ENGLISH NAME	JAPANESE NAME	POKEMOPOLIS NAME	DODGINESS RATING	ANIMATION	STORY	TEAM ROCKET	MORAL LEARNT
761: A Unova League Evolution!	767: Ketchaku Isshu Rigu! Pikachu tai Rukario!	Total Fucking Bullshit Stupidity			The Unova League comes to a stupid, pointless anti-climax	Nope	Dreams, efforts, skills and talent are irrelevant

Last episode saw Ash facing off with Cameron in the quarter-finals of the Unova League. Ash would seem to have the advantage going into this episode as he has two Pokémon left to Cameron's one, and Cameron was stupid enough to only bring five Pokémon into the match in the first place. But on the other hand, Cameron's Riolu evolved during the previous episode into Lucario, and now Ash has to deal with...



Cameron is delighted with Riol.... Lucario! Ash is impressed by the evolution (he's dealt with many last minute battle evolutions in the past) as well but isn't letting it daunt him, if anything he cherishes the challenge all the more. He sends Snivy in to fight and she is just as determined, smashing Lucario across the face with Leaf Blade as Lucario prepares to strike. Lucario is staggered but not enough to miss the opportunity now that Snivy is in close and unleashes a Force Palm, sending the classy lady tumbling. The twerps are concerned, Lucario's moves are far more powerful now.

Snivy uses Vine Whip but Lucario blocks, and Ash presses the attack with faster and harder attacks. Cameron was hoping for this though, telling Lucario to take advantage and grab the vines to use Circle Throw. Snivy is sent crashing into the ground, but at Ash's encouragement she manages to get back to her feet and shake off the pain. Cameron has a big surprise in place though - Aura Sphere! Ash and the twerps are shocked, as is the watching Virgil, they didn't know Lucario knew Aura Sphere. Did Cameron know or did he make a leap of faith? Whatever the case, it worked, and now despite the scorecard being 5-4 against Ash, both are down to their last Pokémon.

With Snivy out, Ash sends in Pikachu and goes right on the offensive with Quick Attack. Three attacks in a row hit, even the second despite Lucario's quick initial dodge, and Virgil figures that Ash is trying to overwhelm and end Lucario before it can bring any of those power moves to bear. Ash orders an Iron Tail next but Lucario uses its own speed to slide and then leap clear. It goes into the air, Pikachu getting a warning too late from Ash and getting caught in a Force Palm followed by an Aura Sphere. Pikachu tries an immediate Electro Ball counter and both Pokémon are blown backwards by the force of the resulting explosion. They struggle to their feet, both are hurting but both are ready to keep fighting.

Cameron snaps the sweatband on his forehead, but the idea that leaps instantly to mind isn't a battle move but a compliment. He finds battling Ash so enjoyable, it brings out the best in him. Ash agrees, he finds battling Cameron exciting as well, this is the best kind of Pokémon battle for him, one that pushes him to the limit against an opponent who enjoys it just as much as he does.

Pikachu and Lucario charge each other and Lucario tries a Force Palm, but Pikachu dodges. Lucario is right after him, grabbing him in midair for a Circle Throw, but at Ash's beckoning he regains control in flight and lands safely, then lets rip with a massive blast of Thunderbolt that hits hard. As Lucario writhes in pain, Pikachu zooms in with Quick Attack and knocks Lucario to the ground, then prepares to finish things off with Iron Tail. Ash has forgotten the lessons of the battle against Riolu though, as Cameron calls for Lucario to use Copy Cat, and both Pokémon smash Iron Tails against each other and are sent sprawling.

Cameron and Ash both call out their support and belief in their Pokémon to get up and keep fighting. Pikachu hears and staggers up first, much to Stephan's shock and Cilan, Iris and Bianca's delight. Freddy the Scoop asks if this battle is over (the ref should have called it by now, Lucario hasn't moved at all) but when Cameron screams out to Lucario, it responds and clambers back up.

Ash orders an Electro Ball and Cameron calls for an Aura Sphere, and both Pokémon slowly charge up and unleash everything they have left. Their two moves clash, both Pokémon flinch back by the blowback as they force against each other and then... Aura Sphere dominates and smashes directly into Pikachu, sending him crashing over and knocking him out. Ash loses.

Ash loses.

Fuck.

FUCK.

FUCK!

Cameron rushes in to hug Lucario, spinning him around in delight while Ash collects up an already conscious Pikachu to thank him for giving his all. It's a mature reaction and a far flung difference from how he handled losing out in his first ever Tournament... but you know what, fuck it. Fuck it all to hell. Ash just got knocked out in the Top 8 of the Unova League, which means he's taken a backwards step from how well he did in his previous League. Even that is acceptable, except for who beat him. I have nothing against Cameron, he's a funny guy and clearly has a lot of potential as a similar battle-savant style character as Ash... but this is his first tournament and there is no excuse for HIM being the one to knock Ash out. This is a guy who doesn't know enough about his chosen field that he only got registered because of Ash's intervention. This is a guy who didn't know how many Pokémon he was supposed to bring to his Quarter Final match and STILL won it. In his first ever tournament, despite his stupidity he makes it through to at least the semi-finals? While Ash, a Battle Frontier winner who once was offered a spot as a Frontier Brain and who has been picked out by the highly respected Sinnoh Region Champion Cynthia as a talent of the future... Ash goes out in the quarter finals? Against an opponent who only had five Pokémon? Utterly, inexcusable bullshit. If Ash had to lose, why not against the more obvious (and annoyingly "perfect") Virgil? Why did it have to be Cameron of all people?

In any case, Ash takes the mature route and shakes Cameron's hand, despite his entire time in Unova now being an exercise in futility. Good for him, but fuck Cameron anyway. Boo. Fucking boo!



So what happens next? Well there are other battles to be fought but nobody gives a shit about any of them, because none of them involve Ash. Dino, Ramone (from the Club Battle and the Junior Cup respectively) and Virgil all win their battles and make it through to the Ashless semi-finals, meaning that poor old Russet got knocked out along the way without even appearing on screen. They're matched up at random and Cameron's next battle is against Virgil, and you'll never guess what the hell happens next.

Yep, Virgil absolutely kicks the shit out of Cameron. We see only the very end of the battle, of course, since neither of them are Ash, who is the best and most interesting battler the League had till they fucked things up in the Quarter Finals. Cameron has only his Lucario left while Cameron still has three of his six Pokémon - presumably Cameron actually brought six time. Ash is convinced that Cameron can win it despite the numbers disadvantage, but Lucario is clearly sweating tough while Espeon still looks fresh. Not that this matters, since Virgil recalls Espeon and sends out a fresh Flareon. Cameron goes back to his Force Palm standby, but Virgil is ready for this, ordering a Double Team that means Lucario has nothing to aim for.

Flareon flamethrowers Lucario and knocks it down, but it leaps straight back to its feet ready to keep fighting. Cameron snaps his headband to get an idea and... nothing happens. In despair he realises he hasn't got a clue what to do next, for all his obvious talent and the parallels with Ash, he isn't nearly as complete a trainer and lacks that innovative grasp for the moment that Ash has in spades. At a loss, all he can think to do is attack, attack, attack! He orders an Aura Sphere but Flareon counters with Fire Blast, and Lucario finds itself in the same position that Pikachu was in earlier, with the same result. Lucario is knocked out, and with an easy victory (Freddy the Scoop even says so!) the boringly "mature" Virgil and his all Eevee team moves on to the Final. Bianca - who I think has a little crush on Virgil - says she'll cheer for Virgil all the way, using the logic that he beat Cameron who beat Ash, therefore he's the one to do it.

We don't even seen the Virgil/Ramone battle, the final comes down to Virgil against Dino, who has been defeated in the past by Ash in the Semi-Finals of the Club Battle. Dino has obviously improved since then as he has managed to beat all of Virgil's Pokémon other than Eevee, though he only has a Druddigon left himself. So it's both trainers' final Pokémon against each other, and Druddigon tries to overpower to victory with Dragon Rage, but Eevee dodges by using that most basic of attacks - Dig. Leaping out of the ground and getting in Druddigon's face, it uses Iron Tail and then Trump Card, knocking Druddigon to the ground and then smashing it off of its feet and... knocking it out - Virgil predictably wins the Unova League and removes any and all sense of drama and excitement! Yay, the boring obvious perfect nice dude who everybody things is swell guy won! How dramatic and exciting!

With the Tournament over, all of the trainers gather for the Closing Ceremony as the competition flame is put out and Virgil celebrates with his trophy. Leaving the arena, the twerps - with Cameron and Stephan - meet up with Virgil and congratulate him on his win. Cameron insists that next time he'll beat him, and Virgil's reply is to talk about how his Eevee is even better now that it has the confidence of victory behind it. Real nice, dude, talk about yourself some more.

Davy arrives in his little helicopter to pick Virgil up, telling him he saw his victory on television and their dad is organising a big party to celebrate now. After telling Virgil this right in front of the twerps, he proceeds to not invite any of them and off they go, saying their goodbyes. As the twerps watch Virgil disappear from the show probably for the last time since he has served his purpose of being "Not-Ash the winner of the Region Tournament", Bianca comes bundling along clutching Castelia Cones to her chest, squealing for Virgil to wait. They're standing by a fountain and of course she manages to knock Ash in, alarming a couple of playful Tympole. Bianca returns bowing apologetically while Ash mumbles about how this doesn't seem like it is ever going to end. Apparently Bianca was hoping to give Virgil the ice-cream (and then he would take her take her home on a white horse to live in a castle!), but since he's gone, she'll just give them all one instead. The Castelia Cone people gave them to her for free since she said they were for Virgil, so now she's a criminal too!

Cameron and Lucario down their cones in a single gulp, much to Iris' surprise, and Cameron declares they have to get going to get in some more training for the next competition. Having ruined Ash's tournament, they race off into the distance, and Bianca quickly gets going too, calling out that she has to go home every so often to keep her dad happy. They wave their goodbyes, Iris wandering if Bianca ever slows down, and Stephan asks Ash if he wants to join him for a hot sweaty sauna.

Soon they're settled in (no Iris or Cilan), Pikachu splayed out on his back absolutely loving the heat. Stephan asks Ash if he's going to return home now, and Ash insists he isn't, he's going to.... uhh... he's... uhhh? He really doesn't have a goal outside of the overall BE A POKEMON MASTER thing anymore, he was aiming for the Unova League and that turned out to be a bust - he did worse than his previous BIG tournament - so what now? Stephan answers that for him, he's going to continue his journey, continue training and get stronger and stronger just like Stephan, who can't wait for the chance to battle him again. Pikachu rolls around onto the floor in the heat, while Stephan and Ash promise to be ready for another great battle the next time they meet.

Later, Cilan and Iris are finishing packing up their gear when they realise Ash has disappeared. Where is he? He's back in the now empty arena looking over the battlefield with Pikachu. He heads down onto the ground as the sun rises, discussing how well they battled but how Cameron was better, and Virgil in turn was better than him. As the heat from the rising sun washes over their faces, Ash remembers all the things he has been through so far in a montage of his time in Unova. The rivals he and the others made, the battles they fought, the adventures and fun they had, even the time he hauled Cameron's stupid ass down to register for the Unova League and inadvertently cost himself a place in the Semi-Finals. He tells Pikachu that everybody is moving on to new adventures, so it's up to them to do the same. Cilan and Iris find him, waving to him and calling for him to join them. Ash is Ash, and not given to deep introspection for long. Sure he lost the Unova League, and sure that sucks (it sucks big hairy donkey balls!) but he hasn't lost his passion for the journey, and he plans to continue on. It would have been nice to see him actually achieve some kind of progression onwards from the Sinnoh League (would it seriously kill them to have him win a League and take a step up to the Champions League?) but it didn't happen, so onwards he'll go until he finally does achieve his goal of being the very best, like no one ever was. For now, at least, the journey is...

BEST QUOTES

"I'm not so sure we can expect very potent, powerful OR pungent moves!"

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