The Kalos League had incredible potential and was amazing in certain places. The first episode of the League and the conclusion to the Ash-Sawyer rivalry was brilliant, but besides that, the Kalos League was unfortunately by far the most incoherent aspect of XY/XYZ. The writing was *very* lackadaisical at times and what they focused on didn't sense to me. How they handled Ash during the Kalos League after the great first episode was incredibly disappointing. On a writing level, it's sad to say, but the Kalos League has significant problems.
I don't actually mind the rushing of the battles that much. I think they should have shown AG cruising through one more battle 1v3 and they should have shown the entirety of Astrid battle with Noivern, Hawlucha, and Goodra playing a role. Not doing that was another missed opportunity, but not a really important one. The point of " rushing " the battles was to show that Ash was just bulldozing through the competition. I wish they had shown more of that bulldozing, but it doesn't matter much.
I wrote about this at the time when I was rewatching XYZ, but besides the first episode, I never get a really compelling reason for what Ash is fighting for and why he wants to win on a much more macro level. How they handled it on a micro level with Sawyer was brilliant, but there isn't this grand reason that should have been imbued in the narrative throughout the Kalos League. And the potential was all there! How XYZ handled Ash meant that there were several compelling reasons for why winning the Kalos League was important, especially after how Ash had been characterized all throughout the series.
They start of strong with the Furfrou trainer and it's very compelling. Ash just beat this trainer who is the representation of how many have failed during the long, arduous journey of attempting to participate at the Kalos League. Dozens, if not hundreds fail in their effort to get to the league. We really only see the people who reach the league and not those who failed to reach it and how they feel. Ash's response to him as well is absolutely great and shows how far his character had come in XY when he said that " he didn't come here with half-backed memories " and that all of his badges had memories that he would use in his battle against the Furfrou trainer.Reaching the league is an ultimate honor, not something that your everyday, average trainer is a part of. It has prestige and significance and the trainers who participate are some of the best of the best, all going through grueling gym battles. Getting gym badges and being able to reach the league is something that truly matters to these trainers and we could see how much it meant to the Furfrou trainer that he failed to reach that. At the end there, when the Furfrou trainer said that " there were plenty of people like him who're feeling awful because they couldn't collect all their badges " and he told Ash to honor those feelings and dreams, it ties it all up amazingly well,
And they never follow up on it. Nothing. It's tossed to the sidelines. That narrative was one episode and when it should have been one of the thematic throughlines of the Kalos League. There should have been focus on Ash recognizing the enormity of the situation he was in. And there was not much of that at all.
It's really why I get a bitter taste in my mouth when I watch the Kalos League. Aside from the first episode and the narrative conclusion of the Sawyer-Ash rivalry, the writing behind the league just wasn't good.
