If You Were in Charge of the Anime (*POTENTIAL SPOILERS*)

[Madi Shinx]

Make Ash leave after a certain point

 

[mehmeh1]

pretty good, but it'd be disappointing if ash never had a final confrontation with giovanni or even the TRio

 

[Rock Captain 99]

I've pretty much developed how I'd want the final series of the anime to go. If it went like this, it'd sure be a huge bang of an ending. Before I start, here are some warnings:

• This should get really long.
• Some of these ideas are ones I took from you guys and adapted to fit the story. What can I say, I liked the ideas. Please don't get mad.
• You'll probably hate a lot of these ideas.

Spoiler: Final Series

So the series would take place in the newest region. Ash is of course entering the Pokemon League. Unlike all the other anime, he doesn't have any companions. At least not any permanent ones.

First episode, Ash and Pikachu arrive, but so do Team Rocket. Team Rocket goes on about how Ash has no friends or Pokemon besides Pikachu to help him, and that the time to take Pikachu is now. They proceed to steal Pikachu, and Ash tries all he can to get him back, but fails. Team Rocket then heads back to Team Rocket's base.

Second episode, Ash becomes pretty depressed. He can't go back to Kanto because he has no way to get there. He eventually decides to just proceed with the league, so he has Oak send him a Pokemon.

Third episode, Ash uses the sent Pokemon to catch a regional Pokemon. He goes to the first gym and wins his first badge.

Ash catches two or three more Pokemon. Since Team Rocket isn't in the region at the time, a new villain will probably have to be introduced. I had an idea for one who's jokier than the trio, but also stronger. His name is Hat Thief (his real name is never revealed), and he becomes obsessed with Ash's hat, and goes to great lengths just to steal it. His starting Pokemon is a Murkrow. He wouldn't be in every episode, but he'd make frequent appearances.

Ash reunites with Gary, who he learns came to the region to do research. Gary is also able to teach new moves to some of Ash's Pokemon. Ash and Gary spend several episodes together before splitting up. Ash wins his second gym battle. After catching even more Pokemon, he returns the sent Pokemon to Oak, also sending some of his other ones. Meanwhile, Hat Thief debuts Lotad, his second Pokemon.

At the end of the first season, Team Rocket has successfully brought Pikachu to the Team Rocket base. Pikachu tries to escape, but it's no use. Giovanni proceeds to capture and work on brainwashing Pikachu. The trio heads back to the new region.

Near the start of the second season, Ash reunites with Paul, who he learns came to the region to enter the league. Paul has brought his Torterra and Electivire, and is catching new Pokemon. They quickly find the third gym, and both win. After more episodes, they find the fourth gym. Paul wins, but Ash doesn't. Paul bids Ash a fair goodbye as he heads to the next gym alone.

Ash trains. During an attack from Hat Thief, Lotad evolves (but they still lose the fight). Ash has a rematch with the fourth gym, and wins.

At this point, Ash's party is entirely different from the first full party he had. At the beginning of the third season, Team Rocket makes it back to the region, and continues to antagonize Ash. Ash is reminded of Pikachu, but just stays strong and fights with less tolerance than before.

Ash sees a miniature tournament for anyone who has earned at least four badges. It's not just a normal tournament though; matches will have special rules like Fire-types only, trainers have to use each other's Pokemon, triple battles, etc. Ash does some training and enters. About halfway through, he learns that Trip has also entered the tournament. They meet up and wish each other luck, and watch each other's battles. They are the final two, and square off in a standard battle with no special rules. Trip wins. After the battle, Trip explains that the gym he just came from is tough unless you have the right Pokemon. He generously lends Ash a Pokemon to use for the battle, and Ash promises to give it back at the Pokemon League.

Hat Thief goes into a hat store. He looks at all the hats, and deems that none of them are anywhere near as cool as Ash's. He starts to sulk, wanting Ash to just give his hat to him. The store owner comes and has a chat with Hat Thief. Understanding the situation, the store owner gives Hat Thief a Mismagius that should prove useful in stealing Ash's hat, using its Psychic. In his biggest scheme yet, Hat Thief sets up some kind of haunted house to scare and trick Ash, and take his hat. It works and Hat Thief makes his escape, but in the next episode, Ash tracks him down, defeats Mismagius, and takes back his hat.

Ash catches a couple new Pokemon, and beats the fifth gym, with Trip's Pokemon as his lead. Back in Kanto, Misty, Brock, and Tracey discover that Pikachu was captured by Team Rocket, and that Team Rocket has begun huge plans for capturing lots of Pokemon. Misty, Brock, and Tracey try to infiltrate Team Rocket's base, but are easily overpowered. They decide they need some help, so they message May and Dawn. With Oak's help, they message the other professors, who get the word out to Iris, Cilan, Serena, Clemont, Kiawe, Lillie, Mallow, Lana, Sophocles, and Gladion.

Hat Thief follows Ash as he goes through a cave to reach the next city. After squaring off, Ash knocks Hat Thief away, and runs off. As he recovers, Hat Thief finds a Dusk Stone. Soon after Ash reaches the next city, Hat Thief throws out Murkrow. He also surprises Ash with the Dusk Stone, which he uses to evolve Murkrow. Ash defeats Hat Thief in a challenging battle.

At the beginning of the fourth series, Ash reunites with Sawyer, who he learns came to the region to enter the league. Sawyer has brought his Sceptile, and is catching new Pokemon. They both win at the sixth gym.

Hat Thief and the Team Rocket trio team up in an all-out scheme to steal Ash's hat and all his Pokemon. With the help of Sawyer, Ash fends them off and gets everything back. At the seventh gym, the old gym leader is about to leave and turn responsibility over to the new gym leader. The old gym leader wants to do one more battle, but the new gym leader is eager to start and begs him to leave. When Ash and Sawyer arrive, the gym leaders get an idea to do a double battle, and that if Ash and Sawyer win, they'd both get a badge. Ash and Sawyer pull off the victory. Sawyer parts ways with Ash.

Brock, Misty, May, Dawn, Iris, Cilan, Serena, Clemont, Kiawe, Lillie, Mallow, Lana, Sophocles, and Gladion finalize a plan to get back Pikachu and stop Team Rocket once and for all. After making it past the beefy guards and high tech security systems, they reach the rooms with all the stolen Pokemon. However, they don't see Pikachu. Giovanni discovers them and appears on a screen, but heavily shaded. He is petting something. He releases all the Pokemon, which form a massive army. Brock asks where Pikachu is. Giovanni flips on a light, showing that the Pokemon isn't his Persian, but instead Ash's Pikachu! He explains that Pikachu is his star when it comes to stealing Pokemon. The stolen Pokemon all attack, leaving Ash's companions to fight for their lives.

At the beginning of the fifth and final series, Hat Thief catches a Breloom using Honchkrow. Breloom becomes a regular in Hat Thief's schemes, thanks to its Spore.

Ash arrives at the eighth gym, but the gym leader isn't there. The Pokemon League is also approaching fast. Ash can't seem to find the gym leader no matter where he goes. On the last day to sign up for the league, Ash hurries to the gym as soon as he can and challenges the leader. The battle is the hardest battle Ash has had in the region so far. Not only is it difficult, but it manages to drag on and on, pushing Ash near the cutoff time to sign up. When Ash wins, he hurries to the stadium and signs up literally at the last minute.

Before the start of the league, Hat Thief earns some money and uses it to buy a Water Stone. At the end of this episode, Hat Thief, with his Honchkrow and newly evolved Ludicolo, successfully steals Ash's hat and makes off with it.

Brock, Misty, May, Dawn, Iris, Cilan, Serena, Clemont, Kiawe, Lillie, Mallow, Lana, Sophocles, and Gladion were all defeated, captured, and separated from their Pokemon. The Pokemon are now undergoing the brainwashing process. The companions, feeling powerless to help, all share their favorite stories from when they were traveling with Ash. They decide that they have to repay the favors for what Ash did for them, so they call out to their Pokemon as loud as they can. Hearing the cries, the Pokemon resist the brainwashing, and destroy everything with their attacks. They beat down Giovanni, nab Pikachu, and free their trainers.

The Pokemon League happens to be the biggest one yet. Ash sees Paul, Trip, and Sawyer before the tournament starts. He has Oak send in Trip's Pokemon to give back to him, but before that, Oak informs Ash about the companions' attempt to rescue Pikachu. Oak says he doesn't know what happened to them after they went to Team Rocket's base. Ash is sad, but says he's gotten stronger and wants to continue on for now. He asks Oak to inform him as soon as Oak learns anything.

Officer Jennys help Ash track down Hat Thief, who is getting ready to leave the region. Ash stops him just in time and demands back his hat. Hat Thief and Ash have a full battle to decide who gets to keep the hat. Hat Thief's final team is Honchkrow, Ludicolo, Mismagius, Breloom, Smeargle, and Slowking. After Ash wins, he takes back his hat. This is Hat Thief's last appearance.

The Pokemon League then starts. Ash is using every Pokemon he's ever caught, using them all once each. He, Paul, Trip, and Sawyer pass the qualifying rounds, and get into the big tournament. Ash, when watching other matches, sees the fun everyone's having, and starts to change. He storms off and starts vigorously training with the Pokemon he's using in his next battle. All the training he does is intense, and overly straining for his Pokemon.

Ash is pit against Trip, then against Sawyer in the quarterfinals, then against Paul in the semifinals. He wins and makes it to the final round, but Trip, Sawyer, and Paul noticed how hard he was being on his Pokemon.

When Ash is moodily watching the other semifinal match, Trip and Sawyer come and try to talk to him, but Ash rejects them. Paul then comes and tries to force him to snap out of it. Ash starts to comply, but when a trainer in the match throws out a Spearow, Ash gets super emotional again, and storms off. Ash goes to Professor Oak, and tries to get an answer, but he won't answer, so Ash runs outside, throws himself into the grass, and sobs. His rivals follow him and say he should focus on the final battle, but Ash says all he cares about is Pikachu. Then, to everyone's surprise, all of Ash's companions show up with Pikachu. They call for Ash, and as soon as he sees Pikachu, he runs over. Pikachu is knocked out and terribly injured. It was the only way to stop Pikachu from hurting them.

Everybody rushes to bring Pikachu to a Pokemon Center, but all the ones they find are full with all the defeated trainers. The only option is to work on Pikachu themselves. They try everything they can, but they can barely do anything. As they all think they're sharing their last moments with Pikachu, a Nurse Joy from one of the centers comes in. She starts to say that her center has room for them now, but she sees Pikachu and asked what happened. They tell her everything. Joy lets them in on a super secret machine that Nurse Joys have developed, called the Heal All. Pikachu would be the first to use it, but it would only work if he was in a Pokeball.

The final battle of the Pokemon League is the next thing we see. Ash's opponent is a brand new character, and his first five Pokemon are Blaziken, Meowth, Latios, Lucario, and Mega Charizard X (no particular order). Ash's first five Pokemon are Charizard, Sceptile, Infernape, Krookodile, and Greninja (no particular order). After a series of extremely epic battles, Ash's opponent throws out a Pikachu, who defeats Ash's fifth Pokemon. Ash uses his own Pikachu, who is thrown out of his Pokeball. Pikachu is confused about everything that happened, but Ash tells him to go with it.

After a lot of fighting, Ash's opponent shocks (no pun intended) everybody when he pulls a Thunder Stone out of his bag. The opponent compliments Ash's Pikachu, and says his Thunder Stone is the only way he can win. His Raichu then proceeds to wail on Pikachu. For a finisher, Raichu runs in with a Volt Tackle. However, Ash tosses his Electrium Z to Pikachu, and counters the Volt Tackle with a Z-Move. Everybody in the arena is electrocuted (literally) by the massive clash. When the smoke clears, it's revealed Pikachu wins!

The things I didn't put in are the new region's evil team, and if the starters would be incorporated. Other than that, that's how the series would go up to the end of the league.

It's pretty good but instead of a new region, this would work well in some BF like setting, with some modifications ofcourse. Otherwise it's great thinking!

 

[grassfire101]

Have more focus for the evil team

 

[pokedigijedi]

I'd have an arc were Ash gets sucked into Ultra Space without any of his Pokemon besides Poipole, and until he gets out he has to catch several Ultra Beast to help him survive being lost in Ultra Space, the arc ends with Ash bringing back 5 Ultra BEast with him he gives them the option to return home but because of the bond they developed they choose to stay

 

[DatsRight]

If there's one idea that REALLY went to waste in the anime, it's the 'Ash turned into a Pikachu' plot point (as in it was used for one brief gag).

There was so much that could have been done with this, especially if say, it happened unwillingly and the heroes spent an arc having to search for a cure. They could deal with Ash now being on the same level as his own captures and being able to communicate with them (if likely at the expense of talking to his human friends), imagine Ash finally being able to talk to his old buddy Pikachu. Not to mention Ash now being able to use attacks and possibly having greater physical prowess (maybe even gaining tutoring from his own Pokemon). It's a brilliant 'cursed with awesome' concept. I could see it having development from the side of his companions as well, having difficulty treating him like a human or knowing what he needs, and maybe potential drama from them and Ash becoming more alienated. It could get even worse if they did something like, say 'Brave' where if they don't cure him soon, Ash runs the risk of not only staying a Pikachu but having his human mind slowly devolve into a feral Pokemon one.

Besides the main cast imagine Ash undergoing a 'slice of life' as a normal Pokemon, interacting with others who don't know he's human, running the risk of trainers trying to catch him or other Pokemon antagonising or trying to mate with him.

Even in terms of lightheartedness, I suspect a series like SM would take great pleasure with such a concept humour wise (eg. the girls taking him shopping for costumes with their own Pokemon), not to mention just testing how expressive Ash can be without talking proper sentences.

 

[Redstar45]

I think whole thing about turn into Pokemon already been done before in os and pokemon mystery dungeon and i feel that Ash and red should be a nomal kid that dream to become a great Pokemon master and both shudõ and tajiri created them to be
So no power (aura) or turn into Pokemon and no chosen one one stuff for pokemon series
I think that he (Ash/Satoshi ) Should be more closely to his counterparts from the game and manga (Red)
And i think that both os era and i choose you films a.u. should go that route to begin with in the first place
That is my strong opinions.

 

[pokedigijedi]

How about a deconstruction episode of several of Ash's ideals and training style?

A rival appears at a certain in a new series, challenges Ash to a full battle while Ash's team is still unevolved, like with Trip, the rival tells Ash how he trained his Pokemon and how they evolved Ash rebukes by saying the same thing he told Trip "there's a lot more to training than just evolving" only for the rival to point out that Ash hasn't defeated a single one of his evolved Pokemon with Ash's unevolved Pokemon.

The rival wins without losing a single Pokemon and reveals to Ash that him and Ash caught one of the same species on the same day, with Ash's at the time having the advantage but the full battle he points out that while Ash's remained unevolved his has since evolved and gained the upperhand.

He also questions Ash's dream of being a Pokemon Master calling him un-serious with his goal, pointing out that instead of continuously improving he chooses to leave his older Pokemon behind choosing to start out a new, and so and so fourth.

So what do you guys and gals think, good idea or bad idea? and what ways would you improve it?

 

[Redstar45]

A Girl rival (base on female characters from the manga or the games) could do that nice idea but you need Ash proves him/her wrong at some point near end of season or something like that

 

[Mew2]

A Girl rival (base on female characters from the manga or the games) could do that nice idea but you need Ash proves him/her wrong at some point near end of season or something like that

Not necessarily. Perhaps to complete the deconstruction, the rival could actually beat Ash and be the one to win the League, especially if it is the female player character. That would really challenge Ash's ideals: seeing a rival beat him and accomplish something that he was unable to, especially when forcing him to face his own issues. And to make it even more interesting, she could actually be nice to her Pokémon and others and actually be trying to help Ash out. Maybe she even accuses him of not really caring about his Pokémon since he just "leaves them to rot at Professor Oak's Lab" at the end of a region anyway. That could open a lot of doors for Ash's future character development that could span multiple regions.

 

[p96822]

If I would change Pokemon Sun and Moon then I would have taken out Sophicles as a main character alongside Mallow and make side characters

 

[DatsRight]

If I would change Pokemon Sun and Moon then I would have taken out Sophicles as a main character alongside Mallow and make side characters

Mallow and Lana I'd agree, but I dunno, I kinda like Sophocles and his episodes are fun, he's not quite dead weight like the former two often are since he usually gets some small degree of involvement or comedy in too. A team of Ash, Lillie, Kiawe and Sophocles I think would have been moderated enough to maintain development while still having loads of fun episodes.

I'd maybe give those three supporting companions more limelight though, maybe even make Lillie more of a co-protagonist. SM Ash is GREAT, but I'd have loved to see more of the others. Hell some of Ash's best moments were through supporting roles for the other characters anyway.

As I mentioned in a previous post, SM Ash is essentially the 'Tigger' of the anime right now, and he'd probably work as well in the same role, ie. the vibrant supporting protagonist that still has a strong enough presence to feel like a star in their own right. In fairness, he'd probably make the anime's best companion.

 

[U.N. Owen]

Enough of the villains that are always irredeemably evil or heroes merely manipulated. I'm ready for a full on supporting character to fall from grace and become a villain. Not the mustache-twirling ones. A villain who genuinely believes he or she is the hero of the story. But this villain would compromise, rationalize, or do anything to ensure that the actions taken are actions that are "for the greater good".

 

[DatsRight]

Enough of the villains that are always irredeemably evil or heroes merely manipulated. I'm ready for a full on supporting character to fall from grace and become a villain. Not the mustache-twirling ones. A villain who genuinely believes he or she is the hero of the story. But this villain would compromise, rationalize, or do anything to ensure that the actions taken are actions that are "for the greater good".

I always thought it was a shame they diluted Lysandre's sympathetic moments from the games because of this. Sure it was still a bit basic in the games, but I liked that moment where the protagonists realise in confusion that he's not just some generic evil bad guy that needs his butt whooped and actually try in vain to sympathetically reason with him. That to me strengthened the heroes' motives and actions, since they had a complex enough opposition to actually challenge or at least complicate their ideals.

I always see too much of a straw loser usage with the bad guys, something that's so one dimensionally evil and nasty, and usually easy to defeat, something that just exists to make the twerps look superficially awesome without properly developing them.

 

[p96822]

Mallow and Lana I'd agree, but I dunno, I kinda like Sophocles and his episodes are fun, he's not quite dead weight like the former two often are since he usually gets some small degree of involvement or comedy in too. A team of Ash, Lillie, Kiawe and Sophocles I think would have been moderated enough to maintain development while still having loads of fun episodes.

I'd maybe give those three supporting companions more limelight though, maybe even make Lillie more of a co-protagonist. SM Ash is GREAT, but I'd have loved to see more of the others. Hell some of Ash's best moments were through supporting roles for the other characters anyway.

As I mentioned in a previous post, SM Ash is essentially the 'Tigger' of the anime right now, and he'd probably work as well in the same role, ie. the vibrant supporting protagonist that still has a strong enough presence to feel like a star in their own right. In fairness, he'd probably make the anime's best companion.

For me, I don't find Sophicle's episode to be fun. And sometime I think is a walmart version of Clemont without the consent failures of his inventions. Also Sophocles like Mallow doesn't really do anything for the group as a whole

 

[DatsRight]

Sophocles is at least the occasional smart guy of the group and has a funny chemistry with Ash. He feels a bit superfluous with Lillie already the smart one, but they contribute pretty equally and I like their brains and brawn teamwork with Ash in some episodes. To compare Mallow and Lana don't really contribute much of a unique role or partnership with Ash.

Plus Sophocles is allowed to contribute way more comedy. Lillie is about the only girl they don't regularly shirk from being the subject of humour or antics too often, which makes the others feel way more like dead weight in a comedy series.

 

[p96822]

I don't even find Sophocles funny or his Pokemon that interesting. I rather him just be a side character and nothing else

 

[Hanto]

I would definetily change teams of main characters like that to the time of current episodes (82-83, mid-series).

Ash:
- Pikachu (Quick Attack, Thunderbolt, Return, Iron Tail)
- Rowlet (Razor Leaf, Ominous Wind, Leafage, Peck)
- Lycanroc (Crunch, Stone Edge, Accelrock, Counter)
- Torracat (Fire Fang, Flame Charge, Double Kick, Endeavor)
- Poipole (Acid, Toxic, Fell Stinger)
- Wimpod (Struggle Bug, Sand Attack, Aqua Jet)

Lilie:
- Shiron (Aurora Veil, Ice Beam, Hail)
- Sandshrew (Metal Claw, Ice Ball, Rapid Spin, Defence Curl)

Kiawe:
- Turtonator (Dragon Tail, Fire Blast, Shell Trap, Shell Trap)
- Marowak (Shadow Bone, Flare Blitz, Bonemerang, Iron Head)
- Newborn Growlithe to promote LGPE (Bite, Ember, Burn Up) - has problems with fire control just like Ash cyndaquil in Johto

Sophocles:
- Togedemaru (Spiky Shield, Zing Zang, Iron Head, Magnet Raise)
- Charjabug (Electro Web, Discharge, String Shot, Bug Bite)
- Minior (Acrobatics, Power Gem, Charge Beam, Protect)

Lana:
- Brionne (Bubblebeam, Aqua Jet, Sing, Disarming Voice)
- Dewpider (Bubblebeam, Signal Beam, Mirror Coat, Spider Web)

Mallow:
- Tsareena (Trop Kick, Sweet Scent, Stomp, Magical Leaf)
- Oranguru - disobidient (Instruct, Psychic, Substitute, Shadow Ball)
- Newborn Bulbasaur to promote LGPE (Tackle, Vine Whip, Petal Dance)

 

[DatsRight]

Keep Lillie for Gen 8, have her travel with Ash for one series (and make up for lost time to bulk up her team), and then have her move to Kanto nearby afterwards for several cameos.

I dunno, I love the idea of Ash being an "onii chan" with an indispensable little sister type. I was actually very sad when May got replaced for this reason.

 

[pokedigijedi]

Not necessarily. Perhaps to complete the deconstruction, the rival could actually beat Ash and be the one to win the League, especially if it is the female player character. That would really challenge Ash's ideals: seeing a rival beat him and accomplish something that he was unable to, especially when forcing him to face his own issues. And to make it even more interesting, she could actually be nice to her Pokémon and others and actually be trying to help Ash out. Maybe she even accuses him of not really caring about his Pokémon since he just "leaves them to rot at Professor Oak's Lab" at the end of a region anyway. That could open a lot of doors for Ash's future character development that could span multiple regions.

I like the way you think