What's Your Limit for Switching Pokemon in League Battles?

[J-boogie200]

As well all know, part of the reason Paul beat Ash in their last match was because he would switch his pokemon out whenever convenient.

I find this to be strategic, but a tad bit uneven, because how much credit can you give a Pokemon, if the Pokemon before it, weakons those that were taken out by a different pokemon.

For example, I remember Thunderblade, said that with the last Ash vs Paul, he didn't consider Chimchar's victory credible, since it was weakened by Buizel, Staraptor, and Pikachu before hand.

He had a point.

My question to you guys is, how much credit will Ash's Pokemon or should his Pokemon get when he faces his rivals?

 

[Cyber Cyclone]

I, personally, don't really care for how much credit his Pokémon get. He didn't get there because of one Pokémon alone. He got there because of a Pokémon team. And that is it. A team. And in a team, one person/Pokémon/thing, don't get the credit for anything.

Say your playing soccer (or football for you British SPPfers) and a guy scores a goal, odd are he will get the credit for it, but odds are as well, it's the teams reason he got the ball or helped him score it. All in all, it's a team effort and I really think the writers should start interpreting that into Pokémon.

Remember from the Hoenn league that Katie girl I think her name was, remember her strategie, I thought it was really good, and the closest to what would happen in real life if Pokémon were real, and in out games.

So to answer you question, I really don't think any one Pokémon should get full credit for beating anyone, especially against Paul, because that shows how stubborn Ash still is and that he hasn't gotten any maturity in battle in that aspect since Kanto really. I like what he did in that battle and how it keeps going, possibly to a longer extent.

 

[Locormus]

I, personally, don't really care for how much credit his Pokémon get. He didn't get there because of one Pokémon alone. He got there because of a Pokémon team. And that is it. A team. And in a team, one person/Pokémon/thing, don't get the credit for anything.

You're both right and wrong with that post. Sure the entire team gets credit for beating Paul's entire team. Give credit where credit is due. But lets say Aipom vs Gardenia's Roserade. Nobody else helped it with that. So he gets the credit for taking Roserade down, no questions asked. The rest of the team gets credit as well for taking down the rest since if they hadn't Aipom probably wouldn't have lasted against Roserade.

Now with Paul, Ash will have to switch, or not and use some moves like Ice Punch as surprises. For example: Paul sends out Magmortar to counter Torterra, Ash switches to Buizel, it attacks Magmortar with Water Pulse or Water Gun, and Paul switches to Torterra. Here Ash can either switch to Infernape or leave Buizel in, catching Paul of guard when it uses a 4x effective Ice Punch. Who gets credit? Well when tons of switching is involved, Ash gets credit, and his entire team.

I don't feel that there is a limit to how many times a trainer may switch, and it's the trainers decision to how he uses his team. His team will get credit for how well it was used and fought. Only when a stand off occurs with two fresh pokemons does one deserve single credit. Think of what might happen: Paul is down 5, Ash is down 5. Both send out a fresh Electivire and Infernape. Which ever one wins the match deserves credit for taking the other down, but not for winning the match. The entire team would've done that, together with Ash.

 

[HoennMaster]

So I'm a tad confused about the subject here, the topic title and your post kind fo sound like two different subjects here. Credit really doesn't matter in a pokémon battle. You help, good for you. Pretty much it.

As for how many times you can switch in a battle, obviously it needs to be done if you want to stay strong, but I hope that we don't see as many switches as Ash and Paul's full battle. There were way too many switches in that battle.

 

[V Faction]

Doesn't matter to me. Probably because I don't follow the atypical:

Pokemon A beats Pokemon B so Pokemon A gets one gold star(s) on their chart

...that many fans try to do. Exactly why would a Pokemon need credit? Well, the usual reason is to compare it to other Pokemon.

'Bulbasaur beat THIS many Pokemon. This one he had trouble with, this one was a 1-Hit K.O., and this one was a tie. So he's obviously better than [Insert Random Pokemon Here].'

Sucks when they go against their rudamentry 'Ash loses a Pokemon, Opponent loses a Pokemon, Ash loses a Pokemon, Opponent loses a Pokemon, etc' shtick and have 3 or even 4 Pokemon go against a single enemy to bring it down, huh?

 

[streetlightdsb]

I think that as Locormus said, the only time that anyone gets full credit is if both pokemon are fresh and no one helps knock the other one out. Who credit goes to doesn't really matter, as the whole team, bar Gible, have a score to settle with Pauls's team, and it's a team effort. They all want to beat him.

Agreed about less switching in the league HoennMaster, although it does add a touch of realism to the battles.

 

[Ash-kid]

I think that Ash should use this tactic again in the league.

If he will switch more pokemon in the right time he might win more easier.

In Hoenn league he was beaten by Tyson becuase of those mistakes.

 

[Lorde]

Well switching Pokemon to make use of type advantages might work in a perfect world but I know the anime too well and that wouldn't help Ash in real life. He'd only be stalling for time really, since type advantages don't go too far in the anime as opposed to the games.

 

[DaAuraWolf]

I would say when the left corners Pokemon defeats the right corners Pokemon,the left side has a chance to swap out.Or,For a type advantage.

 

[BlueVapor]

In my opinion, a Pokemon of Ash's will only get credit for a win if said Pokemon knocks out it's opponent all by it's self, without help from any of Ash's other Pokemon.

A Pokemon can't get much credit for defeating a Pokemon when 3 other Pokemon helped weaken it before the fourth one came out and defeated it.

 

[Torpoleon]

If the Pokemon beats another Pokemon by itself, it would get full credit If the Pokemon does beat the Pokemon, but with the help of other Pokemon that fainted/were recalled, all the Pokemon involved would get partial credit. Or at least that is what I think.

 

[An00bis]

Generally speaking I'd have to agree with the person who says it's the Team who wins the battle. Ash has been using his Pokemon to wear down his opponent's strongest for years. Think the earliest instance of that was during the Orange League where he specifically said that was what he was doing. There's nothing wrong with playing the game that way. Given the nature of Pokemon itself it's virtually impossible to have a six member Team to counter every possible threat a Trainer can face in battle. In the event you can't do anything to win a battle against an opponent's Pokemon outright you sacrifice a Pokemon to weaken the opponent slightly so a Teammate can finish them off.

About the subject of switching ... one drawback from Anime Style switching that we don't see in the games is that the action stops when a Trainer begins to recall their Pokemon. Theoretically two Trainers can keep switching indefinitely without either side's Pokemon getting tired because no actual battling is going on. This doesn't happen so much in the games because if a Trainer switches and another Trainer attacks the incoming Pokemon. That means that a Trainer can't just keep switching forever or they'll lose. Maybe the anime can introduce that concept next time around to prevent excessive switching. Ash VS Paul was probably the most excessive case of switching we've seen in the anime and ultimately it didn't make the outcome any different.

 

[V Faction]

If the Pokemon beats another Pokemon by itself, it would get full credit If the Pokemon does beat the Pokemon, but with the help of other Pokemon that fainted/were recalled, all the Pokemon involved would get partial credit. Or at least that is what I think.

Partial credit? This isn't a high school homework assignment. These Pokemon aren't try to get a passing grade.

If a Pokemon sweeps an opponent's team, they're going to get high praise at most. But nothing else really.

Maybe the anime can introduce that concept next time around to prevent excessive switching. Ash VS Paul was probably the most excessive case of switching we've seen in the anime and ultimately it didn't make the outcome any different.

The worst and most annoying part of it all? When a trainer recalls a Pokemon just before a lethal attack hits. It's like... "What?" How can that be considered a fair tactic. It's pretty damn cheap.

I also wish they'd treat switching with a little more dignity. In these big 6-on-6 battles, trainer shouldn't get caught off-guard or feel threatened by a switch. Like with Ash's battle, he pitted 3 Pokemon against Torterra right at the start. And Paul kept him in till the very last moment merely on a whim. That's right folks, the opponent is going to be able to switch too -- big shocker there!

So I prefer it if battles become a revolving door of Pokemon. But, uh, like you said, maybe have a consequence left in to discourage such actions instead of having trainer absent-mindedly leaving them in for the sake of leaving them in.

 

[~AussieWonder~]

I certainly think there should be a limit. IMO the best matches in the entire anime are ones with minimal switches. Look at the Ash v Gary at the Silver Conference, low number of changes and it made Ash's victory that much more plausible.

 

[J-boogie200]

We all saw how rotation helped Brandon against Paul, and Paul against Ash.

Rotation may be a key factor in Ash's rematch against Paul.

Wouldn't be so shocked if Ash has more than one pokemon standing come League time.

 

[AuraBreloom]

I dont like it as much when they dont switch, cause if the writer decides to make things boring its either an even match till the last poke and maybe a final blast where they pant and one poke falls or an advantage then a turn-around. For non-exciting battles switches make things a little more exciting

 

[Torpoleon]

Partial credit? This isn't a high school homework assignment. These Pokemon aren't try to get a passing grade.

If a Pokemon sweeps an opponent's team, they're going to get high praise at most. But nothing else really.

I know that, but the Pokemon that helped should get some praise from their trainer. Really, Ash's Chimchar did not beat Paul's Ursaring that easy on its own.

 

[~-Overheat-~]

Honestly, i think its unlimited. The referee might say "start already" but i dont think there's any rule.

 

[J-boogie200]

Honestly, i think its unlimited. The referee might say "start already" but i dont think there's any rule.

I'd laugh if this ever happens.

I seriously believe we may have a battle where rotation collectively takes up 3 minutes.

 

[Torpoleon]

Honestly, i think its unlimited. The referee might say "start already" but i dont think there's any rule.

There isn't, I believe. It would get boring though.