Pokemon Journeys: Thoughts So Far

[RileyXY1]

Your argument does make sense but then how will they showcase it?

They don't have to showcase all the G-Max forms. They didn't showcase all the Mega Evolutions in XY, nor did they showcase all the Z-Moves in SM.

 

[GrookeyFan77]

They don't have to showcase all the G-Max forms. They didn't showcase all the Mega Evolutions in XY, nor did they showcase all the Z-Moves in SM.

This series want's to

 

[RileyXY1]

This series want's to

We don't know that.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

This series want's to

Not according to the anime staff with how much of an afterthought that whole concept has been as of now.

 

[RileyXY1]

Not according to the anime staff with how much of an afterthought that whole concept has been as of now.

Especially considering that Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing can only exist in Galar.

 

[Vulpes Incarnatus]

Drizzile, the Eating Contest, a bunch of his captures, seeing Zapdos, evolving Scyther...plenty more I don’t really feel like listing. But yeah, at least plenty more than people give him credit for.

1. Sobble had one episode of focus before evolving-and it is said that it apparently has been doing training off-screen-in what way was Goh putting in effort for that?
2. I'm just going to take your word about the Eating Contest one
3. A "bunch of his captures" were caught by him throwing the Poke-ball ONE TIME and rarely did we ever see him actually battle and make an actual effort to capture a pokemon. Majority of his captures are caught rather easily and with minimal effort.
4. How was seeing Zapdos putting in effort...?
5. I'll agree on the Scyther point

That being said, if Goh fully evolved all three of his starters, I'd just be genuinely confused. Like, they're fully evolved now-how and why? No effort, and again, what purpose would they have fully evolved? The only time we see fully evolved pokemon in the pokemon world is generally battling pokemon(most of the time) and it just feels weird for them to be fully evolved and...do what? I'm still confused as to what then?

1: already answered
2: don't take his word. he won the eating contest because of a whole lot of coincidences that went his way as well as interference from Team Rocket. nothing about it was his own skill even, it was just Greedent and yet the anime forced it on us that he were a prodigy with lines like "im a natural"
3: answered
4: "seeing Zapdos" more like the writing being bent to favor him and contradicting Zapdos' established power in the first half of the episode

 

[Silktree]

Reminder that Go exists to promote the mobile game, where evolution isn't training-related. I don't like how Sobble has been handled so far, but I thought the Scorbunny line got enough experience for what it's supposed to do: battling wild Pokemon.

And Dynamax deserves to stay in a rut. I'm sure we'll see the more marketable Gigantamax forms.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Reminder that Go exists to promote the mobile game, where evolution isn't training-related. I don't like how Sobble has been handled so far, but I thought the Scorbunny line got enough experience for what it's supposed to do: battling wild Pokemon.

And Dynamax deserves to stay in a rut. I'm sure we'll see the more marketable Gigantamax forms.

Just because evolution isn’t training related in the game doesn’t suddenly warp the universe to cause that not to be a thing in the anime. If that were to be the case, that kind of incompatibility between the anime and games would be bad writing. In addition, evolution in Go is dependent on candy from capturing Pokémon so the excuse of Go mechanics doesn’t work here.

 

[Alola]

The series feels like a box of chocolates to me, at the moment. There are some chocolates I devour (really nice episodes) and then there are chocolates with weird cremes or nuts that I dislike (which happen to make up most of the box).

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

The series feels like a box of chocolates to me, at the moment. There are some chocolates I devour (really nice episodes) and then there are chocolates with weird cremes or nuts that I dislike (which happen to make up most of the box).

As someone who hates those nut filled chocolates, this analogy gets a gold star from me!

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

And Dynamax deserves to stay in a rut. I'm sure we'll see the more marketable Gigantamax forms.

It certainly does not. Your personal distaste for a mechanic doesn’t really warrant such sweeping statements.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I'd love to see more of Dynamax and Galar in general. I love the Dynamax feature in the games and it's kind of a shame that they aren't in Galar more often to make use of the new gimmick. I assume that Goh is going to get at least Gigatamax Cinderace, if only because it would explain a bit more as to why they went through its evolution so fast. Gigatamax Inteleon is another possibility, but I'm less sure about that at the moment.

For a series that is supposed to be about traveling around the world, they really don't explore much outside of Kanto. I know that is a common complaint about Journeys, but it really gives the newest generation the short end of the stick. Considering that I really love Sword/Shield, many of the new characters and the new generation of Pokemon, that's pretty disappointing. If there was a better balance between showcasing older and newer Pokemon and making use of the different settings more effectively, I think it could work, but since they spend most of the time in Kanto, it kind of makes me wonder why they decided to go for a world tour gimmick if it was just going to be mainly for one episode long detours.

 

[Vulpes Incarnatus]

Despite both OS-Johto and DP being notorious for having a lot of fillers and being relatively formulaic with them, one thing that both of them did really right (even in those said fillers) was organically giving screentime and focus to the main cast Pokemon and have them interact properly.

This, is in stark comparison to JN which has completely failed the main cast. There's barely any organic focus, and most of the development comes from the obligatory focus episodes (which are only 1-3 depending on how important the Pokemon is, and separated by scores of disconnected episodes), after which they're promptly forgotten for lengths at an end until the plot needs them again.

 

[J Bouken]

I've caught up on the show and overall? Journeys is still okay so far. I've had a good time watching it for the most part, but there are some issues.

For the most part, the episodic format is working for me. I like having the ability to pick and choose episodes, knowing I'll get a complete story without having to fear missing something too significant. Since the story isn't so structured as before, all the old barriers about where Ash can go and which characters can appear no longer exist. This format allows any old character to appear again and as a long-time fan I find that exciting. They've made the Pokemon world feel like a more connected place and, as a result, made Ash's various adventures feel a little less disparate than they were. There's no doubt XY and SM took place in the same universe anymore. And yes, BW did happen.

What I feel is missing is greater foreshadowing of what's to come. Older seasons were good at signposting events on the horizon so when it inevitably digressed the viewers were still assured of important events happening soon and always had something to look forward to. However, in Journey's case you never really know what's going to happen next. We know Goh will catch Pokemon and we know Ash will battle trainers to improve his rank but that's the extent of it. Things just kinda happen and it leaves me feeling like the story is aimless.

A specific example I can give is Ash's team. It's bizarre to me how Ash has a full team of fully-evolved Pokemon (sans Pikachu of course) and we're only 65 episodes in. Evolutions and captures were always useful signposts for Ash's progress in any given season and were always things you looked forward to, but here they've burned through them in just over a year. So what's left for the second and third and possibly fourth years of the show? Ash's progress will instead be measured by his ascension in the World Tournament rankings which doesn't seem as interesting to me because it's a pure numbers game. When you dig into it, it's tough to see what path Ash is actually on. He defeats Korrina, a gym leader but then loses to Bea, another gym leader. But then he goes on to beat Iris, a Champion of a whole region.

In Goh's case, I still don't care for his goal. Apparently he's well-liked by kids in Japan so I guess there's a generational gap there I can never cross, but my eyes glaze over whenever he catches anything. Aside from that, I'm having an issue with his lack of struggles in the last 20 or so episodes. He started off as socially awkward, physically and unfit and uninterested in battles, but nowadays he socialises just fine, can apparently keep up with Ash in a race and is a decently competent battler with many good Pokemon to choose from, so I'm not sure what's left for him now other than to catch every Pokemon. None of his flaws tie into his goal anymore. Catching Pokemon is as easy as it was in the beginning and now even Legendary Pokemon are no longer off-limits to him. We get these intriguing glimpses into his lonely childhood but it doesn't seem to impact his character in any way. He's got a good thing going with Ash but already I'm starting to get bored of him.

At least there's Chloe. I've enjoyed every episode focusing on her. She's interesting to watch because she's a beginner trainer with a lot of limitations and every new experience she has is relevant to her in some way. It's cool how she's taken her mother's advice and doesn't jump into every adventure like Ash and Goh do, but instead waits for something that is relevant to her or something she specifically wants to do. It's a refreshing take on a female lead.

 

[Ricbolog]

If Pokémon Journeys stays more or less like it is now, what will the legacy of the series be? Will it be remembered as the "new Johto", since many critics think the series relies too much on fillers?

 

[Jewel the Quaxly]

If Pokémon Journeys stays more or less like it is now, what will the legacy of the series be? Will it be remembered as the "new Johto", since many critics think the series relies too much on fillers?

I'm pretty sure this series is known for having a lot more problems than just "too many fillers".

 

[Ricbolog]

I'm pretty sure this series is known for having a lot more problems than just "too many fillers".

Maybe, but this aspect caught my attention after seeing complaints that both Gary and Iris are receiving just one episode each while they are surrounded by fillers that could instead have been used to expand more important plots.

 

[KenzeyEevee]

I never thought I would say it, but JN feels like Jotho fillers sometimes

 

[Kurolegacy]

If Pokémon Journeys stays more or less like it is now, what will the legacy of the series be? Will it be remembered as the "new Johto", since many critics think the series relies too much on fillers?

I’d imagine that it’ll be remembered as a series that had so much potential, especially given it taking place in all the regions, but squandered it because of episodic nature and over obsession with Kanto.

 

[Hidden Mew]

If Pokémon Journeys stays more or less like it is now, what will the legacy of the series be? Will it be remembered as the "new Johto", since many critics think the series relies too much on fillers?

It's hard to say. A lot of people do enjoy the series, so I don't know if the amount of complaints it gets will be its lasting legacy. BW was heavily criticized throughout its run, arguably more so than Journeys in a lot of ways, but there was a lot of hype for Iris' return. I don't think it's particularly uncommon for people to say that they liked BW, that it wasn't as bad as the complaints made it out to be or that Ash, Iris and Cilan are an underrated trio. Journeys could be seen in a similar way down the road. While I still stand by a lot of my complaints on BW, I think having some distance from it, not seeing it right after DP and not dealing with as much hate on the series as it got during its run helped to make it more enjoyable than I expected upon my rewatch. It's still my least favorite series by a huge margin, but it does have more enjoyable moments and I can see why people would enjoy it more than I do.

Maybe, but this aspect caught my attention after seeing complaints that both Gary and Iris are receiving just one episode each while they are surrounded by fillers that could instead have been used to expand more important plots.

I think that the issue is less on filler and more on how Journeys is too fast paced for its own good. There are a lot of episodes that would benefit from being two parters or having more setup, so that isn't something unique for Iris or potentially Gary's returns. I still wouldn't be surprised if they designed the PWC at least in part so that they could get through battles as quickly as possible. The fact that Ash hasn't had anything more than two-on-two battles for his matches is pretty telling in my opinion. This could also be due to the episodic nature, but I think that the fast pace of the series is more of the problem here.

Besides all that, I haven't really noticed that many filler episodes. Journeys certainly has them, but it doesn't seem it has significantly more filler compared to most of the other series.