>>55588486>to maintain the tired status quo of Ash losing at the league because of creative bankruptcy>He has no other narrative purpose.There was no other reason for Ash to lose here. No good reason anyway.How is this any different from any of the other people who beat Ash
>I'm saying he's highly competent by this pointNot really dude. He's finally got a solid grasp on the ABCs of pokemon training, that's not "highly competent". He still lost badly because he brought in a fucking torkoal and a gible instead of his charizard and snorlax.
I don't get why some people are so obsessed with blaming Tobias in particular when literally any character could have fulfilled his role. It could have been Kenny instead and nothing would change, Ash would still have lost.
