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Alola League is probably gonna be 3v3 or 4v4 battles at this point.

Rath

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With only around 40 episodes left, there's not enough time for Ash to get two more Pokemon and have them be properly developed. Kiawe is also going to be in the League and only has two.

The only thing they can do at this point is for the Alola League not to have 6v6 battles. It's the only way.
 
I don't think the producers need to do a league, in fact I'm perfectly find if they decide to send Ash back to Kanto.

They have to do it because it's been brought up. Ash and Kiawe have both said they're entering, and Ilima has been asked to participate.

We've known about the League for over 50 episodes now, so it's not something that's going to be or can be dropped.

Ending this series without a league would get even more of a backlash than Ash losing the Kalos League did.
 
I don't think it would be an issue for the writers to give Ash two more Pokemon before the League. They've rushed the development of his Pokemon before, like with Goodra and Noivern, and they've given him late series additions for his teams too, so I don't think that alone would be too much of a problem.

The fact that hardly any of the other known or possible participates in the Alola League would have a full team is more of a concern though. Kiawe only has two Pokemon or three if we count his Ride Pokemon Charizard. They could give Gladion and Ilima full teams easily, but I still wouldn't be surprised if they tried to include the whole cast in the Alola League despite how hardly any of them are interested in battling. The idea of making the Alola League a big Battle Royal also doesn't sound like a huge stretch to me.
 
I'm sure there will be a league, but our expectations about it must be different. They already pulled out stuff like "Ash won't face all totem Pokemon" and "Not all trials involve Totem Pokemon", they can do whatever they can, like Sophocles & co. participating, the final battles being 3vs3, etc, it lasting less than 6 episodes, no stadium, etc.

This series might be the producers' way to tell us to stop caring about the league and its results. (Which is something I don't agree with at all, as it's supposed to be the key to Ash's dream and motivation. If "The journey and meeting Pokemon is what matters" then Ash should have become a Pokemon Master ages ago).
 
I'm sure there will be a league, but our expectations about it must be different. They already pulled out stuff like "Ash won't face all totem Pokemon" and "Not all trials involve Totem Pokemon", they can do whatever they can, like Sophocles & co. participating, the final battles being 3vs3, etc, it lasting less than 6 episodes, no stadium, etc.

This series might be the producers' way to tell us to stop caring about the league and its results. (Which is something I don't agree with at all, as it's supposed to be the key to Ash's dream and motivation. If "The journey and meeting Pokemon is what matters" then Ash should have become a Pokemon Master ages ago).

I think that might be reading in a bit too much about the series. They're going for a more laid back tone with SM and the Island Challenge is handled a lot differently than one would expect, but I don't think that the writers are telling fans to stop caring about the League. I think that they just wanted to do something different with SM. Whether or not those different ideas work is subjective, but I don't think that they're using those ideas to tell fans to not care about the League.
 
I think that might be reading in a bit too much about the series. They're going for a more laid back tone with SM and the Island Challenge is handled a lot differently than one would expect, but I don't think that the writers are telling fans to stop caring about the League. I think that they just wanted to do something different with SM. Whether or not those different ideas work is subjective, but I don't think that they're using those ideas to tell fans to not care about the League.

They can't make him win, so it's better for fans to stop caring about the League.

Honestly, the League can be 1v1s or not happen at all and I wouldn't care. People should have given up when Trollbias was used at the Sinnoh League.

Heck, all of Ash's journey after DP is pointless. He's accomplishing nothing.
 
They can't make him win, so it's better for fans to stop caring about the League.

Honestly, the League can be 1v1s or not happen at all and I wouldn't care. People should have given up when Trollbias was used at the Sinnoh League.

Heck, all of Ash's journey after DP is pointless. He's accomplishing nothing.
Dear SinnohEevee,
Saying that Ash didnt accomplished nothing after DP isnt true. He placed 2nd at the Kalos League and they used M.E. These are facts. My personal opinion is that Ash and Paul League battle was pretty underwelming, until Infernape vs Electrivire. But back to the topic, I know the writers are experimenting with Ash his team, but it got bland. The pokémon still feel the same, they didnt grow (personality wise) compared with 20 episodes ago. Rowlet still sleeps, Terrocat and Lycanrock still "fight".

Greetings
PetitEevee
 
They can't make him win, so it's better for fans to stop caring about the League.

Honestly, the League can be 1v1s or not happen at all and I wouldn't care. People should have given up when Trollbias was used at the Sinnoh League.

Heck, all of Ash's journey after DP is pointless. He's accomplishing nothing.

This is the kind of all or nothing attitude towards the League that always frustrates me. The notion that Ash has to win the League in order to make his journey meaningful is annoying and confusing. The show has always emphasized that it is the journey, not the destination, that is the important thing. Besides that, losing a tournament doesn't mean that the entire series was pointless. Saying that Ash accomplished nothing just because he lost to Tobias is absolutely ridiculous. That disregards his progress towards getting Infernape to master its own strength, his efforts to finally defeat Paul and how he played a key role in stopping Team Galactic. Not to mention his training helped to give Dawn inspiration for her combinations and vice versa. Just because he lost in the semi-finals doesn't change all of that. That was the highest rank Ash got in a Pokemon League at the time, so that was a pretty big deal. He was basically an honorary runner up since he was the only one who defeated Tobias' Darkrai.

I can understand being frustrated and disappointed that Ash doesn't win. I still find his loss to Alain far worse than his loss against Tobias for multiple reasons, but I don't think that made XY pointless either. In a way, the loss actually gave Ash a nice character moment since he was able to accept losing an important match after what happened in his attempt to get his eighth badge. Plus, getting to the finals proper shouldn't be overlooked either. That being said, I do think that fans tend to get too focused on the League results. I'm not saying that fans shouldn't care about them, but being this upset over Ash losing after all these years just seems like a waste of energy. It's like being upset that Ash is still the main character.

I still don't think the writers are telling fans to not care about the Leagues. If fans don't want to care about them, that's fine and up to them. I honestly don't know what to expect from the Alola League and I actually like SM. I just think it's a bit much to claim that the writers are handling the series to say that fans shouldn't care about the League.
 
The entire concept of League Conference time, in general, is something I'm frankly starting to lose interest in if I'll be completely honest. Most people here start getting so stressed over things like "results", "wasted time", "the next dream killer", et cetera, that it's actually beginning to feel rather draining. It's not fun or entertaining anymore, just some scheduled holiday where Bulbagarden's Pokéani watchers gather and let out a ton of ceaseless complaints. I want to just enjoy the whole thing for once. :(

If it really is true that we're being silently told to stop caring, then I don't bloody blame them at this point. They'd be absolutely right to nudge us that way because we do care too much about the whole thing. League time arrives, Ash inevitably gets beaten, we lose our heads, he goes to a new region, rinse and repeat. It's been the same old song and dance since at least DP and I'm tired of us always playing our role in this cycle.

Ash doesn't win these things, but he always picks up some damn good showings along the way when all is said and done. We just need to accept that and appreciate his efforts rather than once again clamour on about what could have been.
 
This is the kind of all or nothing attitude towards the League that always frustrates me. The notion that Ash has to win the League in order to make his journey meaningful is annoying and confusing. The show has always emphasized that it is the journey, not the destination, that is the important thing.

Except that becoming a Pokémon Master is given as the overall goal of the show. Winning a League seems to be one step along that path and if it is never done, Mastery is unattainable. Other people may solely enjoy the journey, but some would be fine with seeing its eventual end.

Returning to the topic at hand, if my research is right, Satoshi has always had at least one Full Battle in a League since Johto. I would assume he'll have one in Alola.
 
The entire concept of League Conference time, in general, is something I'm frankly starting to lose interest in if I'll be completely honest. Most people here start getting so stressed over things like "results", "wasted time", "the next dream killer", et cetera, that it's actually beginning to feel rather draining. It's not fun or entertaining anymore, just some scheduled holiday where Bulbagarden's Pokéani watchers gather and let out a ton of ceaseless complaints. I want to just enjoy the whole thing for once. :(

If it really is true that we're being silently told to stop caring, then I don't bloody blame them at this point. They'd be absolutely right to nudge us that way because we do care too much about the whole thing. League time arrives, Ash inevitably gets beaten, we lose our heads, he goes to a new region, rinse and repeat. It's been the same old song and dance since at least DP and I'm tired of us always playing our role in this cycle.

Ash doesn't win these things, but he always picks up some damn good showings along the way when all is said and done. We just need to accept that and appreciate his efforts rather than once again clamour on about what could have been.

The problem is that if this is the case and Ash is doomed to lose the League, then why should we be invested in his journey at all? I know that many say that that the journey is more important than the destination, but that only matters if the destination is eventually reached. If it's not reached, then what is the journey but a huge waste of time and energy, especially for those viewers that have been invested in Ash since the beginning? I think that Ash has to win the Alola League, or at least lose to a game character, preferably a player character from SM/USUM or Let's Go. Given the negative (to put it mildly) reaction to Ash's loss in the Kalos League, the writers have to do something big for the Alola League, especially since the Sun and Moon animé seems to have split the viewer base, or they'll risk alienating even more viewers, something I don't think they can afford given how the change in time slot has had a negative impact on both ratings and rankings in Japan.
 
The problem is that if this is the case and Ash is doomed to lose the League, then why should we be invested in his journey at all? I know that many say that that the journey is more important than the destination, but that only matters if the destination is eventually reached. If it's not reached, then what is the journey but a huge waste of time and energy, especially for those viewers that have been invested in Ash since the beginning?

How is the journey a waste of time just because he isn't the very best trainer in an entire region? Everyone in the world works hard towards things, improves, and almost everyone doesn't become the very best at it, but that doesn't make it a waste of time...

If Ash were Red the series would have been a lot shorter, or would have been extremely boring for quite a long time
 
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Quite frankly, I'm amazed they're even having a League at all when there's barely been any training or battling in this saga. Seriously, they'll go long stretches at a time without either in favor making SM into slice of life sitcom, or battles and training are short and ignored. It barely feels like Pocket Monsters part of the time. I get that that's the idea (they'd rather make Yokai Watch 2.0), but it's still awkward.
So yeah, how they're going handle this will be very interesting, one or the other...:cautious:

Personally, I think they should have Ash bring in some reserves (Kanto pokes for LG promotion), but yeah, he'll probably get some late, underdeveloped additions instead.
The really scary part is them doing it with everyone...:eek:
 
Except that becoming a Pokémon Master is given as the overall goal of the show. Winning a League seems to be one step along that path and if it is never done, Mastery is unattainable. Other people may solely enjoy the journey, but some would be fine with seeing its eventual end.

Becoming a Pokemon Master is Ash's goal, but I don't think I'd call the the overall goal of the show, if only because we still don't know what a Pokemon Master is. We know that winning a League and then the Champion League is a step towards that goal, but we didn't even learn that until DP, which at that point the anime had been running for well over ten years. I just wouldn't call something we hardly know anything about the overall goal of the show. The goal of the show is to showcase Ash and Pikachu's adventures across different regions. Granted, this has more to do with not getting any kind of closure for Ash rather than simply wanting to see him win a League like a lot of people want him to. I can understand wanting that closure, but at the same time, I think people are looking at the wrong show if they want a clear beginning, middle and end for Ash's character after over twenty years.

Bloodstained said:
Returning to the topic at hand, if my research is right, Satoshi has always had at least one Full Battle in a League since Johto. I would assume he'll have one in Alola.

He technically didn't have one in BW due to Cameron being too stupid to know what a full battle was, but other than that, it is true that he has had a fully battle in most Leagues. It's just hard to say for sure if they'll do it for the Alola League for a few reasons.

The problem is that if this is the case and Ash is doomed to lose the League, then why should we be invested in his journey at all? I know that many say that that the journey is more important than the destination, but that only matters if the destination is eventually reached. If it's not reached, then what is the journey but a huge waste of time and energy, especially for those viewers that have been invested in Ash since the beginning? I think that Ash has to win the Alola League, or at least lose to a game character, preferably a player character from SM/USUM or Let's Go. Given the negative (to put it mildly) reaction to Ash's loss in the Kalos League, the writers have to do something big for the Alola League, especially since the Sun and Moon animé seems to have split the viewer base, or they'll risk alienating even more viewers, something I don't think they can afford given how the change in time slot has had a negative impact on both ratings and rankings in Japan.

I don't think that Ash not winning a League or becoming a Pokemon Master makes the journey a waste of time and energy for fans. If you still enjoy watching the series, then I think it's worthwhile. Besides that, I'm not sure how many people that started watching the anime with the original series are still watching it now or want Ash to win a Pokemon League that badly. Considering how mixed SM is among the older fans, I'm not sure if Ash winning the Alola League would help the series or make people more upset about it. I'm not sure if losing to a character from the video games would be that much better than losing a League only rival either.

While the online community seems to be mixed on SM, although it's still not as bad as the reception towards BW was, I'm not sure if that's an accurate representation of how the kids watching the show feel about it. They're the target audience that the anime has to appeal to, not the teenagers or young adults who still watch the anime. We're far outside of the target demographic, so they're not focused on what older fans online say about the series. As far as ratings go, I don't think that really has any serious negative impact on the anime either. As long as the merchandise sells well enough, which it does, then the ratings aren't really that important, especially in this day and age where you can watch anything you want at anytime online.

Quite frankly, I'm amazed they're even having a League at all when there's barely been any training or battling in this saga. Seriously, they'll go long stretches at a time without either in favor making SM into slice of life sitcom, or battles and training are short and ignored. It barely feels like Pocket Monsters part of the time. I get that that's the idea (they'd rather make Yokai Watch 2.0), but it's still awkward.
So yeah, how they're going handle this will be very interesting, one or the other...:cautious:

Personally, I think they should have Ash bring in some reserves (Kanto pokes for LG promotion), but yeah, he'll probably get some late, underdeveloped additions instead.
The really scary part is them doing it with everyone...:eek:

I know that people liked comparing SM to Yokai Watch when it first started, but I can't really see that much similarities between them based on what little I know and have seen of the series. To SM's credit, I enjoy the series and most of the episodes, while I couldn't last through five minutes of Yokai Watch. It's hard to say if that was due to the dub, the series itself or both.
 
It's easier to appreciate a kids' show as an adult if you've been watching it for 20 years, even if it changes along the way.

That could be a factor, but I'm not sure if it would be a huge one. I've been watching Yu-Gi-Oh! nearly as long as Pokemon and there are some series in that franchise that I really don't care for at all. Plus, there are plenty of new or recent shows aimed at kids that I can enjoy, so I don't think my history with Pokemon is the only reason why I can enjoy SM while not particularly care for Yokai Watch.
 
This is the kind of all or nothing attitude towards the League that always frustrates me. The notion that Ash has to win the League in order to make his journey meaningful is annoying and confusing. The show has always emphasized that it is the journey, not the destination, that is the important thing. Besides that, losing a tournament doesn't mean that the entire series was pointless. Saying that Ash accomplished nothing just because he lost to Tobias is absolutely ridiculous. That disregards his progress towards getting Infernape to master its own strength, his efforts to finally defeat Paul and how he played a key role in stopping Team Galactic. Not to mention his training helped to give Dawn inspiration for her combinations and vice versa. Just because he lost in the semi-finals doesn't change all of that. That was the highest rank Ash got in a Pokemon League at the time, so that was a pretty big deal. He was basically an honorary runner up since he was the only one who defeated Tobias' Darkrai.

I can understand being frustrated and disappointed that Ash doesn't win. I still find his loss to Alain far worse than his loss against Tobias for multiple reasons, but I don't think that made XY pointless either. In a way, the loss actually gave Ash a nice character moment since he was able to accept losing an important match after what happened in his attempt to get his eighth badge. Plus, getting to the finals proper shouldn't be overlooked either. That being said, I do think that fans tend to get too focused on the League results. I'm not saying that fans shouldn't care about them, but being this upset over Ash losing after all these years just seems like a waste of energy. It's like being upset that Ash is still the main character.

I still don't think the writers are telling fans to not care about the Leagues. If fans don't want to care about them, that's fine and up to them. I honestly don't know what to expect from the Alola League and I actually like SM. I just think it's a bit much to claim that the writers are handling the series to say that fans shouldn't care about the League.

I said everything was pointless after DP. He reached his culmination and it ended. He's not going to advance any further. In fact, he got regressed in BW and this may happen again as the target audience wouldn't care.

I have to say I no longer care about Ash's journey and League scores. He's going to do the same thing over and over for eternity and be back to square one at the beginning of the next series. So everything he does is pointless because it will go out of the window when a new series starts.
 
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