Will Ash vs Leon be a Full Battle?

[Schemer99]

I think so, especially since Rose is out of the picture and Leon effectively controls Macro Cosmos. Also, just having a single battle between Pikachu and Charizard would be boring to see. Honestly, I think that the Master 8 Tournament will be all Full Battles.

 

[Daren]

I can't see them making the main event of Ash's part of the series a smaller battle unless they pull an XY style plot swap at the end.

The rest of the tournament being full would make sense but I sort of doubt it; they've had smaller battles in JN so far and I don't think we've had three full battles back to back sense the Hoenn league.

 

[Mew2]

It better be. Realistically speaking, though, it should be. It's going to be the main event of the series and I can't see them not having a battle for the title of the world's strongest trainer be anything other than a six-on-six battle.

 

[Hidden Mew]

At the moment, I'm leading towards no. Even though it is Ash's goal for the series and they have been hyping up their eventual battle, I could easily see it just being Pikachu vs. Charizard. If they seemingly aren't willing to do more than two-on-two battles in the PWC and most of the battles we've seen are one-on-one, including the few Master Class battle we've seen thus far, then that doesn't give me a lot of confidence that Ash vs. Leon will be a full battle either.

 

[Unireon]

Seeing how the PWC is being handled, I highly doubt it.
Pikachu vs Lizardon is the main event. I go for a 3 vs 3.
Who knows.....

Maybe they decide to focus on something else during the battle.
Shifting to another event in the middle of the battle.

 

[VetProf]

99% of Sun and Moon was basically 1v1s, 2v2s, and very rarely, 3v3s. And yet, the writers still managed to give us a full battle by the end of the series with Ash vs Prof. Kukui, so I'm sure we'll also be getting at least one full battle in Journeys. Best case scenario, we'll be getting multiple full battles throughout the Master Class. But even if we don't, Ash vs Leon (or whatever the big climactic battle for this series will be) will most likely be a full battle.

 

[puddleths]

Can we even be sure trainers are allowed to carry six Pokemon this series? Maybe it's just limited to anyone without a "G" and an "O" in their name?

 

[nickdt]

At the moment, I'm leading towards no. Even though it is Ash's goal for the series and they have been hyping up their eventual battle, I could easily see it just being Pikachu vs. Charizard. If they seemingly aren't willing to do more than two-on-two battles in the PWC and most of the battles we've seen are one-on-one, including the few Master Class battle we've seen thus far, then that doesn't give me a lot of confidence that Ash vs. Leon will be a full battle either.

Problem is they indirectly hinted at Sirfetch'd fighting Leon during its evolution episode with the Leon is waiting for us line from Ash.

So that means that if its a 2v2 or 3v3, Lucario, Gengar and Dracovish are missing out with a 3v3 and Dragonite is also missing out when its a 2v2.

I say this because it would feel like a bit ridiculous if Dragonite (As his current strongest Journeys mon), missing out on fighting the big rival this season.

And if its only a 3v3 with only Pikachu, Dragonite and Sirfetch'd participating, what was the point in them even giving Ash Lucario and Gengar (Dracovish gets a pass, since its a new mon) in the first place, rather than marketing. They then just as well could have not given Ash any new Pokemon to begin with and just develop his current mons and give them some evolutions (Especially Quilava into Typhlosion, based on its current popularity).

If also feel like Leon will not have Haxorus in his main roster (Because of Iris having evolved hers and Dragonite already defeated one), so that most likely means its a Dragonite vs Dragapult match-up in a 3v3 situation and due to Dan the referee having a Aegislash, i can see Leon not having one, i can see Bisharp as his replacement, since then we get a Bishop vs White Knight battle.

 

[BigDocFan]

As much as I would like a full battle to happen, it feels so unlikely

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

So far it doesn't seem very likely, but I'm hoping against all odds that we do get a full battle because it just wouldn't feel right for Ash to not use his whole team nor for Leon, who is supposed to be the strongest trainer in the world, to not have his full team revealed. Especially so if they just make it a Pikachu vs Charizard rematch which is most likely going to have the exact same result as the first time they fought. Adding the rest of Ash's team into the mix would at least spice things up a little.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Given how lazy the writers have been with battles on this series, not sure I have enough faith that they’d be willing to give us a full battle. They’d probably have a 1 v 1 of Pikachu vs Charizard.

 

[R1ke]

Yes, absolutely. If even Alain can get a full battle anyone can. There’s no reason for them not to.

 

[Greninjaman]

If also feel like Leon will not have Haxorus in his main roster (Because of Iris having evolved hers and Dragonite already defeated one), so that most likely means its a Dragonite vs Dragapult match-up in a 3v3 situation and due to Dan the referee having a Aegislash, i can see Leon not having one, i can see Bisharp as his replacement, since then we get a Bishop vs White Knight battle.

How would Iris having a Haxarus prevent Leon from having one? I have seen and heard this type of thing in regard to other Pokémon. Is it a sin to have Misty and Sabrina both have a Starmie as an ace, for example? Like, why would this be a problem?

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

How would Iris having a Haxarus prevent Leon from having one? I have seen and heard this type of thing in regard to other Pokémon. Is it a sin to have Misty and Sabrina both have a Starmie as an ace, for example? Like, why would this be a problem?

I think it's a matter of wanting to avoid repetition as much as possible: Ash having already beaten a Haxorus in the PWC arguably makes Leon having one not seem as challenging, since Ash already defeated one and Ash would obviously make it to Charizard, so he'd be pretty much guaranteed to defeat Leon's hypothetical Haxorus no matter what. And on the comment about Misty and Sabrina not having the same ace... that's because they're both Kanto Gym Leaders, and so far there has never been a single instance of two Gym Leaders from the same region sharing an ace, and there probably never will be, because that would just make gameplay boring. Same thing in the anime: having Ash and his team face off against as wide a variety of opponents as possible helps keep the battles varied and engaging.

Granted, I personally don't think it'd be much of a problem in this particular case, since Leon and Iris have completely different ace Pokemon anyway, so I don't think both having a Haxorus would be much of an issue due to them playing completely different roles in their respective teams. Plus, Leon sharing some Pokemon species with other strong PWC opponents could actually help establish just how far above everyone else he is: having Ash's Dragonite outright lose to Leon's Haxorus (who isn't even his ace) despite having beaten Iris's would be a wonderful example of this. That said, even if the writers didn't want Leon to use Haxorus on the grounds that Iris already had one, there's absolutely nothing stopping them from simply replacing said Haxorus with a completely different Pokemon. I mean, Kukui's anime team only shared a grand total of two Pokemon with his game counterpart's team (and even then, one of those Pokemon is only present if the player started with Rowlet) while the rest of it was composed of wild cards, so for all we know Leon's team could easily be a similar case.

 

[Greninjaman]

I think it's a matter of wanting to avoid repetition as much as possible: Ash having already beaten a Haxorus in the PWC arguably makes Leon having one not seem as challenging, since Ash already defeated one and Ash would obviously make it to Charizard, so he'd be pretty much guaranteed to defeat Leon's hypothetical Haxorus no matter what. And on the comment about Misty and Sabrina not having the same ace... that's because they're both Kanto Gym Leaders, and so far there has never been a single instance of two Gym Leaders from the same region sharing an ace, and there probably never will be, because that would just make gameplay boring. Same thing in the anime: having Ash and his team face off against as wide a variety of opponents as possible helps keep the battles varied and engaging.

Granted, I personally don't think it'd be much of a problem in this particular case, since Leon and Iris have completely different ace Pokemon anyway, so I don't think both having a Haxorus would be much of an issue due to them playing completely different roles in their respective teams. Plus, Leon sharing some Pokemon species with other strong PWC opponents could actually help establish just how far above everyone else he is: having Ash's Dragonite outright lose to Leon's Haxorus (who isn't even his ace) despite having beaten Iris's would be a wonderful example of this. That said, even if the writers didn't want Leon to use Haxorus on the grounds that Iris already had one, there's absolutely nothing stopping them from simply replacing said Haxorus with a completely different Pokemon. I mean, Kukui's anime team only shared a grand total of two Pokemon with his game counterpart's team (and even then, one of those Pokemon is only present if the player started with Rowlet) while the rest of it was composed of wild cards, so for all we know Leon's team could easily be a similar case.

Ash beating Iris's Haxarous does not necessarily mean Ash will beat Leon's. Ash has beaten Brock's onix, but still lost to Roark's.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Ash beating Iris's Haxarous does not necessarily mean Ash will beat Leon's. Ash has beaten Brock's onix, but still lost to Roark's.

Yeah, but those Onixes were 1)Many real-life years apart and 2)From completely different sagas. Meanwhile, Iris's and Leon's Haxoruses would both be from the same saga and at most only about a year apart. So that's why it would feel redundant/reptitive to some for both to have Haxoruses.

 

[Greninjaman]

Yeah, but those Onixes were 1)Many real-life years apart and 2)From completely different sagas. Meanwhile, Iris's and Leon's Haxoruses would both be from the same saga and at most only about a year apart. So that's why it would feel redundant/reptitive to some for both to have Haxoruses.

I see. That makes sense.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

If this series isn't even willing to have a 3V3, I doubt we'll get a full battle, with Ash v.s Leon merely being Pikachu vs Charizard.

 

[VetProf]

If this series isn't even willing to have a 3V3, I doubt we'll get a full battle, with Ash v.s Leon merely being Pikachu vs Charizard.

It's possible that they're just saving 3v3s and full battles towards the end of the series. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't remember any 3v3 battles in Sun and Moon prior to Ash vs Gladion in the Alola League, so it's possible that the same thing is happening here with Journeys. Of course, saving all the big battles towards the end of the series isn't exactly a great thing either, but it's still better than having Ash vs Leon just be another 1v1 like their first battle (which some people here are already expecting pessimistically).

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

It's possible that they're just saving 3v3s and full battles towards the end of the series. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't remember any 3v3 battles in Sun and Moon prior to Ash vs Gladion in the Alola League, so it's possible that the same thing is happening here with Journeys. Of course, saving all the big battles towards the end of the series isn't exactly a great thing either, but it's still better than having Ash vs Leon just be another 1v1 like their first battle (which some people here are already expecting pessimistically).

We had was a 1v3, which was Ash's Grand Trial against Kahuna Nanu, but yeah, we didn't have any 3v3 before his battle with Gladion. Amazingly not even Hapu was a 3v3. We haven't really seen a bunch of 3v3's since XY.