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Why was Ash's Greninja written out

J

JapaneseVersionFan22

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Greninj could have been the most powerful defender of Professor Oak's Laboratory if Ash left him behind before going to Alola. Why do the writers have to remove him?
 
What Greninja got was a more satisfying send-off for it than just leaving it Oak's.

They kind of wrote themselves into a corner with Ash-Greninja, there was no way they could let Ash keep a Pokemon that powerful.
 
RetroPokeFan said:
* Greninja would have just won every match and made all of Ash's other Pokemon look like absolute weaklings by comparison if he stayed
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Kind of the same philosophy as to why Charizard was left at some random location in Johto, it was an overly powerful Pokemon. Not as powerful as Greninja, but this really wasn't the first time Ash released an overly powerful Pokemon. The only difference is that Charizard is now rotting at Oak's lab.
 
Maybe for it to make a possible come back? I mean.. i doubt it could happen but Ash-Greninja is in the demo... likely for promotional purposes, but you may never know

I'm glad they gave Ash-Greninja a purpose even after leaving. It would just suck for it to stay at Oak's lab for Arceus knows how long.
 
Aj4sure125 said:
I'm glad they gave Ash-Greninja a purpose even after leaving. It would just suck for it to stay at Oak's lab for Arceus knows how long.
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Even then, it's already known that it isn't going to help Zygarde forever, so it will return to Ash after it's done helping Zygarde with the vines.

As for when that'll be? Who knows. I do think it fits with Greninja wanting to help, though.
 
I really don't get why people hate depositing so much.

I think it's because they felt like kicking fans of strong Ash why they were down.

Or they wanted to recreate the Charizard thing but Charizard came back.
 
Harmful Heron said:
I really don't get why people hate depositing so much.
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I'm not too certain (since I am rather indifferent towards Ash's Greninja anyways) but I suppose to some, it downplays the significance of the relationship that Ash and Greninja shared (since it is strong enough to form an unity similar to Mega Evolution) for Ash to just off-load him with the rest of his Pokemon at Oak's Laboratory. Perhaps, it makes the bond between the two of them seem less unique and special for Ash to just let him stay behind at his laboratory so easily instead of bringing him along to more adventures. So, for the writers to pose a task where Ash understands Greninja has to leave in order to perform a duty but not one where Ash shows an indication for wanting to leave him behind might seem more significant in some people's eyes.
 
Likeitornot. said:
I'm not too certain (since I am rather indifferent towards Ash's Greninja anyways) but I suppose to some, it downplays the significance of the relationship that Ash and Greninja shared (since it is strong enough to form an unity similar to Mega Evolution) for Ash to just off-load him with the rest of his Pokemon at Oak's Laboratory. Perhaps, it makes the bond between the two of them seem less unique and special for Ash to just let him stay behind at his laboratory so easily instead of bringing him along to more adventures. So, for the writers to pose a task where Ash understands Greninja has to leave in order to perform a duty but not one where Ash shows an indication for wanting to leave him behind might seem more significant in some people's eyes.
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That is true, but I could also see this as a marketing tool: not only does this make Ash-Greninja more memorable so more Ash-Greninja merchandise can be sold in the future, but it also gives the writers an opportunity for a spin-off show should they wish to do so.
 
I don't know why they decided to remove it, but I don't think that it leaving Ash means that it won't have a shot at appearing anymore. I see it being treated in a way similar to pre-BW Charizard, where it could return to Ash if the situation is right.

Granted, considering how little continuity seems to matter these days, what with past Pokémon not appearing on-screen anymore, there is a chance that Greninja would have still followed suit even if he was sent to Oak's lab. But hey, nobody knows for sure.

The way I see it, Greninja is simply "away", but not necessarily "gone".
 
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I think Greninja had a chance of being a Charizard, appearing in the series and taking spotlight from the other Pokemon, a Sceptile, appearing in the league to fight the opponents hopefully giving screen time to the Pokemon caught in that region as well, or an Infernape and not appearing, not going to lie I would prefer it go the way of Infernape or more accurately of Pidgeot.
 
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IncineROAR said:
The way Ash leaves all of his Pokemon at Oak's after a series ends is becoming unsatisfying in general anymore.
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It prevents a repeat of Johto though; Ash's Johto Pokemon barely got any significant screentime or character development because his Kanto one were still around hogging the spotlight.

JapaneseVersionFan22 said:
Ash could have just used Greninja during the Alola league or any other tough battles
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That would still be taking screentime away from the Alola Pokemon and making them look weak. Ash-Greninja is little more than an easter egg in Gen 7, its time in the spotlight is over.
 
I think it was a good see you later at the time but now in the journeys arc they’ve made ash an even more stronger trainer than x y and Greninja does briefly return to help lucario and it’s a big possibility and the writers should do it after beating Steven the hoenn champion and now Cynthia the sinnoh champion when facing Leon who is supposed to be the ultimate trainer Greninja should return to being with ash because it’d no longer be considered as too op for the storyline and there’s no specific region in the journeys series it’s about revisiting all of them and galar so ash greninja could return to ash’s team plus a load of fans would love it to go against charizard and it’s not even that op remember despite the power of ash Greninja it still loses to mega charizard x so having it return to fight Leon’s charizard would not only be like a cool comeback since it was a charizard that defeated him in the league but it’d be an awesome match up gigantamax charizard vs ash Greninja and if he’s going up against the worlds best trainer he should have his best Pokémon team
 
Rath said:
It prevents a repeat of Johto though; Ash's Johto Pokemon barely got any significant screentime or character development because his Kanto one were still around hogging the spotlight.



That would still be taking screentime away from the Alola Pokemon and making them look weak. Ash-Greninja is little more than an easter egg in Gen 7, its time in the spotlight is over.
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It also means it’s just Pikachu the writers have to find a way to nerf, rather than three or four others as well. In-universe, it’s part of Ash’s training ethic to build up a team with Pokémon he meets in that region besides Pikachu. Since Johto the only exception has been Battle Frontier into Sinnoh with Aipom, and that was because Ambipom was introduced in Gen IV, the same generation which had Pokemon appearing in the Battle Frontier season from (including another cross-Gen evolution, Weavile).
 
I’ll never get the crowd who thinks Greninja would be better off in the lab. Going to the lab is a “generic” send off. The fact that they came up with a special story to bid farewell to Greninja is much more notable than just being Lab Pokémon #284739. If the counter argument is “but he won’t come back!” The writers will not let that release hold them back from bringing back Greninja if they truly want to: see- JN. Lastly, Greninja is honestly better off adventuring than turning into a generic lab Pokémon whose only personality trait is “devoted to Ash” in cameos.
 
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