>>50732982This is just incredibly NOT TRUE. Yes he didn't prepare counters to Valerie's fairy types, but that's literally because he just know the type Chart for them and wanted a first impression. This was also the battle where Ash came up with not one but TWO very smart strategies to beat Valerie. First by having Fletchinder continually use Flame Charge under Trick Room so when Trick Room ran out it'd be too fast for Valerie to counter, then by having Hawlucha target Trick Room itself with a super effect bug move in order to break it. Citing the valerie fight as an example of Ash being carried is just delusional.
Even after this, need I remind you of the Olympia fight where Ash used Pikachu as a METRONOME to get the timing on Olympia's future sight so he could launch a perfect counter attack? Or against Sawyer when he took advantage of Aegislash's stance change to lock it into place? Ash in XY was one of the most strategically minded versions of himself we've had, right up there with DP's counter shield and BF's myriad of combo moves