Ash Heads Into Battle! VS Steven!! (1207)

[GLTSRY]

Watching this match again it's obvious some people's bias against Z-moves clouds their judgement. Pikachu couldn't keep up with Metagross' speed and the Z-move was used to hit it out of the air. The good thing is Metagross didn't just stand there and take it, it dodged 3 of the beams and deflected one of them, so only 3 beams hit it and knocked it out of the sky. Then before it could recover Pikachu got an Iron Tail.

Also remember this increases with a critical hit and Dracovish's strong jaw damage earlier in the match. Taking 3 strong attacks should be enough to bring it down. Z-moves are no less valid than either Gmax or Mega evolution

I think the main problem most people have with Z-Moves is that they feel like a “Press here to win” button, whereas we’ve seen enough times a ME or Dynamaxed Pokémon was defeated.

Though, I think this criticism should be directed towards Game Freak and not the anime, because they work like this 9/10 times in the games, too.

 

[Sham]

The battle overall was okay to me, nothing really special but I do appreciate the artery at the end.

Metagross is able to perfectly dodge the Red, Pink and Purple Z Moves which misses their mark and signifies those who have fallen in the first round only to be countered by the blue beam and have the light blue, green and yellow bring it down in that order. Those colors signifying Steven, Diantha and Cynthia who are Ash's last threats to becoming Monarch and the colors attack Metagross in the same order that they lose. It even connects perfectly with the Masters Eight sharing colors with Pikachu's Z move in the opening.

Probably one of my favorite scenes in the show and the background theme sure helps a lot

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Poor Steven. He was just sort of...there.

 

[Starswirl Pikachu]

Heh, Ash came geared for battle with the items for all 3 special skills even though they can only choose one! This was a great moment for the rare Cradily. Aside from the ancient pokemon finally getting some time in the spotlight, Steven expertly handled it so that Cradily was a fairly large threat. Depending on team composition that kind of strategy has the potential to stop an opponent in their tracks. Ash just had the good fortune that Pikachu was able to overcome the match up in this case.

With Dracovish out of commission, Ash's team no longer has a proper counter for Metagross. To really put on the pressure, Steven further added Mega evolution to the mix which made Mega Metagross nearly untouchable vs Pikachu. Even under normal conditions Pikachu will not be able to take too many hits. So then its Ash's turn to use his trump card which will be a Z move Thunderbolt. It looks like Ash and Pikachu are done for when Mega Metagross seems to dodge even their Z move but when Mega Metagross moves in to make its attack, the contact of energy is just what the giant Thunderbolt needed to find it after all and Steven's pokemon is hit with almost all of the electric attack! Its worth noting that after taking the damage Mega Metagross was still not finished and finally fainted from one last attack from Pikachu.

A pretty good match that could have gone either way. Ash and Pikachu just barely snagged the win.