Welp boom. That kills every time skip theory that's being on revolving around Ash's potential future.
Youngest 37-ish 10-year old-looking kid.
By the way, I decided from the very get-go that the Pokémon that would become Satoshi's partner would not be one of the three you choose between at the start of the video game, since I figured that might make some of the viewers sad. That's why he ended up with a Pikachu, a desicion I'm really glad I made.
Still didn't stop you from making Charizard Ash's MVP from Kanto to Johto. And was literally used for last in the last battles.
Pokémon aren't always what humans expect them to be like. They're unique individuals that each have their own individual reasons for how they interact with humans. That's the kind of themes, or relationships, the Pokémon anime shows; How someone can eventually get along despite being unable to communicate at all when they first meet.
Unless you're Goh's Grookey who immediately seals the deal while you - a complete stranger - are sleeping a convenient dream with Rillaboom in it.
There are so many different kinds of Pokémon in this world, so when we depict them, we try to start by imagining what would happen if these Pokémon actually DID exist in a given place, and what those Pokémon would be doing in that case, then let the story develop from there.
Don't make it sound like the dex entries don't exist to give people ideas (said dex entries which are mostly ignored by OLM).
When we work out how the Pokémon should act, we try to avoid thinking of them from the point of view of a human, but consider the Pokémon's point of view instead.
Just say they're animals capable of horribly maiming anyone at a moment's notice.
We depicted Mew as a trancendent kind of creature that exists beyond the very human values of right and wrong. Think of how the sea and the mountains can be fun playgrounds for people, but can quickly turn on them as well. That's the kind of entity we wanted to depict Mew as, so whenever it appears in the anime, we make sure it never acts in a way that's particularly convenient for humans, nor do we have it gravitate towards humans too much.
Really poetic way of just saying, "it's a parent-less kid with superpowers who cannot be stopped."
Mewtwo, on the other hand, is a product of detachment from nature. The way it constantly ponders its own existence is very very human, but I think the reason it still chooses to live among Pokémon is because of a need of kinship.
It ponders at all because you made it intelligent, rather than the ruthless beast incapable of sympathy it's depicted to be.
Q: Satoshi and Pikachu have developed a friendship that transcends species. What do you find most important when depicting their relationship?
Yuyama: The fact that they don't rely on words. Ever since the beginning of the anime, I've wanted to get across the sense that they communicate using nothing but gestures and noises as much as I could. At first we actually toyed with the idea of having Pikachu talk just like the Rocket Gang Nyarth does (laughs). However, we talked about how it would be both more realistic and more interesting if they had to communicate non-verbally, so that's the way it ended up. I think it'd be really difficult to find a pair of humans that can understand each other as near perfectly as Satoshi and Pikachu can, but I hope we managed to depict a duo everyone can look up to.
...But...um...haven't you made HUNDREDS of these "rare" humans already? Some of those actually traveling with Ash? Even the Champions?
When it came to his travelmates, we basically just went "Gotta be Takeshi and Kasumi I guess". It was such a natural desicion I don't really remember exactly how we arrived at it. I like that trio, those two just kind of fit into the group.
Nice to know Misty and Brock were just...afterthoughts.
I like that trio, those two just kind of fit into the group, and it makes Satoshi's 10-year-old-boy-ness very pronounced. We wanted to depict world battling champion Satoshi as temporarily forgetting about everything he's been through on his journey and just living the life of a 10 year old boy again.
Finally, confirmation that Ash is 10
1/12 years old.
Q: What do you personally think a "Pokémon Master" is?
Yuyama: I think it might involve accepting Pokémon for what they are, without projecting yourself onto them.
Ash: Greninja! Lucario!
LET'S SYNC AND BECOME ONE!
Greninja and Lucario:
YEAH
Lucario: Hee hee! I'm basically Ash when not being battle moody!
When we were in the process of creating Mezase Pokémon Master, I thought of a Pokémon Master as being like a rainbow. It's THERE, but you can't touch it, nor reach it. But despite that, people still move towards rainbows they see in the distant sky.
There sure haven't been enough rainbows, have there.
