Controversial opinions

[Hidden Mew]

Wow that is sad they could have gave Ash a full team

I don't think that giving Eevee to Ash instead would have been much better. Aside from the battle in the Alola League, has Ash done much of anything with Meltan? He might have trained with Eevee more, but I don't think it would be handled significantly better if Ash was its trainer instead. That being said, it is still pretty sad that Eevee hasn't done much of anything. The buildup to its appearance in SM proper was nice and I still don't have a problem with Lana capturing it instead of Ash. It's just sad that the buildup to its capture didn't seem to lead to anything noteworthy. I've honestly forgotten that Sandy even exists a few time already.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Aside from the battle in the Alola League, has Ash done much of anything with Meltan?

It battled against Ryuki.

 

[Kurolegacy]

I don't think that giving Eevee to Ash instead would have been much better.

I’ve gotta hard disagree here. At least under Ash’s ownership, it would have had more opportunity to be used vs Lana’s. Not only at that time did Ash still have one last Grand Trial left, but he has been shown to work with his Pokémon much more this saga than the others theirs. On top of that, even if he hadn’t been able to fully develop her now, there was always the opportunity to use her beyond Alola similar to what they did with Phanpy in Battle Frontier. With Lana, whatever is left undone by the end of SM, that’s it for both her and her Pokémon due to her just being another regional companion. There were definitely numerous missteps when it came to Eevee.

 

[Galarebel]

I don't think that giving Eevee to Ash instead would have been much better. Aside from the battle in the Alola League, has Ash done much of anything with Meltan? He might have trained with Eevee more, but I don't think it would be handled significantly better if Ash was its trainer instead. That being said, it is still pretty sad that Eevee hasn't done much of anything. The buildup to its appearance in SM proper was nice and I still don't have a problem with Lana capturing it instead of Ash. It's just sad that the buildup to its capture didn't seem to lead to anything noteworthy. I've honestly forgotten that Sandy even exists a few time already.

Most of Ash's Pokemon feel like they have not done anything this series. Everything feels so meh at best tbh. Doesn't help the league seems like a pity league even when they could have done a full fledged league

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Most of Ash's Pokemon feel like they have not done anything this series. Everything feels so meh at best tbh. Doesn't help the league seems like a pity league even when they could have done a full fledged league

It is an official League.

 

[Hidden Mew]

It battled against Ryuki.

Oh yeah. I forgot about that episode.

I’ve gotta hard disagree here. At least under Ash’s ownership, it would have had more opportunity to be used vs Lana’s. Not only at that time did Ash still have one last Grand Trial left, but he has been shown to work with his Pokémon much more this saga than the others theirs. On top of that, even if he hadn’t been able to fully develop her now, there was always the opportunity to use her beyond Alola similar to what they did with Phanpy in Battle Frontier. With Lana, whatever is left undone by the end of SM, that’s it for both her and her Pokémon due to her just being another regional companion. There were definitely numerous missteps when it came to Eevee.

It would have had more opportunities to be used if Ash was Eevee's trainer, but whether that would have actually happened is questionable at best. Aside from Lycanroc and arguably Torracat, none of Ash's Pokemon have gotten a good amount of focus during SM. Even the amount of focus Rowlet has gotten seems more like an attempt to make up for it sleeping through most of the series and trying to make it look strong in spite of being virtually useless through the majority of SM. Ash only used Pikachu for his last Grand Trial, so I don't think Eevee would have made a difference for that given their plans for it. I don't know how likely it would be for them to just have Ash travel with Eevee again after SM. They've done it before, but they have been more interested in giving him completely fresh starts aside from Pikachu of course for the past few series. The possibility would still be there of course, but much like having more opportunities to be used, I just don't think it would have been as likely for Eevee to be handled significantly better . Ash not having a full team is a problem, but the real issue behind it is that his Pokemon don't get enough time to shine as it is, so throwing in Eevee just for the shake of having a full team might have made that part of the problem worse.

 

[Kurolegacy]

It is an official League.

He doesn’t mean it literally, he means that when this could have been a serious league like the previous 6 leagues, they instead did a league that offered no real challenge where anyone could enter resulting in us getting a league where of the top 16 we only had 6 people who were league battlers while the rest were total rookies, joke characters, TR and recurring characters. As a result, it’s taken until the semifinals just for us to get something that’s more than 1 on 1 battles. That’s terrible for a league. It’s basically the Jr Cup of leagues.

 

[Hidden Mew]

The Alola League still sounds more like a Club Battle tournament more than anything else to me. It might be more entertaining for me once the dub gets to that point and it could be a Club Battle tournament arc done right, but that still probably isn't the best way for a League arc to be like either.

 

[Galarebel]

It is an official League.

Never said it wasn't

He doesn’t mean it literally, he means that when this could have been a serious league like the previous 6 leagues, they instead did a league that offered no real challenge where anyone could enter resulting in us getting a league where of the top 16 we only had 6 people who were league battlers while the rest were total rookies, joke characters, TR and recurring characters. As a result, it’s taken until the semifinals just for us to get something that’s more than 1 on 1 battles. That’s terrible for a league. It’s basically the Jr Cup of leagues.

I do wonder if Ash does win if people will consider it like the OI win or if they will accept it as a league league. I'll be honest if he does win here I want him to win and full league with 6 vs 6 next series. That would feel much more rewarding

 

[sc190191]

SM is the least funny/humorous series by a significant margin.

Note which thread I said this under, this is my opinion, and I do believe that humor, like art, is subjective, even though many people on this site seem to think those qualities are objective, so I don't reject that some people will strongly disagree (although I have trouble comprehending how SM would actually be found humorous). I feel like brining it up because people seem to automatically qualify this series as the funniest, just because it tries so hard to be funny. Like many other things in life, trying too hard to do something will often times have the opposite effect.

I feel as though each series in the history of the anime has been funny. I audibly laugh during portions of the majority of Pokemon episodes in existence prior to SM. In SM I often cringe, roll my eyes, or have exasperated sighs/groans, but I almost never have found myself laughing. The very few times I have actually found myself engaged in an interesting story line, it is often ruined by some cringe-worthy forced "humor".

In my opinion the humor was balanced well in past series, not taking away too much from significant plots, but still allowing for laughs and also developing characters. In this series I feel as though it takes away from characters, because at any moment anyone can be reduced to a joke. There is a difference between making fun of someone/some situation and completely reducing them to a joke, the latter being what is typical of SM. Like anything in life, there are, of course, a few exceptions, but the exceptions are too few and far between to redeem the overall slog of endless annoying, pace ruining "jokes" that heavily saddle each episode.

No need to respond, I just wanted to get this off my chest, and this section is kind of for that. For those who are curious, I think I find AG series to be the most funny, but I truly think each series was funny in its own way.

 

[Rockapheller]

I think I find AG series to be the most funny, but I truly think each series was funny in its own way.

The Bicker the Better is the funniest Pokémon episode I have watched to date, tbh. Also when Skitty plays the "cute card" on May, her reactions would leave me chuckling often. Those are the things SM series never got me on.

 

[Galactic_V]

AG sure had great moments when the topic is comedy, mostly with Trio. Who remembers when Nyasu pretends to be Agehunt, and how him and Kojirou kept correcting Musashi when she called her Mayuld "Carasalis". The episode where Satoshi catches Heigani too, by the time he says that his and Takeshi's idea to uncover the mysterious Pokemon consists of digging holes and Masato and Haruka's reaction are like "This is the worst", followed by them is that heads-down embarassed position. Minutes later the same with Trio when they fall into one of the holes.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

AG sure had great moments when the topic is comedy, mostly with Trio. Who remembers when Nyasu pretends to be Agehunt, and how him and Kojirou kept correcting Musashi when she called her Mayuld "Carasalis". The episode where Satoshi catches Heigani too, by the time he says that his and Takeshi's idea to uncover the mysterious Pokemon consists of digging holes and Masato and Haruka's reaction are like "This is the worst", followed by them is that heads-down embarassed position. Minutes later the same with Trio when they fall into one of the holes.

Team Rocket's clownery was at its worst in the Advanced Generation. You couldn't take almost anything about them seriously. I personally think they've been a right mixture of competence and humor in DP and from XY onward.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

SM is the series that actually made me invested in the TRio. It’s one of the few things the series has done right. If only they appeared more often...

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

If there is one thing that Best Wishes did right in terms of Team Rocket, it was breaking their tradition of being forced to appear in every main series episode.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

SM is the series that actually made me invested in the TRio. It’s one of the few things the series has done right.

Why though?

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Why though?

Guess because Mimikyu’s one of my favourite Pokemon and I like its interactions with the TRio, and in general I always preferred Jessie and James while they actually succeeded in their businesses instead of following around Ash and Pikachu and getting blasted off.

They’re also really competent at whatever they do (mostly thanks to Mimikyu) and using Z-Moves as a trio was neat.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

Guess because Mimikyu’s one of my favourite Pokemon and I like its interactions with the TRio, and in general I always preferred Jessie and James while they actually succeeded in their businesses instead of following around Ash and Pikachu and getting blasted off.

They’re also really competent at whatever they do (mostly thanks to Mimikyu) and using Z-Moves as a trio was neat.

Their only accomplishment as a group is creating triangle doughnuts, which something they always succeed, a.k.a. selling food. Mimikyu is degraded into not following the orders again, their Z moves failed to win them anything, their business wasn't good most of SM, even the future of the pokémon they got still in doubt.

 

[ii kanji]

Speaking of which, Butterfree's release episode is also overrated. It has mainly remained in the memories of fans due to the last few minutes, because otherwise, it's basically just your everyday Team Rocket plot. No one would hold that episode in such a high regard if it wasn't for Butterfree's release. Yes, the release itself was sad, but the majority of the episode was pretty average, which many people seem to forget or neglect.

Don't think this is controversial, but I put forward that the sister episode when Dokucale was released in DP is by far the better of the two.

the motto is literally ‘Gotta Catch ‘em All’ .

In the dub only.

In the anime, Pokemon are living, breathing creatures with their own needs and desires separate from those of their trainers. They are not property to be kept or released at the will of their human companions, but treated as friends. The idea that a trainer would somehow force their Pokemon to stay with them even when that Pokemon had a very good reason to part ways is simply absurd.

If there is one thing that Best Wishes did right in terms of Team Rocket, it was breaking their tradition of being forced to appear in every main series episode.

Don't think anyone will be surprised at this, but I strongly disagree

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Don't think anyone will be surprised at this, but I strongly disagree

Let's face it: them being forced into every episode often led to nothing but useless padding, especially prior to DP.