Ash's classmates/companions.

[Necrozma]

The school concept is obviously something we haven't seen before in this anime and from the information we have, we can gather or at least make the assumption that Ash's classmates will be filling the role of the traditional companions. This is interesting for many reasons, but primarily due to the sheer number of classmates (or should I say, companions).

Formerly, Ash used to have two or three companions next to his side, however in Sun and Moon anime we are looking at five different characters (the four Trial Captains and Lillie). Furthermore, we are looking at a diverse cast of people with different and (hopefully) conflicting personalities.

Do you think all six of them will always spend time with each other or will the writers use this opportunity to have a 'rotating' cast of companions, for example, having Ash/Lillie/Mallow as the principal characters in one episode and Ash/Kiawe/Lana in another?

Personally, I would LOVE to see a different set of classmates interacting every other episode. It would make it a lot easier for the writers than having to focus on giving each of the six their share of screentime each episode.

Anyway, my question is: what do you guys expect out of this series in terms of companions/classmates?

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

I don't like the idea of having more than two companions or having classmates. Just give us one male and female companion please. I am not sure what to expect from the series with the companions.

 

[Silktree]

If they follow the Yokai Watch formula, then each episode will switch between stories involving different members of the cast.

 

[Velvet]

I can definitely see Kiawe acting as the 'big brother' figure to the group.

 

[ii kanji]

I don't know what to expect, but I am excited by the idea. I found the group dynamics in XYZ weak, and in my experience having a larger variety of characters (like with Shinji & Nozomi appearing fairly often in DP) added a bit of spice, so I'm hoping that a bigger cast of characters who all appear regularly will provide the juice which is so desperately needed.

 

[Necrozma]

I don't like the idea of having more than two companions or having classmates. Just give us one male and female companion please. I am not sure what to expect from the series with the companions.

So you would just have the anime stick to what it always does? Aren't you tired of the same old formula?

If they follow the Yokai Watch formula, then each episode will switch between stories involving different members of the cast.

I'm not familiar with Yokai Watch but that sounds interesting. That would give some exposure to each of the main characters and allow for a variety of character interactions and combinations.

I can definitely see Kiawe acting as the 'big brother' figure to the group.

He'll definitely be the mentor figure. He's the only one in the group to have a Z-ring besides Ash and he studies dances so there's no doubt he'll be helping Ash master some new Z-moves.

I don't know what to expect, but I am excited by the idea. I found the group dynamics in XYZ weak, and in my experience having a larger variety of characters (like with Shinji & Nozomi appearing fairly often in DP) added a bit of spice, so I'm hoping that a bigger cast of characters who all appear regularly will provide the juice which is so desperately needed.

I fully agree about the group dynamics when it comes to XY characters. Not only did I find the XY quartet being nice to each other 90% of the time a bit boring and unrealistic, the rivals lacked "spice" and added nothing to those interactions. It was simply bland.

 

[Silktree]

Kiawe looking so much older than the others is going to stick out like a sore thumb. I wonder what his personality is.

 

[Necrozma]

Well just judging by his pose in the official art, his face expression and the fact he specializes in fire types, I'm assuming he's a passionate sort of person with a fiery personality. Perhaps he will get into conflict with others a lot due to his personality.

Then again, if he is a mentor, perhaps he has a more serious side to him.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

So you would just have the anime stick to what it always does? Aren't you tired of the same old formula?

Not really. The more people there are, the more screen time is used and Ash would end up with an undeveloped team.

 

[Jaye]

Anyway, my question is: what do you guys expect out of this series in terms of companions/classmates?

This is less an expectation and more a hope, but I want to see this group have meaningful interactions with each other, not just with Ash. Ash will be central but by the end of the saga I hope to recall that Lillie had a developed relationship with Mallow and the others, and the same for the other characters.

As far as personalities goes, my impressions based on the art we've gotten are:

Lillie - the smart one, delicate, not one for physical activity
Mallow - the older sister
Lana - the shy one
Sophocles - the snarky one
Kiawe - the big bro, highly athletic, hot blooded

 

[Necrozma]

This is less an expectation and more a hope, but I want to see this group have meaningful interactions with each other, not just with Ash. Ash will be central but by the end of the saga I hope to recall that Lillie had a developed relationship with Mallow and the others, and the same for the other characters.

As far as personalities goes, my impressions based on the art we've gotten are:

Lillie - the smart one, delicate, not one for physical activity
Mallow - the older sister
Lana - the shy one
Sophocles - the snarky one
Kiawe - the big bro, highly athletic, hot blooded

Those are nice predictions.

Mallow is also likely to be the cook of the group, but apparently her cooking is not the best so she's certainly different from Brock haha.

Sophocles reminds me of Clemont, but he doesn't seem as nice as Clemont lol.

I can't really pinpoint what Lana's personality could be. I guess she could be the shy, withdrawn one...

 

[Silktree]

Not really. The more people there are, the more screen time is used and Ash would end up with an undeveloped team.

Ash has enough teams as it is.

 

[Sakuraa]

Having different sets of characters by episode does sound quite interesting. It would be nice to see how Ash interacts with different groups of people at different times. It's better than the old Ash+ 2-3 of the same characters everyday.

If it does happen, I kind of hope that at some point we get groups consisting of Ash/Lana/Sophecles and then Ash/Mallow/Kiawe. Idk why, but they just look like they'd be interesting combos to me.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

Ash has enough teams as it is.

No. Ash doesn't use his older pokemon during his journey in a new region. He uses new pokemon. So he doesn't have enough.

 

[Silktree]

No. Ash doesn't use his older pokemon during his journey in a new region. He uses new pokemon. So he doesn't have enough.

He could if he wanted to, so to use this as an excuse not to focus on new characters is short-sighted.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

Not having time to develop all the characters is preferable to just spinning your wheels imo. Granted it's possible to do both.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

He could if he wanted to, so to use this as an excuse not to focus on new characters is short-sighted.

Actually it is not and Ash generally uses new pokemon of each region. Older pokemon had their time to shine. Time for the new pokemon to have some. Also we only need at two characters that would hang with Ash.

 

[Hidden Mew]

The idea of having a variety of characters going in and out of the main cast sounds interesting on paper, but I'm not sure about the execution. They have trouble balancing out screentime with a group of three or four main characters. Having a larger amount of traveling companions and taking turns with which ones come with Ash just makes me think that they won't be able to balance out the screentime and development. If they can pull it off, that's great, but I am kind of hoping for a regular three or four group size because of that issue.

 

[Kallyle]

@Hidden Mew Yeah. I pretty much agree with you here. The writers seem to have enough trouble balancing travel companions lately. I doubt they'll be able to handle classmates the way the writers have been currently doing things.

Anyways, why did the writers seemingly demote trial captains to just Ash's classmates? Having Lillie in the class is something that they could get away with, but why did they have to make the Trial Captains students as well? Is this all just an attempt to compete with Yo-Kai Watch? Or was my speculation of this being a school to apply to be a Trial Captain accurate?

I'm surprised that no one has actually asked that question in this thread yet, especially since Trial Captains seem to be Alola's equivalent to Gym Leaders.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

@Hidden Mew; You have to wonder why they have that trouble though. I think there was quite frankly not much you can do with someone like Clemont or Misty. Yeah some characters are going to leave us wanting more but that happens no matter what anyways. If characters are going to go in and out you don't have to worry about developing them when they are not there because their absense is explained.