How defined do you want your goals to be?

[U.N. Owen]

In fiction, every story is a conflict. There is something that must be gained or achieved (killing Voldemort, destroying One Ring, bring balance to the Force, become the great X in the world/universe/city/town).

There are different forms of rigidity to goals:

• Defined goals and checkpoints: The formula of the games. Your goal is to become Champion and you must beat every gym and E4 to challenge the Champion and win.
• Defined goals but not checkpoints: Mystery novels are unique in that the clues might not be obvious or may come to light in relation to other clues.
• Defined checkpoints but not goals: The plot of the Anime where we don't have a solid definition of a Master, it clearly has something to do with leagues.
• Neither-Nor: I'd assume this is DADA art in a nutshell.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

I couldn't care less about Ash, so I'll vote for what I think the female companions should have, which is the first two options.

 

[VoltTacklingPika]

A main character must have a fixed goal that can be specifically or vaguely defined, as the journey to that point is ultimately what forms the story. Ash wants to be a Pokemon Master is a vaguely defined goal, but because we know it exists, it serves as the driving force behind the story. The vagueness of the goal can be a core idea or concept that the story can explore, should it choose to do so, but it should become more specific as the story reaches its end.

The "checkpoints" that lead up to that don't need to be specific. The gyms served as measurable progress for the player hence their rigidity, but in most narratives it'd depend on the nature of the goal. If the goal was to catch every single Pokemon, then naturally the checkpoints would be each capture, and each capture can be counted towards the overall target. For something that's more vague, like being a Pokemon Master, it doesn't need to be as specific because there are other, non-quantifiable ways of showing progress.

 

[DatsRight]

I think a goal can be in any form so long as:

1. It serves to make the character pro active and give themselves something to work up to effectively as their role continues.

2. It serves to help the character's personality and agency develop, not serve as a distraction from it (eg. trying to hide how bland a character is by having them exposition their goal all the time or do nothing but competitions rather than any activities relevant to gaining some sort of characterisation).

 

[Kintaro]

Anything besides a type specialist is good.

 

[UltimateNinja]

A goal with "checkpoints" where you can see an actual progression towards accomplishing that goal. Nothing else.

A type orientated goal like with Iris and Misty is doomed since the start if there isn't any kind of tournament.

People will say "but Misty/Iris defeated strong Water/Dragon type trainer!". Yeah they did, but so did Ash and probably many more trainer. Does this count now as Ash progressing into becoming a Water/Dragon type specislist?

These goals are just not suitable for being accomplished onscreen.

 

[ash&charizardfan]

A goal with "checkpoints" where you can see an actual progression towards accomplishing that goal. Nothing else.

A type orientated goal like with Iris and Misty is doomed since the start if there isn't any kind of tournament.

People will say "but Misty/Iris defeated strong Water/Dragon type trainer!". Yeah they did, but so did Ash and probably many more trainer. Does this count now as Ash progressing into becoming a Water/Dragon type specislist?

These goals are just not suitable for being accomplished onscreen.

I do think type oriented goal is destined to be doomed since the writers dont know how to use them, but atleast in BW writers did tried something with iris, giving her fully evolved dragon type which was disobedient and she had to control her, battling two dragon type gym leaders (2 strongest gym leaders of there regions) as part of her training. At least iris did looked like progressed a bit during her journey but it is still confusing to how to become a type specialist. I prefer girls with active goal like contest/performers, at least this way she will be more relevant to the plot.

I would go with goal with checkpoint, there is a definite solution of how to achieve it, ash has to win the league then beat E4's and then the champion to reach his goal (he hasn't won it yet it other issue). Same wasy with pokegirl they had to win there respective coordinators to reach the top.

 

[Power Up]

This is probably one of the few polls on Serebii that have a total consensus lmao

 

[Satomine Night]

I think @VoltTacklingPika put it best: A story's main character must have a defined goal, because it's the journey to achieve that goal that drives the story. (Even in a slice-of-life series, the main characters have defined goals, even if they're seemingly mundane ones, such as making it through a school year with good grades or getting into a good high school.) The goal doesn't have to be specific; it can be vague, such as becoming a Pokémon Master since I'm not sure even the anime writers really know what "becoming a Pokémon Master" means, as long as a goal exists.

The checkpoints leading up to the goal don't need to be specific. It depends on the nature of the goal. Sometimes, what constitutes as a checkpoint toward achieving a goal can even be left undefined by the writers. For instance, becoming a Pokémon Master is a rather vague goal, and while many fans can agree Ash is making progress toward achieving that goal, how he is making progress—that is, what the checkpoints are—is a subject of debate.

For type specialists, however, the checkpoints are obviously more defined. The more Water type Pokémon a Water type specialists catches and trains, and the more knowledge he or she gleans about Water type Pokémon, the closer he or she comes to achieving the goal of becoming a Water type specialist.

 

[Kintaro]

Overall it doesn't really matter for supporting characters, like Brock, Clemont, Mallow, Kiawe, Cilan, etc....just give them some focus eps about their roles and that's it. These characters aren't really meant to be focused on much in terms of goal/story.

But for whoever the main female companion is each saga, it definitely helps. The female companion always gets the second most focus in each saga after Ash, and if the female companion has a small role and not good enough focus/development, people will lose interest as we've seen before.