I think the calm intro and build-up scenes were actually the best part. My thoughts:
(+) Interactions between recurring side characters, in this case between GLs, is the kind of dynamic I always wanted to see more often in Journeys; same with their Pokémon. This helps us so much to become more attached to both Trainers and Pokémon and even to setup the battle in this particular case, loved all the cute and fun actings. I can see how a two-parte battle ep can avoid the little mistakes vs Volkner and vs Iris committed
(+) "Satoshi, from Kanto, who defeated Denji from Sinnoh region!" It seems that either it's a big deal to beat a Hyper Class participant, or it's a big deal to beat Volkner. In either case I appreciate the callback the announcer did
(+) Battle is solid so far despite the average animation and ME thing in the end. I like it when both Trainers give command to their Pokémon at the same time, just like what happened in the Volkner fight, cus it helps battle flow much better and shows how experienced Trainers must think fast during the match. As almost all the Pokémon here are Fighting type there was a lot of frantic exchanges of fists and kicks, which I really like to see animated. Lucario x Hawlucha just went full Dragon Ball Z there. Also Machamp is a beast
(+) Nice surprise cameo by Leon, the great Galar Gym Leader theme music just started playing when he appeared
(+-) Bea referring to Ash as "Riolu's Trainer" highlights Bea's aloof personality, but could also reveal just how tepid and chemistryless the main rivarly in Journeys is
(+-) Ash was sleeping on the bed and Goh on the floor. I like to imagine that this was some kind of metaphor by the staff to show that they are aware of Goh criticism and this time is reeeally about Ash lol
(-) Animation was mediocre for the most part
(-) Right, so Mega Evolution didn't work because of Lucario's pride, not because there wasn't any Mega training session before the battle? I would prefer him to learn to control the process of Mshinka throughout the match, similar to how Ash and Torracat did against Kukui
(-) Why is Ash's Riolu/Lucario so resistant? We may really have the new Lycanroc here...
(-) Ash: "I'm the one who will fight Leon!" Bea: "No, I will." Me: "??? it's perfectly possible for you both to face him." I love the idea of turn a strong female gym leader into Ash's rival, but that sort of dialogue just show how badly developed the rivalry between these two is.
Forget about Project Mew and PWC, I just want to see Pokémon eating and playing with each other from now on.