Anime & Manga General Discussion

[DigitalGen6]

Spoiler

Violet has Fuecco. The only Pokémon we've seen from Scarlet are the Tarountula and a Pikachu earlier in the story.

Man that was Tarountula?

I also don't think we've seen Nemona with a starter yet.

I’m calling it: she has Quaxly. Makes sense because Violet is the protag.

 

[MC.Princess]

Wait, does this mean that Pokemon Adventures Scarlet and Violet started?!
sorry if i’m interrupting ya’ll, i’ve just wanted an excuse to start Adventures for so long! >~<

 

[Nicolas721]

Is it me or has the art become slightly more detailed? I'm still struck in Platinum.

It's nice to see Tarountula has the ability to launch its yarn and that it has the same butt (don't know how else to say it lol) as Spidops.

 

[Sakuraa]

Spoiler

Man that was Tarountula?

I’m calling it: she has Quaxly. Makes sense because Violet is the protag.

Spoiler

I really hope Scarlet has Quaxly. It's easily the starter that's gotten the least attention in other media, so I hope it can get a major role here. Plus in the general the water starters have been kind of pushed to the side for the other two in the recent adventures chapters, so I hope SV will change that.

Wait, does this mean that Pokemon Adventures Scarlet and Violet started?!
sorry if i’m interrupting ya’ll, i’ve just wanted an excuse to start Adventures for so long! >~<

Yeah, it started a while ago.

 

[MC.Princess]

Yeah, it started a while ago.

good to know! ^^

also, should i try to catch up with the whole series, or is it safe to start with SV?

 

[RetroPokeFan]

I'm just hoping that things can pick back up again for the Adventures series with Scarlet & Violet because, oof it's been on a downhill course recently.

Sun & Moon started great but ended up falling flat by the end and Sword & Shield was the most phoned in and dull that it's been in a very long time.

 

[Articfoxgamez]

It's nice to see Tarountula has the ability to launch its yarn and that it has the same butt (don't know how else to say it lol) as Spidops.

It actually does that in one of its autobattle attack animations

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

and Sword & Shield was the most phoned in and dull that it's been in a very long time.

So just the like the games it was based off of/ the Journeys anime then, huh?

 

[Sakuraa]

good to know! ^^

also, should i try to catch up with the whole series, or is it safe to start with SV?

I'd say starting with SV is fine. Adventures is pretty low on major continuity these days and you can enjoy most Chapters/Volumes on their own without needing the read the previous stuff to understand. I started ShSw before starting SuMo and I've never finished the Gen 5 chapters, and it's not led to me being lost on major events.

 

[DigitalGen6]

Spoiler

I really hope Scarlet has Quaxly. It's easily the starter that's gotten the least attention in other media, so I hope it can get a major role here. Plus in the general the water starters have been kind of pushed to the side for the other two in the recent adventures chapters, so I hope SV will change that.

Yep. Popplio, Sobble, and now Quaxly

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

I hope Horizons gets more interesting next year, because so far overall it's been.......dull, to say the least.

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

This is to this day without a doubt one of the saddest moments/if not the saddest moment in the entire Pokemon anime. I still can't really get through it without tearing up. That last part though, the very last thing Amber says to Mewtwo before she dies, that's something I'll never forget.

 

[Sakuraa]

Next part of the SV chapter is out and it seems Scarlet is after the Treasure of Ruin. She has Sprigatito, which not gonna lie, doesn't surprise me. But I'm so disappointed that yet again the water-type starter is being sidelined while the main protags have fire and grass. This is the 3rd gen in a row where its happened. I miss they days when they rotated in order. It doesn't help that the anime protagonists are in the exact same format of main girl with Sprigatito and main boy with Fuecoco, but whatever.

I can only cross my fingers that Nemona will have Quaxly and actually have some importance in the story. More pictures are in the spoiler box.

Spoiler

 

[Eclipsical]

Nine months ago, I finished watching every episode of Diamond & Pearl in my quest to watch every single episode of the Pokemon anime. And yesterday, I finally finished watching all of Black & White. Back when I finished Diamond & Pearl, I wrote down everything I thought about it in this thread. Therefore, I thought I should do it once again now that I have completed Black & White!

I will be separating my thoughts by category to make it much more convenient and organized! That way it isn't a massive block of text.

Spoiler: THE MAIN CHARACTERS.

Ash definitely experiences a downgrade from his portrayal in Diamond & Pearl. He usually feels like himself, at least in terms of personality, but sometimes it feels as though he has reverted both in his skills and his personality, which makes him feel inconsistent and throws the biggest wrench in his development. His development through OG to AG to DP is easy to follow and it always seems like he is growing as a person, becoming more humble and strategic. There is a reason why this is the generation where people started to see Ash in a more negative light. Most of the time I don't have a problem, but there are several occasions were he feels unlike himself.

Iris has always felt like a controversial character in the fanbase with a lot of people not liking her at all. However, I thought she was a good companion! I liked that we got a girl who was more physically-inclined and didn't really care what people thought of her. Misty (despite her tomboyish appearance), May, and Dawn all were fairly concerned about their appearances, being perceived as "girly", and didn't really enjoy being out in nature most of the time. Iris couldn't really care less about that stuff and is totally fine getting rough in the elements. She and Ash both have a childish streak that allows them to poke fun at each other while still being on each other's level. I also liked how she was able to really understand how Pokemon felt due to her being so in touch with herself and nature. I wish they had expanded upon her dream to be a Dragon Master. First of all, she only captures one dragon-type throughout her time in the show. She could have captured a Deino or Druddigon along the way. I also think she needed something tangible to show her progress. For example, there could have been some sort of trial system for her to go through to be her equivalent to Ash's Gym battles.

Cilan was the biggest surprise to me. I didn't remember him being so funny! Almost everything he says is comedic gold. He was easily my favorite character and a more than welcome addition to the cast. He is so full of positive energy all the time. He is kind, caring, and supportive to almost everyone he meets. I loved seeing him be so passionate about his hobbies. The importance he places on the bond between a trainer and their Pokemon and his commitment to helping them become the best they can be is very admirable. Cilan truly understands what it means to be a Gym Leader. He had tough shoes to fill after Brock left the show after being a mainstay for so long, but I believe he nailed it and more.

Overall, I thought the three of them made for an enjoyable yet underrated trio. By the end of the series, I looked back fondly on them and their adventures together and was sad to see them part ways.

NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHING... - Dawn! She gets a full EIGHT episodes! Returning characters rarely get so many episodes in a row. Dawn is great, as always. I liked how she played into the development of Iris & Dragonite because of her experience dealing with Mamaoswine disobeying her in DP. Her and Iris also made a good pair with their playfulness and teasing of Ash. Piplup is also just as great as he always was and his competing relationship with Oshawott was funny. It was just good to see her, as she is definitely one of the best companions Ash has ever had.

Spoiler: THE TEAM ROCKET TRIO.

Team Rocket are the worst they have ever been and ever will be. They are absolutely terrible in BW. They lose everything that makes them so great in favor of making them into generic villains. They are so painfully boring for a majority of the series. It isn't until the Decolore Islands arc that they finally start to feel like themselves again. Unfortunately, that is the last 20 episodes of the series. Not to mention the fact that the bond between them and their Pokemon are nonexistant. They obtained 3 out of 4 of them off-screen and we basically never see them interact outside of battle. Not to mention the fact that they are pretty fine with leaving all of them with Giovanni.

Wobbufett popping out behind them at HQ is a really good reveal, though. It was an absolute sin to boot him from the team in the first place.

Spoiler: ASH'S POKEMON.

Ash captures a lot of Pokemon in BW. I'm guessing this is another parallel to the OG series, which BW takes a lot of cues from. But just like the OG series, Ash mainly uses the same few Pokemon all the time, while the rest almost never get to show up. This leads to a few of them being super underdeveloped.

Pikachu is good-old Pikachu. Nothing to complain about personality-wise. I thought him being a sort of big brother to Axew was nice, but trading Volt Tackle for Electro Ball was just not worth it and is never as cool as Volt Tackle was. It was satisfying to see Pikachu resist mind control that was strong enough to control Reshiram because he didn't want to hurt Ash, it feels very rewarding of their bond.

Unfezant is the worst bird that Ash has ever caught. It is pretty much irrelevant the entire show and has only one major battle against Skyla. It can't even claim much use as a balloon-popper because Team Rocket rarely use their balloon in this series. Otherwise, it basically only exists to lose and search for stuff from the sky sometimes, if it's lucky enough to appear. The only other memorable moment I have of Unfezant is that it tanks a bunch of Team Rocket attacks randomly in one episode near the end and strikes a cool pose as if I'm going to think its cool now after an entire series of it being useless lmao.

Oshawott is a funny little guy. He has a similar personality to Piplup (and I love Piplup). His totally unearned confidence gets him into trouble most of the time and he is prone to falling head over heals for cute girl Pokemon. Picking up where Brock left off, I see.

Pignite is a pretty good Pokemon but does not reach the same heights as Charizard or Infernape, despite having essentially the exact same backstory as both of them. Regardless, Pignite was reliable in battle most of the time and also had some good comedic moments, especially after it evolved into Pignite, who has sort of a goofy design.

Snivy has a great personality but unfortunately doesn't have much going for it other than that. They establish this plot thread of her having had a trainer it abandoned before Ash, which would it explain its personality, but then they never follow up on it. The only other time it is alluded to is a random episode in the Decolore Islands arc, near the end of the series. It doesn't learn a single new move throughout the whole series, either. It could have been so much more.

Scraggy is a baby that wants to pick a fight with any living thing that so much as looks at it, and that's funny. I just wish it and Axew could've grown up alongside each other and fully-evolved.

I actually quite like Leavanny. It has a unique personality and is actually pretty powerful in battle. If only Ash used it more often.

Paliptoad had a cool personality. He was this tough, commanding boss of the lake he lived in. That is, until Ash caught it and that personality fell of the face of the Earth. Then it became as interesting as a cardboard cutout. I wish it kept the personality it displayed in its initial debut. Besides, why did he even capture Palpitoad in the first place if they were never going to do anything with it? The fact that it never evolved didn't help out either.

Boldore is disappointing. I actually really liked it as a Roggenrola because it had a cute voice and kind of an excitable personality. But after it evolved, it lost that personality and just became a slow rock.

Krookodile is one cool dude. How could you not like him? He was introduced in 3rd episode and spent roughly 60 episodes stalking Ash just so he could battle him. He has an endearing personality with his tough exterior, soft interior. Plus, he has some sweet sunglasses and is a powerful battler.

Wait, what's that...? It's Charizard coming in with a steel chair!? That's right, Charizard is an honorary member of the Unova team! I don't really feel that strongly about his return. They bring him back near the end of the series and they don't really do anything significant with him. He has a cool little dynamic with Iris' Dragonite, but that's pretty much it. He even has an appearance in the last of the BW movies and still doesn't do much in it. It just comes off as them being desperate to bring people back into the show, especially after the first half of the show had very little continuity or references from any of the previous series. It feels a little soulless and hollow. They didn't bring Charizard back because the plot naturally required it, but because they could capitalize on nostalgia.

Spoiler: IRIS' POKEMON.

Iris' and Cilan's Pokemon are pretty hit-or-miss for me and remind me of how Misty and Brock had Pokemon who they caught and then almost never used or were pretty underdeveloped.

Axew is a baby for the entire show and despite the fact that they say Iris is doing a great job raising it, I never felt that it grew out of being a baby. And because it is a baby, it frequently gets into trouble or causes problems because of it. They also give it Outrage and Giga Impact out of nowhere (and he only uses each of them once, I believe?) I just wish we got see Axew grow up and evolve throughout the show. Seeing it as a Haxorus in Journeys is cool, but it is a pretty big leap from being just a baby to one of the world's strongest Pokemon due to the lack of foundation in BW.

Excadrill is pretty cool. He has a good disobedience arc with Iris. But I don't really feel that strongly about him.

Emolga is just bad. It is really annoying and obnoxious for basically the entire show and almost never faces any consequences for it.

Dragonite is the best Pokemon that Iris has. It has a unique personality for a Dragonite, which are typically known to be sweet and friendly, and to be fair, it did have a soft side under his rough exterior. It also had a good disobedience arc as it and Iris gradually opened up to each other with the help of Dawn and Cynthia. After that, it became very reliable and I liked getting to see it battle. It also has a cool moveset.

Spoiler: CILAN'S POKEMON.

Pansage has a very similar personality to Cilan, which makes them great partners. He carries the same air of refinement and elegance that Cilan does while also being caring and supportive to others. He has an interesting assortment of moves, too.

I don't have much to say about Crustle or Stunfisk. Neither of them do a lot throughout the series, especially Stunfisk. Why did Cilan even catch Stunfisk? There are so many other Unova Pokemon he could've caught that they could've done so much more with.

Spoiler: THE RIVALS.

Trip is a terrible rival. He is a bootleg, dollar-store ripoff of Paul who could never even hope to come close to his level of skill in battle and thematic significance in the story. Whereas Paul was already an experienced trainer who had participated in several Pokemon League conferences, Trip is a beginner with no experience. Despite this, they want us to act like Ash should be having trouble handling Trip when he should be running circles around him.

Bianca is kind of annoying. Her gag of running into Ash got obnoxious after awhile. Plus, she is weirdly into Sawk. Chill out.

Stephan is a fine rival. There is nothing wrong with him on his own. However, just like Bianca, the running gag that came with him got old fast. The fact that everyone keeps getting his name wrong (despite the fact that his name isn't even hard to pronounce) and him repeatedly throwing fits about it made me not look forward to his appearances.

Cameron is a moron. He is the physical embodiment of failing upward. This is a man who thought you needed seven badges to enter the Unova League, who thought the Unova League would be held in Johto, who didn't even understand the concept of registering for a competition, and who thought a full-battle was a 5v5. Despite this, he is strung along by Ash and others into success. Without outside interference, he wouldn't of even been able to enter the Unova League to begin with. I can only imagine they wanted Cameron to be seen as a lovable idiot who gets into funny hijinks because of it, but he falls completely flat.

BONUS ROUND - Vergil. Why does he exist? They gave him an entire episode to himself in order to hype him up as a rival to Ash and build-up to a battle between them in the Unova League, except... they never battle. Not only that, but he specializes in the evolutions of Eevee and they don't even let him have a Sylveon despite the fact that XY were right around the corner (and they introduce Alexa with three Kalos Pokemon soon after anyways). What a missed opportunity.

DOUBLE BATTLE - Burgundy & Georgia! I liked the fact that both Iris and Cilan got to have rivals of their own. Burgundy trying to get even with Cilan, who doesn't hold any negative feelings towards her and is actively nice to her is a funny dynamic. Georgia is a little more annoying with her Dragon-obsession. But Burgundy and Georgia really shine when they are together. They make a good comedic duo when they are both making jabs at each other during the Clubsplosion.

Spoiler: THE VILLAIN ARCS.

BW has two major villain organizations going around: Team Rocket and Team Plasma. Unfortunately, whatever original plan they had for the series revolving the conflict between the two teams got scrapped. What was left was scrambled together and rushed.

First off, Team Rocket - Their major plan is Operation Tempest. The most interesting part of this arc is that Ash finally gets to meet Giovanni properly (outside of Mewtwo Returns). Too bad their battle lasts 30 seconds maximum and then they never see each other ever again afterwards. He immediately gets corrupted by the mirror and the TRio has to save him from himself. Also, let me say how much I hate Dr. Zager. What an obnoxious character. Hated every second he was on-screen. Jessie, James, and Meowth don't belong anywhere near the actual villains within Team Rocket.

Secondly, Team Plasma - What should have been the overarching plot of the series is reduced to a mere 14 episodes. They reveal that Team Plasma basically got obliterated by Reshiram off-screen at some point, which I suppose explains their absence throughout the show and why they are all in their Neo Team Plasma outfits. N has already left Team Plasma by the time this arc happens. While it is still cool to see Ash and N debate philosophy and see N grow to believe humans and Pokemon can coexist, it could've been spread across the series and acted as a major theme of the show.

Neither reach the same heights as the Team Galactic arc of DP.

Spoiler: THE UNOVA LEAGUE.

The Unova League is a joke. First of all, what kind of League has Ash face off against his main rival in the first round of the competition? The only reason I can think of is that Pikachu vs. Snivy is their only truly significant battle and the only rematch that would have any value. Not only did Ash and Paul had a rivalry, but some of their Pokemon had rivalries with each other, too. Pikachu and Infernape both had rivalries with Electivire, which added a more significance and stakes to their battle. The battle itself is not good either. Most of it is Serperior beating Pikachu up without any resistance while Ash panics until he is able to miraculously one-shot Serperior after Pikachu has basically had the life choked out of him. At the same time, they act like Trip being nice to Ash is a big development despite the fact that their rivalry is so underbaked.

Ash vs. Stephan is the best match of the League, but it still doesn't match up to most other League matches across the series.

Ash vs. Cameron is awful. Ash losing to Tobias was definitely forced, but at least Ash went down in a blaze of glory against legendaries. But Ash losing to Cameron is just insulting. The only Pokemon of value that Cameron has are Riolu and Hydreigon (a Pokemon well beyond his ability to train that he pulls out of nowhere to eliminate half of Ash's team). Everything else he has is either one-shot like his Swanna or quickly beaten. Cameron was bound to lose, until he has a certified main character moment and his Riolu evolved into Lucario. I suppose this is karma for Ash winning like half of his Unova badges by having his Pokemon evolve mid-match to miraculously recover.

It is also the only League in which Ash performs worse than he does in the previous one. Not to mention the fact that they decided to insert an episode about Axew getting lost right in the middle of it.

Spoiler: THE MOVIES.

Like AG and DP before it, BW has (technically) four movies.

I thought having a Black & White version of the Victini movie was a pretty cool concept and getting to see the differences between the two of them was interesting. The Keldeo movie is probably my favorite of the bunch. The Genesect movie was alright, though the conversation between Mewtwo and Genesect while they look down at the Earth did get me in the feels. I read that they had to make a new Mewtwo because of rights disputes, which makes me wonder how the original Mewtwo would have played into the movie in the event that they were able to use it.

A lot of what I wrote about this series was negative, and while this is probably my least favorite Pokemon series, it wasn't all bad. The relationship between Ash, Iris, and Cilan, and the the bond between all of their Pokemon were fun.

Next time, a new beginning! It is time to watch XY! Fun fact, the first episode of XY was the first episode of the anime I ever watched and it was a total coincidence. X was also the first Pokemon game I ever played, so Kalos does have a special place in my heart. I turned on Cartoon Network one day and it was right as the two-episode premiere was airing! I suppose I have XY in general to thank for getting me into Pokemon!

 

[Hidden Mew]

Nine months ago, I finished watching every episode of Diamond & Pearl in my quest to watch every single episode of the Pokemon anime. And yesterday, I finally finished watching all of Black & White. Back when I finished Diamond & Pearl, I wrote down everything I thought about it in this thread. Therefore, I thought I should do it once again now that I have completed Black & White!

I will be separating my thoughts by category to make it much more convenient and organized! That way it isn't a massive block of text.

Spoiler: THE MAIN CHARACTERS.

Ash definitely experiences a downgrade from his portrayal in Diamond & Pearl. He usually feels like himself, at least in terms of personality, but sometimes it feels as though he has reverted both in his skills and his personality, which makes him feel inconsistent and throws the biggest wrench in his development. His development through OG to AG to DP is easy to follow and it always seems like he is growing as a person, becoming more humble and strategic. There is a reason why this is the generation where people started to see Ash in a more negative light. Most of the time I don't have a problem, but there are several occasions were he feels unlike himself.

Iris has always felt like a controversial character in the fanbase with a lot of people not liking her at all. However, I thought she was a good companion! I liked that we got a girl who was more physically-inclined and didn't really care what people thought of her. Misty (despite her tomboyish appearance), May, and Dawn all were fairly concerned about their appearances, being perceived as "girly", and didn't really enjoy being out in nature most of the time. Iris couldn't really care less about that stuff and is totally fine getting rough in the elements. She and Ash both have a childish streak that allows them to poke fun at each other while still being on each other's level. I also liked how she was able to really understand how Pokemon felt due to her being so in touch with herself and nature. I wish they had expanded upon her dream to be a Dragon Master. First of all, she only captures one dragon-type throughout her time in the show. She could have captured a Deino or Druddigon along the way. I also think she needed something tangible to show her progress. For example, there could have been some sort of trial system for her to go through to be her equivalent to Ash's Gym battles.

Cilan was the biggest surprise to me. I didn't remember him being so funny! Almost everything he says is comedic gold. He was easily my favorite character and a more than welcome addition to the cast. He is so full of positive energy all the time. He is kind, caring, and supportive to almost everyone he meets. I loved seeing him be so passionate about his hobbies. The importance he places on the bond between a trainer and their Pokemon and his commitment to helping them become the best they can be is very admirable. Cilan truly understands what it means to be a Gym Leader. He had tough shoes to fill after Brock left the show after being a mainstay for so long, but I believe he nailed it and more.

Overall, I thought the three of them made for an enjoyable yet underrated trio. By the end of the series, I looked back fondly on them and their adventures together and was sad to see them part ways.

NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHING... - Dawn! She gets a full EIGHT episodes! Returning characters rarely get so many episodes in a row. Dawn is great, as always. I liked how she played into the development of Iris & Dragonite because of her experience dealing with Mamaoswine disobeying her in DP. Her and Iris also made a good pair with their playfulness and teasing of Ash. Piplup is also just as great as he always was and his competing relationship with Oshawott was funny. It was just good to see her, as she is definitely one of the best companions Ash has ever had.

Despite BW Ash having some major problems, I kind of feel like he's a bit better in this series than a lot of fans gave him credit for. It might have been because I thought he still felt like Ash most of the time or that the problems I had with him came more from his Pokemon than his personality. I never cared for Iris, but having something tangible to show her progress definitely would have helped to give her something to do and showcase her development. Cilan is likable and entertaining, but I'd also say he's probably one of the weakest Brock replacements out there. It just felt like the writers lost interest in his goal when they turned his Evaluation Time into a gag.

I never felt like Dawn played into the development of Iris and Dragonite. I haven't watched BW in ages, but I really don't remember Dawn bringing up her experience with Mamoswine. Even if she did, I don't think it really factored into how Iris eventually reached out to Dragonite. She just protected it during the Operation Tempest arc, something that she basically already did when she first met Dragonite.

Spoiler: THE TEAM ROCKET TRIO.

Team Rocket are the worst they have ever been and ever will be. They are absolutely terrible in BW. They lose everything that makes them so great in favor of making them into generic villains. They are so painfully boring for a majority of the series. It isn't until the Decolore Islands arc that they finally start to feel like themselves again. Unfortunately, that is the last 20 episodes of the series. Not to mention the fact that the bond between them and their Pokemon are nonexistant. They obtained 3 out of 4 of them off-screen and we basically never see them interact outside of battle. Not to mention the fact that they are pretty fine with leaving all of them with Giovanni.

Wobbufett popping out behind them at HQ is a really good reveal, though. It was an absolute sin to boot him from the team in the first place.

A part of me feels like Journeys is a worst series for them just because they didn't get anything meaningful to actually do in what turned out to be their sendoff series, but at least they still felt like the Team Rocket trio, something that BW couldn't really do. Wobbufett coming back at the end was really such a great moment though. There was so much excitement when that happened at the time and made a lot of Team Rocket trio fans happy.

Spoiler: ASH'S POKEMON.

Ash captures a lot of Pokemon in BW. I'm guessing this is another parallel to the OG series, which BW takes a lot of cues from. But just like the OG series, Ash mainly uses the same few Pokemon all the time, while the rest almost never get to show up. This leads to a few of them being super underdeveloped.

Pikachu is good-old Pikachu. Nothing to complain about personality-wise. I thought him being a sort of big brother to Axew was nice, but trading Volt Tackle for Electro Ball was just not worth it and is never as cool as Volt Tackle was. It was satisfying to see Pikachu resist mind control that was strong enough to control Rayquaza because he didn't want to hurt Ash, it feels very rewarding of their bond.

Unfezant is the worst bird that Ash has ever caught. It is pretty much irrelevant the entire show and has only one major battle against Skyla. It can't even claim much use as a balloon-popper because Team Rocket rarely use their balloon in this series. Otherwise, it basically only exists to lose and search for stuff from the sky sometimes, if it's lucky enough to appear. The only other memorable moment I have of Unfezant is that it tanks a bunch of Team Rocket attacks randomly in one episode near the end and strikes a cool pose as if I'm going to think its cool now after an entire series of it being useless lmao.

Oshawott is a funny little guy. He has a similar personality to Piplup (and I love Piplup). His totally unearned confidence gets him into trouble most of the time and he is prone to falling head over heals for cute girl Pokemon. Picking up where Brock left off, I see.

Pignite is a pretty good Pokemon but does not reach the same heights as Charizard or Infernape, despite having essentially the exact same backstory as both of them. Regardless, Pignite was reliable in battle most of the time and also had some good comedic moments, especially after it evolved into Pignite, who has sort of a goofy design.

Snivy has a great personality but unfortunately doesn't have much going for it other than that. They establish this plot thread of her having had a trainer it abandoned before Ash, which would it explain its personality, but then they never follow up on it. The only other time it is alluded to is a random episode in the Decolore Islands arc, near the end of the series. It doesn't learn a single new move throughout the whole series, either. It could have been so much more.

Scraggy is a baby that wants to pick a fight with any living thing that so much as looks at it, and that's funny. I just wish it and Axew could've grown up alongside each other and fully-evolved.

I actually quite like Leavanny. It has a unique personality and is actually pretty powerful in battle. If only Ash used it more often.

Paliptoad had a cool personality. He was this tough, commanding boss of the lake he lived in. That is, until Ash caught it and that personality fell of the face of the Earth. Then it became as interesting as a cardboard cutout. I wish it kept the personality it displayed in its initial debut. Besides, why did he even capture Palpitoad in the first place if they were never going to do anything with it? The fact that it never evolved didn't help out either.

Boldore is disappointing. I actually really liked it as a Roggenrola because it had a cute voice and kind of an excitable personality. But after it evolved, it lost that personality and just became a slow rock.

Krookodile is one cool dude. How could you not like him? He was introduced in 3rd episode and spent roughly 60 episodes stalking Ash just so he could battle him. He has an endearing personality with his tough exterior, soft interior. Plus, he has some sweet sunglasses and is a powerful battler.

Wait, what's that...? It's Charizard coming in with a steel chair!? That's right, Charizard is an honorary member of the Unova team! I don't really feel that strongly about his return. They bring him back near the end of the series and they don't really do anything significant with him. He has a cool little dynamic with Iris' Dragonite, but that's pretty much it. He even has an appearance in the last of the BW movies and still doesn't do much in it. It just comes off as them being desperate to bring people back into the show, especially after the first half of the show had very little continuity or references from any of the previous series. It feels a little soulless and hollow. They didn't bring Charizard back because the plot naturally required it, but because they could capitalize on nostalgia.

Some of Ash's Pokemon here had some really great capture episodes like Levanny, but then they disappear or lose any semblance of their personalities. I guess in a way it isn't too surprising when they couldn't really handle development and screentime between a full team particularly well, but it does feel disappointing for some Pokemon to be caught only for them to not really get much development. It felt like they probably bit off more than they could chew, even though I'm sure part of the reason why they gave Ash so many Pokemon was so that he didn't need to use his other reserve Pokemon. B/W only having new Pokemon available was a pretty big deal at the time and aside from Pikachu and Meowth, the anime followed suit with only featuring fifth generation Pokemon in Unova initially.

Bringing back Charizard was such a weird move. It was probably to attract more attention to the series, but when it does virtually nothing, then it really makes the decision come off as hallow and pandering. They even brought it back to Professor Oak's Lab only for it to not do anything in the following series either. Maybe they just wanted easy access to Charizard in case they wanted to bring it back again, but it was such a weird decision.

Spoiler: IRIS' POKEMON.

Iris' and Cilan's Pokemon are pretty hit-or-miss for me and remind me of how Misty and Brock had Pokemon who they caught and then almost never used or were pretty underdeveloped.

Axew is a baby for the entire show and despite the fact that they say Iris is doing a great job raising it, I never felt that it grew out of being a baby. And because it is a baby, it frequently gets into trouble or causes problems because of it. They also give it Outrage and Giga Impact out of nowhere (and he only uses each of them once, I believe?) I just wish we got see Axew grow up and evolve throughout the show. Seeing it as a Haxorus in Journeys is cool, but it is a pretty big leap from being just a baby to one of the world's strongest Pokemon due to the lack of foundation in BW.

Excadrill is pretty cool. He has a good disobedience arc with Iris. But I don't really feel that strongly about him.

Emolga is just bad. It is really annoying and obnoxious for basically the entire show and almost never faces any consequences for it.

Dragonite is the best Pokemon that Iris has. It has a unique personality for a Dragonite, which are typically known to be sweet and friendly, and to be fair, it did have a soft side under his rough exterior. It also had a good disobedience arc as it and Iris gradually opened up to each other with the help of Dawn and Cynthia. After that, it became very reliable and I liked getting to see it battle. It also has a cool moveset.

Axew always felt like they couldn't decide if they wanted it to be like Misty's Togpei as the useless baby Pokemon or the strong secondary masoct like Dawn's Piplup, so they decided to do both despite how that makes no sense. Giving it Outrage and Giga Impact to give the illusion that it had grown stronger was always so upsetting to me. If they wanted to make it strong without evolving, they could have easily made Axew battle more often and given it other moves. They didn't need to make it look uber powerful with moves like those ones. I can't blame them too much for how jarring it is to see it as a Haxorus. Journeys wasn't anywhere near the planning stages when BW was airing, but that lack of a foundation definitely contributed as to why it felt hallow for me.

I never cared for Iris's Emolga. It felt like they just gave it to her because of how successful Pachirisu was for Dawn. Wanting to have the new Pikachu clone in the main cast wasn't a bad idea, but its capture felt contrived, its personality was pretty annoying, I often forgot that she even had Emolga in spite of that and it just didn't really do anything. Dragonite always felt like the writers wanted Iris to get a fully evolved Dragon Pokemon without actually doing anything with Axew. I would have given its disobedience arc more credit if it felt like Iris had learned anyting from her time with Excadrill, but she didn't. She just kept shouting at Dragonite to listen to her. Her concern for Dragonite is what eventually got it to listen to her, which would have been more noteworthy if that wasn't what made Dragonite want to go with Iris in the first place. It just felt like the storyline didn't really add anything for Iris's story or gave her more development.

Spoiler: THE RIVALS.

Trip is a terrible rival. He is a bootleg, dollar-store ripoff of Paul who could never even hope to come close to his level of skill in battle and thematic significance in the story. Whereas Paul was already an experienced trainer who had participated in several Pokemon League conferences, Trip is a beginner with no experience. Despite this, they want us to act like Ash should be having trouble handling Trip when he should be running circles around him.

Bianca is kind of annoying. Her gag of running into Ash got obnoxious after awhile. Plus, she is weirdly into Sawk. Chill out.

Stephan is a fine rival. There is nothing wrong with him on his own. However, just like Bianca, the running gag that came with him got old fast. The fact that everyone keeps getting his name wrong (despite the fact that his name isn't even hard to pronounce) and him repeatedly throwing fits about it made me not look forward to his appearances.

Cameron is a moron. He is the physical embodiment of failing upward. This is a man who thought you needed seven badges to enter the Unova League, who thought the Unova League would be held in Johto, who didn't even understand the concept of registering for a competition, and who thought a full-battle was a 5v5. Despite this, he is strung along by Ash and others into success. Without outside interference, he wouldn't of even been able to enter the Unova League to begin with. I can only imagine they wanted Cameron to be seen as a lovable idiot who gets into funny hijinks because of it, but he falls completely flat.

BONUS ROUND - Vergil. Why does he exist? They gave him an entire episode to himself in order to hype him up as a rival to Ash and build-up to a battle between them in the Unova League, except... they never battle. Not only that, but he specializes in the evolutions of Eevee and they don't even let him have a Sylveon despite the fact that XY were right around the corner (and they introduce Alexa with three Kalos Pokemon soon after anyways). What a missed opportunity.

DOUBLE BATTLE - Burgundy & Georgia! I liked the fact that both Iris and Cilan got to have rivals of their own. Burgundy trying to get even with Cilan, who doesn't hold any negative feelings towards her and is actively nice to her is a funny dynamic. Georgia is a little more annoying with her Dragon-obsession. But Burgundy and Georgia really shine when they are together. They make a good comedic duo when they are both making jabs at each other during the Clubsplosion.

I hated anime Bianca so much. Video game Bianca was such a refreshing rival at the time, had an endearing personality and an engaging personality. BW threw all of that away to make anime Bianca into a more annoying, less competent female version of Barry. Burgundy and Georgia could be entertaining, but much like most rivalries in this series, they kind of went nowhere in their respective rivalries too.

Spoiler: THE UNOVA LEAGUE.

The Unova League is a joke. First of all, what kind of League has Ash face off against his main rival in the first round of the competition? The only reason I can think of is that Pikachu vs. Snivy is their only truly significant battle and the only rematch that would have any value. Not only did Ash and Paul had a rivalry, but some of their Pokemon had rivalries with each other, too. Pikachu and Infernape both had rivalries with Electivire, which added a more significance and stakes to their battle. The battle itself is not good either. Most of it is Serperior beating Pikachu up without any resistance while Ash panics until he is able to miraculously one-shot Serperior after Pikachu has basically had the life choked out of him. At the same time, they act like Trip being nice to Ash is a big development despite the fact that their rivalry is so underbaked.

Ash vs. Stephan is the best match of the League, but it still doesn't match up to most other League matches across the series.

Ash vs. Cameron is awful. Ash losing to Tobias was definitely forced, but at least Ash went down in a blaze of glory against legendaries. But Ash losing to Cameron is just insulting. The only Pokemon of value that Cameron has are Riolu and Hydreigon (a Pokemon well beyond his ability to train that he pulls out of nowhere to eliminate half of Ash's team). Everything else he has is either one-shot like his Swanna or quickly beaten. Cameron was bound to lose, until he has a certified main character moment and his Riolu evolved into Lucario. I suppose this is karma for Ash winning like half of his Unova badges by having his Pokemon evolve mid-match to miraculously recover.

It is also the only League in which Ash performs worse than he does in the previous one. Not to mention the fact that they decided to insert an episode about Axew getting lost right in the middle of it.

I never had a problem with Ash vs. Trip being the first round of the Unova League. Did people really wanted to see a full battle between Ash and Trip? Their rivalry was already weak and they tried too hard to make Trip look like a strong trainer against Ash. It pretty much cemented Trip as one of the worst rivals in the anime, but at the same time, I think it was the most fitting final battle for their rivalry. Just a one-on-one match to get it out of the way. The pacing for the Unova League was terrible and the Axew getting lost episode is pretty infamous too.

 

[Alola]

I never had a problem with Ash vs. Trip being the first round of the Unova League. Did people really wanted to see a full battle between Ash and Trip? Their rivalry was already weak and they tried too hard to make Trip look like a strong trainer against Ash. It pretty much cemented Trip as one of the worst rivals in the anime, but at the same time, I think it was the most fitting final battle for their rivalry. Just a one-on-one match to get it out of the way. The pacing for the Unova League was terrible and the Axew getting lost episode is pretty infamous too.

Personally speaking, I did. After the unceremonious ways Pidove, Tepig, and Oshawott were defeated during their 5 on 5 fight, I was really looking forward to a Full Battle (if not 5 on 5 again) between Ash & Trip. I wanted Ash's team to have revenge as well as see Frillish/Jellicent battle again.

Also, perhaps allowing Trip to battle with more Pokémon would better allow for viewers to see that aforementioned strength that some people feel was lacking. The writers having his last battles be a series of 1-on-1 fights where he would get quickly eliminated from whatever tournament he was participating in was a bad writing choice in my opinion.

 

[Daren]

They even brought it back to Professor Oak's Lab only for it to not do anything in the following series either. Maybe they just wanted easy access to Charizard in case they wanted to bring it back again, but it was such a weird decision.

I suspect they wanted him more easily available in case they wanted to have Ash use Mega Evolution in XY but they ultimately decided to keep to the tradition of no old Pokémon and we got Ash-Greninja instead.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Personally speaking, I did. After the unceremonious ways Pidove, Tepig, and Oshawott were defeated during their 5 on 5 fight, I was really looking forward to a Full Battle (if not 5 on 5 again) between Ash & Trip. I wanted Ash's team to have revenge as well as see Frillish/Jellicent battle again.

Also, perhaps allowing Trip to battle with more Pokémon would better allow for viewers to see that aforementioned strength that some people feel was lacking. The writers having his last battles be a series of 1-on-1 fights where he would get quickly eliminated from whatever tournament he was participating in was a bad writing choice in my opinion.

I can understand that. I didn't really care for how Trip easily defeated Ash's Pokemon in that battle either. For me, there just wasn't really anything that could salvage Trip or his rivalry with Ash by the time the Unova League started. Even just defeating Trip wouldn't have much weight to it when we had seen him lose multiple times in those Club Battle tournaments, which I agree was a bad choice all things considered. The most I could have seen them do was a three-on-three match and even that might have been too much for their rivalry. Getting rid of Trip right off the bat may not have been the most satisfying way to end their rivalry, but I think it was the most fitting choice they could have made.

I suspect they wanted him more easily available in case they wanted to have Ash use Mega Evolution in XY but they ultimately decided to keep to the tradition of no old Pokémon and we got Ash-Greninja instead.

I had the same theory since bringing back Charizard right before Mega Evolution was introduced felt like it was done on purpose. It could have been both an attempt to attract fans to BW with nostalgia bait and a backup plan in case they wanted to use Ash to promote Mega Charizard Y. I suspect that Alain would have already been planned out with the first Mega Evolution special. While I really like the Ash-Greninga storyline and some of the moments Ash got in the tail end of XY, bringing back Charizard only for it to be there doing nothing is just so weird.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Personally speaking, I did. After the unceremonious ways Pidove, Tepig, and Oshawott were defeated during their 5 on 5 fight, I was really looking forward to a Full Battle (if not 5 on 5 again) between Ash & Trip. I wanted Ash's team to have revenge as well as see Frillish/Jellicent battle again.

Heck, Pidove and Tepig even feel like they had unfinished setup: Trip had a Tranquil, possibly implying that there were originally plans for Ash's female Unfezant to fight Trip's (possibly) male Unfezant and the former winning due to the lore of females having better aerial skills, and if true it's a huge shame that this was scrapped because Ash's Unfezant was so underfocused and bland otherwise and really could have used a bone throw like this. Pignite meanwhile never got to have a straight win in any of the battles Ash had against Trip, which is rather bizarre because he was one of the more competent Unova mons otherwise, meaning they were probably setting up for him to get redemption against Trip.

 

[Alola]

Heck, Pidove and Tepig even feel like they had unfinished setup: Trip had a Tranquil, possibly implying that there were originally plans for Ash's female Unfezant to fight Trip's (possibly) male Unfezant and the former winning due to the lore of females having better aerial skills, and if true it's a huge shame that this was scrapped because Ash's Unfezant was so underfocused and bland otherwise and really could have used a bone throw like this. Pignite meanwhile never got to have a straight win in any of the battles Ash had against Trip, which is rather bizarre because he was one of the more competent Unova mons otherwise, meaning they were probably setting up for him to get redemption against Trip.

In the same vein, I love how Ash's Pidove evolves before the Burgh Gym...the episode right before...where you would think she would get to star in the following Gym, where she has a huge type-advantage in...only to not appear.

But Tepig did, for the 3rd Gym in a row (4 if you count the Nacrene rematch); as well as Pikachu for his second. That always rubbed me the wrong way because logic would dictate you'd use your Pokémon with a 4x advantage over the leader's ace, which would also give said party member much needed spotlight & significance. I think Leavanny restricting Tranquill's ability to fly with its webbing would have been a neat challenge to overcome for her and her Trainer both.

Yeah, poor Pignite did pretty much get trounced all three times it battled Trip; even more insulting as it couldn't defeat the last two opponents it had advantages over. Tying with Vanillite was ridiculous imo.