Lovin' that Hoenn League throwback in the preview with Pikachu hanging onto Metagross. Thinkin' that'll be Pikachu's big win here.
I really hope Noivern finally gets some love here. As some others said, using his bat sonar to get past TTar's Sand Stream would be really cool.
Hope Goodra gets some quality wins too.
Its interesting though to not only see Pikachu used so much during the battle. But also to see Charizard out battling it in this ep. I'd figure Alain
would save Charizard for Greninja but maybe Pikachu is too much for Alain's team to handle. I'm starting to think that Charizard's early entrance
is in order to take out Pikachu early and then switch back once its gone. Although, assuming that is after Metagross comes in, that leaves Alain
with at most Bisharp and maaaaybe Unfeazant if it beats Talonflame. Pikachu has been putting in work this league though. Maybe Alain recognizes
it as a threat.
If I'm predicting the battle though I'm gonna say...
-Pikachu vs. Tyranitar (Pikachu recalled)
-Noivern vs. Tyranitar (Noivern)
-Noivern vs. Bisharp (Bisharp recalled)
-Noivern vs. Weavile (Weavile)
-Hawlucha vs. Weavile (Hawlucha)
-Hawlucha vs. Unfezant (Unfezant)
-Talonflame vs. Unfezant (Unfezant, recalled afterward)
FIELD CHANGE
-Pikachu vs. Metagross (Pikachu)
-Pikachu vs. Charizard (Charizard, recalled afterward)
-Goodra vs. Bisharp (Goodra)
-Goodra vs. Unfezant (Goodra)
-Goodra vs. Charizard (Charizard)
-Greninja vs. Charizard (Up for grabs)
The only hickup is that we see Ash send out Pikachu in the sponsor section and then we see Alan send out Weavile. They could be unrelated though, which is a common trick for these guys to fool us with. Otherwise, I pretty much agree, with the possibility that Talonflame vs. Unfezant might end up a tie.
Also, I can definitely see Noivern going down to Bisharp, instead of Bisharp being recalled before anything goes down (though both options at this point are possible). It would make sense for Alan to switch out Bisharp when Hawlucha comes in. Weavile would be an odd choice, since it shares the x4 weakness, but it (probably) has Ice-type moves to counter Hawlucha, so it's an equal odds match really.
What I'm guessing is that:
Waterfall-field:
- Pikachu vs. Tyranitar: Pikachu gets recalled
- Noivern vs. Tyranitar: Noivern
- Noivern vs. Bisharp: Bisharp
- Hawlucha vs. Bisharp: Bisharp gets recalled.
- Hawlucha vs. Weavile: Weavile
- Talonflame vs. Weavile: Talonflame
- Talonflame vs. Unfezant: Tie. Or Unfezant survives for Goodra to take down.
Grass-field:
- Pikachu vs. Metagross: Pikachu
- Pikachu vs. Charizard: Charizard
- Goodra vs. Charizard: Charizard is recalled.
- Goodra vs. Bisharp: Tie, or Charizard in the following match-up.
- Greninja vs. Charizard:
Charizard.
Lol, Talonflame stealing Hawlucha's thunder yet again.. xD
Here's what I've gathered from the preview:
-Pikachu is facing Tyranitar, Metagross, and Charizard in this episode. Weavile has been presumed, but I believe that the end clips were just spliced together, considering that it seems like Ash was sending him out as if he hadn't fought yet.
-Other confirmed battles are Hawlucha VS Weavile and Talonflame VS Unfezant. I don't doubt that Hawlucha can thrash Weavile, but I am a little concerned for the Unfezant battle as a lot of people would prefer to see a draw.
-No Goodra or Greninja in the preview, yet all six of Alain's Pokémon are shown. Either he's doing a bit of switching, or he's in a bit more of a bind than he thought he'd be in against Ash.
Other notes:
-Bisharp is the Pokémon that Alain recalls for later. That spike thing you see behind Weavile is actually the part of Alain's hair that sticks up.
-Noivern goes down first, followed by Hawlucha. I'm hoping Noivern gets a win, but if he doesn't, at least have give a decent effort for someone else to get a victory.
-Alain will lose Tyranitar and Weavile in that order by the time the battle of the birds is happening.
Any thoughts?
You can also make out Bisharp's
red shoulder pads. It definitely gets recalled.
Also, Noivern really should've learned Flamethrower with the way it gets matched up with Steel-types.. Doublade, Metang and Bisharp.. -.-
Who knows, or Pikachu beats Tyranitar, is called back. Bisharp takes Noivern down, Hawlucha enters and Alain switches out to Weavile.
That's actually possible as well.. Assuming that the sponsor-segment is just spliced together and Alan doesn't send out Weavile after Ash sends out Pikachu.
The weird part is that Alan has a healthy Metagross and Unfezant he could use to counter Hawlucha, yet goes for the x4 weak Dark/Ice-type. I get it, similar fighting-styles and it does have likely have Ice-type moves, but Unfezant is a superior choice vs. Hawlucha. Not to mention that Metagross should be able to do lots of damage to Hawlucha with a Psychic-type move - but is likely not chosen due to Hawlucha's agility.
