>>548430244. vs Tyson: Was a pretty even battle so can't take anything away from the two. And this battle felt the most sincere about the moral message the Ash losses were intended to pull BUT something is just inherently hilarious about the rival getting the post-match opening song celebration rather than the protag himself.
5. vs Harrison: Something has always bugged me about this guy since I watched and rewatching the ep, the disaster and the post-match reminded me why. With that plugin for Birch at the end, it was always such a transparent way to push Hoenn. Ash had to lose to Hoenn and we had to show off why Hoenn was better starting with Zard losing to the Chickenman BUT, in the end, being beat by an obvious marketing tool (in a mostly even battle) wasn't as bad as the other stuff that came afterwards. So I have to put in near the bottom
6. vs Alain: Kalos might have been the most controversial, and the one that broke the camel's back but at the end of the day Ash was fighting a very strong opponent. The battle was mostly even, and he wasn't being clowned on like the Top 3. But really? Losing to a tough Zard who made his career fighting other Megas even Primals? Can't really feel too bad about it. This is definitely not as bad as the time Ash literally jobbed to St Cameron, the unstoppable Tobias Wall or that time he got publically humiliated in Indigo.
