Over the last few seasons in the Pokemon anime, we’ve seen Ash Ketchum at his finest, a veteran trainer with bold strategies and unbreakable bonds with his Pokemon. He’s assembled a crack team of Pokemon, filled with fully evolved powerhouses, his first pseudo-Legendary Pokemon and a Greninja who could mysteriously transform into a more powerful form without a Mega Evolution stone. As when Ash entered the Kalos Pokemon League earlier this month, it seemed like his decades of hard work might finally pay off. After thrashing through the preliminary rounds of the tournament, Ash beat his friend Sawyer to earn a spot in the finals.
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Last week, ComicBook.com reported how Ash had a surprising 3-2 advantage over his rival Alain, a cool and confident trainer with a super-powerful Charizard at his side. Unfortunately, despite his initial advantage, Ash came up short once again and lost his chance at finally winning a full Pokemon League. Alain’s Charizard was able to finish off Pikachu early in the episode, leading to a duel between Alain’s Bisharp and Ash’s powerhouse Goodra. Although Goodra was able to use Rain Dance to spread rain clouds over the field, Bisharp hit Goodra with Guillotine, causing an instant knockout. Goodra’s efforts allowed Ash’s Greninja to quickly defeat Bisharp, leading to a much awaited confrontation between Greninja and Charizard.
Greninja and Charizard both transformed into their respective Mega Evolved forms (or Sychro-Evolved form in Greninja’s case) and went at it in an epic battle. Greninja took advantage of several openings to deliver body shots to Mega Charizard, but the ninja frog Pokemon’s ultimate Water Shuriken wasn’t enough to beat Charizard’s Blast Burn attack. Despite advancing further than he ever had before, Ash had to cede defeat once again.
So what happens next for Ash, since Pokemon Sun and Moon and its Alola region are still several months away? At the end of today’s episode, Team Flare finally unleashed their Zygarde on Luminose City, covering the center of the city with evil looking vibes. Alain is affiliated with Team Flare and one of Ash’s companions is the Luminose City Gym leader, so we’ll likely see Mega Charizard and Greninja fight at least one more time. Plus, we should see an epic Zygarde vs. Zygarde confrontation, since Ash and his friends have unknowingly been traveling with a Zygarde on their own this season.
Before fans get too salty about Ash losing (again), they should probably remember that the Pokemon anime is ultimately written for children and tends to move at a snail’s pace. Pokemon: XY has had TONS of development and advancement unseen in the show’s previous 17 or so seasons. Ultimately, Ash probably won’t win a proper Pokemon League until the show’s writer feel that the show is reaching a conclusion of sorts. But as past seasons have taught fans, Ash’s adventures are never about the destination: they’re about his journey and the friends he makes along the way.
