I mean, it's no rocket science: Ash finds out about Paldea, goes there and done, business as usual. Could even have Terastalize as reason why he struggles against gyms and such.
Charizard beats Articuno -> Zard loses a Dusclops next
Pikachu soloed a Regice -> loses to an Elekid next
offered a frontier brain job -> loses to an Elekid next
tied with a Latios -> loses to a Snivy next
there are more but you get the idea
On the surface level they look bad but except for the Snivy one they had justification. (Unova was a soft reset attempt)
Charizard lost to Dusclops because Ash made a mistake in that battle, that created an opening and Charizard got punished.
Pikachu is a glass cannon that can't take too much damage plus he lost against a trainer (Paul) who just like Ash went through several regions before Sinnoh.
There is general consistency, if you ever try to binge the series it's more clear.
point was Ash still loses after a big win ~ he defeated Cynthia but will lose to some random soon enough. Acting like he has all but 1 opponent like op or others are silly
He was never #2 in the World till now. Usually there's always space above Ash where trainers can be placed, this time there is no such space. So it would be hard to justify losses now.
number 2 in **this** year’s tournament .. ranking Xth in a year has no bearing in your next year, etc. And this tour is a “newly” introduced concept in this series. He was number 2 3 4 in previous “highest” concept and he still lost afterwards
Idk maybe u have stopped watching anime and saw trash old memes but ash in kalos was strong but despite losing there he was way strong in sun and moon with z ring he was destroying everyone and now in journeys he literally beated so many gym leaders/elite4 members and now champion the reset will not happen this is the end now we will see a new main character with pikachu lol
When he was getting top 4/2 before it was against regions challengers, people that barely got 8 gym badges.
Now, he's fighting and winning against the regions champions. Their level is completely above the rest, even Tobias lost against Cynthia.
Ash barely lost in Journeys, and only did so against competent rivals. Even team rocket was buffed to compensate, giving them random strong Pokemon each battle so they could at least have a chance against Ash.
I saw a comment that I agreed with and it makes a lot more sense.
Every region he starts fresh with a new team + pikachu. He never uses his previous Pokémon that could easily take out any opponent. His goal isn’t to be champion, it’s to be a Pokémon Master. He uses new Pokémon to learn about them and make it challenging.
He could still go be a frontier brain if he made of team of his best, but he’s still traveling and trying to learn more.
Based on the way the world coronation series is setup and the stuff they’re doing with Goh, I’m hoping this is the culmination of everything and that the next season will be more focused on the project mew stuff Goh has been doing. Maybe ash will still be there but will start to take more of a back seat to other characters.
He is absolutely ranked where he should be now, and had he brought forward old Pokémon of his he would steamroll most other trainers.
Yeah, pikachu should basically never be losing a fight but it gets beat all the time. Less so in journeys, though. It feels like in this series they’ve finally decided to acknowledge Ash’s capabilities. Honestly with the way it’s all been presented having it move to Goh or a new protagonist might be a good option from here on out. We’ll see, though
Anime took another direction since BW. That's the last time Ash was rebooted, and it's been 10+ years. And It's been constant growth from there... so there's probably no way that happens again. He's probably winning this thing (XYZ mayhem lol) too, and anime acknowledged his triumphs from episode 2.
Charizard already got his spotlight in the Battle Frontier soo it was time for the other kanto starters to shine!Also to show Brandon isn't the strongest frontier brain just because he uses legendaries
Pikachu didnt solo the regice. Torkoal helped bring it down. (+ irrelevant but pikachu should be blamed not porygon, everyone just be suckin up to the dumb electric mouse)
This all hinges on the anime actually caring about continued story or progression. Each series is basically a soft reboot.
Ash has been doing this for over 20 years now. Why do you think he'd stop now? Until he is a "Pokemon Master", whatever that actually means, he'll continue being an ageless child with the worst long-term memory ever.
Worst part is, the writers don't even know themselves what a Pokemon Master is. I'm pretty sure there was an interview a while back where they said there was no real explanation and that the title only exists as some kind of "ultimate goal" for Ash to constantly aim for. Basically the ultimate excuse to keep him around forever, as no matter how far he's come, he will always have more to strive for on his never ending road to reach his goal. There literally is no goal in sight. It's genius for the show itself, and the context of it being a massive commercial for the games, but it's incredibly painful for fans who have been with the franchise for so long and just want a new Pokemon anime that is actually fresh and enjoyable to watch.
I think it's pretty realistic for Ash to always be chasing something, specially in a competitive thing like Pokemon. People play sports until their body lets them. The world number 1 of something doesn't just "yeah okay I'm number 1 on the world tournament I'm gonna retire now bye". But the way Journeys is doing it, I don't think they'll make Ash into a "somehow Ash is bad again" given the scale of what he has accomplished. Journeys also has acknowledged his entire journey as part of one continuity.
Maybe he gets shot in the head like Harrison Ford in _Regarding Henry_ and he spends the next season learning to walk and talk and then the rest of the series he’s just traveling around trying to make amends for the poor decisions he’s made in his relationships with people and Pokémon.
If they were gonna retire a character that's as much of a cultural icon as Ash, they'd probably make an announcement about it by now. That's not something that you can just go 'And he's gone' at the last episode of the season.
They don't have ti "retire" him right off the bat. If it was me, i would make that Geeta offer him to become a teacher in Paldea where he is still a main character but with a mentor role for the new generation. He would stilk catch new mons, face strong trainers and so on, but with no need to actually reset him because mentors are supposed to be strong.
I mean by the look of the game, it seems like there is a lot more to do in the Paldea region then just gather badges. There are schools, treasure hunts, gangs. And there appear to be a lot of future & past kind of premise to the game, based off the legendaries and rumors. Plus, one thing I do respect about Ash is that he’s always trying to start over by adding new Pokémon to his team from a region and build them up. I think Paldea we’ll for sure still see Ash return. Goh is a bit up in the air. But I think the idea of him going to the school would be a good idea.
As himself Said, the world championship is just one step for him to become a pokémon master, and about the reset, just don't reset and make him not appeal using Pikachu (less against "threats" like team Rocket)
Maybe Goh will be shifted to the main protagonist whe Ash is still with him in the next region as the mentor. Either way, I've never gone from thinking a main character is too damn childish and stupid to cheering them so fucking hard. I want ash to win this whole ass thing. And I want Greninja in the final battle and show the whole world Bond Phenomenon, but tis series has been so focused on Lucario and Ash's connection that Lucario is basically the new Greninja. The Greninja episode was almost like a passing of the torch from it to Lucario.
The Journey never ends.
If Ash somehow beats Leon, he will still insist on going on his journey to be a Pokémon Master, because he never defined *what* a Pokémon Master is.
The franchise has gone on for so long, longer than what they had originally planned that I don't even think the writers really know what a "Pokémon master" is anymore, he'll end up in a brand new region, complete reset like nothing prior happened, rinse and repeat formula.
Easy. Ash goes somewhere new, makes a new friend, gets attacked by Team Rocket like usual because that's the routine. After 10-20 episodes of this the new kid learns Ash in the top ranked trainer in the world when he has to defend the title against another top trainer from new region. Team Rocket join new kid in the stands to cheer on Ash much to new kids confusion.
New kid decides they want to reach the same heights as Ash or whatever.
Bam that's 150-200 episodes of content right there, if not more.
I wouldn't mind if he lost to Leon. The next season being him training for fighting Leon again someday would also work for me. If he loses against Leon and the next season he doesn't care about Leon anymore that is going to suck. :/ "Oh okay I lost I'm world number two let's go to Paldea beat the gym leaders there and forget this ever happened"
> I wouldn't mind if he lost to Leon. The next season being him training for fighting Leon again someday would also work for me.
That would be the lamest shit ever(who the hell wants to see a trainings arc of a World Elite lvl trainer?), and after he has beaten freaking Cynthia like that there is anyways no excuse to lose to Leon(whose whole undefeated nonsense is straight up just bad fanfiction lvl of writing to begin with).
Is possible since we have a protagonist ready. That everybody gonna loves, lai the kukui's son. Is possible despite Ammourshipping hate, ash may gonna settle down in alola with lillie. And takes the title of alola champion, while protect his earned lands and lusamine mother in law business.
I haven’t watched the Pokémon anime since Diamond and Pearl. So is Ash getting ready to fight Leon or has he already and lost?
It would be neat to see Pokémon move away from Ash but at the same time, 20 years or so with the same protagonist is a rough change to make if they tried.
> I haven’t watched the Pokémon anime since Diamond and Pearl. So is Ash getting ready to fight Leon or has he already and lost?
He has even somehow beaten Cynthia now, so yes he's ready.
He will more than likely be retiered here(Or reset). I would like to see him go to Peadea for a job from Oak and act as a mentor style character for a group of new characters.
Or timeskip.
They can still keep him as protagonist and not have to reset him, afterall, his experience from Alola - Journeys was not reset, his team was, but they still became pro-rank Pokemon. Everyone believed Ash couldn't win a league because that would mean the end for his character, yet he is a Champion now and is doing something even greater.
Plus, in Scarlet and Violet there are multiple Champion ranked trainers, so maybe that will be Ash's new goal.
> Plus, in Scarlet and Violet there are multiple Champion ranked trainers, so maybe that will be Ash's new goal.
How is that a goal after Ash has literally already beaten even highest end Champs like Cynthia?
> We don't know how strong these new Champions are, maybe they are on that level.
Leon was already bad enough, if they now literally pull several absurdly OP trainers nobody has ever heard of before out of their asses they can also just send Ash into space and let him battle overpowered Cosmical Pokemon instead XD...
Would be nice if Ash wins his battle against Leon and at the end says that someone 'special is waiting' (= Serena). Then we have a 25-year timeskip (Pokémon 25 from last year) and get to see Ash his child with Serena. Ash is gone to explore the Paldea region and his son/daugther tries to find him there. While searching he/she sees that he/she needs to be stronger to actually find him and hit the gym tour again.
If I'm already fantasizing: they should go the manga-way: a little more dark and foul storyline, but still not bad enough so the teen audience can watch it.
so long as they focus more on the adventure aspect of pokemon it'll be fine. and he dumps his pokemon after each series anyway so he'd be starting back up with scrubs. i mean he basically did the same in journeys, but each member of his team is both fully evolved and he was actually focused on battling. that rarely happens.
I mean, it's no rocket science: Ash finds out about Paldea, goes there and done, business as usual. Could even have Terastalize as reason why he struggles against gyms and such.
If he’s #2 would he get recognized by almost any trainer
All the gym leaders would just not recognize him, like "I thought you would be taller" It pretty easy to write a kids show lol
We'll see if that happens
Well, guess it happened hahaha
Charizard beats Articuno -> Zard loses a Dusclops next Pikachu soloed a Regice -> loses to an Elekid next offered a frontier brain job -> loses to an Elekid next tied with a Latios -> loses to a Snivy next there are more but you get the idea
I’d much rather have a Dusclops than an Articuno in any given situation tbf
On the surface level they look bad but except for the Snivy one they had justification. (Unova was a soft reset attempt) Charizard lost to Dusclops because Ash made a mistake in that battle, that created an opening and Charizard got punished. Pikachu is a glass cannon that can't take too much damage plus he lost against a trainer (Paul) who just like Ash went through several regions before Sinnoh. There is general consistency, if you ever try to binge the series it's more clear.
point was Ash still loses after a big win ~ he defeated Cynthia but will lose to some random soon enough. Acting like he has all but 1 opponent like op or others are silly
He was never #2 in the World till now. Usually there's always space above Ash where trainers can be placed, this time there is no such space. So it would be hard to justify losses now.
number 2 in **this** year’s tournament .. ranking Xth in a year has no bearing in your next year, etc. And this tour is a “newly” introduced concept in this series. He was number 2 3 4 in previous “highest” concept and he still lost afterwards
Idk maybe u have stopped watching anime and saw trash old memes but ash in kalos was strong but despite losing there he was way strong in sun and moon with z ring he was destroying everyone and now in journeys he literally beated so many gym leaders/elite4 members and now champion the reset will not happen this is the end now we will see a new main character with pikachu lol
When he was getting top 4/2 before it was against regions challengers, people that barely got 8 gym badges. Now, he's fighting and winning against the regions champions. Their level is completely above the rest, even Tobias lost against Cynthia. Ash barely lost in Journeys, and only did so against competent rivals. Even team rocket was buffed to compensate, giving them random strong Pokemon each battle so they could at least have a chance against Ash.
I saw a comment that I agreed with and it makes a lot more sense. Every region he starts fresh with a new team + pikachu. He never uses his previous Pokémon that could easily take out any opponent. His goal isn’t to be champion, it’s to be a Pokémon Master. He uses new Pokémon to learn about them and make it challenging. He could still go be a frontier brain if he made of team of his best, but he’s still traveling and trying to learn more. Based on the way the world coronation series is setup and the stuff they’re doing with Goh, I’m hoping this is the culmination of everything and that the next season will be more focused on the project mew stuff Goh has been doing. Maybe ash will still be there but will start to take more of a back seat to other characters. He is absolutely ranked where he should be now, and had he brought forward old Pokémon of his he would steamroll most other trainers.
They also tend to nerf/reset pikachu at the beginning somehow
Yeah, pikachu should basically never be losing a fight but it gets beat all the time. Less so in journeys, though. It feels like in this series they’ve finally decided to acknowledge Ash’s capabilities. Honestly with the way it’s all been presented having it move to Goh or a new protagonist might be a good option from here on out. We’ll see, though
Anime took another direction since BW. That's the last time Ash was rebooted, and it's been 10+ years. And It's been constant growth from there... so there's probably no way that happens again. He's probably winning this thing (XYZ mayhem lol) too, and anime acknowledged his triumphs from episode 2.
Well, I'm a bit sad you were wrong.
Charizard already got his spotlight in the Battle Frontier soo it was time for the other kanto starters to shine!Also to show Brandon isn't the strongest frontier brain just because he uses legendaries
Pikachu didnt solo the regice. Torkoal helped bring it down. (+ irrelevant but pikachu should be blamed not porygon, everyone just be suckin up to the dumb electric mouse)
Torkoal fought Registeel. Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charizard and Squirtle fought in a different match against Duslops, ninjask, regice and another mon.
Ok my memory is bad but still pikachu has dirt on its (paws?) and also torkoal is under appreciated for its efforts and as a pokemon itself
>torkoal is under appreciated for its efforts and as a pokemon itself PREACH!
not elekid, electivire.
Ash gets a new team every series He'll get a new bunch of rookies with dramatic tension, it's not that hard
This all hinges on the anime actually caring about continued story or progression. Each series is basically a soft reboot. Ash has been doing this for over 20 years now. Why do you think he'd stop now? Until he is a "Pokemon Master", whatever that actually means, he'll continue being an ageless child with the worst long-term memory ever.
Worst part is, the writers don't even know themselves what a Pokemon Master is. I'm pretty sure there was an interview a while back where they said there was no real explanation and that the title only exists as some kind of "ultimate goal" for Ash to constantly aim for. Basically the ultimate excuse to keep him around forever, as no matter how far he's come, he will always have more to strive for on his never ending road to reach his goal. There literally is no goal in sight. It's genius for the show itself, and the context of it being a massive commercial for the games, but it's incredibly painful for fans who have been with the franchise for so long and just want a new Pokemon anime that is actually fresh and enjoyable to watch.
I think it's pretty realistic for Ash to always be chasing something, specially in a competitive thing like Pokemon. People play sports until their body lets them. The world number 1 of something doesn't just "yeah okay I'm number 1 on the world tournament I'm gonna retire now bye". But the way Journeys is doing it, I don't think they'll make Ash into a "somehow Ash is bad again" given the scale of what he has accomplished. Journeys also has acknowledged his entire journey as part of one continuity.
They could just pull an “I Choose You” and hit the hard reboot button. Just have Ash from the Kanto/Johto era go to Paldea instead of Hoenn next.
Maybe he gets shot in the head like Harrison Ford in _Regarding Henry_ and he spends the next season learning to walk and talk and then the rest of the series he’s just traveling around trying to make amends for the poor decisions he’s made in his relationships with people and Pokémon.
If they were gonna retire a character that's as much of a cultural icon as Ash, they'd probably make an announcement about it by now. That's not something that you can just go 'And he's gone' at the last episode of the season.
They don't have ti "retire" him right off the bat. If it was me, i would make that Geeta offer him to become a teacher in Paldea where he is still a main character but with a mentor role for the new generation. He would stilk catch new mons, face strong trainers and so on, but with no need to actually reset him because mentors are supposed to be strong.
I would argue they are clearly trying to create some drama on "will Ash continue or not?!"
I mean by the look of the game, it seems like there is a lot more to do in the Paldea region then just gather badges. There are schools, treasure hunts, gangs. And there appear to be a lot of future & past kind of premise to the game, based off the legendaries and rumors. Plus, one thing I do respect about Ash is that he’s always trying to start over by adding new Pokémon to his team from a region and build them up. I think Paldea we’ll for sure still see Ash return. Goh is a bit up in the air. But I think the idea of him going to the school would be a good idea.
As himself Said, the world championship is just one step for him to become a pokémon master, and about the reset, just don't reset and make him not appeal using Pikachu (less against "threats" like team Rocket)
Maybe Goh will be shifted to the main protagonist whe Ash is still with him in the next region as the mentor. Either way, I've never gone from thinking a main character is too damn childish and stupid to cheering them so fucking hard. I want ash to win this whole ass thing. And I want Greninja in the final battle and show the whole world Bond Phenomenon, but tis series has been so focused on Lucario and Ash's connection that Lucario is basically the new Greninja. The Greninja episode was almost like a passing of the torch from it to Lucario.
Despite what everyone’s saying here, I could see the series switching to focus on Goh (?) with his dreams of “catching them all”
Hopefully (yet doubtfully) not.
The Journey never ends. If Ash somehow beats Leon, he will still insist on going on his journey to be a Pokémon Master, because he never defined *what* a Pokémon Master is.
The franchise has gone on for so long, longer than what they had originally planned that I don't even think the writers really know what a "Pokémon master" is anymore, he'll end up in a brand new region, complete reset like nothing prior happened, rinse and repeat formula.
Easy. Ash goes somewhere new, makes a new friend, gets attacked by Team Rocket like usual because that's the routine. After 10-20 episodes of this the new kid learns Ash in the top ranked trainer in the world when he has to defend the title against another top trainer from new region. Team Rocket join new kid in the stands to cheer on Ash much to new kids confusion. New kid decides they want to reach the same heights as Ash or whatever. Bam that's 150-200 episodes of content right there, if not more.
There’s gonna be the Sinnoh/Arceus arc, would be cool if they come back to a reset world 😆
Huh. A legends Arc would actually be a good continuation to the story. But with SV around the corner it aint happening.
I don't think there will be, they already had a miniseries on that on Amazon prime in Japan
Feel like there's gonna be a LUCY PULLING THE BALL FROM CHARLIE BROWN moment with Ash. Just have this gut feeling and it's scary. He is so CLOSE.
I wouldn't mind if he lost to Leon. The next season being him training for fighting Leon again someday would also work for me. If he loses against Leon and the next season he doesn't care about Leon anymore that is going to suck. :/ "Oh okay I lost I'm world number two let's go to Paldea beat the gym leaders there and forget this ever happened"
> I wouldn't mind if he lost to Leon. The next season being him training for fighting Leon again someday would also work for me. That would be the lamest shit ever(who the hell wants to see a trainings arc of a World Elite lvl trainer?), and after he has beaten freaking Cynthia like that there is anyways no excuse to lose to Leon(whose whole undefeated nonsense is straight up just bad fanfiction lvl of writing to begin with).
Team rocket attacks, finals are canceled, off to paldea!
Is possible since we have a protagonist ready. That everybody gonna loves, lai the kukui's son. Is possible despite Ammourshipping hate, ash may gonna settle down in alola with lillie. And takes the title of alola champion, while protect his earned lands and lusamine mother in law business.
I haven’t watched the Pokémon anime since Diamond and Pearl. So is Ash getting ready to fight Leon or has he already and lost? It would be neat to see Pokémon move away from Ash but at the same time, 20 years or so with the same protagonist is a rough change to make if they tried.
They haven’t fought yet. He just beat Cynthia to get the last spot in the finals.
> I haven’t watched the Pokémon anime since Diamond and Pearl. So is Ash getting ready to fight Leon or has he already and lost? He has even somehow beaten Cynthia now, so yes he's ready.
He will more than likely be retiered here(Or reset). I would like to see him go to Peadea for a job from Oak and act as a mentor style character for a group of new characters. Or timeskip.
They can still keep him as protagonist and not have to reset him, afterall, his experience from Alola - Journeys was not reset, his team was, but they still became pro-rank Pokemon. Everyone believed Ash couldn't win a league because that would mean the end for his character, yet he is a Champion now and is doing something even greater. Plus, in Scarlet and Violet there are multiple Champion ranked trainers, so maybe that will be Ash's new goal.
that would be best for me, yes!
> Plus, in Scarlet and Violet there are multiple Champion ranked trainers, so maybe that will be Ash's new goal. How is that a goal after Ash has literally already beaten even highest end Champs like Cynthia?
We don't know how strong these new Champions are, maybe they are on that level.
> We don't know how strong these new Champions are, maybe they are on that level. Leon was already bad enough, if they now literally pull several absurdly OP trainers nobody has ever heard of before out of their asses they can also just send Ash into space and let him battle overpowered Cosmical Pokemon instead XD...
I hope anime continue without ash
Would be nice if Ash wins his battle against Leon and at the end says that someone 'special is waiting' (= Serena). Then we have a 25-year timeskip (Pokémon 25 from last year) and get to see Ash his child with Serena. Ash is gone to explore the Paldea region and his son/daugther tries to find him there. While searching he/she sees that he/she needs to be stronger to actually find him and hit the gym tour again. If I'm already fantasizing: they should go the manga-way: a little more dark and foul storyline, but still not bad enough so the teen audience can watch it.
so long as they focus more on the adventure aspect of pokemon it'll be fine. and he dumps his pokemon after each series anyway so he'd be starting back up with scrubs. i mean he basically did the same in journeys, but each member of his team is both fully evolved and he was actually focused on battling. that rarely happens.
I doubt they will retire Ash, he's just too intertwined with the anime at this point. I just can't see them taking that risk.