Ash and Paul begin their full battle as previously suggested by Paul's brother Reggie. They take their battle to the shores of Lake Acuity and Reggie surprises them by bringing in an official referee and a portable scoreboard, operated by a disguised Team Rocket. The battle begins with Ash seemingly taking the lead during the first round, but things soon take a turn when Paul reveals he had been stringing him along and things soon get much more difficult than Ash expected as Paul begins to overwhelm him with a carefully planned strategy. The episode ends on a cliffhanger and despite both trainers being one Pokémon down, Paul's precisely calculated moves have clearly given him the advantage.
Tropes
- Call-Back: Reggie makes note of Ash's Staraptor, remembering it as the Staravia he once battled, and Dawn mentions its victory over Paul's Honchkrow in the Poké Ringer match. Later, when Grotle is about to battle Honchkrow, Brock mentions the previous battle between them, and Grotle is notably pissed off to see it again.
- The Chessmaster: Paul exhibits this to a certain degree throughout the battle, but special note goes to the opening round of Torterra vs. Gliscor. He has Torterra use a move that he knows will miss to make Ash let down his guard a little, then uses Frenzy Plant, which misses and by its very nature, temporarily immobilizes Torterra, allowing Ash to use a barrage of close-range attacks. However, this soon gives Paul the opportunity to have Torterra clamp down on its tail using Crunch and hold it in place once it can move again, the trap that he had planned all along. Torterra then uses Giga Drain to rapidly life-drain Gliscor while it can't escape. By the time it is able to muster up enough energy to break free, Gliscor's health is extremely low.
- Cliffhanger: The full battle continues into the next episode, and part one ends with both trainers one Pokémon down and Pikachu about to face Paul's newly evolved Magmortar. While the score is technically even, Paul's carefully calculated strategy is clearly putting him at an advantage.
- Mr. Exposition: Reggie explains Paul's thought process in his battle strategy against Ash to Brock and Dawn.
- Psychotic Smirk: Paul delivers one when Ash chooses to use Grotle against Honchcrow, despite Grotle’s disadvantage.
- Reformed, but Not Tamed: Paul’s behaviour is significantly improved in this episode, but his strategies against Ash, as well as his smirk, show that despite his improved behaviour, his mentality and opinion hasn’t exactly changed.
- The Stoic: Paul is even more stoic than ever.
