CN Talkback: Pokemon D/P: Sinnoh League Victors "Familiarity Breeds Strategy" [12/18]

[Light Lucario]

Ash, Brock, and Dawn start to wrap up their Sinnoh adventures as the championship season is upon them.




Recently:
Ash finally defeated Volkner, won his last badge and Infernape learned to control its Blaze ability.
Ash decided to use some of his older Pokemon for the Sinnoh League and his Cyndaquil evolved into a Quilava.
Ash defeated Nando in his first battle of the Sinnoh League, while Barry, Paul and Conway made it through their first matches.
Ash won his second battle and learned he'd face Conway in the third round.
Barry and Paul battled against each other with Paul advancing to the next round.
Ash defeated Conway with Gible's newly mastered Draco Meteor attack, Infernape learned Flare Blitz and learned that he and Paul would battle in the first six-on-six round of the League

Last Time:
“Working on a Right Move!"
We're now ready to see Ash's third round battle in the Sinnoh League. This time, he's up against Conway, a trainer he first met in the Hearthome Tag Battle Tournament. But now, he's more of a challenge due to his Trick Room strategy. Will Ash be able to overcome this battle style in order to go to the next round of the Sinnoh League?

This Time:
“Familiarity Breeds Strategy!"
Saturday, December, 18th, 8:00am Eastern
Encore: Sunday, December, 26th, 7:00am Eastern
Well, we all saw this one coming. Ash and Paul in their second six-on-six battle in the Sinnoh League. Ash is using the same six Pokemon from their first full battle, but what Pokemon does Paul have and what kind of strategy is he going to use? How will Ash fair in the first few battles of the match?

Notes:
Lazerboy5000 decided to leave Toon Zone for the time being. I asked him if I could take over the talkbacks and he said it was okay.
The 13th season of Pokemon is underway, and this shall be the last before the official start of the 5th generation.
Re-runs of Pokemon DP are on weekdays at 8:00am with premier episodes still airing at 8:00am.
The Pokemon Ranger Guardian Signs special is still up on Pokemon.com and Galactic Battles is finally going to be released on DVD next March.
Please avoid using spoilers in these talkbacks. Thank you.

[Linkdarkside]

so far so good Infernape defeated Aggron whit a Mach punch(4X Damage),then Staravia struggling against a Gastrodon body slam ,then used close combat on the floor to escape was amazing.

Buizel then defeat him using Ice punch but paul then use a scary Drapion,

funny how all of Paul pokemon name finished in on .

[ECDT1089]

I hope after this battle is over, Paul isn't such a jerk towards Ash anymore.

[simpsonsfan]

Part 1 of Ash's battle against Paul was awesome. This is the battle I have been waiting for. Infernape using Flare blitz on Aggron and it bursting into flames for a second was cool. I couldn't believe how effective the mach punch was allowing a defeat. It was exciting seeing how Staraptor escaped Gastrodon's body slam by using close combat on the ground. I was glad when Ash used Buizel next and defeated Gastrodon in one hit with ice punch. Can't wait for next time when we find out what happens to Buizel who is being held by Drapion's tail pincher.

Does anyone know if part 2 is airing next Saturday?

[Edward15]

I believe we've all been looking forward to this moment since Ash and Paul first met. I think it'll be poetic justice if it's Infernape who takes down Paul's last Pokemon. Too bad we've got to wait almost a month before we see part two. BTW, LL, you left out a little detail concerning Infernape and Gible from the events of last week's episode.

[Light Lucario]

Does anyone know if part 2 is airing next Saturday?

Unfortunately, the second part of this battle doesn't air until January. They're airing Christmas specials next Saturday and then they have a movie marathon on New Years' Day on the following Saturday. It is a shame that we won't be able to see the rest of the match for awhile, but this might make the gap of new episodes from the end of Sinnoh League Victors to the start of the Best Wishes dub a bit shorter, depending on when the games come out.

I believe we've all been looking forward to this moment since Ash and Paul first met. I think it'll be poetic justice if it's Infernape who takes down Paul's last Pokemon. Too bad we've got to wait almost a month before we see part two. BTW, LL, you left out a little detail concerning Infernape and Gible from the events of last week's episode.

I've been looking forward to this League match since the Tag Battle arc. I'm definitely hoping for Infernape to get some awesome moments during this battle given its development and history with trying to prove its strength to Paul. I did forget about those new moves and I added them to the talkback post. Thank you for pointing those out.

Anyway, I thought that it was a great episode and great start to the battle. It was interesting to start out with the beginning of the match and then flashback to shortly before the match. While it was nice to see Gliscor again and its Giga Impact did look pretty good, I was still looking forward to seeing Gible in this battle. But it already got some nice moments in the last match, Ash wants to show Paul that the team he defeated back in their first full battle is capable of defeating him now and as long as Infernape gets some nice screentime, I'll be happy. Paul's conversation with Reggie was interesting, especially with telling Paul to win. Dawn's reaction when Paul spotted her was pretty funny. I was surprised to hear that Paul's dislike towards Ash comes from how both he and his brother say the same thing about Pokemon and friendship. That makes me think that there's some unresolved issue or tension Paul has with Reggie, despite, or perhaps because, of his friendly attitude.

I also wasn't expecting that "When one life meets another life, something will be born line" to cause Paul to freeze in his tracks. That must have affected him more than he lets on. As for the battle, Ash did a pretty good job against Aggron. Even against that Metal Sound, Pikachu was able to hit it with a Thunderbolt before trying that Volt Tackle. I loved seeing Infernape so early in the match. I thought that Ash would save it for last. Still, seeing it used Flare Blitz and then Mach Punch to take down Aggron was awesome. Gastrodon vs. Staraptor was pretty good. I really wasn't expecting Paul to take the counter shield and use it himself. That was an interesting twist. Ash did a really good job with using Close Combat on the ground to escape from the Water Pulse. I guess Paul didn't think it was that impressive for Ash to use the same team he used in their first battle, but Ash done a better job of calling back his Pokemon when they received too much damage or weren't a good match for Paul's Pokemon compared to what happened in their first full battle.

I loved seeing Buizel's Ice Aqua Jet land a hit on Gastrodon. That's always been one of my favorite attack combinations. That Ice Punch looked really awesome. I was still kind of surprised that it caused Gastrodon to faint, but I was happy that Buizel finally got another win. Even though Paul already lost two of his six Pokemon, I had a feeling that his Drapion wouldn't go down so easily. The fact that Reggie said losing those two Pokemon was part of his strategy definitely makes me think there's more to Paul's lineup and battle style than what we've seen so far.

Overall, it was a great episode and really intense way to start off the battle. Like I said, Ash does seem to be doing a better job at knowing when to call back his Pokemon than he did before and I think less overconfident, although he's still quite sure that his strategy will work out. Even though it will be awhile to see part two, I'll be really looking forward to seeing the next part of this battle.

[RonDrakenfan17]

This was one of my favorite battles in the league, I love part 1 cuz Ash has the upper on Paul, all Ash's idea's here were pretty good. I'm glad Barry stayed for the battle, he would have been a better part of Ash's team than Brock this region me thinks, oh wells. Next part should be intense

[Light Lucario]

This was one of my favorite battles in the league, I love part 1 cuz Ash has the upper on Paul, all Ash's idea's here were pretty good. I'm glad Barry stayed for the battle, he would have been a better part of Ash's team than Brock this region me thinks, oh wells. Next part should be intense

While I have grown to like Barry even more during this league, I'm not sure if he would have worked traveling with Ash for the whole series. I think Barry works better when used only once in awhile and I have a feeling that it might have gotten old if he was traveling with Ash since he started his Sinnoh journey. Plus, unless they changed his goal, they couldn't have two trainers going after Gyms in the same group. Though, I agree that Ash's ideas and strategy for the match were pretty good. I think he has a better way to handle Paul's team than he did during their first full battle.

[bigddan11]

I understand the idea of using the same PokeMon as their last battle to allow them to get revenge, but at the same time I do feel Paul made the right move by changing up PokeMon. Ash is at a huge disadvantage because Paul has already defeated all of his PokeMon and knows how to plan counters against them. On the other hand Ash is completely unsure of which PokeMon Paul has ready to roll.

[Terror of Death]

As soon as Aggron and Pikachu started battling you could tell the animation team was going the extra mile with this one. The art direction for each attack and movement of Ash and Paul’s Pokemon was simply amazing. I’m wondering what Paul is up to by letting two of his Pokemon faint like that. That seems like a risky move that could end up costing him the match. These next three weeks are going to be a long wait.

Random Fun Fact: Ash’s rivals have some of the same Pokemon. Paul and Conway both have Aggron. Conway and Barry have Heracross. Nando and Barry have Roserade. Gary and Barry have Skarmory. Paul and Gary have Electivire, Nidoking, and a Magmar.

[FTPC]

this Poke'mon Ep had a reair just now

Saturday, December, 18th, 8:00am Eastern
Encore: Sunday, December, 26th, 7:00am Eastern (i made the correction or I fix the mistake)