>>48414960>GaryYou said that only a few strong trainers mattered in a league (with the implication that having strong trainers makes Alola equal to the others) I literally proved being a strong, plot relevant trainer doesn't mean you're getting past the prelims in other leagues because, even if they're unknown to us, the story itself makes it known that there are strong trainers all over the place, who cleared a legitimate requirement with limited entry slots
>Barry and PlotBe aware that even Johto Ash, who wasn't shown to be weak and even brought old veteran Pokemon rather than the retardation he pulled in Hoenn and Unova, still lost to Harrison, who didn't clear the next round either, despite being a regular league participant
>Strong named characters making it to the finalsYes, there are indeed strong contenders that reached teh finals all over the place, Ash, Paul and Tobias certainly fall under such a definition and so do Guzma, Kukui and such
I've never argued Ash was weak or that he only fought shitters tho (if anything his life is shit because he's always paired against some of the least shitty trainers in a given league)
>Alola was a leagueIt was, it was just a shoddily made and thought out one
>CharizardAsh's Charizard was always shown to be very strong, and he lost in the OS due to a technicality (which I already mentioned was bullshit) not by getting ganged up on by multiple weaker mons (I.E. not the 1V1 scenario of most battles)
>Joke of an achievementYes, indeed it is, because when you let any rando enter your thing and fail to have any sort of proper screening process, you deligitimize your competition
Is it officially sanctioned?
Yes
Is Ash considered a champion?
Yes
Is it a meaningful achievement under any circumstance considering how much of a joke it is?
No, especially because Ash is literally a 6 league veteran that never placed any lower than Top 32 from no less than 100+ legitimate contestants each time
