ASH AND ALOLA LEAGUE

[Rath]

For the record, this will not be an ordinary League.

This will be a Don Battle Tournament with the dressing of a League. Everyone is participating.

And subsequently, all eyes on the narrative. Especially with your boy Guzma.

We should always remember that Ash did win a League: The Orange League. And that didn't stop him from going to Johto.

Everything we've seen suggests that this is an ordinary League.

 

[Pulsaro23]

The trip to Kanto isn't a pattern-breaker, it was forced because of the show's 20th anniversary.

Nobody forced the writers to send Ash back to Kanto for the 20th anniversary. It was their choice. If they wanted to, they could have done something else in order to celebrate 20 years of Pokémon, but instead they choose to do more OG pandering.

None of the stuff you listed are pattern-breakers.

Mind going into detail? Maybe explain why you think that what I said isn't pattern-breaking? No? Just gonna make that claim and leave it at that? Okaaay, then allow me to provide a reason as to why what I said is a case of pattern-breaking:

In all of the previous series, Ash would always travel around the region he's journeying through, accompanied by a group of 2/3 friends. Whenever Team Rocket would be defeated, they would be sent blasting off (for the most part), every time Ash and his friends would meet a Mythical, none of them would try to catch it (even in cases where it was established that there are multiple of its kind (like with Meltan)) and every time he returned to Kanto, it was either at the end of the journey or in order for him to journey through Kanto again.

All of this things I just listed always happened in all of the previous series, so it's safe to call them patterns. The fact that they aren't implemented in Sun & Moon means that those patterns have been broken. It's as simple as that.

As for Alain, the New Year's history special didn't include him among Ash's rivals, but Sawyer was included.

No idea what that is and not really sure how it affects Alain's status as a main rival.

And Ash and Gladion were clearly evenly matched in their last battle, with Gladion only winning due to pulling an Ash Pull himself. Rockruff vs Lycanroc was interrupted, and Type: Null is a legendary. It's hard to really say who's stronger when Ash has only ever used one Pokemon (Rockruff/Lycanroc) against him.

Well, if both Silvally and Lycanroc were able to defeat the strongest Pokémon Ash has at the moment, it's safe to assume that they would wipe the floor with the rest of Ash's team (especially since Silvally can change it's type to something super-effective against any of Ash's Pokémon). And I wouldn't say that Gladion won the last battle thanks to an Ash Pull, since using the opponent's attacks in order to snap your own Pokémon out of confusion is a strategy that has been used multiple times in past series iirc (unlike most Ash Pulls of this series, which happen whenever the plot needs a reason for Ash not to lose and are pulled out of nowhere).

 

[Shadao]

Everything we've seen suggests that this is an ordinary League.

A tournament? Yes. But the stakes are quite lower. No Elite Four to contend to for the winner. No Champion to overthrow. No Gym Badges. And no need for a full team.

In other words, it might as well be a regular tournament. It doesn't matter who actually wins.

Thus, everything is up in the air.

 

[Rath]

A tournament? Yes. But the stakes are quite lower. No Elite Four to contend to for the winner. No Champion to overthrow. No Gym Badges. And no need for a full team.

In other words, it might as well be a regular tournament. It doesn't matter who actually wins.

Thus, everything is up in the air.

It's a newly founded league. Whoever wins becomes the first Champion of Alola.

 

[Shadao]

It's a newly founded league. Whoever wins becomes the first Champion of Alola.

And do you have to stay in Alola if you win?

Ultimately, becoming the Alola Champion has just as much effect as becoming the Orange League Champion. There's no Elite Four to contend to after the League. There is no ace Champion to unseat. In other words, it doesn't matter who wins in the end because ultimately, I don't think the fans would count this one as an official League (otherwise, they would have to admit that the Orange League is an official League).

 

[Rath]

And do you have to stay in Alola if you win?

Ultimately, becoming the Alola Champion has just as much effect as becoming the Orange League Champion. There's no Elite Four to contend to after the League. There is no ace Champion to unseat. In other words, it doesn't matter who wins in the end because ultimately, I don't think the fans would count this one as an official League (otherwise, they would have to admit that the Orange League is an official League).

Orange League was a filler arc that was entirely made up for the anime. Neither the Orange Leagues nor their League actually existed in the games. That's why fans don't count it.

Alola and its League do exist in the games, so the fans don't have a choice but to count it, whether they like or not.

 

[Shadao]

Orange League was a filler arc that was entirely made up for the anime. Neither the Orange Leagues nor their League actually existed in the games. That's why fans don't count it.

Alola and its League do exist in the games, so the fans don't have a choice but to count it, whether they like or not.

Unlikely. Already, I see people moving the goalpost in the event that Ash wins this League even before the announcement of the rules was made. Sure it's a game League, but it wasn't the "classic" Game Leagues from Gen I-VI.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

So going off of SM115, it looks like we are gonna see a much different league this time around. It seems that Kiawe, Lillie, Mallow, Lana, Sophocles, and even Team Rocket are interested in joining the league.

 

[MegaGreninga]

So Ash entire class are all entering the Alola league??? Even team rocket but how they didn’t do the Alola trials

 

[Rath]

Unlikely. Already, I see people moving the goalpost in the event that Ash wins this League even before the announcement of the rules was made. Sure it's a game League, but it wasn't the "classic" Game Leagues from Gen I-VI.

What people think is irrelevant. It's a regional league, so the goalpost is glued down and can't be moved.

 

[Pulsaro23]

So Ash entire class are all entering the Alola league??? Even team rocket but how they didn’t do the Alola trials

Well, apparently it's going to be a more tournament-style league than a traditional one. Which means that there aren't any requirements for entering outside of signing up.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

If there's really no requirement, what was the whole point of Ash going around and facing the Kahunas? The whole Island Challenge really was an afterthought after all.

 

[yab]

Well people always wanted to see a female companion enter the league since the show started rather than be relegated to the sidelines or for Contests, hard to believe the SM anime is the first one to do that. Never thought I'd be seeing female companions compete against Ash in the league.

 

[Rath]

If there's really no requirement, what was the whole point of Ash going around and facing the Kahunas? The whole Island Challenge really was an afterthought after all.

To get Z-Crystals for his team? The Island Challenge is for trainers who want to get stronger. The League is open to anyone because it's new, just like in the video games.

 

[yab]

Kiawe and Lana are the most battle oriented of the SM companions, I imagine they will get the furthest while Mallow/Sophocles/Lillie lose the first rounds.

 

[MegaGreninga]

Well, apparently it's going to be a more tournament-style league than a traditional one. Which means that there aren't any requirements for entering outside of signing up.

So Team rocket is entering as well but I don’t understand don’t they need 6 Pokémon a full team

Ash has 5 right now unless Sungalo or Poipole returns to help or one of his older Pokémon comes back from the lab

Team rocket also joining the league for the first time but they don’t have 6 Pokémon unless they ask for their older Pokémon to enter unless only Jessie or James enter with Meowth, Mimikyu, Wabbafet, With Bewear if they ask??

Mallow has one Pokémon maybe she could ask that Orguonu to enter with her lol

Kiwai has 3 Pokémon

And water trainer has two pokemon

Lillie has one Pokémon

Spoloich has two Pokémon

 

[Pulsaro23]

So Team rocket is entering as well but I don’t understand don’t they need 6 Pokémon a full team

Ash has 5 right now unless Sungalo or Poipole returns to help or one of his older Pokémon comes back from the lab

Team rocket also joining the league for the first time but they don’t have 6 Pokémon unless they ask for their older Pokémon to enter unless only Jessie or James enter with Meowth, Mimikyu, Wabbafet, With Bewear if they ask??

Mallow has one Pokémon maybe she could ask that Orguonu to enter with her lol

Kiwai has 3 Pokémon

And water trainer has two pokemon

Lillie has one Pokémon

Spoloich has two Pokémon

Again, this league seems to be following a tournament-style. Which means that the trainers that participate in it aren't required to have a full team.

 

[MegaGreninga]

Again, this league seems to be following a tournament-style. Which means that the trainers that participate in it aren't required to have a full team.

Oh.
It’s going to be weird I prefer 6 Pokémon battle

Also why was team skull leader mad he punch the wall maybe because he lost the battle to Ash since pokemon retreat to be weaken by Pikachu

He probably said as lies to Ash that Pikachu was the one weakened didn’t need to battle any more

 

[Hidden Mew]

Orange League was a filler arc that was entirely made up for the anime. Neither the Orange Leagues nor their League actually existed in the games. That's why fans don't count it.

Alola and its League do exist in the games, so the fans don't have a choice but to count it, whether they like or not.

I never quite understood this logic. Sure, the Orange Islands and the Orange League were made up for the anime, but it wasn't filler in the traditional sense. Important events still happened, such as Brock leaving and Charizard starting to listen to Ash, and those events were still referenced/carried over into future series. It's not like you can skip all of the Orange Islands arc and go right into Johto without missing anything. Not counting the Orange League victory simply because it doesn't exist in the games always seemed like such a weird reason to discount that victory. It wasn't a traditional League, but he still defeated the Orange League Champion and entered the Hall of Fame, so I think that should count for something regardless the Orange Islands being an anime only area.

So going off of SM115, it looks like we are gonna see a much different league this time around. It seems that Kiawe, Lillie, Mallow, Lana, Sophocles, and even Team Rocket are interested in joining the league.

I had a feeling that they would want the classmates in the Alola League, but I didn't think Team Rocket would be interested in joining in. I guess that this is the only time where they could potentially have every established character participate in an official Pokemon League and they want to roll with it.

If there's really no requirement, what was the whole point of Ash going around and facing the Kahunas? The whole Island Challenge really was an afterthought after all.

It does give Ash's team different Z-Crystals, but it seems like it was mainly done just to promote the games more than anything else if it doesn't factor into how Ash gets into the Alola League. Even making his team stronger would be almost a moot point considering how he would rarely bring up the Island Challenge.

To get Z-Crystals for his team? The Island Challenge is for trainers who want to get stronger. The League is open to anyone because it's new, just like in the video games.

I thought that the Alola League was only available to those who completed the Island Challenge in the games. I could be mixing it up with how the Pokemon League was available after you completed the Island Challenge though.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

A way to ensure that effectively not everyone is not kicked out in the first round could be to have a few qualification rounds which remove people like Lillie and Sophocles, and those with only one Pokémon.

I predict that as a nod to Ash's loss in OS due to Charizard, TRio will lose in this league due to Mimikyu not obeying Jessie against an otherwise manageable opponent.