Is Satoshi the only trainer in the world who doesn't travel by himself?

Dogasu

Dogasu

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I was playing catch-up with some DP episodes today and noticed something; it seems like every trainer in the pokemon world, except for Satoshi, travels by him or herself. No one else seems to have any traveling companions, and even childhood friends (Hikari and Kengo, Kenta and Marina and Jun'ichi) split up when they go on their actual journey. Why do you think that is?

There are some obvious real world reasons for this (animating one trainer is a lot easier than animating a group of three), but I still wonder if there's another reason for the lack of parties in the Pokemon World.
 
Ash is given companions so he has someone to talk to. Secondary characters don't need to do this because we rarely see them on their own. That's pretty much it.
 
Because the other characters are EXP hungry, lol.

Not sure about the real cause of this, except for the animators' laziness. It does seem to make sense (as much sense as something in the Pokémon world would make) to travel in groups, as the Pokémon world is more hostile, and they are dealing with creatures that can spew elemental attacks from their mouths/openings/anywhere else >_>.

I guess this will probably be another subject there will never be an answer to.

EDIT: I guess giving the protagonist someone to talk to is another reason for having Ash's travel with other people.
 
Satoshi pretty much needs companions to have someone to talk to all the time, to keep the plot going. If the other trainers were accompanied by one or two others, not only would the animators have more work, but it would also look worse and chaotic when implemented.
 
We do see a couple of trainers traveling in pairs, but they're usually couples or siblings. Like Anthony and Oscar or the couple of twins seen in the show.
 
Wow!

That's a good question, Dogasu!

And that's something I've never thought of before.


Anyway, I've always found it interesting how Ash travels with companions, when other characters in the anime don't. ^^



But yeah, I agree with everyone else. It's either because the animators are lazy, or it's done so Ash will have someone else to talk to, or it's both reasons.

Ash having someone else to talk to, seems very likely, in my opinion.
 
I agree that the show would be very, very boring if Satoshi was the only protagonist. But, ignoring real-world reasons for a minute...wouldn't you think that other trainers would get the idea that it would be in their best interest to have travel companions?
 
Dogasu said:
wouldn't you think that other trainers would get the idea that it would be in their best interest to have travel companions?
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Not necessarily. Someone like Paul would probably think that it's a weakness to have other looking out for you
 
Now that you bring up this topic, it really reminds me of how poorly done the reason was to get Dawn to travel with Ash and Brock.

Is it just me, or are the writers not even trying anymore when having a valid reason for Ash to get new tagalongs? Unlike May, Dawn actually showed the enthusiasm to want to travel by herself and didn't need an older experienced trainer to look after her at the start, so why the flimsy excuse?

Besides the fact that Ash can't get rid of Brock because he has like...nothing better to do but follow him around the planet, Dawn has probably the weakest excuse ever to travel with Ash. Even weaker than Tracey, who at least had the incentive to see Oak afterward.
 
Matkin22 said:
Not necessarily. Someone like Paul would probably think that it's a weakness to have other looking out for you
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But I thought part of Shinji's appeal comes from the fact that most trainers in the anime aren't like him.
 
From a show perspective, extra trainers usually would just be "extra baggage". The point of the vast majority of episodes is to be centered around a "character of the day" - a person with a specific challenge and personality. Adding another character would probably be unnecessary.

As far as finding a "logical" excuse... I doubt there really is one. Humans are by nature social creatures, I think it would make sense for trainers to come together in groups. Then again, that may result in undesired competition for Pokemon catches, so...
 
Its also of note that almost all coordinators travel by themselves, the only exceptions I can think of were May (during AG) and Dawn now.

So basically, if you're a main character, you're going to be in a group. If the show isn't about you, you travel alone.
 
Ash had one episode by himself, May had one, but Dawn had three only beacuse Ash and Pikachu got seperated. But, I agree with what Scott said, if your a main character, you travel with Ash and Brock
 
They probabbly have Ash travel so they can reach more people in the fandom. I would have hated AG if it wasn't for May she made that season. I hated Brock, Max and Ash in that season.
 
I think it's so people can argue about the shipping possibilities in the only trainer groups we have.
 
Dogasu said:
I agree that the show would be very, very boring if Satoshi was the only protagonist.
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I don't think so. The guy gets enough filler characters to talk to... not to mention Rocket Dan hounding him all day. Besides, they're able to do the manga with people traveling alone alright (even Dengeki! Pikachu, an adaption of the anime, has Satoshi do without Kasumi and Takeshi at several points)... then again, they're not so damn episodic, so I can't be too sure.
 
Maybe like all the rivals have companions, but they're just too busy when we actually see them. That's totally what happens.
 
GreatLiver said:
Maybe like all the rivals have companions, but they're just too busy when we actually see them. That's totally what happens.
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Aside from when Gary used to travel with a bunch of cheerleaders, how often do the other rivals interact with anyone but the main characters?

Paul is a loner, Zoey doesn't seem to be very social, Harley's uh...social life was never delved into, and Drew just had Solidad.
 
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