Thread: Do you feel that Ash/Satoshi's character has been reset?

Originally Posted by pokemon fan 132

Unova being treated as far and isolated region with Iris and Cilan not being beginners is one of main reasons why Ash character has been portrayed as "toned down".To better emphasize on fact of being foreigner in Unova not knowing anything about customs and different methodology of battling people are using there,as well trying to make him blend with new group in more appropriate manner.

Yes, Unova is a far off region, I think we all know that. However, I don't see that as a valid excuse to retool Ash's character from the mature trainer he was in AG/DP...to the sudden juvenile idiot he is now. They could have kept him the same way he was in DP, and still had his two current companions maintain their experienced nature. Ultimately, his rather grating change in persona, and skills just comes across as horribad writing.

There is never really an excuse to reset a character's power just to blend in or whatever. They could have still made Ash funny and likable without being weak. All they had to do was make his rivals stronger than beginners and maybe make the Pokemon a little higher in level. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I think it hurts some of us to see Trip come out of a lab with a level 5 Pokemon and beat probably a level 80 Pikachu.(Just guessing)

Originally Posted by Zidane

Yes, Unova is a far off region, I think we all know that. However, I don't see that as a valid excuse to retool Ash's character from the mature trainer he was in AG/DP...to the sudden juvenile idiot he is now. They could have kept him the same way he was in DP, and still had his two current companions maintain their experienced nature. Ultimately, his rather grating change in persona, and skills just comes across as horribad writing.

Its often forgotten how Ash didnt started out as experienced trainer retaining all knowledge he gained before in previous regions either.Even at start of DP for example he did some crappy mistakes not seeming like Ash from AG and his Pikachu was nowhere near to level he had when beat Regice.

Ash usually gets toned down at start of every saga but he also picked up fully his experience in previous regions as well when using older pokemon and approaching toward last few gyms with writers barring rough start doing continuation of character development.

So while some can pertain this to "bad writing"indication and reference to Ash previous knowledge being provided in BW as well showing how maturity is still part of character should tell us how character hasnt been "reset to complete noob"from original series days.
It depends largely on characters which are forming cast in what manner Ash will interact and how will dynamic flow.And writers intention of mirroring BW games ad trying to portray Ash in light of foreigner which doesnt know anything about Unova along with trying to emphasize on Iris experience is giving our impression of character losing previous knowledge which in reality isnt the case.

There is nothing to say how he wont restore fully experience later on with past regions and anime still being treated as same show which has continuity going in his favor.

Him having trouble with Paul in D/P is entirely justified since Paul has the exact same amount of experience as Ash. Trip being better than him makes absolutely no sense whatsoever since Trip is a new trainer.

Never has Ash been as reset as this. Never. Pikachu's power may be somewhat suspect at times, but the stuff in B/W is just crazy and ridiculous given Ash's experience. Its not just the characters either, when Ash himself has trouble handling a got damn Pokeball in the beginning of Unova. The fact that they allude to earlier points in the series is facepalm worthy because it goes against the very obvious reset itself.

Trying to portray him as a foreigner is stupid considering how many travels Ash has had, especially compared to Iris, Cilian, and Trip. To say that he can't handle himself in a new land completely undermines all of his journeys save for Kanto. Ash is a cultured and experienced individual, not a child who can't handle these ridiculous setbacks that B/W has given him.

Unova Ash is just a more calm version of Kanto Ash and maybe equal in skill to Johto Ash. Damn, it seems as if were discussing different people when its all the same character, thats how you know its bad...

Badbadbadbad! Bad for Team Plasma (us fans)...or Plasbad for short!

How, exactly, is Unovan battling any different from Kanto or Sinnoh battling? As far as I can see, Unova shares Kanto's love of colorful lines and streamers because the writers are lazy and can't be bothered to actually draw the background it's colorful and kids love colorful stuff, and all three share the "yell commands at creatures that don't speak human languages", and the accents are all basically the same, aka different kinds of white people. So saying that Ash has regressed thanks to battling style differences is really quite bizarre since Pokémon battling is Pokémon battling, whether you like it or not.

To supplement the above, Ash didn't know anything about Johto, Hoenn, or Sinnoh before he arrived to any of those regions (except for knowing there'd be new species to see there, so... the same shit he learned about Unova before arriving there). Unova's the first region where Ash suffers a long-term regression and the excuse of "excitement" of being in a new region like Unova falls pretty damn flat when Ash has gone through this experience three times prior; the only real difference here is that Ash had to get to Unova by plane instead of a boat (total non-factor) and that Unova only contains species native to it, which still isn't really grounds for being overly excited since Ash was still eager to see new species in the other regions as well. How many new ones there were to see shouldn't matter.

The only real "new" thing Ash had to adjust to in terms of battling was the Battle Club, and even that didn't really change anything about how battles worked. We're even seeing Ash acting like he's never seen certain non-Gen V moves before, too. It's a terrible mix of laziness and inconsistency that could've been avoided if they had just reset Ash proper in the first place.

You know, I would be a little more sympathetic towards Ash's position in BW, and I think that I would be open to have Ash possibly show Iris (and Cilan too) some things that he's learned from his past travels so that she can be a bit more humble and slightly more mature on this journey. But because of how Ash is being potrayed in BW, I have absolutely NO problem with Iris and Cilan being displayed as just as competent trainers as he is. Here's why.

Observing how Ash behaves in BW, what can Iris and Cilan really learn from him? It's almost as if Ash never won over 40 gym badges, captured lots of pokemon, battled E4 members, seen legendaries, or participated in regional league tournaments. Iris emphasizes type matchups more than he does, and Cilan explains pokemon details that Ash may not know of. Because of that, it kinda adds insult to injury on the development of Ash's character because the things that took place in his past have all been slowly phased out over time. And because Ash is a foreigner in a faraway land (and it's a bit overemphasized that Unova is further from the other regions IMO) and these pokemon are new to him, he's treated like a rookie, run-of-the-mill kind of trainer who is subject to re-learn everything about pokemon all over again only to have it erased and reset at the beginning of the next generation.

Not only that, but to justify this reset that Ash has been dealt with, he's given the "newbie foreigner" treatment so heavily in Unova stuck permanently on 10 years of age just for the sake of the kids in the target audience to relate to him...For people who have been watching Ash since the 90s, for over a decade, it's understandably very frustrating watching this never-ending cycle of recycled plotholes. Sometimes, it just makes you wanna throw up your hands in the air over him and just say "dammit writers, he's been at this for over a DECADE now, just let him win, let him have it, and get it over with!"

I don't think it would have been so hard to keep Ash as he was in DP. The writers excuse, of there not being a "newbie girl", therefore Ash has to be the idiot is lame. How about making everyone in the group competent from the start? That would be a switch. But given that Unova is suppose to be the "new Kanto", we gotta have Ash fumble around like a dumbass...because there just has to be a rookie portrayed in the group.

Ash's character has been totally reset. You'd think he was just beginning battling!!! I mean, he acts like a total idiot when it comes to battling. Like, really?! Using Oshawott against Pansage when it would've been easier to use Tepig?! Sigh... It's like he likes pain or something.

And I don't understand why Ash acts like no one else has existed in previous seasons. He could at least mention the guy(Brock) who's been with him prior to this point. Or maybe think about Paul and their battle or something...

I think the fact that the writers went out of their way in the first episode to state he was 10 years old was the first sign of the reset.

In BW055 he was tricked into a battle where hew wagered his Scaggy that's hella derailment of his character and very much resembles "Bad to the bone". I mean DP Ash would find a least one whole in her Swiss cheese speech.

He's always been reset every time a new region starts -.-

Originally Posted by Destiny Queen

He's always been reset every time a new region starts -.-

No he hasn't. Kanto to Sinnoh was the exact same person with simple maturity and character growth happening over time.

Originally Posted by Blue1225

No he hasn't. Kanto to Sinnoh was the exact same person with simple maturity and character growth happening over time.

Well, look on the bright side: Ash's intelligence has barely changed from his Kanto days to his Unova days. At least that's something we can all be thankful for.

Well, his non-battling intelligence. His battling prowess was reset however. But we all knew that.

Oh! I thought of another thing that Unova Ash and "Classic" Ash (Kanto-Sinnoh) have in common! They're asexual celibate ten years old ignorant of romance! So that's something. And they both have a Pikachu!

Other than that, yeah, he's pretty much been reset. Hoenn to Sinnoh Ash didn't forget how to battle with anything not named Pikachu; Early Sinnoh Ash didn't go from winning the BF to forgetting to weaken the first Pokémon he captured.

You know I miss the days when I used to tell people that Ash's character actually matured and became a better trainer over the course of the show, that he was no longer the same, "idiot" he was in Kanto with all unevolved Pokemon. Sadly...I don't think I can say that anymore.

Well, at least for 8 years, from AG through DP...we had our glimpse of, "mature, experienced Ash," and essentially everything Ash's character was striving to be.

It was nice to see Ash grow up...at least for a little while.