Could Satoshi actually WIN the Higaki Conference?

[Chaosblazer]

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.

I laugh everytime someone says this, because the logic is obviously backed by biasism and contridiction.

 

[Silktree]

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

It will be the Top 4 round if the preliminaries don't count as the first round, but it doesn't matter as far as the chance of winning the league is concerned. The writers are not going to skip any full battle or bring an important character out of nowhere.

It should be obvious that the Top 4 is as far as Ash can go here.

 

[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.

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

If its top 4 then there would be a skipped 6 v 6, which is massively unlikely, and then what? Ash Vs a no name in the finals? Yes that sounds realistic (not).

Or if Virgil is the final then there are 2 6 v 6's to get through until then, which I already explained.

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.

I laugh everytime someone says this, because the logic is obviously backed by biasism and contridiction.

I would hardly call it biased. I Like more members of Ash's Unova team than I did of his Sinnoh team, but when you line up Sinnoh vs Unova, his Sinnoh team comes out on top in terms of Experience, move set and strength

 

[Chaosblazer]

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.

I laugh everytime someone says this, because the logic is obviously backed by biasism and contridiction.

I would hardly call it biased. I Like more members of Ash's Unova team than I did of his Sinnoh team, but when you line up Sinnoh vs Unova, his Sinnoh team comes out on top in terms of Experience, move set and strength

and yet when the league came, that development didn't ammount to anything, outside of Gible mastering Draco Meteor and Infernape getting revenge on Paul, but that was it, what did the others really accomplish?

You can't compare the two teams because the key difference is the ammount of pokemon both teams have so of course the development is going to be different in the end.

Still, i'm hoping this isn't because of Snivy and Oshawott not being evolved because that is just plain sad reasoning to claim the unova pokemon suck

 

[AlphaMouse]

So,

Top 128-vs Trip

Top 64-vs CoTD

Top 32-vs Stephan

Top 16-vs Kotetsu

Top 8-?? Probably vs Virgil

If the writers had wanted Ash to win they would have put in a Katie (from AG)-like character in the Top 16 match. They would also have put Burgundy in the League to be the Top 64 or 32 battle. As it is, they want Ash to be humiliated.

 

[Adil]

Virgil and Kotetsu are there but yeah, I definitely see the possibility.

Iris won the Club Battle tournament.
Stephan won the Clubsplosion.
Trip has Junior Cup.

It might be the time for Ash, but yeah... Writers are pretty much about creating new road blocks, so who knows...

 

[Ashs Battle Coach]

and yet when the league came, that development didn't ammount to anything, outside of Gible mastering Draco Meteor and Infernape getting revenge on Paul, but that was it, what did the others really accomplish?

You can't compare the two teams because the key difference is the ammount of pokemon both teams have so of course the development is going to be different in the end.

Still, i'm hoping this isn't because of Snivy and Oshawott not being evolved because that is just plain sad reasoning to claim the unova pokemon suck

It amounted to believable wins for everyone except Torterra, who in all fairness had a believable loss. And Its not that Snivy and Oshawatt haven't evolved, If anything Snivy is one of his better pokemon, and his un-evolved pokemon have for the most part been handled the best out of his Unova pokes. No its the Pokemon that have had rushes mid battle evolutions and next to no training and very little experience with boring move sets that make me think his team is undeveloped. IMO Leavanney, Unfezant, Boldore and Palpitoad have not been handled well at all, Snivy hasn't developed but was established as strong from the get go, Pignite has been ok but still knows tackle and doesn't have a fighting type move, Oshawott still knows tackle and Krookodile and Scraggy have been handled reasonably well.

Don't get me wrong, I like these guys, most of them anyway. Snivy, Oshawott, Scraggy and Krookodile all have good personalities, Pignite really redeemed himself in his evo ep, Palpitoad, despite hardly being seen and only knowing 3 moves amuses me somewhat, and I can't really explain it but I really like Boldore, possibly because Ash has never really had anything like it before.

 

[Hidden Mew]

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

Why would they skip a full battle for Ash? They usually only skip most of the preliminary rounds for him since in most cases, it consists of either one-on-one matches or at the most three-on-three. There's no reason to skip full battles. That would just make it even harder to find any satisfaction in Ash getting a high rank if we don't see all of the important battles. Plus, I don't think that he's had full battles against characters of the day before, although I could be mistaken since it's been a long time since I've seen a couple of the Leagues, but either way, the chances of the writers skipping full battles sounds pretty unlikely.

As for the question itself, I don't think that Ash could actually win the Unova League. There's really nothing about either his team or the opponents introduced that makes me think he could win. His Unova team is clearly underdeveloped, which would make a victory rather unbelievable to anyway, and Virgil does fill in the usual role of the League rival Ash meets shortly before or during the League that ends up beating him. Saying that his team couldn't lose to a team of Eeveeultions doesn't make sense to me since Pikachu lost to a Meowth, so it isn't like it's impossible. Personally, I'm still hoping that Ash gets to the Top 8 this time around. That's about as far as I think he could go with his Unova team in a believable manner and I wouldn't mind Ash having a lower rank than the last League. It would kind of make sense given how I don't think he's improved as a trainer during his Unova journey and it would still be a pretty good rank all things considered. Besides that, I think that they'll have to do that eventually if they don't have Ash win a League and I wouldn't mind if that started with this League. Though, I agree that Top 4 is the highest he could get given how I doubt that he'll have two full battles either before or after the match with Virgil.

 

[Metan]

I disagree with the writers skipping a CotD full battle. Unpredictable as Unova League is, this is possible so Ash can get to the 4 Top instead of what should be the Shooti x Ash battle.

 

[GibleKidd]

I think he can because:
A.He's lost every minor tournament in Unova
B. This series was noticeably rushed through (up to the league)
C. No one stands out as a sure thing loss for Ash, like Tobias did in Sinnoh

I know Virgil fits the bill of the league rival that beats Ash, but I just don't see him loosing to a team of Eeveeultions. As far as the adding an important COTD battle goes, I don't see why not. They have indeed done it before. (Katie from the Hoenn League as someone mentioned was a 6v6 battle, top 16 I believe..) So beefing up a COTD to give Ash a run for his money but ultimately loose is not out of the question. That fills the "filler full battle gap".

As far as his team being underdeveloped..who cares? I feel like the competition is underdeveloped, much much more so than Ash. His Hoenn team wasn't that great and he barely lost to the Tyson, the guy that won the whole thing. I'll go a step further, I think his Unova team is better than his Hoenn team. Granted, having 10 Unova pokes oppose to 6 in Hoenn helps that case, but still.

 

[Sweenix]

Uhm.. Nope

 

[Karamazov]

I was a little surprised at all the people saying he didn't deserve to win. But looking at his team and what's been going on during the whole saga, I would have to agree.

But looking again, I'd say Pikachu, the starters, Krookodile, and Leavanny, who actually seem to get the most training and focus, and Ash does pretty well with them. Maybe Scraggy, too, if it works a little harder. Ignoring the under-trained or ignored reserves, I have high hopes for these guys.

That being said, I have no hope for Ash. I want him to win, but I don't want to set myself up for disappointment.

 

[Adil]

According to that 1-step-ahead theory, Ash is suppose to lose in the semi or final match.

Indigo Conference (top 16)
Silver Conference (top 8)
Ever Grande Conference (top 8)
Lily of the Valley Conference (top 4)

BW has been so unpredictable sometimes, it might be one-of-those times where they can easily troll us, in good as well as in the bad way.

 

[Yankees4life]

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

Nah, Tobias' son will compete out of nowhere with a Zekrom and win :Yao:

 

[Silktree]

As far as the adding an important COTD battle goes, I don't see why not. They have indeed done it before. (Katie from the Hoenn League as someone mentioned was a 6v6 battle, top 16 I believe..) So beefing up a COTD to give Ash a run for his money but ultimately loose is not out of the question. That fills the "filler full battle gap".

But Katie wasn't prioritized over Morrison, let alone Tyson. We know that defeating Kotetsu will only earn Ash a Top 4 position at best, which means that if he were not to lose to Virgil in the next round, some other character would come out of nowhere and be treated as more important than Kotetsu. Not to mention the fact that Ash didn't have any established rivals in Hoenn until right before the league, whereas now he has Trip, Bianca and Stephan, who will be eliminated in the earlier rounds. Why would the writers not make the last two rounds of the league as meaningful as possible?

 

[PockyAddict]

Nope, he'll lose either way. They will come up with a plot device just so he can lose. Or they will come up with some random charater. (ie John Dickson from the johto league episode)

 

[Ashfangirl22]

According to that 1-step-ahead theory, Ash is suppose to lose in the semi or final match.

Indigo Conference (top 16)
Silver Conference (top 8)
Ever Grande Conference (top 8)
Lily of the Valley Conference (top 4)

BW has been so unpredictable sometimes, it might be one-of-those times where they can easily troll us, in good as well as in the bad way.

I like the idea of him loosing in the finales, that'd be pretty cool =]

 

[Digifiend]

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

Isn't Iris ineligible? She probably has the Legend Badge, but she won't have any of the other eight.

 

[Masurao]

His Pokemon are as strong as the writers want them to be, but no he won't win. Obviously Virgil is going to defeat him.

Though, losing to an Eevee in the league would be incredibly underwhelming...while at the same time hilarious.

 

[Shinneth]

Though, losing to an Eevee in the league would be incredibly underwhelming...while at the same time hilarious.

Same here. I can think of no better way to end Ash's horribly-handled Unova conquest: this is a testament to how far Ash hasn't come. Instead of going out like a badass taking down two legendaries, losing to a generic Pokemon is a fantastic representation of how Ash built up his lame-ass team, as well as how his strategies aren't nearly as innovative as they once were. Maybe this kind of loss will teach Ash to not rely on off-screen training to get by in the League next time.

I don't care how relatively unimpressive his known rivals are this series; if Ash wins the League I will be quite insulted. He just doesn't deserve it this time. I'm gonna be bummed enough if he actually surpasses a Top 8 ranking already; all signs are pointing to Virgil at this point. Since type logic has been royally disrespected throughout this series, I wouldn't put it past the staff to make the Eeveelution team out to be on par with legendary Pokemon.

'Cause that's how BW rolls. It's different. It's just so EDGY. /sarcasm