Pokemon: Path to the Peak Episode 3 recap - Internationals

Pokemon: Path to the Peak debuted its latest episode on August 23, 2023. The story of Ava continues in the aftermath of her victory over Celestine at regionals as she moves on to the international competitive scene for the Pokemon Trading Card Game. There, she pushes onward against some of the toughest opponents in the world.

According to The Pokemon Company, the animated series will end with its fourth episode on August 30, 2023. With the third episode (aptly titled Internationals) now concluding, Pokemon: Path to the Peak has one remaining episode before its limited run comes to an end.

Before that happens, it doesn't hurt to examine what occurred in Pokemon: Path to the Peak's third episode, just in case fans have missed out on the action.

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Breaking down Pokemon: Path to the Peak's third episode Internationals

Joshua, Ava, and Celestine head to the big leagues in Pokemon: Path to the Peak Episode 3 (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Having defeated and befriended Celestine in Pokemon: Path to the Peak's second episode, Ava sets her eyes on even bigger competitions. She continues to rack up regional tournament wins until she qualifies for the International Championships, which she travels to alongside Joshua, Celestine, and her dad.

Due to her immense early success, Ava has garnered a ton of views online and plenty of fans to call her own. One little girl even takes inspiration from Ava and uses her deck when she plays, which flatters Ava and her friends thoroughly. Regardless, there are battles to be fought, and a new group of opponents makes itself known.

This group is known as Team Falinks and comprises some of the highest-ranked TCG players that we've seen thus far in Pokemon: Path to the Peak. Among this group's members is Edgar Troy, the defending world champion, who exudes an overwhelming confidence that he will remain unsurpassed.

The following day, Ava and her friends begin their matches, and Ava manages to progress. Unfortunately, other members of Team Falinks quickly dispatch both Joshua and Celestine, leaving Ava on her own as she pushes onward. Fortunately, her friends have a plan to help calm her nerves and bring her to their hotel's rooftop.

Unfortunately for Ava, she brings her box full of cards up to the rooftop with her, and the wind causes her deck to blow away, with the exception of her prized Oddish. Naturally, this leaves our Pokemon: Path to the Peak hero gutted, but Joshua and Celestine have a plan to keep Ava in the competition.

Emptying their binders and trading away their own cards, Ava's friends manage to acquire the cards in Ava's deck from other players at the International Championships, allowing our protagonist to continue on. That's exactly what she does as she advances through her bracket and takes down the four lower members of Team Falinks in the process.

All that's left for Ava is to defeat Edgar and take the International Championship title, but the battle is more challenging than defeating Celestina at the regionals. Although Ava gets the upper hand in the first round with Darkrai and Edgar concedes, he comes back with a vengeance and an adjusted strategy, leaving the fate of the battle down to the wire.

By disrupting Ava's hand and using a Lucario with Defiance Band, Edgar overcomes an early Match 3 deficit to draw all of his remaining prize cards and win the battle, retaining his champion title. Ava shakes his hand before heading offstage in dejection, apologizing to her friends and supporters for letting them down.

It remains to be seen how Ava overcomes this loss and whether she can still become the greatest TCG player in the world. By all indications, fans will get their answer one way or the other when the final episode of Pokemon: Path to the Peak debuts on August 30.