#unbiased opinion i have no bias whatsoever mmmm nope

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

Fanon gripe: it always bothers me when people have Emmet lose to the protag when he's using his own pokemon. Dude is a professional battle facility head with undoubtedly very high level pokemon when they're not being forced to be level 50 for the subway. The protag is a kid with way less battle experience and their pokemon are definitely leveled well below his. Even if you go with the theory that they're the gen 4 protag with all their memories, beating one megalomaniac, his goons, and the championship isn't anywhere near the same experience level. He shouldn't be losing that kind of match up, especially not so soundly. And he definitely shouldn't be losing to Volo of all people, which I've also seen a number of times. Do you know how hard he is to beat even when your pokemon are the exact same level as his? Very hard! Especially if you go in blind as to what pokemon he has, what moves they know, and how he tends to use them. Yeah, you can beat him on the subway, especially if you have good type match ups, but if your level 70 pokemon are going against his maxed EV trained level 90-100 pokemon, there's just no contest. He kicks major ass, and I just think people should let him.

YES! GOD! YES! spoken like someone who's actually done the battle subway, anon, lmao. you have no idea how happy it made me to see this in my inbox. my brand. my life's mission.

protagonists tend to have plot armor when it comes to battles but like. cmon. he's been doing this almost every day, for hours a day, against people who'd already run the gauntlet of the preceding subway battles, for years. he lives and breathes this shit. if he's doing a battle just to test someone's abilities that's one thing, there i could see the argument for him playing down a bit, but if it's a serious fight? there's almost nobody alive who could beat him. certainly not volo who by his own admission isn't in sync with most of his team.

it's part of a broader thing that grates on me and why i pass on most fics these days bc they just. won't let him be competent, period. or a responsible adult but that's a bigger gripe, lol

cowards. COWARDS, I SAY. LET HIM KICK ASS.