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Bond Phenomenon

But why only Greninja?
You can't have multiple Pokemon have loads of cool abilities in one series because one, it will mean that they can't use those ideas for future series ( :p ) and second it will take the limelight from all the Pokemon and the anime will become confused. Also, it's meant to be unique and a phenomenon so it would have to apply to one Pokemon only, in this case Greninja.
 
I loved that part of XY. When the series took itself seriously.
"Seriously" in the wrong direction, in my opinion.

Nowadays my opinion for this gimmick still remains the same since its introduction. Instead of creating this new power-up out of thin air specifically for this one individual pokemon hold by one single individual trainer not shared within its species, during XY(&Z) there is this already well-known Mega Evolution which was hottest during that period. Why not give Greninja a Mega Evolution? Why it must be this manifestation of Snow Flake Syndrome? If Yajima wanted to emphasize bond between trainer and pokemon as the main story plot point, as a plot device what anything does Mega Evolution cannot be accomplished in the same way as Bond Phenomenon?

I just cannot see why go such a roundabout way of introducing something unnecessary, when there already existed something equivalent that can be used in exactly the same way as that newly introduced gimmick.
 
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"Seriously" in the wrong direction, in my opinion.

Nowadays my opinion for this gimmick still remains the same since its introduction. Instead of creating this new power-up out of thin air specifically for this one individual pokemon hold by one single individual trainer not shared within its species, during XY(&Z) there is this already well-known Mega Evolution which was hottest during that period. Why not give Greninja a Mega Evolution? Why it must be this manifestation of Snow Flake Syndrome? If Yajima wanted to emphasize bond between trainer and pokemon as the main story plot point, as a plot device what anything does Mega Evolution cannot be accomplished in the same way as Bond Phenomenon?

I just cannot see why go such a roundabout way of introducing something unnecessary, when there already existed something equivalent that can be used in exactly the same way as that newly introduced gimmick.
Greninja didn't get a Mega because if he did, then the other two would have to get one.
 
Speaking of giving them Megas, why didn't they do that? Gen 6 is the introduction of Megas.

GameFreak said in an interview that they wanted to make sure that Generation 6 designs did not end up looking incomplete without their hypothetical Megas so they decided to give them none to make sure they looked complete beforehand.
 
That is such a strange comment. Does that oppositely mean everything before GenVI looks incomplete, where they need some form of artistic redemption?

Though this is all down to subjective aesthetic taste. And I hereby exert my right of silence when it comes to questioning the choice and "evolution" of Game Freak's design of Pokemons, especially the more newer recent gens as time pass by.
 
Really I would've been completely fine with no Mega or Mega-equivalent at all for Ash, just because I have a few issues with the concept of a team member who is objectively the best option in almost all situations.

Even Pikachu, despite being omnipresent, is tempered by not being the only one Ash ever really needs. I think that's honestly the major saving grace of him not becoming a Raichu, because if he did become Raichu, they'd logically have to make him so much stronger that it would loop right back around to getting a stupid nerf for the sake of tension... either that, or they'd have to have Ash fight stronger people than ever.

Meanwhile, once mastered, Ash-Greninja can steamroll any regular opponent... And as implied by being able to wreck an Altaria in one hit (with a freaking resisted move) it feels like the only point in not using him right away is basically to conserve his energy and give other team members a chance.

It ends up reminding you of when you were like 8-10 years old and your "strategy" for playing the games was to just find one really strong Pokemon and grossly over-level it to the point that anything else does nothing but be an HM slave and buy you time to use revives.

This same reminder also ends up making Alain look cheap too, because no matter how badass his stunts, I'm still just thinking of my own 8-year-old self, throwing Charizard at anything and everything.

This is even more of an issue when anime single battles often simplify the interplay between team members, limiting the potential of a lot of Pokemon who could otherwise be written as supporters.
 
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Instead of creating this new power-up out of thin air specifically for this one individual pokemon hold by one single individual trainer not shared within its species, during XY(&Z) there is this already well-known Mega Evolution which was hottest during that period. Why not give Greninja a Mega Evolution? Why it must be this manifestation of Snow Flake Syndrome? If Yajima wanted to emphasize bond between trainer and pokemon as the main story plot point, as a plot device what anything does Mega Evolution cannot be accomplished in the same way as Bond Phenomenon?
I think you're mixing up creative teams of the games and the anime. Yajima had no power over Game Freak's decusion to not give the starters Mega Evolutions.
Does that oppositely mean everything before GenVI looks incomplete, where they need some form of artistic redemption?
Wasn't that the point? GF thinks that some pokemon are not good enough, so they give them new evolutions (Ambipom, Mamoswine, Mismagius), mega evolutions (Charizard, Gyarados, Audino) and Alola forms (Rattata, Vulpix, Meowth).
Ash being treated as a snow flake
Wow. Okay, I have seen everything now.
 
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Wow. Okay, I have seen everything now.

Am I wrong? In addition to Ash becoming Greninja-Jesus, he: was heralded as a hero in the second episode for his recklessness at the Prism Tower, was highly respected by his companions almost to the point of religious devotion (hell even his rivals liked him; Sawyer in particular was basically an Ash fanboy), almost defeated a Champion's ace Pokemon with mid diff, played a key role in saving Kalos from Lysandre's scheme, and got second place at the League. Aside from a few battle losses (most of which he eventually made up for in rematches), the kid could do no wrong in that saga. The only bigger snow flake in XY(Z) was Alain.
 
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Am I wrong? In addition to Ash becoming Greninja-Jesus, he: was heralded as a hero in the second episode for his heroics at the Prism Tower, was highly respected by his companions almost to the point of religious devotion (hell even his rivals liked him; Sawyer in particular was basically an Ash fanboy), almost defeated a Champion's ace Pokemon with mid diff, played a key role in saving Kalos from Lysandre's scheme, and got second place at the League. Aside from a few battle losses (most of which he eventually made up for in rematches), the kid could do no wrong in that saga. The only bigger snow flake in XY(Z) was Alain.

Rather than outright saying you're wrong about these things, I'd say the question is more along the lines of "Do these things actually qualify him to be a snowflake?". Or at least, "Is he really always a snowflake, or do I only get that feeling sometimes?", given that he's been at this for like forever, and hasn't just spent all that time doing nothing, so it would kinda make sense if he comes off as generally more competent and experienced by now.

There's also the fact that he had to go through a lot to get to how he is in Kalos, although I do think that's constantly undermined by the Kalos anime being overly self-contained, so sometimes it really does seem like Ash is just magically like this and Past Ash is just some kid from a different timeline/universe or something.

At any rate, it wasn't perfect, and sometimes it was kinda dumb, but at least I generally prefer it to Kanto or Unova, just because someone who's OP sometimes after years of effort is easier for me to accept than some idiot brat who is slow to learn lessons and only accomplishes anything through luck and inconsistently applied determination. (Like, yeah, you'll stick your journey out no matter what, but would it kill you to sit down and study every once in a while? I know you're supposed to be a "book dumb" character, but isn't a huge part of discipline and determination just buckling down and doing things you don't like, or trying to extend your comfort zone?)
 
Rather than outright saying you're wrong about these things, I'd say the question is more along the lines of "Do these things actually qualify him to be a snowflake?". Or at least, "Is he really always a snowflake, or do I only get that feeling sometimes?", given that he's been at this for like forever, and hasn't just spent all that time doing nothing, so it would kinda make sense if he comes off as generally more competent and experienced by now.

There's also the fact that he had to go through a lot to get to how he is in Kalos, although I do think that's constantly undermined by the Kalos anime being overly self-contained, so sometimes it really does seem like Ash is just magically like this and Past Ash is just some kid from a different timeline/universe or something.

At any rate, it wasn't perfect, and sometimes it was kinda dumb, but at least I generally prefer it to Kanto or Unova, just because someone who's OP sometimes after years of effort is easier for me to accept than some idiot brat who is slow to learn lessons and only accomplishes anything through luck and inconsistently applied determination. (Like, yeah, you'll stick your journey out no matter what, but would it kill you to sit down and study every once in a while? I know you're supposed to be a "book dumb" character, but isn't a huge part of discipline and determination just buckling down and doing things you don't like, or trying to extend your comfort zone?)
I happen to agree strongly with Violeta, actually. When I look back now, the Ash I watched in XY was simply too good. Disgruntled anime fans were so stuck up on him being better than his moronic BW self that it was easy to turn a blind eye when their golden boy went down the other deep end. He needs strong opposition along the lines of Paul to really grow, not some starry-eyed fan like Sawyer. He needs to have someone beat him again and again, not someone who could only manage a single fluke win.

It was specifically his rematch with Wulfric which turned me away from the series altogether and returned me to Camp DP. Remember when Ash's first battle against Fantina resulted in her Drifblim singlehandedly shutting him out with Hypnosis? And how he then came up with some highly unorthodox battle strategy that gave him the Relic Badge? None of that here; not a single sign of the protagonist I've come to enjoy. Instead of a brilliant Ash idea™, XY simply copped out by giving us a mindless bumrush in which the big problem from last time (Avalugg's Ice Body) was never truly beaten or even encountered at all. But hey, we got a flashy showdown so who gives a damn? Right?

Interestingly, the battle with Olympia was still a thing of genius; him having Pikachu track the duration of Future Sight was a brilliant ploy. What changed between those two gyms? Nothing other than Greninja's Bond Phenomenon.

I maintain; Ash-Greninja's rise to prominence within the space of about six episodes was when XY's writing quality and my general enjoyment began taking a nosedive. They ultimately abandoned substance for style and I think it shows in the lukewarm reception this forum gave to the Lumiose Conference's first episode.
 
Like I said, it wasn't perfect, and half of my argument was mainly just me pointing out that it's about where your priorities lie, and what your threshold for someone being a "snowflake" is.

I agree with the gist of what you're saying about Paul, but the last part about "beat him again and again" actually just struck me as annoying in the show. I never really liked how they were supposed to be about equal and yet Paul always had the upper hand and always had more composure until the end.

If that's the case, you might as well clearly establish that Paul is flat out older and more experienced than Ash (plus his personality might make more sense as a more world-weary person, rather than just having to stem from a flawed Reggie backstory where it still feels like you're missing something and Paul's views towards his own loving brother just seem childish and obnoxiously disrespectful)

I would've preferred that Reggie only be nice to his Pokemon, so Paul would see him as a hypocrite and have a bigger reason to go against his ways. I would've also preferred a more balanced power struggle with wins and things to seriously chew over being consistently traded back and forth, rather than Ash mainly getting less tangible moral victories. The League would be a tiebreaker, not something where Ash finally gets to pull through in a way Paul will actually acknowledge after being made an ass of multiple times by someone I don't like as a person or even respect that much as an antagonist (antagonist in the sense that he opposes Ash, before people come at me with "Paul isn't really evil though!")

But yeah, I do think you have a point on feeling like good strategies tanked after Ash-Greninja. Even in Ash vs Alain, Ash pulls weird crap we've never seen with no logical foreshadowing, like sucking Double Teams into a Water Shuriken and then the part with making a giant red shuriken (that is supposedly extra super special but we only see it once and it doesn't actually work, so it's basically just there to be flashy and nothing else)... So, this is why I said earlier that I'd actually be fine with it if Ash just didn't have a Mega or a special Mega-equivalent. I feel like both would just enable the writers to pull more crap like that, where flashy raw power matters above all else.
 
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