With Ash almost at the Battle Pyramid and May a few weeks ago from getting her final ribbon, I have a few questions I need to openly ask alout to myself.
1. Is Brendan and the final symbol the final stage? Or is there a league for the Battle Frontier? Will it be significant like the Kanto/Johto/Hoen leagues, are a one battle shorty like the Orange League? According to the dub version at least, in leagues like the Indigo one, the champ obtains the title of "Pokemon Master" (in the anime) for winning these tournaments.
2. Will Ash win? He went from 16th to 8th place in leagues. Plus, last time it was close. If Pikachu's Iron Tail just had a LITTLE more umph, Meowth in Boots would have gone down- Ash would have beaten the guy who would go on to win the championship- meaning Ash could have. Meaning, Ash almost won the least league, despite ranking.
3. Will may won the Ribbon Cup this year? The "Start!" intro shows a Ribbon Cup behind her, and all her Pokemon surround her. Fancy art, or a hint from the writers? I believe with her final defeat of Harley (will it be?) with the next ribbon (and possibly getting Jessie out of the way forever) the championship could be the long awaited final showdown with May and Drew.
4. Jessie/James/Meowth are in the 9th movie, but with the TR disbandment episode, we can assume with 50% accuracy that the ORGANIZATION may be gone, without are 3 favorite villians knowing it for a while. They could even go rogue like Bannai. With such an event, the show seems to be coming to an end.
5. Let's face it, Pokemon is a money making machine, and the games will be around for MANY years, like Zelda or Mario. BUT does this mean that the anime will be around for each new set of games, with a filler series to fill up time, 10 years from now. The show is not to far away from being the longest running anime of all time- it is eclipsing the length of Dragon Ball (with all 3 series combined). Will the writers pull the plug soon. I mean Ash put up a good fight with Agatha, and Scott said that the trainers at the Battle Frontier are almost as strong as the Elite 4! Plus, "Start" and "Glory Day" keep on bringing ALL of Ash's Pokemon together, for a final thrust type of feel.
Is this arc the end? The next one? 5 years from now? I don't know. Many speculated with the Johto and Hoen leagues, only to be proven wrong. Fact is, money will say how long things go. But the anime has MUCH smaller ratings in Japan and America than it once did. How long can they stretch the show for? Doing so killed the show pretty much- with Johto. It was only new innovations (not the same problem of the day, TR interrupting, Pokemon of the day beat up Team Rocket scenario) in the Hoen arc half the time, refreshing new characters like May and her contests, and the quality of Gym Battles (which started involving strategy in Johto) which saved the show- Battle Frontier continues these trends- plus the writers have done something they never did before- they have had most of Ash's team evolve. I am awaiting with certainty, for Corphish to do so.
What do you think? I've been watching the show since 98, and I gotta say that I think it has had it's run. I enjoy it, but I don't want the writers to try ridding a dead horse here. And you know what? I think Ash and May deserve the glory they may earn- 4th and 8th place are very close to the tip of the mountain. And for every good episode, fillers included, there are too many BAD filler episodes- and I don't know if ANYONE here wants another 150 episode arc where 130 of the episodes have the same run-of-the-mill scenario that I described earlier.
Perhaps the writers will pull a Yu-Gi-Oh GX on us and make a new story, Pokemon Rangers for example, with their own plot. I don't know, whatever they can market.
I have found from watching this show all these years, that I have had a lot of rewarding episodes, many actually in the Johto arc, but it's HORRIBLE episodes like the first 2 battle frontier eps (the Oak ranch one, SAME recycled plot, 4th time, and the stupid Clefairy one- with the group seperation (5th/6th time) plot that has been used so many times) Boring, recycled episodes like that do NOT help ratings, marketing, or serve the fans. The writers are tired- they are on a time schedule- and after 400 episodes, sometimes run out of good ideas.
I guess what im saying is that I really like this show, and I would rather see it gracefully end now with a decent ending, instead of 8 years from now in another Johto-like arc. Right in the middle of a season, suddenly having the plot pulled, no conclusion. It's like putting a dying pet to sleep. And with the evolutions, dissolution of TR, and the hints and opening and ending themes, (not to mention May defeating all major rivals but Drew, and Ash almost on par with the Elite 4 now) it is safe to say that the writers may be wrapping things up. If not with the Battle Frontier, with the next arc.
1. Is Brendan and the final symbol the final stage? Or is there a league for the Battle Frontier? Will it be significant like the Kanto/Johto/Hoen leagues, are a one battle shorty like the Orange League? According to the dub version at least, in leagues like the Indigo one, the champ obtains the title of "Pokemon Master" (in the anime) for winning these tournaments.
2. Will Ash win? He went from 16th to 8th place in leagues. Plus, last time it was close. If Pikachu's Iron Tail just had a LITTLE more umph, Meowth in Boots would have gone down- Ash would have beaten the guy who would go on to win the championship- meaning Ash could have. Meaning, Ash almost won the least league, despite ranking.
3. Will may won the Ribbon Cup this year? The "Start!" intro shows a Ribbon Cup behind her, and all her Pokemon surround her. Fancy art, or a hint from the writers? I believe with her final defeat of Harley (will it be?) with the next ribbon (and possibly getting Jessie out of the way forever) the championship could be the long awaited final showdown with May and Drew.
4. Jessie/James/Meowth are in the 9th movie, but with the TR disbandment episode, we can assume with 50% accuracy that the ORGANIZATION may be gone, without are 3 favorite villians knowing it for a while. They could even go rogue like Bannai. With such an event, the show seems to be coming to an end.
5. Let's face it, Pokemon is a money making machine, and the games will be around for MANY years, like Zelda or Mario. BUT does this mean that the anime will be around for each new set of games, with a filler series to fill up time, 10 years from now. The show is not to far away from being the longest running anime of all time- it is eclipsing the length of Dragon Ball (with all 3 series combined). Will the writers pull the plug soon. I mean Ash put up a good fight with Agatha, and Scott said that the trainers at the Battle Frontier are almost as strong as the Elite 4! Plus, "Start" and "Glory Day" keep on bringing ALL of Ash's Pokemon together, for a final thrust type of feel.
Is this arc the end? The next one? 5 years from now? I don't know. Many speculated with the Johto and Hoen leagues, only to be proven wrong. Fact is, money will say how long things go. But the anime has MUCH smaller ratings in Japan and America than it once did. How long can they stretch the show for? Doing so killed the show pretty much- with Johto. It was only new innovations (not the same problem of the day, TR interrupting, Pokemon of the day beat up Team Rocket scenario) in the Hoen arc half the time, refreshing new characters like May and her contests, and the quality of Gym Battles (which started involving strategy in Johto) which saved the show- Battle Frontier continues these trends- plus the writers have done something they never did before- they have had most of Ash's team evolve. I am awaiting with certainty, for Corphish to do so.
What do you think? I've been watching the show since 98, and I gotta say that I think it has had it's run. I enjoy it, but I don't want the writers to try ridding a dead horse here. And you know what? I think Ash and May deserve the glory they may earn- 4th and 8th place are very close to the tip of the mountain. And for every good episode, fillers included, there are too many BAD filler episodes- and I don't know if ANYONE here wants another 150 episode arc where 130 of the episodes have the same run-of-the-mill scenario that I described earlier.
Perhaps the writers will pull a Yu-Gi-Oh GX on us and make a new story, Pokemon Rangers for example, with their own plot. I don't know, whatever they can market.
I have found from watching this show all these years, that I have had a lot of rewarding episodes, many actually in the Johto arc, but it's HORRIBLE episodes like the first 2 battle frontier eps (the Oak ranch one, SAME recycled plot, 4th time, and the stupid Clefairy one- with the group seperation (5th/6th time) plot that has been used so many times) Boring, recycled episodes like that do NOT help ratings, marketing, or serve the fans. The writers are tired- they are on a time schedule- and after 400 episodes, sometimes run out of good ideas.
I guess what im saying is that I really like this show, and I would rather see it gracefully end now with a decent ending, instead of 8 years from now in another Johto-like arc. Right in the middle of a season, suddenly having the plot pulled, no conclusion. It's like putting a dying pet to sleep. And with the evolutions, dissolution of TR, and the hints and opening and ending themes, (not to mention May defeating all major rivals but Drew, and Ash almost on par with the Elite 4 now) it is safe to say that the writers may be wrapping things up. If not with the Battle Frontier, with the next arc.
