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Review S16 EP09: Strong Strategy Steals the Show!

This is the best battle of league so far. Ash using 3 reserves makes it all the better. It was much more believable than Ash vs Trip that’s for sure. However, there were a few flaws.

The battle between Liepard and Krookodile was very action packed, but still lackluster. I find it ironic how Cilan mentioned that it was a battle between 2 dark-types, yet neither Pokemon knew a dark-type move. The fact that Stephan had a dark type knowing 2 overused ghost-type moves only makes it that much worse. I feel like this would have been a good time use never before seen moves like Hone Claws, Foul Play, or even the underused Night Slash. The battle itself was also quite short as compared to the other 2 Pokemon’s. But still I loved it since Liepard is one of my favorite gen 5 Pokemon.

While I love Palpitoad, seeing him battle another Zebstrika was kind of disappointing. Nevertheless, I loved how Stephan made sure to have Zebstrika learn powerful normal-type moves to combat ground-types and I think that was very strategic of him. Palpitoad using Sluge Wave was also a nice surprise seeing as this is the first time he’s used a new move since his capture. I wasn’t really bothered by the tie since I think both Pokemon took a reasonable amount of damage.

Sawk vs Leavanny was really interesting. Leavanny’s evasiveness in avoiding all of Sawk’s moves was pretty awesome. His new X-Scissor was a nice surprise as well. However, as soon as Leavanny was slowed by the Low Sweep Sawk basically hammered him down . Though, to me, it didn’t seem like Leavanny had taken so much damage that would cause Swarm to activate. This battle only reminded me of how terrible Sawk’s moveset is. I kind of feel that Leavanny should have won that battle, but it’s not that big of a deal.

Krookodile vs Sawk was rather short. Krookodile being able to perfectly block Sawk’s Close Combat with Dragon Claw for some reason seemed odd to me. Though Krookodile’s new Aerial Ace finisher was very nicely done, I don’t like the fact that it replaced his only dark-type move. Though I do commend Ash on giving Krookodile a super effective move in preparation for his battle against Sawk. I only wish it could have replaced a different move. (Maybe if we’re lucky he’ll continue to use Crunch and Aerial Ace like Pansage continues to use Bite and Rock Tomb.)

In all, this episode gets a 8/10. Best battle so far.
 
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Ash should of walked this battle 3 to 1. Sawk should have never gotten past Leavanny but based on Anime Rules Ash can't win anything but final pokemon vs final pokemon. Its becoming a bit WWE now with it not mattering what happens 90% of the battle and always comes down to 1 super finisher move to get the win.

I think ash using reserves kind of shows the faith the show has in Snivy, Oshawott and Pignitt battle wise.

Still decent episode I also would say 8/10
 
Am I the only one here who was disapointed with Zebstrika's moveset in this episode? I'd hardly call four Normal typed moves a wide variety, Cilan. Liepard wasn't too good either and Sawk was as predictable as ever. Well this is Stephan we're talking about here, he's hardly the kind of trainer who plans ahead which is something that Ash did quite well today. Aerial Ace on Krookodile was very well thought out for him and I loved seeing Palpitoad and Leavanny in action with their new moves too.

Seriously though, Stephan still needs to show more variety. That's now two of his Pokemon that can't hit Ghost types... Slightly suprised by Cameron's choice to send out Hydreigon first too, don't you normally save a secret weapon till last?
 
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Ok maybe this was not the best episode in the world but this was a lot better than last week that I threw up because it was so bad.
 
Best battle of the league so far seriously, it wasn't perfect because every battle in the stupid series has it so Ash wins in a final 1 on 1 battle though he could clearly win if he simply recalled Pokemon instead of letting them battle until they fainted but that's the curse/formula of the series.

Cameron...why do I have a feeling this battle is going to be nothing but a humongous headache?

Cool seeing Ash using his reserves for a change that was a refreshing scene even a 4th move for our favorite slimy toad :) But I do think he deserved more than a simple tie and not a win in this battle.
 
Best battle of the league so far seriously, it wasn't perfect because every battle in the stupid series has it so Ash wins in a final 1 on 1 battle though he could clearly win if he simply recalled Pokemon instead of letting them battle until they fainted but that's the curse/formula of the series.

Cameron...why do I have a feeling this battle is going to be nothing but a humongous headache?

Cool seeing Ash using his reserves for a change that was a refreshing scene even a 4th move for our favorite slimy toad :) But I do think he deserved more than a simple tie and not a win in this battle.

IMO, best battle of the Unova League in general, personally. The real stand-out battle to me, it was well-executed, well done, and the camaraderie between Ash and Stephan was really admirable.

The battle was also more DP-style here, which was great. 8/10 for me.

You're feeling is dead on. lol.
 
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A unova series battle where Ash actually thought ahead and used proper strategy. Not the most action packed of battles compared to previous leagues but much better then alot of battles in both this league and the Black and white series in general. Was definitely worth watching. (Im going to pretend last weeks episode never happened).
 
Wow...where the hell have Leavanny and Palpitoad been hiding? I haven't seen them since...well, at least Ash remembered that he had them.

A few things about Krookodile's battles bugged me. For one thing, whenever he used Dig, he simply stayed put in his hidey-hole. Shouldn't he be creating a tunnel to launch a sneak attack from an unpredictable location? Not going anywhere serves little purpose, and at least once it became a liability. Also, when Liepard used Double Team, I was expecting Ash to have Krookodile somehow attack all the illusions to find the real one. He's done that a few times in the past; did that tactic get forgotten along with Counter Shield?

So if Zebstrika knows Double Edge, Facade, Stomp, and Giga Impact, does that mean that this Electric-type Pokemon doesn't know any Electric attacks? Either Stephan suddenly sucks at battle tactics, or TPTB are starting to edge away from the four-move limit they imposed in DP. Wish they'd let us know somehow.

Not gonna comment on the meaningless type matchups. Unless it's especially grievous, I'd rather not waste the energy.

And yes...that is Katharine in the tournament bracket. So why doesn't she have any lines? Why bring back a CotD and not do anything with her?

Cameron...geez. Camping out next to the battlefield to make sure he's not late is remarkably good planning for him (not that that's really saying much). Using his secret weapon to start the battle isn't.

Oh, and here's another detail: the announcer specifically said the day before Ash vs. Cameron that the coming battles were full six-on-six. The fact that Cameron only brings five is suddenly even more boneheaded. And he's the guy who beats Ash? What the hell?
 
So if Zebstrika knows Double Edge, Facade, Stomp, and Giga Impact, does that mean that this Electric-type Pokemon doesn't know any Electric attacks? Either Stephan suddenly sucks at battle tactics, or TPTB are starting to edge away from the four-move limit they imposed in DP. Wish they'd let us know somehow.
Stephan probably expected Ash to bring pokemons (Ground-types) to counter his Zebstrika, so he taught it some Normal-type moves since Electric-type moves would only take-up the move slot space.

Anyways, best Unova League battle. Giving it a 9/10. -1 because of Cameron at the end of the episode.
 
No matter how bad the previous battles in this league and in the B/W series in general were, I have to admit this week's episode was the (complete) opposite: We had action-packed scenes, Ash thinking strategically for a change and battles whose results were actually logical and believable. (Kind of sad that nowadays you can't take that for granted anymore, isn't it?) How I wished the writers had realized a little bit earlier that these are the battles we've been longing to see since B/W started. Well, there's this saying "Self-knowledge is the first step to self-improvement" but I'm afraid the writers were too late this time.

As for the battle itself, I've only got a few points I have to criticize: After using Dig, why did Krookodile just stay in his hole instead of launching a surprising attack from underground? After all, Dig's main advantage is that you can avoid damage AND confuse the opponent at the same time, as has already been shown countless times.
Also, why did Liepard using Double Team obviously pose such a big problem to Ash once again? It's not that it was the first time that he has faced this situation. Several times in the past he already proved that he knows a way to overcome this problem. Oh yeah, I know, Ash's famous short-term memory... ;)
And last but not least, I wonder when Ash will finally be able to win important battles wit more than one Pokemon left. I mean, rivalries and 1on1 showdowns are really nice but, dear writers, please keep that for the very last battle when a close, head-to-head showdown is much more fitting and exciting than in a, say, top 16 battle.

All in all, an interesting and actually exciting battle which showed that Ash does indeed have some superior moments in an important battle if only he wants to!

And yes, I mustn't forget to mention that Cameron is growing on me more and more, mostly because of his impressive Team: Hydreigon and, above all, his cool Riolu and Samurott are really something to be proud of!

EDIT:
:birthday:Happy 16th birthday, Pokemon Anime!
:birthday:
Thank you for all those precious and priceless memories!
 
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So if Zebstrika knows Double Edge, Facade, Stomp, and Giga Impact, does that mean that this Electric-type Pokemon doesn't know any Electric attacks? Either Stephan suddenly sucks at battle tactics, or TPTB are starting to edge away from the four-move limit they imposed in DP. Wish they'd let us know somehow.
Stephan probably expected Ash to bring pokemons (Ground-types) to counter his Zebstrika, so he taught it some Normal-type moves since Electric-type moves would only take-up the move slot space.

It's still a stupid thing to do as it negates any benefits of having an Electric-type.
 
This one was by far the best Unova League episode. The battle was a true clash of skill and pre-planning (it doesn’t matter that Ash special trained off-screen to me. Zebstrika without the regular moveset bugged me, but at least they gave it the "pre-planning" explanation). That makes it one of the best battles BW has faced, to the point that Iris states that Ash may be not a kid anymore. It doesn’t matter that because of this trope , she called him a kid once again. At least she admits that SOMETIMES, Ash does battle well.

BTW, I didn’t know how to pronounce “Facade” before this episode.

From Japanese to Dubbed, there wasn’t any important change. Plus, the ending (Ash vs Cameron begins, Cameron sends out Hydreigon the secret weapon) was designed to be suspenseful.

At least that part of the Ash v Cameron battle looked okay… :)
Also, I want them to see how will they handle the “Cameron brings 5 Pokes” thing since it was clearly stated by the Scoop that matches are 6 on 6…
 
I am not good at talking about Pokémon battles, but this one was cool with good strategies and all. Flying (Aerial Ace) Krookodile was the best part of the match and a great finisher for Ash. I like the bro-type friendship Ash and Stephan have with the two being highly competitive (not just in Pokémon battles) and knowing each others styles.

Cameron owning a Hydreigon, that is the last Pokémon anybody would expect him to have and that's why I love it. A Hydreigon belonging to some cool and serious trainer would've been very typical. While Cameron can be careless and forgetful, he has proven that he can train a well balanced team and is good at battling (without help needed).

At least that part of the Ash v Cameron battle looked okay… :)
Also, I want them to see how will they handle the “Cameron brings 5 Pokes” thing since it was clearly stated by the Scoop that matches are 6 on 6…
I'd say it is because Cameron was too focused on not being late to his match against Ash and the fight in general that the announcement of full battles being 6 on 6 could have completely slipped his mind. Scatterbrained people are really thoughtless on simple things, especially when there is something much bigger that they are thinking of.
 
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