Are you happy they replace characters?

[Thunder Stone]

Both yes and no. I do get tired of some characters, so it's sometimes ok to change. But sometimes it's annoying. Cilan is way too similar to Brock, if they're going to change characters they should at least make them different. And don't make the older ones disappear, we could meet up with them later in the anime rather than never see them again.

 

[Caseydia]

Some times like this series I am, other times like with May or Dawn I'm not. Its a mix bad for me, I'm curious about what every one else feels, thanks =]

It depends on who they replace them with. If they replace them with "do nothings" then no. But if they replace them with "do somethings for more than 10 episodes" then sure. Because believe it or not, each character does get boring at times so changing it up once in a while is good.

 

[Icy Angel]

Sometimes I'm happy that they replace the characters. Except, when the characters are absolutely amazing (like Misty and Brock).

 

[Kelleo]

Yeah, I like that they replace characters. I never liked Misty or May and Brock got old and stale. Dawn was nice, but still, having Iris take her place kept things fresh as always. Plus, I love Iris's hair and we never see many dark-skinned characters in the show or games. Cilan is my favorite character in the show EVER too. <3

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Main strife i have with character replacing is writers tendency to either leave character story unfinished or donpt bring any substance into their growth to begin with making it pointless to get rid of someone if he has potential to be done more.,

If there exist room and potential to explore more on character flaws, pokemon and goals there is no reason to replace them. Otherwise whats the point of introducing them in anime in first place if writers will leave what they started about character unfinished leaving untapped potential unused?

I mean it was obvious how with May there existed, still exists potential to grow forward. Such as developing new style as coordinator still showing how she didn't stepped out from Ash shadow,do steps forward toward her goal winning Gran Festival and develop new pokemon and potential rivals. Heck Soledad after winning one GF went to other regions to compete and win new tournaments striving to become top coordinator in world and not of just one region and if Wallace was someone to judge there exist higher rank to achieve:contest master.

Misty is self explanatory. Her goal of water master was left on big part unexplored and just when writers started to discover it showing steps you need to achieve to come closer through Whirl Cup she left shortly after that leaving more to be desired. We could have seen her continuing to work toward becoming water master entering various competitions(races, underwater matches, tournaments etc are few of several options out there). Build on her pokemon team like Starmie, Horsea, Psyduck especially but skills as well learning to overcome her pokemon weakness to grass, electric types and sharp her skills, reveal more about past and open potentially new subplots to enrich here story and do continuation,. Trying to become some powerful water trainer apprentice(like Lorelei or Wallace)with purpose of becoming E4 is one of many other available option to take her in new direction and do significant growth too entering tasks to show her skills and potential being some sort of evaluation to determine if shes worthy enough to become someone student.

We all know how E4 members are basically one type masters, showing how there existed room to be done more.

Or what about Tracey??? Poor guy got not character development at all, his backstory is completely unknown and writers never fleshed out his personality and dreams to any extent being replaced so soon. What a missed opportunity.

More so why constantly bring new companions when there exist room and established groundwork with previous characters where writers could just pick up from where they stopped breathing new life into their stories and characterization advancing forward?

I mean why not for change take different approach with cast cycling by reusing previous characters creating sequel and working more on what they started before? Imo it would be alot more fresh for change to follow story of already somewhat developed character going on bigger things, and see in what new exciting directions writers can take them. With older friends we can see them evolve and grow as persons more, with interaction changing and going to different level. Which would be more interesting and refreshing to see for a change, since with new characters there doesn't exist background, established relationships and groundwork to expand upon and inject more subtle changes to their story.

Maybe its just me, but i would rather have pokemon be more like One Piece, Naruto, Winx etc. Not to have same mature content, but more in sense of having constant, continuity based storyline with characters we grew up growing in new, fresh directions gradually developing instead of getting constantly new ones being deprived of chances to ever get stable cast.

Character replacing isn't fresh if its done all the time, and personally
i would be more interested if instead of new companion for 6th generation we had Misty, May, Cilan, Brock or Dawn come back taking them forward and picking up from where they stopped, Rather than usual predictable going from scratch having some new girl learning basics and rudimentary things we followed with previous companions so many times already.

Initially I didn't like character replacing since I was just a child when it first happened and I disliked seeing one of my favorite characters leave and be replaced by an annoying newbie. Then it got worse when Dawn came.

However, now I'm okay with character replacing since I've become much older and become easily bored with watching the same people do the same thing over and over. I need new characters with different goals and personalities to add a scene of freshness to the show. Not to mention seeing a large variety of Pokémon on the main cast. So I truly am happy that characters do get replaced once their saga is over.

Can't older character have variety of new pokemon, explore on various personality traits being enriched with new quirks and knowledge as result of growth and get build up on story through new, fresh subplots though?
I could count from top of mind at least 10 different shows out there which keep same cast and keep them fresh by expanding on their stories being taken in new, unexpected directions with purpose of progressing further.

Its just i feel how there is such thing as constant character replacing reaching point of becoming excessive, having already more than enough interesting material to build upon with already existing companions.

 

[Sakuraa]

Can't older character have variety of new pokemon, explore on various personality traits being enriched with new quirks and knowledge as result of growth and get build up on story through new, fresh subplots though?
I could count from top of mind at least 10 different shows out there which keep same cast and keep them fresh by expanding on their stories being taken in new, unexpected directions with purpose of progressing further.

Its just i feel how there is such thing as constant character replacing reaching point of becoming excessive, having already more than enough interesting material to build upon with already existing companions.

Of course they could have given older characters new pokemon, though I personally wouldn't like that. Obviously excluding Ash, I don't like characters to leave behind their old Pokémon and catch more instead of continuing to work on the ones they already have. This is one on the reasons I prefer character replacement rather than Pokémon replacement.

I would be welcome to watching have further development to further reach their goal, however, I wouldn't want that to last longer than it needs to. Seeing one character stay for multiple sagas would eventually become boring. I'd rather a character reach their full potential during their saga, therefore preventing them from needing any further expansion. I mean, were we supposed to continue to watch May or Dawn until they won a Grand Festival before moving on to a new character? And waiting for Iris to become a dragon master would obviously take forever with her methods of training.

I do agree with you that constantly replacing old characters does get annoying, especially when none of them, besides Brock maybe, ever had their story finalized. However, I personally become bored quite easily with watching characters do the exact same thing for multiple years. Even with new subplots it would eventually get annoying imo.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Of course they could have given older characters new pokemon, though I personally wouldn't like that. Obviously excluding Ash, I don't like characters to leave behind their old Pokémon and catch more instead of continuing to work on the ones they already have. This is one on the reasons I prefer character replacement rather than Pokémon replacement.

To be fair its not like they don't receive new pokemon either way when making guest appearance, and dont work on older ones once they leave. Since they aren't anymore relevant to story with there not existing need to invest more in their growth.

I would be welcome to watching have further development to further reach their goal, however, I wouldn't want that to last longer than it needs to. Seeing one character stay for multiple sagas would eventually become boring. I'd rather a character reach their full potential during their saga, therefore preventing them from needing any further expansion. I mean, were we supposed to continue to watch May or Dawn until they won a Grand Festival before moving on to a new character? And waiting for Iris to become a dragon master would obviously take forever with her methods of training.

I do agree with you that constantly replacing old characters does get annoying, especially when none of them, besides Brock maybe, ever had their story finalized. However, I personally become bored quite easily with watching characters do the exact same thing for multiple years. Even with new subplots it would eventually get annoying imo.

No one expects that they achieve their dream at age of 10 (although Dawn almost did almost winning GF and becoming top coordinator). But way i look at it, it would be much more interesting and fresh for change to capitalize on someone who proved to be likable and successful investing more in already developed story of someone to some extent, have them go through deeper growth and introduce meaningful obstacles and things from past which influence their story in longer run. Meaning not seeing them doing same thing over and over again, but evolve and receive changes as they continue to develop.

Something you can't experience with new additions since they don't have history, established friendship with others to allow to take interacting to higher level passing point of basic introduction and growing to appreciate others along with not being develop to point which would allow to take them further doing continuation.

After all isn't point of this anime to have Ash and friends explore world of pokemon, build on friendship bringing humor and fun interactions, learn new things and advance their own dreams and careers?
To have continuation being made instead of everything being left open, hanging in air, to learn more about character himself and past being showed doing steps forward ad coming closer to it. To follow way through which someone comes closer toward his destination by achieving significant things , than just seeing act of something being accomplished?

Something which lose on its significance when you constantly replace characters, not allowing to utilize already existing ones to full potential and tie up what was established about his/her dreams and story in first place defeating point of introducing someone. When with each companion we wont be seeing them developed to deeper degree, reach apex of their abilities ending unfinished and erased never to be seen again in order to make room for new(insert number here)boy or girl ending in same boat anyway.

You brought up May. Ok let say she returns instead of new girl for example. We could have seen her developing her own battle style as coordinator finding balance between battling and appealing aspect with her style being too similar to trainer battles at times breaking free from Ash influence, further develop rivalry between her and others while introducing new ones to her own story. Have her after winning Grand Festival pursue other tasks to achieve like Soledad did in order to make name for herself not just in one, but multiple regions. Go in direction Wallace did in order to become contest master introducing whole new set of tasks needed to accomplish to achieve such thing.
No fun in everything happening of screen.

As for others like Misty and amount of potential she has to be done more, Max etc i already covered that up in previous posts.

Giving older character another chance in series way i see it isn't step down, but step forward because it means developing character further, giving him more development and working with someone who was already somewhat developed having established groundwork taking him in new,fresh and undiscovered directions.

I mean i certainly don't need 20+ traveling companions lingering around Ash just to see them replaced halfway developed with open story,nor i see point becoming ridiculous. So far we have 8 companions Ash traveled with, and i keep wandering how many more new companions do we really need, because constant replacing leads nowhere when we have several interesting characters in who writers could put more work doing sequel to their stories.

Something other anime like One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Winx, DBZ and others do much better. Or Inazuma Eleven, Beyblade or Bakugan which while do change characters too don't do it on such excessive scale like Pokemon does keeping previous characters relevant by picking up from where they stopped and bringing older cast in future sagas where they could contribute to current plot or advance their own story further.

Obviously no one expects this how to contain such development and level of maturity, but it could surely have more stable cast,more continuity and cohesive storytelling on which writers build up. Something which its impossible to achieve when you constantly abandon work you started with already existing companions having everything went down the gutter.

 

[Misty Calls Masquerain]

Heck, no. Theres no point in replacing characters except to piss people off who like them (taking out Misty is one thing, but replacing Brock AGAIN??? REALLY?), its not fair to the fans.

 

[Sakuraa]

@pokemon fan 132; True, you could continue to watch older characters grow and develop, but I'd prefer it if it was during their own saga. For me, watching older characters continue past their saga, like seeing May in Sinnoh, would eventually become boring since we'd been with her for like 3 years already. Not to mention that any improvements to them would be quite similar to things they'd already done. If May and Dawn had continued past their sagas, they'd probably only be working on new contest skills and entering more contests, the same thing they'd be doing when they left the main cast. Even with new situations, it's still the same person with the same personality doing the same thing and I personally would see that as being quite boring after a long time. Not to mention the possibility of that being a character I really dislike. For example, I really dislike Dawn, so I wouldn't want to see her for multiple regions. With newer characters, we have the opportunity grow attachments to them instead of having to watch a disliked character for years.

I don't want to give off the impression that I don't think the writers could expand on a character for more than one region and continue to give them new ways to grow and work further on their goals, but I personally don't think I could stay interested in that for very long. I just need new people and new situations to keep the show feeling fresh.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Heck, no. Theres no point in replacing characters except to piss people off who like them (taking out Misty is one thing, but replacing Brock AGAIN??? REALLY?), its not fair to the fans.

I disagree. There is a point in replacing the characters and it isn't just to make people upset. They replace them to market the new games. I can understand why people wouldn't like that, but they don't do it just to upset the fans, especially when I think a good portion, if not all of the fans who get really upset over characters being replaced are well outside of the target audience for the show in the first place.

 

[Misty Calls Masquerain]

Heck, no. Theres no point in replacing characters except to piss people off who like them (taking out Misty is one thing, but replacing Brock AGAIN??? REALLY?), its not fair to the fans.

I disagree. There is a point in replacing the characters and it isn't just to make people upset. They replace them to market the new games. I can understand why people wouldn't like that, but they don't do it just to upset the fans, especially when I think a good portion, if not all of the fans who get really upset over characters being replaced are well outside of the target audience for the show in the first place.

Maybe thats not their intent but it still makes people mad. No one wants their favorite character to be gone from the main cast. They have other ways to market the new games, they didn't have to touch the main cast. The rest of the characters (like Dawn, Iris, etc.) could have been rivals, not relpacements (we had contests in Hoenn and Sinnoh, and the Pokemon of each respective regions (except Porygon-Z), that's MORE than enough promotion IMO. It really takes no skill to start over with a new character in place of an established one.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Maybe thats not their intent but it still makes people mad. No one wants their favorite character to be gone from the main cast. They have other ways to market the new games, they didn't have to touch the main cast. The rest of the characters (like Dawn, Iris, etc.) could have been rivals, not relpacements (we had contests in Hoenn and Sinnoh, and the Pokemon of each respective regions (except Porygon-Z), that's MORE than enough promotion IMO. It really takes no skill to start over with a new character in place of an established one.

I never tried to say that it wasn't making people mad. I was just trying to say why there is a point to replacing characters and they aren't just trying to upset people who like those characters. I don't think that they would have made characters based on the playable trainers like May and Dawn into rival characters. I could kind of see that with Iris, but it might have been a bit too much of a stretch to turn a Gym Leader character into a rival. They were able to showcase more Pokemon with Contests in AG and DP, but they'd need to put more focus on promoting the new Pokemon from each generation. Starting fresh with a new character can help them to promote the new Pokemon. They don't have to do that, but I still think it's for the best so that each series has a little something different, they have new characters to explore and it would liven up the cast much more than if it was still Ash, Misty and Brock in my opinion at least. There are some shows who can have the same cast for years without replacing characters, but most of those shows have better writing than Pokemon to pull that off.

 

[Almonds]

There are some shows who can have the same cast for years without replacing characters, but most of those shows have better writing than Pokemon to pull that off.

^This pretty much explains everything.

Replacing characters is necessary because of marketing and storywise plots. And it prevents from characters getting stale and overused.

 

[Kb77]

3 pages of discussion and i'm still the only one to vote no

 

[megaevolvedmushroom]

3 pages of discussion and i'm still the only one to vote no

I voted no too.

One of the major drawbacks of the anime is their inability (or unwillingness, maybe both?) To address their problems, instead choosing to cover them up with a fresh coat of paint (in this case, new characters). By changing characters each time, it's fallen into another stale formula: Something they've tried to avoid to begin with!

 

[Misty Calls Masquerain]

There are some shows who can have the same cast for years without replacing characters, but most of those shows have better writing than Pokemon to pull that off.

Pokemon HAD good writing

 

[Hidden Mew]

4Pokemon HAD good writing

I don't think that the writing would be good enough to make having the same main cast for over ten years work. The writing in the original series wasn't that good, but that's just me. Most people probably would have gotten bored with the cast if it stayed the same for well over a decade. A lot of people who liked Brock in the original series thought that he became stale and dull by DP, so the chances are good that would have happened if they had kept Misty around for that long too. Besides that, there is still the marketing issue and for a show like Pokemon, marketing is always going to take top priority over writing. While they could have made it work with the original cast, I just think it is a better choice to start off fresh since they'd be able to have a bit more freedom with working on a new character, giving them more variety of Pokemon and being able to try out new ideas, for better or for worse, with them than if they had stuck with the original cast. Like I've said, I can understand why people aren't happy that they do this, but I think that it is a good choice and better than if they kept the main cast for fifteen years.

 

[Litten]

I voted no because as someone else said, it feels like the writers often replace characters to avoid having to develop them. They like to gloss over the issues instead of working on fixing them in my opinion, and it's disappointing when a character I like leaves the show. I just think that the writers should try harder to make every character fantastic.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

@pokemon fan 132; True, you could continue to watch older characters grow and develop, but I'd prefer it if it was during their own saga. For me, watching older characters continue past their saga, like seeing May in Sinnoh, would eventually become boring since we'd been with her for like 3 years already. Not to mention that any improvements to them would be quite similar to things they'd already done. If May and Dawn had continued past their sagas, they'd probably only be working on new contest skills and entering more contests, the same thing they'd be doing when they left the main cast. Even with new situations, it's still the same person with the same personality doing the same thing and I personally would see that as being quite boring after a long time. Not to mention the possibility of that being a character I really dislike. For example, I really dislike Dawn, so I wouldn't want to see her for multiple regions. With newer characters, we have the opportunity grow attachments to them instead of having to watch a disliked character for years.

I don't want to give off the impression that I don't think the writers could expand on a character for more than one region and continue to give them new ways to grow and work further on their goals, but I personally don't think I could stay interested in that for very long. I just need new people and new situations to keep the show feeling fresh.

I can see from where your coming.
But what if they don't receive sufficient amount of development in their own saga and growth though? Sometimes one saga isn't enough to develop character and his goal requiring more time to be explored and have character accomplish something significant which would serve as testament to all labor put into it beforehand bringing him closer toward his dreams.

For example just about when May finally started to change realizing what she wants to do in life and how she needs to revamp style as coordinator developing her own approach, and became experienced coordinator which was starting to make success instead of seeing her grow further in more refined directions she got replaced in favor of new girl doing same thing she did.

In Misty case when writers finally started doing something significant with her story and water master career through Whirl Cup defining it more casting new interesting light on whole thing and way to go forward, when she started to mature and grew as person, when her pokemon team become better defined with addition of Corsola and Politoad they got rid of her in half of development being deprived of chance to go forward.

When Tracey got introduced and we got chance to learn more about him and who he is, instead of expanding on his goal, pokemon team and history he was ditched in blink of eye again being deprived of chance to receive development.
Etc, etc.

Whats the point than of establishing plots about character, start his storyline and development as character and have people invest and care to see him go from point A to point B if everything will be cut in half and abandoned wasting all potential he/she has to grow forward?

With such approach might as well not introduce any story about character and give viewers false feeling of his story intended to be enriched and expanded upon when everything goes down the drain anyway leaving us with "unfinished character" product which extends to new companion. And just start treating pokemon as comedy sitcom which isn't intended to be taken seriously existing solely for out of wall exaggerated humor like Hanna Barbera and similar legatee anime productions do.

Now i can understand what you mean about being boring to see someone doing same thing and being stuck in same, repetitive situations year after year. But to be fair in case May stayed for DP all changes to contests introduced in there, appealing rounds being more prevalent, tag battling concept would apply to her character having to learn how to adapt to new challenges and situations. Meaning character being put in new situations, chance to add fresh light to him through new designs and clothes but explore of personality as well developing new traits bringing new interesting note to her. For instance she changed alot as person thanks to struggles and trials she went through in Ag not being any less interesting because of that in DP being refreshing to see her in mature, more self confident light without losing her charm.-

Same applies to Misty for instance whose growth from early days had her change in more independent and levelheaded person while keeping her flare, passion and quirky side remaining fun in more grown up manner allowing to develop on interactions between her and other characters in case she stayed. Diversity of her story would make even easier than its case for coordinators to put her in new, unpredictable directions. Whether her further growth as trainer would mean expansion on what was started with Whirl Cup introducing more events to push her forward exploring on concept of underwater battles for example. Have her go on quest to become E4 like her idol Lorelei is or becoming her , Wallace or some other powerful water trainer apprentice passing tasks and evaluators, Take advantage of one of plots in manga having her involved in plot about legendary water pokemon like they did with Suicune bringing her closer toward obtaining mastery over type.

For example i enjoyed in Ash during majority of his run not being stale for me because writers had him go through new challenges and quests he needed to obtain like Battle Frontier and different way of growth he made when passing through gyms and participating in leagues. If he was replaced we would never see him grow forward as person and trainer, learning new sides about his personality and quest; such as becoming grown enough to take mentor role to May utilizing knowledge he gained from Misty and Brock to help her out, developing rivalry with Paul through more complex way than he did with Gary, growing as trainer to such degree that he was almost ready to win DP league,

Because of stay we were able to learn more about Ash character, we got to see him gradually grow making further progress in those sagas.
Bringing up question why not do same with other traveling companions adding more to his story, find new, fresh ways to develop him further without getting stale and develop him over long period of time?

I mean in Naruto with Sasuke, Sakura and others, One Piece and Nami, Robin, Luffy, Zoro, DBZ with Goku, Vegeta or Krilin don't we see their characters staying for long periods of time but instead of getting people bored they appreciate when someone stays for longer time because it allows them to learn more about past and what molded someone to become what he/she is today, give them insight into someone story going through new directions developing further which is carried over new regions he travel through and add more substance to story making people grow more attached to character/invest in him?

We can see writers for this shows have their characters change and grow in more complex directions keeping things interesting and preventing audience from getting bored of it. They change and build on interactions between their characters, have them gradually change and grow as persons shedding new, unique light on characterization adding more substance and keep things interesting with new subplots being opened in their stories to have viewer see them in different/fresh light and find out things he didn't knew about originally.

Im not expecting Pokemon to have same level of depth anytime soon.
But at same time couldn't we have enjoyable cast in pokemon too which explores more on their personality, relationship with Ash and other friends, learn more about new species, cultures and people growing in more complex directions?

As far as attachment toward character goes personally i don't see much point in investing into new characters anymore myself when its known already from start how they will end up unfinished and threw aside like rest of Ash previous friends being left to rot forgotten in past. Whether we want to admit or not, constant cast cycling is responsible for this because more new characters you add makes space cluttered more than it already is decreasing chances of previous characters we grew to like of being seen again, enjoy in their personalities and watch them grow more being given update and chance to be in action again.

Bringing nothing but anger, disappointment and frustration from character fans stopping to care and like characters in this show when they already from start know what is going to happen anyway.

I definitely understand your point of change sometimes being required to keep things fresh, but there is point of exaggerating with whole thing killing chance to form stable cast, continuity based story and develop foundations on which people can maintain interest and remain loyal toward anime. Rather than turning them of from show.None of other anime out there change cast so often, with pokemon starting to look like pageant which has no respect toward characters created there and storyline.

What should happen is achieving some sort of balance(happy middle) imo. Having series go forward while keeping older companions relevant in some form, utilizing them when their return could help advance current story or help them grow forward.

For instance why not instead of adding new girl and boxy for 6th and future generations start doing character rotation between already existing companions??? Bringing new life into them through new outfits, developed pokemon and new ones they might catch and plots which serve as way to grow further and advance goals in new, never seen before light? That way we would be still getting different faces with each new generation, new ways of developing characters and situation they would be put in collecting new knowledge and how to come closer toward their dreams through new events, people and obstacles out in front of them.
By being in cast you can enjoy in characters you like interacting with others, you can see them develop and battle, deal with trials and flaws making mistakes and working toward their dreams
That way wider group of people can be pleased setting up foundation for more continuity, plot driven and exciting story. Along with higher ratings.

If you cut down a bit on constant cycling finding way to tie previous companion in show story im of opinion how this could establish groundwork for new fresh interactions, allow us to learn more about favorites we like doing sequel to their story bringing new, unpredictable change of pace to current formula.

And i believe we have more than enough fresh faces which could use more growth with each bringing something different and interesting for this show preventing from getting people bored thanks to concept of rotation staying for not too long, but too short either having time to get updated, be involved within new plots and grow forward tying up its loose ends.

p.s.I respect your view on this, but to me it would be better to work more with characters you already created who has groundwork and predispositions to grow further continuing from what was started having us enjoy and learn more about those we like being took in new, fresh directions rather than having all potential end up wasted applying same faith on new companion having show stuck in "never ending predictable, but most of all boring cycle".
Which isn't fresh at all by now.

Even so maybe we should call a day and stop with debate seeing how we are not far from starting to run into circles.

^This pretty much explains everything.

Replacing characters is necessary because of marketing and storywise plots. And it prevents from characters getting stale and overused.

Its more other way around for me. Replacing characters contribute to shallow writing and laziness since unlike its case with other shows which invest in established cast building on their story in pokemon writers aren't induced to write more creatively, find ways to keep characters fresh and develop them in well planned manner over long periods of time.

Since following same repetitive formula causes that their writing skills got rusty over time not needing to exercise and find way how to better themselves and surpass limits. Just continuing to repeat same mistakes with new characters making story and development look like joke compared to other shows out there.

3 pages of discussion and i'm still the only one to vote no

Your not the only one, count me in as well. But yes i think poll results on this site reflect how most people sadly don't care to see characters they like develop further , do new things and get involved into action instead of ending erased and forgotten unfinished never to be seen again. Which is common practice for this anime.

On other sites its usually opposite as far as history of their polls is something to go through though.

 

[Sakuraa]

@pokemon fan 132; I agree. I personally think what needs to be done is the writers style of developing characters. They need to focus on developing a character to their full potential during their own saga so that their stories will feel complete when they leave and hopefully, the viewers will feel satisfied with their growth and departure and not feel like the writers shafted an older character just for a newer one just to promote the next set of games. Then we can start fresh on a new character and watch them fully reach their goals as well.

Unfortunately with how Pokémon has been for the past years, I don't see it happening soon.