How do you feel about there being no active female battlers in the series?

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Cybersai

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We're now 15 years into the series, and there have never been any major female characters who do Gyms or compete in leagues. The closest thing we have to that is Bianca, who was just introduced but is portrayed as ditzy and clumsy.

Why do you think the writers don't want any strong, serious or no-nonsense female trainers? Can you imagine a female version of Paul as a recurring character?

Other than Casey who failed as a trainer, there really have been no female battlers on the show with the same goal as Ash. Do you think this female stereotype should be broken?
 
There was Lyra, she had two Badges.

But most of the characters who we see compete for Badges aren't serious or no-nonsense: Barry was hyperactive; Morrison was a boy-version of Misty; Gary was a jerk; Conway was Conway, etc.
 
Lyra was only in 5 eps and she seemed weaker than Khoury. Her Chikorita always got KO'd and then she just had a cutesy Marill.

She was the first to lose that tag battle for a reason.
 
Karamazov said:
There was Lyra, she had two Badges.

But most of the characters who we see compete for Badges aren't serious or no-nonsense: Barry was hyperactive; Morrison was a boy-version of Misty; Gary was a jerk; Conway was Conway, etc.
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You also had Casey, who at first seemed to be off to a decent start in Johto, but for whatever reason she didn't progress as quickly as Ash did, and finished off in Johto with only four badges. I hope the writers don't make the same error with Bianca.
 
Gliscor'd said:
Lyra was only in 5 eps and she seemed weaker than Khoury. Her Chikorita always got KO'd and then she just had a cutesy Marill.

She was the first to lose that tag battle for a reason.
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I doubt it was because she was female. Khoury developed the most through the arc. Lyra's shipping obssession did seem rather unfortunate, though.
 
Akaiyo said:
Well, there's always Cynthia. :p
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Cynthia is probably the best bet...

I'd bet money that she's probably the strongest trainer in the anime to date...Hell, I don't even think Lance stands a chance agaisnt her, not even with his Dragonite.
 
Iris is a active female battler, her Kibago has just got the hang of battling it's battled Monmen, Zuruggu, Desmas, and tried to battle Yanappu. Emonga took care of the Kokoromori and took on Baokki.Doryuuzu took on Pedorra.

Females who battle for gym badges. There's Kotone, she has a Girafigrig, Chikorita, and a Marill. Chikorita lost to Pochama because he had Peck attack and was more experienced obviously. Chikorita was at a disadvantage against Monferno and Cyndaquil. Monferno was much stronger so the results may have been different if she used Marill, but they probably didn't want to since the writer had too many Marill appearances already at the time.
 
I think that since the show is aimed toward children (with more boys than girls watching I believe), the writers try to have Ash maintain rivalries you would expect a ten-year-old boy to have in real life so the viewer within that demographic can connect with him. You don't normally think of someone Ash's age in real life competing against a girl unless one has a crush on the other (and we all know how the writers try to keep Ash oblivious to love). It sounds like I'm being stereotypical, but this happens in several TV shows, movies, etc. today.
 
This is something that I really want to be changed. It makes girls seem only attracted to things like Contests, which isn't true at all. Girls like Leona (Dawn's childhood friend) & Sakura showed having interest in collecting badges, I just wish this was expanded upon more...
 
The Puppetmaster said:
I think that since the show is aimed toward children (with more boys than girls watching I believe), the writers try to have Ash maintain rivalries you would expect a ten-year-old boy to have in real life so the viewer within that demographic can connect with him. You don't normally think of someone Ash's age in real life competing against a girl unless one has a crush on the other (and we all know how the writers try to keep Ash oblivious to love). It sounds like I'm being stereotypical, but this happens in several TV shows, movies, etc. today.
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Yeah that's right for sure. That's what's happening in Bakugan, Beyblade Metal Fusion, and pretty much ever other male dominated show. Just like how females in My Little Pony have female enemies.
 
The Puppetmaster said:
I think that since the show is aimed toward children (with more boys than girls watching I believe), the writers try to have Ash maintain rivalries you would expect a ten-year-old boy to have in real life so the viewer within that demographic can connect with him. You don't normally think of someone Ash's age in real life competing against a girl unless one has a crush on the other (and we all know how the writers try to keep Ash oblivious to love). It sounds like I'm being stereotypical, but this happens in several TV shows, movies, etc. today.
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That's true. Which sucks because there are plenty of 10-year old boys that tease &/or play & get along w/ other 10-year old girls. Could they not make things realistic & have a girl be a threat to Ash? Or maybe even a helpful female rival similar to Zoey. There are plenty of girls that can be threatening to boys in places like school & public parks.
 
Cause it'd be too epic for the anime?

Iono, guess they don't know exactly how to handle such character.
 
I don't think it's sexism. All the female Gym leaders are technically battlers, and then there's Cynthia who's the champion. It just goes that way with Ash's female sidekick, having the same goal as him would prove tricky to handle and potentially boring.

I don't care what a character's goal is anyway. As long as they're likeable, that's all I care about.
 
Katie was cool how about Giselle?

But seriously Ash should fought more then two girls in his four leagues.
 
Alphaphlare said:
Katie was cool how about Giselle?

But seriously Ash should fought more then two girls in his four leagues.
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What about that girl in the Indigo League with that UBER Bellsprout? It was whippin' Ash's pokemon good...If he didn't have Muk with him...And there's also Macy from the Silver Conference too!
 
The problem is any female trainer we see is just a filler character who we never see again. Some of the female league opponents are nice, but again they're more or less one-shot characters.

As for the female Gym leaders, Cynthia, etc. I suppose this is expected as most of them are adults anyway.
 
Blue1225 said:
It would be interesting to see Ash's main rival be a girl.
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Bianca is a rival, but since she's not the, "main" rival of this arc, she's not going to get much fanfare.

Ash already beat Bianca in her first appearance, she definitely seems more of a joke rival like Barry.
 
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