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Controversial opinions

I'd rather have Concetta/Sara Lee/Blanche/Alouette/Clarice/Kazalie/Lily/Elma as Serena's rivals than Nini and Miette.
 
I like Go/Goh a lot I think?

Relatable struggles, innovative design (male character with eyelashes and hair streaks, non-gender conforming design?), more brown character representing, cool partner Pokémon, all encompassing and larger than life goal, he loves and is happy for his Kemusso no matter what they evolve into, just an awkward sweetie~? I would have loved to have a character like this in the show as a child. I love him seiyuu too. I also really like what they’re doing with his Rabbifoot and their father/child dynamic is so cute. He gets so many dynamic scenes like tossing the ball to snag Hihidaruma to save Hibunny/Pikachu from Overheat or his jumping to get upon Lugia. I dig him overall and respect the writers for giving us something new, as a child I would have loved a pretty boy-ish dark-skinned character around Satoshi’s age to watch and be charmed by.
 
Ash wasn't as "mature" or "serious" as people often claim it to be during the run of XY. It is a good portion of the XY&Z series where Ash got noteworthy serious. The reason people often remember Ash too serious throughout the Kalos journey should be for two main reasons, the battles were serious and XY&Z closure was quite serious itself. Other than that, Ash wasn't anywhere that far from his usual self up to that point.
 
the battles were serious and XY&Z closure was quite serious itself. Other than that, Ash wasn't anywhere that far from his usual self up to that point.
I'd say that’s what most people mean when it comes to a "mature" series since Pokémon inherently isn’t a "mature" show and will most likely never see typical mature aspects.

Most population with context to Pokémon would probably take "mature" to mean more battles, less slapstick, and a less goofy more shounen type protagonist with a strong team and high stake plot.
 
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XY turned Ash into a bad cliché shounen protagonist “destined to be the hero”.
To me, honestly, it seemed like that was Greninja's thing more than Ash's. Greninja was the hero destined for greatness, with prophesies, special powers, and all that jazz. Greninja was arguably just as much, if not even more of a protagonist than Ash was for XY. That's why I personally don't really fancy this ninja frog. It was the stereotypical and cliché shonen hero.
 
The AMV they uploaded before the final League episode went on air also didn’t help.
I think XY overhyping itself was it's own fatal flaw, since everything ended in the status quo.
They talk up Ash's strongest team in ads? Goes nowhere; they still fail and back to Oak they go. Their finest accomplishment? Beating someone Ash already defeated several times. Imagine if Barry had replaced Paul in the Sinnoh league as Ash's last win.
Ash-Greninja? Can't overcome it's rival, then released.
Serena? A quick kiss then safely removed from the series.
 
Serena is the worst Pokégirl the anime has ever had and her relationship with Ash lacked a lot; the chemistry was off. Adding here, the fact that she chose to do Contests after losing to Aria just goes to show the mistake adding Pokémon Performances in was. It gave us pretty performances but nothing more than that, and concept wise Contests just worked much better. But it’s possible the staff thought it was stale after having two sagas worth of it and two companions following the dream of Top Coordinator, which I can agree.


I like Serena and while I had problems with her storyline as a whole, she had some pretty solid character moments that made me appreciate it more. I seriously doubt that the writers thought that Contests were stale because both May and Dawn wanted to be Top Coordinators. At the very least, I doubt that was a factor as to why Serena didn't become a Coordinator. By the time XY started, Contests hadn't been seen in three years, the target audience at the time probably wouldn't have been that familiar with them and having a break between series would have potentially given them some new or unique ways to make Contest combinations and battles. Besides that, May and Dawn's storylines weren't really that similar despite having the same goal. They both wanted to become Top Coordinators, but they had different motivations for starting their journeys and different challenges to overcome. DP Contests weren't anything like AG Contests mainly because the writers had finally figured out how to make them more distinct from regular battles. There were a lot of Contest battles that flowed too much like regular battles and May often won by knocking her opponent's Pokemon out too. Dawn really benefited from being the second Coordinator too. I don't think that the writers thought that Contests were stale. They were removed simply because they weren't going to be featured in the then upcoming fifth generation games.

I think that the reason why she didn't become a Coordinator was mainly because there wouldn't have been enough time to pull it off in XY. Serena didn't have a goal until near the end of XY's first year. Having to take part in at least five Contests, provided that she didn't lose, within less than two years just wouldn't have worked. It arguably didn't work well for May either. She decided on becoming a Coordinator much earlier than Serena did with Pokemon Showcases, but it took her quite awhile to win her first ribbon. The pacing in AG is pretty uneven, especially as it progresses further into Hoenn and the Battle Frontier. That's a big reason why I think Serena only had to get three Princess Keys. They were limited on how much time they could spend for her goal and having a short requirement helped them to get through it faster than it would have been if she was a Coordinator. I still wish that she did become a Coordinator. Showcases were just so boring for me and even the best performances still made me think of Contests, but I don't think that there would have been enough time to pull it off. If XY went for four years instead of three years, then I think it could have worked, but they obviously would have wanted to start a new generation for the 20th anniversary celebration.

coldnoodles" said:
TRio doesn’t need to leave the anime at all but instead get something new done to them, since the formula of them wanting Pikachu and blasting off has gotten old years ago. And I’m not talking about a BW-like change as it simply doesn’t fit them, but them leaving the organization to follow their dreams or something like that. That’d cost their appearances in the anime (even if the dreams they chose to follow come up intertwined with Ash & co - in a case like this, I think this would be highly likely), but it’d be much better than the treatment PM19 is giving them. Also, they could possibly return to being villains at the end, just like Wobbuffet disappeared in BW but returned as soon as XY was about to start. It’d shake the fandom for being something new and a part of it would be wanting this concept back, but... yeah.

I feel like SM kind of did mix up the formula for them without making them leave the Team Rocket organization. Their ultimate goal is still to get Pikachu, but I don't recall that being the major focus of all of their appearances for the past couple of series. It felt pretty rare for Team Rocket to even interact with Ash and his friends during SM since they were often just doing their own thing instead. The idea of the trio still leaving the Team Rocket organization is still interesting, but I don't know how well that would work. At least in DP, Jessie had her Contest dreams, but being part of Team Rocket is such a key aspect of their characterizations and aspirations. I'm not sure how they could just not be villains for a full series.
 
(don’t know if you’re talking about him or the Pokémon)
I was talking about Ash's Greninja. To me, the darn frog is overrated as it is, and it taking basically a protagonist role just doesn't sit well with me. It also doesn't help that I'm sick and tired of people around the internet speculating, hoping, and pleading for Greninja to come back. The thing had its time in the spotlight already. Let Ash's other Pokémon shine now.
 
Ash wasn't as "mature" or "serious" as people often claim it to be during the run of XY. It is a good portion of the XY&Z series where Ash got noteworthy serious. The reason people often remember Ash too serious throughout the Kalos journey should be for two main reasons, the battles were serious and XY&Z closure was quite serious itself. Other than that, Ash wasn't anywhere that far from his usual self up to that point.

First of all let me say to you something really serious...

YOUR PROFILE PICTURE ROCKS !!! Omg did you do it?

Ehem... Second of all

It's true, Ash was not that mature in XY especially in the begining, remember how he used to be really excited about Clemont inventions. It was not Ash who was serious it was the whole plot who was. The whole Greninja Mistery, The defeats against Sawyer,Alain and Wulfric, Team Flare trying to destroy the world. The difference between Sun and Moon and XYZ was the way on how those problems where approached. For example the whole Zygarde destruction was treated as a world ending situation in contrast the Necrozma arc was treated as a joke, the whole adults getting lazy was really stupid.

That's one thing I missed from Sun and Moon, being serious at some aspects. Yeah we had the Litten episode and the rise of the death fog episode but in a series that had the Ultra Beasts that in the games are mean to be destroying machines for me it's not enough, as I said before the only Ultra Beast who was seen as a demonic creature was Guzzlord and he is more famous for his screams than for his episodes.


About Team Rocket leaving, I will only say:

Jessie James and Meowth will not leave Team Rocket. They will end Team Rocket for good.
 
Their finest accomplishment? Beating someone Ash already defeated several times.
Pretty much the same problem I had with Rowlet and Decidueye's rivalry. Why would Rowlet be so passionate about wanting to beat an opponent it has already beaten before? Just because said opponent has evolved since? Still went overboard to my taste...
 
Unpopular opinion: I like Goh just fine as a person, yeah, he can be a bit clueless and all that but honestly flawed characters are more fun to watch than Mary Sues.

As long as he learns from his mistakes I don't really see the issue with him being a bit of a dork. I think seeing him self-reflect a bit more may help the boy, we saw a bit of it in the last episode to air before the hiatus in which Goh thought Raboot no longer loved him and decided without asking his starter that it might be happier in Hoenn.
 
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