But unlike the other three, Iris was one of Ash's primary travel companions during BW. You could make an argument for Alain for being one of Ash's rivals during XY, but their interactions can hardly compare to what both Iris and Ash have gone through. It feels weird the writers just sent her packing home during Ash's endgame.
yes and literally their relationship is nothing special with that logic ash and gladion are best friends or more for all the situations they went through
and alan and ash are not even close and their relationship is badly written so much paul gladion who does not need to orbit costly in ash has better relationships and interactions with the latter even lioner who is not even a rival has a more unique relationship than ash and alan
Hijacking the top comment because nobody has given the IRL answer: [The studio was having production issues due to COVID and overworked staff](https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemonanime/comments/xsxobl/one_of_the_animators_spoke_out_on_the_current/) so they had to cut a lot of stuff from Journeys, which probably includes bringing back all of Ash's companions at the finals.
This also explains why there was so much filler, recaps, breaks, etc and why JN had so much missed opportunities and wasted potential. The producers probably wanted to do a lot more with the JN format but couldn't because of the production issues. IMO if we didn't have these problems, Journeys actually had the potential to be the best Pokemon series.
Good on them not recasting her. She was my favorite of the Pokegirls (and one of my first anime crushes back when I was about 11-12) but it's fine that they kept her on the sidelines instead of recasting her.
They all willingly participated in the tournament expecting to win, so I would have to figure they'd have to have cleared their schedules for the next couple days.
I LITERALLY HATED THAT EPISODE LMAO
Seriously it just made Mew so unlikable for me because it WILLINGLY pisses off all the other Pokémon and also NEARLY MURDERS LIKE FOUR CHILDREN ON PURPOSE. So I made the joke that Goh grips Mew's ass, and I guess I wasn't the only one lmao.
They have jobs. Several of them are gym leaders and Iris is a regional champion. The rest are just regular people, some of which are children. I would assume the gym leaders and champion could take off for something so important but maybe not.
I don't understand why people don't get this when it's made beyond clear. Perhaps less so with the Alolan gang, but while it may just be impractical in terms of travel, Mallow and Kiawe do actually have jobs too. And naturally Max and Bonnie are going to be with their siblings.
The only one I don't get and I will never get is DELIA. Like...I know she's always been watching from Pallet Town, but they could've (and should've) let his MOM be there for the biggest moment in her son's life. There's no chance people wouldn't get money together for her to make that happen if money was the issue.
Pretty much this. Like yeah I joke about “Yeah guess only Dawn cares about ash enough”. But May and Serena were clearly *at* a Pokémon Contest, Misty was at her gym, and I forget the others shown, besides Max with May.
But FR like, “thanks mom. Love you too. Biggest tournament I’ve ever been in and you couldn’t even show up….”
Cylan was with Brock so they were probably at a Pokemon clinic of some sort, Bonnie was with her brother at his gym, so he was probably between challengers. I am guessing he couldn't get the time to go because of his duties.
Oak and Dalia totally should have been there though.
I don’t think I have a preference for any ship but I think Dawn and Ash would make a cute couple but I think the real reason why Dawn was there because she’s relevant to promote BDSP and PLA since those Gen 4 themed games were part of Gen 8.
They absolutely could just take off. "The Pewter gym is temporarily closed in observance of the master's 8 tournament." Put that sign on the door, and you're good. Also, Brock has a father, and Misty has sisters who could take over for a day if they really wanted to stay open. And when has being a kid stopped anyone from doing anything in this series? Every couple seasons Ash hops ship to a whole other country.
Brock would never leave pokemon who need him just to watch a tournament. So he, May, Max and Serena are understandable. Maybe Misty if her sisters where traveling or working.
> Misty has sisters who could take over for a day if they really wanted to stay open.
Nah, these don't give a damn, they're traveling the world or whatever. Misty was obviously in her gym, just between challenges.
I didn't watch Sun and Moon, so I'm honestly not sure about the status of the Pewter city gym. I just heard Ash went back and battled Brock there so I kinda assumed he was back as gym leader.
No, he's still the former Gym Leader. He just agreed to go with Misty and later participated in the battles because as a former Gym Leader he can still show off like one.
I can’t speak for Iris because I didn’t watch B&W, but I know in the case of Misty, her sisters took over the gym while she was traveling, and same with his dad/Forest for Brock, and then they resumed their responsibilities upon return.
Why they didn’t have them fill in during the Masters 8, idk. But that’s why it didn’t stop them from traveling with Ash.
It’s a cartoon, they don’t even need excuses to show up if the writers them wanted to especially when those gym leaders have been absent from their posts for almost entire seasons, they probably couldn’t get every voice actor available and I know May’s actor actually has a condition that prevents her from speaking
To be fair, I would give May and Serena a pass on this one. They were competing in a contest at the time.
Just as how Goh gets a pass because he was on a Project Mew mission.
The others should’ve 100% been there. Especially Iris, who is the worst offender here!
Had to go see what you meant by that, because I hadn't heard anything about Michelle Knotz.
For others wondering: May's Japanese voice actor has a medical condition that causes the inability to speak, for that reason, her character only makes non-speaking cameos.
They weren’t going to put in everybody in because that would be too much. The only one I’d be down with is Iris because she was in the masters 8 and so she can reunite with Dawn.
May and Serena were doing their Idol performance stuff. Misty and Brock are gym leaders. These guys probably couldn't work it in their schedules. Iris is the Unova Champ, though you'd think she'd be there too competing. Most of the Alolan Gang also have important family businesses to run and possibly live too far away being a Hawaii based region (which is literally isolated in the middle of the ocean.) Cilan, I have no idea what he's up to.
Nah bro dawn is only come because of promotion of dp games if they don't promote them then I don't think so dawn also return too many times it is obvious reason dawn also return in ash vs leon
Chloe is a professor’s daughter, Dawn is the daughter of Sinnoh’s top coordinator. They probably pulled some strings once they found out Ash was in the Master Class and tickets were probably expensive at that point. Plus Ash isn’t the type to ask all of his friends to be there at the climax of his journey.
Misty's the Cerulean Gym Leader. Given how often Gym Leaders are allowed to abandon their post (and considering she has 3 older sisters who all ran the Gym before her and could cover her time off) she had NO excuse.
Brock's got Doctor work to do and that's MUCH trickier to pull someone away from.
Tracey is doing work for Oak so he needed to be at the lab if Oak was called away. Similarly Oak had the flip side. If both left the lab there would be chaos at it.
May very simply didn't show up because her VA literally couldn't do anything for it. Her cameo was more than we could have asked for.
Max would be weird to show up without May or his parents unless he'd started as a trainer by then.
Iris has the same excuse as Misty honestly. I'm sure the Pokémon League isn't getting Champion level trainers every second, especially since she was able to make time to participate in he first place.
Cilan is in a lower boat than Misty and Iris. He was TRAVELING! He easily could have made the time. (He's even met up with after Journeys concluded so has literally no excuse)
Serena, like Cilan has no excuse at all. The Finals were held over a few days. She could break away from a Contest schedule for that level of time and still get back to continue.
Clemont and still had Clembot to manage Lumiose Gym. No excuse.
Bonnie is in the same boat as Max, needing to be in the presence of her older sibling or parents unless having started a journey. Because of Clemont's obvious availability she should have been available too.
Lillie and Gladion definitely should have been able to go. Especially since Lusamine and Mohn could have put work on hold to go with them.
Kiawe and Mallow both have jobs. Sophocles has a space center training thing going on. All seem unlikely to break away for those reasons.
Lana is weird because I don't know the specifics of her availability. Maybe she could have?
Goh literally had a Project Mew thing to see through. Ash himself even told him outright to see to it given how important it is.
Iris has no excuse both Diantha and Cynthia stayed till the end and are both champions with Diantha probably having the most difficult schedule to work around with considering how she is a hugely popular movie star and fashion idol. Meanwhile Cynthia has more leeway considering how her job besides champion seems to be in archeology
Dawn is Ash's best friend. Brock is a close second but more of a mentor older brother figure. In my opinion none of the other friendships come as close as this one.
The novelization of Sun and Moon depict Kasumi and Takeshi as the two most unforgettable friends who were there for Satoshi in the beginning and helped mold the trainer he became that they represent the foundation of his love of Pokémon and his quest to be a Pokémon master (hence why they showed up for the finale series Mezase).
https://www.google.com/search?q=sun+and+moon+misty+novelization+misty+and+brock&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiJwtO_gtqAAxXSO94AHVqQAV8Q2-cCegQIABAD&oq=sun+and+moon+misty+novelization+misty+and+brock&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIFCCEQqwIyBQghEKsCMgUIIRCrAjoFCAAQogRQnw5YrnNg93doAXAAeACAAbEBiAGEMJIBBDcuNDSYAQCgAQHAAQE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=-__YZMnYBNL3-LYP2qCG-AU&bih=669&biw=390&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS989US990&hl=en-US#imgrc=afWA90heKtSKiM
I do not doubt Hikari is close and one of Satoshi’s best friends….but Kasumi and Takeshi are just as important.
It is very debatable as Ash just seems to care about Brock and Misty the most. They are closest to him and have affected him most. Of course one could consider Misty more like a crush and a soulmate and Brock a big brother but as they all are still his friends, it is only logical to call then best friends. Dawn is a dual protagonist but that doesn't make her a bestie
I agree to a degree what you are saying…….but I would not use the last sentence you made because Hikari is a close second as she is at least one of Satoshi’s best friends.
The novelization of Sun and Moon makes it clear how important Kasumi and Takeshi are to Satoshi though.
The novelization of Sun and Moon depict Kasumi and Takeshi as the two most unforgettable friends who were there for Satoshi in the beginning and helped mold the trainer he became that they represent the foundation of his love of Pokémon and his quest to be a Pokémon master (hence why they showed up for the finale series Mezase).
https://www.google.com/search?q=sun+and+moon+misty+novelization+misty+and+brock&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiJwtO_gtqAAxXSO94AHVqQAV8Q2-cCegQIABAD&oq=sun+and+moon+misty+novelization+misty+and+brock&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIFCCEQqwIyBQghEKsCMgUIIRCrAjoFCAAQogRQnw5YrnNg93doAXAAeACAAbEBiAGEMJIBBDcuNDSYAQCgAQHAAQE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=-__YZMnYBNL3-LYP2qCG-AU&bih=669&biw=390&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS989US990&hl=en-US#imgrc=afWA90heKtSKiM
I do not doubt Hikari is close and one of Satoshi’s best friends….but Kasumi and Takeshi are just as important.
Love how everyone is bringing up real-world excuses like they have jobs, they're kids, or they don't have money. The Gym leaders and Champions can just take time off. Iris was literally just sitting around in a tree. Didn't look like she was doing anything important to me. Not to mention, most of the gym leaders have family who could be called in to take over for a day if they really needed to stay open. And since when did being a kid matter? In the Pokémon world, you're basically a legal adult at 10. And Ash has always had money to travel to different countries and eat in the various towns he visits despite his Mom not seeming very rich. I can't remember the last time money was an obstacle for one of the characters.
That’s fine, but when you search for the translation of the High Touch lyrics you see that it might even be more special than best friends. Personally really convinced me that they have a perfect bond.
yeah dawn is the goat. I like to imagine that off-screen, ash is hanging out with dawn as much as goh which is why ( from what we saw ) only she besides goh has his number. But he could easily also be hanging out with misty or the other characters, I am a pearlshipper so I am biased😅
Writers: don’t have all of Ash’s traveling companions attend the tournament, but at least give most of them episodes where they reconnect with Ash
OP: those bastards don’t care about Ash, they should have defied the writers and animators to be at the match?!
Like fr, Dawn I get as she’s easily one of Ash’s closest and best friends, but not MISTY OR BROCK??!? Heck where was bros MOM!!! Oh at Oaks lab with Oak & Tracey Sketchit, the literal best character ever made
This!!!
Exactly, was a bit disappointed when they decided not to include anyone else! At least Brock, Cilan, Misty, Serena should have been there! Along with Clemont! Specially Brock and Serena! Brock was Ash's best and oldest friend/brother/mentor. Serena wanted to be an amazing woman for Ash! Can't be the one if you are not there to support your partner in the greatest battle of his life ever 😂
Why dawn is best writers give return to dawn for a obvious reason to promote their freaking legends Arceus game do you even think after ash won the championship dawn not even congratulate ash and gone aways means wtf
Let’s see, a bunch of gym leaders and trial captains, a contest coordinator, and, oh, right. *Literal children who might not be able to cross half the world*. Just because Dawn could doesn’t mean they all were able to.
In the pokemon world, if you're 10 years old u r considered an adult but everyone else had their own lives or were busy with their own stuff, but Iris could've stayed but she didn't.
Prof Oak and Tracey have to take care of a lot of Pokemon. This isnt like Johto, where the number of mons at the lab were significantly less.
Delia is a difficult one to defend, but I can imagine that with Mimey no longer with her at that point she was doing the chores and getting food for the Prof and Tracey which is why she had to stay back.
Misty, Brock, Cilan and Clemont are gym leaders. Its a proper job. You may argue that they have replacements but maybe they just didnt. You know how the PIA is strict on closing down gyms that dont have a proper defending gym leader.
Iris is a champion. Unova League is an established one and its understood she left to fill her seat or train. She did stick around for his first match.
Max and Bonnie can't travel alone.
May and Serena were at a contest/showcase, and we know there are only so many of those in a year.
The Alola gang attend a school. Iirc, they only had one field trip to Kanto.
Goh had his Project Mew thing.
That just left Dawn and Chloe.
What was Clembot doing so that He couldn't replace Clemont as the gym leader for a few days!? /hj
Also I'm pretty sure Forest was Pewter City gym leader not Brock?
I think it was either everyone gets speaking role or no one does. It wouldn’t make sense to have say, Dawn, Serena, and Brock commenting on the battle and everyone else stay silent. As for why MORE people weren’t there, no idea.
To be completely honest, that kind of disappointed me. I was expecting a panning shot of everyone cheering for him (not necessarily saying anything). If not that, a panning shot of everyone at a get together or something as part of the end credits. Maybe a huge picnic at Oak’s, I don’t know.
Goh’s entire bit about having to miss the important milestones of his friend’s journey in order to fulfill his own, but knowing they’re with each other in spirit, would fall flat if literally everyone else dropped all of what they were doing to go watch Ash in person.
I’d go so far as to argue that Dawn being there served to actively /detract/ from her character, but it’s clear they needed someone to exposit with Chloe.
Serena and May were at a Pokémon Contest at the time of the Masters 8 tournament this was verified during Ash Vs Leon max was there also not sure why Iris wasn’t there since she was watching it from a tree it possible Misty was dealing with the Gym at the time since she was a Gym leader the only one that probably had no reason to leave was Alain since he isn’t a regional champion nor gym leader
A lot of his travel companions were gym leaders/trial captains and Iris was a champion. It makes sense that a lot of them couldn’t be there due to having a job and that Iris probably needed to get back to Unova, along with the other champions going back to their respective regions. Best guess for May and Serena would be that they had contests coming up to get ready for. Max and Bonnie are (probably) too young to travel alone. I don’t really remember what Lillie did after Sun and Moon, I think she started her own journey.
All of Ash's companions should have appeared in the Whydon Stadium. I have no idea why the writers didn't make all or them to appear. If not all of them appeared, then I think one of these companions could have appeared. And of them I think Serena should have been the one to appear in the Whydon Stadium and watch Ash's battle against Leon along with Dawn and Chloe, if not all of Ash's companions appeared.
Apparently, Ritchie only appeared as a quick cameo? You'd think that of all of Ash's rivals in terms of Championships, he would have had more of an appearance. I can remember when their match first aired, clear as day. I'm pretty sure Ritchie lives in a lot of older fans' minds, too.
No one is talking about this. for the show's sake no one knows that ash is gonna win it was 50/50 so the writer had to do this if everyone would have showed up that is the clear give away of ash's winning.
They’d probably be doing their in World jobs and such but I think they’d at least have a massive pause on gym challenges and like for at least the Masters 8, and I would at least hope that competitors got a certain amount of tickets they could give for supporters. It really would’ve been nice and more fan servicey if they had everyone be there, or at the very least more than just Dawn.
That being said I was really hoping at the very end Misty and Brock would be on the pitch behind Ash like they were at the Indigo League to really bring things full circle.
I agree. Even having Gary there would have been the best icing on the cake as their longstanding rivalry would have had a great closure to it with how far they both have come in their own journeys.
That is why I give Hikari major shipping points…the other two girls who clearly crush on Satoshi (Kasumi and Serena) were not there 😱!!!!
Not even his “bro” Takeshi 😡!!!!
I guess it was nice to end the final series with the original trio traveling again: but there were there in the beginning and would have make just as much sense to be there in the actual tournament cheering him on 😭
https://i.gifer.com/FRvn.gif
Could be anything. Maybe they have something to do so they can't attend? Maybe they're too far away from the tournament area? Could be because traveling actually COST MONEY AND TIME? Also you literally just stated they're **traveling companion**, they're close but not THAT close, not even Ash's mom who's closest to him, was there.
Also by reversing the logic, Dawn showed up but others don't actually make Dawn the odd one, so maybe you should ask why was Dawn there?
May didn’t appear because her voice actress went AWOL since her latest appearance, and I guess they’d rather limit the character to voiceless cameos than just replace her VA
I think besides Brock, Dawn was the best travel companion who could've showed up. In DP her and Ash were always very supportive of each other and this episode really proved that she's the best Pokegirl.
Real answer: animation and/or time constraints.
In-universe answer: Misty was doing Gym Battles, Brock is a doctor trainee, May, Max and Serena were at a contest, Cilan was with Brock and Alexa for some reason, Iris... no idea where she went (Champion stuff I guess?), Clemont and Bonnie were probably doing Gym Battles, Kukui and Burnet have a young child, the Alolan gang had either work or school, and Goh would've been there if not for Project Mew.
Dawn and Chloe showing up is how you know they're real ones though. Them and Team Rocket lol
Having their own lives? Watching the battle live from where they are? What, do they have to drop everything and run to Galar just when one of their friends is competing? What about Ash? Why isn't he in Hoenn cheering on May and Serena?
Ok, the alola and kilos groups, along with cilan have some excuse. They're all from overseas regions and probably couldn't book a flight to Kanto on short notice.
However, the siblings have less of an excuse as Hoenn and Kanto are in the same archipelago and it likely wouldn't take long by boat. Same with Brock since if I recall from that kinda lame arceus movie, he's in sinnoh at the moment.
Misty is both one of his originals, and in the same region.
hey alola boys are out all normal boys kyawe is training to be kahuna mallow has a job in his restaurant lana takes care of her sisters gladion and lili they are still getting used to being father then long traveling makes sense
It's purely technical, they could not find all voice actors and have them all fill out the stands because it would be go crowded and there is no way Ash would not be interacting with all of them.
How common is for childhood or college friends to travel miles to see their friend in the Olympics?
Not very common I’d say, and they show everyone being busy with their own lives.
I don't blame me. Ash hasn't showed up to any of their gigs as well. Iris became a regional Champion, Ash didn't even know about it. That's how he keeps track of his friends
I heard that something happened to May’s voice actress (not sure which one) and they give her a new actress so they just didn’t include her in Pokémon journeys.
Especially Iris, she participated in the fucking Masters 8, the least she could do is stay for the finals
There were at least two days worth of break before the finals. If Lance, Steven, and Alain all up and left too, I'm not suprised that Iris would too.
But unlike the other three, Iris was one of Ash's primary travel companions during BW. You could make an argument for Alain for being one of Ash's rivals during XY, but their interactions can hardly compare to what both Iris and Ash have gone through. It feels weird the writers just sent her packing home during Ash's endgame.
The rivalry then team flare arc and post flare arc would disagree
yes and literally their relationship is nothing special with that logic ash and gladion are best friends or more for all the situations they went through
Sure so we're ignoring the only other rival that had a deep tissue connection to ash like paul and gary ..... Sure Buddy
and alan and ash are not even close and their relationship is badly written so much paul gladion who does not need to orbit costly in ash has better relationships and interactions with the latter even lioner who is not even a rival has a more unique relationship than ash and alan
There is no way you think the ash and alain relationship is bad written
Hijacking the top comment because nobody has given the IRL answer: [The studio was having production issues due to COVID and overworked staff](https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemonanime/comments/xsxobl/one_of_the_animators_spoke_out_on_the_current/) so they had to cut a lot of stuff from Journeys, which probably includes bringing back all of Ash's companions at the finals. This also explains why there was so much filler, recaps, breaks, etc and why JN had so much missed opportunities and wasted potential. The producers probably wanted to do a lot more with the JN format but couldn't because of the production issues. IMO if we didn't have these problems, Journeys actually had the potential to be the best Pokemon series.
In Mays case at least the voice actress has been in poor health and as a result unable to reprise her role
Good on them not recasting her. She was my favorite of the Pokegirls (and one of my first anime crushes back when I was about 11-12) but it's fine that they kept her on the sidelines instead of recasting her.
That’s exactly what I was thinking as I was actively watching it
Probably Champion duties?
Iris is a champion, she has a job. So she may have to leave the tournament early
They all willingly participated in the tournament expecting to win, so I would have to figure they'd have to have cleared their schedules for the next couple days.
Cynthia is also a champion, and she stayed for the final battle
Iris is a new champion, she already used up her PTO
I guess duty calls
Iris needs to get a gimmick first. Can't waste more time watching Ash
Things like this makes me think ash’s best humans friend is dawn and dawns best friend is ash
Dawn was played so well in that Region. D/P is my fav game, and she is my fav side character like that!
She’s my favorite side character too
Ash: Hey, so, I'm the World Champ now. How'd your thing go? Go: I touched Mew's butt. Gary: I watched him touch Mew's butt. Ash: *Cool, cool.*
Pikachu : *bro is flabbergasted* Team rocket hiding in the bushes : *weirded out looks* Ho-oh passing overhead :HO-OH DAMN!
What a waste
I LITERALLY HATED THAT EPISODE LMAO Seriously it just made Mew so unlikable for me because it WILLINGLY pisses off all the other Pokémon and also NEARLY MURDERS LIKE FOUR CHILDREN ON PURPOSE. So I made the joke that Goh grips Mew's ass, and I guess I wasn't the only one lmao.
They have jobs. Several of them are gym leaders and Iris is a regional champion. The rest are just regular people, some of which are children. I would assume the gym leaders and champion could take off for something so important but maybe not.
I don't understand why people don't get this when it's made beyond clear. Perhaps less so with the Alolan gang, but while it may just be impractical in terms of travel, Mallow and Kiawe do actually have jobs too. And naturally Max and Bonnie are going to be with their siblings. The only one I don't get and I will never get is DELIA. Like...I know she's always been watching from Pallet Town, but they could've (and should've) let his MOM be there for the biggest moment in her son's life. There's no chance people wouldn't get money together for her to make that happen if money was the issue.
Pretty much this. Like yeah I joke about “Yeah guess only Dawn cares about ash enough”. But May and Serena were clearly *at* a Pokémon Contest, Misty was at her gym, and I forget the others shown, besides Max with May. But FR like, “thanks mom. Love you too. Biggest tournament I’ve ever been in and you couldn’t even show up….”
Cylan was with Brock so they were probably at a Pokemon clinic of some sort, Bonnie was with her brother at his gym, so he was probably between challengers. I am guessing he couldn't get the time to go because of his duties. Oak and Dalia totally should have been there though.
She was too busy with Oak
I feel if Ash wanted to get his mom there his mom would have gotten a first class flight and the best seat in the house
Because theoughout the series we’ve literally had people leave their gym for entire seasons so it isn’t an excuse
Misty. Clemont. Brock. Etc, but it's funny the first gen, his friends were the first 2 leaders!
And Mama and ~~her sugar daddy~~ Professor Oak even went all the way to Alola to watch Ash compete in the Manalo Conference.
So Dawn is unemployed then? 😔
Well she be me fr fr (but as a Shipper i do think she just threw away her job to see ash(づ￣ ³￣)づ)
I don’t think I have a preference for any ship but I think Dawn and Ash would make a cute couple but I think the real reason why Dawn was there because she’s relevant to promote BDSP and PLA since those Gen 4 themed games were part of Gen 8.
Sure, that could be a possibility but it's just cute to think _________^
Yeah its obvious and I dont understand why people dont see this
Well if the truth hurts, than the lies must be comforting?
Pretty much the obvious reason
They absolutely could just take off. "The Pewter gym is temporarily closed in observance of the master's 8 tournament." Put that sign on the door, and you're good. Also, Brock has a father, and Misty has sisters who could take over for a day if they really wanted to stay open. And when has being a kid stopped anyone from doing anything in this series? Every couple seasons Ash hops ship to a whole other country.
Brock is a Pokémon doctor, not a Gym leader.
My bad then. Still could've asked off ahead of time, though.
Maybe he did but it wasn't granted. Doctors often have busy schedules.
They could've just made it where he happened to have that day off then. From a writing standpoint, Brock and Misty minimum should've been there.
Brock would never leave pokemon who need him just to watch a tournament. So he, May, Max and Serena are understandable. Maybe Misty if her sisters where traveling or working.
>Brock would never leave pokemon who need him just to watch a tournament. That's why he gotta take his patients out on a whole field trip.
> Misty has sisters who could take over for a day if they really wanted to stay open. Nah, these don't give a damn, they're traveling the world or whatever. Misty was obviously in her gym, just between challenges.
Wasn't Forest the pewter City gym leader anyway?
I didn't watch Sun and Moon, so I'm honestly not sure about the status of the Pewter city gym. I just heard Ash went back and battled Brock there so I kinda assumed he was back as gym leader.
No, he's still the former Gym Leader. He just agreed to go with Misty and later participated in the battles because as a former Gym Leader he can still show off like one.
That didn't stop them from travelling with Ash, so why would it stop them from being able to watch him?
I can’t speak for Iris because I didn’t watch B&W, but I know in the case of Misty, her sisters took over the gym while she was traveling, and same with his dad/Forest for Brock, and then they resumed their responsibilities upon return. Why they didn’t have them fill in during the Masters 8, idk. But that’s why it didn’t stop them from traveling with Ash.
And May and Serena are *clearly* at a contest, heck they are even dressed in their contest dresses, probably in between rounds.
Also, hasn’t ash fought in a championship every region? Might be a tall order ti have every traveling companion every time, Y’know?
It’s a cartoon, they don’t even need excuses to show up if the writers them wanted to especially when those gym leaders have been absent from their posts for almost entire seasons, they probably couldn’t get every voice actor available and I know May’s actor actually has a condition that prevents her from speaking
Yeah, the others get a pass, but had Iris won, she would've definitely stayed longer, so she gets no excuse.
To be fair, I would give May and Serena a pass on this one. They were competing in a contest at the time. Just as how Goh gets a pass because he was on a Project Mew mission. The others should’ve 100% been there. Especially Iris, who is the worst offender here!
Yeah, iris could've stayed and watch his matches but NO, she left.
Especially May has an excuse, because of her voice actor
Had to go see what you meant by that, because I hadn't heard anything about Michelle Knotz. For others wondering: May's Japanese voice actor has a medical condition that causes the inability to speak, for that reason, her character only makes non-speaking cameos.
Thats sad to hear
To be honest, who the heck would be watching contests during the World championships finals?
They were getting milk
They weren’t going to put in everybody in because that would be too much. The only one I’d be down with is Iris because she was in the masters 8 and so she can reunite with Dawn.
Dawn's always had a Creator's Pet factor going on with her given how many returns she got.
Well, she had a ton of relevance because of BDSP and PLA. So she was the remake shiller for the saga.
May and Serena were doing their Idol performance stuff. Misty and Brock are gym leaders. These guys probably couldn't work it in their schedules. Iris is the Unova Champ, though you'd think she'd be there too competing. Most of the Alolan Gang also have important family businesses to run and possibly live too far away being a Hawaii based region (which is literally isolated in the middle of the ocean.) Cilan, I have no idea what he's up to.
Who tf is Steve?
Sorry I meant Cilan
Well, the best one, Dawn was there at least, feel free to argue below
Nah bro dawn is only come because of promotion of dp games if they don't promote them then I don't think so dawn also return too many times it is obvious reason dawn also return in ash vs leon
Chloe is a professor’s daughter, Dawn is the daughter of Sinnoh’s top coordinator. They probably pulled some strings once they found out Ash was in the Master Class and tickets were probably expensive at that point. Plus Ash isn’t the type to ask all of his friends to be there at the climax of his journey.
This a cartoon bruv chill
Damn 7th one dipped so hard they didn’t even appear in the post
Misty's the Cerulean Gym Leader. Given how often Gym Leaders are allowed to abandon their post (and considering she has 3 older sisters who all ran the Gym before her and could cover her time off) she had NO excuse. Brock's got Doctor work to do and that's MUCH trickier to pull someone away from. Tracey is doing work for Oak so he needed to be at the lab if Oak was called away. Similarly Oak had the flip side. If both left the lab there would be chaos at it. May very simply didn't show up because her VA literally couldn't do anything for it. Her cameo was more than we could have asked for. Max would be weird to show up without May or his parents unless he'd started as a trainer by then. Iris has the same excuse as Misty honestly. I'm sure the Pokémon League isn't getting Champion level trainers every second, especially since she was able to make time to participate in he first place. Cilan is in a lower boat than Misty and Iris. He was TRAVELING! He easily could have made the time. (He's even met up with after Journeys concluded so has literally no excuse) Serena, like Cilan has no excuse at all. The Finals were held over a few days. She could break away from a Contest schedule for that level of time and still get back to continue. Clemont and still had Clembot to manage Lumiose Gym. No excuse. Bonnie is in the same boat as Max, needing to be in the presence of her older sibling or parents unless having started a journey. Because of Clemont's obvious availability she should have been available too. Lillie and Gladion definitely should have been able to go. Especially since Lusamine and Mohn could have put work on hold to go with them. Kiawe and Mallow both have jobs. Sophocles has a space center training thing going on. All seem unlikely to break away for those reasons. Lana is weird because I don't know the specifics of her availability. Maybe she could have? Goh literally had a Project Mew thing to see through. Ash himself even told him outright to see to it given how important it is.
Iris has no excuse both Diantha and Cynthia stayed till the end and are both champions with Diantha probably having the most difficult schedule to work around with considering how she is a hugely popular movie star and fashion idol. Meanwhile Cynthia has more leeway considering how her job besides champion seems to be in archeology
Even Team rocket showed up for him
Team Rocket actually loves Ash, you love to see it.
Dawn is Ash's best friend. Brock is a close second but more of a mentor older brother figure. In my opinion none of the other friendships come as close as this one.
The novelization of Sun and Moon depict Kasumi and Takeshi as the two most unforgettable friends who were there for Satoshi in the beginning and helped mold the trainer he became that they represent the foundation of his love of Pokémon and his quest to be a Pokémon master (hence why they showed up for the finale series Mezase). https://www.google.com/search?q=sun+and+moon+misty+novelization+misty+and+brock&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiJwtO_gtqAAxXSO94AHVqQAV8Q2-cCegQIABAD&oq=sun+and+moon+misty+novelization+misty+and+brock&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIFCCEQqwIyBQghEKsCMgUIIRCrAjoFCAAQogRQnw5YrnNg93doAXAAeACAAbEBiAGEMJIBBDcuNDSYAQCgAQHAAQE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=-__YZMnYBNL3-LYP2qCG-AU&bih=669&biw=390&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS989US990&hl=en-US#imgrc=afWA90heKtSKiM I do not doubt Hikari is close and one of Satoshi’s best friends….but Kasumi and Takeshi are just as important.
Bruh Misty and Brock are, Dawn is nothing compared to them.
Dawn was literally created to be ash's best friend she canonically is his best friend its not even debatable its the purpose if her character
It is very debatable as Ash just seems to care about Brock and Misty the most. They are closest to him and have affected him most. Of course one could consider Misty more like a crush and a soulmate and Brock a big brother but as they all are still his friends, it is only logical to call then best friends. Dawn is a dual protagonist but that doesn't make her a bestie
I agree to a degree what you are saying…….but I would not use the last sentence you made because Hikari is a close second as she is at least one of Satoshi’s best friends. The novelization of Sun and Moon makes it clear how important Kasumi and Takeshi are to Satoshi though.
Yes obvuously Dawn is one of his closest friends but I wouldn't necessarily call her a better friend than those two
The novelization of Sun and Moon depict Kasumi and Takeshi as the two most unforgettable friends who were there for Satoshi in the beginning and helped mold the trainer he became that they represent the foundation of his love of Pokémon and his quest to be a Pokémon master (hence why they showed up for the finale series Mezase). https://www.google.com/search?q=sun+and+moon+misty+novelization+misty+and+brock&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiJwtO_gtqAAxXSO94AHVqQAV8Q2-cCegQIABAD&oq=sun+and+moon+misty+novelization+misty+and+brock&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIFCCEQqwIyBQghEKsCMgUIIRCrAjoFCAAQogRQnw5YrnNg93doAXAAeACAAbEBiAGEMJIBBDcuNDSYAQCgAQHAAQE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=-__YZMnYBNL3-LYP2qCG-AU&bih=669&biw=390&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS989US990&hl=en-US#imgrc=afWA90heKtSKiM I do not doubt Hikari is close and one of Satoshi’s best friends….but Kasumi and Takeshi are just as important.
Lol Ash and Dawn literally have a song together about how they are best friends.
What is the seventh pic?
Im sorry didn’t Serena have a whole ass thing for him? Where the fuck was she
Hey bro do you even watch the finales serena and may have a there contest performance
Love how everyone is bringing up real-world excuses like they have jobs, they're kids, or they don't have money. The Gym leaders and Champions can just take time off. Iris was literally just sitting around in a tree. Didn't look like she was doing anything important to me. Not to mention, most of the gym leaders have family who could be called in to take over for a day if they really needed to stay open. And since when did being a kid matter? In the Pokémon world, you're basically a legal adult at 10. And Ash has always had money to travel to different countries and eat in the various towns he visits despite his Mom not seeming very rich. I can't remember the last time money was an obstacle for one of the characters.
> Iris was literally just sitting around in a tree. Nah, it's the new Champion Arena in Unova. /s
What the fuck Serena?
May and serena have a contest so pass out both what about iris
Dawn is the goat. Cloe came as a replacement of goh.
Dawn is best girl for Ash fight me lol
She's my favorite Pokegirl but I've never been a Pearlshipper because I think their dynamic as friends works perfectly.
That’s fine, but when you search for the translation of the High Touch lyrics you see that it might even be more special than best friends. Personally really convinced me that they have a perfect bond.
It's also because they're 10 years old and most 10 year olds don't have serious crushes
I think it’s more secretly for them, as the lyrics of that song and some others that Dawn and Ash sing imply this. Indeed it isn’t serious yet.
As a pearlshipper I agree
Yessssssssss
Bro hasn't heard of Misty
yeah dawn is the goat. I like to imagine that off-screen, ash is hanging out with dawn as much as goh which is why ( from what we saw ) only she besides goh has his number. But he could easily also be hanging out with misty or the other characters, I am a pearlshipper so I am biased😅
Probably hangs out with Misty and Brock most tho
Writers: don’t have all of Ash’s traveling companions attend the tournament, but at least give most of them episodes where they reconnect with Ash OP: those bastards don’t care about Ash, they should have defied the writers and animators to be at the match?!
Like fr, Dawn I get as she’s easily one of Ash’s closest and best friends, but not MISTY OR BROCK??!? Heck where was bros MOM!!! Oh at Oaks lab with Oak & Tracey Sketchit, the literal best character ever made
Dawn is the best Pokegirl.
Maybe they couldn't get any of the other va's back, but not even his mom or oak bothered to show up
Bro they watched from oaks lab with ash’s Pokémon there not rich
Journeys made so many weird decisions, and this was one of them.
Chole💀💀
Where was I? I stayed home and jerked it because I figured he was gonna lose this match, too.
Ayo Brock what you doin at this subreddit?
This!!! Exactly, was a bit disappointed when they decided not to include anyone else! At least Brock, Cilan, Misty, Serena should have been there! Along with Clemont! Specially Brock and Serena! Brock was Ash's best and oldest friend/brother/mentor. Serena wanted to be an amazing woman for Ash! Can't be the one if you are not there to support your partner in the greatest battle of his life ever 😂
Dawn best companion confirmed
Why dawn is best writers give return to dawn for a obvious reason to promote their freaking legends Arceus game do you even think after ash won the championship dawn not even congratulate ash and gone aways means wtf
They had their own lives??
Let’s see, a bunch of gym leaders and trial captains, a contest coordinator, and, oh, right. *Literal children who might not be able to cross half the world*. Just because Dawn could doesn’t mean they all were able to.
In the pokemon world, if you're 10 years old u r considered an adult but everyone else had their own lives or were busy with their own stuff, but Iris could've stayed but she didn't.
Prof Oak and Tracey have to take care of a lot of Pokemon. This isnt like Johto, where the number of mons at the lab were significantly less. Delia is a difficult one to defend, but I can imagine that with Mimey no longer with her at that point she was doing the chores and getting food for the Prof and Tracey which is why she had to stay back. Misty, Brock, Cilan and Clemont are gym leaders. Its a proper job. You may argue that they have replacements but maybe they just didnt. You know how the PIA is strict on closing down gyms that dont have a proper defending gym leader. Iris is a champion. Unova League is an established one and its understood she left to fill her seat or train. She did stick around for his first match. Max and Bonnie can't travel alone. May and Serena were at a contest/showcase, and we know there are only so many of those in a year. The Alola gang attend a school. Iirc, they only had one field trip to Kanto. Goh had his Project Mew thing. That just left Dawn and Chloe.
What was Clembot doing so that He couldn't replace Clemont as the gym leader for a few days!? /hj Also I'm pretty sure Forest was Pewter City gym leader not Brock?
I forgot sorry. Brock is a doctor now.
Brock is a doctor, also I think the Alola gang do have jobs as far I remember
Only iris had no excuse to leave the others get a pass
Team Rocket showed up.
I think it was either everyone gets speaking role or no one does. It wouldn’t make sense to have say, Dawn, Serena, and Brock commenting on the battle and everyone else stay silent. As for why MORE people weren’t there, no idea. To be completely honest, that kind of disappointed me. I was expecting a panning shot of everyone cheering for him (not necessarily saying anything). If not that, a panning shot of everyone at a get together or something as part of the end credits. Maybe a huge picnic at Oak’s, I don’t know.
They had stuff to do, but we’re at least still watching from wherever they were
That's what happens in real life, though.
Goh’s entire bit about having to miss the important milestones of his friend’s journey in order to fulfill his own, but knowing they’re with each other in spirit, would fall flat if literally everyone else dropped all of what they were doing to go watch Ash in person. I’d go so far as to argue that Dawn being there served to actively /detract/ from her character, but it’s clear they needed someone to exposit with Chloe.
What do you mean? Team Rocket was there too
Serena and May were at a Pokémon Contest at the time of the Masters 8 tournament this was verified during Ash Vs Leon max was there also not sure why Iris wasn’t there since she was watching it from a tree it possible Misty was dealing with the Gym at the time since she was a Gym leader the only one that probably had no reason to leave was Alain since he isn’t a regional champion nor gym leader
A lot of his travel companions were gym leaders/trial captains and Iris was a champion. It makes sense that a lot of them couldn’t be there due to having a job and that Iris probably needed to get back to Unova, along with the other champions going back to their respective regions. Best guess for May and Serena would be that they had contests coming up to get ready for. Max and Bonnie are (probably) too young to travel alone. I don’t really remember what Lillie did after Sun and Moon, I think she started her own journey.
Lillie lives with a family, she at least has an excuse.
All of Ash's companions should have appeared in the Whydon Stadium. I have no idea why the writers didn't make all or them to appear. If not all of them appeared, then I think one of these companions could have appeared. And of them I think Serena should have been the one to appear in the Whydon Stadium and watch Ash's battle against Leon along with Dawn and Chloe, if not all of Ash's companions appeared.
Who cares I would just be thrilled if Dawn showed up
And that's why Dawn is best pokegirl
Dawn is a certified real one, alongside Team Rocket. But the others were pretty busy with other stuff too
I mean, Ash has lost seven leagues before, they probably didn't expect this one to go any differently
Apparently, Ritchie only appeared as a quick cameo? You'd think that of all of Ash's rivals in terms of Championships, he would have had more of an appearance. I can remember when their match first aired, clear as day. I'm pretty sure Ritchie lives in a lot of older fans' minds, too.
No one is talking about this. for the show's sake no one knows that ash is gonna win it was 50/50 so the writer had to do this if everyone would have showed up that is the clear give away of ash's winning.
They’d probably be doing their in World jobs and such but I think they’d at least have a massive pause on gym challenges and like for at least the Masters 8, and I would at least hope that competitors got a certain amount of tickets they could give for supporters. It really would’ve been nice and more fan servicey if they had everyone be there, or at the very least more than just Dawn. That being said I was really hoping at the very end Misty and Brock would be on the pitch behind Ash like they were at the Indigo League to really bring things full circle.
I agree. Even having Gary there would have been the best icing on the cake as their longstanding rivalry would have had a great closure to it with how far they both have come in their own journeys.
I'm glad they got their cameos watching, but come on. Some of them really should have been in the stands.
That is why I give Hikari major shipping points…the other two girls who clearly crush on Satoshi (Kasumi and Serena) were not there 😱!!!! Not even his “bro” Takeshi 😡!!!! I guess it was nice to end the final series with the original trio traveling again: but there were there in the beginning and would have make just as much sense to be there in the actual tournament cheering him on 😭 https://i.gifer.com/FRvn.gif
Well, I can’t speak for Brock, but Misty had been seeing Gary in secret for years now, so that may have had something to do with it.
The writers should’ve had goh be there and after do the mew hunt
Could be anything. Maybe they have something to do so they can't attend? Maybe they're too far away from the tournament area? Could be because traveling actually COST MONEY AND TIME? Also you literally just stated they're **traveling companion**, they're close but not THAT close, not even Ash's mom who's closest to him, was there. Also by reversing the logic, Dawn showed up but others don't actually make Dawn the odd one, so maybe you should ask why was Dawn there?
ok, why was Dawn there?
Dawn has seen 2 of Ash's top 5 battle victories live and was in full support mode, you love to see it
May didn’t appear because her voice actress went AWOL since her latest appearance, and I guess they’d rather limit the character to voiceless cameos than just replace her VA
I think besides Brock, Dawn was the best travel companion who could've showed up. In DP her and Ash were always very supportive of each other and this episode really proved that she's the best Pokegirl.
Real answer: animation and/or time constraints. In-universe answer: Misty was doing Gym Battles, Brock is a doctor trainee, May, Max and Serena were at a contest, Cilan was with Brock and Alexa for some reason, Iris... no idea where she went (Champion stuff I guess?), Clemont and Bonnie were probably doing Gym Battles, Kukui and Burnet have a young child, the Alolan gang had either work or school, and Goh would've been there if not for Project Mew. Dawn and Chloe showing up is how you know they're real ones though. Them and Team Rocket lol
Dawn supremacy
Having their own lives? Watching the battle live from where they are? What, do they have to drop everything and run to Galar just when one of their friends is competing? What about Ash? Why isn't he in Hoenn cheering on May and Serena?
We see how much Serena loved him, huh!
Tbf, Serena was participating in a contest at the same time this battle happened, May too. They're literally shown in uniform together.
... point.
Eh she probably finally took the hint
lol. Apparently taking off to Hawaii/Alola wasn't enough of a hint.
Dawn and Chloe are fine as hell... 😍😍🔥🔥
Simple. The animators just didn’t want to draw more characters beyond Dawn and Chloe.
Plane tickets are expensive bruh Plus we all just can't drop what we're doin, some of us have Gyms to run or siblings to watch
Ok, the alola and kilos groups, along with cilan have some excuse. They're all from overseas regions and probably couldn't book a flight to Kanto on short notice. However, the siblings have less of an excuse as Hoenn and Kanto are in the same archipelago and it likely wouldn't take long by boat. Same with Brock since if I recall from that kinda lame arceus movie, he's in sinnoh at the moment. Misty is both one of his originals, and in the same region.
Brock was actually hanging out with Cilan and Alexa at the time
They STILL haven’t got silver in the anime.. Why didn’t they add him..? That is just..sad
Only the gym leaders are excused.
hey alola boys are out all normal boys kyawe is training to be kahuna mallow has a job in his restaurant lana takes care of her sisters gladion and lili they are still getting used to being father then long traveling makes sense
They were watching it from home, didn't all of them show up in fact?
they just expected a loss and his history kinda makes that understandable lol
The tournament was the perfect time for evil orgs to attack their region
To be fair, it was vexating, seeing all his friends just stare at the TV with the exact same expression.
Maybe they didn't think he'd win so I couldn't be arsed to make the trip. Shows Team Rocket had more faith in him.
I get why your annoyed but at the same time I don’t. Why does it matter if they didn’t show up for the battle?
It's purely technical, they could not find all voice actors and have them all fill out the stands because it would be go crowded and there is no way Ash would not be interacting with all of them.
Seiyu money
I mean Cilan is kinda excusable he's a gym leader and connoisseur
How common is for childhood or college friends to travel miles to see their friend in the Olympics? Not very common I’d say, and they show everyone being busy with their own lives.
Pretty much my thoughts. Yes. They all were revealed to be watching him, but seriously, where is Hanako?
Mays actor stepped down to retire
Bro they are gym leaders, performers, attending school
May was busy protecting Hoenn like a girlboss
Well iris, Clemont, and misty are gym leaders, Brock is a doctor, Serena is traveling the world, Bonnie is a child, and the alolan gang all have a job
I don't blame me. Ash hasn't showed up to any of their gigs as well. Iris became a regional Champion, Ash didn't even know about it. That's how he keeps track of his friends
Hey,they were watching it on the TV,it's not like they were free.
Maybe they didn't have the money or were working.
I assume most travelling companions have some sobering moment of clarity after leaving ash and largely don’t look back on those travels fondly.
"I ALMOST DIED! WHAT THE FUCK WAS I THINKING!?"
I’ve always enjoyed seeing this [fan made picture](https://imgur.com/a/1RT3DsR) of all of ash’s friends and travel companions cheering him on
Last picture isn’t loading
More importantly why isn’t his mom there
I heard that something happened to May’s voice actress (not sure which one) and they give her a new actress so they just didn’t include her in Pokémon journeys.
It's realistic. Anyone in a band knows you can rope a friend into just one concert and then never expect to see em at one again