> Ok, for the longest time I had kind of wished that Pokemon would just end
> already, as I felt it had long since worn out its welcome as both a show
and
> a franchise, but the fact that it's experiencing something of a revival
now
> only _after_ 4Kids gave up the license is just too precious.
The revival actually has nothing to do with the departure of 4Kids, and
everything to do with the release of Diamond and Pearl, the first
DS-generation games, and the first Pokemon games to feature global online
trading and battling.
And 4Kids didn't "give up" the license. They had it pulled from them by The
Pokemon Company.
> That being said, I don't believe I've watched more than a few minutes of
> Pokemon at a time this millenium, so I have to ask: is Ash Ketchum still
10
> on this show? Did Pikachu ever evolve?
Pikachu has never evolved and WILL never evolve, because it is the mascot
for the entire franchise.
Ash's age hasn't been touched on for a long time, but it's generally assumed
he is 13-14 by now. While his battles and gym challenges are still a main
focus of the series, for the past two generations of the series his role has
largely changed to more of a mentor capacity, as he has guided both May and
now Dawn into their Pokemon journeys with his long experience. While Ash
himself still has a long way to go, he has matured considerably and is a
LONG way removed from the clueless little kid that barely managed to squeak
through his first few gym battles.
And just for a little extra info, here are Ash's current records as far as
League challenges go:
Indigo League (Kanto): Reached the Top 16 but was defeated in the
quarterfinals.
Orange League (Orange Archipelago): Grand Winner
Whirl Cup: Reached the Top 16
Silver Conference (Johto): Reached the Top 8
Hoenn League Championship: Reached the Top 8
Battle Frontier: Defeated all seven Frontier Brains, becoming the Battle
Frontier Champion; declined an offer to become a Frontier Brain.
(The Battle Frontier is a gauntlet of seven extremely difficult gym battles
against Elite-class trainers who hold court in seven difficult-to-reach
landmarks scattered across Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn. Ash defeated all seven
Frontier Brains, and after winning his seventh challenge, the chairman of
the Battle Frontier offered Ash a position as a Frontier Brain. Ash declined
the offer, citing that he still had much to learn about Pokemon and was
still on his quest to become a Pokemon Master, and almost immediately after
returning home from the Battle Frontier, Ash departed once again, this time
for Sinnoh.)
Presently, Ash is challenging the Sinnoh League, using mostly Pokemon caught
and trained in Sinnoh (his only holdovers from previous journeys are Pikachu
and Aipom), and has to date won the Coal Badge and the Forest Badge.
--
This is a test of the Emergency Ass Dance System.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Eternal Lost Lurker
www.lurkerdrome.com
