Controversial opinions

[FinnishPokéFan92]

How is this related to my question exactly?

I mean that basically, it seems like Ash will be doing eight trials in total, like eight Gyms, so there's really no difference in THAT aspect. The only notable difference is that Ash doesn't really travel around in between the trials, which I thought would be an issue with some people.

 

[HiroHunter]

I mean that basically, it seems like Ash will be doing eight trials in total, like eight Gyms, so there's really no difference in THAT aspect. The only notable difference is that Ash doesn't really travel around in between the trials, which I thought would be an issue with some people.

I think its the fact that its taking so long for Ash to start the next set of trials the last time he did a trial was in SM036 we are on SM069 and their are no signs that he's taking on the next set of trials anytime soon.

 

[EscLucy]

I think its the fact that its taking so long for Ash to start the next set of trials the last time he did a trial was in SM036 we are on SM069 and their are no signs that he's taking on the next set of trials anytime soon.

Well yes but that was because the anime writers wanted to do the Ultra Beasts storyline first, I'm sure Ash will get back to the trials after that. I think it's nice because it's a change from doing the 8 battles > Pokemon League > side story. It's shows that they are trying new things. Also, I am quite enjoying the Ultra Beasts storyline in the anime - well thought out and there has been good character development for nearly everyone. We have just got to be patient with it all, it will all come full circle in the end and everything will be included I don't think they will skip any more trials but I was a bit annoyed when they didn't do Lana and Mallow's trials and made them get a Z-Crystal instead. Also, it makes me think because if Kiawe already has a Fire Z-Crystal, will there be a fire trial? Imo, I don't think so - which is a shame! I think Illima's is coming up soon so I can't wait Finally, I cannot wait to see (or rather I hope I see) how they portray Acerola and Mina in the anime - they was really cool in the games!

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I think its the fact that its taking so long for Ash to start the next set of trials the last time he did a trial was in SM036 we are on SM069 and their are no signs that he's taking on the next set of trials anytime soon.

Well, the Ula'ula arc is due to start soon, so I guess the Ula'ula trial episode titles will be revealed in the near future.

I don't think they will skip any more trials but I was a bit annoyed when they didn't do Lana and Mallow's trials and made them get a Z-Crystal instead. Also, it makes me think because if Kiawe already has a Fire Z-Crystal, will there be a fire trial? Imo, I don't think so - which is a shame!

Well, technically Ash did the Lush Jungle trial while Lana did the Brooklet Hill trial, and yes, I think they skipped the Fire trial on purpose due to that very reason you mentioned. Actually, my guess of why they gave Lusamine a Salazzle was so that we could get a kinda-sorta Totem Salazzle without the Fire trial.

 

[HiroHunter]

Well yes but that was because the anime writers wanted to do the Ultra Beasts storyline first, I'm sure Ash will get back to the trials after that. I think it's nice because it's a change from doing the 8 battles > Pokemon League > side story. It's shows that they are trying new things. Also, I am quite enjoying the Ultra Beasts storyline in the anime - well thought out and there has been good character development for nearly everyone. We have just got to be patient with it all, it will all come full circle in the end and everything will be included I don't think they will skip any more trials but I was a bit annoyed when they didn't do Lana and Mallow's trials and made them get a Z-Crystal instead. Also, it makes me think because if Kiawe already has a Fire Z-Crystal, will there be a fire trial? Imo, I don't think so - which is a shame! I think Illima's is coming up soon so I can't wait Finally, I cannot wait to see (or rather I hope I see) how they portray Acerola and Mina in the anime - they was really cool in the games!

Well I have no high hopes for this anime and I care so little about the UB arc at this point that i'm thinking of waiting until the Ula'ula arc. And I hope that the next arc can give me something to care about because I have little love for the SM anime at this point.

 

[EscLucy]

Well, the Ula'ula arc is due to start soon, so I guess the Ula'ula trial episode titles will be revealed in the near future.


Well, technically Ash did the Lush Jungle trial while Lana did the Brooklet Hill trial, and yes, I think they skipped the Fire trial on purpose due to that very reason you mentioned. Actually, my guess of why they gave Lusamine a Salazzle was so that we could get a kinda-sorta Totem Salazzle without the Fire trial.

Yep, I agree with you there, the reason why I said that they skipped the trials was because there wasn't a trial captain battle which is what I was looking forward to.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I like SM and I think that the slice of life kind of vibe it gives off generally works. The episodes are usually pretty entertaining and despite Ash not really focusing on the Trials, there aren't too many episodes so far that I'd call flat out filler.

That being said, one of my biggest issues with SM, if not the biggest one, is the lack of a clear focus. I have no idea what Ash's goal is for his Alola journey. It can't be finishing the Island Trials since those are rarely brought up and the idea that they wouldn't have him finish the Trials honestly wouldn't surprise me at this point. It can't be to graduate from the Pokemon School since it's usually just as a setting for the series and we don't really focus on the classes themselves to see what Ash gets out of them. Considering how experienced Ash already is, it is also hard to see what he can get out of the Pokemon School that he can't get from traveling. That's why I was so sure that the school would just be the opening arc of the series before Ash traveled around the different islands, but that obviously didn't happen.

The goal seems to be mainly just having fun adventures with his new friends, which are usually pretty fun to watch, but it does feel really strange to have a Pokemon series without a clear goal for Ash. While I don't think that Ash has regressed and most of his battles show off his skills pretty well, the lack of battles is definitely an issue as far as his team is concerned. Rowlet falling asleep all the time is a running gag, but this would have been treated as a serious problem by a certain point in other series given that it can put Rowlet in a serious disadvantage in battle. He doesn't even have a full team yet, so his team comes off a bit lackluster strength wise given the lack of direct battles in this series compared the the other ones.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

The goal seems to be mainly just having fun adventures with his new friends, which are usually pretty fun to watch, but it does feel really strange to have a Pokemon series without a clear goal for Ash. While I don't think that Ash has regressed and most of his battles show off his skills pretty well, the lack of battles is definitely an issue as far as his team is concerned. Rowlet falling asleep all the time is a running gag, but this would have been treated as a serious problem by a certain point in other series given that it can put Rowlet in a serious disadvantage in battle. He doesn't even have a full team yet, so his team comes off a bit lackluster strength wise given the lack of direct battles in this series compared the the other ones.

I guess they're trying to make a bit more laid-back series after all the hardcore action we saw in XY.

 

[Kurolegacy]

I guess they're trying to make a bit more laid-back series after all the hardcore action we saw in XY.

Problem with that kind of shift is that creates some major mood whiplash. I mean, just given how Ash is treated, if someone were to say that SM is out of continuity with the previous series, it wouldn’t surprise me at all. But the Kanto arc already connected it so that couldn’t be the case.

Now if they had made this a spin-off, it’d be one thing but it just feels like a square peg/round hole scenario to me.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I guess they're trying to make a bit more laid-back series after all the hardcore action we saw in XY.

Outside of the Kalos League and Team Flare arcs, I wouldn't really say that XY had a lot of hardcore action. There were some intense battles throughout the series, but I think that fans kind of over exaggerate how much action there actually was in XY. This is primarily due to how the series ended with two pretty battle heavy arcs since that made people think the whole series was like that.

Even if XY did have more hardcore action, I don't think that they'd have to make an entire series so different to cool off from that. It's more like they just want to try some different ideas like they do with every series. Plus, it's not like there isn't any action in SM. It is definitely more laid back, but it still has some action to it.

Problem with that kind of shift is that creates some major mood whiplash. I mean, just given how Ash is treated, if someone were to say that SM is out of continuity with the previous series, it wouldn’t surprise me at all. But the Kanto arc already connected it so that couldn’t be the case.

Now if they had made this a spin-off, it’d be one thing but it just feels like a square peg/round hole scenario to me.

Honestly, I don't think that Ash was acting so different in SM that the series could be set in its own continuity. Aside from not focusing on the Trials, he still seems pretty much in character and he didn't have a major downgrade in terms of his skills. Plus, I always thought that theory was pretty ridiculous and one of the reasons why I was glad that we got the Kanto two parter was so that theory could just disappear.

With that being said, I can still understand the whiplash of going from XY to SM. Ash not really traveling or focusing on going for his next Trial is really different and jarring. Traveling around isn't just an aspect of the anime, but an aspect of the whole franchise. There's always an emphasis of traveling through a region to gain strength and experience. Ash being set primarily in one place for the whole series is strange not only for his character, but just how Pokemon emphasizes the importance of going on a journey in general.

 

[CaptainBuggles]

While he is mostly in character, the fact that he leans so heavily into goofy antics now is also a shift that takes getting used to.

In XY, even if he technically wasn't older, he at least sort of gave off a vibe of a bit more maturity and felt more like a leader/someone to look up to.

But the art style makes him look younger and less angular, and he acts sillier, which gets compounded by Sun/Moon heavy use of exaggerated faces.

So even if he didn't technically regress, it kind of creates the illusion that he did... Combined with what I said before about how his battle strength seems kind of arbitrary sometimes, and the tone of the series and the lack of travel diminishes the sense that Ash puts in a lot of effort. I mean, he obviously does still try, but what I'm saying is that the show kind of makes it feel like he doesn't really have to try as hard with how light and silly it is and how much he's just having fun and being goofy.

 

[KenzeyEevee]

While I think that Ash sometimes forgets things he should remember from preview series. His technics in battle arent new like for example the rock climb from Rockruff. I think he doesn't battle enough and when he suddenly fights in the Royal Dome, it felt unnatural. The Ultra Beasts arent threated like a real threat for Alola, one of the most important parts of Sun and Moon (games).

 

[Hidden Mew]

While he is mostly in character, the fact that he leans so heavily into goofy antics now is also a shift that takes getting used to.

In XY, even if he technically wasn't older, he at least sort of gave off a vibe of a bit more maturity and felt more like a leader/someone to look up to.

But the art style makes him look younger and less angular, and he acts sillier, which gets compounded by Sun/Moon heavy use of exaggerated faces.

XY Ash had a more serious vibe by comparison, but I don't know if he felt that much more mature outside of some moments during the Team Flare arc. Plus, I still like his SM design. While I can definitely see how it's jarring to go from XY to SM design wise, his design makes Ash feel more expressive to me and it's really easy to showcase just how happy he is all the time. That helps to make SM Ash more endearing to me instead of just being silly.

So even if he didn't technically regress, it kind of creates the illusion that he did... Combined with what I said before about how his battle strength seems kind of arbitrary sometimes, and the tone of the series and the lack of travel diminishes the sense that Ash puts in a lot of effort. I mean, he obviously does still try, but what I'm saying is that the show kind of makes it feel like he doesn't really have to try as hard with how light and silly it is and how much he's just having fun and being goofy.

I can kind of understand this concern though. While I don't think that Ash is just being goofy, the lack of a clear goal and consistent battling does make his team feel more lackluster than they probably would be if there were Gyms in Alola. Plus, we don't see Ash training his Pokemon too often. Litten and Lycanroc would often just train by themselves, even though I think that was suppose to mirror how Litten used to train with Stoutland. While Ash does some training with his Pokemon, it still feels less like an issue for him, especially when he's just fine with Rowlet sleeping all the time. Since he does seem pretty content with just having random adventures with his friends instead of working on his Pokemon, it can feel like Ash isn't putting as much effort as he normally does.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

So... You're not willing to give the new format a chance?

Isn't it a little bit late for that kind of defence? We already did pass the 50 percent of SM.

Well yes but that was because the anime writers wanted to do the Ultra Beasts storyline firs

Well I have no high hopes for this anime and I care so little about the UB arc at this point that i'm thinking of waiting until the Ula'ula arc.

Well, the Ula'ula arc is due to start soon, so I guess the Ula'ula trial episode titles will be revealed in the near future.

There is no separate Ula'ula arc, it's part of current Ultra Beasts Arc:

Spoiler

I like SM and I think that the slice of life kind of vibe it gives off generally works.

Problem is, SM isn't really slice of life other than filler episodes. It's basically a Super Sentai show now. Heck, XY was more slice of life than SM for most of time.

While I don't think that Ash has regressed and most of his battles show off his skills pretty well

Aside from not focusing on the Trials, he still seems pretty much in character and he didn't have a major downgrade in terms of his skills.

Problem is, Satoshi doesn't seem like a good battler either in SM, he just wins all of his battles because there is so few of them and people in Alola just seems really bad at pokemon battles.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Problem is, SM isn't really slice of life other than filler episodes. It's basically a Super Sentai show now. Heck, XY was more slice of life than SM for most of time.

I primarily follow the dub, so I don't know how I'd feel about the current arc. Based on what I've seen and heard about it, I'd probably still get more of a slice of life vibe from it than Super Sentai. It sounds like people only call it that because of the fancy suits Ash and his friends put on before going to find Ultra Beasts. I don't think that XY was more slice of life either. SM primarily focuses on Ash's daily life on Melemel Island. It may not be in the slice of life anime genre exactly, but the more laid back tone of the series kind of gives that impression for me. XY didn't really have such a laid back tone to where I could describe it as slice of life, especially when there was a journey through Kalos and clear goals for the main cast.

Problem is, Satoshi doesn't seem like a good battler either in SM, he just wins all of his battles because there is so few of them and people in Alola just seems really bad at pokemon battles.

While there are fewer battles in SM, I don't think that makes Ash look like a weaker battler. I didn't think that winning his first Grand Trial with just two Pokemon would work, but it was actually pretty impressive and enjoyable to watch. The second Grand Trial wasn't as impressive, but still pretty good all the same. I haven't gotten the impression that the trainers in Alola are bad at Pokemon battles either.

 

[Huikyeong]

hey you know if he is doing the trials. i hope that his league match will be different. you know how in the games, the pokemon league is just being built? what if ash is the first person to challenge it as he tries to be the first champion but fails?

 

[SinnohEevee]

hey you know if he is doing the trials. i hope that his league match will be different. you know how in the games, the pokemon league is just being built? what if ash is the first person to challenge it as he tries to be the first champion but fails?

You need a tournament in the anime.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

I primarily follow the dub, so I don't know how I'd feel about the current arc.

Didn't they show it in the last dub episode?

 

[Hidden Mew]

Didn't they show it in the last dub episode?

I'm watching the episodes on Disney XD, so I'm still in the middle of the group rescuing Lusamine.

 

[CaptainBuggles]

You need a tournament in the anime.

I agree with this, even though it's kinda upsetting that I still really can't see Ash winning this time. With the overall feel of the show and the team, Ash doesn't even feel like he'd get second again, even though he technically didn't regress.

I know there's still time for my mind to be changed, but so far I feel like I wouldn't really believe it if Ash somehow managed to get 1st place this time, so I'll just try to be positive about whatever happens when the time comes.

And if he does win but it involves more weird strategies that don't get proper foreshadowing and barely make sense even with anime rules, I don't want that either.

Even that thing in the Kalos League when Pikachu somehow made a bunch of wood fragments get crazy airtime by just hitting the ground with Iron Tail was super sketchy, but I kinda excused it because it looked cool.

Double Teams being absorbed to make a super shuriken was also a bit weird, but I excused that too because it kinda made sense that if they're just made of energy, a strong enough Pokemon can repurpose that energy for something else.

Basically, I'll live with however well Ash does in the Alola league as long as there's no weird BS strategies with bad foreshadowing.