even in this episode, where it shows that the new Latias and Latios from this episode just arrived at that town, but Movie Latias (the one disguised as Bianca) is already there on the swing in the garden.

AHHHHHHH reference to one of my favorite movies lets goooo! One more episode ;-; I'm gonna miss him, I hope they give him the send off he deserves.

Same, it's one of my favorite movies as well. Pokemon movies vary in terms of quality but the one in the early gens were always the most fun ones

Yeah I just watched that movie hours ago and damn it was entertaining

Pikachu showing the levels he build up throughout the region with that iron tail head to head with latios (who is atleast level 50 ),
And seeing him all bruised and battle hardened he is easily 70 level or so and pickachu also .
So he definitely just adjusts himself like gym leader 😂 Pikachu Goku of Pokemon.

I was expecting a throwback to Heroes but something like this being the same Latias and reuniting with Ash, well atleast this makes that movie canon. Let's see how the final send off is soon especially with Team rocket planning to do something huge albeit on their own, can't wait for what sort of coincidence it leads to.

Doesn't it make the movie less canon?
When Latias first appeared it clearly did not know Ash and the same goes For Latios. Brock and Ash also showed no signs of knowing the pokemon.
So if they are the Latios and Latias from the city in the movie, but they don't know Ash and Brock, that means that the movie is not canon at all.

Well, the Latios from the movie died, so there's no way that it's that Latios that appeared in this episode here. There are most likely multiple Latios and Latias that visit that town, and the Latios and Latias that appeared in this episode haven't appeared before.

Actually, in the last scene of the movie were ash and his friends riding on a boat and three eons(2 latias and one latios) were seen flying together, so I'm guessing after latias kissed Ash from the cheek, she transformed back to her form and she's one of the three eons Ash saw. The ending music was playing there and if you didn't hear it through the end, then you must've missed it. It's also high likely that those two who were in this episode were companions of the Latias who can form shape into Bianca.

That's possible, but it's also possible these are 2 completely different Latios and Latias that haven't been seen before, and the town is some sort of Latias/Latios haven or something.