Pokemon X and Y is Ash's last adventure (restarted)

[weedle_mchairybug]

Hi.

Since the original thread speculating this was closed due to inactivity, and based on wobbu's advice, I decided to restart the thread.

I have recently come to believe that pokemon X and Y will be ash's last adventure. Why you might ask? Well its all really simple, Everyone knows that its gotten a little ridiculous that the the writers have continued to use Ash as the main character and keep him as 10 even though the show has been around for 14 years and he is obviously not 10 any more. Ash has been on his journey for a long time and never made any real progress to becoming a pokemon master, and the show loses more popularity with each year.
Introducing a new trainer instead of ash might lead more people to start watching the show again just to see what would happen, and this would also lead to more sales of the game. What is the difference with X and Y, you may ask? X and Y is being produced by the team that created Pokemon Origins which many fans will tell you is a much better interpretation of the pokemon world. Pokemon Origins also features Red the main character of the first game and manga, and the character Ash is based of off. He beats the elite four, team rocket, and becomes league champion. It is very likely that this team may want to create a new show in which there is a new trainer for each region similar to the game, and manga. But they could not just start off with a new trainer for X and Y, because they want to give an appropriate ending to Ash. That is why it is likely Ash will become a pokemon master at the end of this journey and settle down or at least continue his journey away from the show.
What evidence is there of this? One word Serena. Serena is the new female character for X and Y, and it has already been revealed that she was friends with Ash as a kid, so they are the same age. This would make her an ideal "love interest" for Ash. All his previous friends have found someone and gone there separate ways from the show Misty-Tracey, Brock-Professor Ivy, May-Drew, and Dawn-Kenny (I know I left Iris out but she did not seem to be given a love interest, but instead became the Opelucid City Gym Leader). Ash remains the only character that has not had a serious "love interest". Serena might be that character that Ash finally settles down with. This would be the perfect excuse to have Ash leave the series as a main character and continue of on his own journey. Or at the very least Serena would continue with Ash on his journey in the next region. What do you think about my theory?

Technically, Misty and Tracey aren't actually a couple, simply friends. And Brock never actually reconvened with Professor Ivy (at least AFAIK). So really, Ash still has to choose between Misty and Serena (assuming of course they're actually in love. I'm not much of a shipper, especially when Disney films and, heck, plenty of other mediums used love at first sight).

Also, Iris doesn't actually become a gym leader. She was given consideration to become a gym leader after narrowly losing against the elder, but she never actually became one. In fact, her last appearance, she continued to train to become a Dragon Pokémon Master by going to visit Claire to fight against her, and in her special, even proceeded to pursue a Rayquaza). Unlike Misty, in other words, she actually has been given the opportunity to pursue her goal when she left rather than being forced to postpone it.

Still, there is some indication Ash might actually win this time around. He already promised his mom that he will win the league this time around, for one. It's too early to tell, but they may actually pull it off. Probably the only other series to give a lot of heavy hints towards Ash actually winning the league this time around was in DP (where they even went as far as to state that Ash has to beat the Elite 4 and the regional Champion to become a true Pokémon Master), and in fact, it seemed like they probably only had Ash lose because they wasted too much time on fillers and ran out of time with Generation V being released (that would probably explain why they had Ash, Delia Ketchum, Pikachu, Oak, and TRio/Team Rocket Organization return despite BW supposed to be a reboot, which would imply they aren't supposed to be there). I think this time around, the writers will probably make sure Ash wins a league if they intend for it. At the very least win the finals.

The anime's ratings are collapsing anyhow, even in Japan, and the trend started with AG and worsened significantly with BW. True, its still watchable, but only barely. And let's be honest, really, would you rather have the anime end in a way that's satisfiable, or end in a premature fashion due to a loss of money like Love Hina's anime series did? I'd rather it end on a high note than end in a premature fashion, even with my boycott against Pokémon right now.

The anime isn't likely to even be needed to actually promote the games, any more than PokeSpecial is needed to promote the games (and that series actually got a seal of approval from series creator Satoshi Tajiri). Don't forget, technically, DiC's Legend of Zelda, Sonic, Mega Man, and Mario cartoons were mainly created to promote the games for Americans, yet even when those series ended (in Mario's case before we even got to Super Mario World 2), the games themselves vastly outlived them. If they could pull it off, Pokémon most certainly can as well. Not to mention their even continuing with Ash basically conflicts with the promotion idea anyways, especially when they neglected Brendan, Lucas, and Calem while bringing in May, Dawn, and Serena, respectively, and heck, BW's player characters were outright ignored entirely. At least bring both player characters in so Ash can play mentor for both. It would work in drawing both guys and girls to the anime, as well, while with their only bringing in May, Dawn and Serena, they dropped the ball as most players pick the character who matches their gender (since they ask for the player's gender before hand, making it impossible for most players to even play as the opposite gender unless they were transgendered).

To sum it all up, while too early to tell, they may indeed make Pokémon X and Y the last series for Ash, at least, maybe the last Pokémon anime as a whole. Doesn't mean they'll cancel the games, though, as DiC's various video game adaptations proved that their games didn't even need the show. And besides, the anime was created after the games, not before them. Heck, even in Japan, they attempted to do an anime series based on the Sonic games, yet they ended them prematurely (I'm talking about Sonic the Movie), and even Sonic X was an example of a Sonic anime that was short-lived yet the Sonic games still outlived it.

 

[Guest123_x1]

Assuming the producers can afford to keep making new episodes, they'll try as long as they can to keep the anime going and focused on the current generation games' featured region at the time. As I've stated in the previous thread, they'll also keep Ash at 10 years old, and replace his traveling companions come time for a new region.
That said, nothing lasts forever, eventually, the Pokémon anime (and the game franchise itself) will come to an end or be pushed into irrelevancy (heck, Nintendo is already irrelevant thanks to the Wii U, and may end up facing the same fate as SEGA and Atari did years ago.)

When the Pokémon anime actually does come to an end, I expect that Ash, his traveling companions at the time, and Pikachu, will either fall seriously ill or be killed off, in much the same manner as characters in dramas and soap operas get killed off prior to the show's cancellation (case in point: Lost in 2010, and Loving in 1995.)
I imagine once this happens, the game franchise will be reworked into something vastly different.
Heck, Mewtwo Strikes Back was initally supposed to be the Pokémon anime's series finale at the time it was released in Japan!

If DiC/Cookie Jar/DHX, Hanna-Barbera/Cartoon Network/Warner Bros., or any other "Western" studio did a Pokémon cartoon series of their own, there probably would not be any Pokémon TV shows or movies being made today. I can particularly imagine DiC probably would have composed a Pokémon cartoon show of one-shot storyline 11 minute shorts with no continuity, much like they did with their three Mario shows and their Legend of Zelda show. There hasn't been a new Mario show since 1991 (the Super Mario All-Stars show from a few years after doesn't count, as it was just a compilation series consisting of segments from the earlier shows), and there likely will never be one again. Even if anybody tried to do one today, such a revival probably couldn't last, due to strict product placement regulations as part of the (failed) War on Obesity (although much of the regs were enacted as part of a deregulation of the telecommunications industry just so broadcast ownership groups could merge with each other and create mega-groups in the process; before the industry was deregulated, companies could not own any more than 40 radio stations, yet Clear Channel now owns more than 1,200! Also, back in the earlier years of television, a company could not own more than seven TV stations - a maximum of five of those could be VHF, with the rest being UHF.) I'd rather have Saturday morning cartoons on broadcast television based on toy lines than have companies like Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar buy station group after station group (and use fake companies like Cunningham and Mission to dodge ownership regulations), but of course, we can't go back to the good ol' days, especially not with the obesity war.

/rant

BW's player characters were outright ignored entirely.

I was initially surprised that the Gen V player characters were never featured in the anime, or in any spin-off. I think this is one of the reasons why the show has gotten to the point it is now. Then again, it's probably because the main characters of B/W were around 15 as opposed to 10 for all the other games.

 

[Astraea]

I Don't think it'd be Last Adventures of Ash, The More The games would be made, more adventures would be with Ash, Its not gonna end like this! I hope it goes on.

 

[Braxien]

I don't think this would be the final adventure of Ash. However, I do think that the producers need to produce better episodes.

 

[Cerberus87]

I think they should've gone with different protagonists for each gen like Yu-Gi-Oh.

 

[Splash]

I think they should've gone with different protagonists for each gen like Yu-Gi-Oh.

Im not a fan of how far things have gotten in yugioh.. Ive stopped watching after the second one because I cant watch dudes riding bikes while playing cards..

If they do make a new protag I feel they should make the protags of BW have a go at it since the story in gen V is pretty open ended due to the protags of the BW being missing from the sequel.. Plus it might lead to a more mature view of the world where the protag can discover new ideals..

 

[Railgun]

/rant
I was intially surpised that the Gen V player characters were never featured in the anime, or in any spin-off. I think this is one of the reasons why the show has gotten to the point it is now. Then again, it's probably because the main characters of B/W were around 15 as opposed to 10 for all the other games.

Didn't stop them from deaging Serena for the anime. I think BW was really supposed to be Kanto 2.0 reach should never have been a thing. If BW was using Ash with the good skills and kept BW's story it could of been a really good series.

As for Ash not coming back it really matters on who is in charge. I know someone guy said Ash would stay but that interview was like 8 or so years ago and the guy doesn't do the show anymore. For me BW was the only down point for me in the anime and XY has renewed my interests in the show. Now if only May can come back for a bit due to the remakes that will make me happy. But idk I mean replacing Ash some might like but we have close to 20 years with Ash so it may be to late

I know people will go with the Red pwns Ash nonsense but people tend to forget game doesn't = anime. I mean the league in the anime is not even the same as in the games. Plus the games focus on battling the anime focuses more on friendship (battling too but you know what I mean) I mean if Ash was replaced forever I would be sad. What I would be cool with is if they pulled a Girl Meets World on us for the show.

 

[Famon]

Honestly , Its would be much better if XY series become Ash's last journey . Most people grew up with Ash is already Older and doesn't watch the show.
I bet all of them (Including me) will stop watching this for good after Gen VII.
There only 2 way Open for this Anime-

-Replace Ash .

-Give Ash a new goal after he become a League champion/Pokemon Master.

Pokemon rating going downhill despite all the praise for XY series got.
Its merchandise also got its butt kick by a brand new Anime call Youkai Watch . (A Bandai chart shows Youkai Watch to be at 2nd place while Pokemon at 8th place)
I'm pretty sure People will lose interest after Ash gets his fifth and final Pokemon in Kalo.
Because there aren't anything else to look forward too.
Ash will not win the League , He will not get Megevolution , his Froakie evolution is Uncertain.
The only thing to look forward to is his fifth capture & Valerie.
But even Gym-battle become boring since writer start to use 3vs 2 Gymbattle rule.
Not to mention Pikachu being the star of every gym. Seriously , They ruined that stupid rat in Unova and now they ruining Gym-battle for that Stupid rat's redemption.
I'm pretty sure Korrina's Gym has something like 1vs 6 battle .
Therefore , It killed all my interest before the gym battle even started .
If The Animator trying to turn Pokemon into ''Slice of life'' anime with Pokemon then they are doing a mistake because those type of ''Slice of Life'' Anime need Hilarious Moment & Dynamic Character interaction .
Which Pokemon Anime doesn't have.
Nothing last forever , Not even Ash & Pokmon! Thats the law of Universe.

 

[Lizardo]

Anything can happen, but thirty-five episodes in and I don't see anything in XY that leads me to believe this journey is going to be any different from the others Satoshi's already gone through and that this time he'll win. He makes a promise to win the League in every series, and in every series he still manages to come up short. As much as I think Satoshi and Pikachu ran their course as main characters two shows ago, and as much as I would love to see the end of their story arc in the anime franchise, I can't bring myself to think he's going to win until there's official confirmation he and Pikachu won't be in the next Pocket Monsters anime (or the anime franchise itself comes to a close).

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Anything can happen, but thirty-five episodes in and I don't see anything in XY that leads me to believe this journey is going to be any different from the others Satoshi's already gone through and that this time he'll win. He makes a promise to win the League in every series, and in every series he still manages to come up short. As much as I think Satoshi and Pikachu ran their course as main characters two shows ago, and as much as I would love to see the end of their story arc in the anime franchise, I can't bring myself to think he's going to win until there's official confirmation he and Pikachu won't be in the next Pocket Monsters anime (or the anime franchise itself comes to a close).

Even if they do win a league tournament, they still have to contend with the E4 and regional champion before they can truly win (DP made that especially clear).

If they start showcasing E4 characters and expounding on the E4 and regional champion as being necessary to become a champion like they did in DP, I think chances will be pretty good that they'll do it. Still, it's early, but honestly, I'd rather he actually increase in rank, preferably Top 2 or even winning the league, although I'd even take Ash getting Top 4 in Kalos as long as they don't do a retread of BW's disastrous ending, or the bad conclusion that was Hoenn.

I don't know if he actually promised to win the league in BW, but I will make this much clear, he definitely didn't "come short" of winning, he basically crashed and burned in Unova, even decreasing in rank.

And the ratings, based on the trend line from AG to DP from what I could tell are sinking like rocks, and considering the disaster that was BW, I'm exceptionally doubtful that the ratings didn't sink even further than before. As I said, unless the writers want to have the show end the exact same way the Love Hina anime series ended or how Woody's Roundup ended in Toy Story 2 (I.E., prematurely due to running out of money or ratings came in so low the network booted them out prematurely), they really need to end the show while they still can. And it's not like the games are wholly dependent on the anime. After all, Red and Green sold pretty well a full year before the anime came out. And besides, based on the trendline of Mario, Zelda, and Mega Man, the games far outlived the shows that promoted them. The Pokémon games can be the exact same way.

 

[Lizardo]

Even if they do win a league tournament, they still have to contend with the E4 and regional champion before they can truly win (DP made that especially clear).

If they start showcasing E4 characters and expounding on the E4 and regional champion as being necessary to become a champion like they did in DP, I think chances will be pretty good that they'll do it.

Even if XY was to do this - and keep in mind that there's no indication as of yet that Satoshi will meet anyone else besides Carne - as Diamond & Pearl showed, they can do all of that and still not go anywhere with it. Just because Elite 4 members and champions are introduced doesn't really mean anything in and of itself. There has to be real foreshadowing, and those characters making simple one-off appearances where they trounce Satoshi in a battle clearly isn't that.

I don't know if he actually promised to win the league in BW, but I will make this much clear, he definitely didn't "come short" of winning, he basically crashed and burned in Unova, even decreasing in rank.

Well, whatever you want to think of it the point still stands. I can't remember if he "promised" specifically, but he definitely did make the same claim. Satoshi's characterization is that he's very confident and optimistic, and he believes in his victory each time. His promises and claims are nothing more than an expression of that part of his personality, and shouldn't be taken seriously as foreshadowing.

And the ratings, based on the trend line from AG to DP from what I could tell are sinking like rocks, and considering the disaster that was BW, I'm exceptionally doubtful that the ratings didn't sink even further than before. As I said, unless the writers want to have the show end the exact same way the Love Hina anime series ended or how Woody's Roundup ended in Toy Story 2 (I.E., prematurely due to running out of money or ratings came in so low the network booted them out prematurely), they really need to end the show while they still can. And it's not like the games are wholly dependent on the anime. After all, Red and Green sold pretty well a full year before the anime came out. And besides, based on the trendline of Mario, Zelda, and Mega Man, the games far outlived the shows that promoted them. The Pokémon games can be the exact same way.

I don't know much about the business side of the anime, so even if I'm not sure I agree I'm not going to argue this. All I can say is that if the ratings have apparently been consistently decreasing since AG, which ended eight years ago, and the show has still been going on then the actual decision-makers behind the series obviously can't be too worried.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Even if XY was to do this - and keep in mind that there's no indication as of yet that Satoshi will meet anyone else besides Carne - as Diamond & Pearl showed, they can do all of that and still not go anywhere with it. Just because Elite 4 members and champions are introduced doesn't really mean anything in and of itself. There has to be real foreshadowing, and those characters making simple one-off appearances where they trounce Satoshi in a battle clearly isn't that.

No, but stating that to become a Pokémon Master, you must not only win the regional league qualifiers (ie, get first place in the tournament), but also fight and beat the Elite 4, as well as the regional champion, which, BTW, hadn't even been stated in the series before, did definitely qualify as foreshadowing, hence why I mentioned DP as a specific example of their actually gearing towards Ash winning the league at that point.

I don't know much about the business side of the anime, so even if I'm not sure I agree I'm not going to argue this. All I can say is that if the ratings have apparently been consistently decreasing since AG, which ended eight years ago, and the show has still been going on then the actual decision-makers behind the series obviously can't be too worried.

To be honest, they should be. The Love Hina writers weren't worried about premature cancellation, yet look what happened to the anime, it got cancelled prematurely.

 

[Lizardo]

No, but stating that to become a Pokémon Master, you must not only win the regional league qualifiers (ie, get first place in the tournament), but also fight and beat the Elite 4, as well as the regional champion, which, BTW, hadn't even been stated in the series before, did definitely qualify as foreshadowing, hence why I mentioned DP as a specific example of their actually gearing towards Ash winning the league at that point.

Maybe. But going back to the topic at hand, XY has yet to do even this much with Satoshi. And to the best of my knowledge, there's been no foreshadowing that this journey is going to be any different than the other five. If DP could do all of that just 35 episodes in and still have Satoshi fail to win it in the end, I don't see what about XY makes his chances any better.

 

[Nakasu]

I find it difficult to believe this will be Satoshi's last adventure. This has been speculated many times before and it has never happened. We are now at 800+ episodes. I kind of like how they started out X/Y. It was awesome seeing Satoshi battling a Garchomp on the top of the Tower, but things sort of went down from there. I would say that if they went back to the Diamond and Pearl way of writing it would be MUCH better. I say that Diamond and Pearl was the best of the series, Dawn was perfect for Satoshi. I despised BW, Satoshi was incredibly downsized and weak. He lost to a newly evolved Riolu. People are giving XY a chance because they believe they will let Satoshi win this time. Which I doubt will happen. I like the little shipping Satoshi and Serena have from time to time.

 

[Trick 'r Treat]

I personally would like an end to Ash's journey because it has been going for years and the sooner they end it the better. Introducing brand new lovable main characters that would bring people back to the anime would be great. When Veronica Taylor left the Pokemon series I think they should've ended his journey because Ash was never the same after she left.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

I find it difficult to believe this will be Satoshi's last adventure. This has been speculated many times before and it has never happened. We are now at 800+ episodes. I kind of like how they started out X/Y. It was awesome seeing Satoshi battling a Garchomp on the top of the Tower, but things sort of went down from there. I would say that if they went back to the Diamond and Pearl way of writing it would be MUCH better. I say that Diamond and Pearl was the best of the series, Dawn was perfect for Satoshi. I despised BW, Satoshi was incredibly downsized and weak. He lost to a newly evolved Riolu. People are giving XY a chance because they believe they will let Satoshi win this time. Which I doubt will happen. I like the little shipping Satoshi and Serena have from time to time.

You've got that right regarding BW. In fact, if what Famon said is correct, it tanked even worse in ratings than DP and AG combined (no easy thing to do either, especially when AG tanked thanks to Misty leaving, and DP continued that trend after a brief bounce back up). I've sat through a show that ended up cancelled prematurely (Heroes on NBC), and so I know when a show's going to fail, and honestly, with the low ratings, even by Pokémon standards, it's only a matter of time before they have to cancel it, and it would be better if they went with an actual conclusion rather than a "Woody's Finest Hour" type conclusion (and by that, I'm referring to something from Toy Story 2 where, despite blatantly advertising the next episode of Woody's Roundup and leaving it on a cliffhanger [literally in this case, as Woody was in the middle of a huge jump between the canyon when the episode ended], the show ended up cancelled prematurely thanks in large part to the Sputnik scare). Well, as Lizardo said, it's too early to tell, although frankly, when the anime is having trouble with the ratings, and even Nintendo isn't doing too hot either, it may be a pretty big sign that the show may have to be cancelled sooner or later. The only question is whether they make sure to give a proper conclusion or if it was like Love Hina's cancellation.