>>16175845It's not a running gag, Ash just isn't some super trainer savant like the player character, who's autistic enough to ride his bike for days to breed the perfect pokemon. Keep in mind that levels also reflect the strength of the trainer, and the player's team outleveling everyone all the time is a reflection of that.
Ash is not superhuman, he's just a regular trainer trying to make it, with a proficiency for using extremely unconventional strategies.
Also, levels and statistics clearly don't apply to the anime, they're just a mechanic in the games to simulate the results of real battles, which the games couldn't possibly capture.
ALSO, Ash's goal was never to "catch 'em all," that was just an American marketing gimmickAlso, I can't fucking wait to see anime Greninja, holy shit 