Is Ash actually the best?
- Thread starter jbwest31
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Well he obviously could be much better than he is. However, for all his faults, Ash is still one of the best trainers in the anime. If you take a look at how he fairs in each league, you can start to see this. He finished at least in the top 16 at every league he has participated in. He also won the Orange League, and the Battle Frontier. While this may not seem like great accomplishments, what makes it so darn impressive, is how he achieves these results.
As we know, Ash dumps his pokemon to start fresh at the beginning of each league. Obviously this is to promote new region's pokemon, but it certainly handicaps Ash. Ash was able to beat Paul in the sinnoh league with pokemon he had caught within the past year. Paul, on the other hand, was using pokemon he had for possibly four years (Sinnoh was Paul's 4th league comp). Imagine if Ash had kept a certain core group of pokemon and constantly trained them over the course of the show. He would have probably swept through most of the leagues.
Not only does Ash leave his league pokemon behind, but he also a lot of his pokemon don't evolve. His team would be so ridiculously OP if he changed this.
Can you honestly see this team losing
Raichu
Charizard/Infernape
Sceptile/Venasaur/Serperior
Kingler/Blastoise/Feraligator/Lapras
Tyranitar
Garchomp
All those pokemon with multiple league experience would make Ash one of the strongest trainers in the anime if not the strongest. Yet, without all this, he's still able to compete at the highest level of trainers.
As we know, Ash dumps his pokemon to start fresh at the beginning of each league. Obviously this is to promote new region's pokemon, but it certainly handicaps Ash. Ash was able to beat Paul in the sinnoh league with pokemon he had caught within the past year. Paul, on the other hand, was using pokemon he had for possibly four years (Sinnoh was Paul's 4th league comp). Imagine if Ash had kept a certain core group of pokemon and constantly trained them over the course of the show. He would have probably swept through most of the leagues.
Not only does Ash leave his league pokemon behind, but he also a lot of his pokemon don't evolve. His team would be so ridiculously OP if he changed this.
Can you honestly see this team losing
Raichu
Charizard/Infernape
Sceptile/Venasaur/Serperior
Kingler/Blastoise/Feraligator/Lapras
Tyranitar
Garchomp
All those pokemon with multiple league experience would make Ash one of the strongest trainers in the anime if not the strongest. Yet, without all this, he's still able to compete at the highest level of trainers.
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1. He is average.
2. Defeating Elite Four >>>>>>>>>> top 4 (only in Sinnoh)
3. He used old his Pokemon in Battle Frontier arc( lol beating Orange League).
4. Brandon didn't use all of his Regis. Also it was implied that he was searching for Regice after Ash's second defeat so there is a chance it was freshly caught.
5. As for the team given above he either released them or only befriended them or he didn't evolved most of them so how strong he would have been is irrelevant because you are claiming he is currently one of the best(which he isn't).
6. Other people can also have a fully evolved team so there is a big chance that he wouldn't have been a top trainer.
7. After reading the sections above you should arrive at the conclusion that he isn't able to compete with high tier trainers.
2. Defeating Elite Four >>>>>>>>>> top 4 (only in Sinnoh)
3. He used old his Pokemon in Battle Frontier arc( lol beating Orange League).
4. Brandon didn't use all of his Regis. Also it was implied that he was searching for Regice after Ash's second defeat so there is a chance it was freshly caught.
5. As for the team given above he either released them or only befriended them or he didn't evolved most of them so how strong he would have been is irrelevant because you are claiming he is currently one of the best(which he isn't).
6. Other people can also have a fully evolved team so there is a big chance that he wouldn't have been a top trainer.
7. After reading the sections above you should arrive at the conclusion that he isn't able to compete with high tier trainers.
LilBueno
Boy Wonder
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To go along with this, Ash is somehow still ten years old. If you suspend your disbelief enough to assume he's done that well in that many leagues in less than a year, that's quite the accomplishment for someone of any age.
Even if we ignore the "all that in a year" point, Ash is still a kid. Though it seems that most of the people Ash meets are in his age-range, he does seem to have accomplished more than most of them. As a kid, he's not mentally or emotionally fully developed yet, which explains some of his faults. An older Ash might become one of the world's best trainers.
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Nope!
Not until he win a League !
He reach D-Rank in Kento and stuck there since.
If a World Champion is S-rank then--
--World Champion : S-Rank
--E4 Champion : A-Rank
--E4 Member : B-rank
--Regional Champion : C-rank
--League-qualifier : D-rank
--Less then 8 badge : E-Rank
--No badge : F-Rank .
So You see , Ash is just a D-Rank trainer!
He barely can deal with other D-rank Trainer So forget about higher rank.
He's not the Best .
He's not even a good Protagonist ! All other Protagonist similar to him already became a champion while he stuck at Pokemon League for 20 year . Hack , Even all Other Pokemon Protagonist from other media doing better then him.
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He clearly isn't. However, since he's still ten, or maybe eleven (?) years old, he doesn't need to be the best. Most people get better at what they are doing, over the course of many many years and considering that Ash hasn't even hit puberty, he has still a lot of years of his life, that he can devote to becoming the best.
People can complain about him not aging at all, but at the end of the day, he's still a child and children do a lot of mistakes.
People can complain about him not aging at all, but at the end of the day, he's still a child and children do a lot of mistakes.
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Ash is not a bad trainer but he's not the best trainer. The anime represents his progress as better than it is because it's intended to convey the whole 'love and care and attention works better than efficient pragmatism' which is fine and all - I don't even disagree with it. But I do think that he could do better than he does.
Lizardo
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No.
See Satoshi and Serena's conversation in XY044, when he admits to her that he still has to work harder to accomplish his goal (which is to be the best). Or the final BW episode, when he's telling himself to "get stronger". A long-running theme of the anime is that there is always someone better, always new things to learn, new discoveries to be made, etc. That's not a message that'd get across as easily if Satoshi actually were the strongest.
I personally find it to be one of the most refreshing and believable things about the anime, in a genre filled with protagonists who win everything. No one is ever going to be "the best" at what they do – that's just a fact of life – so it's nice to see that replicated in a trainer who is skilled (more so than many fans give him credit for, anyway) but always has much to learn.
See Satoshi and Serena's conversation in XY044, when he admits to her that he still has to work harder to accomplish his goal (which is to be the best). Or the final BW episode, when he's telling himself to "get stronger". A long-running theme of the anime is that there is always someone better, always new things to learn, new discoveries to be made, etc. That's not a message that'd get across as easily if Satoshi actually were the strongest.
I personally find it to be one of the most refreshing and believable things about the anime, in a genre filled with protagonists who win everything. No one is ever going to be "the best" at what they do – that's just a fact of life – so it's nice to see that replicated in a trainer who is skilled (more so than many fans give him credit for, anyway) but always has much to learn.
Anime Sucks
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It's hard to tell because he's inconsistent. His accomplishments in Pokemon Leagues suggest that he is one of the best, but some of those non-league battles have made him look like a rookie.
Shukawariosenpai
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Ash relies solely on spirit and doesn't always evolve. He always has some pretty good strategies, but his pokemon are never as strong as some of the top gym leaders he faces.
WingedDragon
Competitive Trainer
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Hes bad. Rarely evolve anyone. I would think he wouldve won a Major Pokemon league championship by now. (Orange Islands doesnt count)
jfuze174
Elite Trainer Joey
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Honestly it's hard to tell at the same time the show has never put Ashs best six out there at the same time imagine ash having Charizard infernape , greninja , pikachu , and sceptile out there at once
LucarioFan3
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His strength as a trainer is laughably inconsistent. One moment he beats the Battle Frontier and even gets an offer to join them, and the next he's getting his butt handed to him by a Level 5 Snivy.
Guest123_x1
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After all these years, I think the picture is clear about Ash... he is far from being "the best", no matter how you define "best". If he really was "the best", he would have won a main series League by now (Orange Islands doesn't count since its league and gyms weren't featured in a main series Pokémon game).
He also wouldn't be frequently making stupid mistakes commonly associated with beginning trainers (especially in the B/W run.)
He also wouldn't be frequently making stupid mistakes commonly associated with beginning trainers (especially in the B/W run.)