Ash: Kalos League Champion?

Green778

Green778

It's always darkest before the dawn...
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Warning! The following article is a bit long! (and boring). Just kidding its just boring.

As a Pokemon fan since generation 1 (I didn't get to play the game until gen 2 but I knew everything about pokemon back then) I have full knowledge of the Pokemon franchise and pokemania. And the second favourite thing about it (behind the games, of course xD ) for me was the : Anime. I will certainly never forget the first time I watched it. Kids these days will never know how jerk Pikachu (and Charizard later) was in the first episodes... (giggles). Anyway... let's cut to the chase... Ash Ketchum. This guy was the idol of many young pokefans. This guy was the definition of awesomeness. Everyone wanted to know how Pokemon would be in real life and have a character they could admire and hope the become like him. Until the Pokemon league happened. There was this so awesome tournament and everyone expected Ash to be like Red. Step up and become the "very best like no one ever was". But no ... Charizard had to troll him and succeeded. But hey! He won the "Orange League"... Yup! still no reason to lose from a 5 Lv. Snivy!!! (We'll get at that point later) and who cares? We (the fans) knew that he would go and win the unimportant tournaments but we care (?) for the major one. Right?

Okay we can wait another season ... maybe now he will have learnt from his mistakes and become better right? Nope... lost from a Blaziken. What is even that thing doing in the "Silver Conference" anyway? I get the "Ash won Gary so I'm fine with that", but no. Why can't he have more? He won his rival and that was his lone accomplishment for the year? Really?

Advanced Generation, now we're taking about some real things. After an epic Groudon Kyogre battle he goes in the Ever Grande city. He beats Morrison. What ... you asked "Who?". Well he's another unimportant and easily forgettable rival of Ash ... that didn't want to battle because of ... friendship. Yup! "Tres Banal" (french). And then he goes and plays against Tyson the eventual winner and champion. He lost from a freaking "Puss in boots" Meowth. Great! And that is the time that Ash got the title of "Loser". But hey he won the Battle Frontier! That counts as an accomplishment right? NO! Again we knew that he would win... After battling brandon 3 times ... and still doesn't compensate for the rough loss FROM A MEOWTH! Ugh-um...

Lilly of Valley Conference. Paul's a **** (sorry about that). And Ash puts him in his place. But AGAIN he loses from a guy who used Darkrai. Seriously? Darkrai... like from the movie ? The pokemon that could fight against the pokemon that RULE the space and time... you mean THAT Darkrai? (Btw Darkrai is awsome! TCG Worlds 2012 -2013 YEAH!) Ugh-hum... But hey ... he Ko'd the Darkrai, a feat that no other player did ('Guess I should be happy about it) and the opponent sends out ... Latios. Are you kidding me ? And Ash lost and this guy Tobias won the tournament... Ash = Loser for life. (p.s. HE HAD A FREAKING GIBLE !!! GET THE GARCHOMP. GET THE FREAKING GARCHOMP. But no ...)

B/W Series. Where things got wwaaaayyy out of control. He got another **** rival Trip. WHO literally got a Snivy and battled Ash. And the pikachu that we think that got strong after all those 4-5 years... lost. Yes it lost. Badly. What the ... What the ... Why? Why make the person that did all these, the person that won the Orange league (if anyone remembers) and Frontier league, lost from this guy. From a lv 5 Snivy. Forget logic forget the game-rules. And of course in the League he defended the title of "Loser" by losing from a Lucario ... Pikachu did it again. Of course he won Trip. And who won the League? Nope ... not the Lucario guy... The one who won was a guy with an eeveelution team. Yes. An Eeveelution team. That's great let's all make an eeveelution team and win the Pokemon league! That makes sense! It makes sense that an Eevee would win a Druddigon. Just let me burn all my pokemon games ... What? Are you for real?

Conclusion. If you're still holding on. Did you notice anything? A pattern maybe? Well I did. The guys that make the anime are always following this exact pattern : "Ash has a rival. Ash gets the 8 badges, but losing some battles too. Ash goes to league. Ash wins his rival and loses the next game for a ridiculous reason (Charizard being a ****, A freaking Blaziken, He lost from the eventual champion, he lost from a guy with OP pokemon, ...? NO EXCUSE FOR B/W)" So is there hope? I actually think that because fans have already consider Ash becoming a loser again they have stopped watching the show. Because you know its nice to see that he, after all the hard work he's being through actually getting rewarded. A champion title reward. And you know something... it is ridiculous for someone who watches the anime not getting satisfied. I actually stopped for that reason. I didn't say Ash winning every game like Yu-gi-oh. (Although I find that nice :) ). I say that he should at least win once! So we can have the suspense in the next season if he will win or lose ... Not be sure that he will win the rival and lose the next game... But we have seen a LOT of different things in this years anime. X/Y's release got the small fire inside every's pokmeon fan burning. They introduced Serena, a girl with a crush on Ash (That's called progress) and interesting companions Bonnie and Clemont who is worse than Brock, but better than Cilan. He has caught some interesting pokemon too! Is there chance after all!? Yeah ... that was my main case... low ratings ... make Ash better ... have more kids look up to him ... Last thing... have you noticed that X/Y series is going a bit more faster than usual (He has 4 badges already). GF is experimenting on something... probably something big... and the Mega Evolution Act IV is set for next fall... (The best series so far for me ... great visuals and action scenes). But if you observe that in OR/AS Steven was mentioning Alan you can clearly foresee that those releases are planned with care. I mean that maybe by next fall we will have seen XY2 or Delta Emerald and they would need a show to promote the new games... Am I right? Last thing... Ash would definitely need a pokemon that can Mega Evolve... otherwise M.Evolutions would be useless in the Anime... (my opinion)...

How X/Y will conclude : Serena losing from her rival in her league. Ash will defeat his rival and lose the next match. The match will end with pikachu vs opponents favourite pokemon. Ash will continue travelling and losing... or Not? I belive that this time he will become something more than a loser, something that we all can look up too. He will become the person that we dreamed. He will win. But that's 1% sure...

Anyway ... So thanks and congrats for reading all this, in case you didn't scrolled down... Tell me what you think ? Will this be Ash's year? Get the girl and the league? Will he get the double? What excuse will the writers find this time to make Ash lose? Do you recall any other moment that made you mad? That's what commenting is for ;)

by
Green778
 
I'm glad someone else thinks the same way! I don't' get how he keep loosing to lower level Pokemon at this point. Pikachu should be like level 100 by now. He has fought and won some good battles. Maybe they make him loose to keep him humble? I'm not sure but it can be frustrating to watch him loose easy battles.

I agree that I like this season the best out of the past few. There have been some fun episodes (like Inkay dressing up as Pikachu) I do hope that this will be his year! But I'm afraid they will do this season like all the others... But we can always hope they might mix things up.
 
I know I've linked this before, but I have to bring up WPM's interview with Masamitsu Hidaka, who basically admits flat-out that Ash's pattern is going to continue until the show ends. I know it's a blow to many long-term anime fans, but it is what it is. The show isn't catered to those of us who have been watching since the beginning (I starting watching the show and playing/collecting the TCG before actually picking up my first Pokémon video game, Yellow), but instead to the cycle of children who come and go.

But just because we're never going to see Ash win the league, that doesn't mean the show isn't worth watching. I personally love seeing the various Pokémon most of all, and even if Ash hardly ever grows and changes, watching the characterization and growth of his sidekicks is always a highlight. Serena has been a joy in this show, and it has nothing to do with her fizzled crush on Ash, but because she's growing and searching for who she can be, and she's been getting loads of development. Clemont's not bad either; I like the way they're handling him (at least, when they're not treating him like a running gag). Eureka can go pound sand, but that's alright, you can't like everyone. Even Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor are handled nicely in a way that lets them be recurring, growing characters; I particularly like the current dynamic between Shauna and Serena as we see how Serena handles Shauna's success as a Pokémon Performer and her own struggles.

So, no, I don't think Ash is going to win the league, and he's not going to get the girl (at least, if their date episode is any indication), but that doesn't make the show not worth watching. We've got the Pokémon action, the fun sidekicks, TR being their amusing selves as usual, and nice cameos from the various Gym Leaders and other personalities (I loved seeing Korrina in the anime; I liked her more there than I did in the game!). And if you want a cool protagonist who actually has a chance at accomplishing things, then there's Alan in the Mega Evolution specials. Don't expect more from Ash than 8 Gym Badges and the same stale personality of an any-boy JPRG protagonist, otherwise you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

I actually think it would be pretty hilarious and awesome if Alan shows up in the regular show and wins the Kalos League.
 
Athena said:
I know I've linked this before, but I have to bring up WPM's interview with Masamitsu Hidaka, who basically admits flat-out that Ash's pattern is going to continue until the show ends. I know it's a blow to many long-term anime fans, but it is what it is. The show isn't catered to those of us who have been watching since the beginning (I starting watching the show and playing/collecting the TCG before actually picking up my first Pokémon video game, Yellow), but instead to the cycle of children who come and go.

But just because we're never going to see Ash win the league, that doesn't mean the show isn't worth watching. I personally love seeing the various Pokémon most of all, and even if Ash hardly ever grows and changes, watching the characterization and growth of his sidekicks is always a highlight. Serena has been a joy in this show, and it has nothing to do with her fizzled crush on Ash, but because she's growing and searching for who she can be, and she's been getting loads of development. Clemont's not bad either; I like the way they're handling him (at least, when they're not treating him like a running gag). Eureka can go pound sand, but that's alright, you can't like everyone. Even Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor are handled nicely in a way that lets them be recurring, growing characters; I particularly like the current dynamic between Shauna and Serena as we see how Serena handles Shauna's success as a Pokémon Performer and her own struggles.

So, no, I don't think Ash is going to win the league, and he's not going to get the girl (at least, if their date episode is any indication), but that doesn't make the show not worth watching. We've got the Pokémon action, the fun sidekicks, TR being their amusing selves as usual, and nice cameos from the various Gym Leaders and other personalities (I loved seeing Korrina in the anime; I liked her more there than I did in the game!). And if you want a cool protagonist who actually has a chance at accomplishing things, then there's Alan in the Mega Evolution specials. Don't expect more from Ash than 8 Gym Badges and the same stale personality of an any-boy JPRG protagonist, otherwise you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

I actually think it would be pretty hilarious and awesome if Alan shows up in the regular show and wins the Kalos League.
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I definitely agree with you. Its hard to satisfy everyone and that the show has some hidden gems here and there. What I said, though, is that the declining ratings might sign a different approach in this new series. Nobody wants Ash to win all the time. Let him win once, so there will be a debate wether he will win the next one. Create a story that the Pokemon league isn't as important as of now. Create something bigger not only predictable outcomes. Show to viewers that hard work and believing in your dreams pays off. (but maybe I dream of a Pokemon Adventures adaptation xD but that's how I imagine the best possible Pokemon anime: action, great story, unpredictable plot etc. Of course that is a personal opinion ^.^ opinions differ but there are some similarities now and then)...

p.s. Finally a Fire Emblem : Awakening fan ;) Great work :) Do you read at Fanfiction or write ?
 
Minor point here, but what bothers me is that Ash has five Pokémon and none of them are grass types. If this keeps up it will be the first time that he won't have one at all. I found it interesting that Ash will eventually have a fully evolved Goodra, but at the same time it shows that dragons are slowly falling from grace for him to have one ;). I too like how they've handled Serena so far too, except for the fact I think she needs more than two Pokémon. I think she should be the first of Ash's companions to knowingly catch a fairy type (Misty and Dawn don't count as they got their Togievolution before it was a fairy type and most mainly see Dedenne as an electric type) like a Spiritzee would be good I think. I like how Clemont is actually catching some electric Pokémon, before Dawn it seemed it was forbidden and then he has taken it a step up by having a final evolution of an electric Pokémon since we know Pikachu will never evolve.

Thing with the anime is this; it seems to have no concept of leveling. Yes, it seems like Pikachu should be level 100 right now. But aside from how long Pikachu has been around and how many battles it's been in there is no other reason to make that assumption. Let's not forget in the games how grindy training tends to get for most Pokemom after about 55-60.

Ash will never win any of the various main Pokémon leagues until if/when they decide to end the series, and perhaps not even then. Yes it would be nice to see him get his dream, but what then? Sometimes dreams aren't meant to be something that can be achieved in one season or whatever, especially since we have to remember despite 6 generations now Ash is still 10. He has a LONG time ahead of him, a long time to pursue his dream. And again let me say he is 10 and at that point what guy really cares about getting the girl, be it Serena, Misty or anyone else? And let's be honest here, as long as new generations keep coming out it makes it pretty impossible to be able to be a Pokémon master anyway.
 
Pikachu6319 said:
Thing with the anime is this; it seems to have no concept of leveling. Yes, it seems like Pikachu should be level 100 right now. But aside from how long Pikachu has been around and how many battles it's been in there is no other reason to make that assumption. Let's not forget in the games how grindy training tends to get for most Pokemom after about 55-60.
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I thought about that right after I wrote it. You are right.

In some respects, I guess you just have to take each season as it's own thing. Ash starts over each time so to speak. New friends, new Pokemon, etc. So it makes sense his Pokemon aren't that tough and he loses battles.
 
It still makes it a bit weird of course that Pikachu has been through so much and could lose to a Snivy who (as far as we know) had never battled before. But it does take into account some of Pikachu's other losses...few and far as they seem to be.

Also in most cases something happens to Pikachu at the start of a season that causes him to 'lose power', be it an electric Pokémon cold (it's happened a few times iirc) or like the encounter with Zekrom at the start of BW.
 
I know that the anime might not follow the games logic. But remember... These series have done some new things and are moving fast. Why ? New games new seasons ? New Generation ?
 
Are they really moving fast? Ash is only on his fourth badge, and that's in Japan. Here in America we've only just seen Ash catch Goomy, which means he hasn't even challenged four his fourth badge yet. They could also have some big 'fillers' intended in between (for example) getting his seventh badge and getting his last badge. Let's also remember though that this newest generation has the smallest amount of new Pokémon ever, even if one factors in the mega evolutions.

Now I do believe that we'll be getting information about X2/Y2 or Z or whatever they want to call the next 6th gen game sometime after the middle of the year. Could that be factored in? Possibly, depending on what they want to do with it. Also, I'm sure there will be a 7th generation at some point.
 
Ash can easily win a league. He wins, realizes there's more to being a Pokémon master than winning a league, and decides to continue his journey to gen7land to catch em all and meet new hotties.
 
Gamefreak did say that they are preparing for the next announcement ... ^.^ Who knows ?
 
Pikachu6319 said:
It still makes it a bit weird of course that Pikachu has been through so much and could lose to a Snivy who (as far as we know) had never battled before. But it does take into account some of Pikachu's other losses...few and far as they seem to be.

Also in most cases something happens to Pikachu at the start of a season that causes him to 'lose power', be it an electric Pokémon cold (it's happened a few times iirc) or like the encounter with Zekrom at the start of BW.
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Sadder than Pikachu losing to a rookie Snivy is the "explanation" given: Pikachu was out of electricity, something like Hoenn's (or Sinnoh's?) starting episodes. Pikachu either get's a lot of electricity and gets mad or it gets sucked!

I agree with Athena in almost every point and so I subcribe them. We, the longterm fans, aren't the anime's target audience. What's worse, the anime clearly tells children to come and watch and then leave because a new generations of kids is coming.

XY will introduce a new "ending"? I don't think so, just that they've found a way to stir things up a little, but the girl will leave, just like the companions.

B2W2's promotional video brought some hope but it was a ruse, just like Origins and ASOR's promotional video. Perhaps someone could start a worldwide petition about:
- putting Ash to rest, or
- starting a new anime, running along the main one, with a new character (perhaps continuing Chronicles) and perhaps revisiting older regions and being a nod to older fans, or,
- create a new one and abolish the old, or
- make Ash win something, becoming Red and continue the anime with a new character but with Ash appearing a few years older, just like Red in Mt. Silver.

PS: I liked how Alan is something of a lab worker on the field. There should be more of this (again, perhaps a side anime) instead of the usual Gym/E4/evil team story. Why can't Prof. Rowan have his own team of field explorers and find a whole new Team Rocket threat?
 
I understand that a lot of people hate that Ash's Pikachu lost to Trip's Snivy, but I have a few reasons to justify his loss.

1. People always say that Pikachu must be level 100, and Snivy is probably level 5. However, levels may not even exist in the anime. Even when they do mention them, it's pretty vague, like calling a Pokemon "low-level" or "high-level". The concept of levels where only directly mentioned once, in EPISODE NINE. It's safe to assume that they scrapped the concept early on.

2. Even though Pikachu may not be level 100, it's won many tough battles, even being able to defeat a Regice. So, why did it lose to a Snivy when it was Trip's first time battling? The answer is simple. Ash's Pikachu may be fast and can deal a lot of damage, but most Pikachu are very frail (Base 40 Defense!), so it's easy to see why it was taken down by such an unexperienced Pokemon.
 
Yeah, I've already said that levels may not exist in the Pokémon anime universe. I think my exact words were that it may have no concept of it.

Of course, if one game mechanic has no concept in the anime, then who's to say others do. Where is it written that any Pikachu in the anime (note I am not talking about the games here) has a Base 40 defense? And Ash's Pikachu could be higher, or it could be lower too I suppose. Besides by game logic if we assume that Pikachu is even half as strong (level 50) then no Level 5 Snivy Vine Whip should ever be able to take it down.

I think it's safe to say that any video game mechanics should not be applied to the anime; be it levels of a Pokémon, the base defense of a Pokémon, or really even weakness/resistance of a Pokémon. There are after all a handful of incidents where Pikachu has KO'd ground types and that is never possible in the games.
 
Pikachu6319 said:
Where is it written that any Pikachu in the anime (note I am not talking about the games here) has a Base 40 defense?
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I know that I said it had 40 defense, but I didn't mean to make it sound like I think stats exist in the anime. I was just trying to say that because Pikachu is fast (like in the games), it's safe to assume that he is also frail (once again, like in the games).
 
That's just my thought though, that we can't take video game stats and apply them to the anime. By that logic Pikachu should not be able to stand one hit from Regice and yet it did withstand several and win.

You know in regards to a new anime to run side by side with the Pokémon we all know, even if they were to do so aside from maybe dealing with either past characters or current supporting characters, I see no reason to assume the way it's done would be any different. True they could do something other than the 'Pokémon Master' angle of course but again I don't really know if that would make that better than the anime we all know. Nor do I see getting rid of Ash and/or the original anime a working solution either.
 
It took SEVERAL hits? I only remember it taking one! Of course, I have watched almost 500 episodes, so I obviously won't be able to remember every single detail. I understand that sometimes the anime's logic is flawed, but I tried to apply sense to it anyway. The only reason I even brought up Pikachu's frailty was because of an article I read on Bulbapedia. Specifically, this paragraph from the article:

"However, at times, Pikachu has lived up to his species' frail and brittle strengths, particularly in Gym battles where he was defeated with relative ease by his opponent; for example, he was overpowered very easily by Lt. Surge's Raichu, Sabrina's Kadabra, Blaine's Magmar, Bugsy's Scyther, Whitney's Miltank, Chuck's Poliwrath, Roark's Rampardos, Fantina's Drifblim, Cress's Panpour, and Viola's Surskit, despite having a type advantage with Panpour, Scyther, Poliwrath, Drifblim, and Surskit. He also drew against Winona's Pelipper and Norman's Vigoroth, and struggled against Crasher Wake's Floatzel. Furthermore, he has lost twice to Trip's Serperior, as a Snivy in 'In the Shadow of Zekrom!' and a Servine in 'A Rival Battle for Club Champ!', despite Trip being a starting Trainer and recently having obtained Serperior."

As I said before, the anime's logic is flawed. Sometimes Pikachu is strong enough to take down legendaries, while other times it struggles against Pokemon that are weak against Electric. However, flawed logic isn't necessarily a bad thing. With a show as old as Pokemon, there are bound to be some plot holes here and there. The episode where it beat Regice and the episode where it lost to Snivy were 195 episodes apart! Of course there's some plot holes! I don't really mind the plot holes anyway, and sometimes I don't even notice them. I don't care if it doesnt make sense, the only thing that matters to me is if the show is entertaining or not.
 
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Yeah, well like you I've watched at least 500 episodes, possibly more. I may not accurately remember how the details of that battle either. It may have been one hit.

I don't even try to apply video game logic to the anime though. If I did that I already knew how that would work out. And every show has plot holes anyway.
 
Pikachu6319 said:
That's just my thought though, that we can't take video game stats and apply them to the anime. By that logic Pikachu should not be able to stand one hit from Regice and yet it did withstand several and win.

You know in regards to a new anime to run side by side with the Pokémon we all know, even if they were to do so aside from maybe dealing with either past characters or current supporting characters, I see no reason to assume the way it's done would be any different. True they could do something other than the 'Pokémon Master' angle of course but again I don't really know if that would make that better than the anime we all know. Nor do I see getting rid of Ash and/or the original anime a working solution either.
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That would be a risk but at least the creators would have the merit of taking the risk at least once. In the beggining it was easy to say the the target audience of Pokémon were children but now it's hard because there are the older fans like us. For these last, the main reasons for watching the anime are the same as Athena and mainly to see the Pokémon in motion and in their habitat. A new anime with enphasis on the exploration might appeal to these young adults.
 
Can anyone else see Ash battling Alian with Mega Charizard X(Alain) and Mega Charizard Y(Ash)?
 
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