Thread: Will Ash still be the main character in Generation VI?

Nothing's been confirmed.

Ash could stay - but Ash could leave.

It's not as if we work for the Pokemon anime production. Ash leaving the show is just a possibility. We'll never know what they might do. Maybe they could play safe. Or maybe not.

Originally Posted by Miar

Ash is the main human for the show, past, present, and future

And this time, he's getting the new guy's sunglasses and (most likely) a Chespin

I agree. Also, I can see Ash getting a Chespin, it's attitude (Based off the picture we've seen, and other people's interpretations), it seems like the kind of starter Ash would have.

Originally Posted by pokemonsquared

Look at how much whining there is from Misty fans now. Then multiply it by 100 and you get what would happen if Ash left.

This, right here. For all the complaining that goes on over Ash still being around, you just know that the second he's gone a new batch of unpleased fans will crawl out from under the bed and start raising a stink about it. This would almost certainly lose the anime more fans than the new guy would gain it.

Originally Posted by YamiiDenryuu

Originally Posted by pokemonsquared

Look at how much whining there is from Misty fans now. Then multiply it by 100 and you get what would happen if Ash left.

This, right here. For all the complaining that goes on over Ash still being around, you just know that the second he's gone a new batch of unpleased fans will crawl out from under the bed and start raising a stink about it. This would almost certainly lose the anime more fans than the new guy would gain it.

Considering the majority of people who want Ash gone are all the original series fans from 15 years ago, I don't know what you're talking about.

Nobody wants to see Ash's story dragged on forever. In fact many people loved that BW2 trailer because Ash wasn't in it.

Its not the main character that needs to change, its the writing style. If they removed Ash and replaced him with another trainer, but handled that trainer the same way as Best Wishes Ash was handled then whats the point? It would be even worse since there would be a character that few even care about.

I only support a main character change if awesomeness ensures because of it, but in order for that to happen a lot more than Ash needs to change in this series. I won't try and predict what they'll do with him in X & Y, but perhaps they can build him back up and then give him a meaningful sendoff. (They however, have a lot of building up to do)

Originally Posted by The Fighting Misty

Nobody wants to see Ash's story dragged on forever.

I do. I don't watch the show to see Ash reach his goals and become a Pokemon Master. I don't care about the end result. I care about him, his adventures and his perspective. The journey, not the destination, is what I prefer.

Originally Posted by Dark Blueberry

Nothing's been confirmed.

Ash could stay - but Ash could leave.

It's not as if we work for the Pokemon anime production. Ash leaving the show is just a possibility. We'll never know what they might do. Maybe they could play safe. Or maybe not.

But why would they not play it safe? There's nothing to indicate that they would consider replacing Ash and I think that's the problem I'm having with the argument that it could happen. It's technically true that they could do it since they have the power to do so, but a reason as why they would take the risk when there's no financial motivation for them to even consider it is missing. Simply thinking that it could lead to better merchandise sales and better ratings isn't enough of a reason to think that they would take that risk. Besides that, they've had plenty of opportunities to replace Ash in the past. They easily could have replaced him before AG, DP and BW started, but they chose to keep him around. If they didn't decide to replace him when they were hyping up Unova as being so distant from the other regions, had only new Pokemon in it and was close to a reboot for the games, I honestly don't see why they would decide to replace him now.

Originally Posted by Dark Blueberry

It could bring the opposite effect. It's possible they could bring in a new character that would make more sales and bring up the ratings - making everyone excited and eager to see what the new character would do every episode.

Why is everyone so sure that removing Ash would result only in negative ways? If so, then they should've used Ash for the B2W2 promo. But they didn't - and it went wonderfully.

You don't seem to understand how things work. When the risk is bigger than the gain you don't do it.

As for the B2W2 promo, that was for the games, so why would Satoshi be in it?

Originally Posted by The Fighting Misty

If the writers were scared to change status quo, we'd still be sitting through the original trio every generation.

You know that's not the same thing.

Originally Posted by Dark Blueberry

Nothing's been confirmed.

Ash could stay - but Ash could leave.

It's not as if we work for the Pokemon anime production. Ash leaving the show is just a possibility. We'll never know what they might do. Maybe they could play safe. Or maybe not.

Wrong. He's staying, everyone knows it, and this thread is pointless.

Anyone with a heart, would not want to see Ash leave on the note he's at in Best Wishes. Usually, it's only fun to see people retire, finish a movie or a tv series, or a novel series on a high note.

Best Wishes in general was like a forced fairy tale with no happy ending. It sucked and Ash sucked in it and the development of his co-stars sucked. Having Ash leave now would be the biggest insult, because there's absolutely no chance at redeeming himself one bit and we have to remember Ash as a cornball idiot instead of the mature competent trainer we knew and loved at one point.

Also, imagine if we didn't hear from any of his friends and they didn't get a cameo, and the writers just decided to move on with someone new....way too many loose ends here.

Ash may not finish his position on his show as a Champion, but he should be leaving the show as his own Champion and BW Ash was a chump, so if the writers get rid of him now he will have left regressed, without even being given the chance to progress again.

It's like a kid who got straight A's in their freshman and sophomore year in high school, but decided to drop out after their Junior Year because their grades weren't as up to par, never really giving themselves the chance to regain their shine. This case would be in the writers hands, and for Ash's sake and the fanbase, they rightfully can't drop the ball, or in other words, Ash as a character.

Ash can be wrapped up in a few movie length specials after he wins the Indigo league.

Originally Posted by The Fighting Misty

Ash can be wrapped up in a few movie length specials after he wins the Indigo league.

Why would he go back to the Indigo League? He already has the Gym badges he needs and I think he would be more interested in trying out new challenges. Not to mention I don' think they would let him travel through Kanto again if they weren't related to the most recent games. Plus, I just think that they would have him lose another League and then show him traveling to a new region without doing anything special beyond that.

Originally Posted by El_

Its not the main character that needs to change, its the writing style. If they removed Ash and replaced him with another trainer, but handled that trainer the same way as Best Wishes Ash was handled then whats the point?

Ash would finally win a league that's the point. Also completely new series could mean extended development time which could writing that feels planned

I honestly think the anime needs a hard reset. No Ash. No TR. The new MC can catch/obtain a ~rare-in-his-region~ Pikachu.

Digimon changes characters every year or so. Yugioh is up to it's 3rd/4th MC. Why can't Pokemon do this? The writers really cornered themselves when they said Ash's journey "will end until he becomes a Pokemon Master". Thus, we're probably going to be dragged through Ash's story for another 10-15 years. ^______^!! Companions come and go, but Ash and Pikachu are forever!!!1

Since Ash is going to be with us forevers, I can see him getting Chespin or Froakie, but don't give him all three!



I...I..really need that frog with the cap and sunglasses to "Stop getting mad at kiddy cartoons!!". OTL

I don't care rather or not if Ash will be the main character or not. Just don't dumb him down and make him act like an idiot again.

I think it's very easy to keep Ash and make him interesting. Besides, Pikachu isn't going anywhere so all they need is to change the boys clothes and they will probably end up keeping him. No matter how some people want him to leave or not. It ain't about us.

Originally Posted by H.M

Digimon changes characters every year or so. Yugioh is up to it's 3rd/4th MC. Why can't Pokemon do this? The writers really cornered themselves when they said Ash's journey "will end until he becomes a Pokemon Master". Thus, we're probably going to be dragged through Ash's story for another 10-15 years. ^______^!! Companions come and go, but Ash and Pikachu are forever!!!1

That's not really a fair comparison since Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh! handle their series much differently than Pokemon does. Since Digimon episodes have a short amount of time with no guarantee for a continuation after the series is wrapped up, they have to start fresh for every new series. It also helps that Digimon has been more willing to experiment with different leads than Pokemon has. Yu-Gi-Oh! DM was a manga adaptation and after covering the last part of the manga, the characters were done and really couldn't have been used to promote the next batch of cards. They pretty much had to make new characters to showcase more new cards for the spin-off series and they're currently on their fourth protagonist. Besides all that, changing the whole cast every few years is a lot easier to accomplish than trying to do that after having the same main character for over a decade. Ash is more iconic to the Pokemon anime than Tai and Yugi are to their respective series, which is one reason why I don't think that they'll replace him. Maybe it could have worked out years ago, but now, it's just far too late and risky to attempt a change like that.