Ah, I love these battle!. Pokemon battles are alright in the games, but why I love the manga and the show is because of the unique and creative ways that seemingly-ordinary moves can be used in new and exciting strategies. But with these battles, like with the Green Lantern ring, the true culprit behind Randy and Juno's power is their imagination. One thing that's striking in Jake, and later Juno's, recollection of Victory City is how boring everything is. There are werewolves and robots, but their ripped from things that Randy has seen, they aren't original creations. And as the refs show, Randy has no talent for creating dialogue. I love that these battles take place in the realm of imagination, not only literally, but also in terms of the moves and strategies invented. The fight between Juno and Randy is a little like the days of playing pretend on the playground where each kid would come up with a ridiculous power more extreme than the last, except this time the stakes are real, and it really is a match of skill, determination, and even heart. To make a long story short, this battle is everything and more than what the imagination fight in Sharkboy and Lava Girl 3-D turned out to be.

On another note, I love how Jake's fusion with Juno is transforming him, but there were two lines that stuck out to me:
But in the meantime, Randy needed to learn this was no way to build a strong Pokémon team. That had to be done through effort, determination, and love for one's Pokémon.
and
It was a shame to think that instead of trying to grow strong, he relied on this necklace like a crutch. The truth was, anyone could be in Randy's seat with that necklace on, but it took real strength, training, and courage to become great and truly heroic on their own. This was what I needed to teach Randy. Taking the easy way to success was wrong and hollow, and forgetting past dreams was a dire mistake.
While Jake is now turning into Juno and taking on some of his traits, these two bits of narration are still part of Jake I believe. For all of his attitude adjustment needs, his unhappy home life, and his treatment of Randy, this is still a kid who cares about his Pokemon and understands Pokemon training far more than Randy does, which is really quite impressive (to me at least) at such a young age. If only circumstances were different, Jake might have become truly happy by journeying and raising Pokemon, but then none of this story would have happened.

Finally, while I love, and will always love, the old Blazewing, you were right: this incarnation has pluck! I like pluck! Already, she's lifting spirits and bringing smiles, and I'm just talking about myself. Given how high the stakes are in this battle with Randy (and with what's to come), Blazewing is not quite comic-relief, but still lightens Juno's load in a way that is different from her original character, but is still utterly valuable, and may even be more so as the story goes on.