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Why were people so unhappy at Ash's sendoff?

I think that people didn't like it because it wasn't really a conclusion for him. Team Rocket was not beaten and are still chasing him. The organization as a whole is still a power. We did not get to see many of his other traveling companions, particularly the Pokégirls, have any real conclusions, save for Lillie, who had her conclusion during Ultimate Journeys with the finding of her father, Mohn. He never had a meeting during Aim to be a Pokémon Master with May, Dawn, Iris, or Serena, though I could potentially forgive them with Iris and Dawn since Iris was in the Masters 8 and Dawn went to watch Ash in the Championship. As of the end of Aim to be a Pokémon Master, Ash is still going on adventures; it's just that we aren't seeing them anymore. And with Team Rocket still out there, it's unknown just what was accomplished during Aim to be a Pokémon Master. That is what I think people see as a problem with Ash's sendoff. That, and the fact that given how he was sent off, they could just bring him back either next saga, or in a future saga, like nothing happened and just continue his adventure from there.
 
There’s no single answer, but for a lot of people, there are many dangling plot threads that never got resolved.

The aforementioned lack of a proper Team Rocket defeat. The GS Ball was never acknowledged, let alone concluded. Ash never got his revenge on certain Trainers he never defeated like Tobias, he-who-shall-not-be named (Cameron), or Alain. Etc.

Aim to be a Pokémon Master was billed as the finale, but mostly ended up being a retread of Kanto. Now, that was most likely the intention (end the show by going back to its roots), but people were expecting something grander.





..Also something something Ash’s father.
 
Ash's sendoff was fine, it was mostly Team Rocket and Giovanni which were left dangling. In a way I understand why they did it, removing Ash was a big risk and they had to see how Horizons was received. That way they could return to the Ash/TR formula in case Horizons failed or whatever. But since that didn't happen (and they'll likely use new characters every series after), they should conclude it.

What I'm hoping for is the 30th anniversary will have a movie or special featuring Ash's first big return, and they could use it for a big Giovanni and Team Rocket conclusion with them as the villains. Throw in some legendaries like Ho-oh who are connected to Ash, and have Ash use his older popular pokemon in the movie like Charizard, Greninja, Infernape, Sceptile, etc....and you'd have a satisfying conclusion special.
 
Folks went in expecting it to be this big grand finale that was gonna tie everything up and be filled with returning faces and conclude everything and instead, as soon as the episode titles started coming out what they got was essentially filler episodes to stall for time until Horizons began a little later than usual for the anime.

To be fair this was the exact ending I thought they were gonna do with Ash to keep things open ended in case they ever plan on bringing him back in the future although it's probably not gonna be the case now that Horizons seems to be doing pretty well.

Probably didn't help that most of Journeys was crap.
 
And maybe Ash will catch some all the Pokémon that he didn't catch them for a long time such ad Flygon, Salamence, Aggron, Dunsparce, Magnezone, Rhyperior, Aegislash, Eevee, Teddiursa, Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, Tentacruel, Sableye, Latias, Latios, Aerodactyl, Lunatone, Solrock, Weavile, Scolipede, Scizor, Houndoom, Steelix and other things
 
I thought the actual sendoff was fine - I personally think Aim to be a Pokemon Master was a nice, comforting way of ending Ash's time on the show and I had no problems with that. It's the fact that Journeys did not in any way feel like the final part of Ash's saga. It had no sense of finality and just felt like such a weird place for Ash's (and Team Rocket's) story to come to an end.
 
I think peoples expectations were just too high especially since most of us had been watching the anime for over 20+ years and people already had tons of headcanons or fanfictions in their minds how they wanted the show to end.

JN did mess up two major things to make it feel like the end of Ash's adventure:

1. Ash not using any of his older pokemon, at least by the Masters 8.

2. Some ending for Giovanni/Team Rocket, showing TR retire/leave the organization rather than just following Ash still.

When you end Ash's adventure, the fact that his big old pokemon like Charizard, Infernape, Sceptile, Greninja, Bulbasaur/Squirtle, Corphish, Buizel, Hawlucha, the Alola team, etc. didn't contribute to his big victory feels odd and wrong. I thought for sure when focus was put on Infernape way back in the Moltres ep they were setting up for its return later. The fact that it didn't is baffling. Seeing them again in MPM was nice, but not in any major battles.

I think they handled the companions alright. Everyone got to return except May and Max. Most of the companions are either still working toward their goals or are in their endgame already. Sure Dawn could have had a new pokemon or whatever, but it was fine. Serena's ending was great, they were never going to make Amour completely canon. Misty/Brock, Cilan, Iris, Bonnie/Clemont and the Alola cast were all handled well. It's really only May and Max that got nothing, but I guess nothing could be done about that.
 
Falaish said:
1. Ash not using any of his older pokemon, at least by the Masters
Click to expand...
Charizard (The Original Main Powerhouse) denied not once but twice of making a comeback post AG. It came back in late BW but didn't face Reshiram like it did in the opening, it returned in JN but we only briefly find out about it having a scuffle with Infernape off screen. Charizard did nothing of significance since defeating that Articuno in AG. Pikachu essentially stole all of Charizard's opportunities to shine at the pokémon league and redeem itself after losing to that damn Dusclops.
 
The Rocket trio got the worst ending :cry: Not only was leaving it open ended for them a legitimately bad outcome, but their fake break-up/anticlimactic reunion in the final episode was painful to watch.
 
-PokemonBattleFanatic- said:
Charizard (The Original Main Powerhouse) denied not once but twice of making a comeback post AG. It came back in late BW but didn't face Reshiram like it did in the opening, it returned in JN but we only briefly find out about it having a scuffle with Infernape off screen. Charizard did nothing of significance since defeating that Articuno in AG. Pikachu essentially stole all of Charizard's opportunities to shine at the pokémon league and redeem itself after losing to that damn Dusclops.
Click to expand...
Charizard Vs. Magmar

Charizard Vs. Poliwrath

Charizard Vs. Dragonair

Charizard Vs. Blastoise

Charizard Vs. Articuno

Charizard Vs. Latios

Charizard Vs. Lucario

Charizard Vs. Reshiram

Charizard Vs. MCX

Charizard Vs. Tapu Koko

Charizard Vs. G Max Charizard

DENIED
 
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