Pokémon Ultimate Journeys - Review

The journey is the best part!

And with that, the last full-length season of the Pokémon anime with Ash Ketchum and Pikachu has ended. Well, the story that started with Pokémon Journeys in 2020 has. Ash and Pikachu beat  Lean, Goh met Mew again and Chloe and Eevee met all of Eevee´s evolutions. It all came full circle. I´ve kept up with each season, 'Journeys' and 'Master Journeys', over the last 2 years, so it's only fitting that now that the episodes have dropped on Netflix, I close the book on the 'Journeys' series. 

To take a look back at this final season and see if it lead to another good show with a satisfying end to this chapter of Pokémon. I think that, in the end, it did. 

Let's dive in. 

A quick disclaimer before I dive into the story summary. I'm giving the last dozen or so episodes, the once that haven´t dropped on Netflix yet, their own review. In Japan these episodes were part of the "Pokémon - Aim To Be A Pokémon Master" miniseries. Since those episodes are meant to be the grand final to Ash's entire 25-year run I feel it's more appropriate to cover those seperately. 

A little update on that front for you: as turns out, Netflix agrees with me here. At San Diego Comic Con 2023 (which took place after I wrote this review) they revealed they would, unlike say Canada, give these episodes their own mini-season like their original Japan broadcast. Pokémon: To Be a Pokémon Master will drop September 8th. 

Ash has made it into the top 100 of the World Coronation Series, a tournament to determine the strongest trainer in the world. If he makes it into the top 8 he´ll get his chance to fight Leon and become the World Champion. He and Pikachu keep marching towards this goal fighting tougher and tougher opponents, expanding their toolbox and training with old friends and foes alike. 

Goh, meanwhile, continues his journey to meet Mew. Finding Mew is a notoriously difficult task which is why he has set his sights on becoming a member of ´Project Mew´ a research group hoping to find the mythical Pokémon with its high-end equipment. With the competition to become a ´chaser´ nearing its end and Goh falling behind he has his work cut out for him. 

Chloe and her Eevee continue their journey to figure out what they want to be in the future. They do this by meeting trainers with Eevee Evolutions as their partners as well as accompanying Ash and Goh on some of their travels and by trying out new things. 

Ash and Lucario during a World Coronation Series fight.

I´m a bit conflicted when it comes to Ultimate Journeys. I stopped checking out the episodes weekly in favour of binging the entire thing once I had access to all the episodes because I felt the first half was going through the motions and the lack of any concrete progress before that point. A lot of episodes have the same setup. Ash and Goh (and sometimes Chloe) are sent out on an assignment by Prof. Cerise, hunting down some sort of Pokémon rumour or the like. 

Yet, looking back at it, the season had some very strong episodes. The amount of ´one-offs' and filler episode are fairly low. Well, over half of all episodes contribute to the larger narrative and/or has a returning character for days past and these episodes are almost all well done. More than enough to make the season succeed as what it is meant to be: a kids show. 

It's basic episode model has led to some great outings like Ren and Magnemite's episode and the return of Paul, but it just got tiresome after close to 100 outings with the same formula. The structure made the 'standard' episodes predictable and if the episode didn't hit (like the Slowpoke one) I felt like I wasted my time. It's for this reason that I recommend binging the episodes. You can move from a disappointing episode straight into the next or skip it entirely. 

To the season's credit there aren't many 'filler' episodes here. Once the 2nd half of the season hits it's a near-straight shot to the end with some great episodes (thanks to the dub skipping 4 clip shows). Once the Masters Eight Tournament starts, the season truly shines. From the return of Iris and Cynthia to just how exciting the battles are. Very well thought out and with some very neat twists and turns. Even the 'breather' episodes are great, like an exploration of Cynthia's character. The final few episodes are also well done. A fitting, if a more low-key, final to the last 3 seasons.

Since we've touched on the battles we have a good segway into the animation. The animation is good but what stood out to me was how hard it went during the final fights with its detail, effects and camera work. And, while it might be a cheap, nostalgia shot, the original theme playing during that final Leon vs Ash fight while the animation took it up 2 notches in detail and smoothness got my blood pumping something fierce. 

Now that I've had my say about this season, since 'Ultimate Journeys' is the end of the entire Journeys seres I want to take a minute to talk about 2 problems I have with these 3 seasons that sadly never were improved upon. The rather one-dimensional characterizations and the lack of focus on the Sword & Shield Pokémon, characters and locations. 

There are some great episodes in here, as I´ve already said, but when it comes to the characterizations and development of the main characters the show leaves something to be desired. I never felt like Ash, Goh or Chloe were truly progressing. Just moving along on to the drum of the beat the writers. There were some great character moments all throughout the show but once the next episode rolled around all of this was forgotten. It was back to statis quote. For a kid show this is all fine but if you were looking for a bit more, which is more than a few kids shows do, then you won't find it here. 

The contrasting personalities between Ash & Goh at display.

When it comes to Galar and the generation 8 Pokémon, location and characters, Journeys as a series underserves them greatly. The anime has always been the way in which Pokémon expanded its world. Dug deeper into each Pokémon, its characters etc. and give the audience a better understanding of them. 

Since Journeys premise has Ash and Goh travel all across the world they aren't in Galar that much. This means that there are lots of Gen 8 characters and Pokémon that never show up. Never get the chance to shine and that is a shame. On the flip side, though this travel across the world premise means we get to see more than just Galar. We got to go back to older locations, see older characters return and Pokémon that aren't in Sword & Shield still have a chance to pop up. Still, more focus on Galar would've been nice. 

Conclusion

When it comes down to it, Pokémon Journeys succeeds at being a fun kids show that´s an enjoyable watch for the older crowd as well. It brings the journeys of Goh and Chloe to a satisfying close, as Ash and Pikachu finally achieve their dream. While it falls short when it comes to developing its characters, underserves Galar and its Pokémon and is rather boring in my opinion, It´s still a well-made show. The animation, storytelling etc. are all good and above all else: it's just a fun show. 

Adults will love the final batch of episodes (and I recommend them to check those out if nothing else) while kids will love it all. It's far from perfect but it gets a thumbs up from me.