• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Pokémon.com creates a playlist of the most memorable episodes

I can sort of understand the XY ones--Sernea's first Showcase and her first win--but it's weird not having any of Ash's battles since that was one of the main things XY's good reputation was for.

The distribution is interesting, though. Two episodes for Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Kalos, and Alola.
One episode for AG and Unova.
No OI episodes.
 
It's a really short list. I guess that they didn't want to make a huge playlist given how many episodes they are. Their choices for the OS are pretty fitting. I think I would have included something other than Chikorita's capture episode. It was good and it isn't a bad choice, but I might have gone for one of the Johto Gym matches instead or the episode where they learn how Larvitar was separated from its mother. If I had to add another episode from the Kanto saga, I would have gone for Charizard vs. Magmar since that was a pretty memorable episode and battle.

It's really strange that they'd chose just one episode from AG and I don't quite agree with the choice. I'm not surprised since it was Ash defeating the last Frontier Brain and he has the Kanto starters with him too, but I wouldn't really choose that one episode to represent AG, especially when I don't think that the Battle Frontier arc in general is that good to begin with. I might have gone with one of Ash's Gym battles or the Claydoll filler episode just because it was so hilarious.

The DP choices are pretty solid. The Hearthome City Tag tournament was one of the highlights of DP and Ash getting Chimchar was a major development in his rivalry with Paul. The conclusion to Ash vs. Paul in the Sinnoh League was also terrific and they were building to that confrontation for years, so that was a good choice. It is a shame that they didn't include May or Dawn's Contests. Considering how major Contests were for both AG and especially DP, I think that they should have had an extra slot for one of their best Contests. The Wallace Cup finale would have been a perfect choice if they wanted to include just one Contest episode, especially when they'd get to showcase both May and Dawn in the same episode.

Their choice for BW is seriously weird though. I don't really know how that one episode stands out, especially when Bianca being able to continue on her journey didn't really lead to anything in the long run. At least it wasn't Ash's match against Elesa like I initially thought. That episode is more memorable by comparison, but not for good reasons. There are other better BW episodes they could have chosen from. The Gym match against Brycen was pretty good from what I remember. The episode where Ash gets Charizard back would have been a better choice too. Much like the Bianca episode, Charizard's return didn't really do anything beyond nostalgia, but it was far in a way more memorable than this one episode.

The XY choices kind of make sense. Serena's debut Showcase is pretty major for her development and gaining her first Ribbon is also pretty important. I like that they at least made some focus on one of the main female leads in this playlist, but it does make it more confusing and frustrating that Contests weren't featured. They're far in a way more memorable than any of Serena's Showcases, so that's just a weird choice. It's also strange that they don't feature any battles. Maybe they did want to avoid reminding people about the Kalos League, but there are plenty of Gym battles they could have chosen from, especially the first or last one. The Team Flare arc climax would have been a solid choice too.

Their first SM choice makes sense. Lycanroc was Ash's main battler in SM and the anime being the first one to feature Dusk Lycanroc gave it some more hype as well. I don't know why they chose the other episode though. It is memorable, but not really for good reasons. Most fans understandable don't like how Pikachu won through deus ex machina powers. They really should have gone for Ash winning the Alola League or preferably his last battle against Professor Kukui.

This playlist is a bit of a mixed bag. Most of the choices fit, but I think that they were a bit too limited on themselves. Granted, each series is well over a hundred episodes and there are over a thousand episodes to choose from, so they probably didn't want to go too overboard with making the playlist long, but I really think that they could have afforded to make it a bit longer. Four episodes per series would have felt pretty fitting and they definitely should have included at least one Contest episode if they bothered to include two Showcase episodes.
 
Chikorita's Rescue was a good choice (IMO, it was the most memorable of the Johto captures). But if they had to replace it, I wouldn't have chosen a gym battle. I would have gone with Ignorance is Blissey.
 
It's really strange that they'd chose just one episode from AG and I don't quite agree with the choice. I'm not surprised since it was Ash defeating the last Frontier Brain and he has the Kanto starters with him too, but I wouldn't really choose that one episode to represent AG, especially when I don't think that the Battle Frontier arc in general is that good to begin with. I might have gone with one of Ash's Gym battles or the Claydoll filler episode just because it was so hilarious.
Yeah, the battle had the whole "Regice uses rest but Pika one-shots somehow" issue, but I can understand the choice since it was Ash's last major competitive battling victory for...thirteen years?!
I thought it was twelve years, but thirteen is somehow so much worse. :lapras:

At least it wasn't Ash's match against Elesa like I initially thought.
I thought it was that one for a second too and was thinking "well, that one is considered memorable..."

It's also strange that they don't feature any battles. Maybe they did want to avoid reminding people about the Kalos League, but there are plenty of Gym battles they could have chosen from, especially the first or last one.
I think I'd have gone with the Gym match with Clemont since it gives focus on two of the main protagonists for that series, but that's just me. I think I remember it being pretty well received, too.

Although the Kalos league finale probably is the most memorable XY episode--just in a "I wish for an episode to be remembered in the fandom for years and then a finger curls up on the monkey's paw" way.

Four episodes per series would have felt pretty fitting and they definitely should have included at least one Contest episode if they bothered to include two Showcase episodes.
The lack of any contest episodes feels odd when they were a major part of the show for about eight years.

Chikorita's Rescue was a good choice (IMO, it was the most memorable of the Johto captures). But if they had to replace it, I wouldn't have chosen a gym battle. I would have gone with Ignorance is Blissey.
The lack of TR episodes there is quite unfortunate.
 
It's a pretty big and possibly controversial endeavor as Pokemon means so much to so many; what one may really value may be an episode someone else skipped altogether. The list has several good choices, but doesn't do the whole series justice. For example, I really liked The Chikorita Rescue, but I wouldn't regard it as one of the most memorable episodes of Johto necessarily.

Enter Elesa, Electrifying Gym Leader! and Rising from the Ruins! don't make sense for the list, imo. The former pales in comparison to the next episode where Ash had one of the, if not most, poorest and most embarrassing Gym Battle displays in the entire series. In fact, I recall being disappointed with the Bianca episode as Ash battled in her place, which severely undermined the issue with her father as she essentially left her relationship with Pokemon up to someone else to decide. I know that's what Elesa essentially does in the games, but that doesn't mean the point doesn't stand-the interaction would have been more impacting if Bianca personally conveyed her passion to her father. The Lycanroc episode was just...obvious. There was so much marketing for Dusk Form Lycanroc that we all knew Ash would get it; I'd think there were more memorable episodes of Alola. Like, TR actually defeating Ash in a fair fight for the first time ever in years.

May defeating Drew for the first time ever should have been listed too.

There's nothing from Hoenn, which is a shame, and Kalos only has Serena episodes... Have they forgotten the sheer online outrage Down to the Fiery Finish! caused? That's memorable. Ash vs Diantha is another standout from the saga as that's the closest he's come to defeating a Champion.
 
I've created my own list. It consists almost entirely of OS episodes, I'm afraid, and the order is chronological. Obviously, it just reflects my own taste (if there is such a thing as a consensus for this kind of thing, it's probably rather boring).

1. I Choose You
2. Charmander - The Stray Pokemon
3. Electric Shock Shockdown
4. Island of the Giant Pokemon
5. Tentacool & Tentacruel
6. Snow Way Out
7. Holy Matrimony
8. Go West Young Meowth
9. Charizard Chills
10. Ignorance is Blissey
11. Address Unown
12. A Togepi Mirage
 
They should have put a quote on quote for "memorable" because I can definitely tell you that some of these are certainly not memorable (like why the first Elesa episode when I can hardly remember anything from it at all, that's not what I'd call memorable) and if they are then it's for the wrong reasons (I'm giving a big ol' lazy eye stare at you Pikachu vs Mimikyu, I mean if they wanted a big Pikachu moment that isn't poorly written deus ex machina nonsense from S&M than dag nab it, they could have chosen the final Tapu Koko battle during the league).
 
At least the BW one isn't that OTHER episode with Elesa... :sick:
Though there really ARE better BW episodes they could've used. (though not many)

The poor Orange Islands should get SOMETHING. I know it was an anime-exclusive setting and most of it was just (dull) busy work, but some significant events still happened there...
If AG190 can be on that list, then so should OS112. Even better, OS105 about Charizard and Ash's relationship.

This is COMPLETELY biased, but one of the XY episodes should've been Alain or Team Flare. Heck, there are even better Serena focus episodes, IMO.
 
Last edited:
Chikorita's Rescue was a good choice (IMO, it was the most memorable of the Johto captures). But if they had to replace it, I wouldn't have chosen a gym battle. I would have gone with Ignorance is Blissey.

It's a good episode and like I said, it wasn't a bad choice. I'm just not sure if I'd choose it for two memorable Johto episodes. Charizard's departure is a lot more memorable than Ash catching Chikorita is for me. Ignorance is Blissey would be a good choice. In retrospect, the lack of Team Rocket episodes is also quite weird, but almost every episode on this list is focused on Ash. That isn't too surprising when he's the main character, but it's kind of a shame that they seemingly didn't bother to focus on other characters here beyond Serena.

Yeah, the battle had the whole "Regice uses rest but Pika one-shots somehow" issue, but I can understand the choice since it was Ash's last major competitive battling victory for...thirteen years?!
I thought it was twelve years, but thirteen is somehow so much worse. :lapras:

That is a good point. I'd probably be more fine with the choice if this wasn't the only AG episode featured here. They don't even include a Hoenn episode, which was the main setting for the vast majority of the series. Even if they didn't want to focus on May, there were other good/memorable episodes for Ash in Hoenn too. Having one or two of May's Contests would have been preferable though. May defeating Drew definitely should have been on the list too.

Daren said:
I think I'd have gone with the Gym match with Clemont since it gives focus on two of the main protagonists for that series, but that's just me. I think I remember it being pretty well received, too.

Although the Kalos league finale probably is the most memorable XY episode--just in a "I wish for an episode to be remembered in the fandom for years and then a finger curls up on the monkey's paw" way.

That would have been a good choice. It would still be one of Ash's battles, but the match was pretty much the culmination of Clemont's character development and it would have given a decent look into how the XY cast were happy to travel together again by the end of it. I'm pretty sure that fans consider it at least one of the best Gym battles of the series, so that would fit quite nicely. The Kalos League finale is certainly the most memorable part of XY, but not for the reasons they'd probably want it to be, so I can't blame them for not including it on the list.

At least the BW one isn't that OTHER episode with Elesa... :sick:
Though there really ARE better BW episodes they could've used. (though not many)

The poor Orange Islands should get SOMETHING. I know it was an anime-exclusive setting and most of it was just (dull) busy work, but some significant events still happened there...
If AG190 can be on that list, then so should OS112. Even better, OS105 about Charizard and Ash's relationship.

Yeah, the Orange Islands really should have gotten some mention. Charizard learning to listen to Ash was such a huge moment and it would fit nicely with also including its departure episode in Johto. Tracey catching Scyther would also work. The Orange Island finale definitely should count as memorable too.

SammyW27 said:
This is COMPLETELY biased, but one of the XY episodes should've been Alain or Team Flare. Heck, there are even better Serena focus episodes, IMO.

I can't really blame them for not including Alain since they might have wanted to avoid reminding people of the Kalos League. The Team Flare climax really should be on the list. There are better Serena focused episodes, but I don't know if her confrontation with her mother would be considered memorable, at least compared to to her first Showcase defeat and then victory.

The Elesa episode was memorable cause it was the episode when Best Wishes started to suck.

I'd say that the series was going downhill for me way before that battle happened. Or at least there were a lot of problems set up during that first year that would continue to become more frustrating over time.
 
The poor Orange Islands should get SOMETHING. I know it was an anime-exclusive setting and most of it was just (dull) busy work, but some significant events still happened there...

Several stand out to me during that saga: the battle with the Gym Leader who had a crush on Misty (mainly due to his dancing Starmie and it using an Electric-type move), the first official Double Battle with Pikachu and Charizard, Ash having his first Full Battle and winning, the island with differently colored Pokemon that weren't Shiny, and that Crystal Onix.
 
I'd say that the series was going downhill for me way before that battle happened. Or at least there were a lot of problems set up during that first year that would continue to become more frustrating over time.

Exactly I was going to reply to @RetroPokeFan the same thing.

We had Iris which still was not seen as a pest by the fans but was building to it. Trip was born cursed to be a Paul wannabe, the battles were not that good, and we had serious Rockets but the first year got nice things like the Pokemon having different personalities, Ash having surprising catches, Cilan being a dork, and good fillers mostly good due to not recuring to the Team Rocket formula. The tournaments. Also they gave us that awesome Meowth arc ,and the Litwick episode which for me had one of the best Team Rockets in history funny and competent. If we had the Rocket Plasma episodes probably one of the best seasons in Pokemon.
 
Yeah, I wouldn't call OI dull at all.

-Pikachu's revolts
-Charizard's storyline comes to conclusion
-Ash redeems himself after the performance at Indigo
-Both Lapras and Snorlax introduction were memorable
-The gym "battles" were unique and memorable (the first double battle actually happens here and not in AG)
-Also the Orange Islands actually felt pretty fleshed out and had their own identity.
 
Please note: The thread is from 4 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom