345ash-greninja
Auto-Memories Doll
He was just a developed dream crusher, that's it, simple. The rivalry was just an excuse to develop him as the dream crusher anyway. He wasn't even supposed to compete in League anyway, wasn't even planning to do it ever, had no badges until XY&Z23, and suddenly out-of-the-blue got 8 badges within 8 episodes. Which just looked pretty much ridiculous hands down.Alain wasn't his dream killer rival, he was one of his main rivals in XY, no dream killer has faced ash even once let alone multiple times before the league. Comparing alain to other dream killers is palin old stupid. As for strongest rival alain takes the cake, he is only trainer who has defeated an E4 ace something paul is a fodder compared to even with his superior so called skills and strategies.
I feel that Alain should have never battled Ash prior to the League since he was always meant to be the dream crusher. There was no need to have him battle Ash multiple times before the League to develop him, because he was already a well developed character in the ME specials and his strength was well established there. He had also other involvements like in the Team Flare arc, his involvement with Team Flare was also one of the major plot points in the anime. Since he was already a well established and well developed character in the ME specials and had other involvements in the anime like in the Team Flare arc, I feel he should have never battled Ash prior to the League with the rivalry excuse. His appearences in the main anime, a.k.a. XY(Z), should have been limited to the Team Flare stuff like capturing Z2 and an episode prior to the League where he and Ash meet each other, but don't battle. Ash tells him about the League in which he seems interested and he eventually ends up entering the League. And in the League Alain plays the role of the dream crusher, beating Ash. After that he plays his role in the Team Flare climax arc as it was shown. This is how IMO Alain as a dream crusher + his overall role in XY(Z) should've been handled.
I liked Alain as a character in the ME specials, and in his role in the Team Flare arc as well, but as rival/dream crusher of Ash, I could never like him. His rivalry with Ash used as a excuse to develop him as a dream crusher, like having him battle Ash 2 times before the League was pointless, it ended with a ridiculous result in the end: that Ash never ended up beating him despite battling him multiple times, which is ridiculous. What is the point of a rivalry if one rival never surpassed another rival in the rivalry even once? Alain should have battled Ash only once, that's in the League, where he'd defeat Ash, playing the role of the dream crusher. He had other important involvements in the anime like the Team Flare arc, and as a character was well-developed in the ME specials. Having him battle Ash multiple times with a rivalry excuse to develop him, with the grand result of Ash beating him 0 times, was absolutely pointless.
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