If you could what would you change to make current pokemon anime better? (read first post)

[pokemon fan 132]

Hi to all fellow bulbagardeners.
Since most of us are long time viewers of pokemon anime im sure there exists things you might not be satisfied with regarding way this show is written. Whether that is character development, connection to series history and current formula, settings in which certain saga takes place, story or message pokemon is sending out.

So I decided to make thread where people can release their juices of creativity and bring up what they may not like about current formula. But most importantly what changes you guys and girls would implement in way pokemon anime is handled?
To make it of what would appear to be in your opinion show with higher quality. More fun, original and rewarding to follow.

But under condition of Ash still being main lead in this anime.

CLARIFICATION:
Before anyone post in this thread there are few rules i felt there was needed to include in order to prevent turning it in place where usual suggestions such as replacing main character or rebooting anime would occur again.

Therefore in accordance with moderators you can bring up any suggestions in how you would change current pokemon series as long this does not include:
Asking that Ash or Team Rocket gets replaced or pokemon anime experiencing reboot starting it with new protagonist.

Have fun posting, because im curious to hear what kind of changes you would implement.

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To start things of here is one which is in my opinion biggest weight dragging down pokemon show from being product of much bigger entertainment value and quality.
Answer is very poor continuity.

In my opinion there should be much, much stronger continuity than what were having right now.

Because if there was more attention given to previous regions Ash traveled through, experiences, skills and relationship with other characters there was formed.

That would translate to way storyline and Ash characters unfolds out as well. Not witnessing to soft resets and regressions like it seem to be practice whenever new generation is on horizon.
Due to his recollected knowledge, improvement and maturity following fluid straightforward curve through which not just Ash. But pretty much every main character, plots and journey could go forward.

If there was stronger continuity with pokemon regions being connected with contact being maintained with what happened before. We would be following consistent storyline which evolves and builds on itself over long period of time making things feel more connected and rounded. Giving out impression of characters, struggles they underwent and all kind of plot twists moving somewhere and whole adventure having some actual goal, sense of direction to strive toward.

And most importantly if there was stronger continuity we wouldn't be witnessing to replaced older character being erased forever from pokemon anime never to be seen again. Instead we could see them continue to exist within series canon moving things forward and building on future of whole pokemon quest, being rewarding pleasure when we have chance to see likes of Misty, May, Cilan, Dawn , Brock etc evolve and grow as person through returns showing how much they changed, what new interests and quirks they developed adding more freshness to characterization because of development. How they cope with new challenges and if they came closer toward their careers feeling like their effort, pain and determination pay of.

Now to some this may not be on list pf priorities, but I do appreciate references to history and older important characters. And I guess to me its infinitely more exciting when i hear old companion(like let say Misty for sake of example) is, would be coming back than introduction of new character with pokemon series being saturated by this point through unoriginal and repetitive policy "out with old, in with new".

When old can become new and deliver fresh things on table through deeper exploration of already started dreams and plots about someone either through sequel of their adventure or recurring role of some sort. Like One Piece, Naruto, Dragon Ball, Fairy Tail etc are having for practice.

Because there are plenty anime out there which exist for marketing but they don't sacrifice coherence of plot, consistent character development and forget about past and important characters or events happening before remaining acknowledged.

 

[Mareepy]

My main problem with the show is the script. I forgot where I read it but 'To write a story, you must first write a start and a finish, and then work your way to achieve that finish' is one of the most effective strategy I think I adopted. The show, however, is one that managed to fail in doing so at the worst way possible.

The finish or end game of the show every season is very simple. Ash gets to a certain place in the league, the companion gets a distance closer to their goal etc. With the start and finish in mind, all that left is making a worthy journey with challenges that can help the character improve in order to achieve the end game.

The show, however, manages to not make any progress towards the goal all the time except when Ash got a badge. Yes, Ash getting badge is a progress only because it enables him to participate in the league. The DP series is good because many of the combination attacks, ideas are brought out and in fact used in Ash and Dawn's journey of achieving their goal. DP also failed on this department several times sadly like when Bertha taught Ash how to detect underground enemy which is never used again.

In XY (and other series), its disappointing in this department. Granted Froakie evolved thus the combination attack he and Hawlucha practiced is now unusable, BUT! Ash is never shown to think of an alternative one for them to use, and that could have been the combination to beat Olympia with. I am not complaining about the super cool battle with Olympia though, its my favourite, but still... since the league is not going to have double battle, the double battle practice with Froakie and Hawlucha seems completely pointless when I looked back.

Well, all I can hope is things like Ash facing another Heliolisk in the league can happen, he will have a stunning advantage in that battle, probably curb stomp it easily. And ofcourse the one using deflection of opponent's attack to avoid damage/gain the high ground which haven't been used since Korrina's Gym.

 

[DracoMan]

Since I haven't brought this up in months, and since there's now a thread specifically for this sort of thing, I might as well speak. (Or type. Whatever.)

If you've read my blogs and my many posts in various threads, you might know what I'm about to say. If not, listen up:

What I first want is to see Ash finally win a league tournament. After being an also-ran so many times, he more than deserves this. That could then lead to an E4 challenge, and even have him face the champion, but that's less important than the next part.

That next part is to have Ash go to the next region with no reset in either Pokémon strength or brainpower. Once there, he meets a rookie trainer about to set off on a badge-collecting journey. For this go-round, Ash becomes the mentor for this rookie. This way, he'll still be relevant without having to regress.

I'd also change Team Rocket. Since they suck at being villains, I'd have them realize this for themselves and quit being the bad guys. Let them decide on their own objectives, which can still have them cross paths with Ash and whoever he's travelling with, perhaps as rivals instead of outright enemies. They'll still be relevant while giving Ash a chance to fight more credible villains.

I hope this didn't violate any ground rules.

 

[Lillie]

Better continuity is one thing I'd like to change to make the anime better.
I would also have started Serena's Showcase goal by the 20th episode and would have increased the number of keys to win to enter the Master Class to 7 keys. I would also have made the pacing of them alot better. I loved the Showcases but I feel that they could have been better.

 

[Satoshi Da Ze]

Maybe I'm in the minority here but I don't think they should be worrying too much about continuity from one series to the next in an anime made to run indefinitely. It would generate a lot of problems that could actually make it worse to watch IMO. How far can a bunch of characters who are getting ever more experienced go when there are no ending plans? It would make their defeats a lot harder to swallow too.
But that's just my opinion anyway.

There are plenty of things I could think needing to change, but I'm gonna focus on 3 ones that bother me the most:

1. If I were the writers I'd stop making the geography of the area they're crossing also be episodic. What I mean is, take XY for example. I don't remember Kalos that well anymore but shouldn't the area they're heading for be a snowy region? From what I remember they basically ditched the snow as soon as they were done climbing the mountain. I know the anime expands the regions far beyond what the game shows, with its own cities and canon, etc, but I don't know how it could hurt to make episodes in batches that take the whole area's geography instead of throwing random forests, deserts and open fields in between. Like, ok, so they're in town A, a forest separates A from B. So let's have the batch of episodes prior to their arrival take place in foresty setting. That's the one thing the original series did a little better... in the first few episodes.

2. I love TR but since they're supposed to cause trouble I really would have prefered if they didn't show up to interrupt everything/steal the gang's pokemon every single episode. I'm completely against trying to make them more serious/proper villains again, just because I'd rather the real bad guys be other characters who we won't be seeing through the anime all the time like TR itself, and just because I like the trio's personality. But I think they only ruin the episodic stories when 3~5 mins have to be wasted on them flying off with the same pokemon in a cage. Minutes that could be better spent in the episode's story or a real battle. They really should be making at least 2~3 TR-free episodes for each time they do cause trouble.

3. I loved Shinji as a rival character, but I don't think they should keep recycling the same type of rival just because. I think a solution could be to have other recurring characters that do not travel with Satoshi having their own episodes in parallel. Kinda like Alan but not limited to "special" episodes, and crossing paths with Satoshi every now and then, until they face each other in the league. I guess it would be kinda like mixing the idea of Alan with the likes of Jun and the Kalos' trio. It could allow for them to use characters based on the playable male protagonists. I think the first time I wished for something like this was when they gave Gen 2's MC its own OVA. I thought how it would have been cool if him and his two friends were a gang that travelled in parallel to Satoshi-tachi and had their own episodes sometimes. They could deal with more newbie issues that someone who's been travelling so long like Satoshi shouldn't be dealing with.

 

[JacobYBM]

I think two simple changes would at least vastly improve the life of each series. The first of these changes would be focusing less on the humans and more on the monsters themselves. Give Satoshi's new region Pokemon the role of rookies that have lessons to learn while Satoshi and Pikachuu are actual mentors to them. During gym battles have Pikachuu battle the gym leader's older Pokemon while Satoshi's newer Pokemon battle the gym leader's younger Pokemon.

The second of which is introducing the level beyond regional Leagues. In Diamond & Pearl we learned of the Champion League; expand on that. Have the Champion League be only for trainers that have won that region's Regional League. In other word, a tournament that can only be entered by winners like Takuto and Virgil and the Shinten-Ou of that region. The winner becomes the Regional Champion or Super Champion. Introduce storylines for the Shiten-Ou and Champion where they are struggling to reach the next level. From there, introduce the 'National League'. Kantou, Jouto, Hou'en and Shin'nou are all a part of the same nation, right? Introduce the National League as a tournament that can only be entered by Regional/Super Champions (Wataru, Shirona, Daigo, et cetera) as they all struggle to become their nation's champion. Also, introduce a rival that Wataru and the others all aspire to topple next. From there also begin introducing the concept of the World League and a World Champion. Give us a more concrete idea of where Satoshi still needs to go.

While I'm at it, have some damn adults in the League for once. I want to see Satoshi facing foes with way more experience than him cleaning his clock.

 

[Litten]

I'd give the male traveling companions more of a role in general instead of them just being around to cook, clean, and for gags.

 

[Aggron989]

I'd give the male traveling companions more of a role in general instead of them just being around to cook, clean, and for gags.

^^^^^^^^^^ THIS. At the beginning of the series, they kind of hinted at Serena being the one to be the group's cook, but no. It's so out-of-place for Clemont to do it. The reason I love Clemont is that Brock and Cilan both felt way too much like chaperones because they were both obviously so much older than Ash, Misty, and Iris. Clemont is at least around the same age as Ash and Serena, and I was really excited when they started giving him some serious character development.

Some of you have probably noticed this, but whenever I post about characters on this forum, usually the first thing I bring up is character development, which has never been Pokémon's strong point, but XY has been a pleasant surprise in that department. For the most part, XY has done a great job with CD for Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont, although my biggest complaint about the current series is that Clemont's character needs some major TLC at the moment. He hasn't been in the spotlight since the Lumiose Gym battle against Ash and then they just sort of... stopped with him. XY&Z has been almost exclusively about Serena and Bonnie. Clemont's still got growing to do and I would hate to think that they're cutting his arc too short.

I'd also like to see some kind of development on Ash's part in XY, although a) it's a bit late for them to start with anything for him, and b) what can they really do with him at this point?

 

[Desdar300]

This is a controversial viewpoint but I'd have different set of characters for every generational saga so the show could experiment more freely.

 

[Master Cyrus]

I'd write the team rocket trio out of the show.

I'd rotate in a new set of incompetent nincompoops belonging to team sol/luna to replace them.

I'd have the new girl be the cook and a male showcase/contest/secondary.

No unevolved pokemon by the league other than Pikachu.

Scratch that, evolve Pikachu too.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I'd write the team rocket trio out of the show.

Scratch that, evolve Pikachu too.

Team Rocket probably should have been written out of the series YEARS ago, but unfortunately, they're kind of a staple now...As for Pikachu, I agree. Raichu is not only a bit stronger, stat wise, but he'd still be adorable enough to appeal to many.

 

[ArvAl]

Making an arc which doesn't end with a sunset goodbye EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. I know it's nostalgic but it's getting lame. I prefer something which has more dynamic twist, action, some smart humors but not hyperbolic. Maybe a trouble can occur at the end of the story and Ash is not happy with the screen while the video stops along the "To Be Continued" line.

An episode where actual recent flashbacks towards Ash will be good so he won't be always having smiles at days (doesn't mean that I like him sad continuously though) and goes thinking over what something happened all the time.

Not all fans will like my idea but for me, it's like a masterpiece over an advanced plot and I'm proud of it.

 

[lavandula]

Make it more like the manga:
1. Continuity-- the whole story adds up, rather than each episode being separates.
2. More intense plot.
3. When it comes to the personality of a Pokemon and how a Pokemon behaves, please use Game Freak's original settings, rather than making Pokemon like Houndoom into a friendly fella. (Satoshi Tajiri did mention that the Adventures manga is the closest to the world he imagined, even closer than the games or the anime.)

 

[danh19]

if I was in charge I would push boundaries what you can do in a children's show in terms of tackling real emotional issues like in the fan fiction I've been thinking about doing where Hilda's dad passed away and she nearly loses her partner Pokémon to she would be really human struggling with confidence issues as well as trying to flesh out the main Pokémon so they feel like real living beings

 

[GurahkWeavile]

Well, I'd probably have a series that would try have a deeper plot, greater developments, and actually look like a fun anime rather than just a shameless promotion for the games. Not to say it's a bad show, but having some connecting plots more known, it's not as cliche, and alot of other stuff I can't name that could make it enjoyable for all ages so no one can say: "Pokemon? Dude, that shit's for little kids!"

 

[danh19]

the way I see it you can have references to the games with out being slaves to their promotion keeping the focus on what's good for the series not the games because if the series does well in it's own right it's not going to harm the games

 

[Almonds]

I'd like Ash to go on each region with a theme team. The reason I like Ash's Kalos team is because all of them share similar traits as Speedsters, three of them being fliers.

For instance, I'd like to see Ash working with an all Electric-team. A Jolteon could be the snobbish teammate that's always jealous of Pikachu's special treatment as Ash's oldest partner. Joltik could be the timid one who learns to be brave. Electrike could be the scouting member. Something like that. It would put focus on his specialty and based on how long he's been with Pikachu, bring out his knowledge on taking care of Electric-types in-depth.

 

[Matleo]

Rise the amount of battles from 2 vs 2 to 3 vs 3 in gyms.
In the league there should be more battles.
Use difrent pokemon from new and past enerations also those that are very rarely used.

I always look at moves, there effects and abilities and its a waste that moves like Dragon Tail never were used properly to really switch a oponents pokemon out. They need to fix that.

 

[Lyrebird]

Aging the characters and probably a lot more flow and cohesion.

 

[Sakuraa]

I could go on forever about things I would change, but I'll limit myself to my top 2 (would have been top 3 if replacing characters was allowed) and try to be as short as possible.

1. Equal development for each traveling companion. I do like XY, but I can admit that it is pretty much "The Ash Show" in several aspects. I'd give each character and equal number of special development episodes relating to either their goal or working with one of their Pokemon. Additionally, all characters would be active in every episode, even if they are not the main focus. There won't be any "the group is separated and only this character will be part of the main action while the others conveniently show up once everything is over" scenarios. And every character will have a goal by at least the 20th episode, and the time leading up to that episode will be spent with them actively trying to figure out exactly what they want to do. I love Serena and her goal and all, but spending like 40+ episodes goalless, not really doing much in that time period, and then discovering Showcases and suddenly deciding to become a Performer in the span of less than 10 episodes didn't really sit that well with me. That could have been organized so much better. Lastly, no "type master" goals unless there are some sort of constant competitions for the character to compete against other trainers with another "type master" goal. (Actually, now that I think about it, it would be pretty interesting to see a bunch or mono-type trainers dukeing it out to see who is the best at their element. Maybe a constant winner could become a gym leader)

2. Full teams for each character, with no "capture patterns", and equal development for each one. I really am not a fan of characters being part of a 100+ episode saga and only ending up with 3 Pokemon. Every main character should have a full team of 6 Pokemon (with no rotation) and each Pokemon the team should have a defined personality and equal development. No birds getting shafted for other Pokemon and no starters being screen hogs. Every Pokemon would have as much individual attention as possible. There would be more spontaneity with captures. It's boring being able to predict that Ash's team will always include the basic early route bird every region. Mix it up a little. Make the main bird of DP, Chatot and then Braviary for BW like it should have been. Or heck, maybe the female could get the early bird. Just something different. There wouldn't be an obligatory fire/water/grass trio upon anyone's team (Which I'm glad XY seems to have finally deviated from btw). Pokemon would fully evolve by the end of the saga. And most importantly, no character would have all 3 starters.

Damn it, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it short.