Why didn't the writers give Ash a Lucario?

[Desdar300]

Lucario is by far the most non Gen 1 Pokémon known to the general Public and TPC\Nintendo groomed him to be that way.
He was given a movie, made a powerful Pokémon in-game, and received a spot in SSB so why didn't the anime's writers never attempt to give Ash a Riolu and have it become one of his Gen 4 aces when it evolved?
It just seems weird that Ash was never given one to show to kids non stop to truly hammer the point in.

 

[Moe]

Obviously because Ash is a Lucario.

 

[DracoMan]

That would've tied in with the Aura powers that Ash is supposed to have, even though TPTB have either forgotten or expect us to.

 

[KrisiChiki]

Ash can't have nice things. They even made Goodra leave because it was too strong!

Well, joking aside, the writers have a history of not giving Ash very powerful Pokemon, at least not for too long. I think until XY we hadn't seen a Lucario actually lose. Well, Maylene had a quick defeat at the hands of Paul, but I think the emphasis was put more on Maylene, not that her Pokemon (and Lucario) were weak. The battle between her and Ash ended up as a tie. It wasn't until XY that we saw a Lucario lose without the plot pulling strings. Lucario was seen as a very powerful Pokemon so they probably didn't want to give Ash that power.

 

[Almonds]

I think it's because too many major characters use Lucario as their ace pokemon that it became somewhat awkward to give Ash one, too.

 

[Jimmy 3 People 0]

Because that's what the edgy furries want. You don't want to appease the edgy furries, do you?

 

[KrspaceT]

From what I can tell they try to balance marketable Pokemon (like starters) to non marketable ones (who here has ever seen a Corphish or Boldore plushie?). Lucario is marketable, so likely Turtwig, Buizel, and Chimchar pushed him out of his spot.

 

[ManUtd22]

I thought about this question before - it is looks like that our heart connect with each other
I also thought that korni will give him lucario like the games

 

[Hidden Mew]

While I would have absolutely loved to see Ash with a Lucario and seeing him raise a Riolu would have been fantastic, they probably didn't want to give him a powerful Pokemon. We technically didn't see Ash defeat a Lucario until XY. The most he could do against one was a tie, so they probably thought that it was too powerful for Ash to use. Plus, there were already a few characters in the fourth generation with their own Lucario, although it was always weird to me that we never saw Cynthia use her Lucario, so they probably didn't think it was necessary to give Ash one. There also really wasn't any room on his team with everything else they had planned for it in DP.

Even though the idea of Ash receiving a Lucario like what happens in the X/Y games would have been awesome too, I wasn't surprised that they didn't do that either. You get a Lucario early on in the games so that you use and understand the Mega Evolution mechanic as soon as possible. I don't think that they would have handed Ash a strong Pokemon like Lucario that also has the power to Mega Evolve on a silver platter, especially when having a Mega Pokemon that early on in his Gym battle quest would have been overkill. At least the idea of Ash getting a Riolu egg in DP seemed plausible. It would have been awesome if they had given him a Lucario at some point to tie in with his own aura powers, but there were reasons as to why they didn't go that route with Ash's teams.

 

[Desdar300]

While I would have absolutely loved to see Ash with a Lucario and seeing him raise a Riolu would have been fantastic, they probably didn't want to give him a powerful Pokemon. We technically didn't see Ash defeat a Lucario until XY. The most he could do against one was a tie, so they probably thought that it was too powerful for Ash to use. Plus, there were already a few characters in the fourth generation with their own Lucario, although it was always weird to me that we never saw Cynthia use her Lucario, so they probably didn't think it was necessary to give Ash one. There also really wasn't any room on his team with everything else they had planned for it in DP.

Even though the idea of Ash receiving a Lucario like what happens in the X/Y games would have been awesome too, I wasn't surprised that they didn't do that either. You get a Lucario early on in the games so that you use and understand the Mega Evolution mechanic as soon as possible. I don't think that they would have handed Ash a strong Pokemon like Lucario that also has the power to Mega Evolve on a silver platter, especially when having a Mega Pokemon that early on in his Gym battle quest would have been overkill. At least the idea of Ash getting a Riolu egg in DP seemed plausible. It would have been awesome if they had given him a Lucario at some point to tie in with his own aura powers, but there were reasons as to why they didn't go that route with Ash's teams.

Maybe they could've pulled a Phanpy with Riolu ?

 

[Hidden Mew]

Maybe they could've pulled a Phanpy with Riolu ?

Do you mean giving Ash a Riolu way too late in DP for it to have much screentime only to come back in a later arc stronger and then evolve into Lucario? I could have been okay with Ash getting a Riolu and evolving it in a later arc/series, but giving him a Riolu too late in DP for it to really stand out would have been too disappointing for me.

 

[Desdar300]

Maybe they could've pulled a Phanpy with Riolu ?

Do you mean giving Ash a Riolu way too late in DP for it to have much screentime only to come back in a later arc stronger and then evolve into Lucario? I could have been okay with Ash getting a Riolu and evolving it in a later arc/series, but giving him a Riolu too late in DP for it to really stand out would have been too disappointing for me.

Personally I'd rather he had a Lucario as his ace than Infernape. Lucario and Ash just way to much sense for it not have happened

 

[Hidden Mew]

Personally I'd rather he had a Lucario as his ace than Infernape. Lucario and Ash just way to much sense for it not have happened

That would have been cool, but it did make sense to have Infernape be Ash's ace Sinnoh Pokemon. It was really important with his rivalry with Paul and Infernape's storyline was really good. I still would have loved for Ash to have a Lucario and Infernape, but I can understand why that didn't happen.

 

[Desdar300]

Personally I'd rather he had a Lucario as his ace than Infernape. Lucario and Ash just way to much sense for it not have happened

That would have been cool, but it did make sense to have Infernape be Ash's ace Sinnoh Pokemon. It was really important with his rivalry with Paul and Infernape's storyline was really good. I still would have loved for Ash to have a Lucario and Infernape, but I can understand why that didn't happen.

Lucario would've been a great capture I'd imagine he's be full of DBZ homages.

 

[ii kanji]

In addition to the arguments already put forward, given Satoshi's aura business, I think having a Lucario of his own would potentially have compromised the Pikachu-as-bff-and-ace dynamic.

 

[Dr. Buni]

Infernape is a lot cooler than Lucario, though, so I am glad it was Ash's ace in Sinnoh. That being said, I do agree that it's weird Ash never had a Lucario in his team.

 

[The Infidel]

In addition to the arguments already put forward, given Satoshi's aura business, I think having a Lucario of his own would potentially have compromised the Pikachu-as-bff-and-ace dynamic.

And the new Greninja form doesn't???

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

The same reason why they released Goodra. Lucario in the anime are generally seen to be pretty strong and rarely lose in battle. They just don't want Ash to have Pokemon /THAT/ strong, which is kinda ridiculous.

 

[SammyW27]

^ Good point.

Also, I figured they wanted to save Lucario (and Riolu) for special occasions & guest characters.

 

[Mister Mayhem]

Comrades,

I'm glad the writers never gave him one. Lucario is one of the worst gen four Pokemon and Pokemon in general for that matter. Ugly design, grating voice and crappy moveset. The only time where it was watchable was during the sinnoh gym battle and that was mostly due to the animation more than anything else.