JN109: Aim For The Eight! / VS Kibana! Battle for Masters Eight!!
hmmm. so the issue i have with these battles i think is that at these high level ones it tends to just conculde with big ultra powerful moves or whatever and thats kinda boring to me. like, raihan's last two went out so fast. and lucario did like, one thing. flygon and figuring out how to deal with it was the most interesting part of this. and gengar has one of the most versatile gigantamaxes- others just kind of hang out and be large, don't they? anyway HEY ALAIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE??
also. point of note. why do they refuse to acknowledge ash as the champion of alola during this whole shebang? or at least the winner of the manalo conference, especially since they're acknowledging alain as the winner of the lumiose conference. it's no surprise that the alolan champion would be zoomin up through the ranks like this. he's not a nobody!!!
JN110: Narrowing the Chaser Chase! / The Battle Royale of Betrayal!
oh oof that was hard. that was very hard for goh. and though the two tokens for second mattered in the end, it wasn't at all a relief.
JN111: The Homecoming Crown! / Mohn and Lilie, Snowfield Reunion
ohhhh the pacing and emotion of this ep was on point. very very strange thing to be happening of course but yknow, pokemon. i cried when lusamine did aaaa. very weird that theyre apparently just going to keep calling this thing lillie though. and that they put it in a beast ball. something feels real weird bout both of those things
JN112: Helping the Hometown Hero! / A Triumphant Return! The Alola Champion!!
i cry i cry so much. this is ash's home, this is his true home, he's not ash from pallet town anymore he's ash from melemele island. he's alola's champion and alola's child and kukui is his dad and there's no way ash can be anything else anymore. this is where he belongs, he belongs to alola and its people and they belong to him. also this was the most interesting battle there's been in a while here
side note: fucked up that gladion is using his new sister in a champion-level match with only a few days of training. whose idea was that. who let that happen.
JN113: Chasing to the Finish! / The Last Mission! Catch Regieleki and Regidorago!!
yoooo that was neat!! goh going without ash was a changeup, but i loved the way theyre featuring gary even more. of course it'd be gary and tokio and goh to get in :)
JN114: Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit! / Training Battle of Flames! Satoshi VS Shinji!!
PAUL PAUL PAUL!!!! ohhhh its so nice to see everyone. and paul being asked to be a gym leader and then deliberately teaching ash a specific lesson that he needs- ohhh he'll be good. i dont know about this whole "infernape listens to paul' bullshit tho like the ENTIRETY of sinnoh was about the trauma paul caused him sooooo. unless they have for some reason been meeting up with the express purpose of repairing their relationship for some time now that's.... that ain't it. good to see delia too!! ash has spent more time with his alolan family this series than with his biological mom.
JN115: Curtain Up! Fight the Fights! / Opening! Masters Tournament!!
AYYYY FINALLY WE MEET HOP! not sure what he thought was gonna happen upon challenging ash but i do like these three in the stands together. and hey! they started acknowledging ash as the champion of alola! nice! ... along with that comes the realization that I have been not very observant and have not in fact noticed that this is the champions of the eight regions, but with an extra slot for alain allowed by lance's dual position. well! ain't that cool. rocket costumes are absolutely wildin. also the scene of ash and iris bursting into the greenroom with childlike energy only to be faced with adults theyve known to be the best of the best for a long time.... good moment.
JN116: Pride of a Champion! / Champions' Pride! Wataru VS Carne!!
RITCHIE?? of all people to show up briefly!! huh.
jessie getting so excited over gourgeist is so sweet 🥺 this battle was uh. boring. neat to see lance choose dynamax i guess. and i love that ash really is just like "yeah i know all these champions! we hung out". he really is special.
JN117: The Fiery Road to Mastership! / VS Shirona! Iris's Road to Dragon Master!!
ohhh i cry. i cry every time i see everyone watching at home. would it feel as much like a final farewell if i didn't know ash was leaving the anime? how long did they know that, and how long have they been writing for it? it feels like this whole series, in retrospect.
team rocket rooting for iris and celebrating her, i cry there too. and iris crying. i really wish characters would give each other a hug in moments like that.
a much more interesting battle overall, but the main focus was of course the last matchup and it showed.
JN118: Battling as Hard as Stone! / Satoshi Goes into Battle! VS Daigo!!
i love the various cheer squads so much ;; rockets and kids in the stands and everyone at home!! i still think these battles are uhhh surprisingly boring for the most part. but! THEY PLAYED MEZASE POKEMON MASTER OHHHHH HOW CAN THEY DO THAT THAT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!!!
im still 5 behind but thats fine because it works out so that the entire semifinals block can be together! nice!