It bothers me that Ash as a character has been pretty static throughout XY-JN. So I was brainstorming with myself, and I thought of something.

Ash's goal is to be "the best that ever was", right? But here's the thing: it's actually pretty interesting, not to say jarring, that Ash just,,, never really stopped and asked himself what that actually means, or even what he will do if he indeed manages to become the world's strongest trainer.

You see, what do you do in a Pokémon game when you beat all the gym leaders, all the E4, the Champion, the evil team, complete all the main and side missions, basically, you finish the whole thing and you're the strongest person in the entire region? Yep. You close the game. Because there's nothing else to do once you beat everything and everybody.

One of Ash's most defining traits, ever since day one, has been his desire to grow stonger and go through challenges. He's not satisfied if he's not constantly and consistently challenging himself. So, I feel like, if Ash is to ever become the #1 trainer in the world, there's gonna nowhere else to go. I mean, he's the strongest. Everyone else is weaker. No one is really a challenge anymore.

I would like for Ash to realize that, if he goes throught this path, he's gonna stop being a challenger and instead, become the challenge himself. He's not gonna be the one beating the obstacle, he's gonna be the obstacle other wants to be. By defeating Leon, he's gonna be the new Leon and everyone else will be the new Ash. This is no diss towards Leon, of course, but I want Ash to stop and think: "Is this what I'm gonna become? Is this who I wanna be in life? A goal for others?".

Idk, I guess it could be a true character introspection moment that would evolve into development for him. Could this even be the possible hook for the next series? Maybe Ash either doesn't wants to battle Leon when the time comes or he could just,,, throw the match away with his new resolution? I think this could be great, but only if well written because of all the problems it could bring, and I frankly don't trust the JN writing team.

But anyways, what do you guys think?

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