My top Ash Ketchem Pokemon Battles

 

The Pokemon Anime was the gateway to the most iconic gaming franchise and to this day, I’ve been watching Ash Ketchem becoming the very best like no one ever was; becoming a hot headed novelist to a world champion. Yet it’s been a shock to hear that he and Pikachu will be retiring having to grow up with him for years, soon to be replaced by new protagonists for the Paldea season. So I thought that I could look back and talk about the top Pokemon battles that were brought to life by Ash throughout his journey. They include mayor battles that that happened to be epic as he thinks outside the box and coming out on top though also a few loses but are no less awesome. Be warned that they will contain major spoilers.

34) Vs Trip (Curtin up, Unova League!/Mission: Defeat your rival!)

Trip is the kind of rival who is always one step ahead of Ash despite being a less experienced trainer during the Unova saga. But that’s what makes it awesome for Ash to finally defeat Trip in the Vertress Conference, especially when it appears that Trip have the upper hand with his Serperior who not only have the advantage against Pikachu but also limits his movements by constricting him like an actual snake catching it’s prey and sticking its tail onto the ground to conduct Pikachu’s Thunderbolt but Ash have managed to break out with a combination of Iron Tail and Electro Ball. Trip may not have as many appearances but hey, least it was worth the wait and he has become nicer to Ash since his own lost against Alder.

33) Vs Lt Surge (Electric Shock Showdown)

The majority of Ash’s early Gym Battles during the Kanto saga have been rusty with Ash only starting out his journey as a beginner which most of the badges were given after doing a good deed or out of pity (least what Brock and Misty claimed). But here’s one of the few that he have legitimately earned and that’s his rematch against the Vermillion Gym Leader Lt Surge. Lt Surge is a rather arrogant Gym Leader who looks down at other trainers which he refers them as babies and unevovled Pokemon, preferring to evolve them as soon as possible. His Raichu proved to be too much for Ash’s Pikachu as an evolved form of Pikachu but during the rematch, it’s Pikachu who came out on top who have learned moves to outrun Raichu including Quick Attack and Agility, something that Raichu didn’t learned due to Raichu never having the chance to learn them before evolving. This makes it satisfying for Ash to win against Lt Surge, earning his respect.

32) Vs Blaine (Volcano Panic)

Another one of Ash’s earlier Gym Battles which is his rematch with Blaine using his unruly Charizard against Blaine’s Magmar who became motivated to battle it after helping it to save the Cinnabar Island Gym. At first, it seems that Magmar is the victor having to push Charizard into the lava when they appeared to be evenly matched but it’s Charizard who became the victor using a combination of Submission and Seismic Toss which was one of the more spectacular scenes even by today’s standards, earning Ash the Volcano Badge even if they both still have ways to go for them to be fully synched with each other.

31) Vs Misty (When Regions Collide!)

One of the few times when Ash gets to battle one of his former travelling companions who he reunites during the Alola Saga during his trip back to Kanto. He may have a Gym Battle against Misty but that never really took off due to it being interrupted by Team Rocket. This time, it was a proper battle. Even with Pikachu having the type advantage against her Gyarados, Misty is shown to be more than a match for Ash having to grown as a Gym Leader as she Mega Evolves her Gyarados which gives Ash and Pikachu a run for their money. But this is the Ash we’re talking about who is able to find ways to beat her Mega Gyarados including by escaping Hurricane using Quick Attack and showing Misty his own new gimmick; their Z Move Gigavolt Havoc.

30) Vs Gladion, Kiawe and Professor Kukui (Helping the Hometown hero!)

Remember the Battle Royal from the Alola games? Ash’s return to the Alola region, battling against his old friends at the Battle Royal deserves a mention with this episode as one of the few that recognises Ash as the Alola champion which is really a satisfying feeling. Gladion, Kiawe and Kukui who he have faced before may have given their all but Ash truly shows how far he have come as the champion which also reminds us why he earns his place at the Master’s Eight, making this a warm up. We may did not get to see the full outcome but I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard to figure out who came out on top.  

29) Vs May (Once more with Reeling!/Home where the start is!)

It’s technically an unofficial contest battle rather than an actual battle but there are still some fighting involved as Ash and his Hoenn travelling companion May competing each other using their Pokemon’s moves so I’m counting this one. Anyway, it puts Ash’s Sceptile against May’s newly evolved Blaziken together with neither one letting up, pushing themselves to the absolute limits with their Overgrow and Blaze ability activated. It shows how much Ash and May have grown during their time together at Hoenn and Kanto and the fact that they were evenly matched, earning their fair share of the ribbon makes this a satisfying conclusion for the third generation saga.

28) Vs Iris (Trash of the Titans/Club Battle Finale: A Hero’s Outcome!)

With Pokemon Journeys resolves travelling to multiple regions from Kanto to Galar, I anticipated for the return of Ash’s former travelling companions and I was right with Iris being the first travelling companion to meet up with Ash. This time, she have became the Unova Champion, becoming closer to her dreams of being a Dragon Master and is shown to become much stronger as she battles against Ash with her newly evolved Haxorus who was a far cry from the young Axew, even coming up with a strategy to overcome the confusion side effect of Outrage. But with the help with his own Dragon type Pokemon, he is able to show Iris that his is not a little kid as shown with his Dragonite using its newly learned Draco Meteor which led to victory, earning Ash’s placement in the Ultra Class for the World Coronation Series.

I’m also giving a mention to their battle at the Nimbasa Pokemon Club Battle. Yes, it may seem like an one sided battle with Ash’s Pikachu up against Iris’ Excadrill but remember that this is Ash’s Pikachu where’s talking about who actually put up a good fight, wearing her Excadrill down which was a good way to conclude Iris and Excadrill’s character arc.

27) Vs Clemont (The moment of Lumiose Truth!)

Yet another battle with his travelling companion; Clemont. Even if they’re friends, Clemont is far from a push over who happens to be a smart inventor (even if his inventions often explodes on him) and trained really hard during his temporary time away from the group to prepare for his long awaited battle with Ash and it shows during their actual gym battle with his Pokemon learning new moves that caught Ash off guard. Nevertheless, Ash is proved to be just as smart while happened to be stronger with his Goodra able to overpower Clemont’s Luxray who appeared to have the advantage.

26) Vs Diantha (Championing a Research Battle!)

One of the few battles against the champion; Diantha decides to have a battle with Ash using his Greninja in order to understand their Bond Phenomenon. As the Kalos champion, Diantha and her Gardevoir were proved to be no pushovers until Greninja transforms into Ash-Greninja which puts them into a corner even when Diantha Mega Evolved her Gardevoir who had difficulties blocking or dodging Ash-Greninja’s attacks. The effects were rather stunning with Ash and Diantha’s voice actresses giving it their all much like with Ash and Ash-Greninja reaching to the limit. If it weren’t for the power strain backout, Ash would have certainly won against Diantha.

25) Vs Korrina (Showdown at the Shalour City Gym!/A Festive Reunion!)

What makes this Kalos Gym Leader battle stand out is that Korrina is one of the few who Mega Evolves her Pokemon Lucario and is shown to be powerful after going through their own arc involving their struggles with Mega Lucario knocking out two of Ash’s Pokemon even with type advantage after defeating her first two Pokemon. But it was Pikachu who became the victor which shows that even Pikachu is able to hold his own against powerful Mega Evolutions.

Ash’s other battle against Korrina during Pokemon Journeys also deserves a mention with Korrina being the first recurring character to make a surprise return. Her Mega Lucario is proved to be just as strong but it’s Ash’s Dragonite who is able to hold its own and win, allowing Ash to rise up to the Great Class.

24) Vs Volkner (The Eight Wonder of the Sinnoh World!/Ultra Exciting from the Shocking Start!)

Here’s another two for one battle against the same gym leader. In both of Ash’s battles against Volkner, he is proved to be the strongest Sinnoh Gym Leader with electrifying results (who have to get his love of battles recharged after watching Ash’s determination against his friend Flint) as first shown in Ash’s official rematch. That battle has helped his Infernape fully taking control in its Blaze ability which was crucial for Ash’s victory against his Luxray (although his Torterra deserves better).

Like with Korrina, Volkner makes a return in Journeys for the World Coronation Series where he is just as formidable as ever but Ash have pulled off a shocking victory by using his Pikachu’s Z Move 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt which would normally be absorbed by Volkner’s Electivire but it was proved to be too much for it to handle which was a spectacular sight to see.

23) Vs Roxie (Rocking the Virbank Gym! – Both Parts)

Ash during his Unova league may not have been at his full competence, to say the least but he still had some of the best Gym Leader battles including the times when his Pokemon evolved to turn things around and up against Roxie who is a tough challenger even using three Pokemon against Ash’s full team. Not just because of their brute strength but because of the poison damage with her being a Poison type gym leader. But that didn’t stop Ash from turning it around as shown when his Levanny trapped her koffing with String Shot and knocked it out with Energy Ball which lowered its Special Defense (who normally would have a type disadvantage), Pignite roasting Scolipede with Fire Pledge and Pikachu’s static hindering his Garbodor’s moves though he probably wouldn’t have pull it through without the morale support from Cilan and Iris, giving Roxie and the Toxic’s fans a run for their money.

22) Vs Shamus (Evolution by Fire!)

I am giving this one a mention for being one of the most personal battles that Ash ever have outside of a league. During his time in Unova, he caught a Tepig who was revealed to be abandoned by a trainer named Shamus who they get to meet later on. Shamus proved to be a cruel, jerkass trainer who abandons his Pokemon if he finds them too weak and pretends to have good intentions which broke Tepig’s spirit when he finds out the truth during his battle against his former trainer. But when Ash’s Snivy bravely took the blows for him (who is the one who encouraged Tepig to face his former abusive trainer), Tepig was able to gain the resolved and evolved into Pignite and learned Fire Pledge to singly handily defeat Shamus. This makes it extremely catharsis for Ash and Pignite to beat Shamus, even more when Pignite scored his head with a Flamethrower when he tried to convince to rejoin his team.

21) Vs Rinto (Beyond Chivarly...Aiming to be a leek master!)

Here’s a battle that involves a character arc for one of Ash’s Pokemon during Pokemon Journeys Galarian Farfetch’d which was concluded during his official World Coronation battle against Rinto who previous battle have given Ash’s Farfetch’d a wakeup call. Since then, Farfetch’d have learned to cooperate better with Ash (also with the help from its training from the Kalos Elite Four Wikistorm) which along with scoring three critical hits earned its evolution to Sirfetch’d, becoming closer to Ash for them to defeat Rinto’s Gallade in a truly gallant manner.

20) Vs Olympia (All Eyes on the Future!)

Here’s one of the few battles which is a double battle. Olympia is a formidable Gym Leader with her Meowstic’s Psychic abilities giving Ash’s Frogadier and Talonflame some double trouble. But they were all able to work together with some help from Pikachu predicting Future Sight which was a creative way to work around this troublesome move. The effects and animation of the moves used was one of the most spectacular to date and the teamwork between Ash and his Pokemon were certainly put to the test which was a tester of what is to come for Ash and his Frogadier soon to become Greninja.

 19) Vs Conway (Working on the Right Move!)

Conway is a rather smart trainer who comes up with specialised strategies. During his Lily of the Valley Conference battle with Ash, it appeared that Ash have the advantage until Conway gained control of the battle field using his Dusknoir’s Trick Room which made his Pokemon slower. But when it seems that Ash is put into a corner, his Gible became the MVP by mastering its Draco Meteor and taking a bite out of Dusknoir’s fists using Shadow Punch. This goes to show that thinking outside the box can be just as smart.

18) Vs Rose (Sword and Shield: From here to Eternatus!)

Here’s another double battle and one of the few of Ash’s battles that involves an enemy team leader with Ash determined to stop Rose to save the Galar region. Rose’s Copperajah and Ferrothorn were shown to be roadblocks for Ash’s Pikachu and Riolu though they still hold their ground with their team work. But it wasn’t until the moment when Riolu evolved into the Pokemon that we’ve all been waiting for Ash to have; Lucario and using his trademarked Aura Sphere to defeat Rose that was the highlight. It was truly a start for Ash and Lucario’s testament for more official battles ahead of them.

I’m also giving a special mention to Goh whose Raboot evolved into Cinderace, defeating Oleana’s Milotic which fully helped to patch up their relationship as well as being impressive on its own, considering that Goh is less experienced than Ash when it comes to battling and it’s up against something that have a type advantage against Cinderace.

17) Vs Marnie (Battling Turned up to Eleven!)

The fan favourite rival from Sword and Shield, this World Coronation battle against Marnie is a hugely explosive one with Ash’s Gengar and Marnie’s Grimmsnarl pitting against each other, both of which have a double edge advantage. The battle really did a good job of show casing their Gigantamax forms with neither sides holding back even in their base forms but it was G-Max Gengar who came out of top with its devious tricks including swallowing Grimmsnarl when he was using Darkest Lariat to protect itself from G-Max Terror.

16) Vs Wulfric (A Real Icebreaker!)

The XY and Z arc showcases Ash and Greninja’s struggles with their bond phenomenon and their rematch against Wulfric (which was incredibly Ash’s last official gym battle) shows how it all pays off after patching things up and finally truly mastering it from the previous episode. Ash and Greninja have truly become in synch with each other during their battle against Mega Abomasnow, using their powerful moves including a giant Water Shuriken and using the frozen knives formed by cut to stake on the ice as a way to avoid the Ice Shards (which was replicated from their battle against Candice), showing how far their bond have come from.

15) Vs Harrison (Playing with Fire!/Johto Photo Finish)

Here’s one of the few battles listed here where Ash have lost and happened to take place in a ledge but it was still a great battle with both sides giving their all with a couple of highlights including Ash’s Bayleef taking out Houndoom who have a type advantage and his Snorlax defeating Hypno after a rude awakening. But it’s Harrison who came out on top and is shown to be a formidable opponent with his Blaziken, making its early appearance with the speed and power that overwhelmed Ash (wonder if it had Speed Boost as its ability?) But that didn’t stop his Charizard from doing his best to overpower Blaziken with its flight, giving an impressive Fire type starter battle that could go either way. It’s just happened to be Blaziken who lasted a little longer but hey, it was a close battle with Harrison a cool guy and Blaziken is the Gen 3 fan favourite starter so we can forgive him for that.

14) Vs Alain (Finals not for the faint - hearted!/Down to the Fiery Finish!)

A controversial pick but that doesn’t stop the battle from being less epic with so many awesome moments including Pikachu taking down both Pseudo Legendaries and Hawlucha avenging Noivern by defeating Weavile, not to mention the show down between Alain’s Mega Charizard X and Ash-Greninja that shows a lot of adrenaline with neither side letting up, helps with the incredible animation.  Of course, it was Alain who happened to be a bit stronger but it doesn’t change the fact that Ash have came very close to winning the league, something of which he was able to achieve a generation later.

13) Vs Raiham (Aim for the Eight!)

In order for Ash to reach to the Masters Eight to battle Leon in the World Coronation Series, Ash has to battle Raiham which shows what to expect for the Masters Eight. Raiham wasn’t going to make things easy for Ash with his Flygon overpowering his Dragonite but Ash was able to show that he have earned his placement in the rankings with his Gengar taking down Flygon and holding its own against Goodra in its G-Max form before resulting a double knock out. This leaves Lucario to stand out on top against Raiham’s G-Max Duraldon using his giant Aura Sphere which was an awesome sight to behold. 

12) Vs Bea (Battle Three with Bea!/A Battle of Mega Versus Max!)

Bea is one of the few Galar Gym Leaders who was lucky enough to make an appearance in Pokemon Journeys and have given Ash a run for money, beating him for their first battle and tieing for their second battle. But it was the third battle where it was third time lucky for Ash with a showdown between Bea’s G-Max Machamp and Ash’s Mega Lucario. It did an excellent job showcasing a battle with a Mega Evolution and a Gigantamax form, something that is not yet possible in the official games (asides from Pokemon Showdown). The battle really reached its peak when Mega Lucario ran on G-Max Machamp’s arms to fire its Aura Sphere straight in its face and learning Steel Beam when it intended to block Machamp with Force Palm. This battle has earned Bea’s respect for Ash by not just referring him as Lucario’s trainer.

11) Vs Drake (Hello, Pummelo!/Enter the Dragonite)

The Orange Islands may not have been part of an in-game region but if there’s one thing to remember about this arc is Ash’s battle against Drake who had some troublesome Pokemon including a Ditto which many trainers have apparently lost their cool losing against a duplicated Pokemon and a Dragonite that knows more than four moves. But Ash have managed to triumph this six on six battle with his Tauros with beginner’s luck really on his side and Pikachu scoring a direct Thunder on top of Dragonite. This marks as Ash’s major victory and showing signs of growth as a trainer.

10) Vs Sawyer (Analysis Versus Passion!/A Riverting Rivarly!)

Sawyer had a refreshing character arc with him being mentored by Ash yet he is proved to be an analytical trainer with smart strategies that made him hold his own against Ash as shown in the Lumoise League when he used Slaking’s Counter against his Hawlucha to get around with its Truant ability, using his Crawitzer to catch up to Talonflame and Pikachu with Aqua Jet and limit Pikachu’s movements by commanding Aegislash to cut down the surrounding trees. But Ash was able to overcome all of his tactics which brings down to his Ash-Greninja against Sawyer’s Mega Sceptile. Despite type disadvantage, Ash is proved to be the stronger, smarter trainer and shows the strong bond between him and his Ash-Greninja.

9) Vs Lysandre (The Right Hero for the right Job!/Rocking Kalos Defenses)

The Team Flare arc is a personal favourite arc of mine and Ash and Alain’s battle against Team Flare’s boss Lysandre on top of Lumoise Tower deserves a spot on the list. Lysandre was a fearsome opponent as his ambitions with his Mega Gyarados and Pyroar knocked out most of Ash’s Pokemon and gave Alain some trouble despite being out numbered but Ash is able to come back at him with his sheer determination along with some of the best lines in the series. All of this has helped them both to overcome the battle which leads to many more awesome and emotional moments throughout this arc.

8) Vs Steven (Battling as Hard as Stone!)

Ash’s first Masters Eight Tournament started off in a bang with his battle against the Hoenn Champion Steven who is tough as his Rock and Steel types including Cradily who traps Gengar while restoring its health with Ingrain and his Metagross who became speedy with Agility and have the ability to Mega Evolve. Nevertheless, Ash was able to break through his defensives by using Gengar to weaken his Aggron with Will-o-Wisp, weakened Metagross with his Dracovish Strong Jaw boosted Fishinous Rend and most importantly, using Pikachu to take down two of his Pokemon including Mega Metagross with his Z Move 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt which was followed by an Iron Tail. It’s a wonder why Pikachu is known as The Metagross killer.

7) Vs Brandon (Pace – The Final Frontier!)

During the Battle Frontier saga, Brandon is a tough cookie having to defeat Ash twice in a row using his Regis. To stand a chance against the final Frontier Brain, Ash has brought three of his original squad and come up with innovative strategies for this intense match. It all come down to Pikachu against Brandon’s Regice who didn’t gave him an easy ride by using Rest to heal off the damage and freezing Pikachu which could have resulted a crushing defeat but Pikachu’s determination have broke the ice and defeated Regice, making him the second Ash’s Pokemon to defeat a legendary and earning Ash his long awaited win.

6) Vs Gary (The Ties that Bind/Can’t beat the heat!)

Gary is well known as Ash’s long time rival, always bragging on how better he is than Ash but it wasn’t until they finally settle the score in the Johto League Silver Conference and it was an intense struggle for Ash with Gary having the momentum  but in the end, it all paid off during the battle with his Charizard against his Blastoise who have a type advantage when Ash coming up with ways to take control of the battle field and working around Blastoise’s battle style, leading to a triumphant victory and putting an end to their rivalry.

5) Vs Professor Kukui (Exhibition Unmasked – From Z to Shining Z)

Having to become the champion of the Alola League, Ash gets to battle his teacher and the true identity of the Masked Royal Professor Kukui, putting his Alola team to the test to suppress their teacher. Neither side backed down in four accelerating episodes which eventually lead Melemele Island Guardian Tapu Koko teaming up with Professor Kukui for an incredibly stunning outcome when two Z Moves have collided each other but it was Ash’s Pikachu’s 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt that overpowered Tapu Koko, obliterating the entire battle field. It was an awesome way to end the Alola arc. My only complaint is who the heck is Professor Kukui’s 6^th Pokemon?

4) Vs Paul (Familiarity Breed Strategy! – Battling a Thaw in Relations!)

Paul is Ash’s most fearsome rival who couldn’t be any more different to Ash with his philosophy for focusing on power at the expense of friendship as shown when he abandoned Chimchar. It has all come down to their intense battle at the Lily of the Valley conference which lasted for three episodes. The stakes were high with Paul giving Ash’s Pokemon a brutal beat down including with his Drapion and Electivire but in the end, Ash have managed to show that it’s the bond and trust for his Pokemon that beats relying on raw power alone, especially when it was his Infernape who was the last Pokemon standing against Electivire and when he appeared that he lost, it was Infernape who made a crushing, epic victory using his Blaze ability. This makes it satisfying for Infernape to get back on his former trainer who deemed it weak, concluding their rivalry,

3) Vs Cynthia (Bewitch, Battle and Bewilder! – Whittle while you work!)

The fan favourite Sinnoh champion is said to be one of the hardest Champion battles and her three part battle with Ash in the Masters Eight have certainly demonstrated her reputation with her unpredictable strategies and powerful team including her ace Garchomp who have not have any onscreen defeats, Spirtomb who took out three of Ash’s Pokemon and Togekiss which she Dynamaxes when it was thought that she would Mega Evolve her Garchomp and by switching out her Pokemon to catch her opponents off guard and gain momentum. But this is the Ash Ketchem who she’s battling with who is known to turn the tide of the battle with Pikachu defeating her Gastrodon who would have a type advantage against it which prompted her to quickly take Pikachu out with Destiny Bond to take him down with it and Ash Mega Evolving his Lucario stand against her Dynamaxed Togekiss and Garchomp. When it seemed that both Mega Lucario and Garchomp were knocked out, it was the former who was able to stand up, earning Ash’s placement to the finals against Leon after a triumphant victory. 

2) Vs Gladion (Final Rivals! – Enter the Champion!)

Of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without Ash’s first ever victory in the Pokemon League after twenty years against Gladion in the Alola League. The final round at the Manalo Conference shows a no hold barred showdown against Ash’s formidable rival Gladion with his Silvally and Lyconroc Midnight Form by his side, not to mention Zoroark who disguised as the latter. It was a tough, well fought battle throughout but in the end, it was Ash who became the champion with his newly evolved Melmetal who caught Gladion off guard, Pikachu who Z Move collided with Zoroark’s and more importantly, his Lyconroc Dusk Form who beaten Gladion’s Lyconroc  with Counter against Counter. That was the moment when Ash has finally achieved his dream, making this battle forever remembered.

Honourable Mentions

Vs Mandi (Round One –Begin!) – It was amazing to see Ash cubstomping the first round of the Indigo League with just using his newly evolved Kingler and that it’s first battle.

Vs Jeanette (The Fourth Round Rumble) – Who would have thought that Ash would use his Muk to win this battle against a rather formidable Bellsprout?

Vs Liza and Tate (Solid as a Solrock)  - A Deus ex Machina maybe but it was still cool for Pikachu and Swellow to use their Thunder Armour technique against the powerful twins Liza and Tate.

Vs Noland (The Symbol of Life) – This one gets a mention for Ash’s Charizard defeating an Articuno, making it the first time that one of Ash’s Pokemon defeating a legendary.

Vs Anabel (Second Time’s the Charm!) – Anabel is a tough Frontier Brian with her ability to communicate with her Psychic type Pokemon telepathy but Ash shows that he can still be in synch with his Pokemon.

Vs Tobias (The Semi-Final Frontier!) – Say what you want about Tobias beating Ash with his mythical and legendary Pokemon but don’t forget that Ash’s Sceptile have managed to defeat his powerful Darkrai and Pikachu putting up a good fight against his Latios before drawing. Also, notice on what Ash does during that battle.

Vs Skyla (An Amazing Aerial Battle!) – It was satisfying to see Ash bringing an end to Skyla’s imaginary air battles by proving her wrong with the help of his newly evolved Unfenzant.

Vs  ̶S̶t̶e̶f̶f̶e̶n̶ ̶S̶t̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶S̶t̶u̶v̶e̶n̶ Stephan (Strong Strategy Steals the Show!) – It was smart of Ash to reserve his Krookodile who knows Aerial Ace to beat Stephan’s ace Pokemon Sawk. Also, I like to give a special mention to Stephan himself for his battle against Montogomery’s Throh during the Cubsplosion Tournament.

Vs Hodge (Serving up the Flute Cup!) –  It mainly gets a mention for his Mr Mime taking part in that battle.

1) Vs Leon (A Flood of Torrential Gains! – Partners in time!)

There’s no doubt that this goes down as Ash’s greatest battle of all time against the powerful Galar champion Leon at the final round of The Masters Eight. It puts all of Ash’s Pokemon to the limit as they face Leon’s powerhouse team which was an incredibly epic four parter battle with every one of his former companions witnessing his battle. In the end, it all came down to their ace Pokemon Pikachu Vs the previously undefeated Charizard. When it seems that Pikachu have lost against Charizard, he received a vision of every Pokemon that Ash have owned cheering him on along with Ash himself which granted him a heroic second wind and powered up electricity to defeat Leon’s Charizard. This truly awesome victory has fulfilled Ash’s dreams to beat Leon, becoming the World Champion and be the very best like no one ever was.

International Day of Happiness with my practicial tips and ideas on how to be happy

Today according on social media is International Day of Happiness and with the challenging times here and there, I say that this day is needed more than ever. Here are my tips and ideas for practical ways to be happy:

Whilst it's important to have some awareness of the news or causes, you are not obliged to engaged in them or get involved as it would be unfair for your mental health. Instead, focus on what you can control (including direct action) and take breaks from the news if needed.

Focus on the things that keeps you going, what're your thankful for and makes you happy, little or big. During the difficult times, gratitude will help you to focus on the good things in life. 

Whenever you're having a problem, take practical ways to deal with them and if needed, get help from your friends, family or a counselor.

You are loved, always be yourself (including for your sexuality, what you like, ethically, gender and body) and don't let anyone put you down for who you are. What they say about you is more to do with them.

Don't compare yourself to others (including for their relathionship, achievement in life or body images) as you may not know what they have to go through to earn them. Chances are that they may have the same struggles as you. Celebrate their success and focus on your own journey. Here's my similar post for further explaination here.

As mentioned here, all vibes are welcome maybe but sometimes, you have to protect your boundaries and stay clear from bad vibes that will weigh you down including meaningless drama, toxic negatively and those who'll take advantage of you. 

Don't let difficult people get to you. Concenrate on yourself and a few good people which will make you a better person in the long run.

You can also help to spread happiness and make others happy too including sharing postive, uplifting messages, sharing something funny or heartwarming to balance out the 'doom and gloom' or reaching out to others if they need it.

You can get more ideas for this similar article of mine too

Always remember that it gets better, keep on going and never give up

Here's the link for futher reading including direct links to support the people of Ukaraine

Why I love Pokemon?

 

With Pokemon Legends Arceus around the corner, I thought I’ll share the reasons why I enjoy playing Pokemon as one of my top video game series.

 So many Pokemon to raise, collect and like

Over the years, Game Freak have come up with many different Pokemon with so many to choose from and catch yet I happen to like a lot of Pokemon from each generation whenever it’s using them in battles, raising them or using them in many different game modes including Pikachu, The Eeveelutions, Greninja, The Hitmons, Psuedo Legendaries, Ultra Beasts, Rotom forms, Mega Evolutions and more. Even the ones I’m not a huge fan are still part of Pokemon. As a result, I have many fond memories with them over the years.

Here's to the memories with the Pikachus

It’s easy to get into

I’ve been playing fighting, racing and platforms and while I do find them fun, I’m personally not good at them. For Pokemon however, it’s a turn based RPG which I find more straight forward. I can just come up with strategies including type matchups, combinations (including using Weather based teams or Baton Pass) and other strategies on how to sweep with that Pokemon without having to control the Pokemon. It also helped me to get into other turn based RPG series including Fire Emblem, Persona and Earthbound/Mother 3.

There are some more complex mechanics including EV training, IVs and breeding although they’re worth getting into to come up with the best Pokemon possible, helps with those mechanics have become more easily accessible since the sixth Gen days.

As a result, I can be good with Pokemon, winning in some battles and even if I don’t, it’s still fun (although I’m not the kind who take parts in many tournaments). I still remember the time when I was in a Pokemon tag tournament (for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire) in Nintendo Liverpool, teaming up with my Brother with me using the Eeveelutions and both of us won.

It connects me with friends

Pokemon have helped me to socialise with other Pokemon, making friends with their multiplayer modes including battling, trading and for Pokemon Sword and Shield, Max Raid Battles and Adventure Raids (and other modes). It’s also one of the earliest games that I’ve played online starting with the 4^th Gen Pokemon games with my online friends, giving me the gateway to online gaming. Pokemon Go also earns a bonus mention as I sometimes go out with friends and family playing Pokemon Go including with Community Days and other events.

There are many Pokemon based on interesting origins and lores

There are many Pokemon that have many interesting origins, many of which are straight forward including Pikachu who is based on a mouse, others are based on mythology or lesser known animals along with objects and humans which are fascinating to learn and discover. Pokemon have become my top inspirational source whenever I come up with animals, mythical or cryptic creatures (along with elemental typing and powers) for my stories. I wouldn’t be aware of Tsuchinoko if it weren’t for Dunsparce for example. It helps that I like animals too.

Who would have thought that Dunsparce can fly like that?

Pokemon have a good soundtrack

Pokemon is among my gaming series that have a top tier sound track including for major battles, areas or events. Gen 4, 6 and 8 in particular has the best soundtrack for me.

There are some good side series too

I may not be into them as much as the main series but Pokemon do come up with some good spin off series that are just as enjoyable, showing that Pokemon can do just about any genres.

For the ones I have played, Detective Pikachu is a personal favourite with its story based mystery and having its own movie (playing Sam and Max beforehand have probably helped to make it enjoyable for me). Pokemon Go gives me motivation to go outdoors and as mentioned before, I have been using it with friends and family. Coliseum and XD are just like the main series but with a different take of rescuing and purifying Shadow Pokemon and Battle Revolution have a variety of battle modes that puts your team to the test.

Other side series and spin offs that I’ve played worth mentioning includes Pokemon Unite, New Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Masters and Pokken.

 It have an enjoyable Anime

The Anime series was my first stepping stone to Pokemon and I still watch and enjoy the series to this day from the original Kanto series to Journeys and its movies, watching Ash Ketchem to become the very best like no one ever was while rooting for many other likable cast too including Team Rocket (particularly whenever they have a focus episode which makes them sympathetic), Goh, Clemont, Cilan, Serena, Lillie, Dawn and others.

The story can be good

For both games and anime alike, some of their stories are simple, others are deep and complex but either way, they are enjoyable to get into with its likeable cast, idealstic toning and its empahsis on bonding with Pokemon, working towards your dream, getting along with others, apperciating nature and so forth. 

It have some inspiring quotes and aesops 

From both games and anime alike that we can inspire to like here's a quote from the first movie as said by Mewtwo: “I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.”

It have many fun features

Each of the series have fun features that widens your experience and each of them are memorable including Pokemon Amie and similar features starting from X and Y, Max Raid and Adventure Raids in Sword and Shield, Pokestar Studio in Black and White 2, Pokeathlon in Heart Gold and Soul Silver, Battle Royal in the Alola series, Sinnoh Underground in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Secret Base and Mirage Island in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Dream World in the Unova games and counting.

Have fun in Pokemon Camp (spritual sucessor to Pokemon Amie) with the Calyrex riders

Its something to focus on

Being autistic, I find that I can easily get hyper focus with Pokemon whenever it’s breeding, raising or using my Pokemon, spending a lot of my time on whichever Pokemon game I’m playing more than most other games, just like how Goh from Pokemon Journeys becomes hyper focus catching Pokemon (someone who I find that could be interpreted as autistic).

On that subject, Pokemon is a series that many people with autism can get into easily with its collecting aspect  as described with the video below:

It’s part of a Nintendo franchise

Pokemon is the first Nintendo franchise I’ve played and how I’ve got into them, getting to know many other awesome Nintendo franchises and consoles like how I’ve spotted Pikachu on the front cover of Super Smash Brothers. Without Pokemon, I probably wouldn’t be into Nintendo as much.

It have some cool merch

I still have a few toys that I have for my own to this day and have been reading some books too. 

It’s fun!

Whenever it’s catching, raising, battling, trading or just playing Pokemon along with watching the Anime, its fun, helping me to get into gaming, connecting with others and keeps me going with life. Pokemon doesn’t have to be perfect for me as I find them enjoyable and makes me happy. Whenever I’m journeying in Kanto, to Johto, to Hoenn, to Sinnoh, to Unova, to Kalos, to Alola, to Galar, to Hisui and beyond, I’m with Pokemon all the way.

 

 

My Top Boss Battles

 Top Boss Battles

Throughout the video games we play, we encounter boss battles. Some of which are easy, others are hard or are anti climatic. Then there are these ones that gives us an impression whenever the boss fight is epic, well written or brilliantly executed and these are the bosses that fits that bill for me. Note that they are in no particular order and I may list more than one boss from the same franchise. Be warned as they’ll contain major spoilers.

Wally – Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

Pokemon does have a lot of awesome battles including Gym Leaders, Enemy team Leaders, Elite Four and Champions including Steven, Cynthia, Diantha and Leon (the first three have among the best Champion themes). But here’s one of them who stood out for me; Wally in the Hoenn remakes who you this time encounter just outside Victory Road just before you reached to the Elite Four. When you do battle him, he has one of the best battle theme music and a Gallade that he Mega Evolves. This shows how far he has come from a sickly boy to a badass who have made it this far from his journey from Petalburg City, making him one of my top rivals.

Hop – Pokemon Sword and Shield

Hop is one of the many characters who have a divisive reception among fans but for me, he happens to be one of my top rivals. He started off as a dream to follow his brother Leon’s footsteps who then have to go through the frustration of constantly losing which makes him feel doubted for his dream and capabilities as a trainer, something that even I can relate to that times (least when playing solo for my Pokemon battles and Fire Emblem Heroes Aether Raid battles). But the way he tries his best to have the courage to move forward while trying to handle his frustrations makes me want to root for him, right all the way to the postgame when you last have a battle with him which helps him to re-evaluate his dreams to become a Pokemon Professor. His theme music when you battle him in the Champion Cup (one of my best Sword and Shield music) really highlights his character on how he’s able to push forwards regardless of his defeats. His Campion Cup challenger battle also have a strong team under his belt including his G-Max Corviknight and the legendary Pokemon (which can give you trouble if you’re not careful).

Pyoro – Wario Ware Get it Together!

Even Wario Ware have a boss battle and not including those boss micro games. It’s found at the end of the story after growing a beanstalk which leads to it. You get to use all the playable characters, to fight Pyoro each time which I find is an awesome concept, serving as a test to use everything you have learned about controlling all the characters to beat one giant boss which truly puts the Wario Ware crew together. It rewards you having Pyoro to join your team.

Galeen and Dharkon – Super Smash Bros Ultimate

The two fiends who try to recreate the universe with their own images at the expense of the fighters is the ultimate battle of light and dark. The build up with their epic theme music in the background as you work your way up to put an end to their treachery in the final world, taking out the puppet fighters and other bosses you fought really adds the thrill, striving you to balance out the light and dark while stopping their fight. Master Hand and Crazy Hand even gets to join you, controlling them for the first time. All leads up to the ultimate confrontation against the two deities with the twist that you have to defeat them both evenly as taking out one or the other will result the bad endings. It all makes it rewarding when you manage to take out both of them, getting everything back.

  Takuto Markui + Azathnoth – Persona 5 Royal

Dr Markui has definitely left an impression on me. If you managed to max out his confidant before November 18^th, you’ll get an all new bonus semester after you defeat the main villain Yaldabaoth where you clash in with Markui who uses his cognition to change the world where no one can life with their pain and sorrows making him the Palace Ruler for the new palace. What makes it tragic is that unlike most other Palace Rulers, Markui have some good intentions and only wishes for a better world, making it a clash between ideas rather than good vs evil along with the tragic back story that made Markui deluded with his ideas. I’m all for happiness but even I know that it won’t be the same without learning and growing from your past mishaps which would make you a better, stronger person along with removing all the good things that you would have gained from these tragedies. This makes it one of the most heart breaking confrontations as you fight someone who you have bonded with who is a nice guy and is not completely wrong but you have no other choice to fight him to take back your reality but still an awesome boss battle itself, helps with ‘Throw of your mask’ playing in the background which refers to Markui’s point of view and ‘I believe’ as the build up as you walk up the stairs to face him. His Persona Azathnoth can be a tough one with its strong attacks which I’ve struggled with at first until I’ve used my strongest Persona Horas to buff my team’s status and dodge attacks (something that I often do for boss battles). After defeating his evolved Persona Adam Kadmon, he is able to realise the the errors of his ways and learns to face life head on. Kudos to Atlus for coming up with one of the best well written Anti Villains. 

Shadow Selves – Persona 4 Golden

With Persona in mind, the Shadow Selves is an interesting yet well thought out case (with the exception of Mitsuo Kubo). The Shadow Selves represents darker sides of your friends (who have been kidnapped) who reveals sides of your friends that they’ve been hiding with their refusal to believe in it prompts their shadows to attack them. After the battle, it’s when the corresponding character gets to comes into terms with a part of themselves that they didn’t want to accept with the shadow becoming their Persona that they get to fight with including Kanji to accept his sexuality and Natoto to be accepted as a girl working with the police. I find it a good, inspiring way to help the characters to develop for the better as they learn to face their darker sides and embrace it. 

Junko Enoshima – Danganronpa/Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

The Ultimate Despair and the one who started the killing game and The Tragedy, you get to confront her during the final chapter, learning all the atrocities she have caused throughout that even her entertaining nature can’t hide. But it becomes satisfying as Makoto encourages his friends not to give into despair and vote for hope as you fire hope bullets all to stand up to Junko, giving her a taste of her own despair. This makes it the ultimate battle of hope and despair which Makoto earning his title of Ultimate Hope.

The Alter ego version of Junko in the sequel is also worth a mention with Hajime and the rest of her unwilling pawns were able to make their own choices for their future in order to rebel against her, stopping her plan to upload her Al version onto the comatose students that would have spread despair everywhere.

 Team Danganronpa and audience – Dangaronpa V3 Killing Harmony

A controversial choice but believe it or not, I’m one of the minorities who is fine on how the final chapter of Danganronpa V3 turned out (with Shuichi and the others are revealed to be fictional characters for a fictional Danganronpa show) with a clever deconstruction on toxic fandoms and I myself have zero tolerance on toxic fandoms, having more empathy on the characters who have to go through a brutal killing game, losing their friends just for the fandom’s own benefit. I find it catharsis on the way the characters stand up to Team Danganronpa and the Toxic fandom from Keebo revealing himself as The Ultimate Hope Robot (becoming the main character of that chapter by extension), Shuichi and the other survivors making their own choices, failing each minigames on purpose and Shuichi standing up to Keebo hijacked by the audience in one huge Argument Armament. This shows that fiction can help to inspire the world.

Marduk – God Eater 2 Rage Burst

In general, God Eater have a lot of awesome bosses including facing Dyaus Pita to advenge Lindow in the first God Eater game and Ra in God Eater 3 when you are able to take on Ash-born Argami with each of them having awesome soundtrack playing in the background including No Way Back and Nemesis respectively. But here’s one that stood out for me; Marduk in God Eater 2 Rage Burst, the Psion Argami. As you face it after going through a chain of missions, you finally get to face the Argami who took down your friend Romeo Leoni with it’s theme song Wings of Tomorrow adding the extra excitement of avenging your fellow God Eater. It wasn’t an easy ride but all of it certainly makes it rewarding.

Duma – Fire Emblem Echoes Shadows of Valentia

Fire Emblem is no shortage of excellent boss battles but I’ll pick Duma from the Fire Emblem Gaiden remake for one of the best final boss soundtrack Twilight of the Gods. Getting to Duma can be tough with a lot of enemies getting in the way but it makes it rewarding when you finally reach to him, using Alm to deliver the final blow with his Falchion. The characters saying their pre-liners, calling out Duma’s atrocities also helps to build up the hype too.

The Darker Lord – Miitopia

Even a comedic Mii RPG game have some awesome boss fights and that includes the mastermind who controls the Dark Lord (using him to steal Mii’s faces) and the Sage; The Darker Lord. This boss fight is divided into three phrases where you have to split your team to handle two of his hands. Afterwards, he steals your team’s faces which are used for his attacks, leaving the four remaining Miis including yourself to take on The Darker Lord himself while having an awesome boss battle music by the standards of a Mii game.  You are then given a choice to either break the cruise which will kill him or to save him which will restore his original self that he casted away after resenting himself for being ignored. I always go for the save him option each time (which is required to unlock the Tower of Dread and Tower of Despair) but either way, peace will be restored for all of Miitopia with all of the faces returning.

 Arkham (Mutated Form) – Devil May Cry 3

Devil May Cry 3 do have a couple of awesome boss battles but what makes Arkham on this list is that he’s the mastermind of the events of Devil May Cry 3 and you get to fight him in a mutated form with Dante’s brother Vergil on your side. The battle was tough but that didn’t stop it from being an awesome boss battle with its epic music and during the climax of the battle when the two Brothers giving him a stylish beat down with their combined shots from Ebony and Ivory. It also makes it satisfying to witness Arkham’s villainous breakdown and Lady, the daughter that he’s been using for his own benefit to deliver him the justice he deserves.

Matt Engarde - Ace Attorney Justice for All

Ace Attorney has a lot of excellent antagonists which makes it satisfying to bring them down, exposing their crimes including Dahlia Hawthorn as a manipulative monster in Trials and Tribution, Ga’ran as you prove that her rights for the royal throne is a fraud in Spirit of Justice and Mael Stronghart for that spectacular breakdown. But here’s one that had an impression on me from the second game; Matt Engarde. You find out that he is guilty of his crime hiring an assassin Shelly de Killer to murder his rival Juan Corrida yet he blackmails Phoenix Wright to defend him for his trial or else Maya will be killed by the said assassin, leaving Phoenix Wright a difficult choice to defend him to save Maya or to let him get scout free while getting Adrian Andrews, a poor innocent bystander convicted. But all is well when you find out that Matt was planning to blackmail Shelly by recording the murder, someone who doesn’t handle this reveal very well as he values trust. This makes it satisfying to watch the monstrous sociopath break down as Shelly breaks the contract and plans to kill him for breaking his trust. You are then given a choice of to declare him guilty or not guilty. Either way, he is screwed. That goes to show that not trusting others will come back to bite you hard.

Asriel Dreemurr – Undertale (True Pacifist Path)

As Flowely absorbs all the monsters including your friends and becomes his final form, you are seemingly all alone...yet you are filled with determination to save all of your friends, getting them all back by reminding them all the times you spend together with them. Even if you dealt a lot of damage along the way, you cannot die as your soul regenerates as said by the game’s message ‘But it refused’, even when Asriel fires his huge laser beam that actually hardly does a scratch which eventually leads you to save him. This boss battle is an ultimate combination of heart warming and awesome, filled with hope and determination, making the True Pacifist Path the equally ultimate path with its background music to emphasize. 

Masked Man/Claus – Mother 3

One of the most tragic boss battles listed. Throughout Mother 3, you have been clashing in with the Masked Man who is revealed to be Lucas’ twin brother who have been missing and became Porky’s servant. The last battle against the Masked Man is more like an endurance battle, handling his attacks and healing until Claus regain his memories with help from his Mother, leading to his sacrifice. Definitely one of the most heart wrenching boss battles but nevertheless makes it rememberable.

 Giygas – Earthbound

On the subject of the Mother series, Giygas is certainly infamous for being one of the most darkest and disturbing boss battles with Giygas becoming a mindless abomination along with many other dark concepts. Fighting him is seemingly impossible, if not terrifying until Paula reaches out to everyone in the game to pray including yourself which weakens him, showing that the power of love truly prevails but not before giving you some scares.

Faye – Finding Paradise 

A rather unconventional choice this one. As Dr Neil and Dr Eva explores Colin’s memories, you find out that Faye who is supposed to be Colin’s childhood friend is actually an imaginary friend who have helped him to get through life and fights to prevent Dr Neil from altering his memory. It’s more of a parody boss battle with various refers to retro games including Final Fantasy with a rather awesome boss music in the background and Dr Neil actually putting up a good fight yet it did lead to an emotional conclusion with Dr Neil learning that Colin have let go of Faye when he became an adult yet allowing her to live on through his terminal to reunite with Colin one last time while rewriting his memory where he never asked for Sigmund Corp’s services. All of this earns Faye’s spot on the list.

Giant Eggman Robo – Sonic 3 & Knuckles/Sonic and Knuckles

No boss list would be complete without a Sonic The Hedgehog boss and this one serve as the final boss of Death Egg Zone fits the bill as you reach near the end of the climax of Sonic 3 and Knuckles, fighting for the Master Emerald and settling the score with Dr Eggman. It starts off with three phasing with the first one starts off with the Giant Eggman Robo itself where you have to jump onto the fingers while avoiding getting hit by them. Then you move onto phase 2 where you have to run from the laser beam fired from the noise and hit the Master Emerald which is the source of the attack. Then the last phase involves chasing after Eggman while running away from the falling platforms behind you.  It’s far from an easy ride with you starting off with no rings (barring the ones carried on from Death Egg Zone Act 2), meaning that one mistake will cost you but it all makes a thrilling boss battle. It doesn’t end there as if you have managed to collect all the Chaos Emeralds or Hyper Emeralds, then you get to play as Super Sonic or Hyper Sonic, chasing Dr Eggman in The Doomsday Zone for a rewarding, climatic showdown.

Honourable Mentions

Tabuu – Super Smash Brother Brawl – The mastermind of Subspace Emissary, as epic as it was.

Porky – Mother 3 – You can’t help but to enjoy this love to hate boss battle

Sakaki - Dot Hack GU - It's satisfying to take him down with your friends by your side  

Bowser – Super Mario Odyssey – The boss fight was awesome itself but the most memberable part was when you actually get to control Bowser as you process him, making your way out!

So there are many boss battles that we find awesome in so many ways and I hope to play more video games where I find many more inspiring boss battles for years to come. 

 

My top hardest boss battles

For many video games, there are boss battles that we must fight in order to progress through the game. Some of which that we are able to beat with ease. Then there’s this particular boss which suddenly becomes a road block for our game. The boss fight that becomes so hard to defeat that well remembered for becoming source of our frustration, becoming the trope ‘That one boss’ .  We either rage quit, look up a guide, beat them by luck or trying over and over again until we finally defeat them.  Here’s my list on the boss battles from the video games I’ve been finding hard from mid game bosses, final bosses and optional bosses. Note that they are in no particular order. Be warned that they may contain some spoilers.

Zygarde Complete – Pokemon Sword and Shield Crown Tundra

Generally, I personally find Gym Leaders, Elite Four and Champions (and other mayor battles) not too difficult as I use walkthroughs or sources on the internet including Serebii Net to look up on their teams and plan ahead on the best teams to use including using type advantage or strategies to counter their teams.

Zygarde Complete which you can fight in Dynamax Adventures is however a monster. It starts as Zygarde 50% form who is not as hard but once it reach half of its HP, this is where it gets hard as it activates its ability Power Construct which becomes Zygarde Complete. In this form, it HP increases to an enormous amount, backed with a high Attack stat to hit hard with powerful moves and huge defensives to handle hits. Its moves that it have includes Max Wyrmwind which lowers’ your Pokemon’s attack stats, Land’s Wrath which bypasses Flying type and Pokemon with the ability Levitate’s immunity to Ground type moves and Thousand Arrows which can wipe out your entire team.

This makes it troublesome to deal with, especially if your team have become worn down by this point. Ice types are its mayor weakness but there’s only a few good ice types available in Dynamax Adventures, not helping that they don’t have the defensives  to resist any of its STAB moves and not even Fairy types are safe from its wrath. If you happen to plan to catch Zygarde Complete in Dynamax Adventures, be prepared to lose a couple of times.

Fallen Takumi – Fire Emblem Heroes

 A lot of bosses in Fire Emblem Heroes including Grand Hero battles, Legendary or Mythic heroes do tend to be hard, especially if they have reinforcements which make it difficult to keep up. It doesn’t help that you’ll automatically lose the battle if one of your units gets KOed. One of the Grand Hero Battle who I remembered that I find the hardest is Fallen Takumi.

What made this Grand Hero Battle so hard is the layout of the map which makes you surrounded by enemies that can chip away your unit’s heath, making them more exposed to a KO which as mentioned above, makes this map irksome to deal with the number of reinforcements that can wear you down. As for Fallen Takumi, he is a pain to deal who can also inflict some chip damage on the third turn along with the Panic status to units who are in the vertical range with his prf weapon Skadi. To make things worse, there are two of them (which mirrors his boss battle in his home game Fire Emblem Fates on the Conquest path).

Thankfully, I’ve been finding most Grand Hero Battles (and some other themed battles) easier with premium units including Reinhardt, Brave Ike, Brave Dmitri, Duo Lyn, Duo Hector, Duo Epharim, Reginn and Peony but I still remembered taking several days to beat Fallen Takumi.

Ganon – Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Out of the bosses in Super Smash Bros Ultimate, I find Ganon the trickiest. The reason being is because his only weak point is his tail which can be difficult to reach because you find yourself being in front of Ganon, forcing yourself to dodge him attacking in front of you until you get behind himself which is harder for characters with poor mobility. When you do enough damage to his tail however, he becomes stunned for a short of time for you to do more damage to him including his head although you might have taken a lot of damage from his strong attacks, if not lose a few stock while trying to aim for his tail.

Shadow Okumara – Persona 5 Royal

What makes this boss battle so tricky is that he uses his robots to do the fighting within a 30 minute time limit. You are required to defeat them in two turns or else he’ll rearrange them at full health which if you don’t expose their weakness, he’ll stall a lot of time. To make things more hectic, his robots have many ways to stall you including inflicting hunger status to weaken your team or Rakunda to boost their defence. I personally get panicky when dealing with the time limit and have to restart this boss battle a few times because of it.  Shadow Okumara himself however is a sad joke who only have one HP so he can fall to any hit.

There are a few other Persona 5 Royal boss battles that I find tricky including Wakaba Isshiki as the Sphinx and Maruki & Azathoth with their troublesome moves but the time limit and the stalling combined is what makes Shadow Okumara on this list. This Family Guy video below best describes his palace and boss battle below.

Balmung from Claire’s Memory Data – God Eater 3

A lot of God Eater bosses do tend to get rough, especially the large size ones (including the Vajra related ones) with their powerful, ruthless moves. But there is one that stands out is the Balmung that you face one on one with Claire in her last Memory Bank mission. Balmungs are always tough to fight against but what makes this one difficult is due to the mechanics involving going into the Traversing the Past based missions where you are limited to only use the corresponding character. I find that using a full team helps to increase my potential and only using one other character have definitely made the battle harder. Fighting the Balmung is a lot different too as normally, you can get to break an Aragami’s bonds to do more damage to them but it doesn’t seem to occur in this particular story mode, making it difficult to tell if you are doing a lot of damage to the Balmung or not. It caused a lot of defeats and a narrow victory for me to finally beat it with Claire on my side.

Nevan – Devil May Cry 3

A lot of Devil May Cry 3 bosses are thrilling in their own ways with Agni and Rudra and Cerberus are entertaining. Even if Arkham and Vergil are hard, the fact that these boss battles are awesome makes up for it. Nevan however is a complete misery even on the lowest difficulty. It’s because she fights defensively including using a bat shield which you have to take out first before dealing significant damage to her, draining your health, firing her electrical attacks from a far distance that deals a huge amount of damage and hiding into the shadows for her to ambush you. All of this combined makes it tedious to face her. You can imagine my horror when I get to face her again in Lost Soul Nirvana (which is thankfully optional).

Terrako – Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity

Terrako is your cute, Guardian full of personality but near the end of the chapter, he becomes corrupted so you have to face him which I’ve found a nightmare. He maybe small but his fast movements are difficult to avoid, quickly catching up to you and dealing a lot of damage. Much like the Balmung battle above, you are limited to only use Link which I find it more frustrating to fight against without having any team mates that could have an advantage against him. The Bright Ganons were wakeup call boss battles, causing me to have some change of strategy but I didn’t find them as fiendish as Terrako.

Traveller Hub bosses– Miitopia  

Even a fun, Mii RPG game have a couple of fiendish boss battles and no, I’m not talking about the Fiends that OHKOs your Mii (but they are just a pain to face with), I’m referring to some of the bosses that you randomly encounter for a Traveller Hub mission. While some are not too hard, there are others that are tough to face including Red Orochi, Red Dragon, Angry Queens, Cerberus and Generals. They have heavy hitting moves that deals a large amount of damage to your Miis, especially if they attack twice in a row which I find overpowered. You have to do huge amount to these bosses while hoping that your AI controlled teams will pick the right options to do a lot of damage or hinder them before they wipe out your whole team.

Trace – Metroid Prime Hunters

Most of the rival hunters are tough in their own ways. Trace stands out with his fast speed, disappearing and sucker punching you and fighting from a distance. While he doesn’t handle too many hits, he can deal a lot of damage before you have a chance to react. What doesn’t help that you first fight him just when you have to escape Arcterra before the time runs out after you fight the Slench v2 (which wasn’t as hard but was far from an easy ride itself) so he picks a really bad timing to fight him to add the extra frustration.

Barrier Trio – Mother 3

Don’t be fooled by their silly, campy appearance as they have powerful PK moves including every elemental attacks, have huge defensives and are immune to status aliments. They also have an immunity to all but for one PK element while they strike a Barrier Pose during the start of the battle which you have to scout which one with Boney’s Sniff ability and when their HP gets low, they’ll concentrate as their cue to use their PK Starstorm which can wipe out your team. Fighting the Barrier Trio will requires some strategy to beat them including regular healing or reviving, using defensive skills to sponge their hits including PSI Shield and PSI Counter and dishing out strong attacks of your own. There’s a reason why their battle theme is known as Strong One.

 Asgore Dreemurr – Undertale (Neutral – Pacifist Run)

I was happy to take the Pacifist path (starting with the Neutral – Pacifist run), sparring all monsters and lovable characters. The only catch is this battle with Asgore who destroys the Mercy button, giving you no choice but to fight him. Because you don’t level up defeating the monsters on the said path, you are weaker so you’ll take great damage from his attack pattern that is tricky to dodge and takes longer to weaken him. Even so, I still find it worth sparing Asgore once I’ve managed to overcome this boss battle, least before Flowey gets to kill him.

Major Burrows – Super Mario Galaxy

This huge scary looking boss is tough as he looks. The main problem is his speed when getting away from him, ground pounding next to him to unearth him, and attacking him when he’s dazed before he gets back into the ground which makes it rather painstaking.

Krampus – Trivia Tricks

Trivia Tricks is a fun quiz based game that I’ve helped my friends to develop last year by coming up with questions. That said, not even Trivia Trick is exempt from having difficult bosses as you have to team up with others to win against the boss. Krampus is one of the first one during the Christmas event as a seasonal update who deducts your points during Chance Rounds which are randomly set so there’s no way of telling if you’ll lose a lot of points or not which can be especially fatal if you have a bad round with questions that you find difficult. While never bosses were added including Negative functioning similarly to him, Krampus still gives a first impression on what Trivia Tricks bosses are like to this day.

Honourable mentions

Nemesis – Project X Zone 2 – In Chapter 16: Thicker than water, he constantly heals his HP which took me a while for him to go down.

Jedah – Fire Emblem Echoes Shadows of Valentia – He is technically unbeatable which stops me from putting on the list but was still a pain to fight (even for the second time fighting him who gets in the way of Duma).

Lock Keepers – Persona 5 Strikers – Most of these are a pain to fight.

So in almost any game we play, we are bond to have a frustrating time with that one boss but our determination and persistence (along with some help from walkthroughs and other sources) shall always overcome them or at least what makes them well remembered.  

 

 

 

 

Comparing to others on the internet and sharing highlights and problems on the internet - My honest thoughts

Sometimes on social media, I've been noticing people who find themselves comparing themselves to others whenever it comes to body images (especially for models, athletic and bodybuilders), relationships, getting a new job or house, going on holiday, finding a shiny Pikachu with perfect IVs or getting Legendary Sigurd with ideal IVs on Fire Emblem Heroes. 

I suppose I get that it's natural for others to get jealous at times but that's something that I've never find myself doing on the internet. Maybe it's because it's something that doesn't occur to me with my autism but I find that I am happy for their success, liking their posts and sometimes sending them my support. I am no expert but having to become more aware of people comparing themselves on social media, I admit that I find it rather sad and toxic just because of other people's success that they happen to share online (unless one happens to do it in a show off or bragging kind of way). My hottest take on this is that comparison on social media is self conflicted (especially if you take it on out them). 

In my opinion, I say that if people spend less time comparing themselves to others and focus on what's going on with the person's lives they are comparing to, the the world, let alone social media would be a better place. I've been seeing various quotes that says 'Don't compare yourselves to others, you never know what they're going through' and happen to stand by which makes it relevant for a reason so you may not know what that person have to go through to earn their success including working long and hard to earn their body with a specialise routine, go through a lot with their partner to make their relationship work, receive lots of help to get better in regards to their heath, their courage to come out and so fourth. Chances are that they may go through the same struggles as you. I am aware that people may only show their highlights by playing devil's advocate that makes them look perfect  like with Instagram by going through all the work and trouble to get the right shot to my understanding as I've seen on Sam Cushing's video (go and check him out, he have genuine content who happens to look hot) but I say it's up to them if they want to show their full story, showing how they earned their progress or deal with them privately. What they show may seem to be perfect but realistically, no one is perfect which makes them human so it's not worth getting down with seeing a post that makes them look, well perfect. 

Likewise, some may compare to the amount of likes or followers they have. I say that social media should be used for more fulfilling purposes including spreading inspiration, making connections and for my cases, follow celebrates and hobbies that I'm into rather than using it for the likes or followers. There are  bigger problems with social media than the amount of numbers you have including with drama and negativity. 

Sharing highlights is what we need more of comparing to sharing problems and weak moments which apparently makes you an inauthentic person. Don't get me wrong, I do get that some may find it easier to share and to be open with meaningful problems online which can be a way of getting help from others, resonate with others that might be going through the same thing  and for them to reach out to others as well as various causes to help to make the world a better place and some news that we should take some note of. I myself have been sending support to those who are having difficulties at times, helping them to get through it and it's beautiful to show that you're not alone with these problems. But we still need to share our happiness and highlights (as well as some laughs) on social media to inspire others, showing that the world is still beautiful even with its difficulties as sharing too many problems without getting any actual help or dealing with it (or take meaningful action for the cause) can weigh me down and find social media stressful and depressing. As I've said on my previous post, I've been focusing on what gives me good vibes on social media while avoiding anything that gives be bad vibes including meaningless drama and negativity for my mental health (while still open to other people's problems and some causes but not forgetting to look after myself too). The world needs more strong people to motivate and lift others up (and showing how they overcome their difficulties). Whilst it's ok to share some problems and causes, you are responsible for what you put out on your social media and would again only weigh down people overtime (as I've learned from Steven Universe episode 'What's your problem?'). Rather than constantly venting on the internet or bottling them up, it would be better to deal with them offline with practical solutions and if needed, inner circle including friends and family or counsellor in the long run (and only really share them online if you really need help).

Life is too short to compare to others so next time you find someone who you happen to compare to online, give them the benefit of the doubt and celebrate their success which is what true friends and supporters would do. Maybe you could even use their story to inspire you to become a better person. Having said all this, if you happen to feel inferior, you can instead focus on your own qualities on what you have (that they may not have), concentrate on your own story and remember that you are still loved and better than you think you are without the internet telling your self worth otherwise. 

Good vibes only or All vibes welcome? My personal take

Some say "Good vibes only", others say "All vibes welcome". Here's my take on them. Understandably, whilst it's good to have good vibes, it's just as important to allow all vibes, not just the good vibes as only allowing good vibes would invalidate people who are not feeling good if they're going through rough times as some would call it toxic positively so by allowing all vibes would again help their feelings to be accepted rather than 'cheer up' or 'snap out of it' (which I would say low effort positively).

However, I would like to propose something that may or may not be forgotten. Just because you allow all vibes, this should not mean that you should allow someone who takes advantage of you, treat you or others like garbage or bring you down with their toxic negative vibes. Whilst some may have a reason not to be positive, they are still responsible for their actions and their toxic negatively will have an effect on others especially if they make no effort to use practical solutions or get help to overcome their problem. So there are times when you have to draw a line and cut off from those bad vibes for your own self worth. Don't get me wrong, I get that some may go through a storm including myself but only we can make our own choices to resolve them for the better as we would weigh others down overtime.

 
I've become critical over the last few years on where to focus my vibes if it's worth my time and mental health. As I am aware of course, there are things that I can't take a blind eye to news and other content including on social media but only if they inspire me, make me happy and if I have anything that I can respond to a meaningful cause within my control whereas if I detect meaningless drama and negativity, I should consider if those vibes are worth investing in.

So I say it's good to allow all vibes but only if they're legitimate and not toxic where it's still good to have good vibes to not only make you feel good but others around you if they're feeling anything but good, giving them a reason to keep going (by reaching out and helping them along the way).