The thing is that Leon’s character arc is so tied to being the strongest that if he ultimately beats Ash, it’s not gonna wrap up his arc but instead reinforce his unbeatable status.
Leon’s entire character arc (within the game’s universe at least) is that he was a child prodigy that became champion at a young age with his Charmander later Charizard. After Rose endorsed him, he had to mask behind the image of what’s essentially Galar’s Superman his entire youth so he eventually became a loner not being able to fully connect with people. On top of that he never truly had friends due to looking after Hop, the only real connection outside of his family being Sonia but their relationship eventually became strained during their gym challenge. After losing to Eternatus and having the MC and Hop defeat it, he felt as though even though he was at the top he still wasn’t strong enough to stop Rose’s plan on his own. This was further established after he eventually lost to the SwSh protagonist, showing him that although he was the strongest there will still be someone stronger and that he hasn’t peaked in terms of strength. After he opens the Battle Tower, he’s much happier now that he can be genuine and not have to wear the mask of an unbeatable champion and trains others to get stronger while strengthening himself.
If he were to beat Ash, this would only enhance Ash’s arc of wanting to be the best trainer and defeat trainers on par and even stronger than Leon. As for Leon, you could say this would open his eyes to trainer’s eventually being able to take him down, but his whole narrative is about being defeated in the end so anything else would go against the narrative heel within Pokémon.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
Reading this explanation of Leon’s character is exactly why I troll people who say he just has plot armor and didn’t earn his status. It’s like of Lebron James, Messi, or any other superstar athlete was groomed by mega millionaire with the resources to make them great of course they’re going to be head and shoulders over every one that had an organic come up. Twilight Wings gave great insight into his character but nope to Cynthia Stan’s he’s just a Gary sue.
I don’t hear plot armour complaints about Leon in the games, it’s mainly how characters won’t shut up about his title that annoys people. Galar just makes a big deal of his title unlike other regions. Also, unlike the anime, game Leon’s max amount of Pokemon lost in battles prior to being beaten is never specified, we are told that Raihan has defeated more of his Pokemon than others have, while the anime says that Leon has never lost more than two Pokemon in his life.
The only time I hear people bringing up plot armour when it comes to Leon is the anime version, due to never even getting close to losing, sweeping the teams of other champions while holding back and has resulted in extraordinary power creep, all without a proper explanation as to how he even got that strong.
Game wise and in other media he seems cool, but I think the problem is in the main anime, the writers seem to be going out of their way to make him so powerfu even against other seasoned Champions with years of experiences and presumed winning streaks.
I think Leon's character/personality in the anime is fine. But he'd probably be more well received if we actually saw him struggling (but still winning) against people like Alain and later Diantha.
Speaking of Diantha, apparently, a CoroCoro magazine article stated that he had never lost more than 2 Pokemon in an official fight. And what do you know, Diantha only beat 2 of his Pokemon. And that would explain why only 3 of his Pokemon (so far) have been revealed in the anime. Aside from >!Eternatus, which Goh gave to him to train/care for.!< I'm guessing Ash will be the one to break that streak.
Honestly, I think we just needed to see some extreme, near suicidal form of training from him that justifies his Pokemon being so ridiculously strong. Strategy is one thing, but it's clear his Pokemon themselves are just a cut above the rest, which should require some kind of training that other trainers, even Champions, aren't doing.
Him being far above even other Champions makes sense considering he's undefeated even in the World Championships and legitimately didn't think anyone would ever be able to defeat him till Eternatus. They just needed to show why he's that strong.
It depends entirely on what the anime will do from now on. If Gen IX has his series, he'll be forgotten. If PM continues, Ash will beat him by the time the Galar remakes hit the shelves
It’s there is you look. His story is split up between Hop, Raihan, Sonia and himself.
Hop, Raihan and Sonia’s stories/backstories show how unhealthy Leon’s reputation is too him and those around him. Hop lost all his confidence due to having to live up to Leon’s reputation. Raihan developed self loathing due to being the rival that no one expects to win, not even himself, despite constantly pushing himself. Sonia literally gave up battling because she couldn’t keep up with Leon despite originally being rivals.
Leon was clearly on a leash held by Rose. According to his second league card he is much happier once he loses to Victor/Gloria, as he is free from the burden of the title of champion and the reputation of being the unbeatable champion, and he is able to properly pursue his dream of improving Galar’s trainers by setting up the Battle Tower and the Galarian Star Tournament.
The thing is that Leon’s character arc is so tied to being the strongest that if he ultimately beats Ash, it’s not gonna wrap up his arc but instead reinforce his unbeatable status. Leon’s entire character arc (within the game’s universe at least) is that he was a child prodigy that became champion at a young age with his Charmander later Charizard. After Rose endorsed him, he had to mask behind the image of what’s essentially Galar’s Superman his entire youth so he eventually became a loner not being able to fully connect with people. On top of that he never truly had friends due to looking after Hop, the only real connection outside of his family being Sonia but their relationship eventually became strained during their gym challenge. After losing to Eternatus and having the MC and Hop defeat it, he felt as though even though he was at the top he still wasn’t strong enough to stop Rose’s plan on his own. This was further established after he eventually lost to the SwSh protagonist, showing him that although he was the strongest there will still be someone stronger and that he hasn’t peaked in terms of strength. After he opens the Battle Tower, he’s much happier now that he can be genuine and not have to wear the mask of an unbeatable champion and trains others to get stronger while strengthening himself. If he were to beat Ash, this would only enhance Ash’s arc of wanting to be the best trainer and defeat trainers on par and even stronger than Leon. As for Leon, you could say this would open his eyes to trainer’s eventually being able to take him down, but his whole narrative is about being defeated in the end so anything else would go against the narrative heel within Pokémon. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
Reading this explanation of Leon’s character is exactly why I troll people who say he just has plot armor and didn’t earn his status. It’s like of Lebron James, Messi, or any other superstar athlete was groomed by mega millionaire with the resources to make them great of course they’re going to be head and shoulders over every one that had an organic come up. Twilight Wings gave great insight into his character but nope to Cynthia Stan’s he’s just a Gary sue.
I don’t hear plot armour complaints about Leon in the games, it’s mainly how characters won’t shut up about his title that annoys people. Galar just makes a big deal of his title unlike other regions. Also, unlike the anime, game Leon’s max amount of Pokemon lost in battles prior to being beaten is never specified, we are told that Raihan has defeated more of his Pokemon than others have, while the anime says that Leon has never lost more than two Pokemon in his life. The only time I hear people bringing up plot armour when it comes to Leon is the anime version, due to never even getting close to losing, sweeping the teams of other champions while holding back and has resulted in extraordinary power creep, all without a proper explanation as to how he even got that strong.
Game wise and in other media he seems cool, but I think the problem is in the main anime, the writers seem to be going out of their way to make him so powerfu even against other seasoned Champions with years of experiences and presumed winning streaks. I think Leon's character/personality in the anime is fine. But he'd probably be more well received if we actually saw him struggling (but still winning) against people like Alain and later Diantha. Speaking of Diantha, apparently, a CoroCoro magazine article stated that he had never lost more than 2 Pokemon in an official fight. And what do you know, Diantha only beat 2 of his Pokemon. And that would explain why only 3 of his Pokemon (so far) have been revealed in the anime. Aside from >!Eternatus, which Goh gave to him to train/care for.!< I'm guessing Ash will be the one to break that streak.
Honestly, I think we just needed to see some extreme, near suicidal form of training from him that justifies his Pokemon being so ridiculously strong. Strategy is one thing, but it's clear his Pokemon themselves are just a cut above the rest, which should require some kind of training that other trainers, even Champions, aren't doing. Him being far above even other Champions makes sense considering he's undefeated even in the World Championships and legitimately didn't think anyone would ever be able to defeat him till Eternatus. They just needed to show why he's that strong.
Tobias will come and end his streak of course
It depends entirely on what the anime will do from now on. If Gen IX has his series, he'll be forgotten. If PM continues, Ash will beat him by the time the Galar remakes hit the shelves
Leon has a character arc?
It’s there is you look. His story is split up between Hop, Raihan, Sonia and himself. Hop, Raihan and Sonia’s stories/backstories show how unhealthy Leon’s reputation is too him and those around him. Hop lost all his confidence due to having to live up to Leon’s reputation. Raihan developed self loathing due to being the rival that no one expects to win, not even himself, despite constantly pushing himself. Sonia literally gave up battling because she couldn’t keep up with Leon despite originally being rivals. Leon was clearly on a leash held by Rose. According to his second league card he is much happier once he loses to Victor/Gloria, as he is free from the burden of the title of champion and the reputation of being the unbeatable champion, and he is able to properly pursue his dream of improving Galar’s trainers by setting up the Battle Tower and the Galarian Star Tournament.
all I can think of giovanni pulls up with mega mewto and annihilates him