BW091: Power Battle! Iris vs. Hikari!

I'm hoping that maybe Dawn's Contests skills and combination with Mamoswine gives her an edge. Neither Iris or Dragonite are that familiar with Contests battles and that has been shown to confuse opponents before, although the only example I can think of at the moment would be Buizel. Still, that could show why Beartic couldn't beat Dragonite and Mamoswine could. Though, the fact that they're trying to show Iris as the underdog, which doesn't make any sense given she doesn't actually work to overcome her problems and she's fully aware that she's using a Pokemon that isn't listening to her in a tournament, does make me fear that she'll win anyway. Iris seriously doesn't deserve to get further into the tournament and she needs to be knocked down a few pegs. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if the finals did come down to Trip and Iris, but I would be really disappointed and even more frustrated with Iris' character than I already am.

Honestly, I would like if

A) Dawn beats Iris and then starts giving her tips to control her Dragonite, with some training of them both in future episodes...

Or

B) If you can change Pokémon between battles, then I wouldn't mind if Iris beat Dawn... And, during the finals, she fought Ash, who would use some of his freaking OLDER Pokémon. Heck, I'm fine with Pikachu! ...Though I would prefer Charizard, of course.

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Originally Posted by Masurao

Considering Bianca, and Stephan aren't here, and the fact that Langley/Burgundy seem to be getting a first round loses. I really doubt Cilan is getting to the semi's. Ash will likely be getting to the semi's as well Trip.

Given that they're making Iris out to be the underdog here, I could see them making Dawn lose. Not like other main characters have been thrown under the bus for Iris' sake before. I don't expect Dragonites problem to last very long...if her past Pokemon are any indication.

I'm still calling Iris vs Trip for the finals. I'd be shocked if it was something different.

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I don't know if Iris vs trip might be a good idea. She might beat him because of it's type advantage and plus, does she really have to be in the finals again? Is it mandatory?

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Originally Posted by Gliscor'd

Its possible Cilan will make it to the finals this time. He's always lost early in these tournaments, why not let him and Trip have a rematch in the finals?

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Eh, to be honest...I don't think he should be there either. As I said, this is the LAST gateway before the league. The only people that really should be in the finals here should be Ash, and Trip. I'd swap out one for Bianca if she was present. They need to show that they are ready for the league. If they lose to Iris, or Cilan...what does that say about badge collectors? The badge collectors have been rather shafted in these tournaments.

Why they have Ash using Leavanny of all things is beyond me. But with that choice the writers have told me they don't want him in the finals. Semi's most likely. Deifnately not win this tournament. Given Trip is using his starter, and he is the main rival of this series (supposedly) he'll probably be in the finals.

Iris just caught a Dragonite. Given she's been established as the underdog here, and the magazine seems to emphasize her plight, plus Dragonite in general...makes her the obvious choice for the other finalist. I'd be really surprised if they have Dawn beat her. I'm leaning more towards Dragonite just realizing the error of it's ways mid-battle, ultimately winning the battle for Iris.

Team Hikari. That is all.

My first instinct is to agree with Gliscor'd in that they wouldn't have brought Hikari if it was only to have her reach the second round and an Iris win would be utter bullshit. But then again, I honestly trust the writers as far as I can throw them with anything Iris-related and there's Kibago magically going from helpless to strong enough to hurt a Champion's Pokémon in the time it takes to say DEM, so I'm kinda worried they're keeping him for later in the tournament. Honestly, not gonna lie, I think besides Shooti winning and facing Adeku, Iris winning, defeating Adeku and becoming Champion is like... the second likeliest scenario right now.

Still, I'm gonna have faith in the writers and predict an Hikari win here.

The writes favor Dawn as much as Iris though. Think of all the screentime she got in DP and all the promotion.

Its like the writers putting their favored child against their most gifted child. Goes to show you how the female protagonists are glorified now compared to Misty and May being swept under a rug.

I still think Dawn will win.

The writers put effort in Dawn, she had a good amount of focus and development. With Iris, it's like the writers aren't even really trying. Just randomly powering her up whenever they see fit, because of her minimal focus...and calling it development.

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Originally Posted by Gliscor'd

The writes favor Dawn as much as Iris though. Think of all the screentime she got in DP and all the promotion.

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Dawn did get a lot of screentime in DP and they've gone out of their way to hype up her return, although Piplup was also a factor. However, I think that the writers favor Iris a lot more than Dawn. They've handled Iris all the solutions to her problems so she didn't have to earn anything and instead of Axew learning moves from training, they just come out of nowhere to overpower it. With Dawn, she actually had to work for overcome her problems and the only time they really handed Dawn anything was with Togekiss, which is still awful in my opinion, but not nearly as bad as Iris getting Dragonite due to how she's been handled thus far.

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Originally Posted by Gliscor'd

Its like the writers putting their favored child against their most gifted child. Goes to show you how the female protagonists are glorified now compared to Misty and May being swept under a rug.

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I don't think I would say Iris is most gifted, assuming that is the one out of the two that you're referring to, mainly because she feels too lazy to come off as really gifted to me.

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Originally Posted by Gliscor'd

I still think Dawn will win.

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I really hope so. I would be so annoyed if Dawn lost, although probably not entirely surprised given how they've handled Iris, but it would be so much more satisfying to see her lose.

Another thing, why would the writers NOT have Dawn promote Piplup in this tournament? When Dawn loses I expect Piplup to be in her final battle, not Mamoswine.

I think Dawn will get three battles, whoever she uses/beats in the first round, then this battle, then whoever she loses to in the semi-finals.

They can easily show Piplup win in a earlier round. Why would they have Piplup's potential only battle be a loss if it's used in her final battle?

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Originally Posted by Alfonso

Just as Dawn beat May, Iris will beat Dawn.

Your tears, they will be delicious.

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Sorry for late reply BUT

That still pisses me off haha.

Your speculation sounds correct even though I'd rather Dawn win. :X

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Originally Posted by Gliscor'd

Another thing, why would the writers NOT have Dawn promote Piplup in this tournament? When Dawn loses I expect Piplup to be in her final battle, not Mamoswine.

I think Dawn will get three battles, whoever she uses/beats in the first round, then this battle, then whoever she loses to in the semi-finals.

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You make a good point there. My theory is that Dawn beats Iris and faces Ash next for a Piplup vs. Oshawott battle. I think Piplup and Oshawott's rivalry implies a future showdown against each other.

Now about the actual topic, I think Dawn has the edge due to her battling style that's really foreign to Iris. But of course, the writers have a knack of defying logic (in a bad way) so I might be setting myself for a huge disappointment.

The writers don't purposely want to make Iris a Mary Sue. Even they know that constantly showing her winning everything and with a pokemon that doesn't obey makes little sense.

Admittedly Zoey was a borderline Mary Sue back in DP, but since she was a rival it didn't matter as much. Dawn beating Iris makes a little more sense, and then the finals will likely be Ash Vs. Trip.

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Originally Posted by Gliscor'd

The writers don't purposely want to make Iris a Mary Sue. Even they know that constantly showing her winning everything and with a pokemon that doesn't obey makes little sense.

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They've been doing a pretty good job with making Iris a Mary Sue, or at least giving her traits of a Mary Sue, so I don't know if I would say they aren't doing this purposely. They probably don't see her as a Mary Sue, but that doesn't change that she is one. Not much about Iris' storyline, if you can call it that at this point, really makes any sense, so having her win everything, or nearly everything if it does end up being Trip vs. Iris in the finals, despite not making a lot of sense wouldn't really prevent them from doing it.

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Originally Posted by Gliscor'd

Admittedly Zoey was a borderline Mary Sue back in DP, but since she was a rival it didn't matter as much. Dawn beating Iris makes a little more sense, and then the finals will likely be Ash Vs. Trip.

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I never really got the impression that Zoey was a borderline Mary Sue in DP. Unlike Iris, she actually worked and trained to earn her accomplishments. Plus, she did lose a few times, so it wasn't like she was completely perfect. There was some effort put into Zoey's character at least, while there really doesn't seem to be any effort for Iris' storyline. I don't know if I'd expect Ash vs. Trip in the finals, but I agree that Dawn beating Iris would make more sense and I still hope that actually happens.

Any route other than Iris losing (whether it be through KO, or disqualification/forfeiting) would be shoddy writing. Having Dragonite beat Mamoswine whilist still being disobedient, or having Dragonite realize the error of it's ways mid battle and working with Iris to get the victory would be a load of BS. So, hopefully this entire tournament isn't catered around Iris and Dragonite.