Erin: We burn him.
Dainix: Did somebody call me?
Erin: The Crucible! Why didn’t anybody tell me we have on of those ready to go?! This would have been so much easier. From the start.
Falst and Alinua: 0.0?!
Judging by the penultimate panel, the star metal isn’t working properly. Is it because the sword has been damaged, or some other reason? This is fairly easy, but prediction: Tynan nearly wins and starts gloating only to get done in at the last minute due to THE POWER OF TEAMWORK and magic superpowers.
@ The Registrar
I’m willing to bet that Kendal doesn’t have the necessary soul density to activate it. I get the feeling that Starmetal Mode is gonna be one of those Dangerous Forbidden Techniques TM, because Kendal can barely proc it and likely can’t sustain it too long.
You need fire, eh? Great! I know a guy! He’s already on his way, too!
I feel like I should apologize to Dainix for assuming that he couldn’t help in this battle when it seems like he might be the key to the whole thing. I just didn’t know that “setting fire to the rain” was an actual strategy in this fight. Adele would be so happy.
Ooof! More than the red lettering, I think I can see some of Kendal’s blood spraying out just above his right shoulder! And unlike when Falst cut him, Alinua isn’t right there to help…
Burn him, you say? *looks both ways, whispers* I got a guy.
looks like my prediction that dainix wouldn’t be much use because of the pokemon type effectiveness chart is wrong, which i really should have seen coming, because if there is one thing that is recurring across the arcs of pokemon adventures, its that type disavantages don’t matter (well, matter much less), if your strategy is creative enough.
I don’t think it’s because Kendal-the-Sword is damaged (yet). Whatever’s going on, whatever power Kendal-the-Person is tapping into, it clearly takes a lot of energy to maintain, and even his stamina has its limits against a foe that vastly outranks him. That slash on his arm–we know when’s got accelerated healing (because otherwise he wouldn’t have survived his/Vash’s gut wound long enough for Alinua to find him), but something tells me that that injury isn’t healing as fast as it should be–and the fact that he took it at all (to say nothing of the following moment of hesitation) speaks to the exhaustion he can’t afford to let Tynan see (which, unfortunately, he now has).
That being said, I do anticipate the sword being damaged in some way, given the nature and timing of this battle. And given the Sword Theory, there is some interesting potential for both how it happens and its repercussions…
To Spidey 555:
Again, there’s sometimes a delay between when you post and when the comment shows up–could be a site thing, could be a moderator needs to clear the comment for publication (so you don’t get a paragraph of spam, scams, hate speech, etc. showing up). Wait a bit and check in later–or you can click the link labeled “x number of comments”, because that comment section (which admittedly seems to have an occasional loading error) tends to be more up-to-date then the one here on the main page.
To Goldfinch, Bluefire, TheUnknownGame:
I’m going to admit that I found your comments a little funnier than I probably should have. Thanks for the laugh, even though it means I’m more sleep-deprived than I thought I was.
In general:
Gonna agree with everyone, blood-colored effects are not good, much like flame-colored affects aren’t when your character is a fire elemental in the midst of a literal and mental breakdown (parallels much?). And I’m not sure why I’m disappointed in Tynan for striking Kendal from behind, we all knew that he wasn’t going to fight fair (fear-eating psychopath and all that, or maybe sociopath, I always get the two mixed up). Probably has to do with the fact that it seems most villains in media have at least some sort of personal moral code (hence the existence of the Evil Overlord List), so when you get one like Tynan it stands out. Or maybe I need to expand my field of literature intake. Or get more sleep, I’m pretty sure this is starting to count as a rambling tangent.
And finally, we have Tess experiencing the ‘hammer and nail’ dilemma. I’m sure she’s figure something out.
@The Registrar and @Mat: I think it is due to not being given enough time to concentrate. From the story of the victory over Tynan, we saw that Vash had incapacitated Tynan in order to blast apart the storm. We don’t know how long it took for the start-up of the blast. Kendal is aware of how to defeat Tynan and can be seen each time the star metal glows. Tynan is also aware of this.
Prediction: Kendal is vessel for divine power, but currently lacks any divine soul to power it properly. Like a device running on back up power or a car running on fumes. Tynan’s divine power manifests as lightning, and HE WON’T STOP HITTING KENDAL WITH IT.
@The Registrar agreed, Kendal’s whole fight from the start has really been a contest of stamina, just distracting Tynan’s incarnation long enough for Erin to solve the greater problem of the storm. sometimes when you want to win, you simply can’t do it alone
@Mat perhaps theose soulshaper monks Erin wants to go to can help Kendal activate it? it seems like an order of monks well-versed in the knowledge of souls could help a lot of our Floof Squad; Erin, Kendal, alinua, and now Dainix too.
now that i think of it, perhaps that seventh member of the Floof Squad, as seen in Trope Talks and sketches, the one that appears like a tall and willowy woman, perhaps she is a soulshaper monk of some sort?
i too love these jokes: “fire, you say? i have a cousin—he has skills”
Be sure to verbally burn him as you literally burn him; this guy needs some salt rubbed in his wounds.
Thanks for the exposition Erin, though I kinda figured fire was going to be the main factor in Tynan’s defeat it’s good to have the reason why it will be too. I wonder if Erin knows anything about soulfire.
The gang is all beginning to converge on Tynan and Kendal and the storm god is still distracted with Kendal to notice their other shenanigans; all good news. What’s happening to Kendal’s back, less good news.
Also, in panel 6 there’s a flash of lighting just before Tynan attacks. Did he seriously just do a “teleports behind you” move?
Of course he did. Whether or not he discorporated and reformed in the process is up for debate.
To alolanvulpix:
Maybe think of it as an inverse battle? Though the current situation of Electric resisting Steel is admittedly the default matchup…I’m probably overthinking this.
Something just occurred to me–I’m pretty sure the increasing amount of light we’re seeing spill from Kendal’s eyes and the jewel in his sword’s hilt isn’t actually the power-up we’ve all assumed it to be at this point. At second glance it looks more like he’s starting to burn himself up–not in the way that Dainix was, but in the way of a character who’s dug too deep into their power and in trying to replenish it their body (or worse, their soul (and/or both)) consumes itself. The rest of the Floof Squad better get here quick, because I don’t know how much more Kendal can take before the point of no return, and I’m not sure what’ll happen if he reaches it (relative best case scenario is the sword breaks and has to be reforged, worst is that he (temporary) loses physical form but is still tied to the sword, because we all know that no matter what he is going to somehow survive this, because this isn’t Shadowrun where the protagonist can get killed halfway through the book)
kendal: MY BACK HURTS FROM CARRYING THIS BATTLE
kendal: AND ALSO FROM THE GAPING SLASH WOUND
kendal: WOULD YOU ALL HURRY UP
squad: we’re WORKING on it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Skye: maybe. or maybe it’s a mix of pokemon adventures method of “let’s use science and logic and whatnot to come up with creative stategies” and the pokemon animes method of “let’s break physics when it is convienent for ash to do so.” (i’m comparing the pokemon anime to something that’s actually good, the world is ending)
VBA: i think whats happening is the wind and water magic erin was using earlier will keep things near the ground frozen and continue to freeze the precipitation as it falls close to the ground while he uses fire up high to make the clouds disapate or something like that.
To be fair, from what I’ve seen the anime’s gone downhill the past couple years… Granted, the older seasons were by no means perfect, but I’ve honestly been unable to stomach anything post-Kalos. It’s not the art style, either (though that doesn’t help)- Alola shifted from tonal extremes at the drop of a hat (without even handling the darker themes properly in some cases), and by the time Journeys rolled around they were breaking canon in addition to logic…And if I’m going to be honest, Goh is…not great as a protagonist. I’m not sure he’s really who we want as the face of the franchise, given his thing is ‘gotta catch them all’, and even though that was the franchise catchphrase a lot of the themes were about friendship, hard work, found family, etc. Yeah, Ash never caught them all, but he at least bonded with his Mons and tried to do what was best for them. Goh’s, from what I’ve seen, are generally episodic. (I mean, yeah, Kris from the manga was much the same, but she had a dedicated team she was close to, including one who was special-needs.) I dunno, I guess I’m just one of those people who feels that the recent influence creep of PoGo isn’t necessary a good thing, even if that’s how a lot of people are being introduced to the franchise these days.
Skye: the only part of the anime that was ever even passable for me was the kalos arcs. the lack of overarching story combined with ash never getting character development made the anime always feel less like show and more like a youtube complitation of a kid making stupid decisions. journeys is honestly not that bad for me, at least not worse than others, this mostly because while journeys lacks a lot, the traveling around the world opposed to just one region helps the pokemon world feel like an actual world rather than a collection of pocket dimensions.
To be fair, Ash is only ten, and the show was aimed at kids around that age–and as they keep soft-resetting with each generation to hook a new crop of fans, it does make it harder for the older ones, because from a more experienced set of eyes a lot of the decisions made do seem illogical. It’s why a lot of people want a secondary anime series more in line with the Adventures manga, so they can get the more mature plots–and I definitely can see where they’re coming from. I’ve always been partial to the Sinnoh seasons because they started to explore that potential–Kalos did a very nice job with it, as well. And the older seasons admittedly have their nostalgia factor–but there’s also something there that the post-Kalos ones in my opinion just don’t have. And yeah, the badge quest being the “main” plot and the general episodic (with a the occasional two- and three- partner not related to tourneys) formula does at times make it feel less interconnected, but at the same time, there is a sense of coherency even if you feel like skipping around a bit. And I like the focus on a region, admittedly, at the local flavor we get to see–Journeys may focus on world-hopping, but how well do we really get to know a place before moving on? I mean, part of the problem is that the anime was made to advertise the games, and as such there isn’t generally much done to show how the regions interact, aside from the occasional callback or historical tidbit to serve the plot-of-the-day, but I think part of that also might be because that’s because this is a world made for kids to dream in, and what kid wants to spend that time dealing with world economics and global politics? That’s the adult’s domain, and childhood is fleeting. The logistics can wait until tomorrow.
But then, I may also be biased. I learned to tell stories through Pokemon fanfic, so knowing a setting was helpful for me, because I could look at it from a set of eyes who saw what others didn’t, and make the established world new.
(And it admittedly gives me a a chance to ignore when they go all out into farce. I’m sorry, but your solution to Ultra Beasts is to turn Ash and Co into ripoff Power Rangers, despite the fact that this would logically fall under jurisdiction of the actual Pokemon Rangers, and especially when their previously-unheard of extra dimensional counterparts a) exist and b) are outclassed by the UB in question? Chosen One status aside, that’s sheer stupidity given both their ages and the fact that Ash has apparently mentally regressed beyond even where he was in his debut season. Also the League thing, but this really isn’t the time and place for getting into that one )
Skye: the “ash is ten” explanation does explain his behavior . . . until i compare him to my younger brother, who is 10, and two of my cousins, who are 5, and ash’s behavior is a whole lot more similar to the 5 year olds than the 10 year old.
i have heard the people on the internet talking about wanting a more mature anime, and i agree with them. the current anime is okay for luring kids into the franchise, but older fans would definitely perfer something more mature.
i agree with you that spending an extended amount of time in a region helps you to get to know the region in more depth, and part of my prefence for the journeys style of doing this is i’m just biased because ash currently has my dream job. I want to be paid to travel the world and do science stuff thats about pokemon. that would basically paradise for me.
going off your chosen one comment something from the anime’s movies in particular that always irks me is that ash seems to be the chosen one for EVERYTHING and it gets old really quick.
alolanvulpix and Skye: I agree – Pokemon’s sort of tripped itself up with how old it is. Not only does it have to cater to the older fanbase (who has more buying power and is the main fandom) they also have to cater to the younger fanbase (who doesn’t know a lot but will turn into the older fanbase). IMO, a lot of people have dropped of the Pokemon train already – too much focus on the young fanbase, not enough on the old. I know I have, and I’m not even that old. Also, Ash is 10. I’m barely a few years ahead of that and I can remember myself going “yeah no you’re being an absolute idiot here”. Pokemon has such a big world that they could probably split each of them off and focus on them individually for the older fanbase, returning to older regions and showing how they’ve changed while continuing the anime to cultivate more young fans. Of course, take this all with a grain of salt – I’m no smart person.
Everyone else is talking about Pokemon; meanwhile I’m one of three people for whom nearly all of it is flying over my head. Fire can beat water, elemental strengths and weaknesses don’t really apply in Aurora as they do in Pokemon and other element-based games. That’s my takeaway from this.
Not disagreeing there–When I say “Ash is ten”, I’m referring to the older seasons–Kanto and Johto, and Orange Islands if you count that one. It’s admittedly been a while since I was that age, but I’m sure a lot of the decisions made by various characters seemed a lot more logical then (though you ought to have to have a few moments of characters being stupid so kids can feel good about being smarter than that). Of course, what really stings about the Alolan reset isn’t just that he acts at best like he’s six–it’s that they regressed him so far after Kalos, where he actually seemed like a more mature (and older) character. The gradual design shift over the seasons post-Hoenn helped with that, as did the voice recast during Battle Frontier–which of course backfired with Alola because I’m sorry, that dub voice and that character design are uncanny as frick together.
I wonder if canonically the ‘Chosen One’ thing can be blamed on Arceus–time paradoxes and all that. Franchise-wise it’s because having Ash either predestined for or happening to stumble into every major film plot makes it easier to set up films to promote and/or tease new Pokemon and games (Though Temple of the Sea–which is in my top five so I’m not hating on it, mind–still irks me a little since it’s Ash who saves everything despite it being May’s story and it being titled *Pokemon Ranger* and the Temple of the Sea–Aside from kicking off the plot Jackie doesn’t really seem to get to do much…)
I’m gonna admit, if I could be a travelling Pokemon Prof, I’d probably be doing that, too. Or working as a breeder, maybe. Something involving Pokemon, most likely. (Though I wouldn’t rule out storm chasing, still–would certainly be interesting with a full team.)
Honestly, I’m kinda falling out of the franchise, too –I’m pretty busy, the anime is no longer to my taste so it’s really the games and the fics–my own stories included–that are keeping me involved (and admittedly the occasional collectable). Mostly the spinoffs, too–I’m hoping that Scarlet and Violet will be better than Sword and Shield, but I’m not holding my breath. (Still haven’t bought the expansions, despite the fact I would need to to keep the Dex complete). The recent uptick in pay-to-play isn’t helping, either… The need to pay for stuff that was free in earlier gens (aka anything online) is kind of a turn-off.
If they do start catering to the older fans more, I hope we can get more stuff involving the Orre games. An anime based on that’d be pretty sick. Also some games that are actually challenging–Arceus is great, I’m definitely enjoying it (haven’t cleared the game, no spoilers post-Electrode please), but I’d love something difficult without either being overly ridiculously difficult or having a ridiculous difficulty spike after an easy rest of the game (sorry, Super PMD, looking at you in the latter case)
Oh erin i love the one liner
Oh no, good thing Ali is finally moving towards the fight again. Looks like Kendal will really need her.
Tynan is knocking him down whenever he gets firey
Burning works well, huh?
Good thing we have Dainix to
help put out the storm.
jeez Kendal’s back really cant catch a break
Erin: We burn him.
Dainix: Did somebody call me?
Erin: The Crucible! Why didn’t anybody tell me we have on of those ready to go?! This would have been so much easier. From the start.
Falst and Alinua: 0.0?!
*one of those ready to go
Judging by the penultimate panel, the star metal isn’t working properly. Is it because the sword has been damaged, or some other reason? This is fairly easy, but prediction: Tynan nearly wins and starts gloating only to get done in at the last minute due to THE POWER OF TEAMWORK and magic superpowers.
aw man red text sound, that’s never good
Happy passover, people!
@ The Registrar
I’m willing to bet that Kendal doesn’t have the necessary soul density to activate it. I get the feeling that Starmetal Mode is gonna be one of those Dangerous Forbidden Techniques TM, because Kendal can barely proc it and likely can’t sustain it too long.
TL;DR: It seems sword boy needs help. It also seems nerd boy is convinced that arson is the help he needs.
I live the use of logical weaknesses in this chapter!
Again, why are my comments not showing up…
You need fire, eh? Great! I know a guy! He’s already on his way, too!
I feel like I should apologize to Dainix for assuming that he couldn’t help in this battle when it seems like he might be the key to the whole thing. I just didn’t know that “setting fire to the rain” was an actual strategy in this fight. Adele would be so happy.
The dialogue on this page confirms that the wheel exists in the Auroraverse. Now, if you’ll bear with me to the next slide…
Even in a magical world, even if it is a god and if his focus is some natural event or thing, it has to follow some natural laws.
I love it.
Ah, a sound effect in blood-red text. That’s always a good sign.
Ooof! More than the red lettering, I think I can see some of Kendal’s blood spraying out just above his right shoulder! And unlike when Falst cut him, Alinua isn’t right there to help…
Burn him, you say? *looks both ways, whispers* I got a guy.
Yes yes Erin I went to elementary school I know how the water cycle works
looks like my prediction that dainix wouldn’t be much use because of the pokemon type effectiveness chart is wrong, which i really should have seen coming, because if there is one thing that is recurring across the arcs of pokemon adventures, its that type disavantages don’t matter (well, matter much less), if your strategy is creative enough.
“Oh no, meteorology! My one weakness!”
—Tynan, probably
alt text:
fantasy weather: it works like real weather unless it would be more interesting otherwise
To The Registrar:
I don’t think it’s because Kendal-the-Sword is damaged (yet). Whatever’s going on, whatever power Kendal-the-Person is tapping into, it clearly takes a lot of energy to maintain, and even his stamina has its limits against a foe that vastly outranks him. That slash on his arm–we know when’s got accelerated healing (because otherwise he wouldn’t have survived his/Vash’s gut wound long enough for Alinua to find him), but something tells me that that injury isn’t healing as fast as it should be–and the fact that he took it at all (to say nothing of the following moment of hesitation) speaks to the exhaustion he can’t afford to let Tynan see (which, unfortunately, he now has).
That being said, I do anticipate the sword being damaged in some way, given the nature and timing of this battle. And given the Sword Theory, there is some interesting potential for both how it happens and its repercussions…
To Spidey 555:
Again, there’s sometimes a delay between when you post and when the comment shows up–could be a site thing, could be a moderator needs to clear the comment for publication (so you don’t get a paragraph of spam, scams, hate speech, etc. showing up). Wait a bit and check in later–or you can click the link labeled “x number of comments”, because that comment section (which admittedly seems to have an occasional loading error) tends to be more up-to-date then the one here on the main page.
To Goldfinch, Bluefire, TheUnknownGame:
I’m going to admit that I found your comments a little funnier than I probably should have. Thanks for the laugh, even though it means I’m more sleep-deprived than I thought I was.
In general:
Gonna agree with everyone, blood-colored effects are not good, much like flame-colored affects aren’t when your character is a fire elemental in the midst of a literal and mental breakdown (parallels much?). And I’m not sure why I’m disappointed in Tynan for striking Kendal from behind, we all knew that he wasn’t going to fight fair (fear-eating psychopath and all that, or maybe sociopath, I always get the two mixed up). Probably has to do with the fact that it seems most villains in media have at least some sort of personal moral code (hence the existence of the Evil Overlord List), so when you get one like Tynan it stands out. Or maybe I need to expand my field of literature intake. Or get more sleep, I’m pretty sure this is starting to count as a rambling tangent.
And finally, we have Tess experiencing the ‘hammer and nail’ dilemma. I’m sure she’s figure something out.
@The Registrar and @Mat: I think it is due to not being given enough time to concentrate. From the story of the victory over Tynan, we saw that Vash had incapacitated Tynan in order to blast apart the storm. We don’t know how long it took for the start-up of the blast. Kendal is aware of how to defeat Tynan and can be seen each time the star metal glows. Tynan is also aware of this.
Prediction: Kendal is vessel for divine power, but currently lacks any divine soul to power it properly. Like a device running on back up power or a car running on fumes. Tynan’s divine power manifests as lightning, and HE WON’T STOP HITTING KENDAL WITH IT.
@The Registrar agreed, Kendal’s whole fight from the start has really been a contest of stamina, just distracting Tynan’s incarnation long enough for Erin to solve the greater problem of the storm. sometimes when you want to win, you simply can’t do it alone
@Mat perhaps theose soulshaper monks Erin wants to go to can help Kendal activate it? it seems like an order of monks well-versed in the knowledge of souls could help a lot of our Floof Squad; Erin, Kendal, alinua, and now Dainix too.
now that i think of it, perhaps that seventh member of the Floof Squad, as seen in Trope Talks and sketches, the one that appears like a tall and willowy woman, perhaps she is a soulshaper monk of some sort?
i too love these jokes: “fire, you say? i have a cousin—he has skills”
Be sure to verbally burn him as you literally burn him; this guy needs some salt rubbed in his wounds.
Thanks for the exposition Erin, though I kinda figured fire was going to be the main factor in Tynan’s defeat it’s good to have the reason why it will be too. I wonder if Erin knows anything about soulfire.
The gang is all beginning to converge on Tynan and Kendal and the storm god is still distracted with Kendal to notice their other shenanigans; all good news. What’s happening to Kendal’s back, less good news.
Also, in panel 6 there’s a flash of lighting just before Tynan attacks. Did he seriously just do a “teleports behind you” move?
Did Kendall turn around from the force of the attack he blocked or did Tynian teleport behind Kendal “nothing-personal” style?
To Evil Tree:
Of course he did. Whether or not he discorporated and reformed in the process is up for debate.
To alolanvulpix:
Maybe think of it as an inverse battle? Though the current situation of Electric resisting Steel is admittedly the default matchup…I’m probably overthinking this.
Something just occurred to me–I’m pretty sure the increasing amount of light we’re seeing spill from Kendal’s eyes and the jewel in his sword’s hilt isn’t actually the power-up we’ve all assumed it to be at this point. At second glance it looks more like he’s starting to burn himself up–not in the way that Dainix was, but in the way of a character who’s dug too deep into their power and in trying to replenish it their body (or worse, their soul (and/or both)) consumes itself. The rest of the Floof Squad better get here quick, because I don’t know how much more Kendal can take before the point of no return, and I’m not sure what’ll happen if he reaches it (relative best case scenario is the sword breaks and has to be reforged, worst is that he (temporary) loses physical form but is still tied to the sword, because we all know that no matter what he is going to somehow survive this, because this isn’t Shadowrun where the protagonist can get killed halfway through the book)
Just before darkest hour…
Arson. the solution is Arson.
there have been to date a total of 27734 comments.
kendal: MY BACK HURTS FROM CARRYING THIS BATTLE
kendal: AND ALSO FROM THE GAPING SLASH WOUND
kendal: WOULD YOU ALL HURRY UP
squad: we’re WORKING on it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“In order to stop the flooding, i turned the rain into snow”
Yeah, got it.
“So now i’m going to heat it back up with fire”
…wait Won’t that unmelt the snow?
i think i’m missing something here.
Skye: maybe. or maybe it’s a mix of pokemon adventures method of “let’s use science and logic and whatnot to come up with creative stategies” and the pokemon animes method of “let’s break physics when it is convienent for ash to do so.” (i’m comparing the pokemon anime to something that’s actually good, the world is ending)
VBA: i think whats happening is the wind and water magic erin was using earlier will keep things near the ground frozen and continue to freeze the precipitation as it falls close to the ground while he uses fire up high to make the clouds disapate or something like that.
Dainix TIME
Let’s GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
To alolanvulpix:
To be fair, from what I’ve seen the anime’s gone downhill the past couple years… Granted, the older seasons were by no means perfect, but I’ve honestly been unable to stomach anything post-Kalos. It’s not the art style, either (though that doesn’t help)- Alola shifted from tonal extremes at the drop of a hat (without even handling the darker themes properly in some cases), and by the time Journeys rolled around they were breaking canon in addition to logic…And if I’m going to be honest, Goh is…not great as a protagonist. I’m not sure he’s really who we want as the face of the franchise, given his thing is ‘gotta catch them all’, and even though that was the franchise catchphrase a lot of the themes were about friendship, hard work, found family, etc. Yeah, Ash never caught them all, but he at least bonded with his Mons and tried to do what was best for them. Goh’s, from what I’ve seen, are generally episodic. (I mean, yeah, Kris from the manga was much the same, but she had a dedicated team she was close to, including one who was special-needs.) I dunno, I guess I’m just one of those people who feels that the recent influence creep of PoGo isn’t necessary a good thing, even if that’s how a lot of people are being introduced to the franchise these days.
FIREBALL
Another story that reminds us, if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate.
“Allan? It’s the Royal Society Of Chemistry—they’d like their joke back!”
Skye: the only part of the anime that was ever even passable for me was the kalos arcs. the lack of overarching story combined with ash never getting character development made the anime always feel less like show and more like a youtube complitation of a kid making stupid decisions. journeys is honestly not that bad for me, at least not worse than others, this mostly because while journeys lacks a lot, the traveling around the world opposed to just one region helps the pokemon world feel like an actual world rather than a collection of pocket dimensions.
I love how everybodies solution to tynan is just fire. Dainix will burn the body, while erin burns the storm.
To alolanvulpix:
To be fair, Ash is only ten, and the show was aimed at kids around that age–and as they keep soft-resetting with each generation to hook a new crop of fans, it does make it harder for the older ones, because from a more experienced set of eyes a lot of the decisions made do seem illogical. It’s why a lot of people want a secondary anime series more in line with the Adventures manga, so they can get the more mature plots–and I definitely can see where they’re coming from. I’ve always been partial to the Sinnoh seasons because they started to explore that potential–Kalos did a very nice job with it, as well. And the older seasons admittedly have their nostalgia factor–but there’s also something there that the post-Kalos ones in my opinion just don’t have. And yeah, the badge quest being the “main” plot and the general episodic (with a the occasional two- and three- partner not related to tourneys) formula does at times make it feel less interconnected, but at the same time, there is a sense of coherency even if you feel like skipping around a bit. And I like the focus on a region, admittedly, at the local flavor we get to see–Journeys may focus on world-hopping, but how well do we really get to know a place before moving on? I mean, part of the problem is that the anime was made to advertise the games, and as such there isn’t generally much done to show how the regions interact, aside from the occasional callback or historical tidbit to serve the plot-of-the-day, but I think part of that also might be because that’s because this is a world made for kids to dream in, and what kid wants to spend that time dealing with world economics and global politics? That’s the adult’s domain, and childhood is fleeting. The logistics can wait until tomorrow.
But then, I may also be biased. I learned to tell stories through Pokemon fanfic, so knowing a setting was helpful for me, because I could look at it from a set of eyes who saw what others didn’t, and make the established world new.
(And it admittedly gives me a a chance to ignore when they go all out into farce. I’m sorry, but your solution to Ultra Beasts is to turn Ash and Co into ripoff Power Rangers, despite the fact that this would logically fall under jurisdiction of the actual Pokemon Rangers, and especially when their previously-unheard of extra dimensional counterparts a) exist and b) are outclassed by the UB in question? Chosen One status aside, that’s sheer stupidity given both their ages and the fact that Ash has apparently mentally regressed beyond even where he was in his debut season. Also the League thing, but this really isn’t the time and place for getting into that one )
Skye: the “ash is ten” explanation does explain his behavior . . . until i compare him to my younger brother, who is 10, and two of my cousins, who are 5, and ash’s behavior is a whole lot more similar to the 5 year olds than the 10 year old.
i have heard the people on the internet talking about wanting a more mature anime, and i agree with them. the current anime is okay for luring kids into the franchise, but older fans would definitely perfer something more mature.
i agree with you that spending an extended amount of time in a region helps you to get to know the region in more depth, and part of my prefence for the journeys style of doing this is i’m just biased because ash currently has my dream job. I want to be paid to travel the world and do science stuff thats about pokemon. that would basically paradise for me.
going off your chosen one comment something from the anime’s movies in particular that always irks me is that ash seems to be the chosen one for EVERYTHING and it gets old really quick.
alolanvulpix and Skye: I agree – Pokemon’s sort of tripped itself up with how old it is. Not only does it have to cater to the older fanbase (who has more buying power and is the main fandom) they also have to cater to the younger fanbase (who doesn’t know a lot but will turn into the older fanbase). IMO, a lot of people have dropped of the Pokemon train already – too much focus on the young fanbase, not enough on the old. I know I have, and I’m not even that old. Also, Ash is 10. I’m barely a few years ahead of that and I can remember myself going “yeah no you’re being an absolute idiot here”. Pokemon has such a big world that they could probably split each of them off and focus on them individually for the older fanbase, returning to older regions and showing how they’ve changed while continuing the anime to cultivate more young fans. Of course, take this all with a grain of salt – I’m no smart person.
Everyone else is talking about Pokemon; meanwhile I’m one of three people for whom nearly all of it is flying over my head. Fire can beat water, elemental strengths and weaknesses don’t really apply in Aurora as they do in Pokemon and other element-based games. That’s my takeaway from this.
To alolanvulpix, StealthOfAir:
Not disagreeing there–When I say “Ash is ten”, I’m referring to the older seasons–Kanto and Johto, and Orange Islands if you count that one. It’s admittedly been a while since I was that age, but I’m sure a lot of the decisions made by various characters seemed a lot more logical then (though you ought to have to have a few moments of characters being stupid so kids can feel good about being smarter than that). Of course, what really stings about the Alolan reset isn’t just that he acts at best like he’s six–it’s that they regressed him so far after Kalos, where he actually seemed like a more mature (and older) character. The gradual design shift over the seasons post-Hoenn helped with that, as did the voice recast during Battle Frontier–which of course backfired with Alola because I’m sorry, that dub voice and that character design are uncanny as frick together.
I wonder if canonically the ‘Chosen One’ thing can be blamed on Arceus–time paradoxes and all that. Franchise-wise it’s because having Ash either predestined for or happening to stumble into every major film plot makes it easier to set up films to promote and/or tease new Pokemon and games (Though Temple of the Sea–which is in my top five so I’m not hating on it, mind–still irks me a little since it’s Ash who saves everything despite it being May’s story and it being titled *Pokemon Ranger* and the Temple of the Sea–Aside from kicking off the plot Jackie doesn’t really seem to get to do much…)
I’m gonna admit, if I could be a travelling Pokemon Prof, I’d probably be doing that, too. Or working as a breeder, maybe. Something involving Pokemon, most likely. (Though I wouldn’t rule out storm chasing, still–would certainly be interesting with a full team.)
Honestly, I’m kinda falling out of the franchise, too –I’m pretty busy, the anime is no longer to my taste so it’s really the games and the fics–my own stories included–that are keeping me involved (and admittedly the occasional collectable). Mostly the spinoffs, too–I’m hoping that Scarlet and Violet will be better than Sword and Shield, but I’m not holding my breath. (Still haven’t bought the expansions, despite the fact I would need to to keep the Dex complete). The recent uptick in pay-to-play isn’t helping, either… The need to pay for stuff that was free in earlier gens (aka anything online) is kind of a turn-off.
If they do start catering to the older fans more, I hope we can get more stuff involving the Orre games. An anime based on that’d be pretty sick. Also some games that are actually challenging–Arceus is great, I’m definitely enjoying it (haven’t cleared the game, no spoilers post-Electrode please), but I’d love something difficult without either being overly ridiculously difficult or having a ridiculous difficulty spike after an easy rest of the game (sorry, Super PMD, looking at you in the latter case)
@Bluefire
the TL;DR today made me laugh out loud.
Arson humor is the best humor.
I meant “love” instead of “live” in my first comment.
Looks like Tynan has Raiden’s teleportation ability.
Nice touch.
I always loved this scene.
do you know what i realized when a character (more specifically erin) there eyes glow in the colour of th kind of power
Don’t you just hate it when you keep dropping Searing Smite because some jerk of is focusing you? SMH