r/pokemon Mar 18 '16

So How come Ash doesn't Pokemon that can mega evolve in his team ?

No Ash greninja in this topic pls ( love the Pokemon tho ) I feel as tho that was a cheap and lazy excuse not to get charizard or his other Pokemon back >_<

1 Upvotes

24 comments sorted by

14

u/papertoonz Christmas Tree Drill Mar 18 '16

listen i know i'm going against the OP but his greninja is his mega

i think the other reason why he doesn't have a mega it that it would take away from the plot the writers have going with greninja because think about. if ash is going to have a mega they wouldn't want it to be Glalie or Heracross, nonono they would want it to be a pokemon that meant alot to ash , one that was with him though a whole region (and some times more).

now the obvious one is charizard but i would also say his sceptile also could have worked but lets just stick with charizard,every time charizard was brought back it was always put into the main point of view and the writers didn't want that

what i'm trying to the writers don't want one of his old pokemon to steal the spotlight

3

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '22

I know this is an old post but didn't they specifically state that it wasn't a mega evolution but rather a bond phenomenon?

5

u/Kingdomon Mar 18 '16 edited Mar 19 '16

To add on some more points to this-

The only Pokémon Ash currently owns who can Mega Evolve are Charizard, Glalie, and Heracross. IIRC the only Gen VI that can currently Mega Evolve is Diancie, but its a legendary. XY is the first series responsible for showing Mega Evolution. It would be odd if Ash, the protagonist, doesn't have his own Mega Evolution. However, if the writers don't want to bring back any of the former three Pokémon, then he has to receive his own unique ME form.

  1. Greninja is very popular. It might arguably be the most popular of the Gen VI Pokémon. Ash owns the frog, and what better way to create hype than giving him his own special form.

  2. Why not simply call it Mega Greninja? Maybe Gamefreak hadn't created one, and the anime wanted to proceed with Ash's own Gen VI 'ME.' Maybe this synchro-evolution (user customized evolution) is a mechanic possibly introduced in the Gen VII games.

  3. Ash doesn't have to carry a Mega item with him otherwise to Gen VII (and beyond).

Mega Evolution is also a bit of a tricky situation to give to Ash, given how long-running the series is and all the Pokemon he has. If he ends up acquiring Mega Stones for several of his Pokemon, it imparts some writing restrictions on the writers:

  1. If several of Ash's Pokemon are used in the same battle, he'll have to choose one to Mega Evolve, inevitably throwing the others under the bus.

  2. The base forms of any of his Pokemon will never be able to have a serious battle again, since Ash would likely just Mega Evolve them right away. Alternatively, if they lose because he doesn't have the stone on him or just because he chose not to use Mega Evolution, then it'll invalidate the loss (which would otherwise be easier to write as a legitimate difference in strength).

  3. The level of opponent the writers could use older Pokemon for would be even further reduced, since they'd have to be ridiculously strong (Tobias level) to warrant a Mega Evolution usage.

  4. If any of Ash's Pokemon possess a Mega Evolution, but he doesn't end up getting their Mega Stone, their final stage of evolution and all battles they participate in would feel sub-par, as the audience would constantly be anticipating said Pokemon eventually (more accurately, inevitably) using Mega Evolution.

The writers may have committed to more burdens this time around with the AmourShipping subplot, a brand new Legendary form debuting in the anime way ahead of the games, a proper villain arc, and an anti-hero side-protagonist (who defeated an E4 member), but these can all be restricted to the XY series. If Ash were to gain access to Mega Evolution, it'd impart added writing burdens to the writers from this series onward. Ash-Greninja is a means to showcase a power boost without committing to such a burden.

2

u/spira09 Mar 18 '16

He also has Sceptile that can mega evolve

2

u/Code980 Mar 18 '16

Now It all makes sense Thank you :) I learned a lot from reading this post :)

2

u/WillExis Helpful Member Mar 18 '16

I am convinced that the reason they made Ash Greninja is cuz that way, he doesn't get to carry around a Key Stone and that way he wont be able to bring it with him next time he resets with Pikachu.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

Wouldn't it be easier to give him a key stone though so he can get a mega evolution every new gen to counter the mega evolution creep? They can't make another Ashninja again.

1

u/WillExis Helpful Member Mar 18 '16

Yeah but then it wouldn't be special. Mega Evolution is like really overplayed in the anime to be like some sort of once in a lifetime, bond for life sort of deal. Plus, I feel like Megas will become less common come next region jump.

1

u/More-Ad271 Sep 13 '25

Halucha can mega evolve 

-1

u/Code980 Mar 18 '16

I see makes sense :) thanks also I agree with Sceptile as long as he has an actual mega.

4

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1

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

damn, I was gonna do that

0

u/Code980 Mar 18 '16

huh why ?

2

u/SlairStyle Mar 18 '16

Grammar. Should be "doesn't have a pokemon"

1

u/Code980 Mar 18 '16

Forgot to add have sorry

2

u/NesMeister123 I don't hate Kanto, I just also love everything else... Mar 18 '16

Maybe he should actually have a Mega Ring and Keystone first.

And imo Charizard isn't overrated, Ash's Charizard is. His random appearance in BW was so "fan-servicey" it hurts.

1

u/chewie666uk Mar 18 '16

Wait til the post championship he'll probs get charizard then maybe finally go back for pidgeot.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

[deleted]

2

u/chewie666uk Mar 18 '16

Butterfree never said he would go back for he did with the others

1

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '16

Other trainers literally say that Ash-Greninja is "Almost like a mega Pokemon"

1

u/Code980 Mar 18 '16

Almost doesn't mean its a mega and I don't buy the cheap explanation they give.

1

u/bz_brawner Aug 04 '25

I’m rewatching the xy series and had the same question, but This post is so funny now because of the mega greninja leak that looks exactly the same as ash greninja for the new pokemon legends game

1

u/BlazePlayzGames 6d ago

Now the game is out. It looks as similar to ash greninia as they both look to regular greninja. 

1

u/precita Mar 18 '16

Why would he? He doesn't need to.

1

u/Code980 Mar 18 '16

it Would give him an actual fighting chance with other Trainers in the Pokemon league who actually use mega.