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The End of Pokemon Journeys Predictions

I'm finally convinced that they need a new protagonist now. When you look at the insane peaks of trainerdom that Ash was suddenly written towards with Journeys, the idea of him going right back to that "gym, gym, gym, gym, gym, gym, gym, gym, league" routine is utterly laughable. You can't piece old trends back together after breaking them this hard. And, personally, I think he was made so strong that he's no longer suitable protagonist material anymore. He's had enough big success moments in this Top 8 to last a lifetime.
 
Gengarzilla said:
I'm finally convinced that they need a new protagonist now. When you look at the insane peaks of trainerdom that Ash was suddenly written towards with Journeys, the idea of him going right back to that "gym, gym, gym, gym, gym, gym, gym, gym, league" routine is utterly laughable. You can't piece old trends back together after breaking them this hard. And, personally, I think he was made so strong that he's no longer suitable protagonist material anymore. He's had enough big success moments in this Top 8 to last a lifetime.
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Ash is too iconic to be replaced as the protagonist. If they wanted to replace him, they could if done after Johto. Besides, Ash has still yet to complete his main goal, so he's still a suitable protagonist. We don't need some newbie trainer that no one has heard of to take over Ash's goal when he hasn't completed it yet.
 
SlyGecko said:
Ash is too iconic to be replaced as the protagonist. If they wanted to replace him, they could if done after Johto. Besides, Ash has still yet to complete his main goal, so he's still a suitable protagonist. We don't need some newbie trainer that no one has heard of to take over Ash's goal when he hasn't completed it yet.
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How much does the Japanese market care about Ash? Because I can definitely see Westerners not caring if Ash gets replaced if he beats Leon.
 
I also still don't think it would necessarily be an issue to have Ash battle Gyms again. Ash loves to battle anyone and everyone. It doesn't matter if they're a random nobody or a Champion. He'll go all out battling against any trainer. Ash would not see the Gym Challenge as a step down or boring now that he's defeated multiple Champions. It would feel out of character for Ash to think of Gym Leaders as such, especially when Bea was easily his most challenging opponent in the PWC. While characters like Steven and Cynthia would be stronger than Bea by virtue of being Champions, it took Ash three attempts to actually defeat Bea. Brushing off Gyms like that would not make sense with Ash's personality. Granted, I'm also probably biased since despite getting to battle some powerful trainers, I would still say that the PWC has been largely unimpressive or lackluster to me due to its poor structure. The Gym challenge would at least guarantee that Ash would be battling against strong trainers at a more consistent rate and using more than one or two Pokemon per battle too.

I would still not be shocked if they gave Ash a different goal in the next series, but I just don't think going back to Gyms would be that difficult either. If they want to adapt the Victory Road storyline from Scarlet/Violet, then using Ash to do so would make the most sense.
 
If we were to get a new protagonist I'd like it to be a female lead like Dawn or a new female MC. It'd be nice to see an adventure through their eyes as they travel across say a new region. And we can witness the ups and downs and see what sort of challenges await them.
 
We now know that Ash won his battle with Leon and has since become his successor as Monarch. But now, I've been stressfully wondering...some website say that he's become a mere Monarch/World Champion (not counting his status as Alola's first Champion), while others say that he's now a Pokémon Master. What about his future? Knowing how iconic he is, I'm worried about his future. Do you think he will be succeeded as the anime's protagonist by another character with a Pikachu? If not, will his journey continue until he becomes a true Pokémon Master (In a 2008 interview with the webmaster of PokéBeach, Masamitsu Hidaka stated that when Ash becomes a Pokémon Master, it would be the last episode of the show.)? I've been asking myself ton of questions about his future ever since I learned that he's succeeded Leon as Monarch following his victory. While I can't predict the future correctly, I do have imagination...but sometimes, that imagination plays tricks on me.
 
CrystalRose21 said:
We now know that Ash won his battle with Leon and has since become his successor as Monarch. But now, I've been stressfully wondering...some website say that he's become a mere Monarch/World Champion (not counting his status as Alola's first Champion), while others say that he's now a Pokémon Master. What about his future? Knowing how iconic he is, I'm worried about his future. Do you think he will be succeeded as the anime's protagonist by another character with a Pikachu? If not, will his journey continue until he becomes a true Pokémon Master (In a 2008 interview with the webmaster of PokéBeach, Masamitsu Hidaka stated that when Ash becomes a Pokémon Master, it would be the last episode of the show.)? I've been asking myself ton of questions about his future ever since I learned that he's succeeded Leon as Monarch following his victory. While I can't predict the future correctly, I do have imagination...but sometimes, that imagination plays tricks on me.
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As far as I know, defeating Leon does not make Ash a Pokemon Master. I'm not surprised some websites are referring to him as such when he's now a World Champion, but neither the dub or the Japanese version of Journeys describe Leon as a Pokemon Master or that defeating him would make Ash a Pokemon Master. We still don't know what they have planned for the anime, but for now, I wouldn't stress out too much about it. I still can't see them replacing Ash even after defeating Leon and I'm positive that we would have heard about the anime ending way before now if that was the case too.
 
Hidden Mew said:
As far as I know, defeating Leon does not make Ash a Pokemon Master. I'm not surprised some websites are referring to him as such when he's now a World Champion, but neither the dub or the Japanese version of Journeys describe Leon as a Pokemon Master or that defeating him would make Ash a Pokemon Master. We still don't know what they have planned for the anime, but for now, I wouldn't stress out too much about it. I still can't see them replacing Ash even after defeating Leon and I'm positive that we would have heard about the anime ending way before now if that was the case too.
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That’s because it doesn’t make him a Pokémon Master. Those that keep perpetuating that him becoming a world champion makes him a Pokémon Master show that they haven’t been paying much attention to the series and really are bandwagoning on this story as Ash flat out stated in this very series both that beating Leon is only a step towards becoming a Pokémon Master and that being a Pokémon Master isn’t the same as being the worlds strongest trainer.
 
Admittedly, I do get a bit irked when I see others on various online platforms like Twitter or YouTube say the anime is “ending” or Ash is finally “done” just because he defeated Leon. Being a world champion does not equal being a Pokémon Master (which still, to this day, lacks any sort of tangible criteria).
 
Alola said:
Admittedly, I do get a bit irked when I see others on carious online platforms like Twitter or YouTube say the anime is “ending” or Ash is finally “done” just because he defeated Leon. Being a world champion does not equal being a Pokémon Master (which still, to this day, lacks any sort of tangible criteria).
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To be fair, Pokemon Master being an undefined title means that Ash would never reach that goal (not even when the anime ends).

So, I don't know why people uses "Ash isn't a Pokemon Master yet" as a reason why the anime will continue.
 
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Konja7 said:
To be fair, Pokemon Master being an undefined title means that Ash would never reach that goal (not even when the anime ends).

So, I don't know why people uses "Ash isn't a Pokemon Master yet" as a reason why the anime will continue.
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Because that’s the very reason why Pokémon Master is left undefined. The second that you define a goal, you create something material for the character to strive for and as such a measurement of how they can attain it. By not defining it, they can take Ash and the anime wherever they want to in the name of chasing that dream.
 
Konja7 said:
To be fair, Pokemon Master being an undefined title means that Ash would never reach that goal (not even when the anime ends).

So, I don't know why people uses "Ash isn't a Pokemon Master yet" as a reason why the anime will continue.
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Because Ash hasn't reached his actual goal. Defeating Leon doesn't make him a Pokemon Master and he has brought up that is still his main goal during Journeys too. Since they haven't actually defined everything Ash needs to do in order to become a Pokemon Master, that allows the writers to effectively do whatever they want with Ash as long as the anime keeps going.
 
Kurolegacy said:
Because that’s the very reason why Pokémon Master is left undefined. The second that you define a goal, you create something material for the character to strive for and as such a measurement of how they can attain it. By not defining it, they can take Ash and the anime wherever they want to in the name of chasing that dream.
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As Pokemon Master is an undefined goal, Ash will never reach that goal. So, this means the Pokemon anime will end without Ash becoming a Pokemon Master.

My point was that people saying the anime couldn't end because Ash hasn't become a Pokemon Master doesn't make sense.
 
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I mean for casuals, they probably assume becoming the strongest trainer is becoming a Pokemon Master. The title is left undefined but it's not surprising to me that people who rarely watch the show assume is Ash is done when Ash's focus for 25 years has been battling and he just became the best at it.

Sure, "being a Pokemon Master isn't just about battling" but when battling is the one thing Ash has focused on and been the climax of every series, it makes sense that people are wondering if he's done when he's reached the absolute apex of battling.
 
Konja7 said:
As Pokemon Master is an undefined goal, Ash will never reach that goal. So, this means the Pokemon anime will end without Ash becoming a Pokemon Master.

My point was that people saying the anime couldn't end because Ash hasn't become a Pokemon doesn't make sense.
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The series writers have flat out said that the entire concept is about the chasing of the dream. So long as the series continues to release more content, the writers don’t have a need to define Pokémon Master. That doesn’t mean he’ll never reach it but it’s the narrative flow that keeps the story moving. To end the anime because claiming that becoming a world champion is akin to Pokémon Master is basically akin to them outright changing Brock’s goal from becoming a breeder to a doctor.
 
I think "Pokémon Journeys" doesn't end, which is why the series is simply called "Pocket Monsters" in Japan. It will continue and Ash & Goh will visit Paldea among other regions but the next few years will focus more on Chloe, Eeve, the school, the Pokemon contest and maybe other characters (personally I really wish Journeys would end and we would have a Paldea specific anime with Ash and more Team Rocket appearances)
 
Jez said:
I think "Pokémon Journeys" doesn't end, which is why the series is simply called "Pocket Monsters" in Japan. It will continue and Ash & Goh will visit Paldea among other regions but the next few years will focus more on Chloe, Eeve, the school, the Pokemon contest and maybe other characters (personally I really wish Journeys would end and we would have a Paldea specific anime with Ash and more Team Rocket appearances)
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It’s simply called Pocket Monsters because this current series wasn’t about a single region like previous ones but instead, for a celebration of the 25th anniversary, they made use of all 8 regions. I wouldn’t expect such a thing to extend beyond gen 8.
 
Ash is retired as a character due to his status as a world champion (Equivalent to Pokémon master) and we would either see someone else take the center stage for the Gen IX series and beyond. Especially since the game is set in a school setting from the very start doesn't make sense for ash to hits the books again since again "world champion" title and they already did the same exact trope from the previous Gen anime. He have to defend that covenant title somehow

the downside of this is a lot of changes would happened from our favorite jessie, James and meowth also won't be appearing anymore. (Then again they might have admit defeat since they also witness Ash winning and getting the world champion title)

plus considering the entire thing is aired in japan to a point you can see the battle in billboards as well. I kinda doubt they can now get away with nerfing ash again. it would be a riot online.
If any I know ash is a staple in the pokemon anime but.. the franchise is already 25 years old now. and old fans leaves and replace with new ones.
 
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jomarcentermjm said:
Ash is retired as a character due to his status as a world champion (Equivalent to Pokémon master) and we would either see someone else take the center stage for the Gen IX series and beyond. Especially since the game is set in a school setting from the very start doesn't make sense for ash to hits the books again since again "world champion" title and they already did the same exact trope from the previous Gen anime. He have to defend that covenant title somehow

the downside of this is a lot of changes would happened from our favorite jessie, James and meowth also won't be appearing anymore. (Then again they might have admit defeat since they also witness Ash winning and getting the world champion title)

plus considering the entire thing is aired in japan to a point you can see the battle in billboards as well. I kinda doubt they can now get away with nerfing ash again. it would be a riot online.
If any I know ash is a staple in the pokemon anime but.. the franchise is already 25 years old now. and old fans leaves and replace with new ones.
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No, being a world champion isn't the equivalent of being a pokemon master. Not even close. Heck it was already stated that beating Leon would bring Ash one step closer to being a Pokemon master. So Ash isn't retired since he still hasn't completed his goal. Can't just retire your protagonist from a long running anime because newer fans think they completed their goal when they haven't.
 
SlyGecko said:
No, being a world champion isn't the equivalent of being a pokemon master. Not even close. Heck it was already stated that beating Leon would bring Ash one step closer to being a Pokemon master. So Ash isn't retired since he still hasn't completed his goal. Can't just retire your protagonist from a long running anime because newer fans think they completed their goal when they haven't.
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Ash will never complete his goal, because Pokemon Master is a vague and undefined title.

This means the anime will end without Ash becoming a Pokemon Master. After all, Ash couldn't become something the writers don't want to define.
 
Please note: The thread is from 2 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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