Would you ever want to see Ash travel alone or with one companion?

[keepitsimple]

I just don't think they're capable because Satoshi has few interesting traits to begin with, so there's hardly anything to make use of when he's on his own, other than his generic shounen protagonist personality.

and the sidekicks don't have generic protagonist personalities? by this logic they don't have much to offer either

 

[Power Up]

I just don't think they're capable because Satoshi has few interesting traits
to begin with, so there's hardly anything to make use of when he's on his own, other than his generic shounen protagonist personality.

I gave a long list of interesting traits that the Pokemon anime could easily capitalize on.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Screw Ash. I want someone else.

 

[World Turtle]

I would be okay with Ash, the female companion, and a rotating cast of third-wheel companions and rival characters.

Screw Ash. I want someone else.

Would not complain if they did this either. They basically hit a wall with him in Kalos. They got him to the finals.
If he drops a rank down from that it'll feel like his skills have downgraded, but as we know he can't win a league for whatever reason.
So he's stuck from advancing any further.
What's wrong with having him win a league and then lose to the E4?

 

[DatsRight]

I would be okay with Ash, the female companion, and a rotating cast of third-wheel companions and rival characters.



Would not complain if they did this either. They basically hit a wall with him in Kalos. They got him to the finals.
If he drops a rank down from that it'll feel like his skills have downgraded, but as we know he can't win a league for whatever reason.
So he's stuck from advancing any further.
What's wrong with having him win a league and then lose to the E4?

As a CHARACTER however, it still feels like they're trying to work around things. In SM he does manage to hold whole episodes on his own, which feels as important as trainer progression. It's agreed however that he's not great for dynamic development, he needs a companion around for that.

 

[Zipper4242]

It depends on how the characters are written. If it's where there is a clear vacancy (probably an unpopular opinion, but I don't think Ash should've travelled to Hoenn on his own, there just always is such a void where Misty and Brock should be), then absolutely not. Something like the first episode of BW, where we really don't NEED side/companion characters? Sure!

Although tbh, I think that SM, with the balance of full-on ensemble episodes and pretty much solo Ash episodes (the few we've gotten without companions) is the closest we're going to get to Ash never having companions. I don't think we'll ever TRULY get an Ash alone, because that will slow down his character progression quite a bit, but I am hoping we get more solo Ash episodes in the future.

 

[Frozocrone]

Alone no, at this point I find him one dimensional and a typical shonen protagonist who is (a) hot-headed and (b) is good at fighting or becomes good and (c) flips their **** against any sort of injustice and fights to resolve the issue no matter how realistic their chances might be. I find him somewhat enjoyable in SM because he bounces off a variety of figures, the shy timid girl, the action girl, the father figure, the nerd, the equally hot-headed friend, etc etc, there is just a variety of interactions to be had.

With that in mind, I also don't know how I would feel about a singular companion. I think they (as in the writers) would have to really nail the personality to mesh with Ash's well. Two hot-headed kids travelling around would be boring af, but a frosty yet calm character could be the perfect compliment to him.

 

[DatsRight]

Alone no, at this point I find him one dimensional and a typical shonen protagonist who is (a) hot-headed and (b) is good at fighting or becomes good and (c) flips their **** against any sort of injustice and fights to resolve the issue no matter how realistic their chances might be. I find him somewhat enjoyable in SM because he bounces off a variety of figures, the shy timid girl, the action girl, the father figure, the nerd, the equally hot-headed friend, etc etc, there is just a variety of interactions to be had.

With that in mind, I also don't know how I would feel about a singular companion. I think they (as in the writers) would have to really nail the personality to mesh with Ash's well. Two hot-headed kids travelling around would be boring af, but a frosty yet calm character could be the perfect compliment to him.

A character that has lots of ties could work because they would bring loads of other characters alongside for him to interact with. With Lillie came Gladion, Lusamine and Faba for example.

I think character agency also has effect, since not only does SM have a variety of different personalities but also niches and activities, Ash isn't just battling or talking to the other companions anymore, he joins them in loads of other things which helps with his own versatility. XY nulled out this potential by making showcases gender exclusive for example and the twerps seldom taking part in the same activities, so Ash stayed one track with battles that series.

 

[Leonhart]

Two hot-headed kids travelling around would be boring af, but a frosty yet calm character could be the perfect compliment to him.

I suppose that might work, although the writers seem to struggle when it comes to writing calm characters; they tend to go the extreme route by making them too serious and boring.

 

[DatsRight]

I suppose that might work, although the writers seem to struggle when it comes to writing calm characters; they tend to go the extreme route by making them too serious and boring.

I think they need more contrasts for Ash without being so black and white about it. SM has been okay about it in places really, since a lot of the companions have a 'so different yet so similar' aspect about them. Lillie and Sophocles are studious and introverted, but share an occasional enthusiasm and naivete similar to Ash, same for Kiawe who is more serious minded and no nonsense, but EXTREMELY passionate and hammy. There's something for both sides to work off of there.

It helps Ash can have still have an earnest insightful side when necessary, he can actually play straight man at times since the show acknowledges 'calm and serious =\= sane and rational'. Hell I could argue one of the things that makes the dynamics work so well in SM is that so many of the cast can so easily switch between buffoonish and competent without being out of character. Only a couple like Mallow seem to be stuck in the generically sane role, and they're ironically the ones less likely to get to do something awesome.

 

[Satoshi & Touko]

I wouldn’t mind seeing Ash travel with only one companion. But it wouldn’t be just anyone. It would be another energetic, fun-loving girl who would become his fiercest and most enjoyable rival. And her and Ash would be the actual endgame pairing for Ash! <3

 

[satopi]

Always. That was one of the highlights for me watching movie 20 and episode 20. Only him and Pikachu (and his other Pokémon.) I really enjoyed Serena's scenes with only her and her Fenniken before she met up with Ash and the Lemon Siblings and loved the few episodes of Ash and Iris in deniably travelling together.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that it's a terrible idea in general if there was only one character. For a character to be entertaining and a story to be told, there has to be other characters for the protagonist to bounce off of. I'm enjoying what they're doing in the movies so far where Ash is traveling alone with Pikachu but he encounters many different faces and places so it's not just the audience watching only Ash and Pikachu doing normal things for an hour and a half.

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

Would not complain if they did this either. They basically hit a wall with him in Kalos. They got him to the finals.
If he drops a rank down from that it'll feel like his skills have downgraded, but as we know he can't win a league for whatever reason.
So he's stuck from advancing any further.
What's wrong with having him win a league and then lose to the E4?

Well, not necessarily. Depending on the rivals, team members and overall level of competitors, it's possible for a person who was a runner up in one competion to end up getting a lesser one on another. There's a lot of factors depending. I'd say the main issue is basically with how much lower his rank would be in the other competition.

I mean, that does happen in real-life sports after all. Take the recent soccer cup for example. Germany won the 2014 competion but this year they were send-off fairly early. There's a lot of things playing on a competition.

Specially now Ash no longer has a killing machine like Ash-Greninja lol

 

[World Turtle]

Well, not necessarily. Depending on the rivals, team members and overall level of competitors, it's possible for a person who was a runner up in one competion to end up getting a lesser one on another. There's a lot of factors depending. I'd say the main issue is basically with how much lower his rank would be in the other competition.

I mean, that does happen in real-life sports after all. Take the recent soccer cup for example. Germany won the 2014 competion but this year they were send-off fairly early. There's a lot of things playing on a competition.

Specially now Ash no longer has a killing machine like Ash-Greninja lol

I know that and you know that, but there will still be a number of people out there who are going to rage, say Ash sucks, declare the anime ruined forever, call the writers and the rest of the anime staff terrible, and then they'll be a boom of betrayal fics where they crap all over Ash's Friends and Mother once the league is over.

Again, I get the RL comparison, but being a fictional character Ash not being able to win is purely because the anime staff won't let him, plenty of other athlete underdog characters are allowed to achieve their goals. So that explanation/reasoning won't fly for people.

 

[keepitsimple]

EDIT: I forgot to mention that it's a terrible idea in general if there was only one character. For a character to be entertaining and a story to be told, there has to be other characters for the protagonist to bounce off of.

Well yeah of course, but travelling alone doesn't mean there won't be other characters to bounce off of every episode. Obviously he wouldn't suddenly become the only character in the show ^^

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

Well yeah of course, but travelling alone doesn't mean there won't be other characters to bounce off of every episode. Obviously he wouldn't suddenly become the only character in the show ^^

But those characters wouldn't be very interesting if they're not around for long anyway, as audience we don't get to develop a bond with them. You can see that with characters like Ilima and Acerola. Nobody really cared about Ilima's ping pong tournament because we weren't invested in Ilima as a character, and Acerola was a pretty bland character outside of being foil to Nanu, she didn't bounce off Ash at all in any interesting way.

 

[World Turtle]

Well yeah of course, but travelling alone doesn't mean there won't be other characters to bounce off of every episode. Obviously he wouldn't suddenly become the only character in the show ^^

There is also his Pokemon. Could they give them subtitles/translators?

But those characters wouldn't be very interesting if they're not around for long anyway, as audience we don't get to develop a bond with them. You can see that with characters like Ilima and Acerola. Nobody really cared about Ilima's ping pong tournament because we weren't invested in Ilima as a character, and Acerola was a pretty bland character outside of being foil to Nanu, she didn't bounce off Ash at all in any interesting way.

Yeah a long running show where sagas are broken into 3 years (140 episodes roughly) doesn't work with only 1 main character.
Now change it to a different medium like a manga or a novel series that cuts out all the filler and maybe it could work-especially if you translate what the Pokemon are saying and give them focus to flesh out their own characters.

 

[AznKei]

I know that and you know that, but there will still be a number of people out there who are going to rage, say Ash sucks, declare the anime ruined forever, call the writers and the rest of the anime staff terrible, and then they'll be a boom of betrayal fics where they crap all over Ash's Friends and Mother once the league is over.

Again, I get the RL comparison, but being a fictional character Ash not being able to win is purely because the anime staff won't let him, plenty of other athlete underdog characters are allowed to achieve their goals. So that explanation/reasoning won't fly for people.

Well, let them rage I guess. If they can't aceept the reality of this show, and they still depend alot to the producers/writers to have their ways, it's their own consequences. Either they continue watching the show and being aware what to expect, or quit it to stick with the games, mangas or some AU shows. To me, I took the fanwork route because I don't want to give myself a headache about the producers/writers decisions, so I watch the show more casually.

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

being a fictional character Ash not being able to win is purely because the anime staff won't let him, plenty of other athlete underdog characters are allowed to achieve their goals. So that explanation/reasoning won't fly for people.

I'm not debatting that since it's obvious. Yet, what I'm trying to say is that an athlete might no always place the same or higher as his previous campaigns despite there being no drop on his ability/competence.

Another RL comparison: how many worlds championships (from the Pokémon games) had won the competition, tried to return but didn't make it/placed high?

 

[U.N. Owen]

I know that and you know that, but there will still be a number of people out there who are going to rage, say Ash sucks, declare the anime ruined forever, call the writers and the rest of the anime staff terrible, and then they'll be a boom of betrayal fics where they crap all over Ash's Friends and Mother once the league is over.

Again, I get the RL comparison, but being a fictional character Ash not being able to win is purely because the anime staff won't let him, plenty of other athlete underdog characters are allowed to achieve their goals. So that explanation/reasoning won't fly for people.

Oh boy, the fandom is saturated enough with betrayal fics. Don't need a league to justify making them.