Originally Posted by
Hyuuga Neji
For FS's and DUk's sanity's sake I'll try and wrap it up with this.
All right... let's see if we can end it then
I guess the point to all my drivel concerning DP180 is revolved around the writers intentions. Unless they made crap up as they went along, it was likely intended that Ash loose to Kenny in a "one-sided" battle over Dawn, or w/e you want to call it. Obviously my question is why? It seemed fairly akward to me that they would indulge Kenny, and Dawn's relationship at that late of a stage if they didn't intend to make anything out of it. When it really wasn't expanded upon as say Drew and May. Then there's the fact that they live in the same town, have the same goals, etc etc.
Now, DP's intense self-referencing makes it clear that much of it WAS planned out ahead of time. Now, your point about how there must have been some intention for DP180 to be a deciding moment for Dawn is majorly flawed precisely because it is DP180, and no episode after that suggests that it had ANY impact on Dawn. DP180 is a wholey self-contained episode, and as such does not have any significance outside of itself.
If anything, this proves that Dawn rejects Kenny at the end. Dawn says that, since they do have the same goals, they'll meet up eventually, but that means she will not seek him out to travel with. It just means they'll compete from time to time and that's it (it does make it clear that Dawn won't be a traveling partner with Ash, she'll just keep competing in Sinnoh with Zoey, Ursula and Kenny, but that's beside the point.)
Your point about it not being expanded upon is, again, exactly our point. This episode feels like the writer tasked with Kenny's send off got a bit too "extreme" in his setup, and went past the bounds given to him for the episode to start with. I don't have any evidence for that, obviously, but it does feel that way.
As for Ash, and Dawn's relationship, seeing as how it was built up and emphasized throughout Sinnoh just to have that episode come along seemed like a perpetual "smack" for lack of a better term to the fans of this particular pairing. Not to downplay this shipping, but it seemed they didn't want to give the viewer the idea that Dawn and Ash could happen so they introduced Kenny as a character, and eventually DP180. Hence why I borught up the comparison to the Drew/Kenny thing. Drew beat Ash, and she would eventually develop a thing for him. Kenny beat Ash, and Dawn called it "cool." Dawn's not nearly a clueless about love as Ash is. She knew what was transpiring in DP178.
Noooooott really... Kenny's introduction through to the beginning of DP180 makes two things clear and two things only. Kenny is desperate for Dawn and he sees Ash as a (severe) threat to that. Soooo, you might ask what about the second half of DP180, what about Kenny there? The thing is, even there he's still clearly NOT her destined pairing. Kenny has to go AROUND ASH'S BACK and ask Dawn to travel with him if he can beat Ash. Before, Dawn made it clear that she hadn't even thought about traveling with him before (he's seen as just a friend) so this is a bit shocking to her. DP178 DOES make it clear that Dawn has some basic understanding of love (unlike Ash), but DP180 also makes it clear that Dawn is FAR from loving Kenny. After the battle, Dawn is shocked that Ash loses (Ash was using a weak, type-disadvantaged Pokemon in a strategy experiment meant for a Pokemon like Infernape, Torterra, or Empoleon (Flint's strategy) in a battle whose significance he was totally unaware of).
I guess you could argue that the meaning of High Touch was subtly emphasized in DP180, and the fact that she still wanted to travel with them is a nice touch too.
Yeah, sure :P.
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