Quoted By:
>biggest international tournament ever
>all these big names come back leading up to it
>promoted in-story and IRL as the hottest shit ever
>the name "MASTERS 8" implies that finally Ash's POKEMON MASTER dream is within his grasp
>even Ash's unresolved rivalry from 2 series ago may get a conclusion
What could have been:
>Champions going all-out against each other in 6v6 no-holds-barred battles
>Ash finally overcomes the one rival he could never best
>Top 8 knockout tournament with all battles being filled with sakuga and fanservice
>cameos of the people relevant to each competitor supporting them in person or at least watching on TV
>Ash's friends and rivals from previous seasons come back to cheer on him or at least call him a faggot
>Ash strategises against his biggest opponents ever and uses a combination of reserves and his current team to build the strongest teams possible
What we got:
>3v3 semifinals with all budget going to the Ash fight, which still managed to be mediocre
>reserves relegated to being cheerleaders fo Ash's current team
>Alan gets unceremoniously swept
>All losers fuck off immediately instead of staying for the rest of the tournament
>barely any interactions between Champions
>cameos are fucking slideshows of barely related characters mashed together in a single almost-random location with no sense of time having passed at all
>KOHARU RECAP PLUS IRRELEVANT EPISODE OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE
>one of the semifinals will be off-screened
>Leon's Gary Stu UNRIVALED, UNDEFEATED arc is being played completely straight
>the other semifinal will be stretched to the maximum
>almost-newborn Lucario is being hyped as an equal to Cynthia's 15+ year-old Garchomp
>We are here
Oh boy, I wonder what other surprises the M8 has in store for us.
