The initial impetus of Pokemon came from the catch-phrase, “Gotta Catch ‘Em All.” Catching as many Pokemon possible and consequently completing the Pokedex, became a common goal for trainers in the core series.
But Ash’s primary objective was never to capture every Pokemon in the world. He wants to be a Pokemon Master.
With season 25: Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, Ash, Goh, and Chloe travel across all 8 regions, as Ash meets some familiar faces and competes with them in the Pokemon World Coronation Series Tournament!
Throughout the series Ash has wanted to battle the Monarch Leon. After obtaining a crazy victory over the legend, Cynthia, Ash vs. Leon is next! But can he win?
It’s is not likely that Ash will defeat Leon in the Pokemon World Coronation. He might draw a tie, be the first trainer to have ever defeated Leon’s Charizard, or even come the closest to beating him than anyone else, but he won’t win.
1. Why won’t Ash defeat Leon?
There are 3 reasons why Ash won’t defeat Leon, at least in the Pokemon World Coronation (PWC):
1) Ash won against Cynthia in the semi-finals, high difficulty; 2) Leon is one of the strongest trainers in the world while Ash, although he’s come a long way, is a 10-year-old kid; 3) Ash has a low chance of remaining protagonist if he wins.
Look at it this way: Ash has struggled against literally all other trainers so far in the competition. It does not make sense for him to win against Leon, who is #1, when he only nearly won against Steven, who is #3, and struggled HARD against Cynthia, who is #2.
Speaking of Cynthia, Ash’s battle with her has been teased for over 15 years. Ash winning against Cynthia has been the hugest victory Ash has ever had in the whole series. I don’t think people realize how big this win is.
Having Ash secure an even bigger win with Leon won’t be as impactful. Plus, Ash’s battle with Cynthia lasted 3 whole episodes. With only 3 more episode left until the end of the season, I have my doubts about Ash winning against Leon. They still have to wrap up Goh and Chloe’s storyline as well; fitting all of it into 3 episodes would be kind of hasty.
Coming to Leon himself. We know what Leon is. We know what he represents. He’s Monarch for a reason. He’s the undisputed Champion of Galar, perhaps the strongest opponent we have ever seen.
His performance in the PWC has been spectacular. He as good as obliterated Alain and his Rillaboom alone took care of almost all of Diantha’s Pokemon. We still don’t know Leon’s full team, which means he has a few crazy-strong Pokemon up his sleeve.
Ash might take out as many as 4 of Leon’s ‘mons, but his remaining 2 will be the winning difference against our boy Ash. I really want Ash’s Pikachu with Z-Move and Gigantamax to end up defeating Leon’s ultimate Pokemon, Charizard.
They have to give Ash this win, otherwise a lot of fans will throw up a fit.
If Ash wins the PWC, the victory would be quite empty because of Leon’s otherwise sweeping wins throughout the tournament.
The final reason Ash will lose to Leon is because this is the only way he can go to Generation 9’s Paldea region (Scarlet and Violet) as the protagonist.
If he wins, he will have defeated the World Champion at 10 years of age. Granted, defeating Leon is just one step to him achieving his goal to become a Pokemon Master, but his win would be disproportional to his narrative arc, character, and experience as a trainer.
Ash has only won one out of the last 7 major tournaments – Alola – so, winning Galar, that too against Leon, too much.
I think Ash will have some kind of rematch with Leon in the future, and will defeat him only after he is actually worthy.
2. Is it possible that Ash defeats Leon?
Considering how unpredictable the Pokemon anime is, there’s a possibility that Ash actually wins against Leon. It all depends on whether they want to end Pokemon Journeys this season and wrap up Ash as the series protagonist. Alternatively, there are a few ways the creators can justify Ash’s win.
The entire season has been hyping up the rematch between Leon and Ash. Defeating Leon has been Ash’s overarching goal since Sword and Shield began. If Ash doesn’t fulfil a goal that he sets for himself, he will lose credibility as MC. And this, of course, cannot happen, since Ash is the face of Pokemon.
The fandom pretty much lost it when Ash was defeated by Tobias and Alain, despite being more than capable of winning. Ash is now more experienced than he ever was, with an uber amped up roster; so it does make sense in a way for him to be able to beat Leon.
When Leon and Raihan are congratulating each other after their battle, Ash literally interrupts a conversation between these two top Trainers, and tells Leon that he will eventually beat him to take his place as Number #1.
I’m the only one who can beat Leon and become the strongest Pokemon trainer!
Ash
This could have been a foreshadowing.
Diantha also commented that Cynthia might be the only one who can beat Leon, and Ash beat Cynthia. If he loses to Ash, Leon might become stronger in the future and take Cynthia’s place in the anime.
Ash has also won against Raihan, the only character who has been known to have made Leon struggle.
Plus, Leon’s character loses in the games, which is the source material for Pokemon. So maybe he will lost at the end of Pokemon Journeys – if it is indeed the end with Ultimate Journeys.
Ash could also beat Leon in a match that’s not counted in the PWC. But I have to say, this would be quite anti-climactic, given that Ash’s journey in Pokemon Journeys has been all about winning the World Coronation Series.
3. What will Ash’s team be against Leon? What are Leon’s other Pokemon?
Currently, Ash has a solid team with Gigantamax Pikachu, Mega Lucario, the ultimate Ghost-type Gengar, the fossil Pokemon Dracovish, the Galarian Sirfetch’d, and the Gen 1’s strongest Pokemon, Dragonite.
But Ash might need a little extra power given how strong the series is building Leon up to be. This is assuming that we get a 6v6 like the original, and not a 3v3, or worse, a 1v1. If it’s the latter, there’s no discussion, because it’s gotta be Pikachu vs. Charizard.
If it’s a 3v3 and Ash only uses his current Galarian Pokemon, I think he might go for Dragonite, Dracovish, and Pika. If we get a 6v6, which I think we should, Ash’s ultimate team should have some of his older Pokemon as well as a Legendary.
The thing is, the Gen 8 is called Sword and Shield, which refers to the mascot Legendaries, Zacian and Zamazenta. Ash has never caught a Legendary Pokemon, while Leon bagged Eternatus. It would be seriously amazing if Ash somehow wielded one of the mascots.
If it’s a 6v6, Ash’s team should have: Pikachu, Zacian/Zamazenta, Charizard, Dragonite, Dracovish, and Lucario. If we consider that this is the end of Galar, Ash might bring back some of his old Pokemon against Leon, including Greninja, Sceptile, Lycanroc, Snorlax and Infernape, among others.
Ash could also maybe Gigantamax his own Charizard and have him battle Leon’s. He’ll lose, but that’s when he can bust out Pikachu.
As for Leon, it might be possible that the producers use this opportunity to amp up the excitement for Gen 9. What if Leon gets 2 Paldean ‘mons? Them winning against Ash might cause Ash to travel to Paldea himself to try and catch some Paldean region-specific Pokemon.
4. Should Ash defeat Leon?
Ash shouldn’t defeat Leon because that way, his quest remains unfinished, and he can rightfully retain his position in the Pokemon franchise.
If Ash defeats Leon, there are very few ways that he can logically sustain the narrative.Unless there’s a plot twist that gives us something more major than the PWC, like something that ties Ash to Gen 9’s Arceus plotline.
Another way it would make sense, is if the meaning of Pokemon Master turns out to be something more than just “the strongest Trainer in the world.”
It could mean something along the lines of “master,” as in, “guru,” which would enable Ash to stay on in a teacher position, where Trainers look up to him and seek to be like him, not because of his strength per say, but because of his relationship with Pokemon.
I know a lot of people who would like to see Ash in a mentor position. But they’re forgetting one thing: Ash is a literal child. There is a long way for him to go in order to mentor anyone.
5. Conclusion
I will be thrilled if Ash defeats Leon. I will be thrilled if Ash doesn’t defeat Leon. Ash will remain a Champion no matter what. Just the fact that he’s made it so far, having defeated Cynthia and now awaiting his battle with Leon, says so much about his determination and grit.
Whatever happens next is going to change the course of Pokemon.
6. About Pokémon
Pokémon was first released in 1996 and is set up in a world where humans catch monsters and store them in pocket-sized poke-balls.
They are creatures with an affinity to certain elements and some superhuman abilities related to that element.
Revolving around a teenage boy Ash Ketchum, Pokémon takes us through his journey to becoming the most accomplished Pokémon trainer the world has ever seen.
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