Is "Starting Over" a Bad Idea?

I think Ash would be better if they gave continuity to his age and experience in terms of battle knowledge. He seems ignorant when he starts off in a new region then gradually wises up. I dunno if this is him not being familiar with the new pokemon of the region or just them dumbing him down, but I would think he would have the general idea of how everything operates and how to not make novice mistakes. I am sure if he stuck to his older pokemon he could win a league, but I honestly don't see that happening since they want to market new pokemon it would seem every saga. If they let him retain his knowledge and generally battle prowess he would not have got his ass handed to him like he did in BW010. I think he would do good with what he had if he utilized all their talents for what they are. Like you were saying in the Poll of the Week Ash doesn't do overly great with Defensive type pokemon because he doesn't use their talents properly. Well if he used all the different pokemon and used them how they were meant to be then they would do the job they were supposed to and he would have one big cohesive unit or many teams that have different talents and play off of them. I am not saying he needs to dominant, but they really need to cut the noobness crap out, I don't need Iris telling Ash he is a kid after he Top 16 in Indigo League due to Charizard not obeying and him not being able to use Pidgeotto, Top 8 in Silver and Ever Grade Harrison was quite strong, and his Hoenn team that he used against Tyson really didn't seem that strong to me, he finished Top 4 in Sinnoh he used his Hoenn team and wound of facing a Darkrai(honestly how you going to win if they throw a freaking Darkrai then Latios at you).

Good question. Remember that he still uses all of his options once he reaches the championship round. Up until that point is the only time that he restricts himself. He hasn't really had any problems getting the 8 badges, so no, I don't think it's hurting him. In fact, because he's restricting the strength of his pokemon, he's forcing himself to battle with strategy instead. His battling style really stagnated while he owned an obedient Charizard. He kinda had to let it go just to force himself to think instead of repeatedly using the old tried and true "Charizard! Flamethrower!" strategy.

Kenshin5 said:

I think Ash would be better if they gave continuity to his age and experience in terms of battle knowledge. He seems ignorant when he starts off in a new region then gradually wises up. I dunno if this is him not being familiar with the new pokemon of the region or just them dumbing him down, but I would think he would have the general idea of how everything operates and how to not make novice mistakes. I am sure if he stuck to his older pokemon he could win a league, but I honestly don't see that happening since they want to market new pokemon it would seem every saga. If they let him retain his knowledge and generally battle prowess he would not have got his ass handed to him like he did in BW010. I think he would do good with what he had if he utilized all their talents for what they are. Like you were saying in the Poll of the Week Ash doesn't do overly great with Defensive type pokemon because he doesn't use their talents properly. Well if he used all the different pokemon and used them how they were meant to be then they would do the job they were supposed to and he would have one big cohesive unit or many teams that have different talents and play off of them. I am not saying he needs to dominant, but they really need to cut the noobness crap out, I don't need Iris telling Ash he is a kid after he Top 16 in Indigo League due to Charizard not obeying and him not being able to use Pidgeotto, Top 8 in Silver and Ever Grade Harrison was quite strong, and his Hoenn team that he used against Tyson really didn't seem that strong to me, he finished Top 4 in Sinnoh he used his Hoenn team and wound of facing a Darkrai(honestly how you going to win if they throw a freaking Darkrai then Latios at you).

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I think the writers should give Ash a bit more variety when it comes to his Pokemon. Ash almost always uses speedy and maneuverable Pokemon, but what about the Pokemon with more unique and different talents? I think it would be interesting to see Ash try to use Pokemon that aren't so offensive. I'm talking about Pokemon like Blissey and Audino.

Also, it bugs me that he's never even tried out certain types of Pokemon. 14 years and he's never gotten a Psychic, Steel, or a Ghost-type? It took 14 years for them to even give Ash a Dark-type.

I think starting over could be beneficial to his career if he tried out new things instead of sticking to the same old.

pineco-a-go-go said:

Good question. Remember that he still uses all of his options once he reaches the championship round. Up until that point is the only time that he restricts himself. He hasn't really had any problems getting the 8 badges, so no, I don't think it's hurting him. In fact, because he's restricting the strength of his pokemon, he's forcing himself to battle with strategy instead. His battling style really stagnated while he owned an obedient Charizard. He kinda had to let it go just to force himself to think instead of repeatedly using the old tried and true "Charizard! Flamethrower!" strategy.

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This is a good point. Ash might get lazy if he only uses extremely powerful Pokemon.

Kenshin5 said:

I think Ash would be better if they gave continuity to his age and experience in terms of battle knowledge. He seems ignorant when he starts off in a new region then gradually wises up. I dunno if this is him not being familiar with the new pokemon of the region or just them dumbing him down, but I would think he would have the general idea of how everything operates and how to not make novice mistakes. I am sure if he stuck to his older pokemon he could win a league, but I honestly don't see that happening since they want to market new pokemon it would seem every saga. If they let him retain his knowledge and generally battle prowess he would not have got his ass handed to him like he did in BW010. I think he would do good with what he had if he utilized all their talents for what they are. Like you were saying in the Poll of the Week Ash doesn't do overly great with Defensive type pokemon because he doesn't use their talents properly. Well if he used all the different pokemon and used them how they were meant to be then they would do the job they were supposed to and he would have one big cohesive unit or many teams that have different talents and play off of them. I am not saying he needs to dominant, but they really need to cut the noobness crap out, I don't need Iris telling Ash he is a kid after he Top 16 in Indigo League due to Charizard not obeying and him not being able to use Pidgeotto, Top 8 in Silver and Ever Grade Harrison was quite strong, and his Hoenn team that he used against Tyson really didn't seem that strong to me, he finished Top 4 in Sinnoh he used his Hoenn team and wound of facing a Darkrai(honestly how you going to win if they throw a freaking Darkrai then Latios at you).

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In terms of the writing, I think the dumb him down just to keep the story interesting. If you think Ash is going to destroy everyone without a problem, the show becomes a dull repetitive anime cliche ("Charizard's level is over 9000!!!"). In terms of the canon of the story, I agree that it probably has more to do with his inexperience with the new pokemon.

I've noticed a number of people who agree with you that they want the battle-master Ash instead of the little kid Ash. While I'm fine with Ash the way he is, I had always hoped that they would have turned that short Pokemon Chronicles spin-off with the three older trainers going after Raikou into its own show just for that purpose: to have a more serious, battle oriented show as an alternative for the older pokemon audience.

pineco-a-go-go said:

In terms of the writing, I think the dumb him down just to keep the story interesting. If you think Ash is going to destroy everyone without a problem, the show becomes a dull repetitive anime cliche ("Charizard's level is over 9000!!!"). In terms of the canon of the story, I agree that it probably has more to do with his inexperience with the new pokemon.

I've noticed a number of people who agree with you that they want the battle-master Ash instead of the little kid Ash. While I'm fine with Ash the way he is, I had always hoped that they would have turned that short Pokemon Chronicles spin-off with the three older trainers going after Raikou into its own show just for that purpose: to have a more serious, battle oriented show as an alternative for the older pokemon audience.

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Yeah I am not too big on him using his poweful pokemon to destroy anything and everything, which is why I am glad his starters from Kanto started to go their own way Charizard to Charicfic Valley, Squirtle back to Squirtle Squad, Bulbasaur as a mediator at Oaks Lab, then having Pidgeot leaving prior to Orange Islands and Johto. Like I said I don't want him to be dominant, but losing to your rival repeatedly and the way he does just doesn't satisfy me. I understand him losing to Paul since he wasn't a rookie trainer, but Trip is a different story. I don't want a super vet win every match guy, I just want a guy who uses his head instead of jumping into action every time. It's like with the Dragon Ball series(if anyone is familiar with that) Goku started of as a rambunctious kid who had little to know discipline before he met Master Roshi, then he was taught and trained in the disciplines in martial arts. After he lost to Master Roshi he refined his skills even more through travels, and came back in the next Worlds Martial Arts Tournament even stronger yet losing it again like he lost to Master Roshi the first like, then he went on another journey trained with Mr. Popo and Kami and mastered even more discipline and growing in maturity were he used to attack without thought he now acted in a more study out your opponent before attacking manner. What I am trying to say with the comparisons between Ash and Goku is they both started off as newbies, they both suffered a series of loses in huge tournaments, but unlike Goku Ash doesn't seem to mature to much which is what I want to see from him take what he has learned from past defeats and make it his strengths. As much as I would like to see a different series for a more mature audience I doubt we will see that either sadly. They just want to reset so the new audience will relate I assume.

Well, I honestly don't think it was a bad idea in Hoenn and Sinnoh, seeing some of the great Pokemon that came out of those, like Sceptile and Infernape. However, starting over for a third time makes the concept a little dry. While I wouldn't like to see Ash with a team that would decimate all his foes, I would like it if the writers brought back some of his Pokemon from Oak's lab throughout the exploration of the region, improve on the Pokemon that are already strong enough but could still improve, like Totodile, Bayleef, or even Gible. Like, raising his old Pokemon to their fullest potential while also raising some newer Pokemon too, you know? I think that would be an interesting concept.

So I will end this by saying, I do think he would be a better trainer if he quit starting over with every new region- it wouldn't hurt to bring along more veterans than just Pikachu, right?

An example of Ash not having to start over could be in Sinnoh when he kept losing to Paul until he won against him in the Sinnoh League. Before that, Ash could have used his older Pokemon against Paul, since those Pokemon have better battling experience.

I'm really fine either way.

PearlShipper4Life said:

I'm really fine either way.

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He do need to stop this starting over crap it was good for Hoenn and but for Sinnoh it got really old real fast,he went to Unova for vacation which was different from the starting over crap he did in Hoenn and Sinnoh.

I hope he don't do anymore starting over again when the 6 generation come out,it will be different.

Yes. Completely. Sure new Pokemon are cool, but come on. They almost make ash stupider every season. And in the new anime they for sure dropped his IQ. He's stupider now than when he woke up too late to get a starter Pokemon. He should stick to what has gotten before, he'd be near unbeatable by now~

Besides, his Pikachu should be lvl 100 by now!! >:/

He will always start over because that's now he catches and trains new Pokemon in the new regions. I would like to see a season where he brings all of his strongest with him in a difficult region where other trainers have similar strength. Or if he actually caught strong ones instead of tiny speed ones. He wouldn't be unbeatable because the writers could just make his opponents have equally strong Pokemon.

There are pros and cons to this idea and obviously people will have their own personal opinions. Although I do favour in the yes, it's a bad idea, I also see the benefits of starting over, if that makes any sense at all.

I'd love for them to really show continuation with his age, experiences and context. That's one of my pet peeves, it's how they just seem to press the reset button on those kind of things and although they reference to parts of his part at the beginning, it does seemed to be swept under the rug. Although, I understand they need to do that to really bring in new fans and make sure they're not confused and have to really do background checks on what they're referencing too but I feel they do that a little bit too much and it seems to alienate the older fans of the series.

I do see the benefits of starting over and essentially pressing the reset button. It would allow the writers to do more with Ash and develop him in a different route both with new Pokemon and new experiences in the region they're exploring so on their side of things, for the writers, it's imperative to keep things fresh for them but it just seems that starting over for us has ironically just become a little bit dull and we expect things to happen instead of being surprised and interested by it.

And I just think that there are many ways things could be improved if Ash didn't start over completely but I feel I understand why they do it.

Of course he would be, but that would be completely uninteresting seeing him with the same team in now 5 regions. Now, I do wish he'd quit derping around and acting like none of the things he learned in the other regions ever happened, but meh. Especially with Unova now. It's like the Sinnoh League didn't even happen. &_&

Well, IMO, I believe Ash's real goal was to "Catch em' all" I really believe he did battling as a side thing. I believe Ash is more of a collector then a battler. We jusy happen to see his more battlely mood in the anime then we do his collector mood.

Kowai said:

He will always start over because that's now he catches and trains new Pokemon in the new regions. I would like to see a season where he brings all of his strongest with him in a difficult region where other trainers have similar strength. Or if he actually caught strong ones instead of tiny speed ones. He wouldn't be unbeatable because the writers could just make his opponents have equally strong Pokemon.

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Kowai.That is your opinion that he will always start over since he only did it in the Hoenn and Sinnoh regions, he took a vacation to the Unova region and he later decided to start off in Unova region.

The starting over again really needs to stop because it is getting really old,when this region is done with there won't be another repeat of this crappy starting over again non sense.