Would the anime be better if the main group was only competive trainers?

[Peppermint Phoenix]

Would the anime be etter if instead of people with miscellaneous titles such as breeder coordinator and connoisseur the main cast was trainers like Ash and his rivals?

I think it would. These titles come off as excuses for Ash not to be the only character and they are not as prevalent in the games. Not to mention that besides coordinators people with these title seem to have very little focus and we are not sure what they should do to get better at there position.

Not to mention the games are about battling so the show should be too. It doesn't seem logical for Ash to be the only one with a full diverse team and battles in intense competition. I think that characters who battle like Conway and Paul shouldn't be limited to rival roles.

For many this is out of the question because it would be boring to see every gym leader battle three times but, I think there are many ways to get around this. They alternate between all three battles at once almost like they are happening at once(but of course the are not). They can only show one battle. They can just make the battles shorter. They can have three part filler special inside the city where each character flashes back to there gym battle during the special thus spacing them out. I don't see why if there are three battles means it would be three times as long.


Anyways what do you think?

 

[Afrojisiac-19]

I feel that it would be a bit much for one gym leader to battle 2-3 people on the same traveling team over and over again. Because essentially, you'd have a traveling team of trainers all competing for the same goal, right? They all want to battle the gym leaders, collect badges, enter the pokemon league, and become league champions. With that kind of set up, each trainer would be traveling in the prescence of their rival all of the time. Imagine, one trainer loses against a gym leader, and then they see one of their friends battling the gym leader and they end up doing better than they did. Tensions would build up between the trainers and their training styles and how they raise their pokemon, which in turn would inspire a division in the group for separate traveling partners...

I imagine this could possibly work maybe, but I guess I'm just speaking from how the anime's been going...working with different kinds of trainers aiming for different goals...

 

[League]

The idea might be too fantastic, and I am serious.

The show's focus should generally be battling (battling being a driver for growth, development, plot, and action), and captures and encounters should have [only slightly] less focus. It would be a tough to manage a gym leader battling two+ members in the party, but, if pulled off well, it'd be quite a treat to see.

Meh, I'd like a main character to be a breeder, and he could get calls routinely from the daycare, to which he would travel and then return from. We could see babies or egg pokemon in action then, constantly. (Such could work for any recurring character really, except for one in the main party.)

 

[Pokemonada]

I don't think it will work. You would have to see the cast battle the same gym leader 3 times and if one of them rematch, it will be beyond boring. Plus, there would be more rivals and blah. Not a good idea

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

I don't think it will work. You would have to see the cast battle the same gym leader 3 times and if one of them rematch, it will be beyond boring. Plus, there would be more rivals and blah. Not a good idea

But like I said there are ways too get around the gym battles getting boring. Not to mention we have to see Ash vs the TRio a million times (not the robots the Pokemon) and that gets tolerated.

I also don't see why there would be more rivals considering they would probably be shared.

The art of Pokemon battling has so much weight (because you know you can take down bad guys with the critters) that it devalues everything else. Traveling with Ash actually seems detrimental at times seeing as how Iris Misty and Tracey did pretty much nothing to bring them closer to there goal because they are following Ash around. With a group of trainers they would be constantly training against each other and giving each other advice, so they would be highly benefiting each other more than a breeder could. Like I said their titles and goals seem like bad excuses for Ash not to be by himself.

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

There wouldn't be enough variety in the group and we'd have to watch three trainers challenge each gym leader through the whole run. They would all be rivals, and rivals should not be traveling together. What's to stop one of them from heading straight to the next town after earning the badge to get ahead to keep his lead? It's better off just the way it is.

 

[Winterdaze]

No, because then Ash would be all like "LOL Pikachu you're NU and your nature sucks, GTFO". Iris and Dento would constantly bitch about her Excadrill being too "broken", before subjecting us to hour after hour of tedious EV training. No thank you.

 

[Bandit Keith]

No, because the show needs to market to both genders. It is just an ad campaign with a saga added, after all. Are you suggesting that Pokémon is just for males?

 

[Cybersai]

Watching Bianca battle Elesa is a perfect reason why we don't need to see multiple characters do Gyms. Not only do we have to watch the same Gym leader beaten 2-3 times, but if a character loses, we have to AGAIN see that character also get a rematch....which adds up to seeing the same Gym leader being battled like 5 times.

There's a reason why Misty and Iris didn't do Gyms, and why May and Dawn were coordinators. The writers do not want the female protagonist to do the Gym challenge.

 

[Blue1225]

No. In my opinion it would honestly be worse. Not only because of the numerous times we'd have to see Gym battles, but also because then every member of the group would basically have to constantly watch over the backs to make sure the other members aren't stealing their training techniques/secrets. Because if they're all challenging the gyms they all have the same end goal. To be the best, get to the League and win it all. Maybe some members would be honest, but I highly doubt every member would resist the temptation to get some information on the other members and use it to his/her advantage to win the League.

 

[Afrojisiac-19]

And it would be counter-productive for the trainers because they probably won't grow in experience at the same rate as their friends/traveling partners/rivals...It would be a snoozefest because they'd all typically be the same kind of trainer...

Also, if the group were to stay together, if one of the trainers had to rematch a certain gym leader, that would hold up the progression of the others...They could beat a gym leader and just go on to the next town/city with a gym...Why should they have to wait on their friends to beat the gym leader when they and their pokemon are ready to move along??

 

[FireMeowth]

Not to mention the games are about battling so the show should be too.

No. No, no, no, no, NO. The games are not "about" battling, although it is arguably the main gameplay element.
Every Pokémon game - and especially B/W - tell of the many different kinds of relationships between humans and Pokémon. We've seen characters who use Pokémon for battling, we've seen characters who would never want their Pokémon to participate in a battle. We've seen characters who would abandon their dreams and goals for the sake of their Pokémon's happiness. We've heard tales of humans and Pokémon who fell in love. We've seen characters keeping Pokémon as pets. And we've seen characters struggling to find their path, which is understandable because there is so many possibilities.
If the anime was to almost exclusively follow the battling aspect, it would probably get boring really quickly. Having variety is not a bad thing.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Im not too sure if that idea would work out.As others have said seeing same group of travelers challenging gyms one after another could get rather repetitive and boring after fast period of time.I have hard time picturing three main characters challenging same gym leader along with possible rematch happening between.That would also require a lot more focus with anime story being dragged out due to too much time being lost that way.

Not to mention seeing how Ash is main star of this show,other characters aiming for same thing could clash with his storyline not allowing that characters develop properly with one of them always getting short end of stick.
Having characters with different goals not sharing same dreams brings diversity and something new to main cast.Like it was case May and Dawn being coordinators,Misty being one type trainer wanting to become master of it,Brock being breeder,Cilan connoisseur etc.All this different carers brought something fresh being intriguing to see in what way different goals can be achieved.

Now if writers were more creative and better in knowing how to distribute screen time among three or four characters in same group equally i could see idea of Ash and everyone in group doing gyms and entering league having some potential.One of possible ways could be to have two different groups of traveling companions as someone stated already following parallel growth of them with rivalries being made bringing some healthy competition and interacting.

And one of ways to prevent repetition could be fixed i suppose in not showing against every gym leader all main characters battling with all challenges being showed only in specific gyms.
However seeing how writers arent very good in proper repartition of screen time among characters,how everyone being trainers like Ash is would clash with each other development becoming detrimental for character growth and due to danger of anime becoming too repetitive that way i have to say NO.

Not to mention formula of anime is to follow adventures of different characters with different goals aside from Ash to bring more diversity to cast and anime story.

Traveling with Ash actually seems detrimental at times seeing as how Iris Misty and Tracey did pretty much nothing to bring them closer to there goal because they are following Ash around. With a group of trainers they would be constantly training against each other and giving each other advice, so they would be highly benefiting each other more than a breeder could. Like I said their titles and goals seem like bad excuses for Ash not to be by himself.

Thats not true at all.If Tracey didnt traveled with Ash he would never meet his idol prof.Oak accomplishing dream of becoming famous professor assistant.When Misty traveled with Ash she came closer toward her goal becoming recognized by several trainers out there as well winning Princess tournament,Seaking contest and coming top 8 in Whirl Cup doing step forward(since that event was designed as one of tasks which brings you closer toward ultimate dream) .Her skills as water trainer also improved with Poliwhirl,Staryu or Coprsola all becoming better battlers.She came closer toward goal of water master than she ever did at gym which doesnt bring her much closer whatsoever.

Same with Iris,her dream doesnt involve entering tournaments or battling much like its case with Ash,Misty,May etc being more focused n learning how to understand feelings of dragon types connecting on closer level with them.Axew serves as main vector through which her progress toward goal of dragon master is being measured with title of dragon master being given to those who learn how to understand dragon types using them to full potential.
Reason why some characters made less progress than others when traveling with Ash is solely due to lack of focus and development(nothing more).

 

[Silktree]

If the Battle Frontier were to be included in the main versions of a new generation, the writers might opt to use it to structure a goal for a new character. Preferably, Wi-Fi tournaments might become more prevalent and better organized in the future (and possibly be based on rotational/triple battles rather than just double battles), in which case the writers could incorporate the feature into the anime and be free to create their own characters for such tournaments.

But I don't think another competitive character is what the show needs. If Black and White are anything to go by, the games are slowly but surely moving away from the tired badge quest in favor of the villain-oriented and mythology-driven story. If this trend becomes even more noticeable in future games, the writers would not be doing a good job at promoting the games unless they introduced a main character whose objective was to defeat villains and/or study myths.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

No, because then Ash would be all like "LOL Pikachu you're NU and your nature sucks, GTFO". Iris and Dento would constantly bitch about her Excadrill being too "broken", before subjecting us to hour after hour of tedious EV training. No thank you.

Read the OP and you will see that's not what I meant.

No, because the show needs to market to both genders. It is just an ad campaign with a saga added, after all. Are you suggesting that Pokémon is just for males?

Are you implying that chicks don't like combat as much as guys do? And their would still be the drama and the character development. Also their is TONS of non combat based stuff in the fillers.


Anyways I don't understand the whole variety argument. One that would be implying that stuff like "Pokemon Watcher" is a interesting breath of fresh air that is fun to watch. I'm sorry but fantasy is bloody escapism so putting something so mundane is illogical I never heard any manga about Elvin accountants and if there was it wouldn't be about accounting it would be about the characters. Anything that requires patience to do not to master TO DO if bond to be uninteresting to watch. Which was why Tracey was undeveloped. Two pegging this hypothetical scenario as lacking variety is like saying the Justice League or the Avengers unvaried because both groups only have superheroes. But both groups have tons of variety because they are different kinds of superheroes. Likewise there is such things as personalities and battle styles. Not to mention the creature themselves are so varied that it is a complete non issue. There is plenty of variety in any given trainers teams. And with 18 to work with that gives us room for every type plus dual types. There bam variety. Part of the reason this argument confuses me is when I think about this idea I think MORE VARIETY. The other characters roles lack so much depth that they seem like an entourage. With this idea you have Ash's battle plus two other people. And when you get to the league you get to chose who you want to root for.

 

[YamiiDenryuu]

Yeah, no thanks. Just because the games focus mainly on battling doesn't mean that's all there is to the Pokemon world, and I like to see the anime innovate and expand on things that might not be focused on otherwise. Reducing the main cast to just one sort of character in how they interact with Pokemon would make the world feel a lot shallower.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

@YamiiDenryuu That is implying that pokemon breeders are interesting. Which how can something like that be interesting when there is no drama. I want the fantasy world to be like a fantasy that is shallow. I guess it is technically shallow but it is efficient. There are more than enough non combat based stuff in the fillers. Where you see expansion I see bad excuses. There is not much interesting stuff in Cilan's quest because he is doing nothing. The Pokemon Breeder thing has a huge hole in it. Okay so a Pokemon Breeder goal is to raise a pokemon for health and happiness. In DP he had three pokemon who were all happy and healthy sounds nice right. Well Ash had six Pokemon they were all happy healthy and he benefited off of them. Kinda makes Brock look kinda lame by comparison. If I wanted non combat I'd watch a sitcom or a filler. Not an anime based on a frickin' video game. Fantasy is supposed to be about drama and excitement cause it is escapism.

 

[Jesse GS the II]

By making each one of Satoshi's traveling partners a different kind of trainer, the show sets itself up for a wider range of episode ideas, and that's never a bad thing. That's why I was so intrigued when they introduced Haruka back in 2002; she was a starting trainer with a decidedly different goal than Satoshi, and that made her a hell of a lot more interesting.

I used to think they kinda wussed out a bit by incorporating battles into Pokémon Contests, almost as if they didn't want to do anything too different, but I have to admit, it does make each contest episode more exciting to watch than if they just had the Pokémon go out there and look pretty. Also, it establishes a stronger rivalry between coordinators when they have to actually go out there and face each other, instead of just stepping back and letting their Pokémon do whatever.

Anyway, the point is, there's a lot more to Pokémon than just the gym challenge, and I like that the show demonstrates that. The fact that this world is so vast and complex and we get to see more sides of it than just what Satoshi's interested in is what keeps me coming back to it.

 

[Cybersai]

I think the funniest part of it all is the two trainers who should have been battlers in the anime, such as Misty and Brock, wound up doing the least amount of battling in the show overall.

Not only did Brock give up on battling very quickly, but Misty hardly battled throughout her entire run besides a select group of episode. Neither of them had rivals, and they both only ever competed in 1 tournament in their entire run.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

I think the funniest part of it all is the two trainers who should have been battlers in the anime, such as Misty and Brock, wound up doing the least amount of battling in the show overall.

No that would be Tracey and Max.And Misty battled more than Brock and May did(when talking about trainer battles not counting contests).

Not only did Brock give up on battling very quickly, but Misty hardly battled throughout her entire run besides a select group of episode. Neither of them had rivals, and they both only ever competed in 1 tournament in their entire run.

Misty had around 50 battles during her run which is more than only "handful of episodes" and she entered 3 tournaments in total(Princess tournament for doll collection set in Kanto,unofficial Togepi tournament and Whirl Cup).

Brock entered tournament to get Togep and tag battle tournament.Three if events like pokemon transformation contest counts as tournaments.

So im not sure how exactly they entered only one?