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Old 06-23-2019, 04:36 AM   #1
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Alolan Pokemon League

So it was just soft confirmed that Ash is going to be Alola's Champion.

The "prize" for winning the league is to battle Masked Royal, and Ash is seen battling Masked Royal in the opening.

The league starts next week. If Ash fails this time I wonder if the fallout will be worse than Kalos. But I freaking hope not.

This is his year.
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Old 06-23-2019, 07:22 AM   #2
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he'll win but then lose to masked royal and kukui will take over as champ as a result and ash will move on. He's gonna get Blue-balled. Like, literally get the Blue treatment.
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Old 06-23-2019, 08:22 AM   #3
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he'll win but then lose to masked royal and kukui will take over as champ as a result and ash will move on. He's gonna get Blue-balled. Like, literally get the Blue treatment.
How is winning the league "blue-balled"? Kukui has 20+ years of experience on Ash. It's perfectly reasonable to think Ash's regional team won't be able to beat him.

...

Anyway, SM127 aired early in the morning on Sunday, and now word is spreading that Ash is winning the league. There's so much salt and butthurt it's ridiculous. The triggering is so intense it resembles the Loma-Prieta Earthquake.

I love it! Aloooooola!
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Old 06-23-2019, 10:10 AM   #4
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How is winning the league "blue-balled"? Kukui has 20+ years of experience on Ash. It's perfectly reasonable to think Ash's regional team won't be able to beat him.

...

Anyway, SM127 aired early in the morning on Sunday, and now word is spreading that Ash is winning the league. There's so much salt and butthurt it's ridiculous. The triggering is so intense it resembles the Loma-Prieta Earthquake.

I love it! Aloooooola!
Oh, he'll get the league championship but he won't actually get to keep it. That's the blue-ball part. ShoPro is never going to leave Ash in a Championship position because they'd have to make a whole new protagonist for sword and shield anime. Ash will never be replaced.
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Old 06-23-2019, 10:41 AM   #5
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We don't know that for certain. I wouldn't bet on him keeping the title, but an exhibition match isn't a title defense. There are meta reasons for Ash needing to battle Kukui that go beyond merely "fake champion loses to the REAL champion after winning this fake league" fluff.

I expect Galar's Champion, Leon, to show up as early promo and motivation for Ash going to Galar. If the theme of Galar is "growth", losing to Kukui would be a great impetus for going to a new land and bulking up.
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Old 06-23-2019, 12:31 PM   #6
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As someone who hasn't watched the anime since DPP, this actually makes me interested in tuning in. Though yes, I expect that Ash will lose to Masked Royal if that's the reward for winning the league and for him to use that as motivation in Galar. I think that's a pretty good call
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Old 06-23-2019, 01:20 PM   #7
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The competition in SM is really low-tier, with maybe only Guzma, Llima (and I guess Hau and Gladion?) being competent battlers, so even if Ash's team is abysmal this generation and the worst team he's had since Unova, I can see him making it far.

The fact that Misty and Brock are actually stronger battlers than the entire SM cast is kinda sad and upstaged them all in their Mega evo cameo, when Misty and Brock previously did the least amount of battling of nearly all the main cast and Misty was generally poor at battling throughout Kanto/Johto. That's also probably why Misty and Brock aren't entering the Alola league, they'd probably sweep with their Mega evo's.

There is a noticeable apathy toward this league from the fandom especially after the hype for the Kalos league backfired, so even if Ash "wins" I think most people will just view it as a side league like Orange Islands and not care. SM Ash is kind a joke compared to XY Ash (both character wise and battle wise), so the hype just...isn't there.

Hell I even remember more hype for the Unova league of all things before it aired.
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Old 06-23-2019, 04:33 PM   #8
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For a while it seemed likely that the legendaries would compete, but it's becoming clearer that they won't. Most of Ash's friends and Team Rocket are competing but they can't go far with only one capable Pokemon. Even if they're allowed to use the Ride Pokemon, I don't think it'll help much.

Kiawe, Hau, Ilima, Guzma are pretty capable. Guzma has a Scizor and Golisopod. Ilima has a Baton Pass team. We know Hau has Alolan Raichu and Decidueye. And Kiawe has three pretty strong Fire-types.

There's also Dia, if he does show-up: adult Ash from another universe, with Zeraora instead of Pikachu. It looks like these stronger competitors will be the real meat of the competition, and not the gag characters like the 100-year Fisherman and the Feebas Suiren caught for him.
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Old 06-24-2019, 12:49 AM   #9
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I'd say it's about damn time Ash wins a Pokémon League that has an ingame counterpart. He wins the Orange League, and it's such a debate over whether that truly counts or not. High time they threw him a bone, IMO.
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Old 06-25-2019, 01:16 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
For a while it seemed likely that the legendaries would compete, but it's becoming clearer that they won't. Most of Ash's friends and Team Rocket are competing but they can't go far with only one capable Pokemon. Even if they're allowed to use the Ride Pokemon, I don't think it'll help much.

Kiawe, Hau, Ilima, Guzma are pretty capable. Guzma has a Scizor and Golisopod. Ilima has a Baton Pass team. We know Hau has Alolan Raichu and Decidueye. And Kiawe has three pretty strong Fire-types.

There's also Dia, if he does show-up: adult Ash from another universe, with Zeraora instead of Pikachu. It looks like these stronger competitors will be the real meat of the competition, and not the gag characters like the 100-year Fisherman and the Feebas Suiren caught for him.
Reading this post briefly sent me to an alternate dimension where Pokemon is an anime-inspired Western animation series (similar to ATLA or the Boondocks). It was a good time.
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Old 06-25-2019, 03:58 PM   #11
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Alola is crazy. I think I should go over the changes between this and previous leagues.

All the older leagues had over 200 trainers, so there was a prelim round, then 6-8 elimination rounds. You needed 6 Pokemon and 8 badges to qualify.

In Kanto, there were no 6x6 full battles. Everything was 3x3.
In Johto and Hoenn, the Top 16 and above were 6x6 battles.
In Sinnoh and Unova, the Top 8 and above were 6x6 battles.
In Kalos, only Top 4 and above were 6x6 battles.

Winning the finals of the Pokemon League gets you a trophy and permission to enter the Champion League, which is the same format as the games and the Orange Islands: challenge the Elite Four, beat the Champion, then become the Champion. Then you get your picture in the Hall of Fame.

Alola is very different. There is no Champion League or Gyms, so there is no badge requirement: anyone can enter as long as you have one Pokemon. Winning this tournament also makes you the Champion.

Unlike prior leagues there are only 5 rounds. Instead of a prelim, the 151 participants will engage in a massive battle royale and the surviving 16 trainers will go to the single elimination rounds. Apparently, battle royale idea was taken from the games.

There's no restriction on legendaries, Mythicals, Megas and Z-Crystals.

Several characters in this league have legends, so I'll spoiler that:

Spoiler: show

Gladion has Sivally, which evolved from Type-Null.
Ash has Meltan, which is being hinted at evolving into Melmetal soon. He also had and released a Poipole.
Lillie has a Magearna, but it hasn't woken up yet.
Mallow has a Shaymin, but since it's Land Forme it's pretty timid and weak.
Dia has a Zeraora who is a total boss. But we're not sure if he'll show up.


Team Rocket's Gozu has a Mega Aggron, but it isn't clear if he'll be competing.

Most of the known characters only have one Pokemon, but they're quite powerful - pseudo-legends, fully-evolved starters, exclusive Z-Move users.

It doesn't look like Misty and Brock will be competing, but almost everyone else who appeared in the SM anime at some point is going in to the battle royale.
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Old 06-25-2019, 09:42 PM   #12
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It doesn't look like Misty and Brock will be competing, but almost everyone else who appeared in the SM anime at some point is going in to the battle royale.
Well we know they're not, we've seen the anime scoreboard with the characters competing, not to mention they would have been advertised like they were the last two times. Which is a good thing, if anything Misty/Brock appeared way too much in SM (plus we still have the CG Mewtwo remake coming if that counts), and the Kanto pandering is pretty much over at this point. The less misty/brock overshadow the SM cast and make them look like rookies, the better. That's probably why they're not coming back anyway, they're too overpowered with Mega evo's at the moment.
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Old 06-25-2019, 11:00 PM   #13
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The scoreboard isn't inclusive, as some characters who we know are in the cast for those episodes didn't get featured. We also don't know if Dia is going to compete or not. Ash has to figure out a way to gate him in from the Ultra Ruin.

Palkia would be a huge help if he were around. Pretty much every other legend has made a showing.
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Old 06-29-2019, 05:29 AM   #14
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Portents.

Spoiler: show

BORKED
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Old 07-05-2019, 06:26 PM   #15
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Corocoro leaks are in, and we have the next month's worth of matchups.

This might be the longest Pokemon League yet. Don't read if you don't want things ruined.

Spoiler: show

ROUND 1

Jessie v. James
Ash v. Faba
Ilima v. Guzma
Hau v. Principal Oak
Mao v. Suiren
Sophocles v. Mina

Unpaired: Hiroki, Lillie, Gladion, Kiawe, Acerola, Kahili

ROUND 2

Ash v. Hau
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Old 07-05-2019, 07:50 PM   #16
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I think my big fear for this league (I don't think its been confirmed yet, so this is just speculation) is that every battle is just a 1 vs. 1 match. For a lot of the SM classmates and filler characters it makes sense because they all mostly only own 1-2 pokemon, but for characters like Gladion, Hau, Guzma, etc...it'd be disappointing. Ash will of course use all his Alola pokemon in at least one battle so that's not the issue, but I hope we get some "full" matches even if it's just 3 on 3.

I also still find it ironic that for a saga like SM that has the least focus on battles of the series, along with the 3 female companions who are arguably the weakest/least experienced battlers of the series (ok Lana is pretty decent, maybe), are the ones competing in the league and what might be the longest league episode count wise. I remember the days of people speculating that Iris would be a surprise opponent for Ash in the Unova league, but of course that didn't happen. When the two coordinators (May and Dawn), have the strongest teams and the most battles of all the female companions in the series, as opposed to the girls who are actually supposed to be battlers, you know there's a sense of irony here. Brings back memories of how pre-Gyarados Misty had the worst battle record of all the main girls in the series.

Either way I hope the league turns out good, but of course execution is everything. If the battles are lackluster or rushed it'll just kill enthusiasm in the whole thing.
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Old 07-05-2019, 07:56 PM   #17
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They're going to be 1x1 matches. I don't see why that's a bad thing.

SM130 will have four matches, and SM131 will also have four.

I imagine half of SM132 will be devoted to a 3x3 battle, and split with a training episode. SM 133 will cover the last two 3x3 battles.
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Old 07-07-2019, 04:48 AM   #18
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lol wtf ILLIMA

Extreme Evoboost into MEGA KANGASKHAN?
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Old 07-07-2019, 06:46 AM   #19
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Pardon that outburst. It's hype time.

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Old 07-07-2019, 06:55 AM   #20
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are they the matchups or just the relevant characters
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Old 07-07-2019, 07:07 AM   #21
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Those are the matchups for the next two weeks. They are 1x1 matches, then there will be a one episode break before the quarterfinals start.

Either this league is going to be rushed (most are 6 episodes), or it's going to be the longest league ever. The quarter finals will start on Episode 5 of the Alola League.

The actual battles according to the previews:

Meltan v. Hypno
Kangaskhan v. Scizor
Alolan Raichu v. Alolan Exeggutor
Tsareena v. Primarina
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Old 07-07-2019, 11:21 AM   #22
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Alright time to go to bed. But before I do that.

Fun fact:

When Ash competed in Kanto, his final placing was Top 16. That was the lowest he ever placed in a Pokemon League.

Here in Alola, Top 16 is where he starts out, due to how the Battle Royale wiped out all the prelim contestants.
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Old 07-07-2019, 01:29 PM   #23
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First ep was ok, but more than half the characters didn't even do anything or were off-screen. I was very impressed with Kiawe though, dude was a powerhouse, he was taking out a Salamence, Metagross and double KO'd a Electrivire and Magmortar at the same time. Kiawe is becoming one of Ash's strongest companions.

The way the girls were treated was a travesty though. I take back what I said about the girls entering the league for the first time. Mallow/Lana's only win was entirely off-screen, made even worse that it was Shaymin's first real battle and Lana's Eevee barely did anything. Lillie's only "win" was freezing a Salamence after Kiawe already badly damaged it...then she was off-screen for the rest of the episode. And due to the match-ups next time, we know Lillie will lose to Gladion so she barely did anything this league. I am hyped for Lana Vs. Mallow though.

It's almost like the anime has been going backward in female character showcasing in the series, originally the transition from Misty to May to Dawn had each new female lead getting a bigger role than the previous, more battles, better focus and development, etc. Now it's the opposite, with girls becoming much more passive/girly with mostly off-screen battles or whatever. I have high hopes for Lana but that's it.
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Old 07-07-2019, 06:53 PM   #24
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Lillie and probably Suiren are going down in the next round, so I think it's fine they didn't show off much. Kiawe is going to make it to the quarterfinals and not face Ash so he needs some time to shine.
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Old 07-07-2019, 10:27 PM   #25
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Lillie's not even supposed to be much of a Trainer at all according to the source material, so not to bothered by that. Lana though...yeah, let's hope a trial captain can do better.
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