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How would you write Ash off

Rockapheller

Rockapheller

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I see that the finale of Aim to be a Pokémon Master miniseries has received very mixed feelings among the fans, which makes sense given the fact that Pokémon is a very huge community and everyone has their own expectations or wishes as the fandom does not consist of one single person. I personally enjoy the ending for what it is, but I am also curious to know how you guys would have written Ash off the series? What would not be the "disappointing" or "underwhelming" end for our hero in your opinion?
 
I enjoyed the final episode of Ash's main focus story too, but what I would have loved to see more in a still shot(s) is:

-Ash meeting up with ALL of his supporters and traveling companions once more (people and Pokemon)
-Jessie, James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet getting occasional fights with Ash (and others, depending on who)
-Ash rematches with opponents he has yet to beat onscreen

Even these 11 episodes, they had to "find" filler to use, but if they had better structure, the Latias/Latios arc and his return to Pallet Town would have been sweet to see in 2 parts. The Hunter having some motivating focus instead of the usual "Ha! Ha! Ha! Greed, greed greed, greed, greed!" persona that most villains show off nowadays, and Jessie, James, and Meowth getting more focus with one last appearance of Matori. God, she got so underutilized.

Next stories, make them into Specials. The Arceus 4 episodes were excellent, so for Ash and Ho-Oh to meet once again, as many of us love to see, let's repurpose the use of the GS ball.

No, we're not forgetting that. You guys made that in existence, you make good use of that.
 
I would've preferred a REAL rematch between Ash and Paul (Lake Acuity V2). Paul using his strongest pokemon and Ash using his reserves w/ Lucario included. This battle could've taken place in Pallet Town with Ash's friends and family watching on the sidelines.

JN brought back Brock and Misty,brought back some of his old rivals,showed his other companions and his reserves but didn't get to see him battle using a dream team like lineup that many people including myself would've loved to have seen.
 
I definitely would have wanted to give all the main cast Pokemon a big last hurrah. If I had taken the reins of MPM, then I probably would've had the cast pokemon take center focus. Kind of like how Corphish had a big role in the Misty episode, if you want an example. I think in terms of character development, the pokemon were always the ones who were done dirtier than the humans. Which, fair. It's hard to write a character for a pokemon that isn't just "cute" and "like their trainer" in the anime. Instead of meeting random Pokemon, I'd most likely have the gang meet Pokemon they've already met. I'd scratch the Latios and Latias plot thread and instead keep it confined to the gang just meeting the Eon Duo again. The "vines in Kalos" threat I would probably also modify, since I feel the threat should have been gone by now. It's not like I cannot work with that, however. Maybe instead of forever traveling with Squishy and Z2, Greninja occasionally comes back to the laboratory as a form of a break(seriously, Zygarde can't work that poor frog forever). He'd be like the uncle everybody knows who comes to town occasionally with the weirdest stories. Idealistic, but it's something I'd love to see. Personal desire: I would have loved to see Pikachu's family again. I think it'd be neat if there was a reunion episode between them, especially after the mouse is now probably one of the strongest pokemon in the world.

If Pikachu's getting his own episode, then I have to say the obvious: Team Rocket absolutely should get a send-off. I'd probably set up the idea that they might retire from the get-go. But since I doubt they would do that so willingly, I would likely put in a "Team Rocket disbands" plot. I'd later give them an episode where they end up in a situation that forces them to team up with Ash, where a lot of character work would be done for everyone all around. In the episodes that follow, they temporarily put catching Pikachu on hold to go on their own adventures(of course, they do keep bumping into Ash due to some curse that seems to keep bringing them to him). They find out Team Rocket disbands, and...decide to catch Pikachu as one big last hurrah. Funny thing: this is the only time they actually manage to capture Pikachu and take him all the way back to their base. But of course, the base is empty now, so when the joke's done, they head back to Pallet Town with the future on their minds. (Pikachu is still in the net, because yes, I would play the joke of Pikachu being absolutely confused as heck the whole time on the way back.)

Ash should turn eleven. That's all I'm saying. Instead of a big party, like everyone else wishes for, I'd probably only make it so he has a nice, quiet dinner party with the OS series characters celebrating his birthday. I'd give everyone else in the series a final cameo with them sending Ash birthday cards or telling him happy birthday through a video call. They won't say anything super dramatic, but it would still be them showing how much they care about Ash, so there would be a lot of ten year old cheesiness in there. I get that the anime might not do that because it feels too finite, but I don't really see the difference between making a character "forever" ten, then making them forever "eleven" for those who wished for an open-ended sort of finale. Time makes no sense in the anime world.

Bonus: Ash bumps into Tobias on the road, challenges him to a battle, and we finally see Plot Device get defeated.

Personally, I don't have any serious issues with the PMP ending. Was it underwhelming? Yeah, definitely. But it still has its point and it kept the spirit of the anime with it. I'm going to miss Ash, Pikachu, Team Rocket, and everybody else in the cast a lot. :bulbaLove:
 
Every one of Ash’s companions deserve at least one focus episode regarding their goals and aspirations. Dawn & May declared as top coordinators. Iris & Misty finding out what a pokemon water & dragon master truly means. Max & Bonnie becoming pokemon trainers.

As for Ash, the title of pokemon master should’ve been granted to him the moment he won against Leon. A pokemon master would be someone who has the capacity to train and work with all kinds of pokemon while developing their highest potential in battle. I’ll add having vast knowledge of them as well. Give him a welcome party in Pallet Town with past friends & rivals.

Jessie, James and Meowth end up going after different goals. Meowth owning the first restaurant owned by a pokemon, Jessie going after her top coordinator/performer title and James going on a journey to discover what he wants on life.

The Team Rocket organization could’ve gotten an arc too in which it is seemingly disbanded, but a few rocket members escape from justice. Giving it a slightly open ending in case they can appear in the future.

Those are some ideas, but there is so much more that can be done.
 
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Ash defeats Tobias and ends up with Serena, Dawn or Misty. He also disbands Team Rocket and fights Giovanni, maybe together with Nanu since they hinted that there was some kind of connection between the two? I would also have liked to see Paul's new gym, perhaps he could have challenged it with Infernape.

The ending is either a party at Pallet Town with all of the old companions or a wedding with the girl who won where everyone is invited (happens after a time skip). Perhaps Ash's father unexpectedly shows up at the party/wedding and apologizes for not being there for him and says that he is proud that Ash fulfilled his dream of becoming a champion (since the dad failed to do that).

Rocketshipping also becomes canon and they leave the organization after finding out that Jessie is pregnant (like in Electric Tale of Pikachu). I would also have liked a confirmation if Miyamoto was dead or still alive (perhaps a reunion between her and Jessie?).
 
My real kind of cop out answer is that I wouldn't write him off. I know that a lot of people have wanted Ash to be replaced for years and plenty of people are excited about the potential for the next series with new leads, but Ash and Pikachu are such core parts of the anime's identity that I think it's far too late to make writing them out of the show to work or feel natural. I feel like it wouldn't have been too difficult to still keep him as the main lead, or at least part of the cast, even after he became a World Champion.

If he had to be written out, I think that the send off, based on what I've seen/heard at least, is pretty fitting. Ash's story was never about finding out which girl he'd end up with, defeating the Team Rocket organization for good, getting revenge on Tobias or Alain, etc. I can't blame fans for wanting stuff like that, but that was all more about wish fulfillment for the audience instead of fitting with his personality or the tone of the story. Ash and Pikachu continuing to head on through off-screen adventures together while Team Rocket continues to chase after them makes perfect sense. It fits with their personalities, the tone of the anime and makes it potentially easier for the writers to bring the characters back in some degree in the future in more specials, appearances in the next series, movies or whatever.

I would make some changes with the Aim to be a Pokemon Master series though. I don't know if they could have managed to showcase all of Ash's companions one more time. As cool as it would be to see Misty and Brock meet all of Ash's other friends, I feel like that would be too difficult to pull off given the number of characters and the amount of episodes they had to work with. If they had twice the amount of episodes, I feel like that would have been more plausible. I do kind of like the idea of Ash, Misty and Brock going to Alola where everyone would celebrate his victory since I feel like that would be nice to see with his Alolan friends and family. I would have really liked to see Dawn coming back to either say that she became a Top Coordinator off-screen or at the bare minimum has a Typhlosion now. Yes, I am still bitter and upset that virtually every other returning character in Journeys got new Pokemon and/or was shown to have made progress towards their goal off-screen while Dawn was stagnant. That might not have been the writers' intent and the fact that they seemingly weren't interested in showcasing regular Contests again was a big factor too, but it really didn't feel like she had made progress since the end of DP, or perhaps more accurately her appearance in BW given her Quilava evolved after DP.

As much as I would have liked to see May and Max with speaking roles, I can understand why that didn't happen. May's Japanese voice actress clearly isn't physically able to perform, Max is pretty tied into May's character and he was never popular to begin with.

I think it would have been nice if we had seen Ash, Misty and Brock go through Paldea. They were hopping around different regions, so I think it's kind of weird that Paldea was never mentioned. Maybe that was just so that they wouldn't have design different backgrounds or use Pokemon from Paldea before the new series, but I just found it kind of strange why it was never brought up in-universe outside of the Team Rocket segments where they showed the Paldea starters.

I kind of would have liked to see Greninja come back to Professor Oak's lab, if only so that it wasn't just helping Zygarde in Kalos forever. Bringing back Pidgeot was a nice surprise, but also really weird. It's nice that it finally got an appearance. I don't think Pidgeot has been shown since its release and the last time it was mentioned was back right before Ash had his first Johto Gym battle. Given how it was always relatively close to Pallet Town, it's strange that it never got another appearance until now. Giving Pidgeot back to Ash was nice, but I don't know why it was chosen over some of his other Pokemon. I kind of would have preferred for him to get Primeape back, even if it is almost entirely because giving him an Annihilape sounded cool to me. Primeape did have more personality than Pidgeot ever did, which admittedly might not say much, and arguably giving it away was much less justified than releasing Pidgeot was. It would be kind of weird to run into the same characters training Primeape after all this time, but it could have worked when they were traveling around different regions. Giving Pidgeot back does make use of the dub where Ash promises that he'll come back for it though, so that's nice.
 
it's up to the writers/people in charge with what they're allowed to do/want to do.

but, using the framework of what happened, i liked everything up to last season.
that is, jhoto qrts, hoenn qrts (but hoenn satoshi being more skilled, so this was a success), sinnoh semis (great league), unova qrts (a step back, losing a match where he was in control; but i liked the sense of humor it took to showcase this league), kalos finals (which i know invested many fans, but for me i wasn't that upset and saw it as a step forward), and alola league win. that's a good path.
going into last season, i liked the setup with dande. satoshi would face a fellow champion. there was also wataru here. so i liked what there was to work with. the inclusion of shirona was okay. and then everything became really rushed.
i think a moment that really stood out to me personally, and i'm sure others (i didn't read comments everywhere back then, but i most of the comments i did read took this in a different direction) was the battle with mikuri in journeys in the serena episode. that battle, to me, should have been a key moment in the story. iris is a champion as a well, but going into this season i think it's fair to say satoshi was expected to be starting at a higher level than her. a battle with mikuri should have been different altogether. but again, i see why there were issues with this. mikuri battled satoshi here because he was not competing in the championships. the same for shinji. the framework was so set, that satoshi would face daigo, shirona, and dande in the masters 8 that so much was left out.
but what i would have liked is to see this battle be a real plot point. all of this battle should have been shown.
then, in the masters eight, satoshi would have lost in the end. to dande. to shirona. one of them. but the masters eight wouldn't have been solely champions. after losing to whoever, satoshi would have been invited, let's say be shirona, to an upcoming tournament where all the champions would be competing. satoshi would resolve to enter, and would use all his pokemon this time, including reserves. as for who would show off the paldea pokedex, that would have been go, who maybe took the gym challenge and competed in the league, or did whatever.
in this season, satoshi developed relationships with all of the champions: wataru, daigo, wallace, shirona, iris, (adler is really old, so i can see him retiring and not competing), carne, and dande. by the end of the season, including the final tournament, he would have had battles with all of them. he would have learned from all of them. he also would have faced shinji, alain, and virgil (virgil so that eevee could be shown; eevee has to be in the show someway) during this season. the battle with shinji would have been a huge plot point in some way, but i'm not sure what.

the premise of this season would have been the line satoshi said to shirona in the battle that was given: "i'm stronger than i was then."
 
Unlike a surprising amount of people, I don't think Nostalgia makes up for lack of character development.
Instead of Focusing on random episodic adventures that rely on recognizable old faces, I think this whole 11-episode miniseries should've just focused on Ash's character.
I'd have his conversation with Gary in the first episode, and in the following episodes, I'd have him talk with different people who consider themselves "Pokemon Masters". Professors, Champions, Performers, etc, and I'd have Ash come to the conclusion that being a Pokemon Master means working together with Pokemon to make an impact on the world in any way he thinks is fitting for him, and have him decide on his future. Maybe he'd become a teacher in Paldea, or maybe he'd go back to Alola and help them set up gyms, or maybe he'd open a Pokemon sanctuary. But I want him to have a clear direction for the future. If the whole series takes place in a "neverending summer where no one grows up", I think it'd be poetic for the ending to have "summer" finally "end" and for Ash to actually have to make decisions about his future. I don't think Ash going on neverending adventures for the rest of eternity sends the best message, or rather, it doesn't send a message at all like an ending should. I'm not asking for a Gravity Falls ending but something around that theme sounds really fitting for Pokemon (outside of the Apocalyptic setting of course).

Also, Team Rocket. The conclusion that they should've gotten is really obvious and everyone pretty much thinks of the same thing: They finally capture Pikachu, realize how bad Team Rocket is for them and everyone, release Pikachu and leave Team Rocket and become the owners of a successful Malasada enterprise. Not too much to say here. They probably got the worst ending.
 
Team Rocket had to stop following Ash and Pikachu, I don't see anything heartwarming or inspiring about two criminals trying to kidnap someone for the rest of their lives. For Ash, I would like him to reevaluate his goal and decide to be some kind of pokémon vet, so he can help and connect with other pokémon. I'm not sure what to do with other companions, but Dawn deserves to be the Top Coordinator. Serena and her crush is hard to conclude, but they at least could show her congratulating Ash's victory.
 
This is a tough one!

I would have posed the "What is a Pokemon Master?" question from the beginning, as it would establish an important frame of reference for the remaining episodes. Those episodes would retain the whimsical, seemingly unimportant nature that MPM's had, but would contribute to the original question in some way. No matter what happens, we're always coming back to this question.

At different points, I'd have Ash lean in one direction, but not commit. Maybe one episode he'll start feeling like catching every Pokemon is the answer, but something about that doesn't feel right. In another episode, he might decide being Champion is the answer, but something about that doesn't feel right, either. This, then, would challenge two popular fan perceptions, and would give more depth to Ash's view he's still a challenger, as well as giving the PWC win a little bit more weight.

By the end, something will happen to push him towards his actual answer, which I wouldn't change from the actual show. Maybe he'd get advice from his old travelling companions, which would then double up as a farewell for them as well.

One thing I would have wanted to include, though I'm not sure where to place it, would be a honest, heart-to-heart discussion with Team Rocket.

I quite like the irony behind the idea of Team Rocket being the people who know Ash the best, outside of his own mother, because they've been with him for the longest time. Whether they like it or not, they have a connection, maybe even a bond of sorts, and it's something that needs to be resolved. Team Rocket were made to represent the older portions of the audience, and I think having them acknowledge their dream of catching Pikachu as being unachievable (because Ash is simply too powerful a trainer now) would be relatable. Sometimes, things just don't work out, but there're other things in this world we can devote our time and talents to. You don't have to be like Ash, committed to one thing all the time.

For the finale itself, I don't think I'd change anything, except possibly chuck Ho-Oh in at the end, just because I really like bookending things and the symbolism is too nice to pass up.
 
As far as Team Rocket is concerned, I think that having them continue to chase after Ash and Pikachu is really fitting for them. There was seemingly no buildup for any definitive ending for them and I'm not sure if providing one would have been necessarily better. It would have provided more closure, but I don't think that they were interested in doing so with the mini series. I'm not sure if that's a change I would have wanted for them myself. While they don't need to be in Team Rocket to be together, they still really love being part of the organization and I don't know if that could have believably changed within the span of this series.
 
Well, there have been so many ways to handle this, so I'll split my thoughts in three sections and they should not have a high influence in the others.

The bare minimum
As I said in the episode review, give Ash new clothes and send him to Paldea or Galar as those were the regions he saw the least. Or Sevii Islands or the Sinnoh Battle Zone if they want to appeal to early generations' nostalgia.

Changes to the miniseries
It really bugs me how many people say "the finale was perfect" when it is preceded by a lot of filler, missed opportunities and redundant messages. Episode 3 really baited us by showing two returning protagonists and focus on three Galar Pokemon only for those elements to be dropped for the rest of the series. So among what I would change would be:
  • All regions and companions are featured.
  • At least one episode focuses on May, Serena and Dawn participating on a contest.
  • More Galar plots.
  • The Latias plot is axed, though I like the idea of a legendary Ash just can't befriend so I'd use it for one episode. Maybe using Cobalion, Terrakion, Genesect, Marshadow or Kubfu.
  • Butterfree's return would get his own episode and it would be revealed to have had children.
  • Primeape appears watching TV, it shouldn't have been hard to do.
  • Team Rocket would leave before the finale and each member would have focus on their dreams and backstories.

My One True Ending
Well, first of all, Team Rocket leaves on their own special or episode. Like others I agree they should realize Team Rocket is no good so they quit, but they become policepeople with Officer Jenny which follows a similar rythm to the one they used to.

Ash's ending starts after a two-year timeskip, where he has become Misty's boyfriend and has taken up some champion activities. He is frequently beaten by fellow champions, and is fed up with all the Public Relations that come with it. One day Ash goes to visit Max who is choosing his first Pokemon, and Ash wishes he could go back to those days. A Celebi appears close and a longer version of the A Ripple in Time short happens: Ash's OS self appears in a Kanto tournament and has to go through a cave where Dialga is waiting, and Ash has to battle Dialga using his Kanto and Johto Pokemon. After winning, Ash realizes there are a lot of Pokemon he has not battled and met and decides to start a new Journey. He sees Ho-Oh in the distance, but instead of going in that direction he goes into the opposite direction instead. The credits roll and many companions appear:

  • Brock and Olivia end up together and appear healing Pokemon in a cave.
  • An International Grand Festival is shown, Dawn beats Zoey in the semifinals while May beats Serena, so the final is May vs Dawn. May wins, and is congratulated by Harley (who is in a cheerleader outfit) and Drew.
  • Max chooses Treecko and Bonnie chooses Froakie as starters, but they already have Ralts and Dedenne respectively by their side.
  • Professor Oak hands over a labcoat to Tracey which means he's the new Kanto professor, and goes on a trip with Gary to Alola.
  • Paul and Cynthia are running the Summer Camp. While watching the students and Pokemon play, Paul shows a small grin.
  • Iris has become the Opelucid Gym leader and is battling Shannon who has a Servine.
  • Cilan and Clemont are doing their antics.
  • Lana, Kiawe, Gladion and Lillie are exploring Galar together with new clothes and appear before a gym.
  • Sophocles is putting on a spacesuit.
  • Mallow's restaurant is twice as big and many people are helping her.
  • Goh is catching a Gliscor using a Infernape and a Buizel.
  • Chloe is in a brilliant cave and she finds a strange evolution stone that looks like the other evolution stones combined.
  • Team Rocket are in their police jobs investigating an abandonated Team Rocket hideout, and find a strange letter with a photo of someone who looks like Jessie...
To be continued, in your imagination...
 
I would've written Ash off In Gen 12.
First all, Pokemon Journeys would be overwritten by Pokemon: Sword and Shield Series where Ash and Goh travel around Galar and nearby regions for Ash to gather badges. Ash loses to Mustard in Top 4.
Instead of Pokemon Horizons it would be called: Pokemon: Scarlet and Violet series where Ash joins "school" to learn ways to become a CHampion and he officially does by entering champion's league( last league Ash participates) and beats Nemona and Geeta.
As of Gen 10, I would start PWC( which is only 3 gens unlike leagues which he would've gone for 9 gens) and Ash loses it two times. Master 8 would be called IMO Master 64. In series A of PWC( which is Gen 10) Ash is Top 16/Top 8, while in Series B( which is Gen 11) he's in Top 4.
In Series C( Gen 12) Ash becomes third Monarch. And after that we get MPM which would be 42 episodes in which Ash becomes World Monarch( Pokemon Master).
In those 42 episodes I would make all companions return while Misty and Brock are permanent. And have Ash's final tournament where 3 monarchs(Leon, Cynthia and Ash) and current world Monarch( his dad) fight.
Ash beats Leon, his dad beats Cynthia and FInale is Ash vs dad. Ash wins and becomes World Monarch( Pokemon Master).
 
Ash suddenly learns about this strange video game, anime, and manga series called Animals: You Gotta See 'Em! and at first finds them too boring, but ultimately starts to like it and then decides to create a franchise of his own called Pokemon, all becaused he loves video games centered around animals.
 
I asked an AI to write Ash off the series (just for fun). This is the AI's idea,

Title: Farewell, Ash Ketchum!

Synopsis: After years of traveling, battling, and making new friends, Ash Ketchum's journey as a Pokémon trainer has come to an end. In this emotional episode, Ash and his Pokémon team visit all of the friends and acquaintances they've made along the way, from Professor Oak to his fellow gym leaders.

As they make their way through the region, Ash reminisces about his most memorable battles, captures, and experiences. He also reflects on the lessons he's learned about friendship, teamwork, and perseverance.

Along the way, Ash encounters his rival, Gary Oak, who challenges him to one final battle. In a fierce and exciting showdown, Ash and Gary battle with all their strength and skill, each determined to come out on top.

In the end, Ash emerges victorious, and he and Gary share a heartfelt farewell. With tears in his eyes, Ash says goodbye to his Pokémon and all of his friends, thanking them for the memories and promising to keep their bonds alive in his heart.

As Ash walks away from the sunset, he knows that he's completed his journey as a Pokémon trainer, but also realizes that his love for Pokémon and the friends he's made will stay with him forever. The episode ends with a message of hope and inspiration for all aspiring trainers to follow their dreams and pursue their passions with all their hearts.


I can't say I really like the idea. It would be a very rushed episode and it would not make sense for Ash to say goodbye to his Pokémon.
 
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