>>44240136Yeah, May was canonically stated to be straightforward like Ash, and that was the reason why she lost not only to Drew but to Solidad. May kept crapping out attack after attack, hoping that eventually something will stick. Her first contest ribbon is literally just spamming random combinations that miraculously worked. Her second ribbon is Skitty randomly using Assist. Her third ribbon is using Combusken's Fire Spin in the air by chance because Combusken was helpless before Grumpig. Grumpig only lost because it couldn't concentrate its psychic powers when it was being singed by several dozen embers. The fourth ribbon had May rely more on combinations with Bulbasaur and being more strategic than before due to her vast experience. Even then, Bulbasaur barely won when she used a brand new combination May had in her back pocket by chance. Plus, Harley and his Cacturne were still a major threat, and they opted for more direct attacks than past opponents. Had they relied on combinations, May would have lost. May did the same thing in her last Hoenn contest. Every single contest May competed in, she won either by spamming everything in her Pokemon's arsenal and turning out lucky, or by overpowering her simplest opponents with combinations and raw guts. At least in the Wallace Cup, May became an actual skilled coordinator, as she employs much more complex strategies, patiently waits to attack (which makes her more similar to her father, Norman, who uses that same bait-and-attack battling style, than Ash), and factors the environment and her own Pokemon's characteristics into appeals and battles. May applied the very things she learned across her journey, and she actually evolved several of her Pokemon in a short amount of time. May was held back by being with Ash. She can be her actual self now, someone who has the potential to be a top coordinator.
