PokeAni Missed Opportunities

[Anime Psyclone]

Ash capturing the Shiny Phantump. I don't need to explain this.

Or any of the Mythical Pokemon from the movies. Heck, some Mythicals were even in the anime, like Jirachi and Celebi. Ash coulda caught one of those. For someone who wants to be the very best, he never does catch a rare Pokemon like Mew.

 

[SinnohEevee]

Or any of the Mythical Pokemon from the movies. Heck, some Mythicals were even in the anime, like Jirachi and Celebi. Ash coulda caught one of those. For someone who wants to be the very best, he never does catch a rare Pokemon like Mew.

Mythicals only go to Tobias.

 

[Anime Psyclone]

Mythicals only go to Tobias.

And legendaries. But it is weird that so far he’s the only person to not only catch a Mythical Pokemon but use it for battling with his Darkrai, and he also caught Latios. If this were the games, Tobias would just be using an Ubers team with at least Darkrai and Latios. He might also have Arceus, Ho-Oh, or any other Ubers Pokemon. So, a competitive battler is the only person in the whole anime to use Mythical Pokemon.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Or any of the Mythical Pokemon from the movies. Heck, some Mythicals were even in the anime, like Jirachi and Celebi. Ash coulda caught one of those. For someone who wants to be the very best, he never does catch a rare Pokemon like Mew.

Catching every Pokemon is practically impossible for anyone in the anime. Plus, most of the Legendary/Mythical Pokemon Ash meets with in the movie have their own homes to go to and Ash wouldn't want to take them away if they'd be happier out in the wild.

 

[Anime Psyclone]

Catching every Pokemon is practically impossible for anyone in the anime. Plus, most of the Legendary/Mythical Pokemon Ash meets with in the movie have their own homes to go to and Ash wouldn't want to take them away if they'd be happier out in the wild.

Victini never had it’s own home. Ash could have taken it with him to see the world, and I doubt Victini could head to Alola from Unova.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Victini never had it’s own home. Ash could have taken it with him to see the world, and I doubt Victini could head to Alola from Unova.

Would they have really kept Victini around for that long though? Aside from Pikachu, he leaves his other Pokemon at Professor Oak's place at the start of every new series. Victini wouldn't be any different since it would be tied into the fifth generation. Pikachu is the mascot of the entire franchise and Ash's first Pokemon, so it gets a free pass. Besides that, they wouldn't have something as major as Ash catching a Legendary Pokemon be something for a movie. The movies are basically stand alone adventures where you don't really have to watch the show to understand it and missing them won't impact watching the TV series either. Not to mention being a Pokemon Master doesn't mean catching every Pokemon. I know that there is the Gotta Catch Em All slogan, but that's primarily for the western fanbase. Ash talks about catching Pokemon, but not every Pokemon out there nowadays.

 

[Nicolas721]

Decolore Islands should have ended with the Kanto arc it promised. Looking back there's zero reason for Go Go Gogoat, the Emolga episode and the Abomasnow girl episode taking place in islands, the third one would have even made more sense.

 

[Anime Psyclone]

Decolore Islands should have ended with the Kanto arc it promised. Looking back there's zero reason for Go Go Gogoat, the Emolga episode and the Abomasnow girl episode taking place in islands, the third one would have even made more sense.

It would have been even better if we saw Kanto like it was in Gen 2/Gen 4 with new landmarks and the absence of old ones, to see just how much time has passed since the original series and how old Ash should be

 

[SinnohEevee]

They don't give him Legendaries because they want him to continue losing.
They had him release Goodra, which is a Pseudo-Legendary.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Decolore Islands should have ended with the Kanto arc it promised. Looking back there's zero reason for Go Go Gogoat, the Emolga episode and the Abomasnow girl episode taking place in islands, the third one would have even made more sense.

Did it promise a Kanto arc? I'm pretty sure that X/Y were already announced by the time they started the Decolore Islands arc and the arc itself was basically about the journey to Kanto, so it's not like they were planning to have a full arc with Ash, Iris and Cilan traveling around Kanto. I do think that the group should have been in Kanto for a full episode before going their separate ways, if only because they made the journey in order to get the Kanto in the first place, but I don't think that there was time to do much more than a couple of episodes in Kanto before Ash went off to Kalos.

They don't give him Legendaries because they want him to continue losing.
They had him release Goodra, which is a Pseudo-Legendary.

They never referred to Goodra as a Pseudo-Legendary Pokemon though. That's a term used by fans and it wouldn't really translate well into the anime given that it relies on Pokemon stats. I also doubt that's the reason they don't give Ash Legendary Pokemon. They could still easily make him lose regardless of what Pokemon he has, so that wouldn't be an issue.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

Did it promise a Kanto arc?

Several scenes from BWs2Da! opening featured Kanto related stuff, like Kanto pokemon, Kanto Junsa and Kenji. Many expected several episodes to feature it, instead of just islands.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Several scenes from BWs2Da! opening featured Kanto related stuff, like Kanto pokemon, Kanto Junsa and Kenji. Many expected several episodes to feature it, instead of just islands.

I remember that part of the opening theme and I could understand expecting a Kanto arc based on that, but I don't think that's the same thing as promising one. Openings can be misleading, so it's not a good idea to take what is shown there alone as one hundred percent confirmed. Plus, a Kanto arc still wouldn't make much sense. It was already late into BW's run and the sixth generation was just aground a corner. They had Alexa traveling around for awhile primarily to start promoting the new Pokemon sooner rather than later, as well as help to give Ash more of a reason to go to Kalos by hearing about its new Pokemon for awhile. The whole Decolore Islands arc was promoted as a journey back to Kanto too. I can understand wanting a Kanto arc, but I think expecting any more than a couple of episodes in Kanto before moving to Kalos was a bit much.

 

[matt0044]

The whole thing where they made up a whole new writing system for the Pokemon world is something I'll defend. However, I feel that they could go a bit further in where after-show segments like with Professor Oak sort of give brief lessons on what certain characters mean and how to write in them for funsies.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Decolore Islands should have ended with the Kanto arc it promised. Looking back there's zero reason for Go Go Gogoat, the Emolga episode and the Abomasnow girl episode taking place in islands, the third one would have even made more sense.

The whole Decalore Islands arc was largely pointless and mostly filler to get to Kalos when X and Y released. Go Go Gogoat was one of the very few that had a purpose though and that was introducing Ash to the Kalos Region, through Alexa.

 

[Almonds]

I do wonder why the Plasma Frigate and Kyurem weren't in Episode N considering they apparently had to adapt BW2 no matter what.

I think after the earthquake, they didn't want to animate Team Plasma for various reasons, but the show was turning unpopular, so they had to drag in N as a last resort to give the show a much needed boost (N's popularity was huge during Gen5). Also, Reshiram probably needed some time to appear on TV, so combine the two and poof - Episode N.

I always thought the anime would have been much better if it had taken more ideas from the games rather than coming up with new ideas by themselves. The games already have an established plot and all they need to do is add more dialogue to make the scenes flow smoothly and replace the main characters with Ash and Co. and they'd be set. Personally, the trio scene of Nate, Hugh, and Cheren on the Plasma Frigate would have worked perfectly with Ash, Iris and Cilan teaming up until they get interrupted by the Shadow Triad (heck, even Cheren could have been involved as a supporting cast). Colress could have been a recurring supporting character up till the climax (although I didn't mind him being a mad scientist in Episode N at all). Drayden could have played a bigger role if they froze Opelucid just like in the games. And the plot overall could have been delivered perfectly since Kyurem was being abused by Team Plasma, and it would have fit with N's ideas that pokemon should not be human's tools.

But what a waste of opportunity ._. Episode N wasn't bad, but it could have done better.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I think that it was more like they couldn't include Team Plasma sooner because of the changes B2/W2 made to the evil team. Plus, by that point, there wasn't any way they could cover the storyline from B/W. They did incorporate N because of his popularity, but I thought it was more like they wanted to promote popular fifth generation characters/elements in the show before they had to move on to the sixth generation rather than simply using N's popularity to boost the show. That was certainly a factor, but I thought that the need to promote fifth generation stuff before it became irrelevant was the main reason behind Episode N.

 

[SinnohEevee]

Why no mention of the ultimate weapon during XY? Why do they keep axing stuff essential to the story in the games?

It seems the anime won't have Nebby.

 

[matt0044]

I think that it was more like they couldn't include Team Plasma sooner because of the changes B2/W2 made to the evil team. Plus, by that point, there wasn't any way they could cover the storyline from B/W. They did incorporate N because of his popularity, but I thought it was more like they wanted to promote popular fifth generation characters/elements in the show before they had to move on to the sixth generation rather than simply using N's popularity to boost the show. That was certainly a factor, but I thought that the need to promote fifth generation stuff before it became irrelevant was the main reason behind Episode N.

Why not combine elements of BW's story with BW2? Like have old Team Plasma in terms of anti-Trainer stances just with Neo Plasma suits. It'd be much better than Team Rocket Unova Edition. Hell, have them acknowledge the uniform change in-universe. Maybe have certain grunts have Knight uniforms while others have militant-esque uniforms like their own special-ops.

N could still be on his "Hero's Journey" as he's fooled by Ghetsis while Team Plasma still props up their Liberation propaganda but with more forceful means. N would struggle to justify said means as Ghetsis manipulates him and Ash would try to convince him otherwise. The Plasma Frigate could be unveiled when Ghetsis reveals his true colors, the best weapon saved for last.

It's not as though the Anime staff were hindered by what was irrelevant or not. If that was the case, Team Rocket would've been left behind in Johto. The only hindrance is their imagination and lack thereof more than half the time.

 

[Shadao]

Why no mention of the ultimate weapon during XY? Why do they keep axing stuff essential to the story in the games?

It seems the anime won't have Nebby.

Considering how inconsequential the actual Team Flare plot is in the games (it gets brushed aside after you defeat Lysandre, and only brought up after the League), I do not miss it. There was no in-depth lore about the legendaries of Gen 6, the Ultimate Weapon is just a glorified super laser cannon, and AZ felt shoehorned in at the last minute. No build in-game. Not even a world-altering crisis that has any real impact.

The fact is: Zygarde story gives us the exact same goal (Lysandre planning to wipe out humanity) plus all of the terrifying destruction and terror that games failed to provide to highlight how serious the situation is in the anime.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Why no mention of the ultimate weapon during XY? Why do they keep axing stuff essential to the story in the games?

It seems the anime won't have Nebby.

Honestly, I don't think that Team Flare in XY suffered by not having the Ultimate Weapon. It was used for their goal and it was part of AZ's backstory, but despite that, AZ felt super tacked into the storyline. We only see him twice before he gets his easy redemption at the end. We basically got the same goal from Team Flare in the anime without including the Ultimate Weapon, so I don't think it was that essential to the story. If it was, then it's absent would be more noteworthy or at least have a more significant effect on the Team Flare storyline, but it really doesn't. If anything, the anime improved on Team Flare by getting rid of the unnecessary elements like AZ and the Ultimate Weapon backstory. It made the team more serious and evil than they were in the games, but that was an improvement as far as I was concerned. Plus, the anime has always told its own story instead of being strictly a faithful adaptation of the games.

Why not combine elements of BW's story with BW2? Like have old Team Plasma in terms of anti-Trainer stances just with Neo Plasma suits. It'd be much better than Team Rocket Unova Edition. Hell, have them acknowledge the uniform change in-universe. Maybe have certain grunts have Knight uniforms while others have militant-esque uniforms like their own special-ops.

N could still be on his "Hero's Journey" as he's fooled by Ghetsis while Team Plasma still props up their Liberation propaganda but with more forceful means. N would struggle to justify said means as Ghetsis manipulates him and Ash would try to convince him otherwise. The Plasma Frigate could be unveiled when Ghetsis reveals his true colors, the best weapon saved for last.

My guess is that they didn't really feel like they had time to cover B/W's elements when they needed to promote more of B2/W2. Not to mention the fifth generation was already drawing to a close by that point. I agree that it would have been better than just making them a generic evil team and they really should used more episodes for Episode N instead of devoting the last chuck of the series to the Decolore Islands arc, but they only had eleven episodes I think. That wasn't really enough time to cover elements from either set of games and do it justice. N himself really should have been introduced a lot sooner so we could actually see more of his journey and his progress, but I can see why they didn't want to do that given how he is with Team Plasma when you first encounter him.

It's not as though the Anime staff were hindered by what was irrelevant or not. If that was the case, Team Rocket would've been left behind in Johto. The only hindrance is their imagination and lack thereof more than half the time.

Team Rocket, along with Ash and Pikachu, are the clear exceptions to the rule though. Ash is the main lead, Pikachu is the mascot of the franchise and Team Rocket are pretty darn popular in Japan. That's why using them as an example like this doesn't work in my opinion. Being marketing irrelevant is an issue. They have to promote the newest features/characters of the games through the show. That's why the anime is around in the first place. The lack of imagination can certainly be a problem, but I wouldn't say it's the only hindrance. If they're told that they have to promote B2/W2 in a small amount of episodes, then they have to work with it. The final product that is Episode N still could have been better, but lack of imagination was not the only reason behind its flaws.