This episode picked up where the last episode left off. Ash and Paul were in the middle of their Sinnoh League match, and both of them were doing their best to win. I really wasn’t expecting Ash's Gliscor to get hit by Paul's Drapion’s Pin Missles.... because in the previous episode, Gliscor seemed to be dodge the Pin Missiles very guess. I guess Drapion fired off one too many Pin Missile at once, so Gliscor couldn't dodge them all. Man, I thought Gliscor was finished when Paul ordered Drapion to use Cross Poison, but thankfully Gliscor used Fire Fang and it caused Drapion to get burned. It was awesome how Gliscor easily dodged Cross Poison before hitting Drapion with Fire Fang. It was obvious that Fire Fang did a lot of damage, hence why Drapion finally fainted.
It was kinda confusing when Paul brought out Electivire and told it to use Thunder on the field, but it all made sense when it's revealed that Paul was using the debris from the field to pelt a Pokemon resistant to electricity. But how did Paul came up something like that? Well, It appeared that Paul got the idea from Ash's Infernape’s Flare Blitz/Dig combo. Gliscor tried to damage Electivire by attacting it with Giga Impact, but suprisingly, Electivire managed to block the Giga Impact! Whoa, That’s some impressive defense that Electivire has. I knew Gliscor was gonna lose.... and it did. It was so weird hearing Paul compliment Electvire. he never complimented his Pokémon before, but now he is doing it? I guess that's a character development moment for Paul.
Ash's next Pokémon was Pikachu, who did pretty well against Electivire. LOL, Paul was so surprised by Pikachu dodging the debris with Quick Attack. I guess Paul wasn't expecting Pikachu to do something like that. Pikachu breaking free of Electivire’s grasp was impressive, sadly it wasn't enough to defeat Electivire. Ash tried to damage Electivire with Volt Tackle/Iron Tail combo, but it didn't do a thing because Electivire was way stronger than Pikachu. Pikachu lost to Electivire, but I'm glad he at least pulled of a good fight before losing.
The battle between Infernape and Electivire was the best! Paul did a BIG mistake by calling Infernape pathetic when it was struggling to stay put. Paul's words caused Infernape to get really angry and unleashing its Blaze ability. Then Infernape pretty much destroyed Electivire with Flamethrower, Mach Punch and Flare Blitz. After the huge attackfest, it seemed like the battle was going to continue because Electivire was still standing.... but it didn't happen. Electivire fell down and was unable to fight, ending the biggest battle in the anime and making Ash Ketchum the WINNER.
This is, hands down, one of the most epic battles in the history of the Pokémon Animé. It's 'bout time Ash beat his strongest rival Paul in a Pokémon battle, and I'm glad he did. It showed how far he has become in his journey. Infernape playing a big part was the most awesome thing about the whole battle. The Chimchar whom Paul treated badly and eventually released, defeated three of Paul's Pokémon and also taught Paul a lesson. Ash and Paul's rivalry wrapped up nicely in this episode, but I think it would've been better if they explored Paul's character a little more. Especially the "my Pokémons are tools" thing that has been a part of his personality since the beginning of this series. Oh well, it dosen't matter since they gave him some character development towards the end of DP.
On a side note, Masaaki Iwane's animation was really good in this episode, it made the battle even more better in my opinion. Ash and Trip's Unova League battle is lame compared to this epic battle.