Was a great ep. Surprised with charizard coming now, with bisharp still good to go. Guess it be (going by preview)

Charizard >>> Pikachu
Bisharp =/= Goodra ? (Either that if not Goodra wins then vs Charizard and loses)
M Charizard X vs Ash Greninga!!!

That really surprised me aswell! I was actually thinking "is Pikachu really going to defeat 3 of Alain's Pokes by itself!?" but alas, that'd be too good to be true!

Goodra was already defeated when Alain sends out Charizard for the second time (you can see on the scoreboard during the next ep preview), so either Goodra draws with Bisharp or Goodra loses to Bisharp and then Greninja finishes it off. I'm guessing the latter that way both Greninja and Charizard have damage so they start their fight with even conditions.

Yea, it is hard not to cheer for Pikachu, but i think Ash will lose.

Every time i remember Ash winning a hard match up, he always have a number advantage of pokemons (like against Orange League's Dragonite, who fought 4 of Ash's Pokemon) or at least a Charizard revival (like against Battle Frontier's Articuno). Neither of those situations are happening here.

For Ash to win is one thing, but for him to win in equal foot? Sorry, i want it, but it won't happen.
Best case scenario, Goodra (and Pikachu before him) will give Charizard a hard time before drawing with Bisharp.
If that happens , then yea, i suppose a full health special evolved with element advantage is enough advantage to justify Ash's victory, but even then he might manage to lose.

I actually like Goodra a lot in the game, so i hope he kick some ass at least. Even if he loses in the end.

Is it August 18th, yet?

What about Ash Vs. Paul or more recently Ash Vs. Sawyer? XY has already done away with a lot of past of trends, so while I can't blame people for believing he wont win just because he hasn't before, that logic isn't as surefire this time. Also, Ash's skill, maturity, experience, and dedication on top of the most competent team which includes the single strongest Pokemon he's ever had in Ash-Greninja (who's more OP than Ash's Charizard) is more than enough justification for him to win.

Plus with Sun/Moon bringing quite a number of changes to the table for the traditional Pokemon formula. (No gyms, no gym leaders, etc.)
Those same changes are sure to come with the Sun/Moon anime as well.
So they could end the last traditional Pokemon anime by having Ash finally win the whole thing!

Yeah, I said that already.

There's just too many reasons (Ash is smart battler, his team OP, was winning last time he battled Alain, it's the 20th anniversary, it'd explain why Team Flare kidnaps him, and more) for Ash to win this time to be ignored, while the only reason left against him winning (past trends) isn't that strong anymore.

So I just took another look at the preview and unfortunately it looks like Goodra does straight up lose. In the brief clip of Bisharp and Goodra, at the beginning you can see the remnants of a Dragon Pulse that Bisharp broke through, and it's clear that the OHKO move Guillotine lands on Goodra with that look it has on it's face right before it cuts to Charizard. A pretty lame way for the once undefeated Goodra to go out, but atleast it's Rain Dance should allow Greninja to quickly defeat Bisharp, possibly without taking damage and without going Ash-Greninja mode.

EDIT: Poll Results!

Do you think Ash will win the Kalos League?

Yes = 72 - 38.71%

No = 114 - 61.29%

Total: 186

No used to be at 70%, but after the semi-final match naturally we got a bit more saying Yes. The majority still doubt Ash though which is understandable.

At what time does the next episode go up tomorrow?

A fitting song right now:

View on YouTube

All I can say is bullshit, pure utter bullshit. Obviously that he lost, but moreso at how the writers made it seem like he was gonna win. That's what really annoys me, they played us like a fiddle. I mean if you're gonna make him lose, do not give him every single reason in the world to win, it just comes off as nonsensical writing and pretty much confirms that you will never let him win, which'll only turn off your fans. This also means all them AshxSerena shippers are in for a rude awakening.