Could Satoshi actually WIN the Higaki Conference?

[WatcherMark]

Ok, bear with me here... but for some reason I could actually see Satoshi winning the Higaki Conference.

Personally, I don't believe Satoshi actually deserves to win but logic isn't an issue here. I think the way things have been set up he actually does stand a fair chance from a writers POV. Here's my theory:

Satoshi got through Isshu quick, second only to Kanto time-wise. The reason for this I believe is so Satoshi can go on an Elite Four quest... it's already been established that Isshu has a Champions League, so we know the Elite are waiting. I've always reasoned that if Satoshi was to go after the Elite Four he would have to visit them at different sites similar to the Battle Frontier. Also, don't forget that there's nowhere set up in the games that Satoshi could reasonably go after. I doubt he's going to waste a year trying to make an awesome movie at PokeWood and I don't think the writers would create a league again... but having said that, Satoshi's challenging the Elite Four and winning allowing him to face Adeku would be similar to the Orange League.

Also, there's enough leftover locations from BW2 that Satoshi could travel to... Black City/White Forest, Hiougi (Aspertia) City, Sangi (Floccesy) Town, Yamaji (Lentimas) Town. Any of them could be used as E4 waiting places.

Also, there's the question of Iris... it's been established that Iris is being considered to replace Drayden as Gym Leader so when Satoshi leaves Isshu then Iris could reasonably stay behind when Satoshi heads back to Kanto.

Finally, the opening shows all of Satoshi's older Pokemon. If they're going to be added to his rotations, surely it would be good for him to do it while facing the E4. Also, the final episode of D&P (slightly) hinted at Satoshi getting a match against Shirona... ok so it'd probably be Adeku but still, getting a shot at the Champions League is the next logical step for Satoshi and even if he didn't win I'd still feel satisfied that he was slowly but surely improving.

So, Satoshi winning the league... thoughts everyone?

 

[Silktree]

So, Satoshi winning the league... thoughts everyone?

The fact that Kotetsu is confirmed to face Ash for either the Top 4 or Top 8 position, strongly indicates that Ash isn't going to win the league. The reason for this is that Ash will have to battle at least two more opponents after Kotetsu, and yet Virgil is the only established rival left. Expecting a major opponent to be introduced out of nowhere isn't realistic, especially considering that the league participants are all bland-looking (except perhaps for Dino from the Don Battle tournament, but he didn't stand out at all personality-wise or Pokémon-wise).

Also, there's enough leftover locations from BW2 that Satoshi could travel to... Black City/White Forest, Hiougi (Aspertia) City, Sangi (Floccesy) Town, Yamaji (Lentimas) Town. Any of them could be used as E4 waiting places.

None of those are important locations. Surely it would have made more sense to keep East Unova unexplored had the writers planned on keeping Ash in Unova after the league.

 

[Cybersai]

So, Satoshi winning the league... thoughts everyone?

The fact that Kotetsu is confirmed to face Ash for either the Top 4 or Top 8 position, strongly indicates that Ash isn't going to win the league. The reason for this is that Ash will have to battle at least two more opponents after Kotetsu, and yet Virgil is the only established rival left. Expecting a major opponent to be introduced out of nowhere isn't realistic, especially considering that the league participants are all bland-looking (except perhaps for Dino from the Don Battle tournament, but he didn't stand out at all personality-wise or Pokémon-wise).

Also, there's enough leftover locations from BW2 that Satoshi could travel to... Black City/White Forest, Hiougi (Aspertia) City, Sangi (Floccesy) Town, Yamaji (Lentimas) Town. Any of them could be used as E4 waiting places.

None of those are important locations. Surely it would have made more sense to keep East Unova unexplored had the writers planned on keeping Ash in Unova after the league.

If Kotetsu is Top 4 than the Virgil match would be the finals. If Ash loses he'd come in second.

 

[DynoStretch]

Doubtful. Virgil's being set-up as Mr. I-Only-Exist-To-Beat-Ash-In-The-League, inheriting the title of mature, flawless, personality-less super trainer from Richie, Harrison, Tyson and Tobias.

 

[Silktree]

If Kotetsu is Top 4 than the Virgil match would be the finals. If Ash loses he'd come in second.

He definitely isn't. We know that the battle will be part of the fourth round, which means that Ash will only have made it to the Top 8 or 16 by then (depending on whether or not the preliminaries count as the first round).

 

[Master Cyrus]

Watchermark are you by anychance an alt of the fighting misty?

No he will never win a league so long as Ash will remain the main character.

 

[Robo-Floatzel]

It's possible, since Ash has lost every tournament in BW so far, and having him lose a fourth one would be a bad record, plus they haven't even announced the Gen 6 games at all (or even a Gen 6 pre-launch Pokemon for that matter), and I'm not sure what exactly they can do until the Gen 6 games come out, I mean, they can't have Ash spend all his time at Poke-Star Studios making movies, he's already battled the Subway Twins, and they already screwed up the PWT with the alleged "Junior Cup", so the only thing they really CAN do is have Ash win the league this time and then go into a champion league by fighting the Elite Four.

Alternatively, they could introduce Team Plasma and have a Team Plasma arc, but knowing the usual nature and formula of the anime, that's unlikely to happen. My worst fear is that they go into pointless filler arcs with no plot direction, like Naruto and Bleach have done in the past in order to save time before the Gen 6 games come out.

To be honest, Best Wishes has pretty much been unpredictable this whole time, so anything is possible really.

Doubtful. Virgil's being set-up as Mr. I-Only-Exist-To-Beat-Ash-In-The-League, inheriting the title of mature, flawless, personality-less super trainer from Richie, Harrison, Tyson and Tobias.

Agreed there, Virgil seems like the kind of generic personality-less god-trainer who was written only to defeat Ash and not have him win a league at all, more importantly is his all-Eevee team, which is basically an excuse for them to sell Eevee products and nothing more.

 

[PokeMasterCroatia1997]

He will not be defeated by anyone! Not even Virgil or Bianca! Since it is confirmed that Ash will beat Trip, Stephan and Kotetsu.

 

[Silktree]

and they already screwed up the PWT with the alleged "Junior Cup",

That logic doesn't work. The in-game World Tournament has a variety of different tournaments (one of them being the Driftveil Tournament, which is similar to the Junior Cup), so saying that the Junior Cup ruined all of those possibilities is a vast exaggeration. The very name of the Junior Cup implies that there are other cups with a higher level of difficulty.

He will not be defeated by anyone! Not even Virgil or Bianca! Since it is confirmed that Ash will beat Trip, Stephan and Kotetsu.

Last I checked Virgil was a different person than Trip, Stephan and Kotetsu.

 

[Ashfangirl22]

I don't think its a good idea for Ash to win this league, this series his Pokemon needed more training and I think he still needs improvement. I'm rooting for him in the next league though, hopefully he gets back to his AG self at least.

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

Satoshi got through Isshu quick, second only to Kanto time-wise. The reason for this I believe is so Satoshi can go on an Elite Four quest... it's already been established that Isshu has a Champions League, so we know the Elite are waiting.

Kind of like the way DP established a Champion League, too.

Finally, the opening shows all of Satoshi's older Pokemon. If they're going to be added to his rotations, surely it would be good for him to do it while facing the E4.

Spurt! also showed all of his older Pokemon, even those that were released, and that didn't hint anything.

I'm sorry, but I just don't see Ash winning the league this time. Of course the writers will have to fill time with some sort of event until the next generation, but... perhaps that's where Looker comes in...

 

[Yankees4life]

the writers always find a way to screw Ash over...

 

[WatcherMark]

Spurt! also showed all of his older Pokemon, even those that were released, and that didn't hint anything.

But he was using his older Pokemon during Battle Frontier... ok, not all of them appeared but he was dipping into his reserves at that point.

 

[Metan]

Uhm, a hard subject to be predicted. After defeating Kotetsu, who has quite the team, he should be able to go through Virgil and anyone else like a tractor run over a garden, but who knows what the writers are planning to :T

 

[Chiss]

(Maybe Satoshi is going to lose against Iris. >)

 

[Chaosblazer]

funny thing is if he did win people would complain about it, because the fandom can not be satisfied

 

[Miar]

My (hypothetical) money's still on him losing the quarterfinals.

He's simply not that good. How far he gets depends on what the plot wants.

There'll always be someone better (in-universe)
And there's always more money to be made (out-of-universe)

 

[Cybersai]

Considering there is no reason Ash's Unova team shouldn't be able to beat Eeveelutions, I don't see the problem.

If anything Kotetsu's team seems much stronger than Virgils, yet we know Ash will likely beat him.

 

[Ashs Battle Coach]

If the writers want him to win then the'll have him win.

Do they want him to win though? I doubt it.

Would it be realistic if he did? Nope

His team just isn't developed enough. They just don't feel like a team that could win a league. In Sinnoh I could see him winning it, but here, no way.

But here's a more logical reason for Ash not to win. The Kotetsu battle is in the 4th round, which means there are 16 competitors left. This is also a 6 v 6 match, so its safe to say that the rest of the tournament will be 6 v 6 battles. That means that if Ash beats Kotetsu, which I believe he will, he still has 3 challengers left for him to beat in order to win the entire thing. Now the only established rival left at this point is Virgil, who fits all the criteria set by past leagues as the guy to beat Ash. This means that Ash would have to beat 2 random cotd/ts in order to win. If this were the case then they should be the quarter and the semi matches, because the writers aren't likely to have Ash face someone in the final that the audience don't know or care about.

So, are the writers going to have Ash beat Virgil than have him have full battles against random's no one cares about? Unlikely. That would be pretty poor story telling and a very anticlimactic way to end the league. Are they going to have Ash breeze through the Quarter and Semis with a bunch of montage clips, keeping in mind these are 6 v 6 battles, to then face Virgil in the Finals? Also very Unlikely, that again would just be really really disappointing and poor storytelling.

Honestly, the only thing I can see happening Is that Ash loses to Virgil for a top 8 spot, Or given the recent revelation that Kotetsu has a Hydreigon, he loses to him and gets top 16. Then those 2 can have a quick match to end the league then one of them goes on to win.

 

[Cybersai]

If the writers want him to win then the'll have him win.

Do they want him to win though? I doubt it.

Would it be realistic if he did? Nope

His team just isn't developed enough. They just don't feel like a team that could win a league. In Sinnoh I could see him winning it, but here, no way.

But here's a more logical reason for Ash not to win. The Kotetsu battle is in the 4th round, which means there are 16 competitors left. This is also a 6 v 6 match, so its safe to say that the rest of the tournament will be 6 v 6 battles. That means that if Ash beats Kotetsu, which I believe he will, he still has 3 challengers left for him to beat in order to win the entire thing. Now the only established rival left at this point is Virgil, who fits all the criteria set by past leagues as the guy to beat Ash. This means that Ash would have to beat 2 random cotd/ts in order to win. If this were the case then they should be the quarter and the semi matches, because the writers aren't likely to have Ash face someone in the final that the audience don't know or care about.

So, are the writers going to have Ash beat Virgil than have him have full battles against random's no one cares about? Unlikely. That would be pretty poor story telling and a very anticlimactic way to end the league. Are they going to have Ash breeze through the Quarter and Semis with a bunch of montage clips, keeping in mind these are 6 v 6 battles, to then face Virgil in the Finals? Also very Unlikely, that again would just be really really disappointing and poor storytelling.

Honestly, the only thing I can see happening Is that Ash loses to Virgil for a top 8 spot, Or given the recent revelation that Kotetsu has a Hydreigon, he loses to him and gets top 16. Then those 2 can have a quick match to end the league then one of them goes on to win.

Ash Vs. Virgil will likely be the Top 4....or the Finals if they throw in a skipped COTD match inbetween.