Controversial opinions

[PkmnTrainerV]

His Top 32 position ends up feeling like it's not even really an accurate reflection of skill,

I’m pretty sure he was top 16 there, progressing to Top 8 in Johto and Hoenn.

 

[CaptainBuggles]

I’m pretty sure he was top 16 there, progressing to Top 8 in Johto and Hoenn.

Yeah, you're right, my mistake. Even so, it still kind of illustrates the feeling I was trying to explain, in a way. I thought I could remember off the top of my head, but Top 16 seemed "too high" in my mind. So I second-guessed and moved it down, in part because Kanto's tournament didn't strike me as an accurate reflection of how good he is, so the numbers got mixed up in my head.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Yeah, you're right, my mistake. Even so, it still kind of illustrates the feeling I was trying to explain, in a way. I thought I could remember off the top of my head, but Top 16 seemed "too high" in my mind. So I second-guessed and moved it down, in part because Kanto's tournament didn't strike me as an accurate reflection of how good he is, so the numbers got mixed up in my head.

Anime reviewer Suede gave a pretty good analysis on the League, and season 1 as a whole. Ash basically got most of his Kanto Badges through luck rather than skill, so eventually he hit a wall where his luck simply couldn't carry him further. Even Professor Oak gave Ash a good lecture that it was basically his own fault that he spent most of the two months he had in between his eighth Badge and the League by doing pretty much nothing to train his Pokémon, most notably Charizard.

And hey, Indigo League is still Ash's worst League in terms of ranking, so I think that counts towards his inexperience.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I wouldn't necessarily be against a slightly experienced female lead for the next series. Misty was just barely more experienced than Ash was at the beginning of the series, but I think having a brand new trainer in the cast tends to work out better. They can make the kind of mistakes that would be more jarring for Ash to do and there's more potential for them to grow/improve when they start from the ground up. I still wish that they'd bring back Contests, despite how slim that is at this point, but giving the female lead some kind of battle active goal would be nice. I certainly don't want them to do something like Showcases again.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I wouldn't necessarily be against a slightly experienced female lead for the next series. Misty was just barely more experienced than Ash was at the beginning of the series, but I think having a brand new trainer in the cast tends to work out better. They can make the kind of mistakes that would be more jarring for Ash to do and there's more potential for them to grow/improve when they start from the ground up. I still wish that they'd bring back Contests, despite how slim that is at this point, but giving the female lead some kind of battle active goal would be nice. I certainly don't want them to do something like Showcases again.

I've personally never been a big fan of Contests in the anime, so I wouldn't actually mind if the traveling companion had a goal more related to battling, but still different from Ash's goal in some way.

 

[CaptainBuggles]

I wouldn't necessarily be against a slightly experienced female lead for the next series. Misty was just barely more experienced than Ash was at the beginning of the series, but I think having a brand new trainer in the cast tends to work out better. They can make the kind of mistakes that would be more jarring for Ash to do and there's more potential for them to grow/improve when they start from the ground up. I still wish that they'd bring back Contests, despite how slim that is at this point, but giving the female lead some kind of battle active goal would be nice. I certainly don't want them to do something like Showcases again.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind if the goal is something 'feminine' again, I just don't like how Showcases felt like a waste of potential.

Like, I think they were going in the right direction with the importance of creativity and resourcefulness. And in theory, the variety of different activities would encourage you to think on your feet.

But from there they kinda fumbled it with making it so popularity focused, along with gender-locking it and having it so strongly focused on just being 'pretty', when there are more ways to showcase skill and choreography than that.

And then they gave themselves almost a year less to show and develop it from start to finish, because they waited so long to have Serena get into it. So basically, out of what they did right, Contests already did it better.

 

[FluffleFi]

Speaking of showcases, I feel like Ash could have really helped Serena out on hers. In some aspects Showcases are just watered down contests, and Ash traveled with two coordinators, one of whom managed to reach TWO Grand Festivals while she was with him, and he even entered a few contests himself AND managed to tie with May in one of them. So he definitely could have offered her some advice about making her Pokemon look good from time-to-time.

 

[CaptainBuggles]

Speaking of showcases, I feel like Ash could have really helped Serena out on hers. In some aspects Showcases are just watered down contests, and Ash traveled with two coordinators, one of whom managed to reach TWO Grand Festivals while she was with him, and he even entered a few contests himself AND managed to tie with May in one of them. So he definitely could have offered her some advice about making her Pokemon look good from time-to-time.

From what I remember, Kalos was an especially self-contained region, and this is definitely one of the downsides of that.

Along with how that excessive self-containment almost makes it a good thing that Ash didn't win the League, because IMO it would've felt more emotionally hollow if he won without more of his past Pokemon and more callbacks to all his past adventures and tribulations.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

From what I remember, Kalos was an especially self-contained region, and this is definitely one of the downsides of that.

Which, if what I've heard is correct, was actually pretty much an accident. The writers just kind of forgot to add references to previous series.

Another issue which this self-containment caused was that XY broke the tradition of Ash's previous female traveling companion returning briefly. I'd honestly have loved to see how Iris had developed in her absence.

And speaking of the above issue, I'm going to be kinda annoyed if Brock and Misty are going to be the only previous traveling companions who get to make a comeback during the SM series. Twice, nonetheless.

 

[DarkraiKnight]

And speaking of the above issue, I'm going to be kinda annoyed if Brock and Misty are going to be the only previous traveling companions who get to make a comeback during the SM series. Twice, nonetheless.

Yeah! Blue returned in the SM games, so we should get a Gary appearance! The man hasn't been seen in a loooong time.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Which, if what I've heard is correct, was actually pretty much an accident. The writers just kind of forgot to add references to previous series.

That has to be a pretty glaring ‘accident’ for professional writers...
Specially since the previous series made a point of photographing each and every Pokemon Ash owns.

 

[FluffleFi]

Considering that Alola is a tropical region with five-star hotels, any one of his older companions could easily return. May could easily vacation there with Max and the rest of her family in tow. Same with Dawn and her Mom. Tracy definitely needs to make an appearance after being left out of the Kanto episodes, Gary for the same reason. Iris could want to check out th Dragon-Type trial and its Z-Crystal, ect.

 

[Daenerys]

Speaking of showcases, I feel like Ash could have really helped Serena out on hers. In some aspects Showcases are just watered down contests, and Ash traveled with two coordinators, one of whom managed to reach TWO Grand Festivals while she was with him, and he even entered a few contests himself AND managed to tie with May in one of them. So he definitely could have offered her some advice about making her Pokemon look good from time-to-time.

Serena had to practically beg him to help her in the Pokevision episode, so what makes you think that he'd just offer to help her train for Showcases of his own volition... ?

And there's no way that May or Dawn or Iris or anyone else from the past traveling groups are visiting Alola in the coming months imo. The saga is almost over, so the time for reunions in Alola is long since passed. We'll be lucky if we even get character reunions in Pallet Town assuming that Ash's trip back home is even shown on-screen when SuMo ends.

 

[Yami-no-Game]

Considering that Alola is a tropical region with five-star hotels, any one of his older companions could easily return. May could easily vacation there with Max and the rest of her family in tow. Same with Dawn and her Mom. Tracy definitely needs to make an appearance after being left out of the Kanto episodes, Gary for the same reason. Iris could want to check out th Dragon-Type trial and its Z-Crystal, ect.

That's not gonna happen with only a few months left of SM. The only reason that we even got Misty and Brock's comeback episodes in this saga was due to Gen 1 nostalgia, something that nobody else can offer except for Tracey but he might as well not even exist at this point.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

That's not gonna happen with only a few months left of SM. The only reason that we even got Misty and Brock's comeback episodes in this saga was due to Gen 1 nostalgia, something that nobody else can offer except for Tracey but he might as well not even exist at this point.

Misty and Brock can bring in nostalgia just fine. I just think two visits for one series was a bit too much pandery.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Yeah, I wouldn't mind if the goal is something 'feminine' again, I just don't like how Showcases felt like a waste of potential.

Like, I think they were going in the right direction with the importance of creativity and resourcefulness. And in theory, the variety of different activities would encourage you to think on your feet.

But from there they kinda fumbled it with making it so popularity focused, along with gender-locking it and having it so strongly focused on just being 'pretty', when there are more ways to showcase skill and choreography than that.

And then they gave themselves almost a year less to show and develop it from start to finish, because they waited so long to have Serena get into it. So basically, out of what they did right, Contests already did it better.

I don't think Showcases really had much potential to begin with. Not starting her Performance journey until a little over a year into XY's run really limited what they could do, but even if Serena knew she wanted to be a Pokemon Performer from the start, I don't think that the concept would have been that much better. They probably would have required at least a couple of more Princess Keys and that might have made it a bit more challenging. Getting three Princess Keys always seemed extremely easy to me, but if it was still going to be a Pokemon version of a beauty/popularity contest, then the goal still probably would have been as boring as dirt for me regardless.

I would have rather that they just made Serena into a Coordinator instead if they gave her a goal from the start. While I think Serena's character development is one of the few good things that came out of Showcases, I would have been thrilled if they did another Contest journey. It still feels like the anime lost something important after Contests were removed. Serena still could have been focused on the beauty and appeal of her Pokemon, while also actually doing different combinations, having her Pokemon battle frequently and possibly catching some more Pokemon in order to do well in the battle rounds. Since Showcases were just a poor man's Contests, they would have been better off just bringing Contests back instead.

Speaking of showcases, I feel like Ash could have really helped Serena out on hers. In some aspects Showcases are just watered down contests, and Ash traveled with two coordinators, one of whom managed to reach TWO Grand Festivals while she was with him, and he even entered a few contests himself AND managed to tie with May in one of them. So he definitely could have offered her some advice about making her Pokemon look good from time-to-time.

As nice as it would have been to get some callbacks for May and Dawn, I don't think that Ash offering Serena advice would have made sense. He traveled with two Coordinators who ended up going Grand Festivals, but that doesn't make Ash an expert. Ash participated in Contests in DP, but he always felt like it was harder just because he is more used to direct battles rather than trying to appeal to the audience. It would be one thing if May or Dawn had shown up to give Serena some advice. That would have potentially provided some buildup for Serena going off to Hoenn at the end of XY too, but Ash wouldn't really be in any position to give advice on Showcases just because he knows two successful and strong Coordinators.

Besides that, the skills for Contests wouldn't necessarily translate well into Showcases. For Contests, the focus is all about the Pokemon and the beauty of their attacks/combinations. With Showcases, it's expected for the trainer to be on stage right with their Pokemon. It's also a lot harder to appeal to judges as opposed to just being popular/entertaining enough for a general audience. That's one reason why I hated that they had Serena use Contests as a stepping stone to improve her Performance skills. Showcases are basically a watered down version of the appeal round for a Contest, but there are still some key differences that would make it harder for Serena to put what she learned into Showcases. Not to mention Contest battles are still real battles and would be difficult for someone like Serena with little interest or experience in battle.

Which, if what I've heard is correct, was actually pretty much an accident. The writers just kind of forgot to add references to previous series.

Another issue which this self-containment caused was that XY broke the tradition of Ash's previous female traveling companion returning briefly. I'd honestly have loved to see how Iris had developed in her absence.

And speaking of the above issue, I'm going to be kinda annoyed if Brock and Misty are going to be the only previous traveling companions who get to make a comeback during the SM series. Twice, nonetheless.

Even if I didn't hate Iris as much as I do, I'm okay that XY broke that tradition. I didn't really see how Iris could have connected with the XY cast or why she would even show up in Kalos. Most of the reasons fans mentioned sounded like stretches or she wouldn't need to reconnect with Ash in order to do so. Plus, after Dawn's return in BW, I'd rather that they didn't force characters to come back due to a tradition.

Considering that Alola is a tropical region with five-star hotels, any one of his older companions could easily return. May could easily vacation there with Max and the rest of her family in tow. Same with Dawn and her Mom. Tracy definitely needs to make an appearance after being left out of the Kanto episodes, Gary for the same reason. Iris could want to check out th Dragon-Type trial and its Z-Crystal, ect.

As neat as it would be to see other older companions return, it's far too late for that to happen now. There's only a few months left for SM now that Sword/Shield have been announced. They could have potentially brought some of them back earlier, but with everything else that they need to do in order to wrap up the series, bringing back more older characters isn't really on their list of priorities. I could see Misty and Brock getting some kind of appearance during the Alola League and maybe Tracey if we're lucky, but I think randomly having a bunch of characters appearing now would feel too forced. May and Dawn were still traveling around for Contests when we last saw them and Iris wanting to check out the Dragon Type Trial would feel pretty forced too.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Ash's Sun & Moon team has to be one one of the biggest disappointments in the ever growing list of criticisms I have with the series.

Like aside from Lycanroc (and ignoring Pikachu because duh) nobody else feels like they've accomplished anything worthwhile for me to give two craps about them.

Torracat is a cool chap and the episodes focusing on it is easily some of the more brighter parts of the series but battlewise it's been a sitting duck for most of the show with no chance to give it any kind of spotlight unless it's related to Incineroar/Masked Royal.

Rowlett is a useless hunk a junk that I just cannot stand whatsoever and the rushed development it got still isn't changing my mood about it.

Although it's gone, Poipole is a baby Togepi that did f all for whatever plot there was in general and I'm forgetting that Meltan is even a part of his team.

As for Nebby...

well, Nebby is adorable. It gets a free pass.

Unless you're the mouse or the rocko doggo or potentially the nut thing then I don't see the others doing well league-wise.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I'm sure that Torracat will be able to do well in the League. I'm sure that I'd have an easier time believing its victories than anything Rowlet could do that this point.

 

[FluffleFi]

So as much as I don't really like AshxSerena, I feel like there are SOME ways to make the ship more believable.

1- What if Fennekin/Braixen had a crush on Pikachu? Wasn't it said that if two Pokemon get along/like each other than the trainers like each other too? They could have easily brought that concept back. I can even see Braixen being a bit more brazen with her crush than her trainer.

2- Showing some flashbacks of Serena and her time spent in Kanto. Ash found a crying Serena, helped her up and took her to a nurse..and that's it. One could easily be led to believe that the two spent virtually no time together and that's why Ash had forgotten about her for so long. So why not show the two bonding during their stay at Oak's summer camp? Yeah, it would make people question how Ash could have forgotten her if they had gotten to know each other, but weren't they like, eight at the time? YOu'd probably forget about them in two year's time, or at least forget what they look like.

 

[Daenerys]

How would a one-sided Pikachu x Fennekin relationship enhance Amourshipping? We had that with Buneary crushing on Pikachu in DP, and it did absolutely nothing for Pearlshipping for example. So idk how Fennekin crushing on Pikachu would've helped Serena get into Ash's pants.