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Do you believe in Ash Ketchum?

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Sarefan

Hylden General.
The way I look at it, imagine you're in the anime version of the Pokemon world. There is one Pokemon league per region, per year and each is entered by a large number of Pokemon trainers (at least 256 in the Indigo Conference). Ash has finished in the top 16, top 8, top 8, top 4 and top 8 so far. In my opinion, that is nothing to be sniffed at. Assuming each has a similar number of trainers competing, he has finished in the top 10 out of about 250-ish four times, which I think is fairly impressive. In fact, during the Lily of the Valley Conference, had it not been for a trainer with at least two legendaries, there is a fair chance he would've won it.

Looking at it that way, I think I do believe in Ash Ketchum as he is always there or thereabouts. No denying Ash is a bit of an 'also-ran' though. The problem is though, as stated by many people many times, the problem with the series is that it is written with the assumption that with each new generation of Pokemon comes a new generation of fans, and this meant that he anime isn't progressive and Ash has been 10 since forever and doesn't seem to have really improved. Despite his impressive league finishings, the fact that Ash doesn't seem to learn and improve very much really takes away from his credibility.
Pretty much this. 4 times top 8 in a tournament with over 200 compeditors is pretty impressive. Although he wears plot armour for most of the time, he does very well, with good tactics and good matches.
 

Steelrush

Banned
I'm afraid that as long as the current staff have the bizarre idea in their head that allowing Ash to win would mean the end of the show, he won't. This is really more of a "behind-the-scenes" problem, after all. The directing and writing staff are just not motivated the way that Shudo was, see little reason to change what works (like Ash and the motions he goes through), and fail to see the bigger picture.

...and of course, him winning would not mean the end of the show. When one's purpose is fulfilled, they find a new one.

So, in other words, I believe in Ash. I just don't believe in the current staff...the key word being "current".

The reason why they want to keep Ash and stop him from progressing is most likely due to the fact that he still has enough fans to maintain his popularity, therefore assisting the extension of the anime's lifespan. This didn't occur to the staff simply because they did not care, if so, Ash might have been replaced with someone else years ago.

After all, the Pokemon anime was intended for the sake of profit, even since the beginning. Pokemon was well-received, so an anime could help earn even more money, seeing as how many viewers it would gain, and how many TV stations would want it.

That, and it would also motivate the fans to buy merchandise, the games, and anything else the franchise had to offer.

Sadly, that's what the Pokemon anime was designed for, money and nothing else. That is why Ash Ketchum is now the Homer Simpson of Pokemon, and why many do not have faith that he will achieve his goal.

The anime will continue to air, but the poor guy might never become a Pokemon Master. Greed sabotaged something that could have been a true masterpiece.
 

Dreamy

Well-Known Member
It's possible(though not very likely) that he could win the Kalos League, him winning shouldn't spell the end of the series, but give him something to work even harder for to maintain his status. I would like to see that if he does ever get a champion title that they would start over with a new protagonist and have Ash featured as a region champion.
 
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To simply answer the question: yes. I'm not bashing BW when I say this by any means, but I didn't believe in him as much during BW like I did in sagas before said saga. I'm sure that I will start to believe in him even more during XY, but simply stated, yes.
 
The reason why they want to keep Ash and stop him from progressing is most likely due to the fact that he still has enough fans to maintain his popularity, therefore assisting the extension of the anime's lifespan. This didn't occur to the staff simply because they did not care, if so, Ash might have been replaced with someone else years ago.

After all, the Pokemon anime was intended for the sake of profit, even since the beginning. Pokemon was well-received, so an anime could help earn even more money, seeing as how many viewers it would gain, and how many TV stations would want it.

That, and it would also motivate the fans to buy merchandise, the games, and anything else the franchise had to offer.

Sadly, that's what the Pokemon anime was designed for, money and nothing else. That is why Ash Ketchum is now the Homer Simpson of Pokemon, and why many do not have faith that he will achieve his goal.

The anime will continue to air, but the poor guy might never become a Pokemon Master. Greed sabotaged something that could have been a true masterpiece.

This is exactly what happened, how things always were, and why the anime has become what it is now. This also explains why characters have been replaced while others have been allowed to stay, why the writing has taken a more merchandising-focused approach in recent years, less focus on the characters and more on the battles, the lack of emotion in the series these days, the voice actor replacement and company change in the dub's case in 2006, why Ash is still 10, and so much more.

However, it was still less profit centric (though still profit focused) in its earlier seasons than it is nowadays. This is mainly because once the creators of the anime knew how popular it was, they knew they could continue to make more series and seasons because fans would continue to watch them.

Do I believe in Ash Ketchum? I once did...I once did. I no longer believe in him.
 
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TimeLordBlue

The TimeLord
Ash is a failure... He loses all sense of direction and can't even beat a snivy with his first pokemon which he trained through many regions and even beat it's own evolution before. Yet he can't beat a snivy who just started it's first battle.
He loses against a brain damaged idiot who forgets everything in the BW league. He should of won in Sinnoh and just went on from there. But nope. Gotta keep the cash rolling in. Better make him lose it so he will go to a different region. He lost his one goal of becoming a pokemon master. He is a horrible trainer.

I'm done here.
 

FicKel

Active Member
Maybe. Dawn 2 could be a good motivation for Ash to stop being such frakin' noob and win a tournament for once.
 

DarkerInstincts

New Member
What about the Orange Islands? Perhaps that wasn't technically a Pokemon League, but he triumphed quite well in that competition.

And as far as I'm concerned, Ash has befriended countless legendary Pokemon that many people don't even think exist. He's possibly saved Mewtwo's life in Mewtwo Returns, helped countless Pokemon in many ways, and his character is top-notch. I see him as a winner even if he doesn't win the championships. Sure, he's immature when everything is okay, but when the stuff hits the fan the kid is a solid guy to have around. I'll always be a fan of Ash, whether or not he wins a competition.
 

SovereignEve

The Feared Legend
To put it rather coldly. Ash shouldn't be in the series, his story should have ended a long time ago. In fact, he's one of the characters I've grown to despise the most of all shows I've watched. He is useless in to many ways to count. I am hoping Pocket Monster Origins is what I've been expecting :)

~Sovereign
 

iraqmaster

Well-Known Member
If he still hasn't managed to win in 15 years then I have no hope for him....
 

flawlessazn

Spiffy ~ ^^"
I think the producers are just gonna keep dragging him in to the next regions, etc ...

Seeing as he always acts as a noob with no experience at the beginning of a new season, I have no hope in him.
 

Shiny pokemon lower

Well-Known Member
If I belive in Ash Ketchum? No. After all these years he hasn't won a legaue comption exept for the Orange Legaue! But since that was just one Battle so I don't count that. I expect Ash to came to the finals in the Unova Legaue and mabye lose to Virgil, but NO! He lost to Cameron, a trainer that reminds me of Ash in his earliest days. It looks like he won't win a single ligaue tournament as long as the anime show goes on. It also looks like he resets in skills and experience every generation, so there isn't much hope...
 

some dude

Member
I never understood why so many people whine about Ash never winning a league. He did.

Me watching the anime isn't tied to seeing Ash win a league (he did anyway) or lose a league, I watch it to see a world filled with awesome creatures and interesting people, and the interactions between those creatures and people. If the show focuses on Ash that's fine, he's a good kid, a good character.

I've seen people fawn over how Ash was during the original series...he acted almost the same as in BW. Childish sometimes, snobby, had a tantrum every once in awhile. Like a normal kid.

So do I believe in Ash.

Yes, He'll travel around exploring fantastic lands and getting insanely powerful creatures to fight for him through the power of friendship while stopping evil organizations and getting hot jailbait to fall for him without even realizing it. Like a boss.
 

Navin

MALDREAD
I believe in Harvey Dent Ash Ketchum.

At least, I was believing in him until BW, because until that point, he actually was improving as a trainer. He was quite good at the end of DP compared to where he was in Johto. But then BW nerfed him, and now I don't know how he'll be in XY.
 

some dude

Member
But then BW nerfed him, and now I don't know how he'll be in XY.

He may act the same way as in BW but perhaps start becoming...calmer I suppose? Heh, even in DP he would still act like a maniac sometimes when something involving Pokemon was brought up, I'm pretty sure his battling skills will improve aswell but we'll see. Since they rebooted the series I guess he'll start to gain more of his Johto traits.

I'm really interested in seeing how many companions he'll travel with this time, perhaps back to four due to X/Y's large character lineup.
 

Navin

MALDREAD
He may act the same way as in BW but perhaps start becoming...calmer I suppose? Heh, even in DP he would still act like a maniac sometimes when something involving Pokemon was brought up, I'm pretty sure his battling skills will improve aswell but we'll see. Since they rebooted the series I guess he'll start to gain more of his Johto traits.

I'm really interested in seeing how many companions he'll travel with this time, perhaps back to four due to X/Y's large character lineup.

I really hope BW was a reboot for both Kanto and Johto otherwise it's going to be another frustrating season. The writers really need to buff Ash back to Hoenn-Sinnoh level (Hoenn level and then improving to Sinnoh level by league time). But I don't know if the writers are aware of if they care about the outrage of many towards Ash's BW nerfs though :/

It seems like he'll have 3 companions, just like in AG.
 

Orange_Flaaffy

Jello Pokéballs
A problem with Ash is he doesn't seem to have any goal. Sure he talks about winning quite often, but his actions don't seem like he's working toward anything truly focused longterm. He doesn't have much...fire, I guess, for all his energy? I believe in him, but he needs a career plan or something like one.
 
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