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Did they? Unless things changed post-Gen III (which I admit is very likely considering how many years have passed), the only times I have seen Ash's dad referenced where in the Viridian City episode (apparently a dub-only line?) and Shudo's plans. If I'm wrong about this please correct me.

Well, Lance is still there. My guess is he represents Johto and Kanto because Gary never even got close to being a Champion. Sure, they could have retconned that so Kanto and Johto had separate champions, but I don't know what excuse they would use for him to be there.

The term is "Diabolus ex Machina". A Deus ex Machina would have been something positive, like that one move Red's Pikachu used on Lugia in Adventures.

You could make a case for Max being based on a Schoolkid, so he's a borderline example.

I guess it depends on if you're a fan of the series and if you think they seriously deserved that. I feel that some American cartoonists might agree with his feelings, considering I have seen some series that were cancelled for those same reasons.

I've heard the term "torch the franchise and run", but damn...

There's also the fact that some of Shudo's ideas sounded way too cynical in my opinion. Like losing your gym if you lost three consecutive battles or Ash's dad being a loser whose idealized image Ash had of him were lies fed by his mother. For some people it might sound good, but it kinda...

I kinda feel there might have been some executive meddling back then, considering how weird it was to eliminate Blue Gary without fighting Ash once.