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Who might the unknown members of Masters 8 be?

Pokegirl Fan~

Liko>>>>>Ash
If the top 8 is mostly made up of champions then I highly doubt Ash will get far.
 

PsychoLogical

Black and White, Yin and Yang, Light and Dark.
The idea that the master 8 will be filled with champions leads to another problem. I don't know if Ash can defeat them all and I don't know if the staff will use his old Pokemon. His current Pokemon might be able to defeat Alder, maybe even Steven, but the others will be tough.
I find the idea more stupid than anything. Just because they're champions does not mean they should automatically be the Master 8. We know Leon, Lance, and Raihan are automatic while the other 5 are undetermined but should never just be champions.
 

Mr. Reloaded

Cause a pirate is free
If the top 8 is mostly made up of champions then I highly doubt Ash will get far.

If the Hyper Class has the elite four like we all expect it to, and Ash beats them and then beats Raihan (who even in the anime is implied champion level given his rank) Ash will be just fine.
 

Dragonsoldier77

Bittersweet Satisfaction
If the top 8 is mostly made up of champions then I highly doubt Ash will get far.

When ash’s goal is leon who is called the strongest and who has been shown to beat one other champion already, it’s par for the course really.

If they really make him go all the way to beat leon, there’s no reason he can’t fight the other champions.
 

Applecorp

Well-Known Member
We have already talked about this topic, and I think the answer is obvious about who are the members of the Master Class. Essentially, they are all the Champions from each of the previous Regions visited in each Generation. Of course, there are some exceptions. So, let's see who are the candidates I see:

1º) Leon, the Champion of Galar. (Confirmed)
2º) Raihan, Leon's main rival and Galar's Dragon Gym Leader. (Confirmed)
3º) Lance, potentially the champion of both Kanto and Johto. (Confirmed)
4º) Steven, the Champion of Hoenn.
5º) Cynthia, the Champion of Sinnoh.
6º) Alder, the Champion of Unova. [No way Iris can become Champion in the Ainme]
7º) Diantha, the Champion of Kalos.

All of them deserve to be at the top, and if Ash reach this, it means the eight member should be removed to leave its place for Ash. And Ash could be in this Class as the first Champion of Alola, even if he comes from Kanto. So, who could be the last member that would lose to Ash so he can enter the Master Class? I only see one candidate: Giovanni, secret leader of Team Rocket and self proclaimed the Self-Proclaimed Strongest Trainer. It would be appropiated for Giovanni to be here, and for Ash to remove him from the place. (Not to mention to publically unmasks him as leader of Team Rocket and being desqualified). So:

8º) Giovanni, secret leader of Team Rocket.

And that's it, that's the 8 members.

I was with you until you said Giovanni. When has Gio ever been implied to think of himself as the self professed strongest trainer?

His strongest Pokemon is a Persian for god's sake. Plus isn't he concerned about secrecy and working behind the scenes and having his henchmen do most of his dirty work? Why would he show up in such a public way to win a title that he doesn't care about?
 

Eddieursa

Marsh Trainer
I was with you until you said Giovanni. When has Gio ever been implied to think of himself as the self professed strongest trainer?

His strongest Pokemon is a Persian for god's sake. Plus isn't he concerned about secrecy and working behind the scenes and having his henchmen do most of his dirty work? Why would he show up in such a public way to win a title that he doesn't care about?

Giovanni's nickname as "The Self-Proclamed Strongest Trainer" comes from the videogames; but either way, in the anime, he proved to have an ego capable to match that. And that ego was surely increased during the time he had Mewtwo under his orders.

Who said Persian in his strongest Pokemon? Between the Pokemon we know he has, he has Golem, Kingler, Rhydon and Machamp; which surely are way stronger than Persian. Persian is simply the Pokemon he has more at hand to use, but he definitely has strongest Pokemon at his arsenal. Team Rocket has captured hundreds of Pokemon, so it won't be a surprise if Giovanni keeps some of the strongest ones for himself. Besides, Team Rocket has ways to artificially increase the power of the Pokemon that serve them. Do you remember the Dark Balls from the 4th movie? Surely they have more devices with similar functions.

Sure, Giovanni is like a crime lord who uses secrecy and henchmen to do his dirty work; but like I said, he has such an ego that, when he thinks he's at his ultimate triumph, he will want to be in person. Just like Marvel's Kingpin. And even if someone sees his face, surely he will have countermeasures for that just like Wilson Fisk. And I believe the title could actually be important for him. First, because of his pride, and second, because being the strongest trainer would make him be respected and feared, like a crime lord.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
I think Sakaki is the most unlikely character to appear in the World Championships, much less the Top 8. Outside of having the Tokiwa Gym Leader title in OS, he's never really shown an interest in battling competitively, and his character is more suited for sitting behind a desk and letting the various Rocket-dan members complete tasks for him, instead.
 

Gamzee Makara

Flirtin' With Disaster
Call me crazy, but I think Goh is going to start doing World Coronation Series matches very soon, and will face Ash before Ash gets to Leon.

Or he might beat Ash so that Ash will pass the main character torch fully to him.

It fits into my theory that Goh is going to be the new main character after this season, so he can rep Pokémon Go and Catch 'em All.

Which is more relevant to the franchise right now:The Pokémon Go App or Satoshi Tajiri?

Go.

So I think Goh will be a slot, either due to BS or starting to battle people.

I'm also willing to bet on NO past characters. Not even Lance, since I think he was just a glorified Masters EX hint/hype cameo, and losing might have kicked him out of the 8 Masters, which seems to have been implied....but he might still be in.

It's going to be Ash, Goh, Leon, Raihan, COTD #1, COTD #2, COTD #3, and COTD #4/Lance.

Drake(The Orange Islands version)Steven, Brandon(The Battle Frontier one) Diantha, Cynthia, Alder and/or Wallace have NO ties to the current games apart from some being gacha jpeg results in Masters EX.
Paul and all other rivals are dead plots. Leave them.
Harrison, Tyson, Tobias, Cameron, Virgil, Jon Dickson, and the unnamed Kanto League winner are immovable walls of BS.
Alain is an immovable wall of BS and is likely on parole if not barred from official events due to being part of a terrorist organization, so he likely cannot appear in any capacity.
No past traveling companion is strong enough.
Wally does NOT exist in the anime.
Lucas and Brandon(Gen III protagonist stand-in) are more likely due to their Battle Tower cameos being good disposable COTD slots, but are not happening.
Giovanni might crash the Masters 8 to rob Ash of a win.
Bea will wash out.
All other past characters are too irrelevant, are dead plots, or are unsellable.

So don't bet on anyone important. Expect 3-4 COTDs and Goh, because the writers WILL be lazy. As they ALWAYS are when creating cannon fodder trainers.
 
Call me crazy, but I think Goh is going to start doing World Coronation Series matches very soon, and will face Ash before Ash gets to Leon.

Or he might beat Ash so that Ash will pass the main character torch fully to him.

It fits into my theory that Goh is going to be the new main character after this season, so he can rep Pokémon Go and Catch 'em All.

Which is more relevant to the franchise right now:The Pokémon Go App or Satoshi Tajiri?

Go.

So I think Goh will be a slot, either due to BS or starting to battle people.

I'm also willing to bet on NO past characters. Not even Lance, since I think he was just a glorified Masters EX hint/hype cameo, and losing might have kicked him out of the 8 Masters, which seems to have been implied....but he might still be in.

It's going to be Ash, Goh, Leon, Raihan, COTD #1, COTD #2, COTD #3, and COTD #4/Lance.

Drake(The Orange Islands version)Steven, Brandon(The Battle Frontier one) Diantha, Cynthia, Alder and/or Wallace have NO ties to the current games apart from some being gacha jpeg results in Masters EX.
Paul and all other rivals are dead plots. Leave them.
Harrison, Tyson, Tobias, Cameron, Virgil, Jon Dickson, and the unnamed Kanto League winner are immovable walls of BS.
Alain is an immovable wall of BS and is likely on parole if not barred from official events due to being part of a terrorist organization, so he likely cannot appear in any capacity.
No past traveling companion is strong enough.
Wally does NOT exist in the anime.
Lucas and Brandon(Gen III protagonist stand-in) are more likely due to their Battle Tower cameos being good disposable COTD slots, but are not happening.
Giovanni might crash the Masters 8 to rob Ash of a win.
Bea will wash out.
All other past characters are too irrelevant, are dead plots, or are unsellable.

So don't bet on anyone important. Expect 3-4 COTDs and Goh, because the writers WILL be lazy. As they ALWAYS are when creating cannon fodder trainers.
Yeah, I'm willing to bet everything I own that all of your predictions are wrong. Where was it even implied that Lance is out?
 

PsychoLogical

Black and White, Yin and Yang, Light and Dark.
Call me crazy, but I think Goh is going to start doing World Coronation Series matches very soon, and will face Ash before Ash gets to Leon.

Or he might beat Ash so that Ash will pass the main character torch fully to him.

It fits into my theory that Goh is going to be the new main character after this season, so he can rep Pokémon Go and Catch 'em All.

Which is more relevant to the franchise right now:The Pokémon Go App or Satoshi Tajiri?

Go.

So I think Goh will be a slot, either due to BS or starting to battle people.

I'm also willing to bet on NO past characters. Not even Lance, since I think he was just a glorified Masters EX hint/hype cameo, and losing might have kicked him out of the 8 Masters, which seems to have been implied....but he might still be in.

It's going to be Ash, Goh, Leon, Raihan, COTD #1, COTD #2, COTD #3, and COTD #4/Lance.

Drake(The Orange Islands version)Steven, Brandon(The Battle Frontier one) Diantha, Cynthia, Alder and/or Wallace have NO ties to the current games apart from some being gacha jpeg results in Masters EX.
Paul and all other rivals are dead plots. Leave them.
Harrison, Tyson, Tobias, Cameron, Virgil, Jon Dickson, and the unnamed Kanto League winner are immovable walls of BS.
Alain is an immovable wall of BS and is likely on parole if not barred from official events due to being part of a terrorist organization, so he likely cannot appear in any capacity.
No past traveling companion is strong enough.
Wally does NOT exist in the anime.
Lucas and Brandon(Gen III protagonist stand-in) are more likely due to their Battle Tower cameos being good disposable COTD slots, but are not happening.
Giovanni might crash the Masters 8 to rob Ash of a win.
Bea will wash out.
All other past characters are too irrelevant, are dead plots, or are unsellable.

So don't bet on anyone important. Expect 3-4 COTDs and Goh, because the writers WILL be lazy. As they ALWAYS are when creating cannon fodder trainers.
Does this site look like 4chan or r/circlejerk to you?
 

RileyXY1

Young Battle Trainer
Call me crazy, but I think Goh is going to start doing World Coronation Series matches very soon, and will face Ash before Ash gets to Leon.

Or he might beat Ash so that Ash will pass the main character torch fully to him.

It fits into my theory that Goh is going to be the new main character after this season, so he can rep Pokémon Go and Catch 'em All.

Which is more relevant to the franchise right now:The Pokémon Go App or Satoshi Tajiri?

Go.

So I think Goh will be a slot, either due to BS or starting to battle people.

I'm also willing to bet on NO past characters. Not even Lance, since I think he was just a glorified Masters EX hint/hype cameo, and losing might have kicked him out of the 8 Masters, which seems to have been implied....but he might still be in.

It's going to be Ash, Goh, Leon, Raihan, COTD #1, COTD #2, COTD #3, and COTD #4/Lance.

Drake(The Orange Islands version)Steven, Brandon(The Battle Frontier one) Diantha, Cynthia, Alder and/or Wallace have NO ties to the current games apart from some being gacha jpeg results in Masters EX.
Paul and all other rivals are dead plots. Leave them.
Harrison, Tyson, Tobias, Cameron, Virgil, Jon Dickson, and the unnamed Kanto League winner are immovable walls of BS.
Alain is an immovable wall of BS and is likely on parole if not barred from official events due to being part of a terrorist organization, so he likely cannot appear in any capacity.
No past traveling companion is strong enough.
Wally does NOT exist in the anime.
Lucas and Brandon(Gen III protagonist stand-in) are more likely due to their Battle Tower cameos being good disposable COTD slots, but are not happening.
Giovanni might crash the Masters 8 to rob Ash of a win.
Bea will wash out.
All other past characters are too irrelevant, are dead plots, or are unsellable.

So don't bet on anyone important. Expect 3-4 COTDs and Goh, because the writers WILL be lazy. As they ALWAYS are when creating cannon fodder trainers.
They've never had two main characters with the exact same goal. I highly doubt that Goh will do the PWC.
 

DuskAstral

Well-Known Member
They've never had two main characters with the exact same goal. I highly doubt that Goh will do the PWC.
I do not see any contraindications for this. Since Gou could catch two starters (which has not happened before with a traveling companion), he could join PWC if he wanted to.
 

RileyXY1

Young Battle Trainer
I do not see any contraindications for this. Since Gou could catch two starters (which has not happened before with a traveling companion), he could join PWC if he wanted to.
It would infringe on Ash's goal and give him even less screentime, ruining the dual protagonist gimmick.
 

LucasMV

Well-Known Member
I find the idea more stupid than anything. Just because they're champions does not mean they should automatically be the Master 8. We know Leon, Lance, and Raihan are automatic while the other 5 are undetermined but should never just be champions.

Why? I feel the opposite. If there are too many non champion trainers in the Masters 8, it would make it feel like less of a big deal. Leon can only be the strongest trainer in the world if the other Champions also compete and are ranked lower. And I don't see them introducing anime only characters that are stronger than the Champions, if that's what you meant.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
LucasMV said:
Why? I feel the opposite. If there are too many non champion trainers in the Masters 8, it would make it feel like less of a big deal. Leon can only be the strongest trainer in the world if the other Champions also compete and are ranked lower.

While I can see your point, at the same time, I think it would be somewhat contrived if too many Champions compete since there are bound to be some who are busy with their Champion duties, or who simply don't feel like testing their skills against other strong trainers.
 

Zoruagible

Lover of underrated characters
1. Worst champion, Leon
2. Cynthia
3. Lance
4. Diantha
5. Alder
6. Steven
7. Raihan
8. Brandon (Ash takes his slot)

Palmer from the Sinnoh BF would also be a cool choice if Steven/Alder are unavailable and they don't recast like they did Chuck. Steven and Alder hardly had much interaction with Ash unlike Cynthia, Lance, and Diantha; I love those two but I never found myself wanting to see Ash battle them in the way the anime made you want to see him fight Cynthia and Diantha(Granted this one was mostly cause the anime kept pushing it, and people wonder why the Kalos League had all that rightful backlash to it, aside from Ash not getting to beat Alain and 'grow' as a trainer :rolleyes: )
 
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