Hello, everyone!
I'm not totally sure of your intro rules on this thread, but I'm new here, sorta. I've been viewing this thread since about March/April (not a stalker, lol), but I finally decided to join Serebii. I love AmourShipping I missed most of BW, and this ship is really what got me back. I like reading your opinions, everyone, and you all seem to be a class act, so I thought "why not?" I hope you'll have me!
Welcome aboard to you and all the other new members! The S.S. Amour’s passenger list keeps growing. You can find the rules in the first page of this thread. Thanks for joining us! We're glad to have you along for the ride
Could it be possible, that Pokemon XY will be the last Pokemon Chapter? It would end at episode 1000, which would be a great ending.
As Ash would become the Pokemon Champion, he could finish being completely focused on Pokemon and could start focusing on real life with Serena^^
Pokeani isn't likely to end... but there are high chances to be retooled on Gen VII because certain popularity on children issues. Neverthless if that retooling implies Satoshi being written out, it's highly implied he would be written out with Serena.
However if Satoshi continues in Gen VII, there's ALSO high chances he would be written out next gen (but there the chances to be written out with one of his past female companions, not only Serena, would be high). Game Freak admitted on the last Q&A session on Twitter they want to make the next game with all regions and they are inducing the fans to send them the most interesting ideas to make that happen.
About ep. 1000... i don't want to make predictions about that.
Warning, TL;DR alert, long post ahead, Clemontic AmourShipping Overanalyser, ON!:
From reading the interview that GF had with Kotaku, I don’t think they are actively planning an all-region game. They mentioned it as an idea that is interesting to them, but it sounded like they would only do it if they could implement it in a good way. Sounds to me like an all-region game would be many years away, if ever. Plus, rumors have been out for a while that Generation VII games are already being worked on. Here’s a link to the Kotaku interview (h/t to
LucarioTheSuperSaiyajin for sending me the link originally).
http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2014/10/17/silliest-important-pokemon-questions-answered But if this does become real, LucarioTheSuperSaiyajin has suggested that that would open opportunities for Ash to compete in an all-region champions league or something of that sort, making it a perfect time for Ash to also get the girl
Serena pls.
Otherwise, I agree with LucarioTheSuperSaiyajin that the anime is not likely to end. I could be wrong about this in the end, but I don't think the show's production committee would let mathematical milestones like 1,000th episode get in the way of their main aim, which is to use Ash and Pikachu to market the Pokemon games and merchandise. As long as they feel that the anime has marketing power, the show will continue (although maybe it will change form at some point, which would be nice). Plus Ash still has a long way to go to become a Pokemon master — still no league championship victory, and concept of fighting Elite Four and beyond was brought up in DP — and lots of loose ends to tie up involving other characters and their respective dreams.
That being said, I also agree that the anime
should be retooled for a slightly older viewership, and this can include shipping (preferably AmourShipping, if I'm the one doing the retooling!). Fan base is getting older due to fewer young people becoming interested in Pokemon than before, so perhaps a show geared toward older viewers would attract more interest. Not to mention that Ash remaining 10 severely limits the ability of the show to actually have him make progress on his goal (does anyone honestly find the idea of a 10 yr old Pokemon master to be believable?). We'll have to see whether the show's production committee is willing to deviate from the tried-and-true formula: Ash dumps his Pokemon at Oak's lab, travels to the next region, gets his development reset a bit, makes a bunch of friends, wins eight badges and loses at the league (then rinse and repeat).
Still, there's no denying that Ash's character has changed at least a bit this generation. He's at his best as a trainer since DP
after the Magikarpian disgrace that was BW. Also, instead of being mentored/advised by an older member of the group (namely Brock), Ash is the "wisest" one of the group. Sure, he is still 10 yrs old (unless otherwise said), and it shows — Ash shouting out the plane to announce his arrival in Kalos, and throwing a childish tantrum when he finds out Viola is away from her gym, whining when Korrina isn't able to take him to her gym right away, etc. — but this is the first time all the others in the group look up to him. Serena takes major inspiration from him needless to say, while Clemont joined Ash because he felt he and Bonnie could learn from Ash and stronger as a result. Last episode of BW potentially foreshadowed some character change for Ash and progress toward his dream (see this post from earlier
http://www.serebiiforums.com/showth...ion-(SPOILER-WARNING)&p=17451126#post17451126), so perhaps Ash's seeming additional "wisdom" and strength as a trainer in XY reflect that foreshadowing. The fact that head writer
and shipping guru Tomioka wrote that final BW episode makes it even more significant, as
LucarioTheSuperSaiyajin noted (
http://www.serebiiforums.com/showth...ion-(SPOILER-WARNING)&p=17451384#post17451384).
And the emergence of Serena's canonical crush and her childhood past with Ash just a handful of episodes after that BW episode foreshadowed potentially major character development/progress for Ash strikes me as highly suspicious — is it really just a coincidence? And the crush is not the only thing that makes Serena unique. In fact, Serena’s treatment as a female companion is fundamentally different than all the others in many ways. Apologies for repeating what most people here already know, but: She didn’t run into Ash randomly, get herself or her bike shocked by Pikachu, or ask to join/force her way into Ash’s group like previous female companions did. Rather she
stalked him sought him out, did NOT get herself or her bike shocked by Pikachu, and was asked to join the group by Ash himself (all of which are firsts for female traveling companions). Having read most of the forum's past pages, I can sense that her character and her childhood past with Ash were hyped from the very beginning; her joining Ash’s group took the longest of any female companion, making the anticipation build up; and her getting a goal was delayed (to her character’s detriment, IMHO, since it made her look like she was only there to serve as shipping bait) and then hyped up in a big way (she has a chance to redeem herself now). I haven’t seen a female character hyped this much on this show in a long time, if ever.
TL;DR: All that makes me think the writers are up to something. Exactly what, though, I don’t know. Is Serena’s canon crush a sign of the show shifting gears toward older audiences (a test run, of sorts, to see how it’d play with fans)? Possibly. A gambit to boost viewers or bring more girls to the fandom? Perhaps. A way to give Ash Ketchum a girlfriend and thus (finally) some development/maturity as a person? Maybe. It’s also still possible she’ll be cast aside to the Abandoned Female Traveling Companions Club
Friend Zone Level: Ash Ketchum. But why develop her like this, hype her like this, if she’s just as easily discardable as previous female companions? It wouldn’t make much sense to me. Then again, the writers’ decisions have often defied any logic. We will see what happens. One thing working against her continuing beyond Gen VI: Her goal is Kalos-centric (Kalos Queen), so that makes me wonder what usefulness she’d have as a character outside Kalos. But the writers have dug such a huge hole with Serena’s character and her crush. I
really, really hope that they get this right.
i guess most people wants this to happen (same with me),let ash win kalos league and serena as kalos queen and get married after few yrs (happy Ending) and having a 1 kid, and that kid will be the new Main Character for the Next gen, since they implement those mega evolve, i dun think next gen is gonna be normal like BW,DP,AG unless they reboot everything like nothing is happen lol
Normally the introduction of a romantic subplot might suggest the show is about to wrap up — protagonist gets the girl and accomplishes his mission, ending the show. But given that Ash has many steps to take before he does accomplish his mission, I have a hard time believing that the show is about to end (also, like I said above — because marketing). So the introduction of Serena’s crush on Ash, even though it does come right after Tomioka foreshadowed some potentially big character development for him, has curious timing.
AshSerena has a very interesting idea, though.
I really wish the producers would be willing to take risks for once and look into these kinds of ideas. But Ash and his Pikachu have such big marketing power — they're basically the heart and soul of the anime. Will producers want to make that change, especially if the new protagonist is just going to do more badge-hunting and competing in leagues? I'd be open to seeing a new protagonist though, as I'm getting sick of Ash doing the same thing over and over again.
He needs to grow up, win a damn league, and hit puberty for Arceus's sake.
