From an out of universe standpoint, why do you think Ash won the Alola league?

[pharaohyami5000]

I'm glad Ash won the Alola League during last year. I don't want to think to imagine if this was planned for 2020 with what we are experiencing right now. Could use a few episodes more, but that's my thoughts for pretty much every series ending, while beginning the next series.

Regarding the one prog rocker mentioned above, I say "Dude, just write fanfiction, okay? Quit wasting time like that."

 

[prog rocker]

Regarding the one prog rocker mentioned above, I say "Dude, just write fanfiction, okay? Quit wasting time like that."

Do you think I have the creativity to make things like that up?

 

[pharaohyami5000]

Do you think I have the creativity to make things like that up?

It's in response to that allegation you posted, prog rocker, not your comment.

 

[prog rocker]

It's in response to that allegation you posted, prog rocker, not your comment.

The allegation actually happened, but like I said, it came from a day old (at the time) Twitter account, so there's the possibility of it being a pretty sick joke. It was still enough to make me disenchanted with the whole dexit movement.

 

[KrspaceT]

My take is that the plot of the Alola games had them leaning in the direction of victory, but the backlash was probably a deciding factor in the end like when one is choosing between restaurants and you find a coupon for one of them. Not sure about Journeys effect, but I won't deny that it might have had an effect (though it could have not, probably would work just as well without league victory)

 

[pharaohyami5000]

The allegation actually happened, but like I said, it came from a day old (at the time) Twitter account, so there's the possibility of it being a pretty sick joke. It was still enough to make me disenchanted with the whole dexit movement.

Oh no. I trust you. I did see that during that day. Heck, search engines has this around. Isn't there simulations out there that allow you to play around with everything included, from the RGBY available movesets to the Dynamax? Instead of whining about Sword and Shield? No?

Anyway, I don't know if I'm patient enough for Ash to win the league if it was happening this year. Then it would need to shift to next year. Or more.

 

[dariusofwest]

I've wondered why he won this one and not one of other ones. I wonder if they were building up to this after all of the previous leagues (as far as his placements go-well besides Unova).

 

[CometCartoons]

Because the story called for it.

I don't think the backlash towards Kalos had anything to do with it. The people most upset with Ash's loss at Kalos aren't even the shows primary target audience. This time around, there was just no reason for him to lose. Alola didn't have a traditional Elite Four like the other regions had, which I think is the biggest reason why Ash hasn't won a league since the show doesn't have enough time to cover an arc like that.

Yeah when the league started almost everyone lost faith in Ash and wanted to know who he'll lose to. The possible candidates were Gladion, Hau, or Dia (the guy with the zerorara).

 

[SeanWheeler]

Ash won the Alola league probably because everyone was tired of seeing the hero lose. The league arc has become more of a "watch to see which round Ash loses" instead of the satisfying heroic victory that's common in most stories. Apparently the showrunners thought the story would end if Ash wins, which is why they had to do stuff like a trainer bringing legendaries to a tournament and having Ash lose to someone who forgot to bring a sixth Pokémon. Sure glad his losing streak is over. So is Pokémon Journeys doing that Pokémon World Tournament from Black and White 2? Why couldn't they have Ash challenge the Galar Stadiums for badges? I want a Galar Badge quest, not this region hopping adventure. First he goes to school in Alola, now he's going back and forth between regions he's already been to. Could the anime ever go back to Ash journeying through an entire region to collect eight badges for a league?

 

[KenzeyEevee]

Ash won the Alola league probably because everyone was tired of seeing the hero lose. The league arc has become more of a "watch to see which round Ash loses" instead of the satisfying heroic victory that's common in most stories. Apparently the showrunners thought the story would end if Ash wins, which is why they had to do stuff like a trainer bringing legendaries to a tournament and having Ash lose to someone who forgot to bring a sixth Pokémon. Sure glad his losing streak is over. So is Pokémon Journeys doing that Pokémon World Tournament from Black and White 2? Why couldn't they have Ash challenge the Galar Stadiums for badges? I want a Galar Badge quest, not this region hopping adventure. First he goes to school in Alola, now he's going back and forth between regions he's already been to. Could the anime ever go back to Ash journeying through an entire region to collect eight badges for a league?

Nope. Arent you tired of the same old badge quest? The point is, pokemon has to stay fresh these days

 

[Hidden Mew]

Nope. Arent you tired of the same old badge quest? The point is, pokemon has to stay fresh these days

I don't know if I'd write off the prospect of a badge collecting quest completely, It isn't a guarantee by any means, but I don't think it's that unlikely for them to go back to that format, especially when they aren't going to get rid of Ash. Regardless of how well he does with the World Championship, he's still going to be the main lead. Plus, by the time PM most likely ends, a badge collecting journey would probably feel fresh.

Honestly, I never had a problem with Ash's on-going Gym quests with every series. That never really came off to me as dull, even with the BW Gyms in mind. With his different Pokemon going up against different Gym Leaders, it never came off as boring or repetitive. This might tie in a bit with how the third version games didn't really bother me too much because of how it felt different enough going through the game with a different team. Doing something different with Ash isn't a bad idea, especially when the World Championship does create some sense of progression, but the notion that they can never go back to the usual Gym quest doesn't quite sit right with me.

 

[game3524]

They can come up with new stuff for Ash to do if he is to continue on as the main lead. They don't need to resort back to him going after badges. IMO, the badge quest is stale and no matter how much they change the setting or the teams, the battles and quest themselves repeat the same story beats. Unless, they drastically change the format like they did with the Orange League, the badge quest should remain retired IMO.

 

[Daren]

The idea has been raised before, but they could experiment with giving Ash some new quest with his companion doing the badges instead. Having a different character go through the standard Gym beats with Ash there to provide advice (since he's been through it before) could be interesting as long as the new character has enough distinctions from Ash that they react differently to the standard Gym quest story beats.

 

[Hidden Mew]

They can come up with new stuff for Ash to do if he is to continue on as the main lead. They don't need to resort back to him going after badges. IMO, the badge quest is stale and no matter how much they change the setting or the teams, the battles and quest themselves repeat the same story beats. Unless, they drastically change the format like they did with the Orange League, the badge quest should remain retired IMO.

I really didn't feel like the badge quest was that stale. I think more people had problems with Ash not being allowed to win a League rather than going on another badge quest each series. It's not like every Gym battle is exactly the same, so it never really bothered me, but it probably also helps that the repetitive format of the show has never bothered me that much either. I'm also not sure if the Orange Island is a good example considering that they basically went back to more traditional battles halfway through it. Granted, one of those battles was the first double battle, but the last two Gyms weren't as creative as the first two, which gave me the impression that they wanted to go back to traditional battles sooner rather than later.

The idea has been raised before, but they could experiment with giving Ash some new quest with his companion doing the badges instead. Having a different character go through the standard Gym beats with Ash there to provide advice (since he's been through it before) could be interesting as long as the new character has enough distinctions from Ash that they react differently to the standard Gym quest story beats.

I think that's more likely than them dropping Gyms forever, if only because it is a good way to showcase new characters and Pokemon from the games. I'm not sure what new quest Ash could be doing if he wasn't into Gyms. I honestly don't see the World Championship lasting past PM, so I doubt that would be it. The main selling point for me would be if they had the female companion doing Gyms. People have wanted that for ages and a setup like that would be a good opportunity to do so. Plus, it would give the female lead a battle active goal, which hasn't happened since Dawn, so that would be neat.

 

[Daren]

I'm not sure what new quest Ash could be doing if he wasn't into Gyms. I honestly don't see the World Championship lasting past PM, so I doubt that would be it.

My first though is something related to the box legendary Pokémon of that region, but the outcome of the World Championship could open up certain possibilities.

The main selling point for me would be if they had the female companion doing Gyms. People have wanted that for ages and a setup like that would be a good opportunity to do so. Plus, it would give the female lead a battle active goal, which hasn't happened since Dawn, so that would be neat.

I agree, if this happens they should use the female gen 9 (or whenever) character for it.

 

[Black&White]

As long as he battles trainers and competes in a grand tournament at the end they can do without gyms

 

[pharaohyami5000]

How about leaving the Gym Leaders of Galar as actual Pokemon League opponents before facing the Champ? If I recall, there are no Elite Four in the SWSS games, right?

Eh, the female protagonist idea seem to be the lower priority, if not the lowest. Couldn't get Casey from Johto to be one of Ash's main rivals, Dawn, May and Serena have separate tasks to reach their goals, Bianca is okay, and not much else I can think of.

 

[Hidden Mew]

How about leaving the Gym Leaders of Galar as actual Pokemon League opponents before facing the Champ? If I recall, there are no Elite Four in the SWSS games, right?

They could include Galar Gym Leaders as part of the World Championship, which would be a nice compromise all things considered. They can still showcase some of the new Gym Leaders while Ash takes part in a different kind of competition. It would also kind of fit with Sword/Shield since the Gym Leaders basically take the role of the Elite 4.

Eh, the female protagonist idea seem to be the lower priority, if not the lowest. Couldn't get Casey from Johto to be one of Ash's main rivals, Dawn, May and Serena have separate tasks to reach their goals, Bianca is okay, and not much else I can think of.

To be fair, Johto wasn't really interested in rivals. Despite being Ash's main rival, Gary barely appeared before the Johto League, so I don't think doing much with Casey necessarily means that they weren't interested in a proper female rival. Or at least I don't think that was the only factor. They do usually give the female leads different goals, but if they don't want Ash to do Gyms for whatever reason, then that would make it more plausible for them to do it. A big part of the reason why they couldn't do it before was because two main characters taking part in Gyms would get boring and tedious really fast. Granted, I still wouldn't write off Ash doing Gyms in the future anyway and I'm not sure if I'd want them to just give it to another character would most likely wouldn't get as much screentime by comparison, but I like the idea of a female lead having some battle active goal again. There was Bianca, but I think calling her Ash's rival would be a pretty huge stretch. Her role in BW felt pretty hallow and meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I don't know if I'd write off the prospect of a badge collecting quest completely, It isn't a guarantee by any means, but I don't think it's that unlikely for them to go back to that format, especially when they aren't going to get rid of Ash. Regardless of how well he does with the World Championship, he's still going to be the main lead. Plus, by the time PM most likely ends, a badge collecting journey would probably feel fresh.

Honestly, I never had a problem with Ash's on-going Gym quests with every series. That never really came off to me as dull, even with the BW Gyms in mind. With his different Pokemon going up against different Gym Leaders, it never came off as boring or repetitive. This might tie in a bit with how the third version games didn't really bother me too much because of how it felt different enough going through the game with a different team. Doing something different with Ash isn't a bad idea, especially when the World Championship does create some sense of progression, but the notion that they can never go back to the usual Gym quest doesn't quite sit right with me.

I agree, and there’s also the fact that we've gone 4 years now (and 6 if this series lasts 3 years) without a proper gym quest, so they can do one later- it would feel fresh to the target audience since they haven’t seen one recently. And long-term staleness is something the show doesn’t care about.

 

[Rockapheller]

Why couldn't they have Ash challenge the Galar Stadiums for badges? I want a Galar Badge quest, not this region hopping adventure.

I actually believe we will see all Galar leaders in the anime. This time Ash won't challenge them for badge, but for the World Championship instead. And it will help promote exclusive leaders for each version much easier.