Wanted to start off by saying that I positively love that 4chan rumor! Quite frankly, I hope that all of it is true, and if not all, then most.
I'd say one of biggest reasons why is that one of the things I liked about BW as a whole is the innovation. All series from AG onward had it, but I felt that BW did it the most by far. Having Ash rotate his Unova Pokémon, having a close-nit ensemble cast as the rivals rather than focusing entirely on the one, giving the traveling companions their own primary rivals, and letting them all interact with each other rather than sequestering each off amongst themselves and their primary rivals. Plus the slightly different way they went about doing things like new serious Team Rocket, and I just love it all! It all comes down to trying new things, and that's what I love about BW.
One of the things I'm hoping for was that the writers and staff of the Animé would continue this trend of trying new things and breaking molds. Even just small changes like Dark-type Pokémon for Ash, I'd love it. Seeing the different posts elsewhere kinda scares me that they'd fall back only on the DP trends, not all of them as perfect as they'd lead you to believe. However, this rumor pretty much would imply that yes, they would indeed continue the trend.
Ever since I saw them, I've fallen in love with the idea of a Hoenn-like quartet of Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno with Ash as the leader. I really enjoyed the AG group of Ash, May, Max, and Brock, and since these three seem almost tailor made for the show, they'd be perfect. Each with their own quirks that would add distinct flavors (to borrow from Cilan) to the group, just as Iris and Cilan did for BW (and I love 'em for that!). Though there are a few who like the idea of a four-pronged group, most others I've seen seem to want Cilan to stay (and maybe Iris too, but mostly just Cilan) while Serena or Shauna becomes the new girl; that, or have Shauna and Tierno join Ash while leaving Trevor out in the cold because they don't like him, with the compromise that he'd be a rival or some such. I've even seen some rationalize not using all three and just having Cilan and Serena because they couldn't see them splitting up the trio to only add one or two to the group (but never all three for some reason) or that there'd be no reason for them to except Ash into their group because they're so close.
But therein lies the genius of the idea: having Ash meet Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno and having them ask Ash to join their group. After all, it mirrors how their game counterparts go about it. The player character has just moved into their house in Kalos, just like how Ash will have just arrived in the Kalos region. And the first thing that happens is Tierno greeting the player, and before long, you're invited to be part of their gang of three (plus Calem/Serena, but they can omit them in the Animé, or perhaps make Serena a rival). Not only is this a fun idea in general, but it also takes precedent from the games.
According to the rumor, their group would be "P-1000", with Ash being their mandatory fourth member. It could be that any achievements the group make individually would be an accomplishment for the group as a whole. This would allow Ash's friends to share in Ash's Gym victories. Also, it would make sense that Shauna would be the leader of the group, as making Ash the leader of an already established group by default wouldn't make much sense. He could perhaps become the leader later on, but in the mean time, he would be the groups face. You know how sometimes someone becomes so recognizable that you'd associate them to the group or whatever, even if they aren't the leader? That's how it would be here. Ash would be the primary battler and the face of the group, with time, becoming its leader, in spirit if not in reality. Also of note is that this will be the first time he joins an already established group, instead of the others joining him.
Speaking of battling, the idea of all the groups' Pokémon being at Ash's disposal is most definitely intriguing. Doing this, they can give all the companions a starter while letting them all get battle time, especially at the Gym. This would, at least in theory, fix the only major problem when it came to the Hoenn starters and them being split between the cast: one of them, this case being Mudkip, ending up getting shafted for the most part. This would also allow Ash to use Pokémon in battle that he wouldn't normally use, like Flabébé. In addition, the placement of Pokémon within the group is just as intriguing. I always knew that if they went with a Hoenn-like foursome, the writers would give everyone a Pokémon unlike what they did with Max, and the ratio of Pokémon would skew in favor of Ash, then Shauna, then Tierno I'd suspect, and then Trevor who'd have the least. What was mentioned seems to go with that ratio more or less. Plus, giving the three companions the starters means that you don't have to worry about one of the companions not getting a starter. Ash has Pikachu as his starter, and with the whole "Ash using the groups' pull of Pokémon as his own" thing, it'll be like he has all three again without having any.
The stories that could be told from this are vast indeed. It would definitely satiate my want of continued innovation within means (meaning no, no aging Ash or switching him out or anything).
Keeping Cilan nearby, without having him around 24/7 without Iris to balance him, seems like a good idea. Unova's main character would become Kalos's recurring. They could have him go to Kalos to enroll into Kalos's finest Pokémon Connoisseur Academy in the hopes of reaching that lofty "S" rank goal. This could even give an excuse for Burgandy to show up down the line because she wants to join the Academy too. We would see Cilan whenever the group comes to the city said Academy would be located at (especially so if it were in Lumiose City, which being Kalos's hub city and at the center of the region, would be pretty frequently visited by the quartet), as well as randomly whenever Cilan is out on the field on assignment.
Also, based on 'Shin's' description, he seems like a rival that the Paul fans would eat up; the fangirls for his looks and the fanboys for him being a "world traveling trainer" that satisfies their preconceived notions of Ash only associating with "experienced" trainers, lest he be made inferior in their eyes. Despite this, I hope he doesn't end up being a jerk rival, but rather a serious friendly one like Stephan or Zoey were. And maybe make Serena a rival to the entire "P-1000" gang as a whole, with emphasis on Shauna and also Trevor and Tierno since they're all from Vaniville Town.
And lastly, the CG. If this rumor turns out to be true, I predict that a lot of people are going to have some mixed reactions to this. CG in general has a lot of mixed opinions for it because it can take some getting used to. When done well, it makes dynamic things even more so. Combee were done in CG, I believe, as well as Metal Claw and Iron Tail, and also those two times Ash held a Pokéball at the end of the Unova League and when he got back Charizard. I look forward to see what comes of it.
Also, new modernized white Team Rocket uniforms seem nice! I do hope though that one trend started from BW continues in that they don't always appear in every episode. This will allow our new group to build from themselves without the Rockets interfering too often, similar to Ash, Iris, and Cilan.
I want to say now that I am completely aware that this is indeed just a rumor and could easily be entirely false, which in turn would make this a whole lotta nothing but words. But hey, even if so, at least I could practice my typing, right? (This took awhile.) Having said that, I really could see this being real, in whole or in part, for a number of reasons. Nevertheless, I definitely hope for this to be true.
Now then, in regards to Ash's Kalos outfit. Simply put, I like it. Its style is reminiscent of his Unova outfit color-wise; white and blue top sans the yellow with a darker shade of pants.
As before, the clothes are based off of the male player character, in this case, Calem. You can definitely tell that. One thing I noticed right away was the over all form-fitting nature of these clothes. They got this from the fact that Calem wears relatively close-fitting clothes himself, which translate to Ash's outfit being similar.
The pants are pretty much exactly like Calem's, though not as slim-fit. Same color and same-looking material, and more form-fitting than any other pants Ash has worn in his series' outfits. Not since the original series has his pants looked this slim. Even though the jeans looked more like standard jeans then with stiffer denim, these are still more fitting. The biggest contrast of course is the fact that his last three outfits have had pants that were pretty baggy, especially Sinnoh's , so coming off that makes the slimness more noticing.
The top is basically Calem's jacket turned into a shirt with an upturned collar, rather than a turtle neck, and short sleeves like all of Ash's other shirts. The blue and white on his shirt is more emphasized and vibrant than Calem's jacket too, especially the white, which you hardly notice on Calem. The shirt itself is reminiscent of his Sinnoh shirt in overall looks, only it too is more form fitting; his Sinnoh shirt was actually pretty loose. Like all the other shirts with popped collars, you can see the shirt he's wearing under it. It's black this time, and it seems to come down past his blue and white shirt. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be a tank top either. They seem to be alternating between shirts with collars and hoodies. First the open-faced collared jacket of the original series, then his hooded sweater from AG, then the collared white, black, and gold shirt from DP, then the hooded jacket from BW, now this.
His shoes are similar to his BW ones in that they're mostly red, only these have no green in them, with just the black high-lights and that bit of blue on the sides near the back/bottom. Also like before, they're hightops, and Ash's pants are tucked into the them. Since the pants aren't baggy, they go into the shoes more neatly and thus emphasize the shoes themselves, making them look like small, ankle-size boots, which is pretty cool actually. Probably the closest we'll ever get to Ash wearing boots for a main series outfit.
Overall, I agree with the general consensus that his new Kalos outfit makes him look thinner, a little taller, and a little older. Though he hasn't actually aged of course, it just makes him look older. And since Ash was always a pretty thin guy, him wearing slimmer clothes help to emphasize that. People with skinnier builds look taller than they usually are (especially if they're tall to begin with), and, once again, more form-fitting clothes help to emphasize said build, which is why Ash looks taller (the pose also helps with this). I like his BW outfit because, with the new character design that emphasizes his eyes, he has a more youthful appearance akin to a 10 year-old. But I'll definitely enjoy his new outfit and what it'll bring looks-wise to the the show, especially once we see it animated.
Plus, if the rumors are true and he goes to Kalos in his BW clothes, it'd be pretty cool/funny if Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno sees him in his BW clothes and takes him clothes shopping under the pretense that his old outfit isn't going to work for them if he's to join their group, complete with clothes modeling montage and over extravagant ensembles! {XD} It would certainly explain why he's wearing such sleek, fitting clothes, that's for sure.
Well, that's about it. Kudos to everyone who managed to read through all that. :3c
