What are some huge points in the anime that you think completely destroys power scailing?

[LucasMV]

Every fight his new team won against E4 and Champions, except for Pikachu.

I mean, generally speaking if the E4 was portrayed more like Agatha was in AG, where Ash actually gave it a close fight despite losing, then it'd be easier to believe everything that happened in JN. But given how OP Cynthia and Flint were in DP, it seems the gap was closed a bit too abruptly.

Then again, I guess Greninja had already managed to push back a Champion's ace and it was also a pokemon with only one series of experience on his back, so. I could believe Lucario became strong enough in a single series to do the same with Cynthia's Garchomp. Except Greninja destroyed Lucario before that. But Lucario did master the aura bond thing after that, so I guess the implication is he closed that gap.

Alain's Zard being one shotted by Leon's was a bit too much though.
Specially when then Pikachu defeated it. I get that Pikachu got stronger since Kalos, but it went from not strong enough to face base AlainZard to strong enough to defeat a Charizard that one shotted MCX in base? They could've made it a little closer to make it more believable.

 

[ShuckFam]

Greninja being 'stronger' than base Lucario that one time. Lucario is a champion-buster, even in base form. Greninja was only ever relevant in his Ash form and he got owned in all of his important battles.

I didn't like how Articuno was sweeping Ash and Gary's team, either.

 

[Blue Saturday]

Then again, I guess Greninja had already managed to push back a Champion's ace and it was also a pokemon with only one series of experience on his back, so. I could believe Lucario became strong enough in a single series to do the same with Cynthia's Garchomp. Except Greninja destroyed Lucario before that. But Lucario did master the aura bond thing after that, so I guess the implication is he closed that gap.

Meh, Lucario only lost to portray the narrative of it needing to become stronger and build up its Aura powers is all. The writers just usually portray that ideal via a stomp.

Alain's Zard being one shotted by Leon's was a bit too much though.
Specially when then Pikachu defeated it. I get that Pikachu got stronger since Kalos, but it went from not strong enough to face base AlainZard to strong enough to defeat a Charizard that one shotted MCX in base? They could've made it a little closer to make it more believable.

Jog my memory, was it really one-shotted? I know Dragon Breath finished the fight. Could have sworn I remember at least Ancient Power.

 

[LucasMV]

Jog my memory, was it really one-shotted? I know Dragon Breath finished the fight. Could have sworn I remember at least Ancient Power.

Leon's Charizard did use Ancient Power, but MCX destroyed the rocks with Dragon Claw while charging, hit Charizard with said Dragon Claw, then charged with a Flare Blitz and got one shotted by a Dragon Pulse to the face.

I don't really remember if Alain's Zard took any damage at all before that, either from Rillaboom or the brief exchange with Leon's Zard in base form before Alain sent out Malamar. But I don't think he was damaged at all prior to Dragon Pulse.

I didn't like how Articuno was sweeping Ash and Gary's team, either.

Agreed. I didn't like how Lucario lost horribly against Articuno, even though Ash was already a M8 trainer by that point. Specially since an Articuno was once defeated by Ash's Charizard, so it shouldn't even be a top tier, unreachable legendary like Mew is.

 

[Blue Saturday]

Leon's Charizard did use Ancient Power, but MCX destroyed the rocks with Dragon Claw while charging, hit Charizard with said Dragon Claw, then charged with a Flare Blitz and got one shotted by a Dragon Pulse to the face.

I just went and rewatched, Lizardon-X is definitely being smacked by some rocks.

 

[Almighty Zard]

Agreed. I didn't like how Lucario lost horribly against Articuno, even though Ash was already a M8 trainer by that point. Specially since an Articuno was once defeated by Ash's Charizard, so it shouldn't even be a top tier, unreachable legendary like Mew is.

proof that not all legendaries of a species are equal, because if Ash's Charizard fought that one it probably wouldn't have won.

also, do people forget that Goh's refusal to cooperate with Gary is another reason they screwed up so bad? Heck Ash and Gary had to babysit him when they were facing down Moltres in that episode.

I just went and rewatched, Lizardon-X is definitely being smacked by some rocks.

and then there's Flare Blitz's recoil to consider...why it had that attack i don't know, then again despite being using Blast Burn alot, that kind of move wouldn't have been good in the masters 8... Lance's Dragonite and Hyper Beam can attest to that.

 

[LucasMV]

I just went and rewatched, Lizardon-X is definitely being smacked by some rocks.

Huh, just rewatched and you're right. I don't know if they did that much damage considering he kept charging but some rocks did hit MCX.

proof that not all legendaries of a species are equal, because if Ash's Charizard fought that one it probably wouldn't have won.

Or if Ash's Sceptile fought M10 Darkrai (the one that faced both Dialga and Palkia at the same time) he probably wouldn't have won either. I just wished they made it more clear that there are more than one legendary per species though.

and then there's Flare Blitz's recoil to consider...why it had that attack i don't know, then again despite being using Blast Burn alot, that kind of move wouldn't have been good in the masters 8... Lance's Dragonite and Hyper Beam can attest to that.

I guess he had Flare Blitz's recoil from using it on Rillaboom too. I wish they'd kept showing recoil damage like they did in DP though. Would've made everything more clear.

And they probably gave Flare Blitz to MCX to imitate the game's usual moveset. And also the cooldown from Blast Burn that was actually a thing in the M8 unlike in Kalos.

 

[Krackochu]

This literally this.

Could mention Masters 8 Rillaboom jank + Newly Revived Dracovish vs. Iris + All of Best Wishes, been mentioned already here tho. There's not much other ridiculous examples other than JN and BW but theres some that sorta count imo.

Cynthia and Flint being way too overpowered in DP. Sometimes, Pikachu gets a close match against what I assume is an E4's ace (Agatha's Gengar) at the start of the Battle Frontier arc - still a loss, but Pikachu got some hits in and lost to Hypnosis + Dream Eater cheese. Sinnoh on the other hand really makes Cynthia look OP by destroying other Elite 4 members and sweeping Paul in her debut. Flint could 1v3 Ash while he was using both Pika and Infernape, who people agreed were easily minimum top 5 strongest Ash mons prior to JN ruining power scaling, and even he was not as strong as Cynthia. All other E4 members in DP were portrayed fine imo. They shouldn't be much stronger than the stronger Gym Leaders imo, and Ash is allowed to beat those guys so yea. Definitely made it jarring when Ash beat Cynthia recently.

On that topic, Cynthia's Gastrodon casually blocked a x4 super effective Solar Beam from an E4 level Pokemon (Aaron's Beautifly). The same Gastrodon would go on to get 2HKO'ed by Pikachu in the Ash vs. Cynthia battle 20+ years later. Oof.

SM does not have many power scaling issues imo. Here are a few parts tho that are ehh:
-Rowlet vs. Decidueye was laughable. Pre-Evolution beats Evolved form for 200th time except this one just wasn't that good. Hau was poorly handled overall in SM
-Lycanroc was able to 1v3 Nanu and it felt a bit like an asspull imo. Tapu Bulu did give a Berry but still weird when compared to Nanu managing to beat Lycanroc in their first battle in a 1v1. Guess training with Tapu Bulu makes you OP for a battle and then makes you lose to the rival's Lycanroc on the next island anyways.
-Pikachu got destroyed by Hapu's Golurk (to be fair that thing was immune to 3 of Pika's moves, so it's acceptable. Their size difference too)
-Opposite side of the spectrum, Pikachu beats ground type Mudsdale with the good old Sprinkler technique plot device (Also tanks SE Ground-type Z-Move!)
Edit:
-Faba easily defeats Gladion and steals the Silvally Poke Ball back in his villain arc. Then he is stripped of his talent and jobs to Mega Aggron and Meltan.
-Also Kukui's Braviary OHKO'ed by Mega Aggron despite also beating up the OP Lycanroc who 2 episodes prior won a league.

But yeah, these aren't "big" examples for sure. JN and maybe BW (for mostly Pikachu) seem to be the biggest offenders. DP just set the bar that Ash needed to reach way too high so his JN team reaches those heights in an unrealistic and rushed manner.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

About the sprinkler thing, I don't remember if Ash felt like not going for the win against Brock's Onyx because either he accidentally took advantage of the gym's extra environment or because he didn't want to defeat Brock in front of his siblings.

If it was the first...why did he think it was okay to use that against Hapu?

 

[Dark_King25]

Charizard losing to a ****ing dusclops

 

[Mew2]

Charizard losing to a ****ing dusclops

The thing is there was a way that it could have been realistically done: have Dusclops use Destiny Bond to take down Charizard. That could have thrown Ash for a loop with Brandon's potentially weakest Pokémon being sacrificed to take down Ash's strongest. That could make him worry about what other plans Brandon had later in the battle, and maybe have him be cautious because he would think that taking out Regice would require a team effort, something Brandon would think as well, which could cause Ash to question openings where he could attack Brandon's other Pokémon.

 

[mehmeh1]

Charizard losing to a ****ing dusclops

Nah that was just Ash choking lmao (though writing wise it's annoying since it's the same mistake he did at the start of the arc against Agatha). Though kinda sad how that's still his last finished battle

 

[Dark_King25]

Nah that was just Ash choking lmao (though writing wise it's annoying since it's the same mistake he did at the start of the arc against Agatha). Though kinda sad how that's still his last finished battle

well, Charizard tanked a water pulse from an Articuno but can't take a shadow punch from Dusclops?