Why always Good?

[Chimcharizard]

Well when a new region starts Ash is seen traveling alone and then Brock comes up and then a girl is befriended who also join the journey (from Hoenn). I was thinking why the people who joins Ash are always good , well natured and all that. Why not people like Gary and Paul join Ash?

 

[Cybersai]

The rivals usually act like antagonists because that's what they essentially are.

Likewise why would Ash's friends hate him or anything? It wouldn't make sense to see Ash travel with someone who didn't like him.

 

[oddball walking]

To add to what Scott85 said, it would upset the balance of the group, also would you hang around with somebody you didn't get long with?

 

[Piplup]

Actually, I think it's possible to have Ash travel with someone like Paul
They can invent a reason why they have to travel together even if they don't want
In my opinion this can be really interesting and hopefully we'll see something like that in the future

 

[Brago]

first, i would have said "but why would ash travel with someone nasty?" but, on second thoughts, it could be funny, especially with paul.

But, the show is supposed to focus on ash and his gym battles. If gary or paul travelled with ash, there would have been more episodes. So, why not a reaaaally nasty (but still pretty) contest girl next time to join ash?

 

[PDL]

first, i would have said "but why would ash travel with someone nasty?" but, on second thoughts, it could be funny, especially with paul.

But, the show is supposed to focus on ash and his gym battles. If gary or paul travelled with ash, there would have been more episodes. So, why not a reaaaally nasty (but still pretty) contest girl next time to join ash?

But then again, would it be normal for someone to purposely be with someone they don't like?

The show revolves around friendship, both between human and Pokémon characters. It wouldn't be right to teach children that it's okay to hate others.

 

[Brago]

But then again, would it be normal for someone to purposely be with someone they don't like?

The show revolves around friendship, both between human and Pokémon characters. It wouldn't be right to teach children that it's okay to hate others.

check and mate, I guess...

Well, it could be like gary. At first, he was arrogant. But after Kanto, he became really polite. Maybe, we could have a real bad nasty girl coordinator, and she'll become nice and polite after travelling with ash and co.
(By the way, will the next gen girl have a shorter skirt than Dawn's?...if it's scientifically possible)

 

[Adamant]

Shigeru could actually be interesting. Regardless of the fact that he and Satoshi aren't always treating each other particularly politely, the two ARE good friends.

But yeah, we'll never see anyone like Shinji travelling with the group. Satoshi and the others travel together for no other reason than them being friends. Why would someone voluntarily to travel with someone they didn't like?

 

[ShinyAeon]

The closest we've had an antagonistic traveling companion was Misty joining him just for her bike (and she softened toward him in like the third or fourth episode). If they tried that again, it would be too much like a retread of Misty's intro.

We don't see it because we already had it once.

 

[The Outrage]

Well when a new region starts Ash is seen traveling alone and then Brock comes up and then a girl is befriended who also join the journey (from Hoenn). I was thinking why the people who joins Ash are always good , well natured and all that. Why not people like Gary and Paul join Ash?

Maybe because most of those people can't stand Ash and it would be very unbelievable for someone like Paul to be traveling with him.

 

[ShadowDeeps]

I agree with Scott85 that rivalry in general does ultimately fulfill the wont and yielding for hostility, but in a way that would be more help than hindrance in allowing the characters to brave an arduous but "natural" evolution. Sure, it would feel disproportionate to have someone constantly having antipathy towards one another in a group but look at what happened when Misty first tagged along with Ash after he was by his lonesome for a tad. Just that - arrant bickering, squabbling, twaddling, competition, and petty banter. Look at what May and Max did upon their leisure. Just what Ash and Misty did in the inception of the series. In hindsight, this only helps growth, maturity, and attention to character, and furthermore humans in relation to Pokémon, or at least something along a nature of the like.

In Gary's case I think he went to Ash's benefit so much because Gary gave Ash incentive and a platform for ever-increasing desires and training, and brought the best out of Ash by being so inimical and flaunting instead of allowing Ash's hand to be held the whole way by every companion being so pandering to a rather low common denominator, whether Ash concedes to that or not (how do you know success if you don't know failure, anyway?). Why does Gary do this? Because he knows that people with warm fervor and nature, like Ash, will always be vulnerable in some way because of having said nature and that this will only reinforce Ash as a trainer and person to have a better time combating challenges in tow with his Pokémon as a trainer and as a person. It's rather for Ash when it comes to his own intensely limited flaws and traits, so as to keep such things in-check. And Gary eventually matured from it too, as did Ash. I don't think Ash's maturity was as present as it should have been in "Fighting Fear with Fear", though, but what did we see Gary do? Only further his maturity and anything along that sort as he gives Ash a helping hand by pointing out Ash's continual and cantankerous flaws, gives him a razor fang so he can evolve his Gligar into a Gliscor, and continues to be a help to Ash's traveling partners whilst he's in ado and whilst he's not.

That's another reason why I think it's better that Gary's presence is seldom in the series because it commands enough greats and help but only leaves Ash to mull amongst himself as he comes to see his own flaws as a trainer. As I've said before, "perfection" (an enigma unto its own) is the enemy of "completion". There's also another talking point of discussion I'd like to touch on and that's trainers "hating" or even "disliking" one another. I don't think Ash or Gary ever saw each other as such. They always would come to one to the other's aid when in precariously dangerous situations. Rather than having something against one another in that sort of way, I think they only considered one another brief annoyances as they only saw one another for windows of time before drawing on rigorously with their training regimens. But beyond that, I do think they had subtle admiration for one to the other, even if they would never openly concede to that. However, I feel there's a rather large discrepancy between "hostile", "hate", and "animosity". It's rather weaker of one to harken to violence, quarrels, and "evil" itself rather than facing the courage it takes to hold onto the inherent compassion and strength in one. That's why I think such characterizations and interactions throughout the series that seem to breed discourse instead are a help for the character's growth are more beneficial than anything else (I also want to note that I hope I didn't make anyone of the impression that I don't like Ash in this post - I feel he's a great character - I'm just pointing how I feel his rivals work well in relation to him as a character and his own flaws).

So, to draw closer to the original subject of discussion, yes, I feel that Ash having a traveling partner like that wouldn't be an imprudent decision at all. My only worry is that the writers will wantonly abuse that interaction to the extent where it gives drive to be managed into backdrop material and becomes what Brock has and what Misty did before her departure, which sadly is a great squandering of character. But otherwise, I wouldn't mind it at all, as I feel it would be an interesting change of mindset for the anime.

 

[Argy]

For one, Shigeru and Satoshi don't have an active rivalry anymore. Shigeru has abandoned his goal of championing Pokémon battling for research. His travels are probably a lot less linear than Satoshi's. I'm sure he travels among regions fairly often.

I bet that by the end of Diamond & Pearl, there will have been an arc where Shinji has to travel with Satoshi-tachi.

 

[Maybe Wednesday]

I think Ash travelling with some nasty person is quite possible!
Anything can and does happen in the Pokemon world after all! I think it would be cool to see Ash hang with someone with whom he does not have the usual two-dimensional relationship. Go Shinji!

 

[Cybersai]

The current DP version of Gary traveling with Ash could have worked, Gary isn't so much a jerk anymore but he can still get under Ash's skin as seen in the recent Gligar ep.

Honestly I'd rather have Gary on the group than Brock, or even as a 4th character to bring it back up to a group instead of a trio.