Is Ash's team strong enough for the league?

[Jriks]

I think hes skilled enough to win a few of the league, but I dont know about strength.

 

[PAndrews]

Well if we take the previous league as an example and ignore reserves (since he can use them here aswell) and Pikachu (since he's in both) and compare to his current team, he does have someone of comparible power for each member

Infernape = Krookodile (he is about to take down Dragonite 1 on 1) seems to be heading towards main powerhouse status
Torterra = Leavanny (Fully evolved Grass) and Boldore (Better tank then Torterra was)
Buizel = Oshawott (similar movepool) and Palpitoad
Gliscor = Pignite (both started weak Tepig lost a lot and Gligar was a crybaby, then became instant powerhouses with an evolution, Pignite might well evolve soon too)
Staraptor = Unfeazent, both fully evolved birds
Gible = Scraggy (Both come off as the weak babies of the team, yet pack a huge punch)

So not counting Ash being able to use a lot of reserves, including his actual Shinnoh team, his Unova team seems to be shaking up nicely compared to it. Its mainly the starters that are falling behind, but that doesn't take away the fact that through Krookodile and Leavanny he still has 2 fully evolved Pokemon just like he had fully evolved starters in Shinnoh.

Also if you compare by the time he got 8 badges (Pure Pokemon from that region, no Pikachu since he's on every team):
Kanto: Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto, Krabby, Muk & Tauros (30x)
Johto: Cyndaquil, Totodile, Bayleaf, Noctowl, Phanpy
Hoen: Torkoal, Corphish, Groovyle, Swellow, Glalie
Shinnoh: Infernape, Buizel, Torterra, Staraptor, Gible, Gliscor
Unova: Pignite, Oshawott, Snivy, Scraggy, Unfeazent, Krokorok, Palpitoad, Boldore, Leavanny

So going by evolutions while on his team,
Kanto he had 2 evolutions, and 2 fully evolved Pokemonand 1 Pokemon (well 30 of them ) with no evolution
Johto he had 1 evolutions, and only 1 fully evolved Pokemon
Hoen he had 3 evolutions, and 2 fully evolved Pokemon and 1 Pokemon with no evolution
Shinnoh he had 7 evolutions, and only 4 fully evolved Pokemon
Unova he has 7 evolutions, and only 2 fully evolved Pokemon

So when comparing to past regions he isn't doing that bad in terms of teambuidling, its mainly his starters that are falling behind, but he has far more reserves who are doing fine and evolving nicely (though not given enough screentime)

 

[Pokememes]

Pandrews, your reasoning is goo but your forgetting he's caught many more Pokemon this league compared to previous regions

 

[FierceIris]

Yes, I definitely think he is. I've never really considered the BW-Ash to be weaker than any of the previous Ash. I'd say that the viewers simply think he's weaker now than before due to the way the writers are utilizing his training and Pokémon. As we all know, Ash is training far less now than he did back in Sinnoh, thus do we think he's weaker. However, I consider everyone in his team to be superb Pokémon, and actually don't think that they as a whole is weaker than any other team that he's had. That's just my opinion though.

 

[Rohanator]

Just because they're not dedicating as much screen time for Ash's training (which he obviously still does, don't care what anyone says, they've been training for days or even weeks at Cynthia's villa) doesn't mean he's weaker than before. The starters are the only thing that makes him look kinda bad at the moment, but he still has multiple fully evolved Pokemon and unevolved Pokes can still be strong in the anime. I would greatly appreciate if the writers just evolved freaking Oshawott and Snivy, but I don't think they're a major hindrance to Ash's succes. I'm personally quite positive that at least Palpitoad will evolve before or during the league, giving him yet another fully evolved Poke, a Water type no less.

 

[Pokememes]

of course he is. the writers will make him go as far as they want, regardless of what shape we think his team is in

You tend to always say just that, the writers decide, but still don't you have a opinion on whatever the topic is, not taking writers into consideration ?

 

[dd1zzle]

the animators could tell the writers to do that so they won't have to do as many moves.

But that doesn't make sense. Why would the animators control that much of an asset?

 

[sereb devil]

Yeah he is starting to look like hac, etc he just became a tiny little smarter and stopped making 2/3 letter nicknames and left for some months so we wouldn't catch him that quick.

I still remember when he threatned to kill me haha.

You comparing me with someone esle which makes you really immature.



I do see Oshawott/Snivy being strong enough to battle in the Pokemon League without evolving.

 

[PAndrews]

Pandrews, your reasoning is goo but your forgetting he's caught many more Pokemon this league compared to previous regions

While thats true, the fact is he can still only use 6 at a time (5 really since he never lets Pikachu leave ), but if we leave out that rat and make a 6vs6 out of his Shinnoh team vs Unova:

Infernape, Torterra & Staraptor were all fully evolved Stage 2,
Gliscor was a fully evolved Stage 1
Buizel and Gible were still basic form

Now he already has Krookodile, Leavanny & Unfeazent, so thats still 3 Stage 2's (making it the exact same as Shinnoh)
He doesn't have any fully evolved at Stage 1, (Scrafty is the only option for this) but he does have multiple Stage 1 evolutions, Pignite, Boldore & Palpitoad (so technically enough Gliscor replacement options)
Snivy, Oshawott & Scraggy are all basics (so 1 more basic)

So all in all, if he goes for a 6vs6 with his Shinnoh team, he has a similar team in terms of power already, but the problem is the strength of his team has always been viewed via his starters.
Since Hoen, all his starters have evolved all the way, so him having 2 unevolved starters at this point makes him seem weak, if we ignore Snivy and Oshawott however, his team is looking pretty good and powerful (I know they are strong little things, but that doesn't make them look any less small compared to the big guys)

 

[SoulSilverMstr411]

Well Bulbasaur, Squitle and Ash's other basic pokemon have faired well in league battles. But they only made it as far as the 3-on-3 matches.

 

[Schade]

Ash will probably lose in the finals again. or maybe the semifinal.
If he evolves some of his Pokemans, he might have a chance

 

[Caseydia]

no his team is ****, the writers are ****

I love it when people just get right to the point.*_*

However, even though if ash brings back his older Pokemon is no guarantee of a win in this league either. Since the writers are doing a crappy job with battles altogether, who's to say that they won't have him screw up on purpose.

 

[Pokememes]

While thats true, the fact is he can still only use 6 at a time (5 really since he never lets Pikachu leave ), but if we leave out that rat and make a 6vs6 out of his Shinnoh team vs Unova:

Infernape, Torterra & Staraptor were all fully evolved Stage 2,
Gliscor was a fully evolved Stage 1
Buizel and Gible were still basic form

Now he already has Krookodile, Leavanny & Unfeazent, so thats still 3 Stage 2's (making it the exact same as Shinnoh)
He doesn't have any fully evolved at Stage 1, (Scrafty is the only option for this) but he does have multiple Stage 1 evolutions, Pignite, Boldore & Palpitoad (so technically enough Gliscor replacement options)
Snivy, Oshawott & Scraggy are all basics (so 1 more basic)

So all in all, if he goes for a 6vs6 with his Shinnoh team, he has a similar team in terms of power already, but the problem is the strength of his team has always been viewed via his starters.
Since Hoen, all his starters have evolved all the way, so him having 2 unevolved starters at this point makes him seem weak, if we ignore Snivy and Oshawott however, his team is looking pretty good and powerful (I know they are strong little things, but that doesn't make them look any less small compared to the big guys)

True, I guess it all depends on which Pokemon he decides to use, (unova) If we leave out Pikachu, i see him using his starters, krookodile, and then 2 of his last 5 reserves, I guess it could be pretty even, but I still feel like his unova team has been portrayed weaker compared to some of his other teams,

 

[Mew2]

While thats true, the fact is he can still only use 6 at a time (5 really since he never lets Pikachu leave ), but if we leave out that rat and make a 6vs6 out of his Shinnoh team vs Unova:

Infernape, Torterra & Staraptor were all fully evolved Stage 2,
Gliscor was a fully evolved Stage 1
Buizel and Gible were still basic form

Now he already has Krookodile, Leavanny & Unfeazent, so thats still 3 Stage 2's (making it the exact same as Shinnoh)
He doesn't have any fully evolved at Stage 1, (Scrafty is the only option for this) but he does have multiple Stage 1 evolutions, Pignite, Boldore & Palpitoad (so technically enough Gliscor replacement options)
Snivy, Oshawott & Scraggy are all basics (so 1 more basic)

So all in all, if he goes for a 6vs6 with his Shinnoh team, he has a similar team in terms of power already, but the problem is the strength of his team has always been viewed via his starters.
Since Hoen, all his starters have evolved all the way, so him having 2 unevolved starters at this point makes him seem weak, if we ignore Snivy and Oshawott however, his team is looking pretty good and powerful (I know they are strong little things, but that doesn't make them look any less small compared to the big guys)

Actually, I don't think that it is the number of evolutions that makes him look weak, it's the fact that he needed six Pokémon to defeat Roxie's three. Having a gym battle like that is embarrassing and in other regions, I get the feeling that Ash would not have agreed to that, or would have made it three-on-three or six-on-six to start with. In addition, we don't know how strong Snivy and Oshawott are since they were some of the Pokémon that didn't fight in the Roxie battle. The other one, Krokorok, soon to be Krookodile, is a third stage. Leavanny managed to get a win, as did Pignite and Pikachu. Still, Unfeazant, Boldore, and Palpitoad, Pokémon who seemed to be stronger in the past, were significantly weaker in this battle, which is why I think most people are wondering if his team is really ready for the Unova League since so far, no one really stands out on Ash's team. In addition, I also think that Ash winning gym battles via evolution also makes people think that his Unova team isn't quite up to the level of his other teams. To me, though, it's not necessarily that they are too weak, it's the fact that they're a big question mark with two of the starters not having battled in quite a while, and with Snivy in her battle against Suwarma, she was only KOed because she took a double super effective hit to protect Tepig. We don't know how the battle would have gone if Tepig had been serious from the start and Snivy didn't have to protect him. And, of course, there's Oshawott, who has not had a serious battle where we could gauge his strength in a very long time.

 

[AceDetective]

are people still going on about homikas gym. it was done that way to give the reserves more screentime

 

[Pokeshippers]

are people still going on about homikas gym. it was done that way to give the reserves more screentime

I think a potential battle with Shizui maybe giving him a 9th badge? and making him win convincingly would actually help get rid of that little grievance, until then I don't think it'll go away.

 

[Pokemaniac24]

are people still going on about homikas gym. it was done that way to give the reserves more screentime

They should have made it 6 on 6 then.

 

[Lee-san]

"Strong" is relative.
His Pokemon are as strong or as weak as the writers want them to be in any given episode.

 

[Shneak]

are people still going on about homikas gym. it was done that way to give the reserves more screentime

The best thing about it is that it's sort of realistic. Ash doesn't use his reserves often, so they don't get very much training. They couldn't handle themselves in the battle against Roxie's strong core. I don't know why people can't accept that a Koffing can do damage when we've seen plenty of unevolved Pokemon do just that. Scolipede and Garbodor were strong just as well.

 

[LizardonX]

They should have made it 6 on 6 then.

He still would have won, as the law of constant ninjusu or whatever its called will decrease the power of roxie's pokemon for each additional one she has. It's like Ash's team has 100 units of energy among 6 pokemon, but roxie has 90 distributed among 3, making each one stronger, but no matter how many pokemon roxie has her total energy is still 90 meaning she would simply have weaker pokemon to compensate.