Would it be a contrarian opinion if I said that my main incentive to watch the anime nowadays is less because of Ash and more because I want to watch it for the girl companions? (And not just the girls, but the other companions like Goh rn too)
I don't mean this in an odd way, but the main thing that still keeps me watching the anime is that even if Ash himself can be perceived as having stagnated, the feminine perspective is always nice to witness and seeing those characters go through their arcs is something I still appreciate from the anime even if Ash himself ends up boring. I know the anime team has an incredibly asinine reason for constantly rotating the girl companions out (eye candy for the boys...ugh what a dumb and shitty reason), but at the same time the fact that the main cast rotates members at all does, in a way, help keep the main anime a little fresh for me because even if Ash stagnates. The DP anime is by far the most formative series for me, and frankly, if you ask me, the main reason I enjoy it so much is not so much because of Ash himself, but rather because of Dawn. The Ash/Paul rivalry was one thing, but Dawn going through her own character arc was another entirely and one I truly enjoyed. Seeing her start her own journey and really grow in her skills and talents as a Coordinator was really fun to watch, and I really loved witnessing Dawn's journey throughout the DP series. She's a fun character with a ton of personality to boot too, and watching her dynamics with Ash and her own rivals (Zoey, Nando, Kenny, Ursula) was a treat.
The other companions that have been rotated throughout the series have frankly been more interesting to me nowadays than Ash himself. After OG, which was Ash's story, while Misty and Brock were just sidekicks, it's understandable if people think Ash has stagnated starting from AG, but on the bright side, the new companions he's had since, such as May, Dawn, Iris, Serena, the Alola gang, Goh, and Chloe have always been a treat to watch, especially since they have their own character arcs and are less sidekicks to Ash but rather their own characters as opposed to Misty and Brock being second banana and just being there to accompany Ash. Even Iris, who was more akin to Misty than May, Serena, or Dawn, had her own character arc in BW that while never reached its full potential, was still nice to see, and I was super happy to see Iris return in Journeys and to see Axew finally having realized its dream of becoming a magnificent Haxorus (which also was the explicit goal the village elder had for her when she gave Iris the Axew). I like the later series more because of the other companions like Serena, Dawn, Lillie, etc. who have character arcs of their own which were a treat to watch, not so much because of Ash.
Even the current Journeys series I enjoy, but it's mainly for Goh and Chloe, sure I enjoy Ash at times, but in recent times it's really been picking up with the focus on those two and not Ash himself.
In fact, I would totally love it ideally if the companions got their own anime series where we get to witness more of their journeys after they parted ways with Ash. I'd love to see what May, Dawn, Iris, Serena, etc. have been up to after they parted ways with Ash. I'd love it if May, Serena, and/or Dawn met along the way of their journeys and became great friends because I know they'd be fantastic friends, or I'd love to see how Iris's journey went from her leaving BW to her return in Journeys. I want to see how Iris trained and became a stronger Dragon-type Trainer, and how Iris's Axew trained and grew stronger and the journey it went through to evolve into a Fraxure and then the magnificent Haxorus that it is now.
I adored the little specials where I saw Cilan and Brock meeting, or when Cilan met Clemont and Bonnie, and I'd be down for more of that stuff down the line, even though I know it probably won't happen. Enough Ash Ketchum, let the companions get more spotlight! I wanna see where those peeps are now and what they've been up to after parting ways with Ash.
