I have to agree with placing Ash versus Roxie at number 1, as it really made her out to be a lot more powerful than your average trainer, and she even feels like she's one of the strongest gym leaders in the entire anime as well. The fact that she was able to give Ash such a challenging battle despite her literally handicapping herself by using only 3 of her own Pokemon while letting Ash use a full team of 6 just proved that she truly was on another level when compared to most trainers (I know that's redundant to say, but I really do feel it's worth emphasizing). Having said that, I do feel it also showed how weak Ash's Boldore and Unfezant were when compared to the rest of his team: they already were struggling to keep up with his other Pokemon when it came to pulling their weight in tough battles, but having them both be taken out by Roxie's first Pokemon, a Koffing, and lose as badly as they did really drove home how badly they underperformed by comparison. I also was personally hoping to see Krokorok be used as well and I honestly think it was a bit underutilized in Best Wishes as it proved to be the strongest Pokemon he caught during that series, and it would've made sense, too, sense it had a type advantage against her Pokemon as a ground type. Still a great battle, despite my nitpicks about it, and it was definitely one of the more memorable gym battles he had, and unlike certain ones, it was memorable for the right reasons
I definitely think Roxie is one of the strongest Gym Leaders, so therefore my theory is that the only reason she wasn't shown in the Ultra Class was because Koffing and the Toxics were busy going on tour
@@EliteTrainerMark Either that, or she didn't have any interest in participating in the tournament because she would rather prioritize her band. But as I pointed out in my last comment, I definitely agree that Roxie is a very strong trainer in the anime continuity and had a unique and ultimately memorable battle that deserves recognition for what it got right. You definitely got the feeling that the hype about how strong she was built up to be was not just a facade and that she actually lived up to it, being one of the more challenging battles Ash had during the entire series even to this day
I like that in the Roxie fight we see pikachus static ability activate, the anime should use it more, hope it's in the Leon fight seeing as their part 1 had focus of abilities
If I can say one good thing about the Elesa battle, it's that it gives me a good laugh now and then. Seeing Pikachu shock the crap out of Ash and yell at him is always funny to watch.
I like Roxie’s battle a little but not by much. I think what kills it for me is that Ash was outclassed for most of the battle in a point of his Unova journey that he should be getting close to a preparation for the League. I like how Cilan and Iris cheer for Ash tho
Pretty much. Also, Roxie being blatantly overpowered af out of nowhere to the point a supposedly competent trainer like Ash needed 6 to beat her 3 made either her look nonsensically OP as a supposed gym leader challenge or Ash just weak af. It especially makes no sense in hindsight that Roxie apparently is some stupidly OP trainer but then gets zero mention in the world coronation series later down the line when she should be wiping people out left and right.
The worst one to me goes to the Nimbasa City gym battle. Even if you think you could win with just one, you NEVER COME with just one pokemon because anything can still happen. Snivy was a good choice, just not up against Emolga. I remember my horrors that time against Elesa when I played as Snivy in my run of Pokemon White back in the day. Acrobatics and Volt Switch (which wasn't seen in the gym battle) can really mess up your strategy.
I love your videos. You go through things at a great pace, and you don't waste your time repeating points or dwelling on something for too long. Very informative and passionate.
Thanks! I always try to make videos in a style that I would enjoy watching, and I feel like I accomplish that in videos like these! And I also try not to go on for too long so that way I have less to edit😂
Elesa's gym battle is hands down my least favorite ever for every reason you mentioned. My gosh I don't understand how they could have gone from bad, to worse, to even worse in a single gym battle. I'm also disappointed they didn't take the opportunity to make Ash's gym battle against the Striaton trio a triple or rotation battle since Ash was going to battle all 3 anyway. I must say, you made me see the Roxie battle in a whole new light. I truly hated that battle as I felt it made Ash look weak, but you helped me to look at it more from the perspective of how strong Roxie was. So even though I still wish it was different, I don't hate it as much as I used to.
I've never seen it as Ash being weak because, well, he wasn't weak at that point lol. He could defeat powerful trainers like Clay, Skyla, and Brycen straight up, so it's not like he got weaker between those battles and facing Roxie. It's just like I said in the video, Roxie is *really strong,* and I thought they did a good job building that up. Ash may not be using his strongest team ever, but he is battling arguably the strongest Gym Leader ever. Anyways, yeah, I love that battle lol, glad I could help you enjoy it a little more as well
Another thing, besides the thing you listed, which I didn't like about Ash vs. Elesa was that Ash was trying to think and be smart, even if his strategies turned out to be very incompetent, but by the end, the lesson basically seems to be, "Screw strategy! Just go for it and you'll win!" Not the best lesson to teach to kids.
There's a hilarious line in the dub where after Ash comes to his senses and just picks Pikachu, Cilan is like "yeah, forget some strategy! This is a real Ash way to battle!" (paraphrasing)
@@EliteTrainerMark Yeah. I remember that. But having a strategy is not a bad thing, unlike what this episode seems to imply. It's just that Ash's strategies were garbage, that's all.
@@wikiuser92 I mean ash did end up using the battle field dust strategy. Also I don't think that they were trying to say that strategy is a bad thing, it felt like they were saying that sometimes it's best not to overthink things and to trust in your friends aka "pikachu" and to have fun.
I love Ash vs Roxie it’s just a great 2 part episode the buildup the match rules all the different Pokémon using there body to fight. Making me love garbodor. I love it’s dub voice spot on. Roxie was adapted perfectly every line out of her mouth was pure gold. Saying bang zoom and let’s turn this battle up to 11 or our fans are real patient so let’s reward them all. Gah a perfect character and music one it kept 100% of the Japanese ost I think
I actually find ash vs elesa relatable. I forget stuff alot. And theres actually a theory that ash took a break after do thats why he was rusty in bw. I get more annoyed at some stuff in journeys then best wishes. Even the serena returned disappointed me
I can totally understand the whole "soft reset" thing and in general I really like the Best Wishes series, but it doesn't stop me from getting frustrated watching the way Ash battles
Great video bro! But yeah, the Unova gym battles were… something else. Thankfully once we got to the Clay battle they were all good but man they started off poorly.
I got so used to Booyaka 6-1-9 that I had completely forgotten he had other entrance music.This was like that Ratatouille moment for me. Brought back childhood memories for sure.
My favorite gym battle in Unova was Ash vs Clay. I like Oshawott when he is more serious. In this battle he shows us how strong he is. I would not use Roggenrola myself because he had better Pokemon to counter but it has a great story to stop a horn drill from Excadrill. Btw, i don't talk much about Snivy because she had the same 4 moves when Ash caught her in the beginning of Unova.... i don't like her as a Pokemon. Leavanny is the better grass type for me. Great ranking Mark. Thank you!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I actually think Snivy was my favorite of Ash's Unova starters lol, she stood out whereas Oshawott and Pignite felt like very typical Pokémon that we've seen on Ash's team before. I definitely agree about the Clay battle though, I watched all of these back-to-back and it was SO nice seeing Ash and Oshawott working so well together against Clay, so much better than Ash's first two Gym Battles with Oshawott
@@EliteTrainerMark While I agree with Snivy being the best Unova starter, I kinda hated how they hinted at her having had a Trainer before, yet they never explored it further. We never learned who this Trainer was, for example. All the major character development was reserved for Tepig/Pignite. Oh, and of course, there's the fact she never evolved, either. Oshawott, despite me liking its evolution line, is my least favorite of Ash's Unova starters. He always came off as annoying to me more than anything else. Volunteering for battles, only to chicken out seconds later; being afraid of opening his eyes underwater despite being a Water type; and so forth. And, at a Pokémon forum I visit daily, one user once expressed their hatred for Ash's Oshawott by pointing out his habit of stealing food from Pignite, a Pokémon whose introduction episode *literally* showed it starving. Not cool, Oshawott.
The ash vs Roxie fight cemented my love for Garbodor. Before it I just thought it was a cool looking disgusting pokemon but seeing it battle was just the cherry on top.
Yeah, "Rocking the Virbank Gym," parts 1 and 2 were great episodes. And Cilan made a good point when it was thought that Roxie was at a disadvantage, and said that it didn't matter how many pokemon you use. It all comes down to how you implement your strategies. It's just too bad that Ash couldn't use any antidotes on his pokemon that got poisoned during the battle though. To be fair, I totally liked Roxie's Scolipede. I'm trying to catch a Venipede and raise it into one in my playthrough of Pokemon X sometime.
I think the main reason people don't like the Roxie fight is how Ash had to resort to using all six Pokemon and would of lost if it was a basic 3v3. I think to the fans, it makes Ash's pokemon look weak rather Roxie look strong. Looking back at it and with how you analyzed it, I guess it made a bit more sense. Though I thought it would have been cool if it was a 3v3 with Ash using Krokorok, Palpitoad and Boldore, Ash loses, takes a few episodes to train them, one of them evolves learning a new move and then there's a rematch. But yeah, the Elesa battle and how Ash was acting, could have been a whole lot better. Good video!
Great video Elite Trainer Mark!!! After Kalo Gyms, you should Rank Ash’s Grand Trials. While it may be short video just having 4 battles to rank, it would be interesting to watch, plus the Grand Trials are like Alola’s Official Gyms (I say official because I know there is a “gym” in Malie City called the Kantonian Gym)
1) I watched the ENTIRE video lol, 2) Funny how you said it was the only/first time Ash’s Pokémon evolved during a gym battle then it proceeded to happen two more times lol, and 3) I couldn’t agree more with your list!! (Is that sentence correct? Lol).
Ash vs Elesa is by far the worst on my list, but it's such a freak show that I love watching it every so often for laughs. I actually just watched it tonight for Halloween instead of scary movies lol. Pikachu cussing Ash out in Pika-speak is comedy gold. Clay and Roxie top my list, Clay with his entertainingly loud yelling, and Roxie for her gym being in a badass grimy underground club (shades of NYC in the 80's). Nice Rey Mysterio reference, that came to my mind too the first time I saw it, like look at Ash getting the Rey-Rey entrance lol. Good list!
MY Fave is definitely Your #2 Choice MY thoughts about Your #1 … …After their respective Shining Gym Battle moments, Boldore, Unfezant, AND Palpitoad started to get the lower end of the stick and I actually DON’T Hate Them. HOWEVER I might still put this In MY Top4 Unova Gym Battles of Ash. It’s also still MY Fave Ash Battle against a Poison-type User… cause she actually uses Poison. And this is comin from A Charmander Line Fan
You could imagine how bad Ash vs Elesa was just by looking how even Pikachu became frustated with his trainer. I don't know who thought it was good idea to turn a mature and powerful ash who defeated Paul in sinnoh to turn into a dumbass in unova
At the time when they released Black and White, they wanted to give the player a new atmosphere to journey. And I guess Cilan and Iris were supposed to be a watered-down version of Brock and Misty.
I said that as an exaggeration, I understand how Ash won narratively. But I still can't watch the battles without thinking "no way did Tepig just survive two straight Giga Impact to the face" haha. But yeah, I needed a quick and definitive way to end my point so that's why I phrased it that way. I don't mind the second battle too much in all honesty
I loved the Roxie fight as a poison type fan and starting Pokémon in BW2 it was nice to see the gym leader be a challenge. Part of me wishes palpitoad got the win or evolved but static was a good shock.
I remember when cress vs Ash was on TV and cress became my fave character because of how easily he took pikachu down while my dad was raging cause of the battle so this is one of my favourite battles because of the memory 😅
Ash vs roxie had me up my seats as a kid watching that battle and even when the stakes were high both gave their all in good competitive natures roxie was being a good sport and actually was rooting for ash since he was giving his very best so definitely ash vs roxie is the fav
I edit my videos using an editing software named OpenShot. I get my episodes from an online database, and I take screenshots of the episodes using VLC (a video player software)
Oh boy, if you don’t like Ash losing badly to Lenora and winning the next match with little difference - you might notice the same with Wulfric, everyone loves that one - but the second battle with Avalugg happens in a world where the first did not
I *love* Ash vs Wulfric though, but in the next few days I will be rewatching both battles ahead of my Kalos ranking, so I guess we shall see what my thoughts are after a rewatch
I like ash vs Brycen more than ash vs roxie because I don’t like the 3 v 6 as this is ash’s last gym battle and he’s actually become a good trainer over the course of this series and it just feels insulting to have a gym leader to go easy on him, like why make such a strong trainer a gym leader, also I love ash’s krookodile, one of my favourite ash Pokémon, It’s not a bad battle by any means, probably would’ve put it at number 3,in my list behind ash vs clay and ash vs brycen
3:20 Ash was dumb in this, 1st off, just bring Snivy and Palpitoad to you, second of all oh yeah, BRING YOUR GROUND TYPE DONPHAN FOR THIS BATTLE i know its a new reigon, but Ash could've exchanged One of his unova team members for Donphan!
I can't help but wonder if Ash would have been able to defeat Drayden at the Opelucid Gym after all Drayden has proven to be on a different level then the other Unova Gym Leaders.
And on another note, Ash *definitely* would have been able to defeat Marlon, since Cameron did so rather easily. However, Ash did also lose to Cheren😅 so I'm gonna day Drayden would have won
@@EliteTrainerMark I can just imagine the storyline where Ash is struggling in his final Gym battle with Drayden but Iris is too afraid to support him.
Anime yea Roxie is awesome but I kinda wish it was a six on six not a six on 3 cause it really just make ash team look weak cause it took 3 of ash team members to take out one of Roxie and then it took the rest to beat her final pokemon
ETM Do you think they should remaster black and white Kind of like they do with the Mario 3D all-stars Or remake black and white1 or 2 or even Make a 3
In my opinion, Pikachu got done dirty in Unova. Firstly the animation of Iron Tail was poor compared to Sinnoh and Hoenn, and secondly the animators had Pikachu have its iconic Volt Tackle replaced with a lousy Electro Ball which got replaced by Electroweb in the future. If Pikachu kept Volt Tackle, we could only imagine how different battles could turned out
Part of me kinda wishes Ash would’ve fought the other Gym Leaders: Marlon and Drayden/Iris Ash got to fight Cilan’s Pansage, so it would’ve been fun to see Ash vs Iris’s Dragonite, Axew, Emolga, or Excadrill in an official gym battle :)
@@EliteTrainerMark Oshawott didn’t have to evolve, but they should’ve done more with his character. My favorite kind of characters in media are gag characters that have character development, like Minoru Mineta from My Hero Academia. Oshawott could’ve been like Gliscor in a way, not winning many battles, but the victories themselves were against powerful opponents. Gliscor’s case being having victories against Byron’s Bastiodon and Paul’s busted Drapion! (This was longer than expected, my apologies 🥲)
Wdym inexplicably? He did a whole-ass training session and learned two new moves and you put that below the battle where he brought a single pokemon to a 3v3 because "type matchups"
@@EliteTrainerMark I just love Boldore so much. I was excited for this one because it was my first iteration of Pokémon ever. Can’t wait for the great gym battles of Kalos! I also love Clay’s character so much.
Eh, quite honestly, I didn't really like how it ended, mainly because I felt that Boldore evolving during the final battle made the win Ash got feel a little bit like it came out of nowhere, especially given that it was struggling to do anything before and had a massive type disadvantage against Clay's Excadrill. I feel it also worth mentioning that Boldore suffered from a similar issue to Torterra from the previous region in that it kept on losing after evolving, making it feel much less impressive than it's performance against Clay would lead you to believe
I remember watching the anime at the time and the battle between ash and Elisa and seeing how much ash devolved as a character I stopped watching it regularly.
Ash vs Eliesa is the worst gym battle ever. Ash was stupid, only brought one Pokémon, then had to leave to go get another which proceeded to get stomped just as hard, then her ace was a Tynamo? He should have been disqualified off the bat when he left the gym. But this battle did show that Ash is not a strategic battler at all, but a speed and force only, and type advantage is a weakness for him.
Ash vs Elesa is the worst gym battle in the entire series. Someone who just finished in the Top 4 "forgets" Grass-types are weak to Flying-types? That's just idiotic and made me rage quit the series until the League.
In this season the scripters thought "Ash is getting a lot of experience as a trainer. lEt´S fIx tAtH!" An proceed to remove even the comon sense from Ash'es brain.
@@EliteTrainerMark I know, but it was much Ash praying to Arceus. The only two times he had a strategy, one was with Elessa and she took her strategy, which was depend on Palpitoad, really fast, and with Clay, which is my favorite battle because the mid-battle evolution while playing the theme of the leader's last pokémon, he got scolded for having a strategy. The rest was just luck and his pokémon pulling something out of nowhere or evolving.
Which one of Ash's Unova Gym Battles was your favorite?
The battle with Roxie definitely wins for me. Albeit, not by much compared to most other Gym Battles.
I have to agree with placing Ash versus Roxie at number 1, as it really made her out to be a lot more powerful than your average trainer, and she even feels like she's one of the strongest gym leaders in the entire anime as well. The fact that she was able to give Ash such a challenging battle despite her literally handicapping herself by using only 3 of her own Pokemon while letting Ash use a full team of 6 just proved that she truly was on another level when compared to most trainers (I know that's redundant to say, but I really do feel it's worth emphasizing). Having said that, I do feel it also showed how weak Ash's Boldore and Unfezant were when compared to the rest of his team: they already were struggling to keep up with his other Pokemon when it came to pulling their weight in tough battles, but having them both be taken out by Roxie's first Pokemon, a Koffing, and lose as badly as they did really drove home how badly they underperformed by comparison. I also was personally hoping to see Krokorok be used as well and I honestly think it was a bit underutilized in Best Wishes as it proved to be the strongest Pokemon he caught during that series, and it would've made sense, too, sense it had a type advantage against her Pokemon as a ground type. Still a great battle, despite my nitpicks about it, and it was definitely one of the more memorable gym battles he had, and unlike certain ones, it was memorable for the right reasons
I definitely think Roxie is one of the strongest Gym Leaders, so therefore my theory is that the only reason she wasn't shown in the Ultra Class was because Koffing and the Toxics were busy going on tour
@@EliteTrainerMark Either that, or she didn't have any interest in participating in the tournament because she would rather prioritize her band. But as I pointed out in my last comment, I definitely agree that Roxie is a very strong trainer in the anime continuity and had a unique and ultimately memorable battle that deserves recognition for what it got right. You definitely got the feeling that the hype about how strong she was built up to be was not just a facade and that she actually lived up to it, being one of the more challenging battles Ash had during the entire series even to this day
Best= Ash vs Roxie.
Underrated = Ash vs Burgh
I personally would've put Ash vs Brycen at number 1, but I also kinda forgot how imposing they made Roxxie before watching this so I ain't mad at it.
Yep, Roxie is on another level for me. Brycen's battle was still really good though!
I always remebered Ash vs Roxie fondly, but I haven't rewatched it in YEARS! It's good to know my old self had good taste.
It's a great battle haha, take 40 minutes and rewatch both episodes, you'll enjoy it again
I like that in the Roxie fight we see pikachus static ability activate, the anime should use it more, hope it's in the Leon fight seeing as their part 1 had focus of abilities
For sure, especially since Ash vs Roxie is the most recent time we have seen Pikachu's Static, it's been that long!
If I can say one good thing about the Elesa battle, it's that it gives me a good laugh now and then. Seeing Pikachu shock the crap out of Ash and yell at him is always funny to watch.
I like Roxie’s battle a little but not by much. I think what kills it for me is that Ash was outclassed for most of the battle in a point of his Unova journey that he should be getting close to a preparation for the League. I like how Cilan and Iris cheer for Ash tho
Pretty much. Also, Roxie being blatantly overpowered af out of nowhere to the point a supposedly competent trainer like Ash needed 6 to beat her 3 made either her look nonsensically OP as a supposed gym leader challenge or Ash just weak af.
It especially makes no sense in hindsight that Roxie apparently is some stupidly OP trainer but then gets zero mention in the world coronation series later down the line when she should be wiping people out left and right.
Ash vs. Roxie at the top...It warms my heart to see it. :)
It's one of the best Gym Battles ever in my opinion!
The worst one to me goes to the Nimbasa City gym battle. Even if you think you could win with just one, you NEVER COME with just one pokemon because anything can still happen. Snivy was a good choice, just not up against Emolga. I remember my horrors that time against Elesa when I played as Snivy in my run of Pokemon White back in the day. Acrobatics and Volt Switch (which wasn't seen in the gym battle) can really mess up your strategy.
I love your videos. You go through things at a great pace, and you don't waste your time repeating points or dwelling on something for too long. Very informative and passionate.
Thanks! I always try to make videos in a style that I would enjoy watching, and I feel like I accomplish that in videos like these! And I also try not to go on for too long so that way I have less to edit😂
Elesa's gym battle is hands down my least favorite ever for every reason you mentioned. My gosh I don't understand how they could have gone from bad, to worse, to even worse in a single gym battle. I'm also disappointed they didn't take the opportunity to make Ash's gym battle against the Striaton trio a triple or rotation battle since Ash was going to battle all 3 anyway.
I must say, you made me see the Roxie battle in a whole new light. I truly hated that battle as I felt it made Ash look weak, but you helped me to look at it more from the perspective of how strong Roxie was. So even though I still wish it was different, I don't hate it as much as I used to.
I've never seen it as Ash being weak because, well, he wasn't weak at that point lol. He could defeat powerful trainers like Clay, Skyla, and Brycen straight up, so it's not like he got weaker between those battles and facing Roxie. It's just like I said in the video, Roxie is *really strong,* and I thought they did a good job building that up. Ash may not be using his strongest team ever, but he is battling arguably the strongest Gym Leader ever.
Anyways, yeah, I love that battle lol, glad I could help you enjoy it a little more as well
“Uses a Unova theme as the intro”
“Ranks Unova battle”
How fitting!😂😂
I am always excited when anything related to Driftveil City comes up in one of my videos hahaha
Another thing, besides the thing you listed, which I didn't like about Ash vs. Elesa was that Ash was trying to think and be smart, even if his strategies turned out to be very incompetent, but by the end, the lesson basically seems to be, "Screw strategy! Just go for it and you'll win!" Not the best lesson to teach to kids.
There's a hilarious line in the dub where after Ash comes to his senses and just picks Pikachu, Cilan is like "yeah, forget some strategy! This is a real Ash way to battle!" (paraphrasing)
@@EliteTrainerMark Yeah. I remember that. But having a strategy is not a bad thing, unlike what this episode seems to imply. It's just that Ash's strategies were garbage, that's all.
@@wikiuser92 I mean ash did end up using the battle field dust strategy. Also I don't think that they were trying to say that strategy is a bad thing, it felt like they were saying that sometimes it's best not to overthink things and to trust in your friends aka "pikachu" and to have fun.
Hehe. Unova. The less we talk about the Elesa battle the better.
I talk about it a lot, but not for a good reason haha
I love Ash vs Roxie it’s just a great 2 part episode the buildup the match rules all the different Pokémon using there body to fight. Making me love garbodor. I love it’s dub voice spot on. Roxie was adapted perfectly every line out of her mouth was pure gold. Saying bang zoom and let’s turn this battle up to 11 or our fans are real patient so let’s reward them all. Gah a perfect character and music one it kept 100% of the Japanese ost I think
I was trying to figure out a way to work "BANG ZOOM!" into this video😂 Roxie is fantastic
Same here. Best Unova battle Ash won.
Can’t say something wrong with that.
10:37 : Heh.... Fitting given that you use the music for your intro, Mark. X3
I actually find ash vs elesa relatable. I forget stuff alot. And theres actually a theory that ash took a break after do thats why he was rusty in bw. I get more annoyed at some stuff in journeys then best wishes. Even the serena returned disappointed me
I can totally understand the whole "soft reset" thing and in general I really like the Best Wishes series, but it doesn't stop me from getting frustrated watching the way Ash battles
@@EliteTrainerMark true. It was frustating and more when you see Ash getting defeated by rookie snivy when he just defeated Paul few episodes ago
@@wandering_alaska we dont know how long that was in universe
@@wandering_alaskayea but the reason why pikachu got defeated easily by snivy is because of zecrom, it took pikachu’s power and energy.
Great video bro! But yeah, the Unova gym battles were… something else. Thankfully once we got to the Clay battle they were all good but man they started off poorly.
Yeah lots of very questionable writing decisions going on with these battles lol, but at least they figured it out by the end
@@EliteTrainerMark honestly lol. But yeah, battles like Brycen and Roxie turned out amazing
9:01 Ash Mysterio 😂 happy to be 1 of the 2 ppl that got that reference
😂😂😂😂 this makes me so happy that someone recognized it
Make me the 2nd 😂
I got so used to Booyaka 6-1-9 that I had completely forgotten he had other entrance music.This was like that Ratatouille moment for me. Brought back childhood memories for sure.
My favorite gym battle in Unova was Ash vs Clay. I like Oshawott when he is more serious. In this battle he shows us how strong he is. I would not use Roggenrola myself because he had better Pokemon to counter but it has a great story to stop a horn drill from Excadrill.
Btw, i don't talk much about Snivy because she had the same 4 moves when Ash caught her in the beginning of Unova.... i don't like her as a Pokemon. Leavanny is the better grass type for me.
Great ranking Mark. Thank you!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I actually think Snivy was my favorite of Ash's Unova starters lol, she stood out whereas Oshawott and Pignite felt like very typical Pokémon that we've seen on Ash's team before. I definitely agree about the Clay battle though, I watched all of these back-to-back and it was SO nice seeing Ash and Oshawott working so well together against Clay, so much better than Ash's first two Gym Battles with Oshawott
@@EliteTrainerMark While I agree with Snivy being the best Unova starter, I kinda hated how they hinted at her having had a Trainer before, yet they never explored it further. We never learned who this Trainer was, for example. All the major character development was reserved for Tepig/Pignite. Oh, and of course, there's the fact she never evolved, either.
Oshawott, despite me liking its evolution line, is my least favorite of Ash's Unova starters. He always came off as annoying to me more than anything else. Volunteering for battles, only to chicken out seconds later; being afraid of opening his eyes underwater despite being a Water type; and so forth. And, at a Pokémon forum I visit daily, one user once expressed their hatred for Ash's Oshawott by pointing out his habit of stealing food from Pignite, a Pokémon whose introduction episode *literally* showed it starving. Not cool, Oshawott.
Kalos ranking up next👀👀
The ash vs Roxie fight cemented my love for Garbodor. Before it I just thought it was a cool looking disgusting pokemon but seeing it battle was just the cherry on top.
These gym battle are mostly good.
After the 4th gym battle, its going to be good and even very great.
Know it is late but i wish u ranked the Kahuuna battles and the totom battles in the alola region 😅😅❤
Yeah, "Rocking the Virbank Gym," parts 1 and 2 were great episodes. And Cilan made a good point when it was thought that Roxie was at a disadvantage, and said that it didn't matter how many pokemon you use. It all comes down to how you implement your strategies. It's just too bad that Ash couldn't use any antidotes on his pokemon that got poisoned during the battle though.
To be fair, I totally liked Roxie's Scolipede. I'm trying to catch a Venipede and raise it into one in my playthrough of Pokemon X sometime.
I think the main reason people don't like the Roxie fight is how Ash had to resort to using all six Pokemon and would of lost if it was a basic 3v3. I think to the fans, it makes Ash's pokemon look weak rather Roxie look strong. Looking back at it and with how you analyzed it, I guess it made a bit more sense. Though I thought it would have been cool if it was a 3v3 with Ash using Krokorok, Palpitoad and Boldore, Ash loses, takes a few episodes to train them, one of them evolves learning a new move and then there's a rematch.
But yeah, the Elesa battle and how Ash was acting, could have been a whole lot better. Good video!
The Elesa one made me legitimately angry lol
Clay vs Ash is my favourite and the dialogue is hilarious to me
Great video Elite Trainer Mark!!!
After Kalo Gyms, you should Rank Ash’s Grand Trials. While it may be short video just having 4 battles to rank, it would be interesting to watch, plus the Grand Trials are like Alola’s Official Gyms (I say official because I know there is a “gym” in Malie City called the Kantonian Gym)
My Top 8 from this One:
8 - Basic Badge - Lenora
7 - Bolt Badge - Elesa
6 - Trio Badge - Chili, Cress & Cilan
5 - Quake Badge - Clay
4 - Freeze Badge - Brycen
3 - Insect Badge - Burgh
2 - Jet Badge - Skyla
1 - Toxic Badge - Roxie
Krokrok is also my favourite pokemon..in ash's unova team
Really good rankings. Great video, Mark! Please do a videos of " Nando episodes: Worst to Best " in the Pokemon Anime.
If I ever run out of ideas, I'll consider that one haha
@@EliteTrainerMark Ok 😉 I just feel like Nando is so underrated, and so underappreciated. 🥺 He is such a good character, and has potential.
1) I watched the ENTIRE video lol, 2) Funny how you said it was the only/first time Ash’s Pokémon evolved during a gym battle then it proceeded to happen two more times lol, and 3) I couldn’t agree more with your list!! (Is that sentence correct? Lol).
Could you rank the battle frontier battles as well they’re basically jam battles
Don't worry, I will!
Ash vs Elesa is by far the worst on my list, but it's such a freak show that I love watching it every so often for laughs. I actually just watched it tonight for Halloween instead of scary movies lol. Pikachu cussing Ash out in Pika-speak is comedy gold.
Clay and Roxie top my list, Clay with his entertainingly loud yelling, and Roxie for her gym being in a badass grimy underground club (shades of NYC in the 80's).
Nice Rey Mysterio reference, that came to my mind too the first time I saw it, like look at Ash getting the Rey-Rey entrance lol. Good list!
Booyaka Booyaka
MY Fave is definitely Your #2 Choice
MY thoughts about Your #1 …
…After their respective Shining Gym Battle moments, Boldore, Unfezant, AND Palpitoad started to get the lower end of the stick and I actually DON’T Hate Them. HOWEVER I might still put this In MY Top4 Unova Gym Battles of Ash. It’s also still MY Fave Ash Battle against a Poison-type User… cause she actually uses Poison. And this is comin from A Charmander Line Fan
You could imagine how bad Ash vs Elesa was just by looking how even Pikachu became frustated with his trainer. I don't know who thought it was good idea to turn a mature and powerful ash who defeated Paul in sinnoh to turn into a dumbass in unova
At the time when they released Black and White, they wanted to give the player a new atmosphere to journey. And I guess Cilan and Iris were supposed to be a watered-down version of Brock and Misty.
I just realized maybe Pikachu was mad cause it’s the first time Ash didn’t use him in an electric gym battle
It's possible I guess
"Do you not remember when I swept Wattson? Put me in there coach"
You cant say ash inexplicably won when we literally watched him do a training montage
I said that as an exaggeration, I understand how Ash won narratively. But I still can't watch the battles without thinking "no way did Tepig just survive two straight Giga Impact to the face" haha. But yeah, I needed a quick and definitive way to end my point so that's why I phrased it that way. I don't mind the second battle too much in all honesty
it feels like he got saved by coincidences or his opponent being over confident a lot
I loved ash Vs Roxie. Though I wish lignite had evolved into Emboar here. It would have been perfect
as much as i like Booyaka 619, the OG WWE mysterio theme kicked so much ass.
It took me until making this video to realize that this was his WWE debut theme lol I thought he always had Booyaka 619. Both great themes though
I was just looking for this yesterday
And I actually would have made it yesterday if I hadn't got a killer migraine lol. But it's here now!
Ash vs Roxie was really bringing the heat to this battle 🔥🔥🔥
In regards to Pikachu shocking Ash out of overthinking, that's just stupid. Thinking isn't something Ash ever did.
I loved the Roxie fight as a poison type fan and starting Pokémon in BW2 it was nice to see the gym leader be a challenge. Part of me wishes palpitoad got the win or evolved but static was a good shock.
Ash vs Roxie was good.. Battle vs Brycen was decent.. and perhaps I might be the only one who likes Ash vs Cress😇
I remember when cress vs Ash was on TV and cress became my fave character because of how easily he took pikachu down while my dad was raging cause of the battle so this is one of my favourite battles because of the memory 😅
Great job on this video
Thanks! There are some small things I would have liked to have done better, but overall I was really happy with this one
@@EliteTrainerMark You're welcome. You did well
Tbh, I *completely* forgot about Ash vs Roxie!
I also hoped ash and trip would have traded pokémon to evolve their boldore and gurdurr
Another amazing video
And another sensational comment
@@EliteTrainerMark nothing but love as always my friend!!
Ash vs roxie had me up my seats as a kid watching that battle and even when the stakes were high both gave their all in good competitive natures roxie was being a good sport and actually was rooting for ash since he was giving his very best so definitely ash vs roxie is the fav
How do you do you’re editing and getting all the pictures and the clips together. I want to learn so I can have good editing.
I edit my videos using an editing software named OpenShot. I get my episodes from an online database, and I take screenshots of the episodes using VLC (a video player software)
@@EliteTrainerMark wow thanks Mark. This will help me a lot. Keep up the good work on your videos. All the best!
All the best to you, good luck!
@@EliteTrainerMark thanks
Nice Rey Mysterio reference
Lol two people have got the reference, that makes me happy
4:28 😍
Air based battles are pretty based. But yeah ash vs skyla was great
Can’t wait for the Kalos video
In a few weeks, it should be here👀
Oh boy, if you don’t like Ash losing badly to Lenora and winning the next match with little difference - you might notice the same with Wulfric, everyone loves that one - but the second battle with Avalugg happens in a world where the first did not
I *love* Ash vs Wulfric though, but in the next few days I will be rewatching both battles ahead of my Kalos ranking, so I guess we shall see what my thoughts are after a rewatch
I like ash vs Brycen more than ash vs roxie because I don’t like the 3 v 6 as this is ash’s last gym battle and he’s actually become a good trainer over the course of this series and it just feels insulting to have a gym leader to go easy on him, like why make such a strong trainer a gym leader, also I love ash’s krookodile, one of my favourite ash Pokémon, It’s not a bad battle by any means, probably would’ve put it at number 3,in my list behind ash vs clay and ash vs brycen
Roggenrola/Boldore has infinite hp due to withstanding a horn drill, a One-hit-KO move.
Yep
Is also known as Sturdy
@@TunaBear64but Roggenrola already took other hits from Excadrill so,
@@sp0ttedsh4rk Sturdy makes you straight immune to OHKO moves.
Isn't sturdy able to only let you survive while at full hp?
I really like Ash vs Elesa in a ironic way. Is just so bad is good xD
Ash using pokedex on Koffing was wrong in every way
11:05 I can’t blame clay I hate the move attract with a burning passion
3:20 Ash was dumb in this, 1st off, just bring Snivy and Palpitoad to you, second of all oh yeah, BRING YOUR GROUND TYPE DONPHAN FOR THIS BATTLE i know its a new reigon, but Ash could've exchanged One of his unova team members for Donphan!
I can't help but wonder if Ash would have been able to defeat Drayden at the Opelucid Gym after all Drayden has proven to be on a different level then the other Unova Gym Leaders.
And on another note, Ash *definitely* would have been able to defeat Marlon, since Cameron did so rather easily. However, Ash did also lose to Cheren😅 so I'm gonna day Drayden would have won
@@EliteTrainerMark I can just imagine the storyline where Ash is struggling in his final Gym battle with Drayden but Iris is too afraid to support him.
Roxie Is My Favorite Gym Leader
It was terrible that Ash’s Tepig lost to Burgh.
Due to anime Roxie is my favorite gym leader.
i so agree with number 1 best gym leader for me
Anime yea Roxie is awesome but I kinda wish it was a six on six not a six on 3 cause it really just make ash team look weak cause it took 3 of ash team members to take out one of Roxie and then it took the rest to beat her final pokemon
ETM Do you think they should remaster black and white Kind of like they do with the Mario 3D all-stars Or remake black and white1 or 2 or even Make a 3
those battles were awsome but i don't have any favorite, compare Ash now is way more stronger than in previous season😁
In my opinion, Pikachu got done dirty in Unova. Firstly the animation of Iron Tail was poor compared to Sinnoh and Hoenn, and secondly the animators had Pikachu have its iconic Volt Tackle replaced with a lousy Electro Ball which got replaced by Electroweb in the future.
If Pikachu kept Volt Tackle, we could only imagine how different battles could turned out
Unova battles are all over the place
Part of me kinda wishes Ash would’ve fought the other Gym Leaders: Marlon and Drayden/Iris
Ash got to fight Cilan’s Pansage, so it would’ve been fun to see Ash vs Iris’s Dragonite, Axew, Emolga, or Excadrill in an official gym battle :)
Fortunately, we *were* lucky enough to get to see Ash and Oshawott lose to Cheren😂
@@EliteTrainerMark Oshawott didn’t have to evolve, but they should’ve done more with his character. My favorite kind of characters in media are gag characters that have character development, like Minoru Mineta from My Hero Academia.
Oshawott could’ve been like Gliscor in a way, not winning many battles, but the victories themselves were against powerful opponents. Gliscor’s case being having victories against Byron’s Bastiodon and Paul’s busted Drapion! (This was longer than expected, my apologies 🥲)
Wdym inexplicably? He did a whole-ass training session and learned two new moves and you put that below the battle where he brought a single pokemon to a 3v3 because "type matchups"
ETM Are you getting scarlet or violet
Idk, haven't really thought about it
That battle against Elsa was terrible. Ash should not be ashamed about Pikachu.
My favorite is easily Clay v Ash.
That's a pretty good one!
@@EliteTrainerMark I just love Boldore so much. I was excited for this one because it was my first iteration of Pokémon ever. Can’t wait for the great gym battles of Kalos! I also love Clay’s character so much.
Eh, quite honestly, I didn't really like how it ended, mainly because I felt that Boldore evolving during the final battle made the win Ash got feel a little bit like it came out of nowhere, especially given that it was struggling to do anything before and had a massive type disadvantage against Clay's Excadrill. I feel it also worth mentioning that Boldore suffered from a similar issue to Torterra from the previous region in that it kept on losing after evolving, making it feel much less impressive than it's performance against Clay would lead you to believe
the top 3 for me is the same basically
I have some amazing news 🥁
Next year in March my brother and my sister in law are going to have a baby which means I am going to be a uncle
I remember watching the anime at the time and the battle between ash and Elisa and seeing how much ash devolved as a character I stopped watching it regularly.
Aqua ring is healing the electric damage
Swanna didn't *take* any damage though, like there was no damage to heal lol
Ash vs Eliesa is the worst gym battle ever. Ash was stupid, only brought one Pokémon, then had to leave to go get another which proceeded to get stomped just as hard, then her ace was a Tynamo? He should have been disqualified off the bat when he left the gym. But this battle did show that Ash is not a strategic battler at all, but a speed and force only, and type advantage is a weakness for him.
It's almost poetic how by far the best pokemon games in the series have by far the worst anime adaptation.
The list is great though. Good job man.
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Ash vs Clay is the best battle I'm Unova to me.
Mark! Hi
Good evening ray
X and Y gym battles were even better
First
first by 14 seconds lol, well done
Damn late again
But still here!
Ash vs Elesa is the worst gym battle in the entire series. Someone who just finished in the Top 4 "forgets" Grass-types are weak to Flying-types? That's just idiotic and made me rage quit the series until the League.
In this season the scripters thought "Ash is getting a lot of experience as a trainer. lEt´S fIx tAtH!" An proceed to remove even the comon sense from Ash'es brain.
Fortunately, he regains it pretty quickly, so the second half of these gym battles are all pretty good
@@EliteTrainerMark I know, but it was much Ash praying to Arceus. The only two times he had a strategy, one was with Elessa and she took her strategy, which was depend on Palpitoad, really fast, and with Clay, which is my favorite battle because the mid-battle evolution while playing the theme of the leader's last pokémon, he got scolded for having a strategy. The rest was just luck and his pokémon pulling something out of nowhere or evolving.
Roxie should not be number one gym leader. Clay or Brycen should be.
Ash vs Lenora is the worst! Ash and Tepig are strong than Herdier. Lenora is so spoiled.😡
Like 76
Unova was always a letdown to be real
not really
I hate Skyla.
Didn't like the entire Black and White anime
Honestly they all sucked. Especially hated Skyla and clay.
Sigh... Another day, another dumb vid about Pokemon B&W
Thank you so much for your support, I really appreciate it🙃