Will Riolu become the new Ash-Greninja?

[Matleo]

It’s not the same as Cubone and Marowak. You can’t get Kantonian Marowak in Alola. You can get normal Lucario in Galar. Kubfu already has 2 evolutions on introduction, whereas we know Riolu only evolved into one thing in Galar. If Riolu evolved in Galar at night it would've done it in Sword/Shield.

with item or location? in my opinion taking other galar forms...

 

[Emelie]

It would be interesting if they chose to make Lucario his ace while ignoring Ash-Greninja. Are they trying to dethrone Greninja as the most popular Pokémon?

Why else would they start to advertise Lucario now when they haven't in the past despite how popular it has been since Gen 4? Lucario doesn't advertise the new region and it is probably "too new" to appeal to people who only like Kanto since these groups seem to be the target audience for this series.

Personally I like Lucario's design but I think it's a little too late to advertise it now while the Galar Pokémon get almost no screentime.

If they want to advertise old regions other than Kanto they could always bring back some of his old aces for the tournament.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Why else would they start to advertise Lucario now when they haven't in the past despite how popular it has been since Gen 4?

One major trainer per series has featured a Lucario ever since it was introduced, though. They’re probably trying to feature popular Pokémon irrespective of region. Kanto gets the large end of the stick due to... well, being Kanto and most popular Pokémon are from Kanto.

Ash isn’t using his reserves right now since they also need to show some development on screen. Relegating all non-Kanto representation to reserves would basically mean a lot of "Ash trained this when you weren’t born, it’s in his main party now". They can show the development of the present team on screen, and feature reserves later in the series if they decide to do so.

 

[Emelie]

I guess one positive thing about Riolu is that it is not fully evolved yet. I think Satoshi is catching too many fully evolved Pokémon right now which feels a little strange to do so early in the series.

Riolu is probably more likely to be the ace than the already fully evolved Pokémon since there is more room to grow.

But wouldn't it be neat to see Satoshi's old aces beat the champions of their home regions?

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

But wouldn't it be neat to see Satoshi's old aces beat the champions of their home regions?

It would be neat, but I fear they do the same old Charizard and few others routine. I want to see the Pokémon that have been ignored: looking at Johto Pokémon there. And the Sinnoh and Unova teams, who haven’t been featured even once outside their series.

For the "ace" role, we also have Sobble coming in, so we'll have to look at its dynamics too.

 

[Matleo]

I hope they let riolu not evolve and let it for gen 9 stay at the lab and it gains a new evolutionary method then to make it more special, lucario is cool but there is so much more potenial here

the amount of fully evolved pokemon is for the battle with Leon only... or they plan to Ash trade those in future somehow or end his journey to allow a other new trainer a start and it wont be Go


More interesting will be if Ash catches a kubfu and will chose what Urshifu he want's then... or if Ash friends or rival could have those and evolve them and use those in the anime against him?

 

[ntmelanson]

While I don’t think it will be another Ash-Greninja, I definitely believe Riolu will be a strong Pokemon, one of the strongest Ash will own. And we definitely know he’s strong now because of JN039, when Riolu ties with Bea’s Grapploct, check that out
Link: Ash's Riolu in JN039

 

[Twilight-Kun]

While I don’t think it will be another Ash-Greninja, I definitely believe Riolu will be a strong Pokemon, one of the strongest Ash will own. And we definitely know he’s strong now because of JN039, when Riolu ties with Bea’s Grapploct, check that out
Link: Ash's Riolu in JN039

It becomes less impressive when you remember it just battled a gym leader for an entire plane trip, and Ash's pikachu without any healing in between the battles

No wonder it has to evolve before being able to beat it

 

[Lucifer Angel]

More then likely yes, Riolu will and then will evolve into Lucario and be one of Ash's mains. Yet will sadly leave at the end of the season much like Greninja did.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Yet will sadly leave at the end of the season much like Greninja did.

Good lord, I hope not. I don't think the fandom would be able to survive the release of yet another powerful ace. Especially because Lucario in particular is one of, if not the most requested Pokémon for Ash to catch. Ash releasing a Pokémon that fans have been clamoring for him to get for years could very well surpass the outrage over the Kalos League loss and subsequent release of Ash-Greninja. Who mind you, to this day still has lots of people hoping for its return.

 

[swiftgallade46]

I don’t think there’s anything really pointing to Lucario being released yet. I also don’t foresee any kind of unique form-change mechanic being introduced for it. At best, it may be his first Pokémon to Mega Evolve.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

With the backlash Greninja’s release got, I doubt the writers are gonna repeat that with a Lucario of all things.

 

[ntmelanson]

It becomes less impressive when you remember it just battled a gym leader for an entire plane trip, and Ash's pikachu without any healing in between the battles

No wonder it has to evolve before being able to beat it

Now hold on, buddy. I’m pretty sure Ash is smart, and both were at full health when Ash was facing Bea. After defeating Hipmontop, Pikachu was exhausted after its battle, so when it faced Grapploct, Pikachu was hit with Close Combat, but was able to hit with Thunderbolt, but then its defense was lowered by Octalock, so understandable why Liquidation then knocked him out. Then when Riolu came, who was at full health, Vacuum Wave was able to do visible damage, as Grapploct’s defense was lowered due to the effect of Close Combat, and while Riolu was able to escape with Force Palm by matching its movements slowly, its Defense was lowered while trapped in Octalock, with another Close Combat and Force Palm, Grapploct’s defense was lowered again, both Pokémon’s defenses were lowered due to the reasons above, so it’s understandable why they both knocked each other out.

 

[Beary]

I don’t think Lucario will get release because aren’t they bonded with their trainers? Like in the movie a lucario literally died for its trainer. I think it’ll be this season ace but not like ash greninja. It’s going to be like sun and moon where there is no real ace. However i think lucario could ether be the greninja of kalos or the lycanrock on s/m

 

[Greninjaman]

What Pokemon was the ace of each of Ash's teams?

 

[Silktree]

I will boycott the PWC episodes if the Riolu/Lucario glorification gets worse. It's manageable right now, but that's all I can take. Galarian Farfetch'd hasn't won a single battle yet, while Dragonite and Gengar have disappeared since the Korrina battle. I, for one, don't think that Lucario is anything special despite liking Movie 8.

 

[Daren]

AG - Pikachu.

AG was weird for Pikachu. He got tons of glory in the Gyms and the Frontier but did really badly in the Hoenn league (zero wins against either Morrison or Kaede, beat an already double teamed Metagross vs Tyson then got beaten by John Wayne's Pokésona).

DP - Pikachu, Infernape.

I'm gonna have to disagree on Pikachu being an Ace in DP. He didn't star in a single winning Gym or League battle in DP, even when he had the type advantage against the leader. If you look at the very old threads people started commenting around Lake Acuity that Pikachu wasn't very effective in that series. Heck, Chimchar was outshining him even before evolving.

 

[swiftgallade46]

For AG, I think Sceptile fits best as his ace.

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

OS - Charizard for the most part, Pikachu wasn't relevant in most major battles (Drake's Dragonite was a team effort which utilized his entire team).
AG - Pikachu.
DP - Pikachu, Infernape.
BW - Hard to tell here, the entire team was lacking for the most part but Krookodile stands out.
XY - Pikachu, Greninja.
SM - Pikachu, Lycanroc, Incineroar.
JN - Pikachu, Lucario.

No love for my Sceptile huh

 

[Cinnabar]

I agree that from speculating that Ash's Riolu is definitely a comparison to all of the other special "power-house" reserve Pokemon that he's had in other series, ones that he relies on in desperate times when everyone else is unable to step up. I would like to see it evolve to Lucario later on.