Okay, sorry for the double post, but I have a whole lot to talk about today.
First, today's episode in Journeys, which was Paul's return. Putting it simply, Professor Oak called Ash to his lab, and Ash meets up with his old mons, and runs into Paul! Paul and Ash have a battle, 3v3 with no substitutions, with Paul using Gyarados, Metagross, and Garchomp, the aces of three of the Masters 8 members, and Ash uses Lucario, Dragonite, and Gengar.
Gengar gained something important though, which is this:
Gengar trained with Ash's Fire-types, with Infernape leading the charge. Through its training, it unleashed its inner strength to learn Will-O-Wisp, which it subsequently used against Paul's Metagross to claim victory.
Ash's old mons learn much and unleash the extents of their power from both his old Pokemon and old characters alike. Greninja and Infernape ended up training Lucario and Gengar to help them unleash their true strength in a way, Iris trained Dragonite during Ash and Iris's battle, and Clemont ended up training Sirfetch'd and Dracovish to unleash an innate power from them too. That is in addition to Lucario and Gengar gaining the power of Mega Evolution and Gigantamax respectively from Korrina/Gurkinn and Allister (the latter is a new character and a Galar Gym Leader, but for the rest the point stands). Truly, the new learning from the old.
As for Paul, we do see quite a bit of development from him in a subtle way. He calls Pokemon "partners", which DP Paul never would've done, and clearly treats his Pokemon with respect, and even shows a kinder side with Infernape: despite everything they had been through back then, Paul now respects Infernape and Infernape still has a connection with Paul. He's still aloof and distant, and very serious, and leaves in a classic Paul fashion with a back handwave. That said, we can see he's changed a lot in subtle ways. He is also revealed to have been asked to become a Gym Leader...maybe Viridian Gym? Who knows...but that's an interesting change of pace for Paul.
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And now...the Masters 8 matchups have been revealed!
The Round 1 Matchups are as follows:
- Alain vs. Leon
- Lance vs. Diantha
- Cynthia vs. Iris
- Steven vs. Ash
So it seems Alain won't be battling Ash, but will battle Leon first thing. Presumably, with Leon being unbeatable as he is, Alain will lose. Lance vs. Diantha is next, and honestly, I think Diantha will win. Not just because Diantha has a more varied team and a type advantage with Aurorus and Gardevoir, but also because Lance already fought Leon early in the series and lost, and if Lance were to win, that means based on this bracket he would face Leon yet again and lose a second time. Cynthia vs. Iris is the third match, and I honestly think Cynthia will win for the same reason Diantha will win against Lance: Iris already lost to Ash beforehand, and unless they wanna deny Ash the right to face Leon, they won't let Iris take another defeat by Ash's hand in the semis. Steven vs. Ash is the final R1 matchup. In other words, Ash's first opponent is Steven, and based on the bracket, his next two opponents will be as I expected, Cynthia and Leon, perfectly in line with Sinnoh and Galar promotion for Gen 8 since those are the main regions of this gen between the base games (Sword and Shield) and the Sinnoh pre-make (Legends: Arceus).
Leon meanwhile will have Alain as his first opponent, then Diantha as his next, then Ash as his last.
In other words, after R1 is over, I full on expect these to be the following matchups
Semifinals:
- Leon vs. Diantha
- Ash vs. Cynthia
Finals:
- Ash vs. Leon
These next few eps will be *all* about the Masters 8 tournament. Showdown between Champions (and Alain)...here we come!
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And last but not least, unrelated to Journeys anime, but...
Episode 2 of Hisuian Snow came out two days ago! Enjoy, and feel free to discuss!
