Note: If the writers can come up with a random Mary Sue character like Takuto just to keep Ash from winning anything, just imagine what his next league opponent in the future would be.
Part 1 - Odds:
We were at the bar when a kid was being interviewed after losing to Takuto, the overwhelming tournament favorite who came out of nowhere to take the league by storm. The kid didn't seem to mind and said, "I will be back next year at the Unova League!"
I said, "I'm betting five hundred dollars that he'll make it to the semi-finals again and loses to some random god-mode dude in a blowout fashion."
Then the person next to me said, "Seven hundred bucks that he won't even make it out of the preliminaries!"
Then Jim Fassel came and said, "I'm raising the stakes and pushing all the chips to the middle of the table, this kid will make it back to the Pokemon League and out of the preliminaries!"
Part 2 - Slaughter:
After his triumphant victory in the Unova League, a dark skinned Italian trainer was ready to leave when a kid ran toward him screaming, "You bastard! You killed all my Pokemon...how can you do this?"
The trainer smiles and said, "Don't you realize that by the end of the battle, only the strong survives and the weak perish."
The kid became furious and said, "P-Pikachu was my friend...you murderer!"
"It's not murder if the winner writes the history and if you can't deal with it..."
The mysterious trainer raise his finger and points right at the kid.
"Sekishiki Meikai Ha!"
The kid then falls to the ground lifelessly and nobody notice what's going on. The mysterious trainer leaves and came upon a strange looking creature who then said, "It sure is good to see you here Deathmask."
Deathmask gave a smug grin and said, "Where the hell have you been for all this time Kyubey?"
"Give me a break, there are many young girls for me to contract." answered Kyubey.
"Whatever, let's go home, this is getting boring already!"
Part 3 - Temple of Cancer:
Meanwhile, back in Athens, the temple of the star sign Cancer is decorated with the faces of those killed by Deathmask. Among the faces, the face of the kid whom Deathmask have killed appears and all he can do is moan like the rest...
VicariousE
After the first 3 or 4 seasons... were there more episodes? Doesn't matter, 'cause they milked it for all that their imagination was worth. It might have been better to have an Extinction Level Event, and start over a few thousand years from now, with new Pokemon and challenges.
One thing's for sure, the winners write history, and that's what's dooming us right now.
Idiot-Finder
That's for certain, by the end of the day, it's the same thing. I mean they can have Ash saving the world and yet he still couldn't win a friggin' tournament since Orange League. It's going to be the same thing over and over and over...
Also when winners writes history, you can guess the problems that are related to this sort of things. The Extinction Level Event probably would have been a good idea, maybe then...