... did everyone writing it off as pathetic just completely not watch the first 10 minutes of the first episode of Best Wishes? I mean, it was my least favorite of the regional series, but the battle with Trip falls in the same episode as Pikachu being completely zapped of its electrical powers by Zekrom (it's been 5 years, anyone who's willing to watch it probably has, and it happens within the first 10 minutes of the series anyway). There may still be some logic leaps to be made beyond that (such as whether you think Pikachu's vitality is directly related to its electricity levels or not, which the anime generally seems to treat as true, if my memory serves) for the loss in that battle, but they are far from insurmountable logic leaps.