How is the strength of Ash's team relative to his other teams remotely relevant? He's not battling himself from the past, nor does he have the same opponents.
Anyway, this episode is great and I like it a lot. So much character. Good showing for James and Mareanie. And I like how Gladion countered Black Hole Eclipse in the same way Ash did before, to further denote the similarities in their battle styles which already started in the Poni arc. I also like Ash picking Rowlet over Torracat. Torracat would have been a better choice as a type, but Rowlet has the motivation advantage and it's one of the things this series does so much better than Kalos. Ash doesn't battle just to win even though he can get fired up over that with Kiawe in excitement, he battles for his pokémon and to help his pokémon grow and get stronger. He knows that Torracat would have a better type matchup, and he also knows that Torracat probably would have a higher chance of beating Decidueye, but he still picks Rowlet because this battle is important for Rowlet and it is a great opportunity for Rowlet to really grow. Torracat will get its turn against Masked Royal's Incineroar, and it will be picked over Lycanroc there for the same reason Rowlet is picked here, because it would be cruel of Ash to deny those battles from his pokémon when they're so important to them.
