Why aren't the writers allowing Ash to win any tournaments in BW?

[Masurao]

There's been two tournaments so far, and soon to be three. In both he was put in a situation where it would be a foregone conclusion. It's safe to assume Ash will lose the third one given who is participating, and that would make three tournament losses. In comparison to D/P, Ash won three tournaments. Why do you think the writers are refraining from allowing Ash to get a tournament win, when he's likely to lose the league as well?

 

[Cybersai]

Because they are saving his win for the Unova league.

He doesn't need to win the Don battle tournaments, there's no special prize for them so it doesn't matter.

 

[Masurao]

Because they are saving his win for the Unova league.

Can we really be sure of that though. If we look at past patterns....it seems to indicate that he'll get Top 4 again.

 

[Cybersai]

Because they are saving his win for the Unova league.

Can we really be sure of that though. If we look at past patterns....it seems to indicate that he'll get Top 4 again.

There are no patterns, every saga has been dramatically different than the past. BW is so different from DP it isn't funny.

And again, there is all of 2013 without any new game, what is Ash to do with no new Gym leaders to face? Certainly these mini-tournaments are warm ups for the big one.

 

[Cybersai]

They don't have to allude to anything. Ash wins or loses based on what the writers want for him, it doesn't matter what his team looks like.

 

[Silktree]

In comparison to D/P, Ash won three tournaments.

I think it's a stretch to consider the PokéRinger and Twinleaf Festival as tournament wins. The former did not involve normal battles and the latter was ridiculously short-lived, with none of the battles actually being seen save for the match against Palmer (which Ash lost). For that matter, the tag tournament was as much Paul's accomplishment as it was Ash's. For all of the above, your comparison is rather unfair.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Because they are saving his win for the Unova league.

I seriously doubt that's the case. Ash's skills in Unova wouldn't make winning the whole Unova League believable and in my opinion, the way his battles have been in this series thus far, I think it would make winning the League feel cheap and unsatisfying for me.

And again, there is all of 2013 without any new game, what is Ash to do with no new Gym leaders to face? Certainly these mini-tournaments are warm ups for the big one.

The Unova League is going to take pace within this year and even if Ash won, a Champion League wouldn't last until the sixth generation games are released. There more likely will be some side quest in B2/W2 that can be used for the year or so gap between the rest of this generation and the next one. I don't think that these mini-tournaments are warm ups. They're just something for the characters to do in-between Ash's Gym battles that allow for some characters to get a bit of attention.

Anyway, I just think that Ash is losing because of how the final matchups are made. Excadrill vs. Pikachu had the obvious outcome, along with how the writers were clearly favoring Iris throughout the tournament, and Scraggy was also at a significant disadvantage from what I understand. I doubt that they're building up to anything and I also don't know if I'd call winning the Pokeringer or the Twinleaf Tournament much of an achievement when only one required battling and we only saw Ash vs. Palmer in that tournament.

 

[Bandit Keith]

Because he's 10 years old.

I leave that open to interpretation.

 

[CrackFox]

The anime is well known for its lack of continuity. Ash has become much more of a novice since DP, when theoretically he should be even stronger. I wont even bother stating that about Pikachu. I've seen internet Meme's laughing at the ludicrousness of that. I agree with with Gliscor'd, his loses so far have all been insignificant in the scheme of things. I doubt he'll take first place in Unova League, but if I had to guess, I'd say he'll do about as well as he did last time, in the Sinnoh League.
You might also argue that Paul helped motivate him. Shooti is no where near as intense so he's not feeling the pressure as much.

 

[Karamazov]

I think his tournament losses aren't supposed to be about him losing, but to showcase other characters. Th Don Battle showcased Iris, and the Donamite showcased Konyan. Ash just loses is just because other people need to win.

 

[Jukain]

I don't agree with this reverse setup that people seem to think is going to happen. He loses, so he has to win. He will lose, if not for the simple matter that there has be something beyond the league that's long enough to last for at least a year. Winning won't do that unless they can do both the Champion League and the proper World Tournament at the same time. This road can only lead to the end of Ash's story, which I don't think they're prepared to do. (as much as people seem to want this to happen) I said before it's easier for them to delay Ash indefinitely than to delay him for an increasingly less feasible amount of time. This could be why they're only giving us a "Junior" World Tournament, since the proper one would be too much for him.

There's also this business of there being a new rival, which admittedly, we don't know if they're appearing at the tournament or the league, but in either case, Ash has to lose to them in order to perpetuate the rivalry for the rest of the year. Of course, if it's the tournament alone, then the League won't matter for that particular plot. If he wins, then what else would the new rival compete with him over than the real World Tournament? Unless the anime portrays it otherwise, the Champion League is a gauntlet rather than a competition. There is no reason for a rival. I don't think a World Tournament alone is enough to fill a whole year. It just doesn't add up, unless this new rival business is only for the World Tournament and not for whatever is after the League. It wouldn't make a lot of sense to me, why would they hype a new rival and only have him at the Tournament? I know they did this for Tobias, but he wasn't really labelled as a rival, just a super special awesome trainer.

Finally, as for the other sentiment that people want him to win just because he got so close last time, it's clear that BW was not written with that in mind. It could be that the writers don't think Ash to be different at all, but it is clear that his past accomplishments have not been considered in how this was written. Some seem to think that the "journey" part of the saga doesn't matter and that Ash can suck as much as they want as long as the League shows improvement from the previous saga. I think AG and DP were more than that. He showed improvement within the saga itself and not just the League. I've also said before that I handwave those two sagas as simply him having to deal with inexperienced pokes rather than a reset of skill. Even if you don't believe that, Ash was at least portrayed as being more competent, as they had a lesser trainer to foist all the poke-lessons on. Without one, they had to put it all on Ash again, which no longer makes sense, but they had to do it. They might change this back for the next arc, but we don't know for sure. This is the only situation in which it might be believable for him to win, but I don't hold too much confidence anyway. It's in their better interest to delay him. I'm not angry, though. I'll just accept it and leave if that is the case. (although if he does win, I WILL be angry unless AG/DP Ash returns)

 

[DynoStretch]

Personally at this point I think the writers want to write Ash off the series, but they aren't allowed due to his popularity with the fans. So to do so they're making him pathetic and incompetent so people lose interest in him. Heck, he's seem to have lost more battles in this region then any other one, despite how few episodes there's been in comparison, and a lot of his wins usually seem to involve some miracle Deus ex Machina moment, which cheapens his victories.

As for tournaments, the writers are showing they clearly want to focus on other characters then Ash because they enjoy writing stories and characterization around them, and Ash is basically just a burden they're forced to carry around. It's like those movies based off a popular series that focus around side characters more then the main ones we came to see, like the horrendous Tom and Jerry movie.

They seem to be doing something similar to Team Rocket, by making them more generic, unlikeable, boring and other words for describing Megan Fox.

 

[Cybersai]

Personally at this point I think the writers want to write Ash off the series, but they aren't allowed due to his popularity with the fans. So to do so they're making him pathetic and incompetent so people lose interest in him.

Its quite possible. After all, look at how Brock has finally been written out and how TR barely appear. I think even the writers themselves wanted Ash to win the Sinnoh league but the "higher ups" screwed them over.

 

[Musashi]

I think that's taking things a bit too far... they're just copying Black and White's "new beginning" concept.

As for why he hasn't won any tournaments so far... I guess the writers just don't think it's all that important he wins? The only thing that matters is how he does in the league.

 

[Ashfangirl22]

Ash may loose the up coming tournament, I at least think hey'll get farther than the others Dento/Iris {If they are in it} And Dawn so make up for the losses in the Don tournaments, hopefully they'll have a third one before the league with him winning it than the league maybe hey'll get to second.

 

[IcyNinjaX]

I guarantee that Ash will lose again in the Unova league. My conclusion for the past years of watching Pokemon is that, the writers really don't care about Ash anymore. All they are doing to him is making him more stupid and Best Wishes is a prime example of that. Its either, hire a better writer for the show or change Ash with a new Protagonist (Which I don't think may be a good idea since we are all accustomed to Ash for 15+ years. But If they don't want Ash to be written off or people hating him, I would suggest his character goes into improvements).

 

[Cinderfella]

Because they are saving his win for the Unova league.

They aren't really doing us any favors by letting this happen really, because if Ash does indeed just win with his Unovoa team it will be a victory that will leave me unsatisfied. His Unovoa team is lackluster and boarderline pathetic at this point, and if he doesn't use reserves in this league and still wins it, then I'm calling DEM on that one.

On another not it's a good thing Ash didn't win the last one, because that was probably the most realistic he's been this entire saga, entering Scraggy in to train it, not expecting it to come out as an Adonis of some sort.

 

[Chronos]

Because they are saving his win for the Unova league.

They aren't really doing us any favors by letting this happen really, because if Ash does indeed just win with his Unovoa team it will be a victory that will leave me unsatisfied. His Unovoa team is lackluster and boarderline pathetic at this point, and if he doesn't use reserves in this league and still wins it, then I'm calling DEM on that one.

I agree. His Unova team is really bad, lol. Ash better keep his other reserves handy, or he can guarantee himself another loss in this league. If the writers would evolve his Pokemon, it'd be more realistic for him to win with his Unova Pokemon. I was really hoping this saga would finally be the one where a Water starter reached its final stage, but it's not boding well in that regard.

I'm glad the writers aren't letting Ash win any tournaments, since he is too stupid now to deserve it. Neither Iris (who never trains her Pokemon) nor Ash should've won the Don Battle, and he definitely shouldn't have won the Donamite with Scraggy. Cilan is the only one of the trio that should be getting anywhere close to the final round, IMO.

 

[Cinderfella]

I'm glad the writers aren't letting Ash win any tournaments, since he is too stupid now to deserve it. Neither Iris (who never trains her Pokemon) nor Ash should've won the Don Battle, and he definitely shouldn't have won the Donamite with Scraggy. Cilan is the only one of the trio that should be getting anywhere close to the final round, IMO.

Ain't that some shit? lol Cilan is never does get near to the final round, hopefully he makes it far in the next and does NOT rely on Crustle to bring him that far.

 

[Yankees4life]

looks like a Unova League win might be on a horizon...