>>23431061It was a legitimate no bullshit win, of course they needed to make it hard so as not to trivialize the victory and megas. He had also never beaten a Lucario before that, so it broke that status quo.
Yes he had to fight it multiple times prior, have an arc with it, and then a long gap where he got to train for it. But that made the victory both satisfying and legitimate. Saying shit like "the plot gave him that win" is stupid. 'Plot armor' is bad when it's forced. This was believable and internally consistent, so there was nothing wrong with it.
