Ash's classmates/companions.

[Shadao]

I fail to see how the advertisement was misleading. They promised us more comedy and more slapstick - they delivered. However, only a single page of a CoroCoro magazine mentions that Ash's goal is to graduate. Where the heck do you get the 'they hyped Ash's graduation' from? Where did they hype it up? The official site doesn't bring it up as his goal, but rather it says Ash's goal is still the same as ever, to become a Pokemon Master. And the first two episodes imply Ash has to GRADUATE in order to take on the island challenge, not vice-versa. Unless your idea is that Ash never gets to do the island challenge, then I fail to see how that would work out.

Misleading in that if the series follows what you predict. This anime promises to be a school scenario with a colorful cast of classmates, and to simply change the genre AND reduce more than half the cast into stationary "Gym Leaders" supporting roles rather than having them tag along with Ash like his previous companions is simply head scratching, especially if some of them gain unexpected popularity. And there is no main trio of human characters to easily unlatch itself from the rest of the ensemble cast. All you have would be Ash and Lillie, but who would be the elder sibling figure? The cook? The kid with Pikaclone? And so forth. Based on the opening, every one of Ash's classmates, including Lillie, share the equal amount of focus. There is no guarantee that the anime will go to a traditional group setup in an adaptation of a game that is not traditional.

Additionally, Kiawe completed his island trial and that's how he got his Z-crystal. But he is also a classmate of Ash, so graduation is not required to do an island trial as you claim.

Also, can I just say how forced it would be to magically have schools on each island and Ash conveniently changing schools, along with Kukui and his classmates, just so he can do his trials? No thanks. Furthermore, the opening doesn't even HINT at any of the trials happening any time soon, which makes it clear that Ash isn't going to be doing the island challenge until he graduates. Which makes most sense given how this whole 'going to school to become eligible for Island Trials' was taken straight from the games.

I don't know, but:

Going to school for a number of episodes -> graduating -> challenging the Island Trials seems like the most logical course and everything we've seen so far indicates that that is the case.

So you are saying there is only school in the entire region of Alola, which consists of four big islands? And in a world of Nurse Joys and Don Georges, multiple schools for Ash and classmates to hop from island to island is the relatively realistic. After all, wouldn't school want their students to travel to island to island and learn about the Pokémon living there? It's merely moving to a new dormitory or advancing to the next level. I don't see how it's forced. And keep in mind, the Anime does not follow the rules of the game. Otherwise, Ash would have been facing the Elite Four every time he gets 8 badges, not going to a tournament. The mastery of the Z-moves, which requires the island trials, is what the main focus is for Ash. And it would be best to do during school. Otherwise, school becomes a filler arc to slog through and an unnecessary one to boot if Ash isn't mastering Z-moves there.

Jesus, you act as if they'd be killing off the characters. They'd simply become recurring characters. Obviously they'd still appear from time to time.

Also, I love how you're already calling them good characters just for the sake of justifying your argument.

For the record, all of them have potential and too good to simply waste should they prove popular with the audience. Remember Brock being replaced by Tracey?

To me, that is like saying that Clemont should have stayed at the Gym after he officially got beaten by Ash, and not travel with Ash and friends to the next three badges. Oh sure, Clemont would be less of "a waste of space" and be more useful as a reoccurring character. But at the same time, the absence of his dynamic negatively affects the Kalos Crew's relationship. No Bonnie interacting and trolling Clemont, no Ash gushing over his inventions, and no Chespin vs Pancham fight. Clemont may be a satellite character after the Gym, but that doesn't mean his character should get axed off midway into the series because of that.

We can no longer assume traditions when more of them gets broken as the series goes on. And thus, I judge based on what I have rather than I speculate now these days. We are in for a school adventure and we should assume it to be the case until further details are revealed.

 

[Necrozma]

Misleading in that if the series follows what you predict. This anime promises to be a school scenario with a colorful cast of classmates, and to simply change the genre AND reduce more than half the cast into stationary "Gym Leaders" supporting roles rather than having them tag along with Ash like his previous companions is simply head scratching, especially if some of them gain unexpected popularity. And there is no main trio of human characters to easily unlatch itself from the rest of the ensemble cast. All you have would be Ash and Lillie, but who would be the elder sibling figure? The cook? The kid with Pikaclone? And so forth. Based on the opening, every one of Ash's classmates, including Lillie, share the equal amount of focus. There is no guarantee that the anime will go to a traditional group setup in an adaptation of a game that is not traditional.

Mallow is the perfect elder sibling figure and she's a cook.

Pikaclone becomes unnecessary and it is time they did away with that tradition. Rotomdex is likely becoming the next 'mascot Pokemon' seeing how it will be next to Ash all the time so a Pikaclone/Togademaru will be unnecessary.

Additionally, Kiawe completed his island trial and that's how he got his Z-crystal. But he is also a classmate of Ash, so graduation is not required to do an island trial as you claim.

My speculation at the moment is that Kiawe is in school to become a legit Trial Captain (and so are the other three Trial Captains).

Until the anime proves me wrong, I'm sticking with my theory because it makes most sense to me.

So you are saying there is only school in the entire region of Alola, which consists of four big islands? And in a world of Nurse Joys and Don Georges, multiple schools for Ash and classmates to hop from island to island is the relatively realistic. After all, wouldn't school want their students to travel to island to island and learn about the Pokémon living there? It's merely moving to a new dormitory or advancing to the next level. I don't see how it's forced. And keep in mind, the Anime does not follow the rules of the game. Otherwise, Ash would have been facing the Elite Four every time he gets 8 badges, not going to a tournament. The mastery of the Z-moves, which requires the island trials, is what the main focus is for Ash. And it would be best to do during school. Otherwise, school becomes a filler arc to slog through and an unnecessary one to boot if Ash isn't mastering Z-moves there.

As I already said, the opening doesn't give us any indication that any trials will be happening. XY's opening made it pretty clear by depicting silhouettes of the gym leaders Ash is going to face. SM's opening is showcasing school life antics. If we take into consideration that Ash will be doing the island challenge, then why are none of the elements of the island challenge present in the opening? No Kahunas? No Totem Pokemon? Why is the opening acting as if the anime will be set at school when in reality Ash will be travelling the islands?

To me, that is like saying that Clemont should have stayed at the Gym after he officially got beaten by Ash, and not travel with Ash and friends to the next three badges.

Oh sure, Clemont would be less of "a waste of space" and be more useful as a reoccurring character. But at the same time, the absence of his dynamic negatively affects the Kalos Crew's relationship. No Bonnie interacting and trolling Clemont, no Ash gushing over his inventions, and no Chespin vs Pancham fight. Clemont may be a satellite character after the Gym, but that doesn't mean his character should get axed off midway into the series because of that.

Clemont should have left. His character stopped getting any significant development after the gym battle and he was simply 'there' like Brock in DP.

If the Trial Captains will be treated like Clemont, then I'd rather they become recurring characters than stay as main characters. And I'm perfectly open for rotating cast members. I have my suspicious that characters like Lana and Sophocles won't be as developed you might think.

We can no longer assume traditions when more of them gets broken as the series goes on. And thus, I judge based on what I have rather than I speculate now these days. We are in for a school adventure and we should assume it to be the case until further details are revealed.

Yes, we are in for a school adventure, I never disputed that.

But you seem to be assuming that it will last for the entire series whereas I believe it is a temporary arc. What gives your opinion more credibility than mine?

 

[Jaye]

It's very difficult to predict what will happen to certain characters when the story itself is so unpredictable at the moment. We know there'll be trials at some point (they wouldn't bring them up otherwise), but being only a couple episodes in we obviously don't have enough details. For all we know at this point the captains in the school could also be taking part in the trials, what with it being a coming of age thing in Alola and all.

Kiawe's placement is interesting, now that I think about it. He's already passed a trial and has the Z-Ring to prove it, so you wouldn't think he'd need to be in school unless he just really wanted to stay there.

 

[Necrozma]

It's very difficult to predict what will happen to certain characters when the story itself is so unpredictable at the moment. We know there'll be trials at some point (they wouldn't bring them up otherwise), but being only a couple episodes in we obviously don't have enough details. For all we know at this point the captains in the school could also be taking part in the trials, what with it being a coming of age thing in Alola and all.

Kiawe's placement is interesting, now that I think about it. He's already passed a trial and has the Z-Ring to prove it, so you wouldn't think he'd need to be in school unless he just really wanted to stay there.

The overall presence of the Trial Captains is what's confusing me.

They have their insignia on them, implying they are now Captains (or studying to become Captains?). If they aren't Captains, then why did the character designers for the anime bother leaving the insignia? Did they just copy/paste the official art without much thought?

 

[jonathan keller]

Mallow is the perfect elder sibling figure and she's a cook.

Pikaclone becomes unnecessary and it is time they did away with that tradition. Rotomdex is likely becoming the next 'mascot Pokemon' seeing how it will be next to Ash all the time so a Pikaclone/Togademaru will be unnecessary.


My speculation at the moment is that Kiawe is in school to become a legit Trial Captain (and so are the other three Trial Captains).

Until the anime proves me wrong, I'm sticking with my theory because it makes most sense to me.


As I already said, the opening doesn't give us any indication that any trials will be happening. XY's opening made it pretty clear by depicting silhouettes of the gym leaders Ash is going to face. SM's opening is showcasing school life antics. If we take into consideration that Ash will be doing the island challenge, then why are none of the elements of the island challenge present in the opening? No Kahunas? No Totem Pokemon? Why is the opening acting as if the anime will be set at school when in reality Ash will be travelling the islands?


Clemont should have left. His character stopped getting any significant development after the gym battle and he was simply 'there' like Brock in DP.

If the Trial Captains will be treated like Clemont, then I'd rather they become recurring characters than stay as main characters. And I'm perfectly open for rotating cast members. I have my suspicious that characters like Lana and Sophocles won't be as developed you might think.


Yes, we are in for a school adventure, I never disputed that.

But you seem to be assuming that it will last for the entire series whereas I believe it is a temporary arc. What gives your opinion more credibility than mine?

Yes, they may be moving on from the school and exploring the other islands. Of course, why wouldn't they? But what gives your opinion of mallow, lana, sophocles, and kiawe leaving any more credibility than them staying?

I think you need to remove your 'lillie' goggles. Lillie is not the only candidate to go with ash if they go that route with the traditional travelling companion.

It could be lana that would travel with ash as his travelling companion for all we know. But as it stands, ash has classmates, and I don't see why they would put so much emphasis on his classmates if he's just going to travel with a few of them.

My point being, they're not going to try something new just to go off course and go back to their original formula.

You and I can debate this all we want. But none of us have any proof to any speculation we might have

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

I hope all the companions have good personalities. Don't want to get annoyed by any one of them.

 

[Jaye]

The overall presence of the Trial Captains is what's confusing me.

They have their insignia on them, implying they are now Captains (or studying to become Captains?). If they aren't Captains, then why did the character designers for the anime bother leaving the insignia? Did they just copy/paste the official art without much thought?

It's doubtful they copied and pasted without a second thought. I haven't played the games yet, but was it confirmed that the insignias are for captains? I was thinking that maybe they're like a school badge or even something given to those in a special class. We know there are other students but this class only has six people in it, which is an oddly low number.

 

[ii kanji]

Aside from the fact she's the only real character aside from Ash confirmed to get her own storyline (regarding the Vulpix egg)? The only character so far that they have set up for development (aside from Ash)? The fact that in the character list she's listed right below Ash/Pikachu, but above the Trial Captains? Kinda like May and Dawn were always listed above Brock?

Tsu my dear man you are normally very reasonable but I think that this Lillie has gotten under your skin. It's fine, relax, no one is saying that Lillie won't be the most important and permanent companion.

 

[make_it_worse]

I used to always base "girl's" name on what is the animé counterpart, i'm in a block right now, I can't play my games T.T

hope the girl in the game wont be like a transfer student or i'll be really really upset

 

[Matleo]

Hope Ash Litten wins with Sophocles Togedemaru in a Trial Chalange.
That will be an interesting battle.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

Hope Ash Litten wins with Sophocles Togedemaru in a Trial Chalange.
That will be an interesting battle.

Who said Ash is getting Litten? Litten could easily go to the fire captain.

 

[Gengarzilla]

Who said Ash is getting Litten? Litten could easily go to the fire captain.

People are just getting Chimchar vibes for some reason. I've got to agree though, nothing's really guaranteed. The predicted Grubbin capture does seem to have fallen through for now, after all.

 

[Matleo]

Who said Ash is getting Litten? Litten could easily go to the fire captain.

remember the cartoon spoiler photo with Ash, Incineroar and Malow?

 

[Kagami]

Tsu my dear man you are normally very reasonable but I think that this Lillie has gotten under your skin. It's fine, relax, no one is saying that Lillie won't be the most important and permanent companion.

This troubles me. Lillie is fine, but Suiren is my favorite and I fear its plausible she will be leaving earlier than others. I always tend to gravitate to weird characters that don't have many fans (just happens that way, not done on purpose) and it always leaves me with dissapointment. Suiren,just stay you

 

[Shoutmon]

This troubles me. Lillie is fine, but Suiren is my favorite and I fear its plausible she will be leaving earlier than others. I always tend to gravitate to weird characters that don't have many fans (just happens that way, not done on purpose) and it always leaves me with dissapointment. Suiren,just stay you

Fear not, Kagami. Suiren and the rest will stay and she has a starter which makes it more likely.

People are just insecure because they don't want Lillie to share screentime since she was shoved down our thtoats in the games but the anime is different. Lillie will only be relevant when the villain plots starts if it does.

 

[Kagami]

Fear not, Kagami. Suiren and the rest will stay and she has a starter which makes it more likely.

People are just insecure because they don't want Lillie to share screentime since she was shoved down our thtoats in the games but the anime is different. Lillie will only be relevant when the villain plots starts if it does.

Your post gives me some hope. I can only cross my fingers and hope best girl Suiren sticks around the whole ride because that will make this series far more enjoyable for me. I like Lillie and wouldn't be against seeing her, but if having her means I can't have my Suiren: I'd rather not.

Do you like Suiren (so far)?

 

[Shoutmon]

Suiren is my favorite SM character so far(Kiawe too) and I'm pretty sure she will stay and get development with Ashimari.

I have my suspicious that characters like Lana and Sophocles won't be as developed you might think.

but your darling Lillie will? because of the games? anime and games aren't the same

 

[Kagami]

Suiren is my favorite SM character so far(Kiawe too) and I'm pretty sure she will stay and get development with Ashimari.

Nice to meet you Shoutmon, any Suiren fan is a friend of mine! Just know I am her #1 fan, but will allow you to adore her as well!

 

[ii kanji]

Suiren is my fave so far too (don't worry @Kagami, I won't claim to be as fond of her as you are!) I'm hoping that the fact she has Ashimari means she's a keeper. I also think we're not far enough into the series to have a good idea of what kind of trajectory it's headed in. I'm sure next episode will give us a better idea as to what kind of long term plans they have for her character.

 

[Kagami]

Suiren is my fave so far too (don't worry @Kagami, I won't claim to be as fond of her as you are!) I'm hoping that the fact she has Ashimari means she's a keeper. I also think we're not far enough into the series to have a good idea of what kind of trajectory it's headed in. I'm sure next episode will give us a better idea as to what kind of long term plans they have for her character.

This forum really knows what's up! That's why I'm so pumped for the next episode - Suiren is the star and we'll get to potentially uncover more of her potential role in the show.

Oh, and I already claimed her my friend. I ran for that thread once I had enough posts I will hopefully claim her VG version at well, 100 posts!