Ash and co. come across a PokeRinger competition, which Ash and Brock recognize from back in the Hoenn Region, so Ash decides to enter with his Staravia, and it turns out Paul is also competing with his Honchkrow. As the contestants are eliminated, it comes down to Ash and Paul in the finals. During the climax of the battle, Ash's Staravia evolves into Staraptor and learns Close Combat, giving it the power boost it needs to win the competition.
Tropes
- Born Lucky: As stated by Brock, one of the main reasons why Paul's Honchcrow was able to defeat Probo's Dragonite so easily is thanks to it's ability Super Luck. Super Luck allows a Pokemon more chances to land a critical hit which is what happened in the battle.
- 11th-Hour Superpower: Staravia evolves into Staraptor at the climax of the episode.
- Call-Back: The entire episode is one to "That's Just Swellow" from the Advanced Generation. Ash enters a PokeRinger competition with his regional bird and wins when it evolves during the final round.
- Hell, even the music
when Ash makes the comeback is the same.
- Hell, even the music
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Despite being outmatched, Staravia really pushes itself against Paul’s Honchcrow, catching it off guard multiple times and stealing the ring.
- Death Glare: Staraptor gives a good one to Honchcrow right after evolving.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: While Staraptor evolving has even the odds a little, it’s still suffering from both exhaustion and the beatdown Honchcrow gave it earlier.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: After it evolves Staraptor proceeds to apply its newly learned Close Combat to Honchcrow’s face.
- Oh, Crap!: Downplayed, but Paul clearly recognizes that his chance of winning is lower now that Staravia has evolved. To his credit, he recovers quickly and attempts to regain control of the situation.
- So Last Season: While James was a serious threat during the Hoenn PokéRinger for his wind reading skills, he loses in the first round here, due to “the Sinnoh winds are harder to predict”.
- Sore Loser: After Ash and Staraptor win, Paul blames Honchkrow for the loss, saying he had slow reaction time, and still struggles to acknowledge Ash’s Staraptor as a strong Pokémon. At best, he grudgingly remarks that it took long enough for Starly to evolve into Staraptor.
- The Worf Effect: The undefeated 4 time winner of the PokéRinger competition, who uses a Dragonite, is defeated by Paul and his Honchcrow in one attack.
