I mean speak for yourself for the flygon episode lol, I really love that ep and my main issue with Ashs depression was its pacing with episode placement not how it was handled with Goh snapping him out of it. Even in those episodes where he does major things he still shows some self doubt before conquering it, I like those moments, which is what my post was pointing out
I literally already said what I meant by the underdog comment. In the Gary episode he was both insecure and an underdog and he got an invitation from Professor Oak BECAUSE he caught Suicune and he knows Goh's goal, Goh earned the right to challenge trial missions himself in ep71. Thats like saying Ash got things handed to him because Scott invited him to challenge the battle frontier
His strategy with Raboot to take out Flygon was still thrilling for me to watch, he put effort in his strategies for me enough for me to enjoy it and like it
My issue with the Flygon episode is that Ash got depressed at all.
Okay. Ash got depressed after losing to Ritchie in the Indigo League. It was his first League, he promised Ritchie a great battle... And he got led astray by Team Rocket, two of his key Pokémon were tired out by Team Rocket, and his only hope of winning was the disobedient Charizard that cost him the match in the end. But after a Pikachu Thunderbolt and seeing how Ritchie took his own loss, Ash bounced back to his old self no problem. That makes sense for his character.
In Diamond and Pearl, Ash got depressed after losing to Paul at Lake Acuity. Since Paul is Ash's polar opposite, their battle was also one of dueling philosophies. Losing to Paul made Ash question his whole world view. But all it took was Ash's Pokémon acting happy and goofy, despite their injuries, for Ash to realize how stupid he was being for sulking. That also makes sense for his character.
In XY&Z, Ash gets depressed when losing to Wulfric. Wulfric was just another Gym Leader. He's lost to Gym Leaders before. A lot. He always picks himself back up immediately and starts training for the rematch. But in this case, he walked off into the woods alone instead. Without his Pokémon, without training or opening the chance for his team to cheer him up. So... Serena needs to yell at him to stop being stupid? And THAT works? And the only one out of Ash's team that showed any sort of concern for Ash was Pikachu? That's not Pokémon! That's not Ash! And those aren't his Pokémon!
I feel the same way about the Flygon episode too. Ash didn't know that Bea would be a recurring rival, and he's lost plenty of battles before. Maybe a full-on losing streak is new for Ash, sure. But I don't see how losing to random Trainers he's never met before, has no personal investment in, and (as far as he knows at the time) will never see again is enough to warrant a full-on depression. I don't know why Ash's Pokémon didn't seem to express any interest in cheering Ash up (Ash's Dragonite can probably cure cancer with those hugs, it's so cute and sweet). I don't see why Ash needed Goh to be the one to snap him out of it. And I don't see why the same genius who invented Thunder Armor and Counter-Shield would keep using the same failing strategies over and over again when training to counter grappling Pokémon when he needs to formulate a counter strategy for a potential Bea rematch.
That's how I feel, anyway.