I never liked the Ash vs Clemont story. You knew in advance Clemont was going to lose and with all the Ash glorification it made Clemont the underdog and he still lost. Sawyer faces the same fate now in the Kalos League. I doubt he'll win. Ash was simply a impossible obstacle to overcome because he's the main character and thus is protected more then any character. Clemont is a character I'm going to look back on and just see wasted potential. Bonnie too. And despite one some say, I think Serena suffered as well with such a lame goal. I found all three of their interactions with Ash forced. To be fair I think Ash's chemistry with characters has been artificial since DP. It feels like characters are forced to cater to his personality rather then it flowing naturally and it's just another thing I don't like about him as the main character. The sidekicks are forced to carry the show from that regard. I liked XY at the start but it fizzled out and was just a Ash glorification season. It became a chore and the characters that all started off interesting just didn't live up to the potential they could have had. I'm pretty tired of the Pokemon anime these days.