A tough choice for you all...

[Lanstar]

I was going to post this in the improvement thread, but I thought it would make an interesting poll for you all...

To me, the following choices would be the biggest way that the anime could be improved:

1. Let Ash grow as a trainer, without resorting to the reset button on him after every series.

or

2. Replace him with a fresh new lead that has the actual room to believably grow in conjunction to the classic Pokemon plot line.

Looking at it in terms of how the anime is made, there is extra work to either approach:

Choosing the first involves improving upping the story line, power curve, and decision making to realistically match the progression of Ash towards his goal to being the best. Indeed, this means a drastic change in the anime department to invest upon him, as they can't just reuse the same common plotline mechanics in reboots, nor the 'newness' of the region, to hold back the progression of him and his powerful Pokemon of the past.

Choosing the second involves loosing the dependency of Ash as an icon, and making sure the replacement can easily (out)match him in several aspects. This also means the anime would have to up their game to make the new main character relatable, deep in development, and be worthwhile to follow, even if new. Sure, one could use the same plotline elements of a reboot, but they must be well written, compared to the past.

I'd be happy if either change happened:

One keeps the growth onward to keep adding onto - which improves the morality and believability of Ash as a person, and his actual goal at large - and would make the anime so much more memorable and justifiable to watch.

The other would acknowledge the role of the anime in relation to the games, plus acknowledgement that making a new character go through similar trials and progressions within the well known game arc would be much more believable and moral than having the same character who went so far into last arc totally regress to scratch in order to follow the same footsteps.

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Now, of course, I know many of you wouldn't have liked either choice... That's okay - those are your opinions! However, there is no "Neither" in this poll - if you don't like either you must chose the lesser of the two 'evils' if you wish to vote. I'm mean that way. ^_^

Why a poll here? Well... I think it would be interesting to see how people would feel about the plot dilemmas, and the role of the Anime in the Pokeverse.

EDIT: I will also add this: This poll assumes that there is one major law change in the anime: No character regression allowed - not even for the newer protagonist! Should there progress stop for the new protagonist after a new series appears, another one replaces it.

 

[Shadao]

After XY&Z, I feel it's the right time to close Ash's story as a Pokémon Trainer/Master (just altered a few things near the end and we're good). Because of that and because I fear that marketing will get in the way of long-term stories, I choose new protagonist.

 

[Keshav]

New protagonist

 

[Ryu Taylor]

I really don't care what they do to Ash (well, except if they permanently kill him off; then I'd be a bit upset). But since there's no such option on the poll, I picked the first option.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

Ash is the best so I think he will stay. No point in new character since he/she would do exactly what Ash does. Just do a spin-off with new main character while keeping Ash as the main character of the main series.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I went with the first option. While I wouldn't be heartbroken if Ash was somehow replaced, I don't really think that it would make sense to replace him at this point. It's way too late in the game for that option to be even considered a possibility. I think that they can make Ash as the lead work with his progression acknowledged and his skills in tack. Plus, I don't see a huge advantage with a new lead since I'm not sure if he'd be different enough to make him distinct from Ash.

 

[~ Blazing White Yang]

I feel like he's peaked with X&Y, and that they've exhausted the character. In previous Generations he typically had some long standing struggle or obstacle to overcome, but here he's largely been treated like this experienced and heroic figure to be admired. That coupled with the newer games bending the Pokemon League tradition (which means that the show has to change the core journey anyway...), I think it would've been a fine time to close him out. But alas :<

I would rather see newer protagonists at this point. I did find myself really liking the stories behind XY side characters like Alain and Korrina, so I honestly think they could do it if they cared to.

 

[Lyrebird]

Replace Ash with a strong, intelligent woman.

 

[Gengarzilla]

I conversely see XY as a reason to keep Ash, if I'll be honest. He became so competent this time around and came so close to finally winning a league conference after nearly twenty years. Regardless of our opinions on his opponent or the result of that battle, it can't be ignored that Ash has had a very good run in Kalos.

Good enough, in fact, that I want to see where Alola takes him. It's disheartening that the writers chose to stick with their status quo after all the hype and previous instances of shattering this (no Grass starter, evolved Water starter, fully evolved Water starter, fully evolved team barring Pikachu, pseudo-legendary), but seeing him get as close as possible without actually winning was something to see.

If they wanted a new protagonist, I say that it should have been done for AG. That ship's long since sailed now.

 

[Kirby4ever]

The option to change into a new protagonist is in generation 2 and that was a long time ago. Since they never replaced Ash back then and he has never been replaced, Ash is here to stay even if you them to replace him even though it's not going to happen. Ash is the main character and he'll forever be the main character.

 

[KatsumiChris1991]

If they didn't do it after DP then they won't happen. Although I was they didn't reset him when BW started

 

[SammyW27]

As much as I want Ash gone and replaced by a new hero, it would be just too awkward now.

They had their chance to replace him in AG. Now it's far, far too late.

Me and a bunch of people are so tired of him, but now it would just be pointless and confusing after 20 years...

 

[Jukain]

No option will ever have the desired effect until they can actually write a decent story.

 

[Shadao]

I see that many people would prefer Ash to continue as the main protagonist progressing as a character than have him replaced with a new character. I can understand that feeling and had this been near the end of Diamond and Pearl and the beginning of Best Wishes, I would advocate for Ash to stay as I feel there are some stuff that can be done with him that is simply not him just progressing forward to the League (namely N and the philosophy of capturing/releasing Pokémon).

However, we are at XY&Z and I feel different with Ash this time around. Particularly his achievements and how he is viewed by the rest of the world. I've made a character progression analysis when it comes to Ash, from Kanto to Kalos. And the more I look at it, the more I realize how much of a perfect ending XY&Z is for Ash. The Kalos League, the Team Flare climax, and Ash-Greninja. Combined with the 20th anniversary of Pokémon, it seems appropriate to start off fresh with a new protagonist instead of relying on the old.

As much as many people wants to Ash to progress even further or argue that there is no point of replacing Ash now, we have to consider the change in premise that is school setting. After 19 years of Gyms and Leagues, they now decide to freshen up the old formula with something that is relatable to kids. It's still funny to think about in a bittersweet way. Had I told you all that the next generation will have Ash go to school instead of challenging Gyms for the next League three years ago, you would probably laugh at me and say that is never going to happen because it either sounds stupid or nothing like Pokémon. Some would even argue that the anime producers haven't broken the strictly formula for years and thus there is no reason to believe they would now as Gyms and Leagues are an iconic staple in the Pokémon anime.

Well, it's not a joke anymore. And since they would be willingly to break the old formula after 19 years of airing, the justification of keeping Ash and Pikachu out of iconic imagery becomes weak in my opinion. And really, given that there has been less (almost zero) references to the old continuity in XY&Z, there's not even a nostalgic reason to keep Ash now. I have to accept that the anime follows the games and whatever the games decree to be direction first and foremost. Because of this, it is difficult for the anime to keep Ash progressing as a character without suffering a reset of some kind to make things a bit more challenging. But a new protagonist or a new incarnation of Ash won't have that same issue. And to me, it's never too late to replace an old main character with a new one.

Otherwise, they would have never changed the formula of the Gyms to that of a school. Or give him a set of classmates instead of small group. That's a risky move regardless if Ash was in it or not. Especially after 19 years of same old traditional stuff.

 

[Sakuraa]

It's not a hard choice for me at all. I'll always vote for character replacement. The Pokemon anime is already repetitive as it is, and keeping the same main protagonist only makes it even more boring imo. With new characters we could have seen new personalities, new battle styles, and more. I really wish they would have replaced Ash with someone new in AG and onwards.

 

[Decaboyz]

I voted for no 1. I think Ash character was very inspiring for kids. Keep moving forward even after a huge loss and disappointments really grows on me.

 

[Lanstar]

(Just know that I didn't vote in the poll, as I still like both options)

Interesting results here. So, if I see things correctly as of now, more of you see Ash as the huge draw of the Anime - to a point that more would rather see the reset button removed than him...

From this, imagine how the plot would come to. If the power curve keeps growing in development, so do the powers of the characters around him. Think of the measures Team Rocket would have to go to matching him as he gets stronger, even after the league, or how he would relate to his surrounding travelers. The relationships between the brand new Pokemon he would capture and his previously used Pokemon would be quite interesting to see as well - A Rowlet in comparison to Ash Greninja, as a made up example. The challenges he'd have to face to suppliment the growth would also need to be believable in order for this to work.

In many ways, it could be kind of like if the plot curve of One Piece, Dragon Ball, or Naruto met the Pokemon World! It sounds fun to imagine how episodes could look like if this came to being... Although whether or not this could conflict with the role of the Anime to advertise the newer Pokemon games could be debatable. Not that the conflict would be a bad thing.

 

[PyroPokeman]

Lupin the 3rd, Detective Conan, The Simpsons

I've named a couple series that have lots of content while keeping the same character(s). Ash can work, they don't need to reset every single time to the point of goign to zero.
One of the things I kinda like about the Pokemon anime is how organic it feels sometimes. Pikachu isn't level 99, or some card monster with 4000 attack points with some effect to destroy the field and negate effects. None of the Pokemon are like that. They are creatures. Just supernatural creatures. The writers have a lot of flexibility because of that, like Ash's strategies in Hoenn and Sinnoh, Thunder armor and the back spin attack, respectively.

Because he gets new Pokemon every gen, the power scaling is a bit balanced for the most part (unless they pull some garbage like Snivy vs Pikachu in BW) so all they have to do is make cool battles.

 

[Almonds]

I want the anime to give Ash a good send-off since we've seen all of him - Ash as a noob, Ash as mentor, Ash as a competent rival, Ash as an idiot, and Ash as a veteran. And we saw Ash in all his glory during XY and XY&Z despite the league loss. Alain was a nice change of air as a separate protagonist for the ME specials and there certainly had been speculations whether the anine team were testing how a different protagonist would be received.

But they're just never going let go of Ash. If you reached the top of the mountain, you can't stay there forever. Sooner or later, you're going to have to come down but whether you walk with your own feet, get dragged down by someone else, it's up to you to make the decision.

 

[Johtohfiller]

If I were in charge I wouldn't fully replace Ash, but change his role. Give him a final series as protag with lots of foreshadowing that it's leading up to a finale. Tons of continuity with lots of old characters reappearing. Ash uses lots of old Pokemon. The series ends with Ash taking on the Champion League and beating a Champion (Cynthia plz), he's still not a Master but he's well on his way, etc.

Next series starts with a timeskip, new protagonist but with Ash as a mentor so he still has a presence.