If Ash Ketchum had won the Pokémon League earlier in the show, the he won the Alola Pokémon League in the Pokémon anime’s seventh iteration, Pokémon Sun and Moon: Ultra Legends. After that historic win, Ash is now proving to the Pokémon world just how strong a trainer he can be as he takes part in the World Coronation Series in the latest version of the anime, Pokémon Master Journeys.
Though Ash has been 10 years old since the anime first premiered back in 1997, the last few generations of the show have given him the chance to prove his mettle as a trainer and his development as a character. His teams have gotten stronger and more diverse, his bond with his Pokémon is more intense than ever, and his love for Pokémon as a whole has never once wavered. Though it is sometimes questioned whether Ash should still be the anime’s recurring protagonist, he is still evolving as a character, and there is no denying that his climb through the ranks of the World Coronation Series has been a joy to watch.
Ash’s Alola League win was well deserved, yet there was another moment in the anime when it looked like he might finally achieve one of his lifelong dreams. In the sixth generation of the show, Pokémon XY and XYZ, Ash takes part in the Kalos League and places second, losing in a tense and close match to friendly rival Alain. Though it can still be questioned whether a Mega Charizard could actually beat a near-Mega Greninja, there is no denying that the match between Alain and Ash was one of the most memorable of the entire series. It also raises an interesting question: what might the anime have looked like now if Ash had won the Kalos League instead of it being a loss?
Ash Ketchum Would Have Become A Region's Champion
The Alola League that Ash won was the very first of its kind. Other regional Pokémon Leagues are split into two parts: The Pokémon League Conference and the Champion League. If a trainer wins the Pokémon League Conference, they earn the right to enter that same region’s Champion League, where they must defeat all of the Elite Four in order to challenge the Champion. If that trainer beats the reigning Champion, they become the region’s newest Pokémon Champion themselves.
Since the Alola League that Ash competed in was the first annual League Conference, there was no Elite Four to contend with, and no regional Champion to beat (this is where the anime differs from the games, where the island kahunas acted as the Elite Four, and Kukui acted as the Champion). Though Ash’s win in the Pokémon anime's Alola League gave him the chance to battle Professor Kukui in his role as the Masked Royal in an exciting exhibition match, the stakes were nowhere near as impressive as they might have been in a different region.
If Ash had won the Kalos League, however, his story might have played out very differently. Had Ash beaten Alain, he would have been granted the opportunity to challenge the Elite Four and perhaps even Kalos’s Champion, Diantha. Ash’s Kalos team is one of the strongest teams he’s ever had, and he would have been able to train more before taking on the Champion League. Ash’s trainer journey toward the Champion League could have provided enough narrative opportunities to fill an entire season – and who knows? Diantha isn’t considered to be the strongest of all the regional Champions (that honor is usually bestowed upon the Sinnoh region’s Cynthia) so it isn’t too much of a stretch to believe that Ash could have been able to defeat Diantha with enough preparation.
That would have made him the Kalos region’s Champion, and brought him one step closer to his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master. Whether Ash would have stayed in Kalos to perform his duties as Champion is another matter entirely. Ash loves to travel to different regions and discover new Pokémon, especially at his young age. But who said he had to stay young forever?
Ash Ketchum Would Have Finally Grown Up
If the anime had Ash win the Kalos League and then further his career by entering the Champion League, it would have been the perfect opportunity to finally have Ash begin to age properly and start phasing him out as the anime’s current protagonist. Then, just as what happens in Pokémon Master Journeys, he could be brought back as a recurring character in the show, now a fully-fledged Champion and a contender for the World Coronation Series, or something similar. Seeing Ash fully grown and living the life he always dreamed of would be an excellent way to end Ash’s character arc and would have allowed the series to introduce a new format and protagonist sooner.
Pokémon Sun And Moon Would Have Had A Different Protagonist
The seventh generation of the Pokémon games and Pokémon anime proved that Pokémon was looking to head in a slightly different direction in of its formula. For instance, instead of gym battles, there were island challenges. If Ash had already won a league before coming to Alola, there would have been no need for him to be the protagonist once more. Why go back to school if you’re already a Pokémon League Conference winner?
If Ash had won the Kalos League it could have allowed a different character to step up and become the anime’s protagonist in Sun and Moon. There are plenty of interesting personalities to choose from in the seventh generation, such as Gladion, whose work with Team Skull (Alola's Team Rocket equivalent) provides interesting conflict, and his sister, Lillie, whose journey to understanding and appreciating Pokémon battles could have provided fascinating character development — and kept the school setting. Or, there’s Hau, an island kahuna’s grandson who in the games Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon is the Alola region’s Champion instead of Professor Kukui.
Pokémon Journeys Wouldn't Have Existed
If by now Ash had been abandoned as the anime’s protagonist due to the points listed above, there would have been no reason for Pokémon Journeys, Master Journeys, and the Ultimate Journeys to exist. The Journeys series answered a call to change the formula of the show, revisit old regions and old characters, and understand more about the lore of the Pokémon world as a whole. Pokémon Journeys is the anime’s answer to the same question that this article is asking – what happens to Ash now that he’s finally won a Pokémon League?
If instead of the Alola League, Ash had won the Kalos League, Sun and Moon likely would have had a different protagonist, and this is a trend they could have continued for the eighth generation of the anime. The Galar region provides fun new environments and an interesting storyline, one that has gotten lost within the Journeys format of a new location in each episode. Having a completely new character, one who was once like Ash, setting out on their very first journey to explore the Galar region could have made for a great show, while still feeling new because it’s being told from a new character’s perspective. Additionally, it would have been fun to witness the crazy football and rugby league feeling of Galar’s Pokémon Gym Challenge, which is quite different when compared to any of the other Pokémon generations that came before.
Ash Ketchum is a legacy character, just as much Pokémon’s mascot as Pikachu is. Understandably, the anime keeps finding new ways to utilize him as its protagonist, and the show’s recent attempts to switch up the formula and keep its audience engaged have been successful. There’s no denying the impact that Ash has had on the series, but that doesn’t mean it is any less interesting to imagine where he might be now if the Pokémon anime had let him fulfill his destiny a little sooner.
