Hello everybody, today I'm going to have Ashlie review on the Masters 8 revealed in episode 109 of Pokemon Journeys, namely: Ash Ketchum, Iris Taketatsu, Alain Ono, Diantha Carnet, Lance Wataru, Steven Stone, Cynthia Shirona, and Leon Dande
Note: the last name for Iris is taken from her English Voice actor for Pokemon Matsers EX while Alain's is from his XY Japanese Actor, while Cynthia, Leon, Diantha, and Lance have their last names from their Japanese names. I feel mixed but let's hear Ashlie and Chuster's thoughts on it!
Ashlie: Well, I think I'm going to do this in ranks 1 to 8, so first Leon...okay he was obviously getting in there, he hasn't been beaten in the actual canon timeline and is also still 1 in We Will Carry On, so obviously he's on top, next is my aunt on my Alola family's side in the story: Cynthia, me and Chuster had a feeling she was going to be at least close to Leon, mainly due to people struggling with that monster in the past, ESPECIALLY in BDSP!
Chuster: Yeah, why would ILCA give the League competitive Pokemon, just make it either truly Platinum or make it as difficult as before if you won't put an optional difficulty level. As for Steven...
Ashlie and Chuster: BATTLING STEEL TYPES IS SO ANNOYING! *Flashbacks to how long it takes to beat Paul's Mega Aggron, because despite it not doing anything in the end, Chuster took an hour to beat it because of how bulky it is!*
Ashlie: Anyways, Lance was obviously in, we haven't seen him for a while, but hey, he's back, and maybe Ash or Iris will fight him! Diantha...okay her Gardevior's ability to mentally talk to her and Teleport gets very annoying to land a hit, especially after Mega Evolving!
Chuster: As for Alain, I could see why he's there, but Goomba thought before hand our old selves could've had a better shot if he recalled Pikachu for Greninja back then in the finals, and then use Goodra to KO it or do enough damage for my old Pikachu half to finish the job, but now seeing how he beat Ash to the Masters 8 for who knows how long, I think it was impossible for Ash to get past that Charizard as soon as Hawlucha fainted there from Bisharp.
Ashlie: Now, for Iris, in my story, she was just barely in the Ultra Class when the betrayal happened, and it caused her to lose focus for half of the fights afterwards. But I guess without being forced to kill my old halves gave Iris the chance to make it just barely before Ash Ketchum, taking Flint out. And finally...okay we all knew that Ash was going to make it to the Master Class no matter what, it was pretty predictable! However, there's something that I'm worried about. Look:
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Chuster: Remember, all of the fights we've seen in the Master Class are 1v1s, with only the aces being used, minus Lance using Shiny Gyarados, what if for the Master Class, or just the tournament, you're forced to use one Pokemon, but not just for 1v1s, just one Pokemon for the entire tournament, if they only use the Pokemon from the poster, Ash is using Pikachu, which yes, on his own, is a MAJOR POWERHOUSE! However, unlike the others, Ash doesn't really fix bad movesets, meaning Ash will probably have an awful moveset against Champion Pokemon, like Leon has changed moves and the others probably will too!
Ashlie: This is a major issue because of half of the roster: Iris, Alain, Steven, and lastly, Cynthia, if Alain uses the Mega Charizard X like he has in the poster, he turns his weakness from Electric into a resistance, meaning the only non resisted move against it is Quick Attack. Iris's Haxorous resists half his moves automatically, and that thing can hit like a TRUCK in games, plus, OUTRAGE! For Steven Stone, Iron Tail only KO'd Alain's Metagross because 1. Awful Moveset, 2. Iron Tail was used so high up the gravity intensified the strike!
Chuster: If Steven saw the match, he might actually know that tossing Pikachu up is a bad idea, so he might try other strategies to get him off, like willing to attack itself to take it down because Steel Types are usually bulky and resist a lot!
Ashlie: Now Cynthia...okay I don't think I need to explain why fighting Cynthia's Garchomp is a massive problem, but I will anyways, because in case you aren't aware, Cynthia's Garchomp is Ground Dragon, without Ground, it already resists Electric, but Ground Types are 100% immune to Electric moves, meaning Thunderbolt and Electroweb, or HALF of Pikachu's current moveset, does NOTHING to that beast! And Garchomp seems in both games, and Anime, likes to have VERY powerful Physical attacks like Brick Break, Giga Impact, and more, now Earthquake is banned from the Anime because of an incident in Japan during Gen 3, but still, there are other very powerful Ground moves too, and Rough Skin makes both of Ash's Pikachu's moves that CAN hurt it hurt Pikachu back if they hit because they make contact!
Me: And if you want a summary how I beat it, I had a Modest Nature Dialga have Roar of Time and Ice Beam, and I went with Roar of Time because it was stronger, and I only hit because Garchomp went for Swords Dance, and I KO'd it, FROM FULL HP with a Roar of Time! Also, here's a simpler way to beat it, get a Pokemon weak to Dragon or Poison, but not Ground, and have it hold a Focus Sash and use Counter, I think that can help!
Ashlie: Anyways, as for how much I enjoy it, I'm glad Ash is finally going to be facing Champions and maybe even get to even the score with Alain for beating him in the League. I'm hoping Canon Ash actually finally achieves something to get closer to his dream!
Chuster: YEAH GO BEAT THEM OTHER FORMER ME! Now to hope Lillie and Snowy don't get trapped in the void in JN110!
