Why did Ash refuse to capture Dragonite in Best Wishes?

Question

He was given a chance by Officer Jenny and he turned it down.

Comments

I think think the reason is that the anime writers simply didn't want Ash to own such a large or powerful Pokemon, because the show must remain interesting, and that means Ash loses some of his battles.
I have no evidence to back this though, so I'm just commenting.

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I don't think Ash even WANTS to become a Pokemon Master. It's just something that comes out of his mouth, like a verbal tic, such as 'ttebayo! He just wants to travel from city to city in one region to another, with random/annoying friends, just to meet random wild Pokemon and COTD's, and forget he ever met them in the next region.

Answer 1

The show producers wanted iris to have it. This way iris would gain more popularity as a coming dragon master.

Comments

She needed MORE popularity?

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To be fair, it was her first "powerful" Dragon type (and second Dragon type). So if one will call her a Dragon Master, they might as well train 1 Electric Pokemon up to 100 and say they're the master of Electric Pokemon

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Isn't besmirching the main character in every other episode enough for her?