[Subbed] 20 years and we finally have an answer on what "Pokemon Master" means

[Rad Dudesman]

From an M20 tie-in manga

Ash: I'm gonna be the world's greatest Pokemon Master!
Makoto: What's that?
Souji: That means you're going to become the world's greatest Pok?mon Trainer, right?
Ash: Nope, it's above that! It's far, far, above that!

In Ash's own words, it doesn't mean "greatest Pokemon Trainer", but something far beyond that.

 

[Alexander18]

That movie is not canon to the tv series so i wouldn't buy too much into it. A pokemon master is someone who has become the best of the very best. Unfortunately Ash will never achieve this goal.

 

[CodeHelmet]

If that manga is to be considered factual, then for Ash to achieve his goal, he would have to win all Leagues(Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos and w/e region(s) he happens to visit), defeat each region's corresponding Elite 4 and defeat each region's Champion to claim the undisputed title as #1 Trainer in the world.

Odds of that happening: 0.00000001% based on the outcome of Kalos and the fact they apparently want this anime to never end.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

If that manga is to be considered factual, then for Ash to achieve his goal, he would have to win all Leagues(Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos and w/e region(s) he happens to visit), defeat each region's corresponding Elite 4 and defeat each region's Champion to claim the undisputed title as #1 Trainer in the world.

Odds of that happening: 0.00000001% based on the outcome of Kalos and the fact they apparently want this anime to never end.

They'd only have a shot at not ending the anime if the Japanese ratings were extremely high, like with NCIS. At the rate things are going, if they don't end the anime, the executives will pull the plug for them, like they did Mega Man Star Force, Love Hina, and the like. Doesn't matter if they want the anime to continue: If they don't have very high ratings, they won't be able to continue, simple as that.

And as far as Kalos, he at least got runner up, which is a LOT better than especially Best Wishes or even DP, so I wouldn't necessarily say he can't win next region (IF there is a league next region, anyway). Besides, even if he does win the league there, he'd still need to face off against the regional Elite 4 and Champion anyway.

 

[Alexander18]

I think Ash is gonna go back to earning Top 8. Occassionally go higher but eventually returns to top 8.

 

[Hikamaru]

I think Ash is gonna go back to earning Top 8. Occassionally go higher but eventually returns to top 8.

Knowing Alola, I'm guessing Ash won't compete in a League at all. The league may have been built late in the games' story, but considering the school is the main focus while the trials are a side goal, the chance of the Alola League existing in the anime is very unlikely.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Knowing Alola, I'm guessing Ash won't compete in a League at all. The league may have been built late in the games' story, but considering the school is the main focus while the trials are a side goal, the chance of the Alola League existing in the anime is very unlikely.

Yeah, I'm definitely doubtful they are going to have an Alolan League for this saga. They would have mentioned the league by now if they were going to do it. Not to mention thanks to them having Ash retake school (as if he ever NEEDED to go to school in the first place) instead of, I don't know, having him oversee the development of the Alola league like in the games, they didn't even have him focus on his goal. Say what you will about Best Wishes, and it definitely was a horrible show (probably the only redeeming elements are Iris and the return of Charizard), but at least it actually attempted to focus on Ash's goal, something that SM clearly is going out of its way to ignore.

 

[Alexander18]

Iris is not a redeeming factor of unova. She was the main reason why the whole saga fail. Charizard basically stole the little attention his team could of have. At least Charizard is back in his ownership.

Until alola is finished, there is still a chance there is a league. But it wouldn't matter since Lillie ruined the saga for me.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Iris is not a redeeming factor of unova. She was the main reason why the whole saga fail. Charizard basically stole the little attention his team could of have. At least Charizard is back in his ownership.

Until alola is finished, there is still a chance there is a league. But it wouldn't matter since Lillie ruined the saga for me.

Honestly, I'd rather have Iris than May, Dawn, and Serena combined if I can't have Misty. At least Iris wasn't used as explicit fanservice despite being grossly underage, unlike May, Dawn, or possibly even Serena (and believe me, Masamitsu Hidaka MORE than made clear that that was the sole reason May and Dawn at least existed in the anime in the first place).

And as far as Alola, the prior sagas at least alluded to a league nearing the start of the saga, generally right before the first gym battle. So no, if they wanted an Alola League, they would have mentioned it by now. Instead, as far as we can tell, he's still going to school. Even Best Wishes had Ash learning about a Pokemon League there, and he didn't even originally intend to compete there, just go on a vacation with his mom.

And his Unova team already got quite a bit of attention as it is. Who do you THINK Ash used during Unova?

 

[Alexander18]

Honestly, I'd rather have Iris than May, Dawn, and Serena combined if I can't have Misty. At least Iris wasn't used as explicit fanservice despite being grossly underage, unlike May, Dawn, or possibly even Serena (and believe me, Masamitsu Hidaka MORE than made clear that that was the sole reason May and Dawn at least existed in the anime in the first place).

And as far as Alola, the prior sagas at least alluded to a league nearing the start of the saga, generally right before the first gym battle. So no, if they wanted an Alola League, they would have mentioned it by now. Instead, as far as we can tell, he's still going to school. Even Best Wishes had Ash learning about a Pokemon League there, and he didn't even originally intend to compete there, just go on a vacation with his mom.

And his Unova team already got quite a bit of attention as it is. Who do you THINK Ash used during Unova?

Ash caught too many pokemon in unova. Iris was used for fanservice like serena and lillie. Misty, may and dawn however were made fantastically. They deserve to be in the anime.

 

[CidHazard]

Pokemon Master has always been pretty vague... People always assume, that you need to win the league and complete the pokedex to be a Pokemon Master. I've always thought it was having that connection to Pokemon, a mythical connection or understanding... Something intangible that could never be quantified.

If they don't end the anime, the executives will pull the plug for them, like they did Mega Man Star Force, Love Hina, and the like.

Love hina again wasn't cancelled... It ended.

You can choose from a myriad of different shows that where cancelled tho... just to name a couple-

Rave Master - A show heavily reliant on ratings, it never really gotten a solid following. Unlike it's much more successful descendant Fairy Tail.

Bleach - Oh how the mighty have fallen. Shounen Jump weekly poll Shounen Jump cancelled it's animated series and ordered it's creator to hasten the manga's finale, effectively ending the final arc prematurely. All because of the meteoric decline of the series's popularity...

I think it's better to say discontinued... as some IP holders and Mangaka don't tend to commission another season of a show, which is due to a lot of different reasons.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Pokemon Master has always been pretty vague... People always assume, that you need to win the league and complete the pokedex to be a Pokemon Master. I've always thought it was having that connection to Pokemon, a mythical connection or understanding... Something intangible that could never be quantified.

Maybe so, but the fact of the matter was, what WAS frequently shown was him challenging gyms and the league, so it was very clear that winning that was at least a necessary step. Not to mention Hidaka in his idiocy claimed if Ash won a league, the show's over (so why did Ash go to Johto despite winning the Orange League? Why did they have Ash lose Kalos despite Alola not even HAVING a league anyways?).

Love hina again wasn't cancelled... It ended.

You can choose from a myriad of different shows that where cancelled tho... just to name a couple-

Rave Master - A show heavily reliant on ratings, it never really gotten a solid following. Unlike it's much more successful descendant Fairy Tail.

Bleach - Oh how the mighty have fallen. Shounen Jump weekly poll Shounen Jump cancelled it's animated series and ordered it's creator to hasten the manga's finale, effectively ending the final arc prematurely. All because of the meteoric decline of the series's popularity...

I think it's better to say discontinued... as some IP holders and Mangaka don't tend to commission another season of a show, which is due to a lot of different reasons.

Love Hina, however, literally ended before it even got further into the story that was in the manga, which would only happen if it was cancelled prematurely. If they wished to merely end it, they would have gotten a LOT farther, like, I don't know, at least get up to the part where Kanako arrives.

And either way, Mega Man Star Force's anime DEFINITELY was cancelled.

 

[MonadoXY7]

I'm guessing "to be a master" isn't just about catching, training, and getting all the gym badges with Pokemon. It's far exceeds anyone's definition of a Pokemon Master based on knowledge and skill.

 

[CidHazard]

Love Hina, however, literally ended before it even got further into the story that was in the manga, which would only happen if it was cancelled prematurely. If they wished to merely end it, they would have gotten a LOT farther, like, I don't know, at least get up to the part where Kanako arrives.

And either way, Mega Man Star Force's anime DEFINITELY was cancelled.

Lets not get into a huge tangent Weedle XD we might get flagged LOL

There was a 3 episode OVA on the DVD release of Love hina which ended the anime's story connecting the it connected TV special and the Movie. It also had Kanako in it... it ends with Naru and Keitaro literally flying into the sunset after Keitaro proposed to her.

Yep Megaman Star Force was cancelled no doubt about it.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Lets not get into a huge tangent Weedle XD we might get flagged LOL

There was a 3 episode OVA on the DVD release of Love hina which ended the anime's story connecting the it connected TV special and the Movie. It also had Kanako in it... it ends with Naru and Keitaro literally flying into the sunset after Keitaro proposed to her.

Yep Megaman Star Force was cancelled no doubt about it.

I see that as little different from the Justice League Ultimate episodes that dealt with Batman Beyond, TBH, where they included it as a finale despite Batman Beyond itself pretty obviously being cancelled. So no, that's still a cancellation.

But yeah, glad we can agree on Star Force.

And either way, they'd better have a league next generation, because I'm irritated that right now Ash is still stuck at that school and not getting any closer to that goal AFAIK. He should have won Kalos, if for no reason other than Alola not even HAVING a league. Even IF becoming Champion Master is not the actual endgoal, it still will get him much closer to the goal than right now.

 

[Unown Seer]

That explanation couldn't be vaguer if they tried.

Presumably, a Pokemon Master should also be a researcher, but suffice to say that Ash has never tried to be one.

 

[Twilight-kun]

We've known a Pokemon Master isn't simply the greatest trainer of all time for...about 20 years now, I think?

Slap a slowpoke hat on M20, because it's set a new record for telling us old news

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

We've known a Pokemon Master isn't simply the greatest trainer of all time for...about 20 years now, I think?

Slap a slowpoke hat on M20, because it's set a new record for telling us old news

To be fair, the one time it was hinted to be the absolute strongest trainer out there was with Movie 1 where Mewtwo, the strongest Pokémon in the world, referred to himself (itself?) as the greatest Pokémon Master, and more than lived up to its name by being unable to be beaten (even when fighting Mew, it only ended in a draw).

 

[Zerf]

uhm.. a master is like showing pokemon kindness and rescuing others pokemon aswell as trainers. IMO... catching all pokemon and being the strongest does not mean that it will call you "POKEMON MASTER TRAINER"

 

[Alexander18]

Ash shows kindness to his pokemon but that does not make him a pokemon master. He has too much of a losing streak to become a pokemon master anyway.