Is "Starting Over" a Bad Idea?

[Kirbychu]

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.

That was his goal, but I think he's sort of strayed away from that. If he really waned to catch them all he'd really be trying to get more Pokemon than he's gotten now. He only got 5 in Hoenn and 6 in Sinnoh when there were plenty of opportunities to get more.

 

[mamoswineftw]

The issue does tend to annoy me slightly, but this show IS intended for kids. A way I've found of addressing this issue is, strangely enough, via fanfiction.

A fic that I'd highly recommend, albeit an apparently abandoned one, is "Fighting Alone" by Thomas3Garchomp. Set near the end of Sinnoh, it actually explores the idea of both an independent, and also more importantly EXPERIENCED Ash actually using his head. I absolutely love the story to bits, just wish it would be updated :(

On a side note, if anybody can recommend a decent-length fic (over 40,000 words at least) that features an independent/smart Ash, I'd be very grateful.

 

[Tyrantrum]

I think he'd be a great trainer if he didn't keep "starting over." Also, the writers make him a complete idiot. I think that was fine for Kanto and Johto, but the other regions, he should've matured a bit.

 

[Guest123_x1]

a kiddie soap?

They have Ash "start over" as a way to keep the show targeted towards kids. If they had Ash age throughout the series' run, younger audiences would probably not want to watch the show so much, then the ratings would go way down. (Pokémon is no soap opera-if it were even the least bit produced in a format like it, the ratings would for sure gradually decline as time goes by and eventually be canceled-just like ABC is doing with All My Children and One Life to Live-both of which have been on for more than 40 years.)

So in short, the writers will have Ash traveling a new region that the creators come up with, with him being 10 years old every single time.

 

[Strdstwanderer]

i don't think him starting over and getting new pokemon is a bad thing I mean Pikachu was with him since Episode 1 and yet pikachu was easily pwned by weaker pokemon like Sho's Raichu in pika vs goliath and Several of Paul's pokemon and even an amatuer's Snivy

 

[GStheHero]

Realistically, Ash will probably never stop starting over. It seems like the writers do this to showcase the new Pokemon, but I'd like for them to at least stop making him forget everything he's learnt.

 

[smurf]

im sorta split in this i love the fact that ash starts over wen he goes to a new region but it seems like everytime he does he gets dumber i want to see ash evolve pokemon become strong like he should be and like we all know he can be. when ash brings back his older pokemon in the leauges i start seeing how he should be as a trainer i see the evolved strong pokemon he has raised and thats what i think he should be like more

 

[tough]

Realistically, Ash will probably never stop starting over. It seems like the writers do this to showcase the new Pokemon, but I'd like for them to at least stop making him forget everything he's learnt.

I think they can stop the whole starting over thing again since it is getting old real fast.

Ash can become a great pokemon trainer wether his pokemon evolve or not,but no more starting over again since it is getting old.

 

[PearlShipper4Life]

I got confused a bit with the question, I like Ash starting over with Pokemon. While yes, his Pokemon would be ten times stronger than they are now but I like him dealing with new Pokemon each region, I think its pretty cool.

 

[M4]

Yes. But.. Realistically. No.

People grow, and people change. As the years past the audience grow and will likely move on and stop watching the show. What now? They introduce a new series and make Ash start all over again, to attract a new set of audience. If they would continue the story region to region, new audiences would not know what's going on and considering the major watchers' ages are about from 3-14 I don't think they'll bother catching up from square one.

 

[GStheHero]

I think they can stop the whole starting over thing again since it is getting old real fast.

Ash can become a great pokemon trainer wether his pokemon evolve or not,but no more starting over again since it is getting old.

I agree, but realistically they won't stop as showing off the new PKMN boosts sales for the games. Honestly, watching the show has made me want to purchase White Version. So, it works.

 

[SelenaStar]

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.

This is what I first thought when I saw this topic to be honest, and while I think this is true in the manga series (yes, I know that the manga character is Red not Ash, but they're each other's counterparts so for the sake of argument I'm just going to use both names interchangably) I don't understand why they keep making him restart every series in the anime, it isn't like he is trying to collect all pokemon in the anime when you compare this to the manga where he was capturing Fearow, Gyarados, all sorts of cool, strong pokemon. I mean, Ash in the anime doesn't even EVOLVE bulbasaur and squirtle! Surely if he was trying to collect all data on all pokemon he would be evolving starter pokemon he already had??

I've never really understood why Ash has a tendancy to release/leave behind his pokemon when he moves on to a new region. Perhaps he does just want to raise different teams and have the different experiences, but to me it just doesn't make much sense. He seems to have these conflicting ideals - collecting all pokemon and beating all leagues - that aren't really compatible when he spends all his time with one team of pokemon, only to abandon them to go onto a new region.

From what I've read, I think the writers need to make a happy medium. By all means, have him catching and raising new pokemon, but please PLEASE POKEMON GODS, bring back his stronger pokemon so he can ACTUALLY WIN ONCE IN A WHILE?? We get the whole 'it's not the winning it's the taking part that counts' message now - it's the same one you've been pushing since 1998.

 

[DowntownDumpling]

Yes, he would! I would go crazy if I had to keep doing that. He gets points for doing it of his own volition, though.

 

[Kenshin5]

I mean, Ash in the anime doesn't even EVOLVE bulbasaur and squirtle! Surely if he was trying to collect all data on all pokemon he would be evolving starter pokemon he already had??

Bulbasaur had the oppurtunity to evolve into an Ivysaur in EP051 Bulbasaur Mysterious Garden. And he doesn't have to own the pokemon to collect data on it. He has already encountered all the starters and their evolutions so he has already had the opportunity to collect it on his dex.

I've never really understood why Ash has a tendancy to release/leave behind his pokemon when he moves on to a new region. Perhaps he does just want to raise different teams and have the different experiences, but to me it just doesn't make much sense. He seems to have these conflicting ideals - collecting all pokemon and beating all leagues - that aren't really compatible when he spends all his time with one team of pokemon, only to abandon them to go onto a new region.

Releases - Butterfree chose to go off and start a family, Pidgeot felt that it should protect Pidgey & Pidgetto in the forest by Pallet, Lapras was reunited with it's family. So it was better off for them to go off and do their own then then continue to stay with Ash, place it gave him more space to develop other pokemon.

As for why he leaves his pokemon behind starting with Hoenn. He felt that if he took his strong pokemon with him he wouldn't have much of a challenge. So he would like to embark on his new journeys fresh(and this would also give the writers yet another reason to reset him).

From what I've read, I think the writers need to make a happy medium. By all means, have him catching and raising new pokemon, but please PLEASE POKEMON GODS, bring back his stronger pokemon so he can ACTUALLY WIN ONCE IN A WHILE?? We get the whole 'it's not the winning it's the taking part that counts' message now - it's the same one you've been pushing since 1998.

He does get his stronger pokemon back during most of the leagues he goes too outside of the Ever Grande Conference. He just written off though like when he went again Tobias and had to contend with Darkrai and Latios. Even if he did bring back his strong pokemon whose say he could beat him anyways. We say that he beat Brandon when he brought back his strong pokemon, but that wasn't a league. So maybe he will one of these days it's just up to the writers. And if he didn't care about winning it he wouldn't have taken part in the first place. He cares about winning he just never gets it done when it matters.

 

[Hikamaru]

This is what I first thought when I saw this topic to be honest, and while I think this is true in the manga series (yes, I know that the manga character is Red not Ash, but they're each other's counterparts so for the sake of argument I'm just going to use both names interchangably) I don't understand why they keep making him restart every series in the anime, it isn't like he is trying to collect all pokemon in the anime when you compare this to the manga where he was capturing Fearow, Gyarados, all sorts of cool, strong pokemon. I mean, Ash in the anime doesn't even EVOLVE bulbasaur and squirtle! Surely if he was trying to collect all data on all pokemon he would be evolving starter pokemon he already had??

I've never really understood why Ash has a tendancy to release/leave behind his pokemon when he moves on to a new region. Perhaps he does just want to raise different teams and have the different experiences, but to me it just doesn't make much sense. He seems to have these conflicting ideals - collecting all pokemon and beating all leagues - that aren't really compatible when he spends all his time with one team of pokemon, only to abandon them to go onto a new region.

From what I've read, I think the writers need to make a happy medium. By all means, have him catching and raising new pokemon, but please PLEASE POKEMON GODS, bring back his stronger pokemon so he can ACTUALLY WIN ONCE IN A WHILE?? We get the whole 'it's not the winning it's the taking part that counts' message now - it's the same one you've been pushing since 1998.

I agree with SelenaStar, it's nice for Ash to get new Pokemon but he should let some of his older Pokes have some on-screen time as well regardless of series.

 

[Kenshin5]

Wouldn't the old pokes screen time detract from the development of his current new pokemon? Unless it was a Saga like Battle Frontier or Orange Islands. They had their time to shine now it's the new pokemons time. I just don't see the necessity for it. Plus they are using the new pokemon to market a new generation, so I really don't see how the old pokemon would benefit with that.