Do you care about companions “out shinning” Ash?

[Sham]

So I’ve noticed there is this vocal part of the community who dislikes when one of his friends obtains something that he “deserves”. Case and point when Iris caught that Dragonite or even more recently the fact Kiawe had the Fire Z crystal since Torrcat “deserved it” and didn’t have a crystal of his own. There are probably more examples but basically do you care if Ash’s friends get to “outshine” him (using that verse loosely and a hyperbole”.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

No, its annoying when he outshines the companions, like Serena for example (and in her own focused episodes too).
I'd rather the companions outshine Ash because he's a pointless main character to me since his Pokemon master goal is unrealistic to achieve with the lack of info we have on it and he hasn't really been interesting since the end of AG to me.

 

[DatsRight]

So I’ve noticed there is this vocal part of the community who dislikes when one of his friends obtains something that he “deserves”. Case and point when Iris caught that Dragonite or even more recently the fact Kiawe had the Fire Z crystal since Torrcat “deserved it” and didn’t have a crystal of his own. There are probably more examples but basically do you care if Ash’s friends get to “outshine” him (using that verse loosely and a hyperbole”.

Generally the only time I don't like it is when it is done in a way that TAKES AWAY from their own development. Kiawe having a Firium Z didn't really step on Ash's beeswax since it was to show his experience in his element and also to introduce the Z Moves in the first place, I'd argue it'd be more unfair if Ash got it instead of him from the start. Iris getting Dragonite was to serve as some character development for her in terms of controlling a powerful and unruly Pokemon, plus you know, Iris is the Dragon specialist. If anything I could argue Ash butted in HER beeswax getting a Dragonite with none of these issues afterwards.

Stuff like a companion being able to match Ash's battle experience with barely any training he did or having Pokemon that are directly designed to be more powerful and "better" than his with no actual substance or effort, THAT would be cheap, and even then it would be two way, Ash could just as easily diminish a more deserving companion the same way in their field (though generally they bother to show Ash as comically bad at whatever unique niche the companions do).

Let's say if Serena curbstomped Ash in that final battle in XY after Ash went through the league, or showcases were gender neutral and Ash just entered one and surpassed Serena in every way with no preparation.

This is why I appreciate they didn't just have everyone randomly competent in the Alola League and on Ash's level, especially after Ash was jobber to all the things they were good at. They did ultimately keep to the mentality that everyone was good and bad at different things and if they didn't work up to that niche they obviously weren't gonna be pros in one try.

 

[Leonhart]

There haven't been that many instances where I've felt that Satoshi was overshadowed by his friends. Even when Haruka and Hikari did Contests and Satoshi had to take a backseat, I thought that the writers handled it well by giving Satoshi something else to do so that he would still have some screen-time. I suppose that this topic is more about Gou's recent exposure than just about Satoshi's past companions though, and I'll just say that when it comes to Gou I don't think he's been outshining Satoshi.

 

[Redstar45]

There haven't been that many instances where I've felt that Satoshi was overshadowed by his friends. Even when Haruka and Hikari did Contests and Satoshi had to take a backseat, I thought that the writers handled it well by giving Satoshi something else to do so that he would still have some screen-time. I suppose that this topic is more about Gou's recent exposure than just about Satoshi's past companions though, and I'll just say that when it comes to Gou I don't think he's been outshining Satoshi.

I don't think that i wanted to care about who outshine who as the only reason why i am watch pocket monsters 2019 /Pokemon Jouney for Pokemon and that is it .

 

[U.N. Owen]

These things sound less like a companion outshining Ash and more like people being mad that their fanfics didn't come true. I especially fail to see how Ash deserved the firium z since Kiawe had it right off the bat within the first episode.

 

[Leonhart]

I must not have been paying close attention during the SM era, because I hadn't noticed the backlash over Kaki having the Firium Z-Crystal instead of Satoshi getting it. I vividly remember the hoopla that broke out when Iris captured Kairyu, however. A lot of viewers felt that Satoshi deserved to capture a fully-evolved "pseudo-Legendary" more than Iris did.

 

[Redstar45]

I must not have been paying close attention during the SM era, because I hadn't noticed the backlash over Kaki having the Firium Z-Crystal instead of Satoshi getting it. I vividly remember the hoopla that broke out when Iris captured Kairyu, however. A lot of viewers felt that Satoshi deserved to capture a fully-evolved "pseudo-Legendary" more than Iris did.

I think iris don't anything with her starter (kibego) is why fans want Ash/Satoshi gei it

 

[Kazuniya]

No, I don't care. Unlike some extreme fans, I don't live through Ash, so it is perfectly fine if he's sidelined, even for multiple episodes.

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

As long as it's a character I like, such as Goh and Dawn, I don't mind.

The only time I was annoyed with anything of this sort was when Ash didn't get Chespin but I think I did a fairly good job dealing with that lol

 

[Moonlight Starlight]

As long as it's a character I like, such as Goh and Dawn, I don't mind.

The only time I was annoyed with anything of this sort was when Ash didn't get Chespin but I think I did a fairly good job dealing with that lol

I think Chespin would be great with Cilan's team of Pokemon. If Cilan stayed for one more journey with Ash in Kalos.

 

[Sham]

As long as it's a character I like, such as Goh and Dawn, I don't mind.

The only time I was annoyed with anything of this sort was when Ash didn't get Chespin but I think I did a fairly good job dealing with that lol

Speaking of Dawn I’m not sure if it was Serena or Dawn but I believe someone complained that they didn’t deserve to win their respective competition because it would look bad on Ash taking 3+ regions to complete his and I’m just like???

 

[Leonhart]

I think Chespin would be great with Cilan's team of Pokemon. If Cilan stayed for one more journey with Ash in Kalos.

It would've added some much needed personality to his team at the very least. I don't normally hold grudges against Satoshi's friends catching Pokemon that I wanted him to get instead, however. One of the few exceptions being Yancham since I wanted Satoshi to have a Goronda, but even that's just a minor thing.

 

[Applecorp]

I don't usually care? Sure some of them have done things that I wish Ash had done instead but Ash gets to save the world a lot and he's won a Pokemon league which is a great honor so I'm not jealous of Ash's friends outshining him sometimes.

 

[DatsRight]

I feel like not all the key things going to Ash makes the ensemble feel more natural and fleshed out anyway. All the 'special' arcs and development going to the main character only kind of diminishes the supporting cast and makes them feel less important. I think this is kind of what made the OS feel too Ash centric, yeah, Misty got Togepi, but most of the development and spotlight as a Pokemon trainer revolved around Ash, it didn't feel like Brock or Misty had anything big ongoing to make them stand out.

Ash not being the first to have a Z Ring or even a mythical in his possession in SM I think added balance and made it feel like the other characters had things going for them, even if Ash's use of those things tended to get more limelight. Same for Iris getting the really rare powerhouse Pokemon that would require some long term taming in BW.

 

[J.Agera]

Not really.

 

[AznKei]

These things sound less like a companion outshining Ash and more like people being mad that their fanfics didn't come true. I especially fail to see how Ash deserved the firium z since Kiawe had it right off the bat within the first episode.

I was mad in XY with Serena lack of her own spotlights, because I barely watched the anime for so long since Indigo League. But after making my fanfic I didn't care about Ash outshining every companions anymore since it did help to reduce my dependence from the show to have things my way.

 

[Leonhart]

Ash not being the first to have a Z Ring or even a mythical in his possession in SM I think added balance and made it feel like the other characters had things going for them, even if Ash's use of those things tended to get more limelight. Same for Iris getting the really rare powerhouse Pokemon that would require some long term taming in BW.

The fact that Satoshi managed to get his own Z-Ring, a Mythical, and a Kairyu eventually sort of makes those other characters having them before him seem almost trivial. To me it doesn't really matter if Satoshi's friends outshine him at certain things every once in a blue moon, because eventually he manages to outshine them all in far more noticeable ways.

 

[SerenaRulez]

It depends. When Iris got her Dragonite I thought she did not deserve it because she could barely handle Axew and Emolga but I was not mad that she had such a powerful Pokemon when Ash did not. I only get upset when one of Ash's friends does something that feels too good to be true.

 

[SatoSereFan224888]

I feel Goh our shining Ash is good for the current anime. I felt Ash should have taken a step back after winning the Alola League. The anime needs to focus a LOT less on Ash.