It was a long and winding road to the top Pokemon Trainer for Ash Ketchum, and his companion Brock managed to sum up the tribulations and tribulations perfectly with one quote, one that was originally meant to encourage Totodile after it was in love.
In the Johto-era episode “Love, Totodile Style,” Totodile falls in love with an azumarill belonging to a female trainer named Trixie. Brock obviously can’t help himself, and also tries to flirt with Trixie. Azumarill immediately rejects Totodile, and so Brock makes it his mission to coach Totodile in the ways of love—despite his own questionable experience. Azumarill is kidnapped by Team Rocket, but Totodile ultimately helps rescue it, believing it has won Azumarill’s affection. However, Azumarill turns out to be in love with Trixie’s Golduck instead.
That’s when Brock consoled Totodile by saying, “You can’t expect to win every battle, but love is worth fighting for, and if you’re brave and courageous and never give up, you can come out a winner, just like me.”
Brock’s words ring true for Ash as well
This quote is meant to be a bit of a joke, because Brock obviously isn’t a winner in love at any point in the series, but the core message of Brock’s words is actually a sound description of Ash’s entire Pokemon journey. At this point in the series, Ash has already had to learn that he can’t win every battle; In fact, he has already lost the Indigo League now. What keeps Ash going and motivated is that he really loves Pokemon, and especially traveling with Pikachu, and that love is enough to drive him forward..
Ash would go on to lose many more times after this, but each time he was improved and ranked a little higher. From the top 16 in the Indigo League to the top 8 in the Silver Conference and the top 4 in the Sinnoh League, Ash would stick with it, even when his performance slipped. Ash’s continuous attempts to win the 25-year history of the series have proven that he would in fact never give up, and this is true even after he becomes the monarch of the World Coronation Series, setting himself on another Journey that just happens to happen off-screen.
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Brock’s words are unintentionally reflective of the themes of the entire series, to always try his best and let the love of Pokemon drive one to continue moving forward to ever greater heights. It can be just one Pokemon, or a love for all Pokemon like the one Ash has. Ash has certainly proven himself courageous throughout the series (perhaps even overly so), and his determination to see his goals through is as unshakable as any great anime protagonist could ever hope to be.
While Brock’s advice is good for Ash and Totodile, the Pewter City gym leader himself takes it too far.
Brock’s quote is too much for romance
Brock has long struggled in the romance department, so it’s strange to see him giving advice on the matter. While it’s good advice in general to encourage yourself to push through difficulties and keep making progress, it’s really not the type of advice that Brock should heed when it comes to dealing with women. Brock’s advances can sometimes go a little too far, and he is not very good at reading when to stop, often he has to be dragged away (first by Misty, then Max, and finally Croagunk).
As Brock says, love can be worth fighting for, but it’s important to recognize where that love actually exists, which is not something he excels at. Brock simply feels too strongly about every girl he encounters, so that he is unable to identify a mere crush of real love. Although Brock grows up a bit over the course of the series, he never fully overcomes this flaw of his. When it comes to love, this is almost the only arena where one would not want to take his advice.
Brock’s advice has never been more true than in Pokemon Horizons
The value of persistence and never giving up is always present
Pokemon Horizons continued to prove the value of Brock’s words even further than the original series. While Ash’s journey had a goal from the start, albeit a vague one, Liko first began her adventure with no real goal in mind. She is driven forward by her love for her partner, Sprigatito, and eventually for Terapagos. Her desire to help Terapagos has become her main driving force now, with a goal of taking it to the mythical land of Lakw, no matter what obstacles stand in their way.
This required Liko to develop self-confidence enough to be brave and protect Terrapagos from those who seek to take it, such as the Explorers, and the courage to confront dangerous Pokemon like the Black Rayquaza. Since Liko’s battle skills are not quite on par with Ash’s, she has also had failure and loss on several occasions. This has paid off for her in recent episodes, with her efforts recognized even after losing during an exam match.
Lico needed a little help learning not to give up, but overall, her persistence in the face of adversity proved to be one of her most endearing qualities. Liko’s character has developed a lot over the course of the series, and embodies the words of Brook’s advice in some ways even better than Ash. Lico is at her best when she follows her heart, something that became clear when the chips were down. With her friends by her side and a strong conviction about what she wants to do, Liko pushes forward, overcoming losses and failures out of love for her Pokemon, much like Ash.
Brock may have hit it by accident, but the quote really serves as an excellent summary of everything Ash (and later Lyco) would go through on his Pokemon Journey, and it is impressive that it managed to capture the idea so completely in what was still a relatively early stage in the history of the series.