YMMV / The Water Flowers of Cerulean City

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Did Pikachu not want to battle Misty because it liked her more than it liked it's actual trainer? Did it not like seeing "Mommy and Daddy" fighting? Or was Pikachu simply afraid of falling into the water, since the battle field was a swimming pool with only a couple of small platforms for the trainers to stand? Or did Pikachu feel like it had an unfair advantage against Misty's water Pokemon and wanted Ash and Misty to have a "fairer" fight?
  • Misty would later insist that Ash was only declared the winner because Daisy felt sorry for him. Is that really the case? Or was it intended to be a wake up call for Misty, to teach her some humility? If the above interpretation of Pikachu being afraid of falling into the water is true, then Daisy may have felt that Ash was suffering from an unfair handicap (as there was nowhere for non-Water Pokémon to even stand, so even if Pikachu did fight, it would have been a sitting duck, unable to use moves like Quick-Attack or Agility), yet he still managed to beat Misty's strongest Pokemon before Team Rocket hijacked the episode. So she may have declared Ash the winner because she wanted Misty to win with her own skill, not because circumstances forced her opponent to bench his star player, meaning she gave Ash the badge for Misty's benefit.
  • In addition Daisy decided to declare a winner on the spot, instead of just having Ash and Misty pick up where they left off or arranging a rematch. Had she seen enough to decide that Ash deserved the badge, or could she simply not be bothered to referee another Pokémon Match out of laziness?
• Broken Base: Ash being given the Cascade Badge despite not defeating Misty. Did he earn it by helping save the gym's Pokémon from Team Rocket and largely being on top of his battle with Misty, or is it just another "pity badge?" Defenders point out that he had Misty on the ropes and was about to defeat her, but detractors argue that almost winning isn't actually winning.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Daisy's assertion that Ash deserves the Cascade Badge because he would have easily beat Misty if his Pikachu had decided to battle. Going by this shaky logic, Ash should have been declared the winner in his match against Ritchie at the Pokémon League where he infamously lost due to his Charizard refusing to battle.

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