>>51555287There was no "Tobias-Cameron-Alan" combo... Look, a Pokemon series is not just "the League, and padding" like some people assume. Each series since AG, although they have "bridges" of continuity between them, exists in half-vacuum,with a different vision for the general arc, and different goals of promotion. Why do you think they depicted Ash as almost a rookie trainer in BW, until Best Wishes Season 2, where he literally reminisces and retells his backstory to the amazed Iris? Then, while there is a direct bridge from BW to XY, he acts like a completely different person in the newer season, breaking down in despair after losing a gym battle? Each series is constructed in a way to make Ash the underdog and promote the new "toys", only rewarding those that watch for continuity around the later parts. PM -somewhat- changed it with Ash having a rather respectable start at a mini-tournament immediately, but at the cost of playing up to eleven his bookdumb and childish qualities. Roughly, every starting season of a series is to introduce new viewers to the underdog-ish Ash, while later parts of a series "remember" the old tricks. Like Iris and Dent, the new viewers are amazed that the "rookie" Satoshi has some wild bacjstory, and thus encouraged to look into older seasons (particularly OS, which got reruns and easier access).
(Why AG and not BW? AG was interconnected with Side Story, focused on presenting old companions, and kept the OS presence, if on side lines. DP got a bridge with the kidnapping of Pikachu by TR, but from the start it had a focus on co-protagonists, something not done before)
