December 16th: PM2019 136 - Satoshi and Go! Setting Off Anew!!

[Niormon]

Uhhhh, that's not how it works

Goh should have been there just like he was for the quarter- and semifinal rounds

hmmm Not sure if I agree I think both of them doing their own thing then seeing each other again is sign of strong friendship you see this in other anime

I respect critical opinions, but one cannot deny that a lot of the stuff you see here is just so outright ridiculous.

Agreed its really stupid and nonsensical **** which is why I won't be here for a while starting today the next time you see me is when Goh and Ash are in gen 9

 

[Rune Knight]

Agreed its really stupid and nonsensical **** which is why I won't be here for a while starting today the next time you see me is when Goh and Ash are in gen 9

I believe! I hope to see you then!

 

[Bulu likes pepsi]

hmmm Not sure if I agree I think both of them doing their own thing then seeing each other again is sign of strong friendship you see this in other anime


Agreed its really stupid and nonsensical **** which is why I won't be here for a while starting today the next time you see me is when Goh and Ash are in gen 9

Yeah but May, Dawn and Serena could have totally left Ash to participate in some local contest during the respective league arc, and yet they never did. I mean they obviously had their own goals just like Goh did. Misty had more of a vague objective but she traveled with Ash for much longer while also becoming very close to him towards the end of the original arc.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Yeah but May, Dawn and Serena could have totally left Ash to participate in some local contest during the respective league arc, and yet they never did. I mean they obviously had their own goals just like Goh did. Misty had more of a vague objective but she traveled with Ash for much longer while also becoming very close to him towards the end of the original arc.

Goh didn't really get any choice in the matter like you're trying to imply he did.

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

Goh leaving Ash right before the finals is in my opinion a dealbreaker for Ash's best human friend. Sure, it was awful planning by the production team if you think about it. But we thought for a while Ash would have no one in the stands in the biggest battle of his career besides Hop (who would cheer for Leon because he was his brother) and Team Rocket.

For me Brock is still #1 and honestly I would place Misty and the three coordinators above Goh as well

Ash would never EVER want Goh to give up his dream and miss out on the culmination of all his efforts just to watch his final match and be his cheerleader. He doesn't want his friends to be passive with their goals and make it a second priority

Uhhhh, that's not how it works

Goh should have been there just like he was for the quarter- and semifinal rounds

He literally couldn't have been, he was upset he couldn't be, he thought of Ash and their promise
Heck he literally thanks Mew for making him meet Ash
Goh had zero sense, it's insane to think you're not someone's best friend if you don't sacrifice your dream to be at an important event for someone. Goh had no choice
If May, Dawn, Serena Brock and even Misty had zero choice and had to either watch an Ash match or go to this one time, in a lifetime opportunity to accomplish their dream, they would choose the latter with Ash's full backing and support

 

[BobbbidyBob]

Ash’s best friends have always been Pikachu and team rocket

 

[Bulu likes pepsi]

Ash would never EVER want Goh to give up his dream and miss out on the culmination of all his efforts just to watch his final match and be his cheerleader. He doesn't want his friends to be passive with their goals and make it a second priority

He literally couldn't have been, he was upset he couldn't be, he thought of Ash and their promise
Heck he literally thanks Mew for making him meet Ash
Goh had zero sense, it's insane to think you're not someone's best friend if you don't sacrifice your dream to be at an important event for someone. Goh had no choice
If May, Dawn, Serena Brock and even Misty had zero choice and had to either watch an Ash match or go to this one time, in a lifetime opportunity to accomplish their dream, they would choose the latter with Ash's full backing and support

except it ultimately shows that this happened because of Anipoke's godawful planning and production issues. As a result I think this kind of damaged Goh's bond with Ash. Goh had no idea that he was called upon exactly for finding Mew, as this was not the first time Goh left for Project Mew trial missions. They should have just done Project Mew right before the M8 arc and quit with the stupid filler episodes, but that would mean less money gained off Eevee and Cinderace, so idk.

The fact that Goh gave Eternatus to Leon right before leaving does him no favours either. People were literally freaking out that Leon would use Eternatus against Ash in the finals. Before the Ash vs Leon battle you could argue that Goh could be at least his second best human friend after Brock. But right now, not for me. Goh was the victim of poor planning.

Brock did leave Ash after deciding to become a pokemon doctor, but he travelled with him for a grand total of four regions while trying to find himself. Misty was pretty much the same but only travelled in 3 regions, but I'd argue she was closer to Ash (especially in Johto) than Brock was at the time. Dawn, May and Serena were there for Ash after finishing the Grand Festival/Kalos Queen performance contests when they could have just left the second day after their respective grand festivals for another challenge in another region. May waited for three months after the grand festival, and then went with Ash to Kanto, Dawn waited for one month after her own grand festival to cheer Ash in the sinnoh league, Serena sat there for quite a while after the Master Class tournament and so on.

 

[masdog]

except it ultimately shows that this happened because of Anipoke's godawful planning and production issues. As a result I think this kind of damaged Goh's bond with Ash. Goh had no idea that he was called upon exactly for finding Mew, as this was not the first time Goh left for Project Mew trial missions. They should have just done Project Mew right before the M8 arc and quit with the stupid filler episodes, but that would mean less money gained off Eevee and Cinderace, so idk.

The fact that Goh gave Eternatus to Leon right before leaving does him no favours either. People were literally freaking out that Leon would use Eternatus against Ash in the finals. Before the Ash vs Leon battle you could argue that Goh could be at least his second best human friend after Brock. But right now, not for me. Goh was the victim of poor planning.

Brock did leave Ash after deciding to become a pokemon doctor, but he travelled with him for a grand total of four regions while trying to find himself. Misty was pretty much the same but only travelled in 3 regions, but I'd argue she was closer to Ash (especially in Johto) than Brock was at the time. Dawn, May and Serena were there for Ash after finishing the Grand Festival/Kalos Queen performance contests when they could have just left the second day after their respective grand festivals for another challenge in another region. May waited for three months after the grand festival, and then went with Ash to Kanto, Dawn waited for one month after her own grand festival to cheer Ash in the sinnoh league, Serena sat there for quite a while after the Master Class tournament and so on.

So…if I’m understanding this correctly…you’re arguing that Goh can’t be Ash’s best friend IN-UNIVERSE because of meta/out-of-universe reasons related to the production of episodes?

 

[Bulu likes pepsi]

So…if I’m understanding this correctly…you’re arguing that Goh can’t be Ash’s best friend IN-UNIVERSE because of meta/out-of-universe reasons related to the production of episodes?

Except that's not what people will debate a few years from now when mentioning Ash's friends during some Gen 10 thread and will just bash Goh for it.

This happened with May as well because of her VA issues and I feel she is really underrated now. I think she has almost the same bond with Ash as Dawn does.

 

[Ryker101]

Ohh another ep? Wasn’t expecting that, makes me wonder how the last one will go

Can’t believe we’re actually at the end of this series, crazy

 

[Gingertail24]

Honestly I feel dawn, Brock, misty are his closest companions

Butets be honest. Doesn't seem Ash ranks his friends anyways,

 

[UnovaMaster]

Can’t believe we’re actually halfway through this series, crazy

Yep, only another 136 episodes to go!

 

[RileyXY1]

Yep, only another 136 episodes to go!

Or maybe never. Journeys might end up becoming the permanent saga of the anime and they just keep adding regions to the rotation.

 

[Damerdal]

Yeah, it was a solid final ep. I like to beieve it’s where the whole XY continuity ended, and everything afterwards happens in an AU. All the seeming retcons in JN make it even easier for me to see it that way.

They would literally be impossible, since (end/postgame spoilers) the time machine that brought Korai/Miraidon into the present is a one-way thing and only works in one direction

IMO, the "continuity" (if there ever was one), was OS-DP. Ash felt like a true evolving character.

BW broke it apart with the personality and skill 'resets'. It tried to connect back to OS-DP with some continuity references, viz. Dawn and Charizard, but it didn't really fit.

XY felt very self-contained. Ash returned to form and was pretty mature for the most part. However, the references to previous sagas was minimal. Morever, no reserves showed up in the Kalos League, which made no sense as Ash deliberately explained why he wasn't using reserves for the Hoenn League, but had no problem using them for the subsequent Battle Frontier and Sinnoh League. Obviously Ash was skilled, but he was not necessarily carrying over the Countershield/match-up strategizing that he did in Sinnoh. If anything, BW-XY felt like its own thing.

SM turned Ash into a concept. Mayybbbeeee you could say that he was vacationing and chilling out on the beach after Kalos, but it felt like Ash was becoming more of a template that could be copied-pasted to whatever particular series tone. However, there were continuity references again. Lastly, I'd say JN Ash probably is just a continuation of SM Ash.

So...

OS-DP Ash
BW-XY Ash -(?)-> SM-JN Ash

 

[GohMaster!]

IMO, the "continuity" (if there ever was one), was OS-DP. Ash felt like a true evolving character.

BW broke it apart with the personality and skill 'resets'. It tried to connect back to OS-DP with some continuity references, viz. Dawn and Charizard, but it didn't really fit.

XY felt very self-contained. Ash returned to form and was pretty mature for the most part. However, the references to previous sagas was minimal. Morever, no reserves showed up in the Kalos League, which made no sense as Ash deliberately explained why he wasn't using reserves for the Hoenn League, but had no problem using them for the subsequent Battle Frontier and Sinnoh League. Obviously Ash was skilled, but he was not necessarily carrying over the Countershield/match-up strategizing that he did in Sinnoh. If anything, BW-XY felt like its own thing.

SM turned Ash into a concept. Mayybbbeeee you could say that he was vacationing and chilling out on the beach after Kalos, but it felt like Ash was becoming more of a template that could be copied-pasted to whatever particular series tone. However, there were continuity references again. Lastly, I'd say JN Ash probably is just a continuation of SM Ash.

So...

OS-DP Ash
BW-XY Ash -(?)-> SM-JN Ash

That feels about right, although even BW to XY and also SM to JN feel like pretty big leaps.

 

[MunchMunch]

I always took Sun and Moon, Ash as him always being on vacation. DP from BW Ash will always be jarring. I could kind of see BW to XY Ash as him trying to be serious after being embarrassed on National TV in Unova.

 

[Sham]

Goh is no more Ash's close friend than any other trainer he's travelled with. You could try and find "subtle" hints but that doesn't mean anything because he's never verbally said anything. If I were to give my opinion he's shown more moments with Dawn displaying how great their friendship is but it's for interpretation

 

[Spyro39]

I always took Sun and Moon, Ash as him always being on vacation. DP from BW Ash will always be jarring. I could kind of see BW to XY Ash as him trying to be serious after being embarrassed on National TV in Unova.

Well, Ash went to Unova on vacation, so I see it more like he was in vacation mode there as well, so he wasn't taking his time seriously in the region while also experimenting with new stuff as a trainer. It was only after he took a step backward in the Unova League did he acknowledge most of the stuff he did didn't work out and realize he needed to get his act together for his next trip to Kalos.

 

[Sham]

I remember when people were coping so hard pretending that Unova didn't exist and so much so that they took a filler from XY (mirror universe) and convinced themselves that was mirror Ash and not the real one. So glad JN destroyed that theory and acknowledges it happened and existed.

 

[MunchMunch]

Goh is no more Ash's close friend than any other trainer he's travelled with. You could try and find "subtle" hints but that doesn't mean anything because he's never verbally said anything. If I were to give my opinion he's shown more moments with Dawn displaying how great their friendship is but it's for interpretation

Agreed, Ash seems pretty close with all his companions....
...
...
.
Except for Chloe. Have they ever even talked to each other?