mehmeh1
Not thinking twice!
which would you say are the best non-gym/league/trial/g.trial/contest/other official competitions (don, battle royale, whirl cup, etc) in each series? These battles tend to be overlooked, but still, nice to get them some recognition or opinions:
IMO:
OS:metapod vs metapod ash vs that one scizor guy in johto (heracross vs scizor) It's always great to see heracross in action, and it was around this time that they started caring more about the battles and focusing more on them, and it was overall very fun
AG: ash vs gary (technically ash vs may too, as the terracota contest was unofficial, but eh), it was just a great way to introduce ash to sinnoh and bring him back to the ground after winning the BF, and it also worked to improve their dynamic after their rivalry's conclusion
DP: ash vs paul lake acuity, solid action, the only pre-league 6v6 we've ever had, chimchar's evolution, good strategies, and led to ash's character development, though it's kinda cheating to use this as they did hire a referee and all, so if not that, either paul vs cynthia because I loved seeing paul get wrecked and cynthia's introduction (well, I can't remember that well if this was her introduction, but still) was very well done, and it told us "yep, she's the champion"
BW: Not sure here, but probably ash and cilan vs juniper and bianca, some good dynamics between both teams, badass crustle, and it was an interesting concept for the trade-evolved pokemon to fight together
XY: Ash vs Diantha (round 2) or Ash vs Alain (round 2), the former pretty much told us ash was at the top of his game and finally after 19 years could go toe to toe with a champion, which was an amazing sight to see, not to mention the development of the ash-greninja arc and some solid animation and choreography, while the latter was the started said ash-greninja arc with a bang, by having ash and greninja being able to make alain and charizard finally feel excited against an opponent, while they themselves were able to prove how much stronger they had become, but in the end not being able to maintain the transformation and passing out, which while spoiled by the second preview was still shocking
SM (as of now): Ash vs Gladion (round 3), It took long, but we finally got to see the development between ash and gladion's rivalry, we got to see them try to outsmart each other at points judging from their previous encounters, we got some great choreography using the environment and the effects of moves, and even some setup for hapu's development (though the animation for devastating drake was meh)
IMO:
OS:
AG: ash vs gary (technically ash vs may too, as the terracota contest was unofficial, but eh), it was just a great way to introduce ash to sinnoh and bring him back to the ground after winning the BF, and it also worked to improve their dynamic after their rivalry's conclusion
DP: ash vs paul lake acuity, solid action, the only pre-league 6v6 we've ever had, chimchar's evolution, good strategies, and led to ash's character development, though it's kinda cheating to use this as they did hire a referee and all, so if not that, either paul vs cynthia because I loved seeing paul get wrecked and cynthia's introduction (well, I can't remember that well if this was her introduction, but still) was very well done, and it told us "yep, she's the champion"
BW: Not sure here, but probably ash and cilan vs juniper and bianca, some good dynamics between both teams, badass crustle, and it was an interesting concept for the trade-evolved pokemon to fight together
XY: Ash vs Diantha (round 2) or Ash vs Alain (round 2), the former pretty much told us ash was at the top of his game and finally after 19 years could go toe to toe with a champion, which was an amazing sight to see, not to mention the development of the ash-greninja arc and some solid animation and choreography, while the latter was the started said ash-greninja arc with a bang, by having ash and greninja being able to make alain and charizard finally feel excited against an opponent, while they themselves were able to prove how much stronger they had become, but in the end not being able to maintain the transformation and passing out, which while spoiled by the second preview was still shocking
SM (as of now): Ash vs Gladion (round 3), It took long, but we finally got to see the development between ash and gladion's rivalry, we got to see them try to outsmart each other at points judging from their previous encounters, we got some great choreography using the environment and the effects of moves, and even some setup for hapu's development (though the animation for devastating drake was meh)
