Pokemon Journeys Part 4 Review – It’s Good… Practically

The tale of Pokemon Journeys has been a rather interesting one. Because it absolutely went and ‘breathed new life’ into the anime that so many have known and love for 25 years or so (including myself) and it also has shaken up the typical Pokemon anime. But, while at times it’s beautiful and passionate, it’s also very…inconsistent. And Pokemon Journeys Part 4 proved that in its own ways as I’ll explain.

Let’s start out with the positive, but there was positive things within this set of 12 episodes. Mainly, the Sword and Shield arc.

This is an arc that’s been teased for some time, and was even promo art over in Japan for when the arc was coming. But perhaps what made this arc so fun was they took their time with it. Not unlike many other arcs in the past like Melloetta, Zygarde, and so on.

We get to see Ash and Goh take on separate journeys with characters like Sonia and Leon to end up at the same place, fighting Eternatus. And of course, Chairman Rose and Oletta were there and made a splash in their own ways.

The arc was honestly a lot of fun and the final Raid Battle with Zacian and Zamazenta was great. It honestly played out like the video games point for point and I’m not mad about that one bit. Seeing Ash and Goh meet these two legendary wolves (shout King of Fighters) was fun and you almost have to wonder if they’ll come back to these two one day.

Another highlight of this arc was a rematch with Bea. Ash is famous in the anime for getting wins after key losses, but here, he gets a tie with Bea. This matters because it sets up a final battle with Bea possible in the Master Class of Coronation Cup. Especially with Lucario now in Ash’s party he’ll want to win more than ever.

And I’d be remiss if I forgot the Mewtwo episode. This was another highly-anticipated one and they more-or-less handled it with grace. No, Mewtwo didn’t cite Ash as a trainer he met before, but it was the same Mewtwo and the battle that happened was really fun and teased another meeting down the line.

Sadly, these three bits were really the highpoints of the season. And I know what you’re thinking, “But what about the Alola episode!” Well…about that…

I was VERY excited with the Alola reunion was the first episode out, and I was VERY excited to see Ash interact with everyone again. But…they barely did that, and focused more on Goh!

How so? Well, in the beginning, it was about Ash and seeing Kukui, Burnett and Ash’s “baby brother” made me honestly tear up a bit. Because they talked about how he was “home” and still a part of their family. And we even got to see a very rare and beautiful vulnerable moment from Ash as he realized his family had grown. His line of “little hands” was simple and yet elegant.

…AND THEN WE NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN!!!!

Seriously, the rest of the episode is more about Goh meeting the Alola crew and feeling “out of place” with them and then battling Kiawe over being “Ash’s rival/not rival”. I was like…”When did Kiawe become a jerk?” It was seriously whiplash-inducing. And we didn’t want this episode so Goh could “hog the spotlight”, we wanted to see Ash with everyone! So while we did get to see some great reunions, it was a bit soiled by everything else. What’s more, this would’ve been a PERFECT 2-part episode so that Ash could the focus AND Goh could be the focus. But that’s not what happened at all. Instead, we get a rushed ending and a “promise to return”. But if it’s going to go this way next time…I don’t want them to return.

Another issue came with the storyline about getting Zapdos. They called the episode a “Crackling Raid Battle”, and yet the Raid Battle honestly barely happened. It lasted for a few moves and then Team Rocket did its thing and messed it all up, so why was it called that? Also, they’re doing a REALLY bad thing by making it seem like Goh really is going to catch “one of every Pokemon” because that makes Ash feel meaningless in some ways when he COULD’VE caught all of these legendary Pokemon he’s met but didn’t for one plot reason or another, yet Goh got REALLY close to getting Zapdos, we KNOW he caught a certain legendary in a future episode (one that has a connection to Ash twice over and arguably should’ve gone to him) and even fought Mewtwo with the intent on capturing him. Oh, and Eternatus was “caught by him” as well but I’ll leave that alone because it happened in the game.

And while Pokemon Journeys Part 4 definitely had strong episodes, it also had a series of “filler episodes” that really dragged things down. Such as the “Pikachu Translation Check” episode that was REALLY dumb as well as the “season finale” with “A Close Call …Practically!” that ended things on a really dumb note with no real progression between two key characters.

The “Restore and Renew” episode was solid, though it is a little eye-rolling that the fossil Pokemon Goh would get would be Aerodactyl.

There was also a lot of really big “faux pas” moves that was done in story and by the characters that didn’t make sense. Including an overreliance of certain Pokemon. In the battle with Mewtwo, Ash went from Pikachu to Lucario. Pikachu is a fine pick because of its speed, but Lucario is a Fighting-Type, which is WEAK to Psychic-types and Ash should know that! If he used Gengar (who was criminally underused in this set of 12) he would’ve been much better off!

Also, in the final episode, Lucario and Cinderace team-up to go and “save Pikachu” because Team Rocket tried to swap it out with a robot. But, Team Rocket (very obviously) grabbed their own robot instead. And yet despite that, Lucario didn’t notice the difference. Why does that matter? Lucario can sense the Aura in all living things. Keyword, LIVING! It should’ve sensed that the Pikachu they had was a fake. But didn’t.

I know I may sound like I’m harping on this, but Pokemon can really shine when it delves deep into its world and stories like they did in Part 1. But ever since then the quality of the episodes has been very inconsistent. And being that this is the “last of Pokemon Journeys” (aka the last before the rebrand that we’ll find out about soon enough) you’d think they would’ve wanted to frame it as though these were 12 very important episodes. When instead…we got like 6 great episodes…and the rest were “ok” or subpar.

I’ll be here when the next batch arrives, but I do hope we can get more of a focus next go around.