Strong Strategy Steals the Show! (767)

[RVD_fan]

This is my favorite battle of Best Wishes, and the dub didn't do anything to change that, but it kind of frustrates me when I see a battle like this and wonder why they hardly do these types of strategic battles any more. I feel like we could be having these types of battles all the time if the writers didn't feel the need to bring Ash down in skill every generation.

It made Ash and Stephan look like elite skilled trainers, it gave a spotlight to some Pokemon that haven't really had a chance to shine and made them all look good, it made Ash's training before the Unova League worthwhile, and on top of that it was an exciting battle with some solid back-and-forth action.

I think the constant one-on-one battles from the tournaments has taken away a lot of the team-based strategy that, IMO, makes Pokemon battles interesting and fun to watch. I get that they're shorter, faster to animate, etc. but I think that the high-level battles are the best part of the show and generally what people are most interested in.

 

[Joltik-Kid]

No, I think I have been watching the show probably longer than you have, that's why I said it's not big deal anymore that Ash scans pokemon or not anymore. People shouldn't act like it's rare that Ash does this when he has done it lots of times.

That last line was directed towards kids entering the show this late down the line... Sawk was already scanned twice before this episode. That depends, unless you were old enough to properly use the internet to locate the original episodes before they were dubbed, I've been watching this show since it first debut in the US, way back when I was 6

 

[Caseydia]

No you don't get it.

It pisses us off to see the show wasting ~30 seconds on scanning a Pokemon we've seen being scanned like 3 times in one generation.

It would be the equivalent of Ash using his Pokedex on Pikachu every time Pikachu got focused on in an episode.

It's about the unnecessary need to irritate the people who watch it, intentionally and unintentionally.

It's not about Ash's character always doing this (because he shouldn't, it's irritating plain and simple, and I can't defend Ash when he scans a Pokemon more than once a generation, and there's nothing new the Pokedex has to offer unless it's specifically his Pokemon that learned a new move after evolving.

I know it's irratating to watch Ash rescan pokemon. I have complaint about this before also, however there is nothing we can do about it. Don't dislike the wholw episode due to just that though.

That last line was directed towards kids entering the show this late down the line... Sawk was already scanned twice before this episode. That depends, unless you were old enough to properly use the internet to locate the original episodes before they were dubbed, I've been watching this show since it first debut in the US, way back when I was 6

I know it was scaneed twice. I'm watching Best Wishes right now. However, we know Ash have scanned pokemon he's seen before. This is nothing new. But I don't waist my time being upset about it anymore because it's a waist of my time.

 

[matt0044]

I know it was scaneed twice. I'm watching Best Wishes right now. However, we know Ash have scanned pokemon he's seen before. This is nothing new. But I don't waist my time being upset about it anymore because it's a waist of my time.

Except it is in BW where he scans them more than once in a single goddamn series. I can see Koffing being rescanned since Ash may need reminders on a Mon (and the kids who aren't familiar with the first gen) he hadn't seen in a while but here...

 

[yuoke]

The only time when the scanning bothered me was having to scan all 7 eeveelutions ina row without break. It felt so awkward and forced in.

 

[wobbanut]

Great battle between Ash and Stephan. I agree with Iris and Cilan that Leavanny was an odd choice for battling sawk, though. Where was unfezant, anyway?

6/10

 

[J Ken]

I liked this battle. It was the only Unova League Battle where Ash didn't look like a noob or a weakling.

 

[NPT]

"Strong Strategy Steals the Show!"

After last week's terrible "Axew getting lost" episode, Ash and Stephan finally began their battle. They choose Krookodile and Liepard respectively. Krookodile being the main star of the battle was pretty cool, he's the only Ash's Pokémon who actually got good character development throuhout the BW saga.

Krookodile vs Liepard was good and I liked the battle scenes with Dragon Claw and Shadow Claw, they were well-animated. Palpitoad vs Zebstrika was decent, Ash choosing Palpitoad was a good idea. Palpitoad's new move was cool and Stephan taking advantage of the poison stat was smart. I'm glad Palpitoad got the win.

I wasn't expecting Leavanny to be used against Sawk, but he did put up a good battle. It was cool to see Leavanny using X-Scissor and to activate his Swarm ability, but sadly it lost. Next, Ash choose Krookodile, who used Aerial Ace and defeated Sawk! So Steaphan got eliminated and Ash moved to next round, but they both put up a good fight and I enjoyed it. It was good to see Ash and Stephan's friendly rivalry in both battle and...........eating.

Next, Ash is up against Cameron, who chose his secret weapon Hydreigon ! I thought he'd save Hydreigon for later, but he chose it right off the bat. Oh Well, he's not the sharpest tool in the tool shed anyway.

Overall, good episode. The battle between Ash and Stephan's match is the only decent Unova League batlle, the other league battles were lackluster to me.

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

Does anyone else feel like this was the one decent battle in the Unova League, or is it just me?

 

[Benny™]

This was my favorite Unova League episode.

I'm okay with the league itself but it wasn't as fun as the other minor tournaments, those ones have better character interactions, scripts, and more. I think they exhausted all their good ideas on the previous tournaments

 

[Joltik-Kid]

Does anyone else feel like this was the one decent battle in the Unova League, or is it just me?

Your not wrong, it was definitely the best battle of the Unova League... but like most (really could be all) Unova battles, it was outclasses by it predecessor's

 

[The Pokemon Broadcast]

Disappointment (but not actually THAT big of a disappointment) #1: So it was just Krookodile Ash sent out in the end. That was uneventful. Here Iw as thinking it was going to be something like Charizard.

Disappointment (but not actually THAT big of a disappointment) #2: Cameron's secret weapon is only a Hydreigon. Again, that was uneventful. I was sort of expecting thinking it was going to be some ultra-rare legendary.

With that out of the way, it is now Ash versus Cameron. Like I said before, I have a feeling this is going to be the end of the line for Ash in the Unova league.

 

[Lord Trollbias]

Only decent battle in what is probably the worst League in the anime's history.

 

[KyogreThunder]

The best league battle in BW by far.I liked the fact all three Pokemon Ash used to battle Stephan had new moves under their belts(especially Krookodile's Aerial Ace).However,Liepard lacking any Dark-type moves was really disappointing.
8/10

 

[Mrs. Oreo]

Stephan's Liepard impressed me cuz it put up a good fight against Krookodile. Palpitoad tying with Zebstrika and then Leavanny losing to Sawk was unfortunate, tho at least Ash managed to defeat Stephan here. :]

 

[Leonhart]

Waruvial winning against Kenyan's Lepardas and Dageki made me happy because Waruvial proved himself as a powerhouse, unlike Gamagaru who only managed to tie with Zebraika despite his type advantage. Anyway, the dinner scene was fun, and I was kind of surprised when Kotetsu revealed Sazandora.

 

[Wednesdayz]

Well I found the battle between Ash and Stephan amazing. I particularly enjoyed the use of Palpitoad and Leavanny in this battle. Both were used in different ways which spiced up the battle. As for Stephan, his Pokemon and strategies weren't groundbreaking.

 

[Alloutℯ]

Ash should of walked this battle 3 to 1. Sawk should have never gotten past Leavanny, but based on "Anime Logic", Ash can't win anything but final Pokemon vs final Pokemon.

 

[Leonhart]

I was actually getting major Sekiei League flashbacks when we saw Satoshi at the Isshu League stadium on his own at night. That scene made me even sadder though, because history was about to repeat itself.

 

[Daizy]

Overall a nice battle. Even though Leavanny didn't get a win it didn't feel like it was there to just take the fall either. Ash seemed to handle Stephan just fine, certainly a change from Trip.