[QUOTE=Beatle;18311809][B][/B][B][/B][B][/B][B][/B]

[B]Contents
I. Introduction
II. I Wanna Be the Very Best, Like No One Ever Was
III. The Long and Winding Road
IV. His Name was Tobias
V. You're Such a Little Kid!
VI. You Really Are an Amazing Person
VII. Kalos League Victory! Satoshi's Greatest Decisive Battle
VIII. To Be Continued: The Cycle of Failure
IX. Closing Remarks[/B]
As I have attempted an unsuccessful appeal to my infraction, I nonetheless take a risk in
posting this essay in this forum. As this is the subforum for discussion of the Pokmon anime, I
feel this is an appropriate place to make this thread. This is an incredibly long rant about the
state of the Pokmon anime. I have no intention of trolling anyone, only to narrate and tell my
deepest feelings about the anime. So have some popcorn, sit back, and relax.
[B]Introduction[/B]
My first foray into Pokmon was back in 1998, when I got the Game Boy Camera that summer
(might've been my birthday, can't really remember). I had a ton of fun with that little thingthe
games, the DJ, the photos, among other things. What was particularly cool was being able to
place silly stamps on the photos. There were eyes, mouths, accessories, various Mario
characters, and some creatures that my older brother referred to as generic dinosaurs or
monsters, can't exactly remember which word he said. But I used them on my photos anyway,
cause why not. Little did I know that wasn't going to be the last time I saw those critters, oh no.
Come Autumn later that year, my brother tells me all the neat things about a new craze going on
in school called Pokmon. He introduced me to the TV show, where we watched it together. I,
being but a young boy at the time, was hooked and completely loved every minute of it, and just
wanted to watch more and more of it. I made sure to watch every new episode premiere to the
best of my ability and was happy to watch the reruns. Around the same time, I saw the
commercial to the games, and wanted to play them badly. Soon enough, I got the game, and
was completely hooked to it, and became a young Pokmon fan.
Every Pokmon fan has likely heard of and watched the anime at some point in their lives.
When we saw the anime for the first time, plenty of us found it exciting to see Ash and others
traveling, battling with their critters and getting stronger, strengthening the bonds and
friendships with each other and their Pokmon, helping out others, earning badges, fighting evil,
and so forth. Many today still have nostalgia for those days. But today, the Pokmon anime is
scorned by both Pokmon and anime fans, something that gives both the franchise and the
medium a bad name. What went wrong? Let us review Ash's journey throughout the years.

[B]I Wanna Be the Very Best, Like No One Ever Was[/B]

According to Wikipedia, the premise or synopsis of the entire anime is this: After he turns 10
years old, Ash Ketchum (Satoshi in Japan) is allowed to start his journey in the world of
Pokmon and dreams of becoming a Pokmon master. Remember this carefully.
So our boy Ash, despite getting up late, manages to begin a brand new journey in a new region,
with Pikachu by his side, in hopes of becoming a Pokmon Master. The Pikachu, given to him
by Professor Oak, at first does not get along very well with the newbie trainer; but not long after
they get along very well and become a strong team. They later get joined by Brock and Misty,
two people who are in charge of Pokmon Gyms, a place where trainers are tested by battling
such leaders in hopes of defeating them to obtain a Gym Badge, of which eight are required to
enter the Pokmon League. As Ash desires to win the league he tries hard to get these badges,
all while going through some extra battling, capturing more Pokmon, visiting places, helping
out strangers, and stopping Team Rocket, a trio consisting of Jessie, James and Meowth, who
hope to capture his Pikachu due to their impression of how strong he is. In addition, he hopes to
win his rivalry against Gary, the grandson of Professor Oak. Misty herself desires to become a
Water Pokmon Master, and Brock desires to become a Pokmon Breeder.
Ash manages to get all of the Gym Badges at Kanto, though sometimes by unconventional
means (he was simply going to get the Cascade Badge without a battle, he got another by
making its Gym Leader laugh, and yet another by not fighting the actual Gym Leader).
Nonetheless he was happy with his badges, and went off to enter the Pokmon League. Ash
had a bit of struggles with his opponents, among them a long green-haired weirdo and a woman
in traditional Japanese clothing with an overpowered Bellsprout. But despite those, Ash
manages to win four 3v3 Pokmon matches. Ash is now in the Sweet Sixteen!
So he faces off against a trainer that isn't so different from himhe is similar in personality and
fights with similar Pokmon. His name is Ritchie. Like our boy Ash, Ritchie resembled and was
loosely based on Red, the protagonist of the first Pokmon games. He marked his Pok Balls
with stars and gave nicknames to each of his Pokmon. He similarly had a Pikachu that was
always with him by his side. He too wanted to become a good trainer. Unsurprisingly, Ash and
Ritchie became good pals and always want to see each other succeed. However, the time came
where the two trainers had to face each other in the tournament. The two felt conflicted, and yet
were ready to engage in a battle. The two fought valiantly, but thanks to some poor refereeing
and the stupidity of Ash's Charizard, Ash loses the match. He is eliminated from the tournament.
Unlike his game, manga, and Pokmon Origins counterparts, Ash does not become the
Pokmon Champion. Ash did not obtain his dream of becoming a Pokmon Master.
While many of us were disappointed with the outcome, plenty of us also thought, Well, losses
happen. It's okay to lose. 255 trainers had to lose the tournament, and Ash (and Ritchie) ended
up becoming one of them. Losing is part of life. Time to move on.

Little did plenty of us know that this was just the beginning of would later be an awful
predicament.
[B]The Long and Winding Road[/B]
After the league ended, Ash decided to continue traveling. He and his companions enter a
region called the Orange Islands. Brock was replaced by an artist named Tracey, while Misty
continues traveling with our protagonist. We continue to see much of the samebattles,
catching Pokmon, helping strangers, Team Rocket blasting off again, and so forth. Ash gains
four more badges by doing non-battle challenges, which qualifies him to enter the Orange
League.
The battle was Ash against Drake in a full 6v6 battle. It was quite exciting to watch, and the
great highlight was seeing Ash's Pikachu take down a mighty Dragonite, giving Ash the victory. It
was not a true league however, so Ash's journey is not quite over. But hey, it's something, right?
Well, not really.
So off he goes to Johto. Brock returns and replaces Tracey, who didn't really get anywhere with
his goal; we're back to the original team. Meanwhile, Team Rocket continues to attempt getting
Pikachu but never succeeds. The Johto saga was notorious for its heavy amount of filler, yet
despite that Ash manages to get eight more badges, qualifying him to enter into the Johto
League. Misty also decided to do something with her goal as she and Ash enter the Whirl Cup,
a tournament where trainers are only allowed to use water-type Pokmon. Despite Misty's
apparent expertise at that kind of thing, she is defeated, and thus does not really fulfill her goal
in becoming a Water Pokmon Master, whatever that is. Brock continues to tag along, flirting
with women along with other activities.
Eventually Ash arrives to the Johto League. He defeats a good number of opponents, among
those were a girl who was heavily infatuated with him and his biggest rival Gary. But despite this
great accomplishment, he gets defeated by Harrison at the quarterfinals, in a match that unlike
against Ritchie, turned out to be a good loss for our hero. He got further than he did before, and
was finally able to overcome Gary, who reconciled with Ash and then quit becoming as a
Pokmon Trainer, joining his grandfather in his research. But Ash's adventure is far from over.
So next he arrives to Hoenn. It wasn't without a bit of controversyMisty fans were enraged as
the tomboyish mermaid was getting written out and replaced by May, who was the female
protagonist of the then new Pokmon Ruby & Sapphire games. With an emotional goodbye to
Misty, Ash continues his adventure, catching all sorts of new Pokmon, meeting various people,
engaging in many battles, fending off Team Rocket (who continues but fails to capture Ash's
Pikachu), and winning another eight badges to enter the Hoenn League. Meanwhile, May finds
her own goalbecome a Master Coordinator. In her attempt to reach her dream, she entered
so-called Pokmon Contests, which are more or less Pokmon pet shows plus some battling, in
hopes of winning some ribbons. She manages to get the five ribbons required to enter the
Grand Festival, where the winner will be donned Master Coordinator.

Despite her hard work however May is defeated in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Ash
himself is yet again beaten, this time by eventual Champion Tyson and his Meowth at the
Hoenn League quarterfinals, yet he was able to make it that far using only his Hoenn team. But
that wasn't enough for our boy. He travels on, as the journey continues!
[B]His Name was Tobias[/B]
By this point, Ash had become an experienced player. He, Brock and May return to Kanto and
do stuff; May tries again with her goal but fails a second time, this time being defeated at the
semifinals of the Kanto Grand Festival. Ash himself enters and wins the Battle Frontier, which
seems to be the Pokmon equivalent of an All-Star Game or the International Champions Cup,
which although impressive, was not an important competition like the regional Pokmon
League. So Ash heads off to Sinnoh.
May (and her forgettable brother) get written out without getting their goals accomplished and
Dawn, the female protagonist of the Gen IV Pokmon games, now takes the spotlight. Brock
tarries on longer, practically getting relegated to a shadow of what he used to be. Team Rocket
still stalks Ash in hopes of getting that Pikachu of his, yet again they do not succeed. More of
the usual happensAsh captures Pokmon, Ash does more battling, Ash wins some badges,
etc. Dawn, like May, desires to become a Master Coordinator. She too enters contests and
despite some struggles gets the ribbons necessary to reach the Grand Festival. Unfortunately
she only gets so far just to lose to rival Zoey at the finals, thus being unable to fulfill her goal.
Too bad.
As for Ash, he enters a Pokmon League for the fourth time. This time he goes really far, and
manages to defeat rival Paul in an epic battle that lasted three episodes, sending him to the
semifinals for the first time in his history as a Pokmon Trainer. Having momentum by
overcoming a fierce rival, Ash looked on his way to the long awaited victory after 13 years worth
of episodes. But not so fast.
In comes a man in a cloak, named Tobias. He had swept all of his previous opponents, using a
single Darkrai. Yes, Darkrai, the legendary Mythical Pokmon. This same Darkrai ended up
taking about half of Ash's entire team. But Ash wasn't just going to roll over and die. With great
effort, the Darkrai was finally taken down by Sceptile, yet those efforts came in vain, as Tobias
sends out a second legendary Pokmon, Lugia, who managed to wipe out the rest of Ash's
team, though it was not without Lugia himself fainting together with Pikachu.
Just when Ash looked to be on a possible road to victory, he gets crushed by this guy who has a
team of multiple legendary Pokmon with him. For the fourth time in a fourth region, Ash again
does not fulfill his dream. Tough luck.
Let us review the premise of the anime again: After he turns 10 years old, Ash Ketchum
(Satoshi in Japan) is allowed to start his journey in the world of Pokmon and dreams of

becoming a Pokmon master. For some reason, the writers felt that they didn't really want to
have Ash make any further progress towards that goal, and as a way to do that, we get a Godmode trainer that stands in his way, one I would like to call a pastiche of players who enter
Pokmon Leagues using legendary Pokmon in the games. So Tobias just comes into the
anime as a plot device who only exists to do just that, halting the fulfillment of the premise of the
anime by defeating Ash with overpowered legendary Pokmon. It is quite disastrous. But hey, to
those who looked on the bright side, Ash proved himself to be the second strongest Pokmon
Trainer by performing best against the eventual Champion Tobias. Surely, this could mean that
Ash could make progress towards his dream and win the next league at Unova, right?
Nope, instead it would only get worse. Much, much worse.
[B]You're Such a Little Kid![/B]
Brock more or less outstayed his welcome, having been relegated to a mere background
character and did almost nothing towards fulfilling his goal of becoming a Pokmon Breeder. So
he changes his goal to become a Pokmon Doctor instead, and then is subsequently axed from
the show without really seeing him become one. As for Dawn, she was going to go with Ash but
suddenly gets written out thanks to some unforeseen circumstance. So despite her popularity
Dawn too gets axed, and she becomes the third Pok Girl who doesn't reach her goalAsh
must be some kind of bad luck charm.
So Ash heads alone to Unova, where a new adventure awaits him. You figure that with all those
strong Pokmon he's collected over the years he could finally create the team necessary to get
the badges necessary to enter the Unova League and eventually give him the Championship
win he deserves.
Oh wait, over the years is very misleading. Because at the very first episode of Best Wishes, we
Ash's age retconned back to 10 by the narrator even though an anniversary scene existed in the
original series. Worse, we witness a battle where his Pikachu, who just battled Lugia a couple of
episodes prior, faced a brand new Snivy... and [i]lost.[/i]
Though Pikachu was partially handicapped this was still an embarrassment for our veteran
trainer. It was just the beginning of the problems the Unova saga had; that one match
symbolized the horrible things that were to come, resulting in many anime viewers panning it.
Pikachu was made weak and Ash regressed as a trainer. Far from the guy that took on Tobias,
we see Ash make some ridiculous noob mistakes like not knowing how to catch a Pokmon, not
knowing about type weaknesses, scanning a Koffing as if he never knew the Pokmon. Those
are not things a veteran trainer like Ash should've done; those kind of mistakes allowed Iris, a
girl with insane hair with an affinity for dragon-type Pokmon to belittle him with destructive
criticism, constantly calling him a kid. She aspired to become a so-called Dragon Master but
does not achieve it, making her a real hypocrite. They are accompanied by Cilan, a Pokmon
Connoisseur, one that although skilled does not achieve the top rank. All while getting pursued

yet again by Team Rocket, who actually changed up a bit for a short time before going back to
the comedic trio that unsuccessfully attempts to get Pikachu.
The Unova League was the pinnacle of how bad the Pokmon anime had gotten. Despite the
incompetence of Ash, he again manages to get eight more badges, along with other
accomplishments, like being able to face Team Rocket Giovanni for the first time (though he got
creamed hard), and witnessing the return of his powerful Charizard. So he comes into the
league, takes down a few opponents, and proceeds to fight a trainer in the quarterfinals named
Cameron. This should've been an automatic win for Ash, as Cameron didn't even get the
required amount of badges to enter the league, and thought he could only enter five Pokmon in
the match. Yet thanks to rubbish nonsense, Ash loses that match as Cameron's Riolu evolves to
Lucario. Cameron proceeds to get smacked 3-6 in the semifinal match. This was followed by an
arc made entirely of filler in the Decolora Islands.
It seems that all of that development Ash had prior to Best Wishes was deliberately thrown out
by the writers, showing a gigantic middle finger at the premise of the anime. To those who
wanted to see the anime's premise fulfilled, Best Wishes went the opposite route. In terms of
fulfilling the premise of seeing Ash become a Pokmon Master, the writers have failed
tremendously. It was mainly thanks to this series that the anime got the notoriety it is known for.
Further, the TV ratings had decreased from good to bad, where the effect had carried over to XY
and now Sun and Moon.
Allow me to quote from a user in a Pokmon forum at how bad the anime had gotten:

Another user from the same thread said, Im sure it was the intention of both series that Satoshi
would grow from where he started out, but whereas DP was able to show this competently, BW
failed to show he went through any growth at all. And as far as I'm concerned, failing to show
that growth in the main character of the show severely hurt the quality of Best Wishes and is
one of the biggest reasons - though there are several outside of that - why I personally rate it
the worst [series].
At the end of the series, Iris and Cilan get written out by taking a train. But we're not finished
with Ash. Oh no.
[B]You Really Are an Amazing Person[/B]
After the disaster in Unova, five-time loser Ash is back home in Pallet. Ash again has not fulfilled
his dream. There goes a moment where he is pondering about his adventure, thinking about
many folks in he's known in his journeyGary, Misty, Brock, Tracey, May, Dawn, Iris, and Cilan.
He also reunites with the Pokmon he's collected over plenty of time. As his dream remains as
strong as ever, he heads off to Kalos with a brand new outfit along his trusty pal Pikachu. Team
Rocket continues to pursue the duo.

So when he arrives there, much to the pleasant surprise of people, and in contrast to how bad
he had gotten in BW, Ash is made a strong trainer again, almost as if he picked up straight from
the end of Sinnoh. By the second episode we see an epic story that involves Pikachu nearly
losing his life and Ash jumping off Prism Tower to save him. He and Pikachu are accompanied
by three othersClemont, the Lumiose Gym Leader, whose goal is to gain more confidence (a
noble albeit subjective goal), Bonnie, his younger sister, who desires to become a trainer in the
future, and Serena, a girl whom Ash met in their childhood, who at first did not have a goal, but
eventually decided to become a Pokmon Performer by participating in Pokmon Showcases
(which you can say are basically beauty pageants with Pokmon), in hopes of becoming Kalos
Queen. In deep contrast to the treatment Ash received from Iris, everyone seemed to admire
him and his qualities, both his traveling companions and his rivals (detractors call them a fan
club), and for once, Ash was no longer reliant on an older guy for advice or something; he felt
like he was a true leader in his group.
In the meanwhile we are introduced to a young man named Alain. He was the protagonist of the
Mega Evolution specials, and desired to become the strongest trainer. He sure had power
indeed; his Mega Charizard X was able to take down ten other Mega Evolved Pokmon in a
row. He was accompanied by a young girl named Mairin, a beginner trainer who was in many
ways the opposite of Alain, being clumsy yet bubbly at the same time.
Throughout the Kalos saga, Ash seemed like he was talking his goal very seriously; he is seen
training his Pokmon often, and with great effort wins another eight badges, along with the
usual affairs of fillers, catching more Pokmon, helping more strangers out, fending off Team
Rocket yet again, and other activities). Serena on the other hand, gets the three Princess Keys
needed to enter the Master Class, where the winner would receive the title of Kalos Queen. Yet
despite her great efforts, she is defeated by reigning Kalos Queen Aria. Like all of Ash's female
companions before her Serena fails to achieve her dream, this time of being Kalos Queen (all
this despite a closing credits dedicated to it). She was so close yet so far. Poor girl.
Plenty of viewers saw that coming, however. But Ash on the other hand had become a really
strong trainer. As a matter of fact, Ash was perhaps at the strongest he has ever been,
surpassing the level he was at the end of Sinnoh. He had a solid team with him of fully evolved
Pokmon (except for his trusty Pikachu of course), a team of Pokmon that had amazing
accomplishments by taking on Mega Evolutions and/or Legendaries. In particular, his Greninja,
whom Ash had found as a Froakie, created an enormous bond with him, to the point where he
would transform into a more powerful form known as Ash-Greninja. The bond is considered so
strong that Ash himself would share whatever pain he received while on this form. This was
prophesied by one of the Kalos Gym Leaders, Olympia, who stated that Ash and the then
Frogadier that they would reach levels never seen before. The strength of Ash-Greninja gave
Pokmon Champion Diantha and her Mega Gardevoir a run for their money before abruptly
ending as Ash was unable to handle the Ash-Greninja's power, causing him to faint and thus be
unable to battle. However, after several losses and then some subsequent words from Serena,

Ash and Greninja received important development that allowed them to master the
transformation, which proved to be crucial for winning that last badge.
[B]Kalos League Victory! Ash's Greatest Decisive Battle[/B]
With the eight badges Ash got at Kalos, he was ready to enter the Lumiose Conference. The
number of entrants were quite low, only 64 I believe. Ash easily wins the first four rounds with
his Pokmon, but before he was able to begin his match against his friend and rival Sawyer, he
was stopped by a punk who wanted to battle him. After Ash took care of him, the punk
confessed that he was saddened that he did not get the badges necessary to enter the league,
and begs Ash to win for him. In front of a crowd, Ash vowed that he would win for all of those
trainers who couldn't enter the league.
The semifinal against Sawyer was a hard fought battle, where it came down to Ash-Greninja vs
Mega Sceptile, but Ash came down victorious despite the type disadvantage. The other
semifinal on the other hand was seeing Alain destroy Louis 6-1 in embarrassing fashion. The
final was going to be tough.
Ash had never made it this far in a tournament, making this the biggest match he's ever had in
all his tenure as a Pokmon Trainer. Alain on the other hand didn't really care for the title or the
tournament itself and only wanted to become the strongest and battle Ash and collect some
energy for his boss, who was being misguided that the energy would be used for righteous
purposes. Both characters had a very strong team with them. The previews made sure to hype
up this huge match, making emphasis that Ash had never beaten Alain before since they met,
having lost to him twice previously although Ash was close in one of those matches. Team
Rocket themselves commented in the anime that Ash could finally win one of these leagues.
Would this be the time where Ash finally overcomes his rival? Will this be the time where Ash
wins his first ever Pokmon League title? Watch the match to find out!
So after an intermission, the Kalos League Final commences. Although Pokmon never really
had good animation, the battle scenes were beautiful to the eye and the action was epic. Ash
was doing very well as a trainer, and I personally believe that the matches against Tyranitar and
Metagross was undoubtedly one of Pikachu's finest moments in the entire anime. His efforts
helped Ash be put into a 3v2 advantage by end of the first episode, with only Alain's Bisharp and
Charizard remaining. Pikachu would continue to battle, putting on some hits on Charizard
including a powerful and supereffective Thunderbolt.
Alain later withdrew Charizard after taking down Pikachu, and eventually the match came down
to Ash-Greninja vs. Mega Charizard X. Having previously taken down a Mega Sceptile, Greninja
was primed to take on Charizard, and was gifted with a type advantage. With his powerful bond
with Ash they achieved a power that was never previously before seen, a bond far more
impressive than by comparison a mere Mega Evolution. And for most of the match, it showed.
Ash-Greninja was doing more of the damage against Mega Charizard X while keeping damage
against him at a minimum. Stacked with the damage Pikachu had done against Mega Charizard

X, Ash-Greninja appeared to be winning. We soon see Ash-Greninja perform a wild gigantic

orange Water Shuriken which he is soon to throw at Mega Charizard X.
Let's pause here. Look at that beautiful thing. Look at it. Amazing. Unto many viewers, it looked
like the finishing move. It looked like victory was coming. The premise of the entire anime boiled
down to this. Ash had his highs and his lows. Of all the stupid mistakes, errors and
shortcomings Ash had made in the past, of all the failure he had to endure, they don't matter
anymore. He was going to win that Championship. He was going to accomplish that dream of
his. That Water Shuriken looked to symbolize the victory Ash deserves after 900+ episodes of
experience, trials, happiness, sorrow, and accomplishments as a Pokmon Trainer. It looked to
give the positive message that all of Ash's hard work, training, teamwork, strength, speed,
determination, love, desire and heart was finally, [I]finally[/I] going to pay off after so long. On we
go! Kalos League Victory!
[B]To Be Continued: A Cycle of Failure[/B]
Alain, perhaps in panic, causes Mega Charizard X to counter with a Blast Burn. A great
explosion results. After the explosion, both Pokmon are seen standing. Mega Charizard
shakes a bit. But Ash-Greninja falls down. Ash-Greninja reverts to his original form. AshGreninja fainted. Ash is out of usable Pokmon. Ash has lost the Kalos League Championship
final.
Alain is awarded the Championship trophy. His Charizard is standing right there, appearing
unfazed, showing that despite the improved bond Greninja actually performed worse than
before. Ash is seen smiling like the good boy he is.
There are so many things wrong with what happened at that scene. This is Best Wishes level
writing here. Ash had just lost the biggest match of his life, and yet he is smiling.
In contrast, let us look at three real life athletes, all who lost earlier this year in a finals of a major
sporting competition. Look at Cam Newton at Super Bowl 50. Look at Stephen Curry at the
2016 NBA Finals. Look at Lionel Messi at the Copa Amrica Centenario. Did all three of them
just move on and smile after losing those huge games? No! They all took their losses [i]hard.[/i]
Newton was so bitter that he walked out in the middle of a press conference. Curry was seen
crying in the locker room. Messi temporarily quit the Argentina national soccer team. These are
human responses. I can't really blame them for their actions there.
Ash on the other hand, seems perfectly content with his loss. To quote one guy from Reddit: He
takes it [I]instantly.[/I] Not a single second of disappointment or frustration, even after having
come so close. No human acts like that. Everyone would at least need to breath deep for a
second there. But not Ash, because the narrative bends him into getting over it immediately.
Poor kid.

It is almost as he is fine with a lower standard and not fulfilling his dream of becoming a
Pokmon Master. [I]This is a massive contradiction to the premise of the anime![/I] How can
people relate to this? If the writers are trying to teach that it's okay to lose, then they've failed
this badly with such execution. While I agree it's okay to lose, it's also okay to feel disappointed.
The anime didn't do this (and arguably didn't even do the first part either).
Let us use an altered quote of the late Roger Ebert, because it perfectly sums up my thoughts
on what happened at those very moments:
I hated this scene. Hated hated hated hated hated this scene. Hated it. Hated every simpering
stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would
like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by
it.
To me, this was the absolute worst moment in all of Pokmon, and that really says something.
The league was soon interrupted by a crazy invasion by Team Flare, yet the excellent Team
Flare arc and succeeding episodes could not save the disastrous conclusion of the ending: That
after about 940 episodes and 20 years of anime production, Ash Ketchum is back in Pallet, still
beginning a brand new journey in a new region, with Pikachu by his side, in hopes of becoming
a Pokmon Master.
[B]A Jobber in Alola[/B]
The reason the writers had Ash lose was clearly because they wanted to continue this anime. I
can't think of anything else. The status quo was in full power in that scene. The [I]status quo[/I]
of the Pokmon anime runs a cycle like this:
1. Ash enters a new region with Pikachu by his side in hopes of becoming a Pokmon Master.
2. Ash meets the professor of the region and gets a starter Pokmon from that region.
3. Ash also meets some people who'll end up being his companions in the region. Some of
those companions have goals of their own that they want to achieve.
4. Team Rocket follows Ash and his crew in hopes of obtaining the Pikachu.
5. Throughout the region, Ash and his companions do some Pokmon battles, enter some
unimportant competitions, win some Badges or equivalent, catch some regional Pokmon, fend
off Team Rocket over and over, help random strangers, etc., etc., etc.
6. After doing all that, Ash enters the region's Pokmon League, but despite his valiant effort, he
is defeated. His companions likewise fail to win in their respective competitions.
7. At the end of the region, Ash's Pokmon and companions (except Pikachu) are all written out,
and Ash returns to Pallet.
8. Ash enters a new region with Pikachu by his side in hopes of becoming a Pokmon Master...
and proceeds to lose [i]that[/i] region's League.
The consequences of this status quo results in these:

1. Ash does not obtain his dreams of becoming a Pokmon Master.

2. His companions also do not obtain their respective dreams, and will likely never do so thanks
to getting written out of the anime.
3. Ash's Pokmon except for Pikachu also get written out despite their hard work and
achievements throughout his adventure.
4. TRio, despite failing over and over again to obtain Pikachu or some other goal, nonetheless
continue to stalk him.
5. Thus, any existing bonds or relationships between Ash and his Pokmon and peers are gone,
because the latter groups are no longer in the anime.
6. Finally, the entire region becomes filler, as Ash remains in the initial state he was at the
beginning of the sagaready to start a new adventure with Pikachu by his side.
Plenty of us love to bash Ash for the repeated failings he's had and point out his mediocrity as a
Pokmon Trainer. For a long time, Ash's incompetence was a pretty valid argument on why he
kept losing. But this is no longer the case. It's just no longer Ash's stupidity or mediocrity, but vile
and rubbish codswallop that caused him to lose. The message is really no longer It's okay to
lose (though as far as I know the anime has never actually taught this), but rather No matter
how hard you try, you will always fail. This is downright insulting, even for a kids' show.
The status quo has caused this Reddit post to happen after seeing Ash lose:

And Ash is not the only person who has failed to reach his dream. In the 20 years the Pokmon
anime has run, his companions also all have failed to achieve their respective dreams. These
are the results:
-Misty has failed to become a water Pokmon Master
-Brock has failed to become a Pokmon Breeder and has not become a Pokmon Doctor
-May has failed to become a Master Coordinator
-Dawn also has failed to become a Master Coordinator
-Cilan did not become a Class S Connoisseur
-Iris failed to become a Dragon Master
-Serena has failed to become Kalos Queen
Failure and defeatism is the recurring theme of the anime. Failure for just about every major
character. No one ever seems to win anything. For Ash's traveling companions, they get a goal,
they fail at reaching the goal, and then they all get written out, never to be seen again, never
ever fulfilling their goals. For the Permanent 5 (Ash, Pikachu and Team Rocket), they get a goal,
they fail at reaching the goal, then they fail again, and again, and again, and again, ad infinitum.
All in a show full of broken promises and unfulfilled dreams. [I]I am sick of it all.[/I]

This crap normally comes from politicians. I have never seen such a lack of respect for the
protagonist or any of its characters like this. I ask you: [I]How on earth is this a good thing?[/I] I
honestly want to know.
What I have shared is nothing new. I have repeatedly said in the past how much the status quo
damages the quality and reputation of the anime. The status quo is something that has bothered
me and other people for years, and plenty of us wanted it gone. XYZ looked like it could finally
brake the status quo after so long. And yet the writers blew it, and blew it [I]hard.[/I] Those kids
that watched the anime back in the late 1990's are adults now. Deep inside we all wanted to see
him win. It is a long time. The anger that resulted in the Kalos League loss is justified. One
person from a forum said this:

We now know that the anime staff (writers, directors, producers and executives) had no
intention of actually making a meaningful and lasting impact on the show and instead continue
to make Ash a jobber at every place he goes, bringing about all of his companions down with
him. Ash and Pikachu are running around in circles now. I cannot help but believe that the
writers do not really care for their audience, both kids and older viewers. The older viewers for
repeatedly angering them with bullcrap like the Kalos League loss, and the younger audiences
for assuming that they're stupid and don't know any better, to the point where they can reuse
some plots from previous episodes. I honestly think they intend to please no one but
themselves.
Three times has it deliberately gone [I]against[/I] the premise of the show for the sake of
keeping the show to continue for who knows how long now. First with the existence of Tobias,
second with the entire Unova saga, and third with Ash's Kalos League defeat. That's three
strikes now. The fact that they could pull garbage decisions like those can very well indicate that
they can continue the anime for another 20, 30, 50, or even 100 years, with Ash never fulfilling
his goal. I hate this show now. Hate it. It breaks my heart to see my childhood show come to
this. I never thought that after watching XYZ it would come down to me hating this show. Believe
me, I truly detest this show now.
If they continue this approach, then there is no point to speculating what will happen in the Sun
and Moon anime, no point in what character will get what Pokmon, no point in discussing how
a battle will turn out. What's the point of discussing what'll happen to Rowlet and Lillie (just to
give two examples) if they're only going to get written out in the end? If they just get thrown out
just like every other character and Pokmon (except of course for the Permanent 5), then there
is no point to their existence in the anime. Nothing matters. I received an infraction for posting
about this in some threads, where Sushi said to me that I was forcing [a] nihilist mindset onto
others, but it seems that the nihilist mindset is truly the case for this anime.
Whatever merits the Sun and Moon anime may have, it is not worth seeing a show where the
premise seems to take backseat to comedy (never mind that comedy was never the main focus

of the anime). I will go and make a prediction: Ash will not become a Pokmon Master in this
saga.
I feel that as Pokmon fans we deserve better than this embarrassment. We really should be
watching a good show instead of one that has debased itself so bad it may go down as one of
the biggest wastes in animation history.
Plenty of these essays typically come with a solution to the problem. Time would fail to tell me
the many, many ways they could've improved this. After all, wouldn't the show be so much
better had Ash that Kalos League final? Sadly, I feel powerless right now and have no choice
but to acknowledge the existence of the continued anime: an endless and ultimately worthless
adventure of an allegedly eternal 10-year-old.
The worst thing about all this is how people are willing to go to far lengths to defend this tripe. I'll
briefly counter a few common arguments:
[I]It's a kids show.[/I] Being a kids' show is no excuse for bad writing.
[I]It's a 20-minute advertisement.[/I] Being an advertisement for the games is no excuse for a
bad show. Pokmon Adventures alone disproves these first two excuses.
[I]The anime is teaching kids it's okay to lose.[/I] Except I don't believe it ever actually did this.
Even then with a goal like Ash's, you're supposed to win after. Losing once is okay; losing twice
is pushing it; losing six times is unacceptable.
[I]Pokmon Master was never defined.[/I] While that's true, the fact that Ash is trying to win
these leagues should give us a good idea, at least by the anime's definition. If you're telling me
that's not the way to go, then that makes this show even worse than I thought.
[I]If Ash won that finals match, then the anime would have to end.[/I] Have this quote:

And even if we granted this argument, is that really a problem? Ash, Pikachu and Team Rocket
have all outstayed their welcome and should've been written out by now.
[I]It's the journey, not the destination.[/I] This one should have two quotes:

[B]Closing Remarks[/B]

Long ago I felt very underwhelmed about Pokmon Sun and Moon after seeing some early
footage of it. Since then, I went from being underwhelmed to being on the fence when it came to
getting the game. I determined that I would get the game if one of two conditions were fulfilled.
One of them was to see Ash win the Kalos League. It would've been my way to thank the writers
for giving my childhood hero the victory he finally deserves. But because that didn't happen, I
will not get the game. (This may actually become a blessing in disguise if the Pokmon Stars
rumor for the Nintendo Switch ends up being true; I'll just get that instead.) Unfortunate, but I
want to stay true to my word.
I cannot in good conscience watch a show where there exists a premise of Ash desiring to reach
his dream of becoming a Pokmon Master, yet instead we see him and Pikachu running around
in circles, forever chased by Team Rocket, and where everyone elsefrom Gary, Butterfree and
Duplica to Jessebelle, Greninja and Serenaall get axed out of the anime without making even
a hint of a permanent dent. I hate it.
So if the anime tries to lure you with a premise about a kid hoping to reach his dreams of
becoming a Pokmon Master, with little critters and legendary creatures, along with flashy
battles, humorous scenes, worthy goals and cute girls, I implore you:
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLKDV-_SCBs[/url]
Now [I]that[/I] is one quality cartoon.
Now what was the other condition? I will confess it: It was to see Ash and Serena together in a
romantic relationship. I am a so-called Amourshipper; however I concede that thanks to Serena
getting axed out of the anime, where it continues Ash's adventure with Sun and Moon,
Amourshipping is dead. You win, critics. But know that it came at a heavy, heavy cost.
However, allow me to close my post with this dialogue between Ash and Serena from the 40th
episode of Pokmon XY. Regardless of what you may think of Serena and Amourshipping,
please put your love or hatred for it aside and read the passage below:

I admit it, I thought all this really meant something when it was first aired. I really did. I sure was
deceived.
[B]TL;DR The Pokmon anime writers have repeatedly failed to fulfill the show's premise when
there was ample opportunity to do so. Ash's repeated failures and subsequent move to a new
region renders everything he does pointless. None of Ash's actions ever amount to anything in
the end.[/B]
Well, time for some eggnog. That's all, folks![/QUOTE]