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When do you think that the Alola League will start?

Diamond & Pearl

Diamond & Pearl

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We are all anticipating for the Alola League. However, we can't pinpoint the date as of yet. That's why I'm asking for your predictions. Do you think that it will commence around episode 100, 115 or 130? There are 2 factors that are confusing me: everyone seems to be laying pressure on GF to announce the Switch games ASAP and there's this pattern that Ash has a one-season Kanto adventure every two generations (gen III: Battle Frontier & gen V: decolore islands). And the ultimate bonus question: at which stage will Ash lose? I put my money on the semi-finals.
 
Diamond & Pearl said:
We are all anticipating for the Alola League. However, we can't pinpoint the date as of yet. That's why I'm asking for your predictions. Do you think that it will commence around episode 100, 115 or 130? There are 2 factors that are confusing me: everyone seems to be laying pressure on GF to announce the Switch games ASAP and there's this pattern that Ash has a one-season Kanto adventure every two generations (gen III: Battle Frontier & gen V: decolore islands). And the ultimate bonus question: at which stage will Ash lose? I put my money on the semi-finals.
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Maybe league will start after ultra guardian arc and after league team rainbow rocket arc will start and ash will win the league!!!!
 
We are halfway through the trials so I guess somewhere between 40 and 60 episodes would make sense. I don't think the Switch games are being released as soon as some people claim to be honest. From my understanding they weren't able to finish Sun & Moon as originally intended due to time constraints so I doubt they'll repeat that with the next generation games (plus I want the Sun & Moon anime to go on forever).

About the results of the league I guess it depends on who participates, but I really want Kukui to be the one to kick Satoshi's ass, it's been hinted that he has a lot of aces up his sleeves (we only saw the first of the Pokémon in his team in SM052, so he might have many more we have no idea of). Whether he enters the competition in secret as "The Masked Royale" or fulfills the role of champion like in the games, it'd be THE person I would have absolutely no problem if they were to beat our protagonist.
 
It's hard to tell considering that the Trials are practically an afterthought. An Alola League is still most likely going to happen. It would make Professor Kukui mentioning it at the end of the Kanto field trip really weird if they weren't going to do anything with it. I guess it would depend on how fast Ash goes through the other Trials/Grand Trials and if they want to incorporate Team Rainbow Rocket. The Leagues are normally the climax of a journey/series, but they may have Team Rainbow Rocket serve as the climax instead, similar to what they did with Team Flare in XY. It's possible that they could do something with it after the Ultra Guardian arc, but it depends on how long that lasts too.

As far as the Switch game goes, I don't think it will come out anytime soon either. I'm sure that Nintendo and Game Freak would want to release it as soon as possible. The Switch is already pulling in a lot of money for Nintendo, but a main series Pokemon title for a console system would practically print money for them. I just don't think that Game Freak would be able to get it out that fast. Not to mention I can't see the seventh generation lasting for just two years. Three sounds more reasonable to me. It wouldn't be impossible for the Switch game to come out sooner than I expected, especially when SM already covered the climax from the Sun/Moon games and are about to include elements from US/UM if Poipole is any indication, but I'm still leading towards the games coming out next year as opposed to this year.

I also wouldn't really consider the Decolore Islands as a Kanto adventure. While the Kanto during the Battle Frontier wasn't really similar to the Kanto from the original series, at least they were actually in the region during that arc. The Decolore Island was a journey to Kanto, but they only spent about two episodes in the region before Ash went off to Kalos. I wouldn't really consider that a pattern, especially when the Decolore Island arc felt more like the result of the writers rushing through most of the Unova region to the point where they didn't have anything new to cover other than promoting some then new sixth generation Pokemon.
 
KyseL said:
About the results of the league I guess it depends on who participates, but I really want Kukui to be the one to kick Satoshi's ass, it's been hinted that he has a lot of aces up his sleeves (we only saw the first of the Pokémon in his team in SM052, so he might have many more we have no idea of). Whether he enters the competition in secret as "The Masked Royale" or fulfills the role of champion like in the games, it'd be THE person I would have absolutely no problem if they were to beat our protagonist.
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If Kukui participates, then either Gladion or Kukui will defeat Ash (since Ash has never lost to an unfamiliar figure in the League thus far), so it technically depends more on when Ash will face Kukui and/or Gladion (or another known trainer).

@Hidden Mew I forgot to tell that I think it's possible that Ash will have a (mini) arc in Kanto since the writers (and GF) want to make us believe that Kanto and Alola are tied together.
 
Diamond & Pearl said:
@Hidden Mew I forgot to tell that I think it's possible that Ash will have a (mini) arc in Kanto since the writers (and GF) want to make us believe that Kanto and Alola are tied together.
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That's a possibility. There has been a lot of references to Kanto in the games, to the point where I thought we could possibly travel to Kanto in US/UM, and they already had a field trip to Kanto in the show. A good part of that is due to the franchise and later on the anime's 20th anniversary, but the idea that Ash could have a mini arc in Kanto is plausible. I'm not sure how likely it actually is, but it wouldn't be impossible for them to go in that direction. I just wouldn't consider this a pattern due to how the Decolore Island arc was more about island adventures while on the road to Kanto rather than being in the region itself.
 
Hidden Mew said:
That's a possibility. There has been a lot of references to Kanto in the games, to the point where I thought we could possibly travel to Kanto in US/UM, and they already had a field trip to Kanto in the show. A good part of that is due to the franchise and later on the anime's 20th anniversary, but the idea that Ash could have a mini arc in Kanto is plausible. I'm not sure how likely it actually is, but it wouldn't be impossible for them to go in that direction. I just wouldn't consider this a pattern due to how the Decolore Island arc was more about island adventures while on the road to Kanto rather than being in the region itself.
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Yes, I should have been more specific. The actual pattern is that gen III & V both had a post-league season, so that's why I can't predict if the Alola League will take place around episode 100 or 130.
 
I think seeing as we are half way through trials - about 60-80 episodes maybe - you don't know how many filler episodes we will get. Also, there still is the Rainbow Rocket arc and Ultra Guardian arc. Not to mention that Kukui is yet to construct the Pokemon League. I would say not anytime soon for sure haha. I am going to say quarter-finals for Ash personally and Gladion maybe finals, who knows?
 
Given that Pokémon makes tons of money and most fans will buy the games anyways, there's no need for GF to not rush the games.

As for the League, I honestly don't care about it. It will be Ash's 7th major League loss in a row and that's just the beginning. While Ash isn't my favourite character, you expect the main protagonist to eventually reach or progress towards their goal. Going by how battles seem to be an afterthought in this series, I think he will end up top 4 or worse. Runner-up if I am generous. But him winning has 0% chances.
 
The main thing is how long the generation last. Despite what people keep saying, I still think we have the better part of 2 years before the Switch game. It takes more work to make a console game than a handheld. Especially if you want it done right. And surely Ninty and GF want their first true Pokemon console game since XD: Gale of Darkness to be a great one. Especially since the Switch needs all the help it can get.

And I've said it before and I'll say it again: I can NOT see a generation only lasting 2 years, regardless of what signs people claim to see.

I'd say we have, oh...80-something episodes after SM62 (give or take a few weeks off). The question is what they'll DO for them. :cautious:

To be brutally honest, I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't even get a league this saga. SM has been more about SoL than any kind of overarching story. The fact they've barely done anything with the Trials says a lot (not to mention how Team Skull was just dumped :confused:). Even Kanto had a badge quest, even if it did suck.
I'm not even expecting too much from the Ultra Guardians arc. I just KNOW they'll find more non-violent solutions to dealing with the UBs than actual battles :unsure:. Especially since over half the cast would struggle to deal with regular pokes, let alone a UB x_x. Even then it looks like we're getting SoL fillers in the mix.

Oh sure, there's time for Ultra Beasts, Necrozma, Island Challenges, a League, and maybe Rainbow Rocket.
The question is if OLM WILL do all those things. Or do them right...:cautious:
 
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I don't really think the "has 2 Kanto adventures every 2 generations" thing is legitimate. The Decolora Island arc wasn't even really in the Kanto region, they didn't even get to Kanto until the penultimate episode. And the Kanto Battle Frontier was only that in name, it really felt more like an extension of Hoenn than anything. I think if there was a pattern it would be "every other generation has a bonus/filler arc"; Gen I had the Orange Islands, Gen III had the Battle Frontier, and Gen V had the Decolora Islands. But I don't think it's the writers consciously deciding to make a bonus arc, it all has to do with the release of the following generation.

As for when Generation VIII comes, my guess is late 2019 at the earliest. I don't go by the whole "Satoshi still has X number of trials/badges left" thing because, let's be real, the pacing in this show can be wonky as hell and if the writers needed to they would absolutely speed through his last trials within a dozen episodes to get the generation done in time. The reason why I think it's 2019 is because we just got USUM a few months ago and it just seems too soon for the next generation to start. Plus as already mentioned, I'm sure Game Freak is going to want to take their time with their first main series game that's on a home console (and the first since Emerald to not have dual-screens).

I see Gen VIII being announced next January/February because I believe the last few generations were announced in those months (I know Sun/Moon was February and X/Y was January, not sure past that) with more information being revealed at E3 2019 with a release date of November/December 2019 as that year's big holiday release. As for how they'll stretch out the Sun&Moon series another two years.....i have no idea. Ultra Guardians and Rainbow Rocket could definitely buy time and if they had other old companions have episodes like SM042 and SM043 that would help, plus we still haven't really had a proper introduction to Team Skull as an organization.

TO ACTUALLY ANSWER THE QUESTION my guess is summer 2019. I see this Ultra Guardian thing lasting a few months then some filler, then maybe a Haruka/Masato episode in May 2018 (heh...) with the Rainbow Rocket arc starting right after, lasting the summer. Then another trial/island in the fall, maybe a Hikari episode in December 2018, another trial in January/February, filler, a Skull arc in March/April 2019, some more filler and maybe an Iris/Dent episode or two in May, then the league taking up the majority of the summer with a Serena/Citron/Eureka episode towards the end of August 2019 (possibly every companion together?) with the series wrapping up in October/November 2019.

(I'm not saying I firmly believe we'll get any other past characters coming back, I'm just saying it's a possibility and if they were to do it it would probably be something like this)
 
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It's a guess but I can see it starting by SM100. Now it also depends on when the new games get released. I don't want the games to be rushed and get another XY. It's quite telling when the anime had a better TF plot than the games.

Now, I dunno what they would do after the League, especially if the League is held like one year before Gen VIII is out. What will they do in that remaining year? There's TRR but I dunno how they will adapt it. In the games, we got leaders of other villainous teams
but OLM may find this to be confusing for kids. The games state these are from other universes, but OLM seems to think kids are dumb.
 
Since the games are aimed at about the same target audience as the anime is, I don't think the concept of alternate universe versions of evil team leaders would be that hard for kids to follow. They can just throw in the same kind of lines from the games that explain that each evil leader come from a universe where they were able to succeed in their goals.

Claiming that OLM think that kids are dumb is a bit much. Saying that they can afford a repetitive goal because of the target audience changing or that they figured kids would have forgotten about the GS Ball as an explanation for why they never brought it up again isn't the same as thinking kids are dumb. The latter point is closer to that, but I don't get the impression that the people behind the show look down upon or actively talk down to their target audience.
 
I would say around Episode 100 (SM anime).... but i think the pacing is the problem (Since we then only have 40 episodes left), considering Ash needs too catch 2 more Pokemon and evolve Litten all the way and taking in mind the development episodes and fillers we are likely getting, i doubt 40 episodes are enough. So i am aiming the league is starting around episode 200.
 
Though the thing about TRR is that we don't need an AU Giovanni. The games went that route because the original TR was dealt with and disbanded in Gen 2, while they never left the Show (though its mainly an excuse to keep the TRio around).
Besides, the Giovanni we have is just fine. No need for an AU version when the regular is badass and cool enough (even if he's stuck playing 2nd fiddle to the TRio for whatever ungodly reason).
 
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SammyW27 said:
Though the thing about TRR is that we don't need an AU Giovanni. The games went that route because the original TR was dealt with and disbanded in Gen 2, while they never left the show (though its mainly an excuse to keep the TRio around).
Besides, the Giovanni we have is just fine. No need for an AU version when the regular is badass and cool enough (even if he's stuck playing 2nd fiddle to the TRio for whatever ungodly reason).
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They'd still probably need alternate universe versions of the other villains. They could probably figure out a reason as to why Maxie, Archie and Ghetsis are there. The first two just disbanded off-screen and they could explain that it was just a cover up or something and Ghetsis could be broken out of jail. Cyrus and Lysandre would be a bit more difficult considering there's a good chance that they're both dead. Cyrus got to be in his new universe, but if it didn't have air, food or water, he wouldn't last long and Lysandre was gone by the end of the Team Flare arc. Giovanni could just find alternate universes of other villains just to make it a bit easier, but this is all assuming that they're even planning on doing something with Team Rainbow Rocket.
 
Dogasu just made his annual predictions, and he reckons the League will come in December. (he also predicts no Rainbow Rocket)
 
Wow, perfect timing. Out of all the days of a year, I chose to make this thread yesterday and Dogasu simply had to predict the subject of this thread the day after. Unbelievable.

As for Dogasu's prediction, I have the feeling that he could be right. I don't think that TRR will happen either; that might be a bit complex for the audience (mostly children) and I don't see the writers bringing back the villains. If Dogasu's prediction comes out to be true, the League takes place around episode 105. Assuming that the League will last for 8 episodes, the writers have no choice but to present an additional season (probably situated in Kanto) just like they with Gen I (OS), III (BF) and V (the pointless islands). Then, we can safely consider the 'additional season every other generation' a pattern.
 
I'm predicting a 2019 release for gen VIII. If the president of Pokemon company thought the Switch was going to be a failure than I don't see the man power demanding HD engine being worked on until April 2017 and given GF's history of being late adopters I'm pretty sure they aren't rushing.

As for the anime I can easily see them using their pre Akala tactics until the last minute.

As for the outcome I can see two results:

1) Ash gets into the top four

2) Or Ash becomes the first Alola champion only instantly be dethroned by Kukui

I see Kiawe getting into the top 8 or 16 he can't get too far without needing a full parry.
 
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