He was never officially considered the owner of haunter. In fact in one short back in Gen VII it showed every Pokemon Ash ever owned, even one-episode ownerships like the Raticate he temporarily traded Butterfree for, the Beedrill he caught in the Bug Catching contest that he gave to Casey, and even the Seaking from the Seaking-catching contest episode in Johto. Haunter was not included in this line-up at all, which included every single capture of his no matter how minor
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SPOILERS! General Pokémon Anime Discussion
- Thread starter Jellicent
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Ah. I missed that short. I was wondering since Dogasu said in his episode comparison that Haunter's status was ambiguous. I am fine either way. I never considered Haunter to be caught, myself. Still love the character. I had the episodes on DVD as a child. Wore that DVD out.
I've been spreading this around everywhere because I think it's really cool.
"To think that, someday, the kiddos in Alola will be able to go from being the island challenge champion to the world Champion! And then, when we have our own Champion, they can show the rest of the world what's so special about Alolan Pokémon and their Trainers, yeah!"
Kukui foreshadowed this very moment in the Pokémon Sun and Moon games! He foreshadowed Ash becoming the Pokémon World Champion!
Kukui foreshadowed this very moment in the Pokémon Sun and Moon games! He foreshadowed Ash becoming the Pokémon World Champion!
Now I'm wondering what they have in store for Ash, if he continues. It's possible that if he goes to Paldea, he
Or Pokemon turns into a harem anime with Ash's girl companions fighting over who gets him.
could take a supporting role like a teacher or a mentor, or make sporadic appearences with the anime focusing on the new protagonist.
If Ash leaves the anime and Goh or the gen 9 protagonist replaces him, I don't really see something like Cinderace, Meowscarada (Sprigatito's final evo) or even Mew take his place, given how much revenue Pikachu makes even with the production issues. At first glance you would think that this feels like the end of Ash's journeys to be honest, especially given the title of JN135, but him leaving means Pikachu being gone, so who knows.
But honestly given that this is ultimately popular Japanese media, I wouldn't be surprised if they pull off a DBZ and hype up Geeta as someone beyond the masters 8, then the 10th gen introducing someone new, who knows....
If Ash leaves the anime and Goh or the gen 9 protagonist replaces him, I don't really see something like Cinderace, Meowscarada (Sprigatito's final evo) or even Mew take his place, given how much revenue Pikachu makes even with the production issues. At first glance you would think that this feels like the end of Ash's journeys to be honest, especially given the title of JN135, but him leaving means Pikachu being gone, so who knows.
But honestly given that this is ultimately popular Japanese media, I wouldn't be surprised if they pull off a DBZ and hype up Geeta as someone beyond the masters 8, then the 10th gen introducing someone new, who knows....
You know how we never met Ash's father?
Now the roles are reversed, if Ash has a kid, he never reveals who his mother is (kinda like Luffy).
Imagine the shipping wars.
Now the roles are reversed, if Ash has a kid, he never reveals who his mother is (kinda like Luffy).
Imagine the shipping wars.
Oh man that would be bitter. Funny but bitter
New protag sounds cool though. Wonder how they'll do with the signature mon, you can't just replace the rat after all
Maybe it's gonna be a character based on Green (the girl one, not Gary) who's signature is a Clefairy? Going full circle
New protag sounds cool though. Wonder how they'll do with the signature mon, you can't just replace the rat after all
Maybe it's gonna be a character based on Green (the girl one, not Gary) who's signature is a Clefairy? Going full circle
Could make appearences like Eevee, pikachu is ultimately too big to not be included. Even though it will never be THAT Pikachu, it will probably still be someone's walking Pokemon.
Yeah she could be named Leaf but I would personally allow her Clefairy to evolve. In fact if Ash travels to Paldea I would like to see him catch a fairy-type Pokemon and Clefable could be a pretty good candidate.
But ultimately the problem with replacing Pikachu as the anime mascot is apparently that the Pokemon anime is not officially sponsored by GameFreak nor Nintendo, hence why some people look at it as just a marketing tool for the games. Replacing Pikachu with something like Clefairy or a gen 9 evo would probably make them lose sales especially since they've shown time and time again that they have no plans on making a show intended for teen/mature audiences. This is probably the big reason why the Pokemon fanfiction scene thrived.
When Ash got a Mega Lucario with aura powers it really felt to me like it was pulled straight out of fanfiction.net. That pokemon is literally the wet dream of those who wrote Ash betrayal fics. Basically Ash gets betrayed by his friends for not winning a league after 6 attempts, he goes on Mt. Silver or something, a few years pass and some champion tournament is announced where Ash signs up under a pseudonym, and it turns out he is this gigachad unstoppable trainer determined to destroy those who betrayed him. For some reason, in all of these fics after he gets betrayed he is summoned by Arceus and the legendary Pokemon who tell him he is the chosen one or whatever, he either ends up in a relationship with someone like Cynthia or a harem of always what are considered the "hottest" Pokegirls, and he always has this Lucario who can use aura, and for some reason becomes an Aura Guardian.
Yeah she could be named Leaf but I would personally allow her Clefairy to evolve. In fact if Ash travels to Paldea I would like to see him catch a fairy-type Pokemon and Clefable could be a pretty good candidate.
But ultimately the problem with replacing Pikachu as the anime mascot is apparently that the Pokemon anime is not officially sponsored by GameFreak nor Nintendo, hence why some people look at it as just a marketing tool for the games. Replacing Pikachu with something like Clefairy or a gen 9 evo would probably make them lose sales especially since they've shown time and time again that they have no plans on making a show intended for teen/mature audiences. This is probably the big reason why the Pokemon fanfiction scene thrived.
When Ash got a Mega Lucario with aura powers it really felt to me like it was pulled straight out of fanfiction.net. That pokemon is literally the wet dream of those who wrote Ash betrayal fics. Basically Ash gets betrayed by his friends for not winning a league after 6 attempts, he goes on Mt. Silver or something, a few years pass and some champion tournament is announced where Ash signs up under a pseudonym, and it turns out he is this gigachad unstoppable trainer determined to destroy those who betrayed him. For some reason, in all of these fics after he gets betrayed he is summoned by Arceus and the legendary Pokemon who tell him he is the chosen one or whatever, he either ends up in a relationship with someone like Cynthia or a harem of always what are considered the "hottest" Pokegirls, and he always has this Lucario who can use aura, and for some reason becomes an Aura Guardian.
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We have a new ship:
The writers knew what they were doing.
The writers knew what they were doing.
Well you see, Ash had to be clever with his Plot Armor. Being he was going up against all Champions, he only enough Plot Armor for one battle against a Champion, let alone 3. However at some point, probably after his battle with Paul, Ash had an epiphany: what if he only turned on his Plot Armor when he absolutely needed it against his first two opponents so he had enough left when facing Leon?
Thus, while Gary Stu Leon steamrolled Alain and Diantha making them look like total chumps, Ash sparingly used his Plot Armor against Steven and Cynthia only in moments when he was in dire chance of losing. The gambit payed off. Now, from an outside perspective, Ash should have also been steamrolled by Leon: Ash barely won his battles against Steven & Cynthia while Leon defeated the guy who barely beat Ash in Kalos & the Kalos champ who defeated Lance who had put up a decent match against Leon (man, the writers must really hate Kalos to have Leon curbstomp both their representatives). But they aren't the protag, they don't have Plot Armor. Using his reserved Plot Armor, Ash's Pokemon "for some reason" weren't 1HKOed by Leon's Pokemon and were able to actually knock them out! And just as Charizard & Pikachu had that final impact, the last of the Plot Armor gave Pikachu the vision of all Ash's other Pokemon cheering it on, making it delusional enough to keep standing while Charizard fainted.
Q1. Why didn't Ash use his Plot Armor in previous Leagues he lost?
A1. He did, he used it all up to defeat his major Rivals. But with it gone that left him vulnerable to the other strong trainers he met at the League.
Q2. But Gary was knocked out the Indigo League before he faced Ash?
A2. Being the first League Ash was in he was pretty much skimming on Plot Armor which is why he lasted longer than Gary, but it ran out when he faced Ritchie (aka Ash's better twin).
Q3. And in Hoenn & Kalos where there was no major Rivals?
A3. For Hoenn, Ash met two trainers before it started: Morrison and Tyson. Most of the Plot Armor was used against Morrison, it ran out during the Tyson match likely due to the coolness of his Meowth in Boots. As for Kalos, Plot Armor deactivates when using a Super Mechanic. When Greninja became Ash-Greninja they were no longer protected by Plot Armor and, since Alain winning was all part of Lysandre's plans, Ash in the end stood no chance. Also note how in the Leon battle Ash only used the Super Mechanics as more of a response to Leon's tactics than an offensive strategy, if he can't use them alongside Plot Armor might as well as use them to disarm Leon's strongest tools.
Q4. And all the Unova Plot Armor was used up on the 1v1 battle against Trip?
A4. A good percentage yes, Pikachu was in a pretty dire situation with Serperior wrapped around it. And, like in Hoenn, Ash met two trainers before the League: Cameron and Virgil. Even if Ash had won against Cameron, Virgil would have taken him out, so the Plot Armor just gave up as soon as Riolu evolved into Lucario.
Q5. What about the Alola League?
A5. The Alola League was a mess with the qualification to participate was were you seen at some point during the anime (with some like Guzma and Hau thrown in just before to have them participate). Ash didn't really need Plot Armor; he was a 6 League veteran going up against trainers who never participated in one. Also there was some cheating and favoritism for Ash going on, especially during the Hau battle.
A1. He did, he used it all up to defeat his major Rivals. But with it gone that left him vulnerable to the other strong trainers he met at the League.
Q2. But Gary was knocked out the Indigo League before he faced Ash?
A2. Being the first League Ash was in he was pretty much skimming on Plot Armor which is why he lasted longer than Gary, but it ran out when he faced Ritchie (aka Ash's better twin).
Q3. And in Hoenn & Kalos where there was no major Rivals?
A3. For Hoenn, Ash met two trainers before it started: Morrison and Tyson. Most of the Plot Armor was used against Morrison, it ran out during the Tyson match likely due to the coolness of his Meowth in Boots. As for Kalos, Plot Armor deactivates when using a Super Mechanic. When Greninja became Ash-Greninja they were no longer protected by Plot Armor and, since Alain winning was all part of Lysandre's plans, Ash in the end stood no chance. Also note how in the Leon battle Ash only used the Super Mechanics as more of a response to Leon's tactics than an offensive strategy, if he can't use them alongside Plot Armor might as well as use them to disarm Leon's strongest tools.
Q4. And all the Unova Plot Armor was used up on the 1v1 battle against Trip?
A4. A good percentage yes, Pikachu was in a pretty dire situation with Serperior wrapped around it. And, like in Hoenn, Ash met two trainers before the League: Cameron and Virgil. Even if Ash had won against Cameron, Virgil would have taken him out, so the Plot Armor just gave up as soon as Riolu evolved into Lucario.
Q5. What about the Alola League?
A5. The Alola League was a mess with the qualification to participate was were you seen at some point during the anime (with some like Guzma and Hau thrown in just before to have them participate). Ash didn't really need Plot Armor; he was a 6 League veteran going up against trainers who never participated in one. Also there was some cheating and favoritism for Ash going on, especially during the Hau battle.
Joking aside, wanted to post in this for a while about my deeper thoughts on things like Ash beating Steven (which, along with some more cameos, was also a pretty major event (now overshadowed) as that was the first Champion he defeated (if you don't count Drake of the Orange Islands... DRAKE should have been there instead of Alain! Granted that would have been a 3rd Dragonite...)). But things just kept moving on and now we're at the end with Ash having won against Leon!
Despite my criticism it was a good battle, it's just that Leon steamrolling Alain and Diantha only to then have a blow-sharing match with Ash just felt off. Obviously Leon was gonna win, but you could have made the battles look at least closer. If Leon's 3rd Pokemon didn't matter in the Alain match him Alain knock it out at least, and Diantha at the very least should have knocked out 4 of Leon's Pokemon with maybe getting him down to just Charizard which than easily knocks out her tired Mega Gardevoir. That way it doesn't look like total Tauros Mulch that somehow Ash was able to go blow-to-blow.
Being a teacher/mentor in Paldea would be an interesting idea. Being the World's Strongest Trainer, would make sense for the Paldea Academy to give him a call to see if he's at least interested in some exhibition matches for the students. And being in a new region with new Pokemon plus hearing about the Treasure Hunt and other mysteries, decides to join in. Of course we gotta fit in the Version Mascots, I can see Ash getting the Koraidon meanwhile a mysterious trainer gets Miraidon and seems to be involved with some of the happenings around Paldea. Ash probably won't be going around collecting Badges... BUT that's what his new companions would be for: Nemona (who'll be doing the Gym Battles) and Arven (who'll get them involved in the Herba Mystica quest). And of course we'd have Team Star to deal with which, being a rider gang, Ash could think has something to do with the mysterious Miraidon rider thus has to deal with them and their non-competitive battling methods (grunts sending out all their Pokemon, having to battle the Starmobile in addition to the Squad Boss's Pokemon).
There's plenty of ways they could go about having Ash in Paldea and give him purpose being there.
But alternatively...
Now who says you need Ash to also have Pikachu? And I ain't talking about a new Pikachu:
Paldea anime starts, our new protag (probably one if not both the playable character in SV) are on their way to start their first day at the Paldea Academy. But on their way, they come across a wounded Pikachu and Meowth! Can't ignore Pokemon in need, they bring both to the nearby Pokemon Center and heals them. Both regain conscious with the Meowth remaining quiet & confused while the Pikachu tries to speak but the Nurse Joy says its throat had been damaged and it's going to take a while for it regain its voice. The protag tries asks if they have trainers, Pikachu nodding yes but makes a sad/concerned face & groan, but Meowth just tilts its head in confusion, but the protags phone alarm goes off notifying he's going to be late! Not wanting to leave Pikachu and Meowth alone in the situation that they're in, they takes them along. At some point, maybe taking a risky shortcut to try and make it on time or maybe gets in trouble with some Team Star members, Pikachu jumps in to help battle some Pokemon and, just as the protag is about to get in danger, Meowth yells for them to watch out and they barely dodge in time. After the danger is over the protag questions how Meowth is able to speak, Meowth surprised as well and revealing he can't remember a thing about himself or how they got there. Pikachu seems to know, but with its throat damages for now it's unable to get a detailed answer (and we get some funny scenes of Meowth asking questions about whether it and Pikachu were friends with Pikachu doing its best to dodge the question). But the protag's phone alarm goes off again: this time meaning they are late. With Pikachu proving to be a strong battler and Meowth having the handy skill to talk human & Pokemon, the protag decides that they can stay with them until Pikachu can speak again and Meowth gets its memories back, rushing off to Paldea Academy to start their Paldea Saga (and having set up a mystery of what happened to Ash, Jessie, and James?).
I like how in half of those images Max is just awkwardly standing on the side like "yeah, I'm here too, sorry to be crashing you fans big lesbian shipping moment while one of my friends battle to b the best trainer in the world".
New ship?We have a new ship:
The writers knew what they were doing.
Those two were shipped the moment Serena was revealed.
This fan base ships everything.
Heck, there is probably a PokemonCrusader X Diantha ship. (Not that I disapprove!)
I've never cried as much watching Pokémon as I did today.
I ship this.
I was peeping some of the discussions before this episode somewhere else and it really was nothing but shipping wars.
Lunatics, the lot of em.
As for the episode itself... that was a good battle, I dig it. The OG JP intro was cool until the inevitable part singing that they'd look for mons even under a girl's skirt just got me dead tho. Pidgeot coming back on the flashback got me rolling too.
Go episode next week. Trash. I guess we'll find out sooner or later what's the real ending.
Do you ever see one little thing that is ultimately inconsiquential but it just sticks in your head and that's your lasting takeaway from an episode that's meant to be something special? Because that's me with the end of that battle. They were meant to be using Thunderbolt and Fire Blast (?) why did they charge each other?
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It's a trope. Pretty much, both Charizard and Pikachu are at their limit, actually they're likely WAY past "done" and it's a now-or-never situation. They could just attack, but if only one of them charged through then they would have just blasted through the other's attack and slammed them for full damage knocking them out. So, the only best option for each one was to both charge in.
Not to mention the constant attack countering on both sides.
If you got one last shot, you'll want to make it count no matter what. In cases like that, it gotta be point-blank.
So proud of the anime
Late to commenting about it but man.
What a battle. The battle had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. They really nailed this climax. That last part especially was amazing. The choreography, the animation, and the tension. All of it. The final part was the absolute best final showdown of a climax battle this anime has delivered yet, and that final clash? That was one of a kind.
The absolute best climax battle of Anipoke of all time in my book. Sorry Paul, Kukui, and Alain, but you've all been beat. Ash vs. Leon is bar none my favorite battle in the anime of all time.
Well done Journeys/PM19. You really went out with a bang.
What a battle. The battle had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. They really nailed this climax. That last part especially was amazing. The choreography, the animation, and the tension. All of it. The final part was the absolute best final showdown of a climax battle this anime has delivered yet, and that final clash? That was one of a kind.
The absolute best climax battle of Anipoke of all time in my book. Sorry Paul, Kukui, and Alain, but you've all been beat. Ash vs. Leon is bar none my favorite battle in the anime of all time.
Well done Journeys/PM19. You really went out with a bang.
anyway time for a regigigas raid!
I think we may have been too hard on Alain. He was able to beat Leon's true Ace, RIllaboom even after it GMaxed while only losing one mon in the process. Meanwhile, Diantha's entire team got swept by it and it took out two of Ash's mons w/ little issue (even w/ no GMax).
The recent episode was pretty great, my only complaint is that the GMax battle didn't last long enough. At least we saw Pikachu's GMax again, which I didn't think would happen. It was key in his first battle with Leon so seeing it again is pretty nice. Also seeing May, Max, Cilan, etc. again and all of Ash's past Pokemon (including Larvitar and Solgaleo) was really fantastic.
The recent episode was pretty great, my only complaint is that the GMax battle didn't last long enough. At least we saw Pikachu's GMax again, which I didn't think would happen. It was key in his first battle with Leon so seeing it again is pretty nice. Also seeing May, Max, Cilan, etc. again and all of Ash's past Pokemon (including Larvitar and Solgaleo) was really fantastic.
The part as many have stated I like was seeing all of Ash’s Pokémon he possessed at various points from Kanto to Galar; I liked that Pidgeot was seen.
