Locormus
Can we please get the older, old forum back?
A long, long time ago.. It's not the animé's fault for there only being three Ice-type legendaries.. Regice could've been an option -be it more recent by a relatively small margin- but Kyurem sure as hell wouldn't be. Considering the birds being in Kalos, they could overlook the Noland battle. And to be honest, the contemporary audience doesn't have BF in their collective memory, simply because they weren't alive when that episode aired. Unless they reaired it during the weekend-show.
To be entirely fair, Noibat was the last to join. I call it a miracle that Gliscor got to star in the Steel-type gym in the region in which the story was all about Ash vs. Paul, with Infernape in the middle. Granted, Chimchar got two wins in that gym..
Where Candice's team didn't make much sense either. People were wondering if they would put the Platinum-team in the animé at that point or not. They didn't do so until Sunyshore, they put in a Medicham.. For which Staraptor was a solid choice. Also, Gliscor had Steel Wing, Fire Fang and X-scissor as attacking moves. Yes, x4 weakness, but it certainly had the tools to do lots of damage to Grass/Ice-types.
Perhaps. It's about calculating the possible damage and being able to not get hit. Noivern has proved in the Zapdos battle to be agile as hell. The chances of it avoiding damage are quite high to be frank.
If Cryogonal whips out Freeze-dry, Solarbeam or Signal Beam, then Greninja is just as screwed to be honest. Same with Talonflame, what if Abomasnow hits it with a Rock-type move point blank? What if Abomasnow wrecks Greninja with a Focus Blast or Wood Hammer to the face? Avalugg downs Talonflame with Water Pulse? Greninja with Superpower?
It comes down to whether Ash is capable to manage these challenging situations, just as much as handling the standard Ice-type moves that Wulfric will throw at him. Just look at the Santalune Gym, where Viola had a Surskit with Ice Beam to counter birds, or Vivillon with Solarbeam to counter Rock-types.. In a sense, Ash would be better prepaired to throw Noivern in this battle, knowing what to expect in terms of weaknesses, then Greninja, where Ash could be blindsided by a Superpower to the face out of nowhere. Not to mention the very typical slow enemy that Ash would be facing. Abomasnow and Avalugg are ridiculously slow, and Cryogonal isn't portrayed as being fast. But this is a pitfall, as Avalugg learns Rock Polish (Grant's Onix says hi), and they all learn Icy Wind to counter speedy critters.
Also, Soundproof Abomasnow vs. Noivern. How will Ash answer this problem will be very entertaining.
Ash-Greninja is more important, just like how Blaze was important enough for Sinnoh to not give Gible a gym battle, and not even give Torterra a gym-win where both had immunities just so Infernape could pummel a Jolteon into the ground and then Luxray.. -.-
Ice only takes out Flying/Dragon if it hits. Noivern is incredibly speedy. Problem solved? Or maybe Ash will prepare for the obvious disadvantage. Or he will wing it, like Grotle vs. Sneasel, or Hawlucha vs. Spritzee.
