Random: As The Pokémon Anime Hits 1000 Episodes, One Thing Is Clear: Ash Sucks At Pokémon

What do you expect? The anime has always been terrible, it's a glorified 30 minute advertisement for the series, the characters do virtually nothing the entire series. The only thing that ever really made it popular was that we were kids and didn't really know what good writing was.

This reminds me of how they changed the theme song over the years to remove the emphasis on catching Pokemon and more on battling. Or so I've been told since I stopped watching back in gen one.

@DonSerrot He's not even that good at battling. He's entered 6 Pokemon leagues and never won a single one. Heck, most of the time he doesn't even make it to the Top 4.

The one that Nintendo uploaded on Youtube/3DS anime channel is the real Pokèmon anime.

@SanderEvers Wasn't he around 15 on X&Y?

The argument on the tweet is really bad, by the way. 300 hours is not much at all for 77 Pokémon. That's around 4 hours per creature. Of course, in reality he probably would've trained for thousands of hours between episodes.

Then again, if he was a proper, unbeatable trainer, would the show be worth watching? I don't know, I'm not into Pokémon in the first place.

Well...
Being a 10 years old Forever, how could you expect he will be like a 30 years old Pokemon trainer with a lot of experiences ?

That's the funny thing about Pokemon, it paved the way for many similar toyetic or game-based shows, like Beyblade and the like, but in most of those the main character usually wins the tournaments, defeats the bad guys and is generally the strongest in one way or another. But Ash has always been terrible at this, initially being undeservedly arrogant as well. So in a way the trendsetter breaks the trend.

@Bolt_Strike Isn't the person who wins usually some rando who isn't even interested in Pokemon at the start of the season who Ash "inspires" to give it a try? I bet he'd get farther if he didn't ditch his team the moment he set foot in a new region.

I watched just about every episode up until about episode 9 of X and Y. No real reason why I stopped, just couldn’t find the time. I’m glad it’s still around. Ash might get a brain wipe every time he switches hats, and Pikachu might lose his probably 100 levels and likely perfect EV and IVs every time he goes to a new region, I will always have fond memories of the show.

The main thing I hated about the show was the weak "it's okay to lose" lesson for every single season.

Ash really should have at least won one league. They really screwed the pooch with the ending of last season.

I've always wondered why the player character in games is (almost) always the special chosen one who gets all the special abilities and cool, mystical crap.

Then I look at charaters like Ash and I'm thankful we get the most exciting journeys.

At what point does Ash not think to himself, "What the bloody Hell am I doing? I am obviously crap at this" give up, go back home and get a paying job.

Ash throughout the anime has become a rude and egotistical donkey but no one calls him out for it But instead, thinks he’s so chivalrous and Brave is what really pisses me off. Other notable things that piss me off is Ash always tell pikachgu to use normal type moves like tackle instead of thunderbolt or irontail like he always do whenever he fights a ghost type Pokémon or how he always feel the need to act cute by “participating” in the training with his Pokémon in the most stupidest ways or how his level 100 pikachu always lose to a lv5 starter Pokémon in each region.

I loved the short pokemon episodes the most with Red in it.

It's a real shame how many people don't understand the significance behind the message Ash sends through his journey, training, wins, losses and the friendships he makes both with people and Pokémon along the way. I suppose it's something that doesn't translate well into words. You just understand it or you don't I guess.

Either way I enjoy the anime 😄

XYZ was a really good series - ash should have won the league in that one - I'm still salty about that

He is sticking to it.....there is something to be said for persistence......then again it's a cartoon so as long as someone is entertained by it the rest doesn't matter?

He caught only 77 Pokemon cause is not a monster like the average player.
He met almost all 800 Pokemon, legendaries included, but he admired them in their habitat and only caught the ones willing to join him.

When you think about it, Ash is the only real Pokemon trainer, he really loves and care for them, while we are just awful souless monsters attacking and kidnapping any innocent Pokemon we find in the wild, ruining their life and taking them away from their homes and families only to get a bunch of experience points and a pat on the back from some tree-named professor...
...
...
..May Arceus have mercy of our dark corrupted soul ;w;

I still think Team Rocket are the best part/only good thing about the show, mostly Team Rocket focused episodes such as Go West Young Meowth or Ignorance is Blissey.

I was obsessed with pokemon blue, yellow, silver and the show until the Pokemon 2000 movie, then suddenly I moved on to other things. I occasionally sit down to replay my old games or watch the pokemon show I did when I was a kid, but other than Pokemon Go until 3rd gen I haven't felt that same obsession.

This is why I preferred Red. Or any player character from the games.

Remember when Ash caught 30 Tauros? He doesn't even use them.

Oh and he got someone else to train his Charizard because by his own admission he wasn't good enough to do it.

@BakaKnight I agree with you, actually. What makes things worse is how the rest of us will shamelessly breed pokemon with their own parents! Sometimes not even 5 minutes after they're born! Ash is the real MVP when you consider it like that.

That became really obvious to me when Ash only brought one Pokemon (Palpitoad) to his Gym battle with Elesa in the Black & White arc.

@Bolt_Strike @Zuljaras The only reason he lost the last one was due to the writers. This is how it is every series. It's like they're afraid they're going to write themselves into a corner if he wins one.

@Snow-Dust Ash hasn't had Pikachu use Quick Attack for quite some time, nor has he used Tackle for eons for that matter.

When was the last time you watched the show? Cause it sounds like you've been away for a while.

The show was amazing until Hoen. It recovered a bit by DP and XYZ, but the lows are so low that is hard to follow.

@KingdomHeartsFan Wet and wimpy is my new favorite description of someone/something that sucks. 😂

@liljmoore Fact of the matter is that is it okay to lose, but I do agree. Ash should've won the League during the XYZ season. Like I said above, it's like the writers are afraid they're going to write themselves into a corner if he wins one.

@Zuljaras @The-Chosen-one @Randomname19

Exactly! The adaptations of the game story were much better than the main anime. The main anime never changed because they kept it children focused, but the games delved into some deeper topics. They included those topics in the main anime somewhat, but they sugar-coated them a lot. Of course the games aren't as deep as the Deus Ex's or as intense as the Doom's of the world, but they are much deeper and more fun than the main anime. Also, Ash suuuuuuuucks as a trainer. 🙃

And Red managed to catch 150 in a fraction of that time

Ash is a loser, and Tai Kamiya will ALWAYS better an anime hero than Ash. That's why I gave up on Pokémon after XYZ, and made it a point to get all of Digimon Adventure Tri.

@MegaVel91 That is definitely a good lesson for kids to learn. I don't care for shows or games that don't incorporate that message into their story, it takes away the suspense. The problem is the fact that Ash hasn't matured in any significant way nor has he really learned anything meaningful since his journey started. The first series could have been the best in that regard because he was making actual rookie mistakes, Electric vs ground for example, but they threw all of that out the window when he beat Onyx with sprinklers. Then the series got progressively worse in so many ways. There are so many iconic moments from the Pokemon games that they could have made into epic set pieces, but instead we got a guy who can't train or evolve his Pokemon effectively. 😓 Hopefully it doesn't sound like I'm attacking you, that was not my intention (or was it?! 😈). Jokes aside, I just dislike the execution of the Pokemon anime and the fact that it won't change because it's so popular. I really want more Pokemon Generations! 😢

Well, how many animals did you guys catch since 1997?

I've been watching since the beginning, though there are seasons I've seen more of than others.

I think Ash is a great trainer. And at times, I wish the game were flexible in the ways that Ash strategizes and thinks on his feet when it comes to battling. I think the more accurate assessment is that he sucks at catching Pokemon.

My favorite episode? That's gonna be a hard one seeing as we are at 1000. I may have seen about half of those and many once or twice. If I had to pick an earlier episode, The Water Flowers of Cerulean City is a fun one. And its ripe with some of the early, crude humor the show you used to have. You also got to learn more about Misty

Actually, the most recent S&M Ultra Adventures episode was really good and I thought one of the better episodes involving legendaries.

"He's only 10."
The thing is, you can't use his age as an excuse. There are plenty of AMAZING trainers playing main games or Pokemon Go who are 10 or younger.

77 Pokemon? Does that include the ones he just gave away?

@Zuljaras If they take the same approach as Breath of the Wild (very open world, voiced cutscenes, cool places for legendaries and rare stuff, and a cool approach to dungeons/gyms) I will be a happy camper. 😄

@RadoGoji It should count those as well. Although, if it counts evolutions, that would mean he caught even less than that, probably around 60 Pokemon. I guess there's a reason his name rhymes with trash. 😂

@Zuljaras Remakes would be awesome. What I really want is a Pokemon World game that encompasses all of the regions, though. That would be a dream come true. 😍

@Tyranexx I don't know if I'd call it soap opera like (and this coming from some who actually watches daytime soap operas and knows how they are). I mean, they've certainly become more dramatic (at least XY and XYZ did at various points). Sun and Moon, I feel, has gotten back more to the goofy side of the series. Though its not without its serious moments.

I figured out that Ash was not the trainer to emulate as a kid. Considering that I started watching the show hoping it would give me tips on the games I stopped watching it quickly.

@MegaVel91 just watch him in every season when he fights a ghost type for the first time in that season, he would always use a normal type move for god know reason. There was the dusklop episode that I remember and also another in X and Y episodes but I quit because the “running gags” are so bad and cringeworthy like that blonde hair kid and his stupid technology with stupid name and that it never work, or how about Ash is the rudest person I’ve ever witnessed like how he barged into the champions room without knocking on the door, has it ever cross his mind that it’s rude to barge into someone’s room like that? Or maybe the fact she may be changing or doing something private? And what about the time the female protagonist made some food (I think they are buns or something) and ash just took one without letting her finish explaining nor did he asked or even showed appreciation and then followed up that it is actually super spicy. Overall, Ash really makes the show not enjoyable.

Oh and his stupid Pokémon training is just beyond stupid, trying to teach Treeko how to use bullet seed and that loser ate watermelons to do it, there was something about corkfish as well with the waves, or how he wants to be stupid with Froakie’s ninja training and what is his purpose of holding the log like an idiot in Hawlucha aerial ace or something. Just stay out because you are hindering their training you piece of useless turd.

Thinking about the anime just gets me super angry because the series can be good if it wasn’t for Ash who needs to use a tackle on every ghost type in every new region. I don’t care he doesn’t use tackle anymore, fact still stands he uses some kind of normal type move and then we have Brock or whoever the unfortunate soul is that is following him to point out his stupidity that normal type moves don’t work on ghost types.

This comment section is full of Genwunners

Is this counting the 30 Tauros he caught at one time

Being the best has nothing to do with catching every single Pokemon. In fact, it's an impossible quest because one's best can always improve. Also, blame the writers. In the film Ash and his team go toe to toe against legendaries. He's not sucking there, all the time.

I'll just share this:

https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/general_discussion/the_big_problem_with_the_pokemon_anime_-_an_essay_and_a_rant_warning_long

This should explain where everything went wrong with the Pokémon anime.

@Snow-Dust @Spectra @Damo XY and XYZ were phenomenal. Yes he lost the league, but it's also the season with the best and most mature villain arc, excellent character development, great music, awesome characters ... that series (particularly XYZ) was absolutely amazing. Ash also fully evolved all his Pokemon for once and actually had all of his prior battling experience, and acted like a veteran (as he is) around his other friends. It's a shame they reverted back to the goofy approach in Sun and Moon.

@Dog I read your posts in the forums. You made some good points. And like you I was pretty disappointed by the league loss as well. But it is what it is — Ash definitely should've won that, but the producers or whoever were too afraid to let him do that.

I don't think that, as terrible as it was, should detract from everything else XY and XYZ did so, so, well. Like the Team Flare arc, which was something so in-depth and mature I never expected to see in the Pokemon anime before. The characters had excellent development, and while Ash lost, he still was far more talented than any previous season. I loved how they explored the effects of Team Flare after the finale, instead of just saying "villain defeated - everyone happy again!" And the music was phenomenal too.

Just saying, don't focus too much on the league loss. Yes it's unfortunate, but the ending of one episode shouldn't detract from how great many of the episodes were, right? XYZ was the first time I watched the Pokemon anime not for nostalgia, but because I was actually interested in what would happen next episode. It was a genuinely good series, even with the league loss.

Edit: @Aurumonado You might find this post interesting as well.

@KingdomHeartsFan Dawn was the reason why I personally had stopped watching the newer episodes of the Pokemon anime and only watched the Kanto, Johto, and Orange Islands episodes including the movies based on both the Johto and Kanto Pokemon anime episodes until the day I personally had permanently stopped liking both anime and Pokemon all together.

He's a crap trainer because...

Since he's a recycled protagonist, he needs to keep relearning basic things every new region in case the audience just started watching at that region.

While there is nothing wrong with the "power of friendship" trope, the Pokemon anime is very blatant with it, often preaching the benefits of "friendship" over strategy, and Ash's Pokemon in particular becoming more resilient and powerful during battles specifically because he cheers for them and "loves them" more than his opponent's Pokemon. This makes very few of his victories feel earned.

Makes a fine crossdresser though.

@Tyranexx The jelly donut thing from one Pokemon dubbed by 4KidsTV is exactly one of the main reasons why 4KidsTV was and still is even in this day in this day in age memed to death by the Internet.

Ash's goal is to be a Pokemon Master which doesn't actually mean catching every single Pokemon. Also the Pokedex doesn't work the same way in the anime as it does in the games all he has to do is see a Pokemon for it to get it's data. Anyone who has watched the anime knows Ash is more interested in battling and seeing new Pokemon not actually owning them.

why hasn't red got his own 30 min animated television Pokemon series yet?

I love Pokemon, but I can't take it seriously when it's still this same darn kid after 20+ years. I kind of wish each region got its own unique protagonist.

@Angelic_Lapras_King

The sheer amount of crossdressing in that show is kind of amazing when you think about it. Although I can only think of 3 or 4 times when Ash needed to go incognito as a girl. James has probably crossdressed 50 times or so over the course of the series.

@Bolt_Strike Something went wrong in Johto and the show never truly recovered. The first season was much of the time a spoof. You could watch it for the comedy routines reminiscent of the likes of Rumiko Takahashi. Just look at things like Misty's mood swings in the earliest episodes, and it's no coincidence in my opinion how two anime with yellow electric mascots are as popular as they are.

@Ralizah

Ashley- Season 1
Some character of the week named Juliet- Season 7
Ash Maid- Season 11
Princess- Season 16
Nurse- Season 21 (Current)

Yes, I'm weird. XD

@Aurumonado At least it was a good fight? I don't watch the anime, but the impression I got from others is that XY anime was good (relative?) and Ash at least went down fighting in the league. I DO remember watching him lose in Sinnoh though and it really made me wonder how anyone could watch it. Just a completely demoralizing loss against someone with a Darkrai that swept most of Ash's team... And then Latios after that...

That's not a "Losing is ok" lesson for kids, it just teaches them that curb stomping people with uber legendaries is pretty easy.

Holy Matrimony is one of my favorite episodes. Never seen it? You should

I think everyone blames the wrong person. The gods of his universe (the writers) are cruel and wipe out almost every knowledge he had on pokemon every once in a while, they don't let him grow, and most importantly, every time he's about to win an important battle somehow he ends up losing, even when he's clearly the better trainer like on X/Y season.

Considering all of these curses and the fact that he begins with new pokemon quite constantly and yet he keeps winning and even tends to reach higher places in each league, Ash is actually a prodigy. He's like... using level 30 pokemon against level 80 and 100 with just the power of friendship or any other crap and he manages to win. One could argue that his pikachu makes the difference, but nah, pikachu gets a reset every new season, just like Ash.

The Pokemon anime is a double-edged sword for me. The first season was light-hearted, off-beat, and interesting as Ash went on his adventures earning badges, catching pokemon, and later competing in the Pokemon league in Kanto. His journey actually showed charecter development like character development when he defeated the Orange Island league and headed to Johto. Johto was my favorite as Ash became a stronger trainer, more serious battler with a more diverse team, and Misty and Brock actually treated Ash like a friend, rather than mocking him because they gave him "two gym badges". He also beats Gary and actually has Charizard obey him. I especially love Master Quest. BUT....

When the show got rid of Misty and replaced it with MAY and made Ash give up all his Pokemon except Pikachu it was so upsetting. That's when the show really pushed its franchising angle and stopped developing the story line. Personally since that season haven't like any others. Don't even get me started about Diamond and Pearl, Black and White, or XYZ. The voice acting is horrible....and the journey never seems to end. What is most depressing is that Pokemon franchise cares more about the money than it's fans. Pokemon anime will leave a legacy of coporate greed and lackluster children's programming at best.

The writers were probably scared to write a new main character since kids watched the show mainly for Ash and his Pikachu. Unlike other shows, they had the same character with seasons not maintaining the same quality where other Anime have different main character for it's quality. The worst thing they did was replacing supporting characters. The same could be said with Ash age stuck at 10 or be more mature. Instead, they make revisions. Also I know that Ash can't win a league since people will brand him famous and stuff, but can't he at least win a one or two OFFICIAL ones? It's not gonna be a big deal if he explores to another country/island far away so why are they writing like that? I've never understood that

By the way, I've tried watching some newer seasons and Im not the person to be stuck with old nostalgia nor a Genwunner, but the quality just isn't the same with the first few seasons with Brock and Misty. The fights for the newer seasons were cool, but I love the interaction with the old crew instead. And the Mewtwo, Lugia and the Unknown movies were the best of the best imo.

@BakaKnight
He can't have mercy. He's currently stuck in box 10 with my caterpie and pidgey!

Well, at least Ash has a smooth and deep voice!

I think you suck at life, while ash might not have filled his dex he had met more legendaries and befriended more pokemon than most he also understands what it means to be a true master, he had let so many of his 'mon make their own choice, and also why reference the stupid Go game, my pokebank has every single pokemon in it, I've been following pokemon since 97' 98' until today, from kanto to aloan, so if you want to call a fictional charector stupid, maybe you should tAke a look at your own life 1st.

Yeah he never did win a single league. Idk, the show and movies were always way too formulaic for me to ever be truly interested. I only watch it on occasion because pokemon is my daughter's most favorite thing ever.

It did have some funny and sad moments though.

So are the Pokemon he has released being counted? Also what about the legendary one's  hes helped out? Plus this show is a good way for kids to learn that losing can make you stronger and to be respectful.

The original series, Kanto up untill the end of Johto is where the series still had its heart (although Johto already became to commercialized and had many fillers).

I can understand the dillemma of the writers though, its not Ash perse but Pikachu who kinda caries the franchise on a mainstream level and its his dynamic with Ash that kinda helps. What they couldv done to keep it fresh is to have Ash grow up but then it would slowly cater less to kids.

I left the Anime when Hoenn started also because other similar Animes where much more fun to watch because of better writing.

Even Digimon which i perceived as a copy Pokemon is actually a much better Anime a later figured out. Medabots was also similar to Pokemon, just as goofy and colorful but much more interesting storyline that beats Pokemon main Anime by miles.

Stopped watching after Pokémon Johto. Just hated that the voice cast changed, and the animation and story got worse. couldnt take it anymore. This new Pokémon movie on the horizon looks interesting though. Would love to see Studio Gibli take a run at the series.

THIS! THIS is the reason I was overjoyed that the last movie had its own continuity and started fresh. That version of Ash is already miles better in terms of consistency, training and goal achievement.

@greengecko007 @Aurumonado Yeah I gotta agree with green gecko here - it was definitely unsatisfying to watch the end result, but at least we were genuinely unsure whether Ash would win or not. Sinnoh's championship finale made it completely obvious Ash would lose.

@Angelic_Lapras_King @Ralizah @Angelic_Lapras_King Interestingly, I think Ash cross-dressed in every single region except Kalos (XY and XYZ). Instead Serena cross-dressed in that one (as Ash), and it was pretty hilarious to see the queen of all things girly try to act like a boy.

@shadow-wolf he missed out in Johto.

The last ever season I saw of Pokemon was the Hoenn region and it's the one before the Battle Frontier season. After that I just gave up on the anime altogether because of the same oh lame oh storyline depicting Ash losing and the fact that I grew out of Pokemon by then. I still play the games but had no time to continue watching the anime. The only time I return to Pokemon was the Mew and Lucario movie and the Pokemon Origins OVA other than those the Pokemon anime to me is long passed and yes I too grew tired of Ash.

Ash is the worst thing about the anime. They've gotten rid of EVERY charcter except Ash and Pikachu for the Sun and Moon series (and perhaps a few side characters such as Mr. Mime and Ash's mum, who rarely appear on the show anyway). They really should have had Ash win the Kalos league and introduce a fresh protagonist for the shows 21st season (Hau perhaps, who is no more annoying than Ash). Team Rocket have long worn out their welcome too, and one can only suspend their disbelief for so many seasons at the notion of a band of incompetant fools pursuing a common-as-Caterpie Pokémon such as Pikachu.

Yeaaaaaaaaaah I stopped after the third season.

@Sanangelo89 Digimon was made by Bandai/Namco as a male oriented V-pet similar to their successful Tomagachi line. It then went on to produce the first Digimon World title, which combined V-pet and JRPG. The anime came after this, and while it unfortunately came out too close to Pokemon' s popularity, watching it will quickly help anyone to understand that it was different on a core level.

Pokemon is about catching, collecting, and tournaments.

Digimon is about bonding with one partner (sometimes two, rarely more than that), spending your time raising them from a child to an adult and beyond, and usually also has a centralized goal that needs accomplished. An imminent threat and a conclusion to each story arc.

I guess the reason people like to debate stems from their names, but that confusion comes from how Japanese media was localised back in the '90s. When you spell them out completely: "Pocket Monster" "Digital Monster" It then becomes more obvious that they're two literal concepts pushed together to create a name. This is common with Japanese name creation.

@TheTetrisGuy That is basically identical to my history of the Pokémon anime.

I always loved the the TV series, it saved my life when I was really sick mentally and lived in hospital. The only thing I had to look forward too was the next episode of Pokémon and I got up at Sundays every week at nine to watch it. It was the only reason I didn’t end my life and it’s also the reason I got into the games and bought my first gaming console: a Nintendo DS lite to play my first Pokémon game, Pokémon Diamond. I was around 20 then. That was after about 6 years of watching the anime every Sunday. And I own every Pokémon game released since then.

The Pokémon anime is basically the reason I ended up as a gamer.

And: I don’t really think Ash is trying to complete the Pokédex, he is trying to become a battling champion. There is actually a difference. I have to say that he gets pretty brainwashed a little bit too often, but that’s probably the side effect from being forever 10 years old.

The important thing is that he's a Pokemon TRAINER... not a Pokemon collector.
Unlike in the games, he's not given his Pokedex with the task of completing it... if anything it's already virtually complete, so it's more of a tool for him to use to help him train.
And that's exactly what he does... he trains... he's always trying to get better... starting over with just Pikachu in each region to constantly challenge himself.
The one time he actually succeeded in his challenge (the Battle Frontier) he was given the opportunity to become a frontier brain, but turned it down, saying that he wanted to travel (and therefore train) more.
Ash is always saying that he wants to be a Pokemon Master, but that doesn't actually have any real meaning within the franchise... it's just something Ash says... it seems like he just uses it to make it sound like he has a specific objective when he doesn't... he's constantly moving his objective so that he can keep training.

Don't forget about the fact that he's probably the most boring protagonist you could ask for.

I would had used a better word for describing the "Ash" mentioned in the title of the article if I were its author.

"Have you been watching from the start, or are you a relative newcomer, enticed by the popularity of the recent video games?"

I used to be very interested in watching it between the calendar years 1998 and 2001 (when it was just beginning). I still like some parts of it (mainly the characters named Jesse, James, Meowth, and certain characters named Nurse Joy), even though I had not seen an entire episode of it for many years and not had the urge to watch an entire episode of it for about the same amount of time.

Pretty late to this article, but nevertheless...

@Findonovan95

I completely agree. Yes, Ash wants to be a "pokemon master." But being a kind and caring trainer is far more important to him, when it comes down to it. He would rather have a smaller group of pokemon that he can actually form a bond with than a massive amount caught and shipped off to Oak's lab to collect dust. Yes, he wants to win each pokemon league. But he also understands that there things more important than that, and losing isn't the end of the world.

@BakaKnight

Exactly. When people play the games, all they generally care about is catching every pokemon and winning. Those are not the be-all and end-all for Ash. He actually cares about each individual pokemon. For him, his success in terms of winning battles comes after that in terms of importance.

@UmbreonsPapa

I actually feel the same way as you, when you said you wish that battles in the games were more flexible like they are in the series. That's one of the reasons that I eventually lost interest in the games - the simple alternating of turns back and forth (using moves that would have a predictable result) was less interesting to me. I like the more dynamic nature of them on the show.

Also, to those who said that it's pathetic that Ash hasn't won the league championship in 6 attempts: Considering the fact that there seem to be about 100 people in each one, if it were real life it would be far LESS likely that any one specific person would win even one. So it's actually kind of realistic. That said, I'll admit I was disappointed when he came SO close to winning in Kalos. After 19 seasons, I felt having him win it was warranted. But oh well. I still enjoy the show, for the most part - even though I'm well-aware of its flaws.

As for a favorite episode, one somewhat random one that always stuck with me was from season one, called "The Pi-kahuna." Just really liked it, and I miss that victory music on the show that played when the guy was surfing the huge wave near the end. (Which is also the music that plays inside of pokemon gyms in the games, I believe. But the version on the show back then, and in that episode, was always epic.)

Pokemon went downhill once Johto began. The series went from focusing on winning Pokemon battles (in the Indigo League) to helping out other trainers with their Pokemon. Look at the difference from the Indigo League how quickly Ash got his 8 badges and completed in the Pokemon league tournament in one season. In Johto it took Ash three seasons to collect all his badges and compete. Starting in Johto, each Pokemon episode was designed to introduce an individual Pokemon to viewers and the regional league was stretched out from one to three seasons. It also seems that during Johto, the show became more childish. In the Indigo and Orange Island episodes, the battles were intense and well played out, but from Johto forward, the battles seemed to become watered down. Even though the Johto episodes went downhill, I still stuck with the series until the Hoenn league began. That is when I had to stop watching. Starting from Hoenn, the show went downhill into a repetitive cycle that has continued onto today - Ash goes to a new region and leaves all his Pokemon behind except Pikachu, he meets a new female companion, collects badges, competes in a Pokemon League tournament and never wins, then the same cycle repeats itself over and over again in every new region.

If the plan for Pokemon to just go from new region to region, they should have had a new character take Ash's place. Granted, Johto was recent enough to the original Pokemon fad where Ash deserved to remain in the series, not to mention Misty was still at his side along with the nagging from his long time rival Gary. But when Hoenn began Misty and Gary got written off the show (at least as background characters with occasional appearances), that is when they should have written Ash off the show as well.
Maybe when Hoenn began, have Brendan as the main character alongside May (as in the Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire Games), then when the Diamond & Pearl episodes began have the main characters just Lucas and Dawn, and so on with each new region.

That is what Power Rangers did, which has been on tv longer than Pokemon. Could you imagine if they had Jason, Billy or Tommy as the main Power Ranger after 26 seasons. That is how Pokemon should have run the series with a new main male character each season, instead of keeping Ash as the ageless 10 year old boy who always loses and never gets better.

@shadow-wolf Naw, the league loss and the subsequent reset to Alola basically negated everything Ash did in that region, turning his entire experience into filler. That is a terrible ending.

As Mass Effect 3 showed, an ending can single-handedly kill an otherwise good story. The Pokémon anime is now in its Andromeda phase with Sun/Moon.

EDIT: I've got plenty more to say, particularly I plan to refute those who defend Ash and the anime. Stay tuned.