Sawyer cameo! Sad he couldn't get an episode to himself but beggers can't be choosers so I'll take it as a win
His design didn't change much with the Journeys' filter... But I still find an odd design choice the half-opened eyes thing. I get it's to be a paralel to the Treecko line but it kind of clashes with his personality.
Personally, I don't think he looks that bad on that shot. Despite the issue with "half-close" thing, his eyes looked a bit better here.
Now, for the episode:
Despite the animation issues, that was infinitely better than the previous episode. That was what I wanted out of a match to kickstart the tournament rather the whole fiasco with Alain (from which only the Chesnaught match was good). Clever tatics winning, game mechanics being shown... Despite the clear animation shortcomings, episode made up with better scripting. To be honest, it doesn't surprise me since it's coming from a "less obvious" match like Diantha vs Lance.
My only issue is that Lance kind of hold the idiot ball today. His battling was pretty much Kanto!Ash tier if you ask me. Maybe becoming champ of two regions got over his head? Still, Diantha won not by plot armor but by being the clearly superior battler.
All in all, good episode despite bad animation.