Everyone based on what i read in here are under impression how May, Iris and Dawn powerhouses respectively. That means Blaziken, Mamoswine and Dragonite are at top discussing who is stronger between them.
But I cannot stop but to ponder why is Misty main powerhouse(in my opinion its not the only one) Gyarados so underrated?
Someone would thought that such a force which overrun most pokemon in wild(its particularly hard to catch as well). Pokemon who has excellent moveset like protect, hydropump, twsister, hyper beam, flamethrower. Who defeated three Tentacruel in Cerulean gym like they were joke and destroyed colonel Hanson Shedinja would be viewed in better light.
Most of all howcome only Gyarados is considered as strong pokemon owned by Misty???
I mean i can understand why such opinion prevails for Goldeen and Horsea?
But on what ground Politoad who received lot of development. Staryu who proved to be resilient and highly powerful being capable of taking down much larger opponents(i guess wins over Weepinbell, Tentacruel, Weezing or being equal to mirage Mantine means nothing) or Corsola as one of mot used pokemon by Misty are considered weaklings.
Same goes for Luvdisc who just because in competitive meta in games is rated lowly, doesn't mean same applies to anime. With Misty Luvdic having no problems in defeating Mightiena and Sableye. And Sootopolis gym leader Juan with his win over Growyle through Luvdisc further confirmed how anime=/=games.
Last but not the least Misty has Starmie, but pretty much everyone ignore that factor and how powerful that pokemon could be.
Or Psyduck whose confusion and psychic attacks if headache is strong enough could pretty much defeat all of other girls powerhouses in one blow.
Im just genuinely surprised that gym leader(how many of gym leaders are 10 years old to begin with?
Proving to have skills and innovation to already hold this position?
Completely revolved around training and battling trainer like Misty who has much, much more experience and knowledge about real trainer battles than May, Dawn or Serena?
Tends to be underestimated so much.
I've never seen Ash and Misty ever outsmarting each other in any of the battles they had with each other. Misty using Togepi against Pikachu is "smartness" for some people while for others it's "cowardliness". Misty didn't outsmart Ash in the whirl cup, he lost because of his obliviousness about Psyduck's headache despite being aware of it.
What people view as sign of cowardliness, other view as cunning move from Misty side. Knowing how to effectively neutralize biggest threat to her team(Pikachu). So in a way Misty did manage to outplay Ash there.
Also while Ash did won in end, it was pretty obvious how he won because of plot and directors decision that water starter Totodile goes to him(which many thought was unneeded and would be better of with water specialist like Misty having in long run more optimal conditions to grow and evolve possibly. Hence why two next battles Misty lost, despite Poliwhirl overpowering Bulbasaur in every possible way or Staryu not seeming any weaker than Chikorita leading until it was caught of guard.
Speaking of Psyduck, it was still a clear legitimate win. At end of the day Misty outsmarted Ash in sense of knowing how to act under such dire situation for her turning certain defeat in triumph. Knowing how devastating blows that duck can unleash(funny thing is Psyduck never showed even maximum of its strength given his headache never reached critical point).
While Ash made poor choice of attacks and strategy with Kingler losing deservingly.
Not like Ash deserved win anyway, since Misty against her will ended in such unpleasant situation. Wanting to use Corsola with Psyduck interrupting match. And somehow i doubt Kingler would fare any different vs Corsola whose defense techniques and offense would pose lot of problems for him.
