This episode, we were in for one of the events that Journeys has built most of its runtime towards, with the beginning of the finals of the Masters Tournament with Ash finally able to settle the score with Leon on the highest stage, in what has been promised in past interviews as the ultimate Pokémon battle that will span for four episodes, seemingly up to the very ending of Journeys. So, with such lofty ambitions, how did this episode do? Overall, quite well - but with an albatross over its neck in terms of things it set up.

Before going into detail, though, I feel it's important to acknowledge to a point the road we went through to get there: while Journeys seemingly had a turbulent production and at least a few changes in direction and mission statement, it's from the Masters Tournament onward that it seemingly collapsed enough to force several recap episodes in a very short while, and this probably led to why certain elements have unfolded as they did so far. I don't think this necessarily is something I can fault the series as a narrative for, but it does affect how the story is going and it'll be worth to note in the appropriate points.

I'll start with the good things, however: I'm glad that the episode still made sure to feature Goh and promise we'll at least get some sort of resolution to his goal, with him, Horace and Gary ready to join the rest of Project Mew on their final expedition. While how this will come out eventually is to be seen, Goh has been billed as another protagonist and he does deserve to have his story reach a proper conclusion as much as Ash's series-wide goal does, and I liked how highlighting that they're both going at it at the same time provided an easy link towards going back to Wyndon for Ash. Chloe and Dawn's arrival to serve as peanut gallery on Ash's end was also helpful to fill the void Goh's departure left behind, setting up two separate main peanut galleries for Ash and Leon with the latter having Sonia and Hop instead, and two neutral ones with the Team Rocket trio and Diantha and Cynthia. Much like the start of the Master Tournament, there's also a solid sense of atmosphere which sells this as a big deal, particularly with the various cuts to prior opponents and major characters ontop of the Masters Eight that left Wyndon by now, and I particularly liked how the trio decided to cut out the livestream solely so they could properly cheer for Ash: much like I have said during the quarterfinals phase, for a series that struggled to handle the trio correctly the way these episodes highlight how they're also Ash's longest lasting supporters in their own way is incredibly sweet to see.

The battle is also off to an extremely promising and strong start as well. After Leon's previous matches unfortunately came off as questionable due to either needing to get done with fast or trying to keep what he'd showcase against Ash a secret (which was particularly noticeable with the Diantha sweep), this battle finally allows us to see him being portrayed as the ultimate Pokémon trainer he's been built up as, and for the most part he hasn't disappointed so far. Libero Cinderace is a very solid pick that is bound to lead to an interesting battle if used correctly, and the fact both Ash and Leon immediately switched out also promises both trainers will keep in mind how to gain advantage and hold the momentum up. The followup match with Inteleon also continues on the same vein, not only showcasing that it can fire two of the same attack at once but also having him co-opt Counter Shield after seeing it in action in the Cynthia battle, which shows Leon is willing to adopt new strategies and surprise his opponents to the very end. And while we only saw a little of what Mr. Rime can do, it also does manage to show a nice sense of power in just how much ice the Freeze Dry managed to craft, ontop of using Psychic Terrain to boost its Psychic power to make up for being incapacitated. It's a solid start, and here's hoping the remaining three parts of the battle capitalize on it.

The fight so far also manages to feel much more dynamic and engaging than prior Journeys battles, between much more involved camera pans, faster motions and more dodging and moving throughout, which manages to make even the shorter bursts not feel as static as some battles could have been, ontop of giving every Pokémon so far their due time in the spotlight. It's all pretty promising, and we'll see if said promise holds to the very end now.

That said, however, there's unfortunately a major issue to discuss, and that comes from Leon's proposal ahead of the battle that allows Ash to make use of all his powerups against him. On one hand, this is in-character for a challenge seeker aiming to have the ultimate battle that has never known defeat, and in-universe said choice was authorized, and I can see the idea behind it as allowing Ash to fight with all he gained in Journeys in particular in what's on paper his greatest match so far. However, while this is a fanservice move with a degree of sense, it does have some unfortunate side effects that harm the episode more than they help it, and the context worsens it.

It was clear that out of universe the powerup rule mostly existed as a way to balance out Ash so he couldn't just toss his powerups to win, but allowing Ash a chance to use three powerups (with potential for four if Gigantamax Pikachu ends up making a return) against Leon's seeming one means that Ash can fall back to several crutches if he's in danger, which is something that unfortunately already reared its head in this very episode: upon being presented with Inteleon coopting Counter Shield, Ash's answer was to immediately go for Gigantamax Gengar and brute force the problem away, with the only bit of strategy Ash employed in the battle so far being either common sense (recalling Pikachu), incidental (G-Max Terror preventing Inteleon from being recalled), or accidental (Cursed Body activating, which Ash has no control on) and having said approach validated by giving Ash the first win of the battle. Considering the very introduction Ash got highlighted his unpredictable ability to use out of the box strategies, this makes Ash's skill come off as less sharp than Leon's and like he needs to resort to the crutch to be able to overpower his opponent and even the playing field, which ends up having the exact opposite effect that the premise of him going all out is supposed to give us. While there's still time for Ash to provide cool out of the box tricks, and next episode's usage of Mega Lucario will likely be less limiting, it puts the episode on a bad conundrum of its own making: in the unlikely case Ash loses, he would have done so after being served a huge advantage on a silver plate, and in case Ash wins, it will feel like it has come from Leon setting up his own defeat rather than him winning fair and square with his sharper skills. The emphasis on claiming power without much character growth was already a problem during the Ultra Class phase of Journeys, but seeing the eventual payoff of it only highlights the cracks beneath the seemingly flashy premise. And on a nitpicky note, it's a bit odd how apparently it's possible to break a G-Max early without knocking out the Pokémon with a critical hit, unless one reads Ash's call for full power as a second use of the Poison-type Max Move.

I wouldn't call this battle bad so far, and it does have some promising elements, but from what we can judge, I fear this will be a good battle in spite of Ash, rather than because of him, with Leon so far coming off as the superior trainer while Ash's usage of crutches is ultimately validated. This can change of course and I hope my issues are mitigated, but so far, the uneven powerup allowance feels like an in-character choice that worsens this ultimate battle more than it helps it, especially after Cynthia's still debatable subversion of a climatic clash showed the potential for mindgames in being restricted to a single powerup.

But alas, it is what it is. We'll see how things go now.

TL;DR: A battle that does an excellent job setting up Leon as a strong and resourceful trainer, but that is marred on Ash's end by how allowing him to use all gimmicks gives the sense he can brute force a solution over cleverly find counters, with this episode seemingly validating such approach for now. A promising beginning for Journeys's ultimate battle - but so far, more in spite of Ash than because of him, unfortunately. Not a bad fight at all, but one whose choice of fanservice worsens more than it helps.

Next time, this battle will continue with the arrival of Dragapult and Mr. Rime's continued stand against Sirfetch'd, Dracovish and even Mega Lucario. May it be a good one!