>>35135937I don't even watch the anime and if anything I think he does as well. Most ace trainers had Mega Evolution, right? Like Diantha and whoever that kid was with the Sceptile. So there really wasn't anything special about him in particular. He beat someone with a basically unknown power that was a step beyond Mega Evolution.
Although looking up his team now, besides Unfezant, are all crazy good picks. But that actually means something in the anime (since the tougher they are, the harder they are to train/evolve I think?), unlike the games. He earned the victory through sheer effort. Not undermining Ash's effort, but it's hard to take his journey seriously given how lame the anime is itself.
