Ash, slightly put off by this, quickly snaps back into action as he’s about to command Lycanroc to use Accelerock, but he hesitates, worrying that using a physical attack will simply lead to Nanu using Counter and defeating him like last time.

Suddenly, Lycanroc’s eyes briefly glow red as it jumps out of the Sand-Tomb. Nanu then follows up with Sand Tomb, trapping Lycanroc in one place so it can’t dodge the oncoming Mud-Slap attack. Nanu makes the first move with Mud-Slap, with Ash having Lycanroc dodge swiftly. Nanu acknowledges this growth before the battle properly begins. Right off the bat, Krookadile’s Intimidate takes effect, however, unlike their previous battle, Lycanroc isn’t immediately affected by this. Nanu starts with his Krookadile while Ash sends out Lycanroc. Ash accepts, despite Nanu flat out admitting that this was an attempt to get Ash to give up and not battle him.Īfter that, the battle soon commences with Acerola as the judge. Before the battle begins, Nanu tells Ash that the rule for the Grand Trial is that he has to defeat all three of Nanu’s Pokemon with only one of his. “After training with Tapu Bulu to better control his Lycanroc’s power, Ash arrives at the sacred trial ground to have a rematch against Nanu in the form of the Grand Trial. SM EPISODE 77: “NANU’S GRAND TRIAL! LYCANROC AWAKENS!”

So for my entry into the #GFBattleAnalysis thingimajig, I’ve chosen to analyze this battle: However, not only has SM proven that it can make the battles just as exciting as the ones in XY, it also made a bout that can indeed match up to those previous fan-favorites on a writing level and, in many ways, surpass them. This has made people come to the conclusion that SM wasn’t going to be the kind of series to have a battle that could match up to some of the series’ previous standouts, like Ash vs Paul or Ash vs Sawyer. In special regards to those last two points, one aspect of the series that’s faced heavy scrutinition by the more hardcore fanbase is the somewhat reduced number of battles in the series as a whole. Whether it be the more fluid and experimental art-style, the flat out removal of the established badge-hunting structure, or the changing of the show’s focus and genre from an adventure/shounen-esque series to a more “Slice of Life” direction. The SM series has gained quite the reputation for bucking the trends established by previous Pokemon series.

Fluid app nanu