Discover Top Posts Tagged with #sm109

I don’t think anyone expected Pikachu to be used against and succeed so well against a Ground-type specialist like Hapu. Especially when he was already defeated by her Goloog before she and Satoshi even formally met. I get the message behind it and what they wanted to convey. The episode was about not just Hapu’s inauguration as an Island Queen but subtly Satoshi and Pikachu’s bond in a more battle-related light. Hapu said she would be fighting with her partner Pokemon, Banbadoro. It would be very easy to counter with Mukuroh as Kaki already noted. Satoshi chose Pikachu because he’s putting full faith in his most precious partner Pokemon like how Hapu does throughout the battle with her own Pokemon. Satoshi has been a catalyst toward Hapu’s development throughout the Poni arc. and using Pikachu who she commented twice already as being a gutsy choice was the most fitting way to wrap this up. It wasn’t just a Pokemon vs. Pokemon battle. It was trainer / Pokemon vs. trainer / Pokemon.

Hapu was extremely impressed by the innovation Satoshi and Pikachu brought as a team to her battle, from using Electro Web to save Pikachu from a Z-Move KO, to the usage of the surrounding seawater and terrain for a makeshift Soak attack (which Satoshi was inspired by while ironically enough playing and enjoying time with Pikachu), to using Quick Attack to maneuver around the field. The inability to use Electric-type moves also added the tension of putting Pikachu in an unfavorable position right from the start while allowing Hapu the opportunity gain control of the affair rather quickly. The entire match would have been too easy with Mukuroh’s being able to easily avoid ground-based attacks, a type advantage and a wide array of attacks to take the horse down and Mukuroh has nothing to prove. Pikachu does. This fight allows Hapu to fully respect and understand Satoshi’s ways as a trainer. It was only fitting that Satoshi finish this trial with the very first Z-Move he had ever performed, GigaVolt Havoc alongside his starter and partner Pokemon.

The reward scene seals it, Satoshi allows Pikachu the agency of having a voice in what Z-Crystal he’ll be claiming from Hapu. He picks out the Steelium-Z, this means that Pikachu has a Z-Crystal for each of his moves. Electrium-Z, Satopika-Z, Normalium-Z and now the Steelium-Z and he was naturally able to play a role in the earning of each of these new crystals that function for his entire move set. The Poni arc. was about each of the classmates and their Pokemon working together through their struggles and developing in their own way. Kaki/Lizardon surpassing their former selves, Suiren/Ashimari evolving and gaining more resolve, Mamane/Denjimushi evolving and Mamane being brave, Mao finally confronting her deceased mother with Amajo, Lillie/Gladion working alongside their Pokemon and discussing their damaged family network and missing father, Hapu opening up, learning and fighting to protect her friends. Satoshi and Pikachu ending the arc. on such a strong victory and communicating their relationship in an honest way through their actions made this episode a perfect one for me.

The episode manages to convey itself well with both Hapu and Satoshi testing one another alongside their Pokemon. It does so without undermining Hapu’s own strength as a newly-appointed Island Queen too. It wasn’t just about the battle, it was about the storytelling behind and around and leading up to the battle through the arc. itself which gave the battle a good amount of weight and worth outside of just another generic throwaway fight. Look at the past episodes, we have “Lychee’s Grand Trial! The Hardest Pokemon Match!!” “Will the Z-Move Work! Challenge the Grand Trial!!” “Kuchanashi’s Grand Trial! Lugarugan Awakens!!” I understand now why this episode was called, “An Island Queen is Born! Satoshi’s Grand Trial!!” because it was a trial of not just Hapu seeing if Satoshi could overcome her but also Satoshi showing Hapu who he and Pikachu were.

#pokeani #pikashipping #ash ketchum #pokemon anime #sun&moon #sm109 #satoshi #hapu #sorry i have so many feels over this episode.#image heavy /#long post /#me talking

In other news, the moment I saw the preview for SM109 I knew there’d be people around the internet calling Satoshi an amateur and regressing in Alola.

No.

Absolutely not!

Have you not learned at ALL what kind of character Satoshi is?!?!?!

Satoshi doesn’t battle with type advantages in mind!

He never god damn did!

Not in XY.

Not in DP.

Not in BW.

Not in OS.

Not in AG.

Sure, sometimes he does, but it’s not a rule in his god damn book!

How many times has he chosen a weak-typed Pokémon to battle in a gym battle??

Way too many times!

He fights with the Pokémon he wants to battle with. Who show the desire to battle. Who has the motivation.

It is not an amateur move to fight a Ground Type Mudsdale/Banbadoro with Pikachu. He would have done the same in XY. I god damn guarantee it. Satoshi doesn’t think of Pokémon as tools of battling. They’re his friends.

Pikachu can still use Quick Attack and Iron Tail against Banbadoro. It’s not like with Golurk, where his only good move is Iron Tail.

The god damn series has repeatly stated that type advantages don’t matter if you know what you’re doing.

Satoshi does know what he’s doing!

He trusts in his buddy, Pikachu. He knows he can do it with him. He would not use Pikachu if he didn’t believe in him. And that’s his strenght. That’s something he did in XY as well.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Satoshi overcomes the Grand Trial. Shame for Nyaheat not battling, yes, but he got development today and I’m totally fine with it.

With that, I’m done with the rant. Sorry. But I’m tired of seeing people not understanding Satoshi one bit. So tired.

#might delete later #sm109 #preview #poni arc #rant #long post #mythical arc