>>47406606I agree with your initial point but holy fuck you couldn't have worded this follow-up explanation in a shittier way, making people miss the point entirely.
The anime used to have some good battles when Pokemon could scuffle like this and make actions that weren't called out or pre-planned by the trainer, or perform attacks that aren't specifically Pokemon moves. The entire sequence in OP's gif was done without a single command, and that makes this battle in particular battle feel more real and alive. It filled in the dead space of a battle where Pokemon are usually waiting for commands, just stare each other down, or are waiting for "energy explosion smoke" to clear, with some fun actions.
While it might seem silly to bring in a movie's battle into this conversation, remember the battle against the girl with the Aipom, Quagsire, etc. in the Jhoto movie? This, in conjunction with the music, is why people remember it so fondly. The choreography was a lot more whimsical and less robotic.
