Gotta give it to Diantha. Using Trick-o-Treat to add ghost-typing to Gyarados is hella smart since that monster's only weaknesses are Electric and Rock. N then using priority move Shadow Sneak to attack first & Phantom Force to dodge and attack is so sick to see!! Lance's strategy to chip Gardevoir's health because of Dragonite's extra health is pretty cool too. Definitely a battle worthy of their titles. 😍
Even though I was NOT a fan of how easily Lance's shiny serpent went down, I really LOVED the moment after Hydregion defeated Gouregiest when Lance pulled out Gyarados' Pokeball to thank it. Gyarados helped stall out the dual screens and weakened the ghostly pumpkin before Hydregion finally took it down! Seriously, that one moment of appreciation was a nice little touch :)
This was an actual battle. Both were evenly matched and it wasn't a one sided curbstomp. Basically what Alain vs Leon should've been. I hate battles where most of the hits are one hit KO's. Leon is basically another Tobias.
Stop complaining about what happened. Alain wasn’t even a Champion. Made complete sense that the world Monarch handed his ass to him. Not every battle will be paced the same way!
@@madnessarcade7447 the problem is with how easy he takes them down. Look at Flint. In DP Infernape was obviously gonna lose but he at least put up good fight. Not anymore. Obviously Alain was gonna lose because they want Ash to beat Leon but now Ash won't get the rematch with Alain.
You pretty much nailed it, Professor. This battle, while still flawed, is a major upgrade from last week’s battle. Not only the winner was unpredictable but I like how both trainers were able to show their respective strengths and battles styles. Awesome class. :)
I've been team Diantha for a long time, and she did not disappoint! I adored her Gourgeist. Does anyone know what size it is? 🎃 An amazing battle! What she may lack in power, she makes up for in strategy! She did use her 'psychic connection' with Gardevoir on the last move. Let's go Diantha! 💅💮
This was one of the few matches that made me go "holy crap, types actually matter here!", whereas most of the time, they just let the one with the type disadvantage win. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised to see Diantha win.
@@Lonewulf321 I don't think it's more than they should have. Lance's Dragonite is the strongest dragonite in the show, and Ash's and Iris weaker dragonites are ridiculously tanky as well. And Lance's Gyarados is the strongest Gyarados in the entirity of the series by far, almost being on par with Leon's Charizard. His pokemon were significantly stronger than Dianthas, but he lost due to inferior tactics and type disadvatages.
@@g-5615 you're making the same point as me, I'm saying lance's pokemon are strong enough that they kinda disprov OP type effectiveness actually mattering as much as it usually does
@@g-5615I dont really agree that they were significantly stronger diatha though, maybe in terms of physical strength but they are comparable other wise
I honestly don't mind the match, mainly because in the games Diantha is a complete joke of a champion and gen 6 feels like it was forgotten. So I am glad she, and gen six in general, is getting some love( Alain not withstanding of course)
Honestly this battle defiantly redeemed Diantha and the masters 8 as a whole. Good offence from Lance and a few clever tricks( and treats) from Diantha.
The quality of this match and the fanservice with all the cameos really surprised me. Jimmy finally being shown in the anime is absolutely huge and I love how Richie finally gets his 20 year long return. Hopefully for the next match we see characters from Unova and Sinnoh (really praying for Cillian). While I wouldn't say it was a perfect battle, as the powerscaling is once again whimsy so that Gyarados would get clapped, I would say I'm more excited about the Masters 8 than before though I'm still bitter about how bad Alain vs Leon was handled even now considering it shouldve been at least this level. I hope the rest of the tournament reaches even higher heights.
My Shiny Clefairy on my Sword team has adopted that dual screen strategy and now I fully have a grasp on the importance of Utility Mons. Thanks Diantha! Nice to see her be vindicated as a champion.
This was wayyyy better written than Leon vs Alain. Which is kinda expected given how much they'll try to hype Leon up as the best trainer in the world. But they could've atleast made it competitive lol. Glad Diantha won here coz now we have a fresh matchup instead of Leon vs Lance rematch. It's certain that Leon will destroy her in their battle but glad Diantha is getting some shine here.
I feel like a big part of the reason why they made the battle so rushed when Alain fought Leon is because they only had half an episode to work with if they didn't want it to continue into another episode. Obviously they also wanted to show how strong Leon is, and while I may personally like Alain, I don't feel as bad about him losing as most people do; if anything, I prefer to look at it as more validation of Leon's status as the current strongest trainer in the world in the anime. It may have been disappointing to see Alain lose so badly, but I feel like people are blowing it way out of proportion
@@matthewkuscienko4616 I have zero issues with Alain losing against Leon. Infact it's a given that Leon will beat pretty much anyone he's matched up against and then face off against Ash in the finals. It's how the match was handled that bothers me. Like Leon could've beaten Iris, Diantha OR Lance in the first round and it would've made little difference. They bring back Ash's strongest rival who they could've matched up against Ash in a match that could've showed his growth as a trainer since they last fought by beating him for the first time, instead they used him as a one shot for Leon. I'm not saying the victory wasn't expected or bothered me but it's like the writers put in almost zero effort. Like you said, they rushed the battle instead of giving us a solid match up. Hell I think even Raihan did wayyyy better against Leon compared to Alain. Felt like such a wasted opportunity for a better story.
Now this was a good intro to what the Masters 8 could be like. It was nice seeing that Kalos wasn't getting disrespected by not having both it's reps losing in the Quarters. It was a nice back and forth between Champions that gave a wealth of respect to both.
I think this battle was decent. A good battle between champions. Reminded me more of a typical online or real-life championship battle. Using Defense and Offense Strategic moves to wear out your opponent, I hope the Iris vs. Cynthia is even better. Seeing how Excadrill is back and that we will be getting Haxorus vs. Garchomp, I think it will.
It was a treat to see an Aurorus in a battle, it's a fav of mine! I'm impressed the anime has finally found a way to animate light screen and reflect without it looking awkward
Dianthia was awesome in this battle like she used her tactics to maneuver the battlefield. Her coordinaton with gardevior is mind blowing 😳😎🔥 Overall a great battle
@@ProfessorAlexSilver The move is only exclusive to the Pumpkaboo and Gourguist line in the Pokémon games. But also Sketch ✍️ with Smeargle can use it too.
Ritchie's my favorite Pokémon character Eventhough I feel like the anime could have used him so much more, I’m overjoyed that they remembered him and Sparky!
One of my problems with the battle is that no one really tried to dodge. Diantha just relied on screens to tank and Lance just had his Pokemon stand and take it. They make Gardevoir's dodge out to be this out of nowhere play instead of it being second nature like most Pokemon *especially* Diantha's Gardevoir. Other than that and the battle feeling sluggish at times, it was very enjoyable and it was cool to see Diantha pull off some really cool strategies to combat Lance's strength.
I honestly think that part of the reason why they didn't do much dodging (at least on Diantha's end) is because her team was protected by light screen and reflect, which allowed them to not have to worry about dodging so much since they effectively became twice as tanky as they normally would be. I know that's most likely stating the obvious, but it would make those moves less impactful if she were to use dodging more liberally in addition to the screens, which also justifies why her Gardevoir did dodge at the end after they finally wore off
You really got to give it up to Diantha's Gardevoir as it was able to use Psychic to stop & disperse a triple shooting Flash Cannon. Throughout all generations in the pokemon anime, Psychic is always an OP move as you can use Psychic to control/manipulate anything with your mind; truly Psychokinesis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Same for Red Gyarados as even though it took those Ghost attacks, it was still able to properly launch Dragon Pulses at Gourgeist
completly agree with everything, and for diantha's gimmick with gardevoir sadly they only showed it once at the very end, also very weird how they barely MOVED, clearly they are trying to save the budget for later fights but bruh, just glad it din't end so quickly, very exited for iris fight against cynthia next week.
This felt like a really smart and technical battle, more so than most previous battles. This is the kind of caliber of training mastery id want from a champion. Not just big strong mon go boom. Dianthes strategy was very fun to watch.
To be fair, by that same logic Draonite shouldn't have been able to tank that blizzard, either. But the anime will often bend the rules to make a battle more exciting to watch
- At least this dual was better than Leon vs. Alain. - I can't wait to see Ash battle. I wonder, what Pokémon will he use? - Can you do Ash's Sceptile? - Can you do, "What if Ash won Pokémon Leagues?" - Misty's Gyrados was treated better. - Professor Silver? Do you play Pokémon Go? - Can someone use 2 different Mega Evolutions at once? - I can't wait to see Ash vs. Cynthia. - Dragonite deserves it's own Mega Evolution. - I want to see Diantha vs Cynthia. - Metapod vs. Metapod is still a Legendary battle.
Yeah, how stiff the battle was really bugged me. I know everyone's hating on the Alain battle, but you can't deny it was a lot more dynamic with how the pokemon engaged each other.
I don't count that because she yelled the command at the same time. I interpreted that as more of a nod that they both understood they were about to win, but I suppose it could be interpreted differently
I must say im loving the animation and colors in legends. So happy to see lance again with the red gyrados. I feel you so much on the gyrados match. really disrespectful. EXCELLENT analysis. Good to see ya professor. Much love and enjoy the rest of your weekend
They clearly did him dirty for god knows what reason… everyone knows he would lose but not in the way he did.. he and Mega Charizard X got the worst treatment
Diantha and Gardevoir did communicate through eye contact before delivering the final blow, that's when you knew it was over. I also agree, and was expecting, for Iris to battle and beat Lance so she could see herself as a fully realized dragon master. Guess they decided to rekindle her bond with Cynthia.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Diantha DID communicate with Gardevoir via eye contact. She just didn't overuse it like in XYZ. Right after Lance ordered Dragonite to use Hyper Beam, Diantha gave Gardevoir the "dodge" look (which it later did) and proceeded to yell "Checkmate!"
I think is was Lance strategy was kind of weird using hyperbeam right off the bat,and Gyrados using non effective attacks until later in the match. It doesn´t seems normal that a Champion didn't think in any sort of strategy for an important battle.I know at the end of the day what matters its what showrunners wanna do,but seems kind of odds for the 2 place the last tournament to do that.
SO you only say, how does this logic work ? Gyarados lost to Gourgeist Gourgeist lost to Rillaboom Rillaboom lost to Alain's Charizard Alain's Charizard lost to Leon's Charizard And Leon's Charizard got badly dominated by Lance's Gyarados in Base form.
I was thinking the same thing about diantha's eye contact with Gardevoir during battle. I was like : Am I missing something ? Finally somebody mentioned this.
The best part of the match was seeing trick or treat axtuslly get used competitively. And the cameos. This match was good but the next two should be way better.
I personally didn't have an issue with Garydos losing. Garydos still fought back, but then got countered by 2 protective barriers Then got a ghost type added to it Then got shadow sneaked yet still got it's attack of then got dodged by a phantom force. I don't see as it disrespectful to Garydos, I see at as Diantha her strategies working out and earning that victory. And I understand wanting to see Iris and Lance fight each other and Alain and Diantha fight each other. But on the one hand, if Alain beat Diantha she would have basically had no spotlight in my eyes. While yes the way Alain lost to Leon wasn't done well, but Alain had plenty of spotlight on xy compared to Diantha. So I'm personally happy with this.
@@ProfessorAlexSilver that was just painful I've been always trying to defend Journeys but that I cannot defend I was hoping for Leon to at least win with like a strategy to proof he's actually that good Like something simple like "oh he taught one of his pokemon brick break to go through the barriers" would have at least done something but the battle being legit just "my pokemon is stronger" and being off screen just was so bad.
Tbh, I think if she were to go against Alain, I think it would've been better for her to win. In the anime, very little reinforces her status as champion she used only Gardevoir her entire Kalos appearance, and had 1 exhibition battle, and two against Ash, with the second on being plot armor. Despite how the anime is, ultimately its still meant to support (sometimes defy) the canon of the games, which is why Ash, representative of the players of Pokemon is the Alola Champion. Alain by comparison is more like a really cool rival. Of course, the timeline is confusing, like Lance still being champion despite Red & Blue existing in GSHGSS and SMUSUM.
I guess since you are only allowed one of Z move, Mega or Dynamax, technically it means all three of these supposedly should be around the same level which is probably what they are trying to do.
I think all the champions present in masters 8 except Leon because he is protected by heavy plot armour. All champions strength are on par with each other
In my opinion the games logic of “strength” of each champion has nothing to do how they fare at alll in the anime.. I was so glad Diantha got the time to shine after people saying she’s weak and her Gardevoir almost lost to ash’s greninja(which in my opinion she wasn’t really engaging much in battle; sort of a test run of the battle bond) as she was dodging mostly .
I agree, I also feel like she was not battling with all her strength when she fought Ash in the anime, especially since you have to remember that she was mainly having Gardevoir use shadow ball, which is a ghost type move that Greninja resists as a dark type Pokemon. Given how strong the champions and elite four tend to be portrayed in the anime, I think that if she were battling Ash seriously at that time she would have defeated him with little effort and mainly would've relied on moonblast instead to try to end the battle as quickly as possible, so I can definitely agree with it being more as a way to hype up Ash-Greninja than anything else
Yeah it’s just her being surprised after underestimating Greninja. And Greninja simply targeted Gardevoir’s weak point which was her rather low defensive capabilities in comparison to other champion aces when combining the fact that she was holding back literally only using shadow ball even during the final clash, it gave the appearance that she was being completely overwhelmed losing to Greninja which alone cannot determine who would have won the battle. I really like how they implemented her as a strategic battler. This differentiates her from the other champions who just have there aces tanking ridiculous attacks while having massive power. I believe even her Mega Gardevoir in terms of raw power and defensive capabilities is not as good as the other aces which is why she needs a different approach. Honestly aside from the fact that this battle was really still with no one moving around and dodging that much, this battle was pretty well done in comparison to some other journeys battles.
If Alain beat diantha he would not have become champion it doesn’t work like that it has to face her in a kalos champion league match it doesn’t count In the same way if ash beat Steven he wouldn’t become hoenn champion Also I’m glad they did it like this it’s more unique
Can you do Trip's Ultimate Team? He's a underrated rival and he have five Pokémon in arsenal he never/bearly use in favorite of his Serperior. Wouldn't mind seeing some of other Pokémon get some attentions.
First flinch of the entire series on top of twister ko through a screen was pretty odd ngl. I liked everything but those 2 things. Lance's Dragonite seemed to have its hidden ability but it never got confirmed.
i guess the eye contact between diantha and gardevoir was still there, because they have eye contact when dragonite was about to use hyper beam that's why gardevoir jumped and finished dragonite using moonblast
Honestly I really don’t want to complain after Alain vs Leon. While I understand that battle is to hype up Leon to be this untouchable obstacle, it was still super rushed
I wholeheartedly respect everyone’s opinions on this and while I agree there are several aspects could’ve been done better in terms of animation being stiff, Diantha tends to be heavily disrespected mainly how undeveloped and easy she was in the games, Its not like Lance was weak considering there’s no such thing as a weak champion, its just Diantha was more calmer and strategical in comparison to Lance’s offensive battle style, not to mention it would be genuinely boring to see a repeated match of Lance versus Leon despite him being done dirty in which I feel extremely bad for him and while the battle itself is far from perfect, it was still better than Leon versus Alain in which I personally loved a lot!!! 🤧✨
I too respect your decision and well thought out comment. Just extremely disappointed that Lance lost vs Diantha even though his feats have been much higher. Some things just don’t make sense, Lance’s Gyarados almost beat Leon’s Charizard the strongest Pokémon in the anime (right now) and yet it got totally slapped by Gourgeist. Lance’s Pokémon didn’t show the same amount of competence as they usually do except Dragonite. Dragonite was an absolute freak of nature. It tanked multiple super effective hits, 4x blizzard and was still pounding. This is pretty spot on considering how powerful it’s been shown in the anime, it is the strongest Dragonite in the anime so far. All in all it feels bad having Lance lose to Diantha while having the edge number wise and dynamaxing his insanely powerful Dragonite just to have its max attacks negated by normal ones :( The worst part is Lance v Leon was so good in their 1v1. Imagine a 3v3 with Dragonite Gyarados and another draconic lance mon vs Charizard Dragapult and one of Leons other Pokémon. Would’ve been a much more interesting battle.
I feel bad for Lance. From the anime's perspective, he never had a chance, because the creator was not going to just have a Lance-Leon rematch next round. He's the OG champion, the first Ash and friends met in the story.
Agreed. I dont think diantha could have lasted in a full 6v6 against lance. Her strat was great for a 3v3. Theres a reason he was #2 the prior world coronation.
I really wish they'd used Diantha's non-verbal commands in this battle. I would've loved it if she could use it with her other Pokemon as well. It would make her a major threat because it would make her an unpredictable foe, and that would be her niche as a Champion.
Using that would sweep lance's team entirely 😂. Maybe the writers are saving this gimmick for diantha later on her fight with leon so she could hang on with charizard's gameplay
One of the reason I do like this match is because at the end of the day, when first watching the Match, you have no idea who is going to win. Unlike the other rounds where obviously Alain is going to lose to Leon, Iris is going to lose to Cynthia. And Ash is not going to lose. Either one of them could have won and would have made sense. However Diantha makes sense winning afterwards considering she used a lot more strategy than Lance did who was more brute force. Diantha winning made sense. Though one thing that I would change about the tournament is make each beginner battle take place over two episodes (Like Ash Vs Bea did), considering than the battles wouldn’t need to feel rushed, and could have had the right pace. (Compleletly understand why they didn’t do it (because budget and anime team was not doing the best at the time of animating this series, not an excuse but reasoning), but more time for the battles would have certainly helped).
THANK G that they're actually giving these battles more respect now. they all should be at least one episode long, just boggles the mind how much they botched up at alains match for no reason. Tho what are with these champion level trainers and their risky moves first alain with his flame drive that does recoil damage instead of his trademark blast burn move and now Lance with that risky hyper beam weird. Dragonite's powerful hyper beam move being countered so easily and then Dragonite being forced to just sit there and take it from Garnovoir's moon beam was hard to see to say the least lol But anyways enjoy this match it had lots of strategy really impressed with diantha's reflect barrier stuff (reminds me of the tactics I use with my beloved Bayleef whenever I get the privilege to use her 😊) and Lance's g-max tactics are really cool too, not bad! I do wish they used the xyz animation tho, battles looked way more epic back then! I only wish more love was put on Lance's Shiny Garados as i feel that would have been the much better answer to mega Garnovior. Maybe even mega evole his own to match hers. Besides there's too much Dragonite exposure already with Ash's and especially Iris' badass one so would have been nice to see Garados be the ace this battle. ah well. And my last gripe is well the character interaction. Their battle was nice sure but character interaction wise, just felt like a causal battle between causal friends, Nothing to really make me go He's gotta win! or She's gotta win! Just a light hearted battle which is ok but i like more significant plot stuff to happen in the final championship battles of the anime like Ash vs Paul or Ash vs Alain, where its not just a battle between pokemon but their trainers themselves. Would have loved Iris to fight lance as two dragon masters! and Stevan to fight Alain as their battle was interrupted back in xyz and of course Ash vs Alain but alas. Iris vs Cynthia is a nice consolation tho, lil axew can prove his worth against his big sister Garchomp and show her how far he's come! Same with Iris to Cynthia! I hope Cynthia acknowledges Iris' Dragonite as well as he was quite the jerk the last time they met haha. I wonder what she would think of him now? Still massive improvement overall! Super happy seeing the Chronicles Trio again! Super Nostalgic! Need to rewatch that special and Team Gogetters while im at it! #Childhood ^_^ How the heck did Gold(Jimmy) not make it in lol
Outside of Cynthia v Iris it seems like the writers were trying to avoid rematches, which I respect that route. Diantha is just a bad matchup for Lance. Power vs Technique
if iris went against lance, and alain, went against diantha, that would mean either cynthia or steven and the other one would have to lose to leon, meaning that ash would have a 100% chance of facing someone he’s already gone against before in round 2 to keep leon for the finals. it was the only way to give ash a win against both steven and cynthia.
You think maybe they are trying to hammer the nail on the fact that most battles are stagnant blow for blow like the game, but Ash has the "crazy style" thats so different and out of mind!
I'll be doing another history video soon. Which Pokémon should we tackle???
Ash's Sceptile
Jesse arbok amd James weezing
Jessie gorgiust I think that's how u spell it u know the on diantha used
Sparky!
Paul's Magmortar
Gotta give it to Diantha. Using Trick-o-Treat to add ghost-typing to Gyarados is hella smart since that monster's only weaknesses are Electric and Rock. N then using priority move Shadow Sneak to attack first & Phantom Force to dodge and attack is so sick to see!! Lance's strategy to chip Gardevoir's health because of Dragonite's extra health is pretty cool too. Definitely a battle worthy of their titles. 😍
technically its just electric bc of the water type
@@ahumanthatexists2543 flying is weak to rock.... So Gyarados 4x weak to electric, x2 rock
@@touzonglee2309 think you mixed up the 4x and 2x
@@nagi7995 yes u indeed correct lol
@@touzonglee2309 water is still effective against rock
Diantha is so underrated. Glad she proved herself as a fierce champion.
Even though I was NOT a fan of how easily Lance's shiny serpent went down, I really LOVED the moment after Hydregion defeated Gouregiest when Lance pulled out Gyarados' Pokeball to thank it. Gyarados helped stall out the dual screens and weakened the ghostly pumpkin before Hydregion finally took it down! Seriously, that one moment of appreciation was a nice little touch :)
This is by far the most game-accurate battle in the anime.
It makes me yearn for the logicless battles XD
this is even more true since the pokemon in this battle seemed to just stand on a tile the entire fight and rarely moved from the spot
@@ProfessorAlexSilver hahaha ironic I think is the word
@@ProfessorAlexSilver @Professor Alex Silver is ghost type moves effective against dragon type ??
Is because all pokemon lance and diantha use it kinda slow
This was an actual battle. Both were evenly matched and it wasn't a one sided curbstomp. Basically what Alain vs Leon should've been. I hate battles where most of the hits are one hit KO's. Leon is basically another Tobias.
Y’all keep forgetting leon is the strongest trainer in the world
All of his matches at least until ash are gonna be one sided curb stomps
100% agree with you Alain deserved better and this battle and episode is real good
Stop complaining about what happened. Alain wasn’t even a Champion. Made complete sense that the world Monarch handed his ass to him. Not every battle will be paced the same way!
@@faiyadrahman5782 at least someone gets it lmao
@@madnessarcade7447 the problem is with how easy he takes them down. Look at Flint. In DP Infernape was obviously gonna lose but he at least put up good fight. Not anymore. Obviously Alain was gonna lose because they want Ash to beat Leon but now Ash won't get the rematch with Alain.
You pretty much nailed it, Professor. This battle, while still flawed, is a major upgrade from last week’s battle. Not only the winner was unpredictable but I like how both trainers were able to show their respective strengths and battles styles. Awesome class. :)
I've been team Diantha for a long time, and she did not disappoint!
I adored her Gourgeist. Does anyone know what size it is? 🎃
An amazing battle! What she may lack in power, she makes up for in strategy! She did use her 'psychic connection' with Gardevoir on the last move.
Let's go Diantha! 💅💮
Average
Her gardevoir is her power house moonblast nukes
@@girlgaming7346 thanks!
@@pokemontas8025 no problem I made one just awhile ago to test in competitive trick or treat plus shadow sneak does some damage with a focus sash
Same, she proved her dominance on the battlefield 💅💅
This was one of the few matches that made me go "holy crap, types actually matter here!", whereas most of the time, they just let the one with the type disadvantage win. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised to see Diantha win.
They played a part, but gyarados and dragonite still tanked them attacks more than they should have.
Which is awesome
@@Lonewulf321 I don't think it's more than they should have. Lance's Dragonite is the strongest dragonite in the show, and Ash's and Iris weaker dragonites are ridiculously tanky as well. And Lance's Gyarados is the strongest Gyarados in the entirity of the series by far, almost being on par with Leon's Charizard. His pokemon were significantly stronger than Dianthas, but he lost due to inferior tactics and type disadvatages.
@@g-5615 you're making the same point as me, I'm saying lance's pokemon are strong enough that they kinda disprov OP type effectiveness actually mattering as much as it usually does
@@g-5615I dont really agree that they were significantly stronger diatha though, maybe in terms of physical strength but they are comparable other wise
Type disadvantage wins with clever strategy and a life lesson
Also u can use disadvantage to overcome disadvantage
I honestly don't mind the match, mainly because in the games Diantha is a complete joke of a champion and gen 6 feels like it was forgotten. So I am glad she, and gen six in general, is getting some love( Alain not withstanding of course)
Anime is different from games even I also defeated Mewtwo with gengar in games it doesn't mean that gengar is stronger than Mewtwo 😂
Dude arceus is litterally fodder in games but is the pokemon god
@@cyrusjosef yup, in the anime it's pretty much invincible because of its plates.
She had the highest levels of all the champions
She wasn’t that bad yall just haters
@@cyrusjosef not fodder that’s not arceus that’s his avatar
Honestly this battle defiantly redeemed Diantha and the masters 8 as a whole. Good offence from Lance and a few clever tricks( and treats) from Diantha.
I was really glad to see Diantha win; I thought Lance was written to beat her but was pleasantly surprised to see her advance
The quality of this match and the fanservice with all the cameos really surprised me. Jimmy finally being shown in the anime is absolutely huge and I love how Richie finally gets his 20 year long return. Hopefully for the next match we see characters from Unova and Sinnoh (really praying for Cillian).
While I wouldn't say it was a perfect battle, as the powerscaling is once again whimsy so that Gyarados would get clapped, I would say I'm more excited about the Masters 8 than before though I'm still bitter about how bad Alain vs Leon was handled even now considering it shouldve been at least this level. I hope the rest of the tournament reaches even higher heights.
Man, I wish Jimmy could have been in the tournament
My Shiny Clefairy on my Sword team has adopted that dual screen strategy and now I fully have a grasp on the importance of Utility Mons. Thanks Diantha! Nice to see her be vindicated as a champion.
Clefairy is always fun :-)
This was wayyyy better written than Leon vs Alain. Which is kinda expected given how much they'll try to hype Leon up as the best trainer in the world. But they could've atleast made it competitive lol. Glad Diantha won here coz now we have a fresh matchup instead of Leon vs Lance rematch. It's certain that Leon will destroy her in their battle but glad Diantha is getting some shine here.
Very much agreed, I'm glad they got the respect they're due, it's just too bad that one of my favorite characters didn't haha
@@ProfessorAlexSilver haha I feel the same!
I feel like a big part of the reason why they made the battle so rushed when Alain fought Leon is because they only had half an episode to work with if they didn't want it to continue into another episode. Obviously they also wanted to show how strong Leon is, and while I may personally like Alain, I don't feel as bad about him losing as most people do; if anything, I prefer to look at it as more validation of Leon's status as the current strongest trainer in the world in the anime. It may have been disappointing to see Alain lose so badly, but I feel like people are blowing it way out of proportion
@@matthewkuscienko4616 I have zero issues with Alain losing against Leon. Infact it's a given that Leon will beat pretty much anyone he's matched up against and then face off against Ash in the finals. It's how the match was handled that bothers me. Like Leon could've beaten Iris, Diantha OR Lance in the first round and it would've made little difference. They bring back Ash's strongest rival who they could've matched up against Ash in a match that could've showed his growth as a trainer since they last fought by beating him for the first time, instead they used him as a one shot for Leon. I'm not saying the victory wasn't expected or bothered me but it's like the writers put in almost zero effort. Like you said, they rushed the battle instead of giving us a solid match up. Hell I think even Raihan did wayyyy better against Leon compared to Alain. Felt like such a wasted opportunity for a better story.
@@Jayakrishnantr5217 yeah cause raihan is considered Leon’s rival and Alain is average elite 4 member at best
Now this was a good intro to what the Masters 8 could be like. It was nice seeing that Kalos wasn't getting disrespected by not having both it's reps losing in the Quarters. It was a nice back and forth between Champions that gave a wealth of respect to both.
Well, when Gardevoir dodged Dragonite’s last attack, they did it by looking at Diantha’s eyes!
I think this battle was decent. A good battle between champions. Reminded me more of a typical online or real-life championship battle. Using Defense and Offense Strategic moves to wear out your opponent, I hope the Iris vs. Cynthia is even better. Seeing how Excadrill is back and that we will be getting Haxorus vs. Garchomp, I think it will.
Diantha showed how tough she is in this battle that's for sure
That she did!
It was a treat to see an Aurorus in a battle, it's a fav of mine! I'm impressed the anime has finally found a way to animate light screen and reflect without it looking awkward
Dianthia was awesome in this battle like she used her tactics to maneuver the battlefield. Her coordinaton with gardevior is mind blowing 😳😎🔥
Overall a great battle
I kinda Shocked that Gourguist used Halloween (English: Trick or Treat) on Lances Red Gyarados.
I thought it was really cool, I don't think we've ever seen that move in the anime before to my knowledge
@@ProfessorAlexSilver
The move is only exclusive to the Pumpkaboo and Gourguist line in the Pokémon games.
But also Sketch ✍️ with Smeargle can use it too.
Gourgeist is one of my favorite pokemon so I'm really happy to see this pokemon shine !
I personally like diantha’s gimmick with gardevoir. The battle seemed cool but very disappointed that the gimmick wasn’t used at all.
Ritchie's my favorite Pokémon character
Eventhough I feel like the anime could have used him so much more, I’m overjoyed that they remembered him and Sparky!
I'm wondering if he's going to show up again, usually when characters Cameo in journeys, they then feature heavily in a guest spot
@@ProfessorAlexSilver Oooh I would absolutely love that! Fingers crossed 😊
He was Better Ash Ketchum version till hoenn 🤟
One of my problems with the battle is that no one really tried to dodge. Diantha just relied on screens to tank and Lance just had his Pokemon stand and take it. They make Gardevoir's dodge out to be this out of nowhere play instead of it being second nature like most Pokemon *especially* Diantha's Gardevoir. Other than that and the battle feeling sluggish at times, it was very enjoyable and it was cool to see Diantha pull off some really cool strategies to combat Lance's strength.
Definitely not a fluid fight 😅
I mean amaura is not really a speedy Pokémon… and gourgeist did dodge a few attacks from guardados using shadow force …
I honestly think that part of the reason why they didn't do much dodging (at least on Diantha's end) is because her team was protected by light screen and reflect, which allowed them to not have to worry about dodging so much since they effectively became twice as tanky as they normally would be. I know that's most likely stating the obvious, but it would make those moves less impactful if she were to use dodging more liberally in addition to the screens, which also justifies why her Gardevoir did dodge at the end after they finally wore off
@@abeham1078 phantom force*
You really got to give it up to Diantha's Gardevoir as it was able to use Psychic to stop & disperse a triple shooting Flash Cannon. Throughout all generations in the pokemon anime, Psychic is always an OP move as you can use Psychic to control/manipulate anything with your mind; truly Psychokinesis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Same for Red Gyarados as even though it took those Ghost attacks, it was still able to properly launch Dragon Pulses at Gourgeist
It was for sure a very cool strategy from Diantha.
That it was!!
completly agree with everything, and for diantha's gimmick with gardevoir sadly they only showed it once at the very end, also very weird how they barely MOVED, clearly they are trying to save the budget for later fights but bruh, just glad it din't end so quickly, very exited for iris fight against cynthia next week.
That Richie cameo. We need to see more of him. It's been over 20 years since that guy was last seen on screen.
Yeah I want to see hi. watching growth of ash
2:42 she does the eye contact thing right there
Diantha did use the communication with eyes gimmick near the end of the battle
This felt like a really smart and technical battle, more so than most previous battles. This is the kind of caliber of training mastery id want from a champion.
Not just big strong mon go boom. Dianthes strategy was very fun to watch.
They did communicate through eye-contact, when she dodged the hyper beam!
She also yelled the order tho zo it didnt land well for me tbh
THIS is how a champion battle is supposed to be!
My favorite so far has been Cynthia versus Iris :-)
The moment Diantha said "Checkmate" I knew Lance was screwed
💯💯
can't believe body press didn't 1 shot
To be fair, by that same logic Draonite shouldn't have been able to tank that blizzard, either. But the anime will often bend the rules to make a battle more exciting to watch
I loved this battle. Glad you made another wonderful video about the series!!!
- At least this dual was better than Leon vs. Alain.
- I can't wait to see Ash battle. I wonder, what Pokémon will he use?
- Can you do Ash's Sceptile?
- Can you do, "What if Ash won Pokémon Leagues?"
- Misty's Gyrados was treated better.
- Professor Silver? Do you play Pokémon Go?
- Can someone use 2 different Mega Evolutions at once?
- I can't wait to see Ash vs. Cynthia.
- Dragonite deserves it's own Mega Evolution.
- I want to see Diantha vs Cynthia.
- Metapod vs. Metapod is still a Legendary battle.
Dracovish Gengar pikachu
Sceptile on my list :)
I wouldn’t say at its expense in gourgeist’s defense it is several times smaller than Charizard so it’ll be faster and more difficult to hit
Will you finally be doing The Complete History of Lance's Red Gyarados and his Dragonite now?
Those are actually high on my list to cover
I'm impressed from the battle and I like the returning characters appear in the background!
Same!
Yeah, how stiff the battle was really bugged me. I know everyone's hating on the Alain battle, but you can't deny it was a lot more dynamic with how the pokemon engaged each other.
I remember defeating both Diantha in Pokemon X and Lance in Let's Go Eevee...Both were great battles
2:41 - 2:44 There is the eye contact communication you were talking about.
I don't count that because she yelled the command at the same time. I interpreted that as more of a nod that they both understood they were about to win, but I suppose it could be interpreted differently
I must say im loving the animation and colors in legends. So happy to see lance again with the red gyrados. I feel you so much on the gyrados match. really disrespectful. EXCELLENT analysis. Good to see ya professor. Much love and enjoy the rest of your weekend
absolutely killin it with the content. Loving it
Thanks for the amazing coverage. Much ❤
My pleasure 😎
“Unlike Alain, Lance left the tournament with dignity and pride” 💀
At least Alain is watching the match not everyone has to leave or stay so don't blame him for staying
Hey, He’s still rank 6. So there’s that
@@Lonewulf321 exactly
They clearly did him dirty for god knows what reason… everyone knows he would lose but not in the way he did.. he and Mega Charizard X got the worst treatment
😂😂
Diantha and Gardevoir did communicate through eye contact before delivering the final blow, that's when you knew it was over.
I also agree, and was expecting, for Iris to battle and beat Lance so she could see herself as a fully realized dragon master. Guess they decided to rekindle her bond with Cynthia.
I didn't consider that to be the gimmick because she also shoutec out the order
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Diantha DID communicate with Gardevoir via eye contact. She just didn't overuse it like in XYZ. Right after Lance ordered Dragonite to use Hyper Beam, Diantha gave Gardevoir the "dodge" look (which it later did) and proceeded to yell "Checkmate!"
I think is was Lance strategy was kind of weird using hyperbeam right off the bat,and Gyrados using non effective attacks until later in the match. It doesn´t seems normal that a Champion didn't think in any sort of strategy for an important battle.I know at the end of the day what matters its what showrunners wanna do,but seems kind of odds for the 2 place the last tournament to do that.
SO you only say, how does this logic work ?
Gyarados lost to Gourgeist
Gourgeist lost to Rillaboom
Rillaboom lost to Alain's Charizard
Alain's Charizard lost to Leon's Charizard
And Leon's Charizard got badly dominated by Lance's Gyarados in Base form.
I was thinking the same thing about diantha's eye contact with Gardevoir during battle.
I was like : Am I missing something ?
Finally somebody mentioned this.
I didn't consider that to be the gimmick because she also shoutec out the order
I did enjoy this battle a lot loved seeing Mega Gardevoir again so much
I'll do a history on her soon ☺️
@@ProfessorAlexSilver can’t wait 😄
To sum up lance relies on his pokemon's durability while diantha uses her strategic moves against her opponet.
The best part of the match was seeing trick or treat axtuslly get used competitively.
And the cameos.
This match was good but the next two should be way better.
Maria Sharapova vs naomi osaka is the next match
I think they did the eye thing at the very end actually
I didn't consider that to be the gimmick because she also shoutec out the order
Recently discovered this channel and your videos are really entertaining to watch.
Thanks! Have fun watching all the hits 😁
my favorite part of your channel is how you almost always respond to comments from fans. keep up the great work ;)
I try, but there are more and more now haha
MY boy sawer got some screen time I didn't see him due to my nostalgia with my old buddies
Hopefully he'll get more in the future
I personally didn't have an issue with Garydos losing.
Garydos still fought back, but then got countered by 2 protective barriers
Then got a ghost type added to it
Then got shadow sneaked yet still got it's attack of then got dodged by a phantom force.
I don't see as it disrespectful to Garydos, I see at as Diantha her strategies working out and earning that victory.
And I understand wanting to see Iris and Lance fight each other and Alain and Diantha fight each other.
But on the one hand, if Alain beat Diantha she would have basically had no spotlight in my eyes.
While yes the way Alain lost to Leon wasn't done well, but Alain had plenty of spotlight on xy compared to Diantha.
So I'm personally happy with this.
Definitely better than how diantha fared against Leon 😭
@@ProfessorAlexSilver that was just painful
I've been always trying to defend Journeys but that I cannot defend
I was hoping for Leon to at least win with like a strategy to proof he's actually that good
Like something simple like "oh he taught one of his pokemon brick break to go through the barriers" would have at least done something but the battle being legit just "my pokemon is stronger" and being off screen just was so bad.
Dope vid Professor
I still think you are overestimating Alain. He was just strong because of plot necessity.
Like leone in this season
Tbh, I think if she were to go against Alain, I think it would've been better for her to win. In the anime, very little reinforces her status as champion she used only Gardevoir her entire Kalos appearance, and had 1 exhibition battle, and two against Ash, with the second on being plot armor. Despite how the anime is, ultimately its still meant to support (sometimes defy) the canon of the games, which is why Ash, representative of the players of Pokemon is the Alola Champion. Alain by comparison is more like a really cool rival. Of course, the timeline is confusing, like Lance still being champion despite Red & Blue existing in GSHGSS and SMUSUM.
I think that's a good point, but I just like him more to be honest haha
One thing i noticed is they made dynamax look really weak this episode, like normal moves like shadow ball beat dynamax moves like max hail
I guess since you are only allowed one of Z move, Mega or Dynamax, technically it means all three of these supposedly should be around the same level which is probably what they are trying to do.
I think all the champions present in masters 8 except Leon because he is protected by heavy plot armour. All champions strength are on par with each other
I’m so confused about *Max Hailstorm*
Did Dragonite use: Blizzard, Ice Beam, or Ice Punch?
In my opinion the games logic of “strength” of each champion has nothing to do how they fare at alll in the anime.. I was so glad Diantha got the time to shine after people saying she’s weak and her Gardevoir almost lost to ash’s greninja(which in my opinion she wasn’t really engaging much in battle; sort of a test run of the battle bond) as she was dodging mostly .
I agree, I also feel like she was not battling with all her strength when she fought Ash in the anime, especially since you have to remember that she was mainly having Gardevoir use shadow ball, which is a ghost type move that Greninja resists as a dark type Pokemon. Given how strong the champions and elite four tend to be portrayed in the anime, I think that if she were battling Ash seriously at that time she would have defeated him with little effort and mainly would've relied on moonblast instead to try to end the battle as quickly as possible, so I can definitely agree with it being more as a way to hype up Ash-Greninja than anything else
Yeah it’s just her being surprised after underestimating Greninja. And Greninja simply targeted Gardevoir’s weak point which was her rather low defensive capabilities in comparison to other champion aces when combining the fact that she was holding back literally only using shadow ball even during the final clash, it gave the appearance that she was being completely overwhelmed losing to Greninja which alone cannot determine who would have won the battle.
I really like how they implemented her as a strategic battler. This differentiates her from the other champions who just have there aces tanking ridiculous attacks while having massive power. I believe even her Mega Gardevoir in terms of raw power and defensive capabilities is not as good as the other aces which is why she needs a different approach. Honestly aside from the fact that this battle was really still with no one moving around and dodging that much, this battle was pretty well done in comparison to some other journeys battles.
If Alain beat diantha he would not have become champion it doesn’t work like that it has to face her in a kalos champion league match it doesn’t count
In the same way if ash beat Steven he wouldn’t become hoenn champion
Also I’m glad they did it like this it’s more unique
This is one of if not the most game accurate battle the anime has ever had
Can you do Trip's Ultimate Team? He's a underrated rival and he have five Pokémon in arsenal he never/bearly use in favorite of his Serperior. Wouldn't mind seeing some of other Pokémon get some attentions.
That'd be a fun one :) Lots of speculation needed for it
First flinch of the entire series on top of twister ko through a screen was pretty odd ngl. I liked everything but those 2 things. Lance's Dragonite seemed to have its hidden ability but it never got confirmed.
this battle not gonna lie looks like an smogan battle
kinda like it
theye sholde do more like this
i guess the eye contact between diantha and gardevoir was still there, because they have eye contact when dragonite was about to use hyper beam that's why gardevoir jumped and finished dragonite using moonblast
I didn't consider that to be the gimmick because she also shoutec out the order
I agree with you about Gyarados
Glad to hear that, hope you enjoyed the rest of the video!
Honestly I really don’t want to complain after Alain vs Leon. While I understand that battle is to hype up Leon to be this untouchable obstacle, it was still super rushed
I wholeheartedly respect everyone’s opinions on this and while I agree there are several aspects could’ve been done better in terms of animation being stiff, Diantha tends to be heavily disrespected mainly how undeveloped and easy she was in the games, Its not like Lance was weak considering there’s no such thing as a weak champion, its just Diantha was more calmer and strategical in comparison to Lance’s offensive battle style, not to mention it would be genuinely boring to see a repeated match of Lance versus Leon despite him being done dirty in which I feel extremely bad for him and while the battle itself is far from perfect, it was still better than Leon versus Alain in which I personally loved a lot!!! 🤧✨
I too respect your decision and well thought out comment. Just extremely disappointed that Lance lost vs Diantha even though his feats have been much higher. Some things just don’t make sense, Lance’s Gyarados almost beat Leon’s Charizard the strongest Pokémon in the anime (right now) and yet it got totally slapped by Gourgeist.
Lance’s Pokémon didn’t show the same amount of competence as they usually do except Dragonite. Dragonite was an absolute freak of nature. It tanked multiple super effective hits, 4x blizzard and was still pounding. This is pretty spot on considering how powerful it’s been shown in the anime, it is the strongest Dragonite in the anime so far.
All in all it feels bad having Lance lose to Diantha while having the edge number wise and dynamaxing his insanely powerful Dragonite just to have its max attacks negated by normal ones :(
The worst part is Lance v Leon was so good in their 1v1. Imagine a 3v3 with Dragonite Gyarados and another draconic lance mon vs Charizard Dragapult and one of Leons other Pokémon. Would’ve been a much more interesting battle.
Everyone's opinions are welcome here 🤠
I feel bad for Lance. From the anime's perspective, he never had a chance, because the creator was not going to just have a Lance-Leon rematch next round. He's the OG champion, the first Ash and friends met in the story.
Agreed. I dont think diantha could have lasted in a full 6v6 against lance. Her strat was great for a 3v3. Theres a reason he was #2 the prior world coronation.
Battle length was good, but it felt very static
Def a bit rushed
I really wish they'd used Diantha's non-verbal commands in this battle. I would've loved it if she could use it with her other Pokemon as well. It would make her a major threat because it would make her an unpredictable foe, and that would be her niche as a Champion.
Using that would sweep lance's team entirely 😂. Maybe the writers are saving this gimmick for diantha later on her fight with leon so she could hang on with charizard's gameplay
Now it's time to see the power of dragon master v/s the garchomp master
Respect you for all the videos
Thanks!!
One of the reason I do like this match is because at the end of the day, when first watching the Match, you have no idea who is going to win. Unlike the other rounds where obviously Alain is going to lose to Leon, Iris is going to lose to Cynthia. And Ash is not going to lose. Either one of them could have won and would have made sense. However Diantha makes sense winning afterwards considering she used a lot more strategy than Lance did who was more brute force. Diantha winning made sense. Though one thing that I would change about the tournament is make each beginner battle take place over two episodes (Like Ash Vs Bea did), considering than the battles wouldn’t need to feel rushed, and could have had the right pace. (Compleletly understand why they didn’t do it (because budget and anime team was not doing the best at the time of animating this series, not an excuse but reasoning), but more time for the battles would have certainly helped).
THANK G that they're actually giving these battles more respect now. they all should be at least one episode long, just boggles the mind how much they botched up at alains match for no reason.
Tho what are with these champion level trainers and their risky moves first alain with his flame drive that does recoil damage instead of his trademark blast burn move and now Lance with that risky hyper beam weird. Dragonite's powerful hyper beam move being countered so easily and then Dragonite being forced to just sit there and take it from Garnovoir's moon beam was hard to see to say the least lol
But anyways enjoy this match it had lots of strategy really impressed with diantha's reflect barrier stuff (reminds me of the tactics I use with my beloved Bayleef whenever I get the privilege to use her 😊) and Lance's g-max tactics are really cool too, not bad! I do wish they used the xyz animation tho, battles looked way more epic back then!
I only wish more love was put on Lance's Shiny Garados as i feel that would have been the much better answer to mega Garnovior. Maybe even mega evole his own to match hers. Besides there's too much Dragonite exposure already with Ash's and especially Iris' badass one so would have been nice to see Garados be the ace this battle. ah well.
And my last gripe is well the character interaction. Their battle was nice sure but character interaction wise, just felt like a causal battle between causal friends, Nothing to really make me go He's gotta win! or She's gotta win! Just a light hearted battle which is ok but i like more significant plot stuff to happen in the final championship battles of the anime like Ash vs Paul or Ash vs Alain, where its not just a battle between pokemon but their trainers themselves.
Would have loved Iris to fight lance as two dragon masters! and Stevan to fight Alain as their battle was interrupted back in xyz and of course Ash vs Alain but alas. Iris vs Cynthia is a nice consolation tho, lil axew can prove his worth against his big sister Garchomp and show her how far he's come! Same with Iris to Cynthia! I hope Cynthia acknowledges Iris' Dragonite as well as he was quite the jerk the last time they met haha. I wonder what she would think of him now?
Still massive improvement overall! Super happy seeing the Chronicles Trio again! Super Nostalgic! Need to rewatch that special and Team Gogetters while im at it! #Childhood ^_^ How the heck did Gold(Jimmy) not make it in lol
Lets hope it continues:)
probably the most game accurate battle i have seen in the anime so far
Lance vs Diantha was so epic the cool thing is Mega Gardevoir deafeated after Dragonite turn into normal again😎
This fairy type which she got in gen6 saved her
@@Yajjay833 saved her? Hahaha no dagerous thing there😂
Very cool indeed 👍
@@ProfessorAlexSilver yup
Was hoping Lance would have Dynamax Hydreigon, then bet everything on Max Steelspike.
The animation budget went into next weeks episode
Nice review alex
Thanks!
The battles have been a pretty big let down so far
What is everyone’s thoughts so far
I'm enjoying them but they could be better
I can see how Diantha is strategist but Gyarados and Hydreigon seems to be defeated way too easily. Lance could have win the match
Outside of Cynthia v Iris it seems like the writers were trying to avoid rematches, which I respect that route. Diantha is just a bad matchup for Lance. Power vs Technique
Thank u!
if iris went against lance, and alain, went against diantha, that would mean either cynthia or steven and the other one would have to lose to leon, meaning that ash would have a 100% chance of facing someone he’s already gone against before in round 2 to keep leon for the finals. it was the only way to give ash a win against both steven and cynthia.
I would have liked to see iris vs lance and diantha vs alain as well, but it would have left both steven and cynthia to both ash and leon's mercy.
I think people would have enjoyed a cynthia v leon matchup. She was until journeys considered by the fandom the strongest champion
hopefully diantha and gardevoir uses their connection against leon. i hope the writers don't mess this up again
Stll cant believe how they handle Alain's return, completely treated as a Jobber. Also like u said, Gyarados got the jobber treatment 😭
Poor Gyarados 😅
@@ProfessorAlexSilver he should have saved gyrados n gigantmax it
def knew Diantha would beat him after all
I thought so as well, the chancez of a rematch with leon are too slim
I feel it was unrealistic to have Lance leave Dragonite vulnerable a second time in battle after a hyper beam when he fainted.
Very good point
You think maybe they are trying to hammer the nail on the fact that most battles are stagnant blow for blow like the game, but Ash has the "crazy style" thats so different and out of mind!