Pokémon is more compelling than it’s been for a long time thanks to the Masters Eight Tournament of the World Coronation Series in the Journeys anime. The series’ eight strongest trainers have gathered for a tournament to officially crown the strongest trainer in the world. Ash, his strongest rival ever, and every Regional Champion from Kanto to Galar has assembled for the tournament to end all tournaments -- and the first-round matchups have lived up to the hype. Now that so many iconic characters have gathered for some epic nostalgia and dream matchups, the franchise can learn a valuable lesson from the Masters Eight: the world of Pokémon is bigger than Ash Ketchum, and fans want to see more of it.
It's undoubtedly exciting to see how far Ash has come as a trainer who had to forfeit the first Pokémon League Tournament and is now one of the top eight trainers in the entire world. However, his accomplishments are the least interesting aspect of the Masters Eight, with the return of every Champion making the WCS an Avengers-level cameo festival. The first-round matchup between Iris and Cynthia is the third consecutive episode/battle during which Ash is on the sidelines agreeing with the audience that this is awesome. The fact that a Pokémon storyline can be so popular without the involvement of its iconic lead character is a sign that it’s time for the main series canon to expand its scope beyond the 10-year-old boy from Pallet Town.
Non-Ash Battles Can Be Just As Exciting
The only thing more exciting than seeing Ash reach the Masters Eight of the World Coronation Series was finding out who the other seven competitors would be. The Regional Champions are some of the most iconic and popular characters in the franchise thanks to both the anime and the games. In the games, battles against them are exciting as a sign of nearing completion but generally aren’t very challenging -- except for Cynthia in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl. In the anime, however, Regional Champions are the ultimate trainers who annihilate anyone who dares challenge them. The Masters Eight is the first time the Champions will go all out in a traditional battle, and what’s even more exciting than Ash battling them is seeing them battle each other.
The first Champion-on-Champion battle was fought between Diantha (Kalos) and Lance (Kanto/Johto), and this brains vs. brawn showdown was one of the few -- if not the only -- times that an entire episode was dedicated to a battle that didn’t feature Ash. It won’t be the last such episode of the Masters Eight, either. Plot lines and logic guarantee that Leon, Diantha, Cynthia and Ash will be the ones moving onto the second round, though at the time of writing, only Leon and Diantha have officially advanced. That the main character will have spent three consecutive episodes in the spectator seats without being missed proves that fans would welcome more stories containing dream matchups between legacy characters without requiring Ash’s involvement.
Pokémon Can Be More Than Just Ash’s Adventures
The aptly named World Coronation Series has the eyes of the world upon it, as the Masters Eight is must-see TV in the Pokémon universe. Professor Sycamore and Mairin watched Alain’s match against Leon, while Lance and Diantha’s battle featured the return of several long-MIA characters and canonized a few others. Richie, Ash’s primary non-Gary rival of Pokémon’s early days, was shown watching Lance’s battle after an almost 1,000-episode absence. As Lance hyped up the viewers from the regions he reigns over, the Johto crowd included Jimmy (the male protagonist from the Johto games), Marina and Vincent, who are now main series canon after debuting in the spinoff special The Legend of Thunder more than 20 years ago.
As Diantha remarked that she battled for the trainers of Kalos, the episode cut to Shauna, Trevor, Tierno and Sawyer, who were Ash’s friends and rivals during the Kalos Saga. These silent cameos are no doubt to help the WCS feel as grand in scale as possible, but fans’ joy in seeing these various legacy characters again shows that Ash is not the only person whose story people are -- or could be -- invested in. Pokémon has no shortage of side series, web shorts, movies, etc., but the main series canon is understandably vast after 25 years on the air -- and Pokémon would do well to capitalize on its vast riches. Instead of creating more new, non-canon characters, the series should consider dialing up the number of specials or miniseries showing what people like Richie, or even the Regional Champions, are up to when Ash isn’t around.
This Is A Perfect Time To Take A Break From Ash Ketchum
Once the dust of the Masters Eight Tournament settles and Ash is officially either the strongest or second-strongest trainer in the world, Pokémon won’t really have anywhere else to go with its protagonist. Ash doesn’t necessarily need to be retired as a character, but if ever there were a time to step away from him for a bit, this is it. Ash and Pikachu have played a surprisingly minimal role in the anime’s most popular arc in recent memory, which should be an encouraging sign for the series that it can stray from them without alienating fans. 25 years is a long time, even if Ash seems younger now than he did when he first left Pallet Town. The first round of the Masters Eight is proving that even if Ash is only peripherally involved, Pokémon has built a world that’s strong enough to survive without leaning on him.