Oh yes, looking forward to next week's episode! The Thunderpunch on that Pikachu, finally, only makes it that more interesting (and better) to me. This is going to be the closest thing to a Serena and Pikachu bond/focused episode to (that I can get), so hopefully it does its best at what its aiming for. I don't just want to see a mindless battle, in short, I want to see Serena and Pikachu in sync.
I have to disagree with you there mate. Look as far back as battle frontier ark. Will-o-whisp if my memory is correct never left the opponent burned. It just showed that they were damage . Same goes for thunder wave for god's sake. I hate that they do that. If you need a refresher please watch Ash's LAST battle with pyramid king Brandon. Dusklops used Will-o-whisp on charisard. That move should not work on fire types but it did hit him and knock him back. Feel free to check the move's entry in bulbapedia. I'd post the link but I am not sure if it is against the rules or not. But it can be easily confirmed. As far as I Know, and I. Would very well be wrong, the only status moves that have been shown to have effect in the anime were toxic, sleep moves, confusion moves. One could say infatuation moves but their effects is wrong in the anime. And I am not counting the additional effect from regular moves like scald.
Oh the spore and powder moves too.
But thunder wave and Will-o-whisp were just shown as damaging. You might say they STUNNED the opponent, but others might consider that STUN as damage.
Anyway, I am just saying it could be an option. For all I care, they can give him fire blast lol it wouldn't be the first time the writers gave a move to a Pokemon that they couldn't possibly legitimately learn. May also be fun if Ash did combinations with other Pokemon, which certainly isn't his style, example is use forest curse against a dragon Pokemon making him a grass type dual, then pummiling him with talonflam, noivern, hawlucha, or ever aerial acing them with greninja. Actually this sounds more possible since Ash has a plethora of flyers this gen.
Your post is quite very flawed. Why... are you recalling of outdated points in time? Will-o-wisp has been used in DP, BW, and XY. But even then, there are some situations where moves are not always going to be accurate because of the narrative of an episode. Secondly, this is about SS, not any other move.
Comparisons here are irrelevant because I was not generally talking about status condition attacks, just SS alone.
Your post about Will-o-Wisp not being able to work on Charizard- It didn't act as a status condition move so it was fine actually. (He wasn't burned.) Plus, because the anime is not limited with game (play) mechanics, a WoW can actually still hit Charizard, but just not take on the fire effect Another comparable example being Hawlucha (and any flyer if close enough) being able to get hit by Bone Rush in the anime. This can't happen in the games because of balanced purposes and limitations. This is why I always say the anime and games can only be compared to an extent. Even if the anime wanted to, it couldn't 100% faithfully follow the games precisely.
POKEMON ORIGINS is the animated version from the GAME's perspective and even it couldn't accurately portray the games' mechanics faithfully. That says a lot. And it's also because of this fact why the anime needs to stop being criticized as much as it is for not following the games exactly - Water Shuriken not being wave based and the size differing, taking damage from missed attacks that aren't set attacks that cause damage when missing, using move collisions to avoid moves that are either unavoidable or almost, etc, etc, etc.
Your post about Thunder Wave- Again, this move has been accurate in its recent uses and appearances: Clemont's Gym and Olympia's Gym (and more). It has not done damage. Also, Stun =/= Reaction. Because a Pokemon reacts to a move such as TW or SS does not mean it took damage. There are even animation cues that further prove this, but that's where I'll stop.
Of course you're wrong in regards to only those moves working like a status condition move. Electric and sleep related status condition moves have worked exactly like they do in games. Obviously there will be a minor difference due to the reality setting of the anime, as opposed to the turned based games however. Confusion related (sc) moves - SS and Confuse Ray - have been the inaccurate ones recently.
My
original point still stands, SS does not do physical damage in the anime (aside from possible internal hearing damage, which is irrelevant), thus it's a status condition move in the anime. It simply just went from direct confusion (as we saw with Palpitoad and others last gen) to "stun" temporarily. Words have different meanings, the way i'm using "stun" in this case should let you know what im talking about.
Sigh, post turned out longer than it was suppose to be. Wanted to keep it short. Oh well..