Should there have been a female companion who challenged Gyms like Ash?

[Ubermuk]

No. As much as I wish Serena, Iris and Lillie had had more battles in their respectives series I don't think gyms would've worked in their favor. They needed more of the limelight... just not sharing the same hobby as Ash.

 

[Moonlight Starlight]

No. As much as I wish Serena, Iris and Lillie had had more battles in their respectives series I don't think gyms would've worked in their favor. They needed more of the limelight... just not sharing the same hobby as Ash.

I kind of see Serena as the non battler type.

 

[Ignition]

Nah. I don’t want to see Ash and this hypothetical companion fight the same team for 8 gyms. Just give him a competent female rival (did they just forget about Bianca?) instead.

I do want to see more battling focused goals as at least Misty, May, Dawn, & Iris had battling incorporated into their goals without it seeming redundant.

 

[Redstar45]

In Serena's case, I would've preferred if she had participated in Sky Battles rather than Gym battles. If I had been in charge, she would've had Yayakoma as her first Pokemon instead of Fokko, and she would've captured more Flying-types as the series progressed.

I worried about that could make her a copy of Y na Gābena from Pokemon special manga.
Just had showcase for all battle contest (it still feminine but it could definitely work)

 

[brtnvm]

Marina(anime!Kris) should have been introduced in Orange Islands as Ash's future rival in Pokemon Johto and she should have sometimes joined Ash Brock and Misty for 10 episode arcs as a companion in Pokemon Johto also she should have won the Pokemon Johto league that would have been very kewl

 

[brtnvm]

Also in Pokemon Kanto Giselle should have left her school to travel and challenge GYMs just like Ash

 

[Leonhart]

Marina(anime!Kris) should have been introduced in Orange Islands as Ash's future rival in Pokemon Johto and she should have sometimes joined Ash Brock and Misty for 10 episode arcs as a companion in Pokemon Johto also she should have won the Pokemon Johto league that would have been very kewl

She wasn't designed until Crystal version if I remember right, so the writers introducing a video game character that didn't exist until at least a year after the Jouto saga began would've been strange.

 

[U.N. Owen]

As much as I would love to see the main girls get their hands dirty and do the gym quest, I'm not going to pretend that it would indeed pad out the series. You would need to strain the animators a bit more when it came to battle choreography and actual animation. The benefit of contest rivals is that you can at least get some more variety since you do not have monotype teams.

 

[Lord Godwin]

What about adding Marnie to the cast, who would meet with Ash and Goh in Galar. Marnie would face normal Gyms (or, wishful thinking, The Minor League) while Ash would have PWT matches with Major League Gym Leaders where they would go all out.
I love all the Times other characters fought against Gym Leaders in DP, BW and XY like Paul vs Roark and Molayne, Dawn Vs Molayne, Cilan vs Skyla, Iris vs Dryden, Cameron vs Marlon and Viola vs Grant

 

[Leonhart]

What about adding Marnie to the cast, who would meet with Ash and Goh in Galar. Marnie would face normal Gyms (or, wishful thinking, The Minor League) while Ash would have PWT matches with Major League Gym Leaders where they would go all out.

As much as I like her design, I think I'd rather see Koharu pick up the slack and eventually challenge Gyms than see the writers introduce Mary to the cast late in the series.

 

[SatoSereFan224888]

Yes but instead Ash should have been tutoring the girl instead of battling the gyms. I would say the writers should have made Gloria Ash’s student in Galar. Ash would no longer be battling gyms. He’s decided he wants to share what he’s learned to the next generation of trainers.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Lillie should come back and reveal that she's challenging gyms while looking for her dad

 

[SerenaRulez]

Yes but instead Ash should have been tutoring the girl instead of battling the gyms. I would say the writers should have made Gloria Ash’s student in Galar. Ash would no longer be battling gyms. He’s decided he wants to share what he’s learned to the next generation of trainers.

But Ash is the same age as Gloria so why would he retire at the age of 10?

He still hasn't become a Pokemon master so I don't think he will give up his dream just to teach another character.

 

[SatoSereFan224888]

But Ash is the same age as Gloria so why would he retire at the age of 10?

He still hasn't become a Pokemon master so I don't think he will give up his dream just to teach another character.

Actually Ash would be 20. He’s older married to Serena.

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

Let's keep the shipping fantasies to the dedicated forum for that shall we?

 

[Leonhart]

Yes but instead Ash should have been tutoring the girl instead of battling the gyms. I would say the writers should have made Gloria Ash’s student in Galar. Ash would no longer be battling gyms. He’s decided he wants to share what he’s learned to the next generation of trainers.

He could've easily done both, as in mentor someone else to take on Gyms while following his own journey at the same time. It's not as if he's the teacher type anyway, however. He's guided inexperienced trainers in the past, but there's a difference between giving helpful advice here and there, and actually tutoring someone full-time.

 

[nickdt]

No, but they missed the Pokeball during Hoenn when they could have had a female rival for Ash (Considering Ash didn't really have a rival in that series), which should have been Katie. There could have been an entire storyline. Ash and Katie are rivals, Brock is in love with Katie, but feels conflicted about it due to its Bromance with Ash. Would have provide Brock with a good storyline as well, instead of just being there.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

They can't really have two companions doing the same goal. Now, if they had taken advantage of SWSH's minor and major League thing (and who knows, they still might), then they could do a double Gym battling goal.

 

[XY Rules]

The gyms were definitely the most interesting part of the series, but it would certainly feel redundant. Having two main characters with the same goal is something that’d be a bit tricky to handle unless the foundations for their goals are very different. Otherwise, the less relevant character might as well not exist. Just having them be more battle-oriented like May and Dawn were would be a good idea though. Both of them got quite a lot of battling spotlight even outside of contests which was great.

I wish. It honestly sucks that the anime nowadays seem to give girl protags the "feminine" options to battles (Contests/Showcases), as if only male protags can have battle based goals or something. >.<

Contests weren’t feminine. Plenty of guys competed in them (including Ash on multiple occasions). And some even won them...Heck, the first Grand Festival winner was a guy. It was also a battle based goal, just with extra factors to it.

 

[Konja7]

Contests weren’t feminine. Plenty of guys competed in them (including Ash on multiple occasions). And some even won them...Heck, the first Grand Festival winner was a guy. It was also a battle based goal, just with extra factors to it.

It is pretty likely the creators though Contests were feminine, especially compared to battles. The focus on style and appearance are usually considered feminine traits, that's why two girl companions have that as main goal (and Serena plans to participate in Contests at the end of XY).

Of course, Showcases take it to another level, but Contests were likely considered the "feminine version" of battles.