>>36398182>>36398448Paul sends out Drapion again to take on Pikachu and poison it, but Ash sends out Gliscor due to type advantage. Knowing Gliscor is already poisoned, Paul goes in with direct attacks to weaken Gliscor. However, Paul had no idea that Gliscor had trained as an air battle Pokemon and could quickly escape from an opponent after using Giga Impact. Gliscor was too fast for Drapion to attack, and Drapion lost from a Fire Fang-induced burn.
Knowing Gliscor is immune to Electivire's electric moves, he had Electivire use Thunder on the arena (which was improvised from Infernape's Flare Blitz on the arena earlier that disabled Toxic Spikes) to damage Gliscor. Gliscor was defeated by Brick Break.
Then it is Pikachu vs. Electivire, which referenced the first battle between Ash and Paul (Pikachu vs. Elekid). During that battle, Pikachu's Iron Tail was blocked by Elekid's left-hand Thunder Punch. Elekid was about to attack with its other hand, but Pikachu was able to jump to dodge it and got the Iron tail in. During Pikachu vs. Electivire, however, when Pikachu tried the same move with Electivire, Pikachu couldn't jump because it was overwhelmed by Electivire's sheer power. Pikachu couldn't afford to get rid of Iron Tail at any point. Electivire was then able to attack with its second hand just as Paul had planned Elekid to do in the first battle.
Finally, Infernape vs. Electivire is one of the best ever battles in the entire series, with fluid movement, animation, and a built up rivalry established since DP051. Ash barely defeated Electivire through Infernape's Blaze and sheer desire to not lose. It's fitting that Infernape, who got stronger through Ash's persistent battle style, defeats Electivire, whose personality is like Paul's and got stronger through Paul's strength-oriented battle style. (3/3)
