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Controversial opinions

Those weren't releases. They were just left with someone else for training for a while.
And Greninja is just left with Zygarde to protect Kalos for a while.
And Pidgeot is just left with its flock to protect them for a while.
I've been here for years, yet there is still no true definition for being released.
 
I don't know if this is a controversial opinion exactly, but I just finished rewatching the Team Magma and Team Aqua two parter. I still think that it is the worst defeat for an evil team we've seen thus far in the anime. I think that the only one that could possibly be worst would be the Aether Foundation arc, but that's mainly due to how I didn't like how they tried to cram in the main storyline from the games in such a relatively short amount of time. Not to mention I didn't like how Lillie's storyline and Lusamine's personality were so drastically different. There is just absolutely no buildup to this final showdown. Even when I first watched it, I was shocked and surprised as to how both Team Magma and Team Aqua could have captured Legendary Pokemon off-screen. They weren't even that competent. The battle between Groudon and Kyogre was also pretty weak and felt too anticlimactic with how quickly it went.

This was the first time the anime had tackled the defeat of an evil team, so I can understand to a point why it wouldn't be handled that well, but it just felt so lacking. It was especially bad that we didn't even get confirmation of Team Magma and Team Aqua disbanding until quite a few episodes later. That being said, I still enjoyed it, even if at least part of that enjoyment came from not seeing the episode in ages, and I actually liked that they brought Lance back. He did basically take Steven's role, which is pretty disappointing, but it also kind of made sense. They didn't even establish that Steven was the Hoenn Champion in his debut appearance, so I think bringing him for this two parter would have felt too jarring. Lance being sent to stop Team Magma after he helped stopped a major Team Rocket operation made sense. Plus, it was a nice little bit of continuity with referencing that Lake of Rage event, so that was pretty cool. If there was better buildup to the climax and Rayquaza was involved, then it might have been a better two parter.
 
And Greninja is just left with Zygarde to protect Kalos for a while.
And Pidgeot is just left with its flock to protect them for a while.
I've been here for years, yet there is still no true definition for being released.
Didn't you read what I said? Charizard and Gliscor didn't count as released because they were just left under someone's else's care. Just like Primeape, technically. Pidgeot and Greninja were straight out released back into the wild, not left with someone else.
 
I still think that it is the worst defeat for an evil team we've seen thus far in the anime
The funny thing is...
there is no defeat.

Once Groudon and Kyogre stop their fight and Pikachu and Archie return back to normal, both the teams are just gone, like the snap of a finger. We don't seem them being punished for their actions, no arrests from Officer Jenny or anything, they're just out of here in the last few minutes making it feel incredibly rushed to kingdom come and poorly written to boot.
 
I don't know if this is a controversial opinion exactly, but I just finished rewatching the Team Magma and Team Aqua two parter. I still think that it is the worst defeat for an evil team we've seen thus far in the anime. I think that the only one that could possibly be worst would be the Aether Foundation arc, but that's mainly due to how I didn't like how they tried to cram in the main storyline from the games in such a relatively short amount of time. Not to mention I didn't like how Lillie's storyline and Lusamine's personality were so drastically different. There is just absolutely no buildup to this final showdown. Even when I first watched it, I was shocked and surprised as to how both Team Magma and Team Aqua could have captured Legendary Pokemon off-screen. They weren't even that competent. The battle between Groudon and Kyogre was also pretty weak and felt too anticlimactic with how quickly it went.

This was the first time the anime had tackled the defeat of an evil team, so I can understand to a point why it wouldn't be handled that well, but it just felt so lacking. It was especially bad that we didn't even get confirmation of Team Magma and Team Aqua disbanding until quite a few episodes later. That being said, I still enjoyed it, even if at least part of that enjoyment came from not seeing the episode in ages, and I actually liked that they brought Lance back. He did basically take Steven's role, which is pretty disappointing, but it also kind of made sense. They didn't even establish that Steven was the Hoenn Champion in his debut appearance, so I think bringing him for this two parter would have felt too jarring. Lance being sent to stop Team Magma after he helped stopped a major Team Rocket operation made sense. Plus, it was a nice little bit of continuity with referencing that Lake of Rage event, so that was pretty cool. If there was better buildup to the climax and Rayquaza was involved, then it might have been a better two parter.

I wouldn't call that unpopular. Dogasu heavily ripped through it in his review, and you'll find very few defenders of that arc. The best defense it has is that it was the first of its kind (as in a new villainous team other than Team Rocket), and that Team Magma and Aqua were never really used well in the games (that is until ORAS).

Didn't you read what I said? Charizard and Gliscor didn't count as released because they were just left under someone's else's care. Just like Primeape, technically. Pidgeot and Greninja were straight out released back into the wild, not left with someone else.

Oh there's a first for everything. Greninja's Poké Ball was never destroyed, and it's clear that both Greninja and Ash can sense each other to a degree no one else has. Doesn't take much for a few strings to be pulled here and there.

And really, what truly matters is popularity. And after that little Ash-Greninja promotion, the popular Greninja is forever associated with Ash. Not even Charizard has that claim to fame. And let's remember that Charizard permanently moved back to Oak's Lab in BW despite the fact it would be "status quo" to forever leave him at Charrific Valley.
 
Not really, not at all.

Really? Because the first sentence on that page pretty much explains what a released Pokémon is: "Released Pokémon are Pokémon that have been caught by a Pokémon Trainer, but are sent back into the wild". Basically, if a Pokémon was released back into their natural habitat or was let go by the original trainer and isn't under the care of another Pokémon Trainer, then that counts as a Released Pokémon (hence the name).
 
Why are we arguing about release definition? We all know that words are meaningless when something new happens in the Pokémon world. What matters if the writers have incentive to bring the old Pokémon back to Ash. And that's not really hard to do. One could easily write a scene where Ash's Butterfree and Pidgeot manage to return to Ash in the Galar region by sheer coincidence, and then Ash reveals he never actually released them to begin with... and the audience will buy it.

After all, Charizard returns to Unova for no reason other than Ash (and the audience) felt nostalgic about seeing that old flying lizard again.
 
Oh there's a first for everything. Greninja's Poké Ball was never destroyed, and it's clear that both Greninja and Ash can sense each other to a degree no one else has. Doesn't take much for a few strings to be pulled here and there.
Hem...
He could very well still have the Poké Balls of his other released Pokémon too.

And let's remember that Charizard permanently moved back to Oak's Lab in BW despite the fact it would be "status quo" to forever leave him at Charrific Valley.
It was never "forever left" there. It was just left there for training and could return whenever Ash felt the need for it. It's not the same as being released: with Charizard, Ash always had access to it. Just like with Squirtle.
Why are we arguing about release definition? We all know that words are meaningless when something new happens in the Pokémon world.
:bulbaFacepalm: They are not. Like @Pulsaro23 said, "in training" equals someone else looking after the Pokémon and it not being in the wild, and "released" equals the Pokémon being out in the wild. Goodra is a special case of released, since despite someone looking after it, it's not training, but is still in the wild.
 
We all know that words are meaningless when something new happens in the Pokémon world.

My friend, words do have meanings, no matter the franchise. That's why definitions exist, to give them meanings. The fact that some people choose to ignore their meaning or the context they're used in doesn't mean that the words are suddenly meaningless, it just means that the person using them is... well, I wouldn't want to be accused of "flaming" again, so let's just say it's a bad thing.

What matters if the writers have incentive to bring the old Pokémon back to Ash. And that's not really hard to do. One could easily write a scene where Ash's Butterfree and Pidgeot manage to return to Ash in the Galar region by sheer coincidence, and then Ash reveals he never actually released them to begin with... and the audience will buy it.

After all, Charizard returns to Unova for no reason other than Ash (and the audience) felt nostalgic about seeing that old flying lizard again.

Sure, they could have any of Ash's previously released Pokémon return without any explanation. Doesn't mean that it wouldn't be contrived or poorly written or that people wouldn't find it stupid. At least with Charizard, they actually explained in the episode why he returned: Ash, due to the antics of a Charmander, was reminded of the time he caught one and after he started reminiscing of his time and adventures with him and after his friends told him that they would very much like to meet Charizard and have him traveling with them, Ash decided to have him rejoin his party.

As for "the audience will buy it" part... I think you're really overestimating people's ability to suspend their disbelief and underestimating they're ability to recognize when something is poorly written. In fact, since you brought up Charizard, people were kind of annoyed (and even disliked/hated) that, outside of his return, Charizard didn't do anything in Unova. So not all of the audience would just accept that kind thing.
 
My friend, words do have meanings, no matter the franchise. That's why definitions exist, to give them meanings. The fact that some people choose to ignore their meaning or the context they're used in doesn't mean that the words are suddenly meaningless, it just means that the person using them is... well, I wouldn't want to be accused of "flaming" again, so let's just say it's a bad thing.

Missing the forest for trees. My point is that "release" has no bearings on underlying factors. I recall a great many people here once proclaimed that Goodra will never return to Ash's team because it was "released." They thought a new Pokémon, not Noibat, would become the sixth member of the Kalos Team. That never actually happened. Instead, Goodra returned for the League, making it the first "released" Pokémon to be brought back on Ash's team. First time for everything. Fandom words do not matter when the writer can make them accordingly.

After all, Pokémon is no stranger of characters coming back from the dead. Nothing is ever impossible in fiction.

Sure, they could have any of Ash's previously released Pokémon return without any explanation. Doesn't mean that it wouldn't be contrived or poorly written or that people wouldn't find it stupid. At least with Charizard, they actually explained in the episode why he returned: Ash, due to the antics of a Charmander, was reminded of the time he caught one and after he started reminiscing of his time and adventures with him and after his friends told him that they would very much like to meet Charizard and have him traveling with them, Ash decided to have him rejoin his party.

As for "the audience will buy it" part... I think you're really overestimating people's ability to suspend their disbelief and underestimating they're ability to recognize when something is poorly written. In fact, since you brought up Charizard, people were kind of annoyed (and even disliked/hated) that, outside of his return, Charizard didn't do anything in Unova. So not all of the audience would just accept that kind thing.

And did that have any bearings on writer's decisions? Contrived or not, it's nevertheless an explanation and after a marathon of Suede's Pokémon Journey Videos, contrivances are quite common in the Pokémon anime. This is, after all, a series primarily aimed at young children. What the older fans demand of logic is irrelevant.

Greninja returning is quite easy. Some talk about Ash sensing Greninja's aura, Greninja happening to be the vicinity, Zygarde giving him transportation, etc. The point is that there is nothing preventing Greninja from returning. The fact that it's Ash's most popular Pokémon aside from Pikachu and Charizard increases those chances.

The Pokémon anime is not a real world we are observing from another universe. It's a fictional world that the mercy of the writers who decide how things should be played. And if comic books were any indications, anything is possible if those in charge allow it.
 
Missing the forest for trees.

Did I? Didn't this whole conversation start because someone said that they still don't understand what constitutes a Released Pokémon? To which you responded by saying that it doesn't even matter, since the term has no meaning in Pokémon. Which it's not true, since the term is used to describe specific types of Pokémon that share a certain common characteristic between them (the fact that they've been released, which is an actual term used by the anime characters) and none of the Pokémon from the anime under said category have contradicted this definition, even the ones from the most recent series. True, they could contradict it, and have a released Pokémon return for some bizarre, unexplainable reason with it suddenly being shown to have actually been in Ash's ownership this entire time (which would be stupid), but they haven't done it yet and there's no reason to believe that they would.

I recall a great many people here once proclaimed that Goodra will never return to Ash's team because it was "released." They thought a new Pokémon, not Noibat, would become the sixth member of the Kalos Team. That never actually happened. Instead, Goodra returned for the League, making it the first "released" Pokémon to be brought back on Ash's team.

As @FinnishPokéFan92 pointed out, Goodra was a special and unique case, since it was a Pokémon that, despite being released back into the wild, was still under the slight supervision of a human and, thus, had a way of returning (with help form said human). As such, this is a case of Goodra being the exception, not the rule. The only one that could return in a feasible way would be Butterfree, due to the species' migration patterns or something like that. The rest, however, are stuck in a particular location within a certain region with no way of contacting Ash (or viceversa) and don't have any way of knowing where Ash is for certain. And, again, you claim that they could contradict it, but, the fact of the matter still remains that they haven't done it and that there's no reason to believe that they will.

Fandom words do not matter when the writer can make them accordingly.

But the term "Released Pokémon" isn't even a term made-up by the fandom. Releasing a Pokémon is an actual in-game mechanic and is sometimes used as a plot point within the anime.

Contrived or not, it's nevertheless an explanation and after a marathon of Suede's Pokémon Journey Videos, contrivances are quite common in the Pokémon anime.

From what I've just seen of this "Suede's Pokémon Journey Videos", his videos apparently focused on the Indigo League and Orange league sagas. You know, the first two season of the Pokémon anime? A type of anime that, up to that point, hasn't been done before? I'm sure that the trope "Early Installment Weirdness" more than applies to the first ever season of a show made in the late 90s (which, funnily enough, the Pokémon anime has its own section regarding this, with most of the examples listed being from the OG series), since the showrunners were trying to find their footing and figure out what kind of show they wanted to make. Later seasons and series, however, have managed to tell some coherent, consistent and logical (for reference, go watch the DP anime, since that one (excluding some of the fillers) probably has one of the best overall stories in the anime's history). And when I say logical, I don't mean emotionless rationality that follows and imitates the rules of the real world to a T, but that it follows the preestablished in-universe rules and that the actions of the characters match with the way they've been portrayed throughout the series.

This is, after all, a series primarily aimed at young children. What the older fans demand of logic is irrelevant.

Ah yes, the good-ol' bulletproof, impossible-to-refute (and mindless) "this is intended for children" argument. Whatever shall I do about it?

You do realize that there are TV show and animated show that, despite being intended for children, were/are able to tell stories that follow a well organized narative structure without having to resort some kind of BS forced way in order to keep the story going, right? The original Teen Titans, Gravity Falls, Samurai Jack, the original Ben 10 and its sequels, Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated, the DCAU, many of the Transformers cartoons, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and it's quote-unquote predecessor, Star Wars: Clone Wars etc. All of these shows, despite attempting to appeal to the younger demographic, were able to tell some incredible, outstanding and sometimes emotional stories, they were able to tell these stories in a coherent manner that matched the way their fictional worlds and their characters were portrayed and, thanks to all that, managed to appeal to a wider audience than just children and some continue to be remembered and beloved by many people of all ages even to this day. Heck, even My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (of all cartoons) managed to accomplish all of that, so what's stopping Pokémon?

Yes, Pokémon is under the control of a group of writers and, if they felt like it, they could very well write some of the weirdest and most nonsensical stories ever conceived while also breaking all of the lore, characters and rationality that they previously established regarding that world. But if they were to do that, than it would show and an inability to writer a proper story. And to hypothetically brush such a problem aside by saying that it's nothing more than a fictional world? It just shows your complete disinterest regarding storytelling and writing and makes me question why you even brought the subject up, if you don't care about it.
 
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That doesn’t however change the fact that as a major premise of the series is collecting all of the Pokémon to the point that each game possesses a reward for doing so. And while the anime treats them as living creatures, it is a contrived notion that the writers will literally invent situations in which they have a main character release a Pokémon. The series isn’t real life, it is plotted out in the heads of a writing staff. Each Pokémon is as happy with their situation as the plot demands that they be. For them to literally just get rid of a Pokémon that it will never return is the very definition of wasting a perfectly good character especially in a serialized anime as Pokémon.

And as was stated in a later post, it’s an even bigger waste as not only did Butterfree barely get any real development but it’s abili to learn Psychic type attacks would have made it a great asset to Ash in the future. Getting rid of a character squanders all future potential because at that point, they’ just gone, the end.

Butterfree's release was not a waste at all. In fact, that episode is one of the best written episodes in the entire saga IMO. The whole point was to highlight Ash's unselfishness and his bond with his pokemon. It is a very important character moment for Ash and I am glad the writers never brought Butterfree back, because it would have undermined that moment.
 
I wasn't touched by Butterfree's farewell as I'm sure I've stated before, but I did think it was one of the better releases because it seemed reasonable. Butterfree wanting to get laid is relatable and honestly, it's not like Butterfree could've done that much more while on Ash's team given that he had already achieved his dream of evolving by the 4th episode.

What triggers me about Butterfree's release is what happened afterwards; Ash had an empty slot on his team, which he filled with Primeape for like 3 episodes? And then he just left Primeape with that Anthony dude and had that same empty spot on his team for eons.
 
What triggers me about Butterfree's release is what happened afterwards; Ash had an empty slot on his team, which he filled with Primeape for like 3 episodes? And then he just left Primeape with that Anthony dude and had that same empty spot on his team for eons.
Excluding the brief moment when he had Muk before sending it to Oak, but yes, that was an absolutely baffling decision from Ash. He gave a strong Pokémon that had just started to obey him to a guy whom he had only met that very day. And for what reason? To become a champion in the tournament that it had just won?! It honestly felt more like that Anthony cheated Ash out of his Pokémon after seeing how strong it was.
 
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