Controversial opinions

[RustyTrubbish]

I agree with this. Not that Tracey was the most interesting dude around but Brock wasn't any better. Plus at least Tracey didn't have an annoying comedy gag like Brock did.

Plus his Marill could've evolved into Azumarill and his Scyther could've evolved into Scizor so he would've had new Gen 2 Pokemon to promote.

 

[Puddle]

I've only seen the first episode of Journeys so maybe it's a bit soon to be having opinions, controversial or not. But I think Goh should have been a girl with an Eevee as her main Pokemon. It's strange not having any girls in the main cast for the first time in the show's history (Chloe is only a supporting character at the moment according to Bulbapedia), and Eevee would have made so much sense as a partner because it's become something of a counterpart to Pikachu in recent years.

I just think it would be so cool if Ash had a female counterpart with an Eevee. If not as a member of the main cast, then maybe in the form of a rival character à la Ritchie. How about a character based on Elaine from the Let's Go games?

 

[Panky..]

Misty should never have gotten Togepi.

Ash was the one who ended up first receiving the egg which was immediately snatched away by Misty because according to her, Ash wasn't experienced enough to raise it. A bit hypocritical given that she was somewhat of a rookie herself at the time even if she was better than Ash. If she was truly concerned about Togepi being raised properly, Brock should have been the one to receive the egg instead of her. Taking on the responsibility to raise a baby Pokemon could have helped Ash mature and wise up a bit earlier. Also doesn't help that Togepi didn't do much with Misty outside of some minor shenanigans.

 

[Rockapheller]

I miss the old travelling formula. I don't dislike how anime tries new ways of executing the exploration of the Pokémon world in each series now, and I find it creative as well, so I appreciate it to a degree, but at the same time, travelling had its unique motive for this show.

Since the main show in this series stands on its own feet and has lost its connections with the main games more than it has ever before, it could be a good idea to have a spin off staring Victor and Gloria and their exploration of Galar region with the 12/13 or 24/25 episodes per year formula for the next three years instead of implementing Sword/Shield elements in the main show as a side quest.

 

[Emmy]

As much as I love the Pokémon Ranger series, I vastly prefer the designs of the Ranger Trainer Class from the core games and as a result I am glad that their anime depictions have reverted back to their cooler designs.

Not to say that I would be opposed to them reviving the Ranger games, I would absolutely be for that as well.

 

[Bendicion]

I would rather have Tracey carry on travelling with Ash in Johto than Brock return.

I can't actually say that Tracey was a more colorful character than Brock. Brock always had more quirks than Tracey, who seemed somewhat more orthodox in personality. Who wouldn't be a fan of a guy who trains rock pokemon but also loves pokemon grooming, cooking, and hitting on girls...he was also sort of a father figure to Ash and co which was something that Tracey couldn't be since he was in his mid-teens, as opposed to Brock who is in his late teens. He's a perfect mentor to the younger characters as he can impart his wisdom on them and stand up for them when they battle. Brock has deep convictions about pokemon that rarely ever come out, but when he shows his bravery it makes him all the more respectable. The show is made all the better because of him, and I couldn't ever see anyone filling his shoes. Tracey made a valient effort, but for me it wasn't good enough.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

When Tracey replaced Brock he gave me a lot of "generic character" vibes, I don’t know why. I really don’t have much justification for this since I was young back then.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I can't actually say that Tracey was a more colorful character than Brock. Brock always had more quirks than Tracey, who seemed somewhat more orthodox in personality. Who wouldn't be a fan of a guy who trains rock pokemon but also loves pokemon grooming, cooking, and hitting on girls...he was also sort of a father figure to Ash and co which was something that Tracey couldn't be since he was in his mid-teens, as opposed to Brock who is in his late teens. He's a perfect mentor to the younger characters as he can impart his wisdom on them and stand up for them when they battle. Brock has deep convictions about pokemon that rarely ever come out, but when he shows his bravery it makes him all the more respectable. The show is made all the better because of him, and I couldn't ever see anyone filling his shoes. Tracey made a valient effort, but for me it wasn't good enough.

Did they ever confirm Brock's age. I thought that I read somewhere that he was fifteen, but I could be mixing that up with something else. I wouldn't say that he was a father figure to Ash. Even if he was in his late teens, that would make him more like a big brother than a father figure. I also wouldn't say that hitting on girls was a positive trait about him. It could be funny, especially with Croagunk, but it also became too much of Brock's defining feature. That being said, I agree with pretty much everything else. I like Tracey, but he didn't have as much personality or connection to the cast as Brock did, so I don't think that having him around for Johto would have been an improvement.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

Did they ever confirm Brock's age. I thought that I read somewhere that he was fifteen, but I could be mixing that up with something else.

I don't know where that came from, but I think it's pretty obvious that Brock is supposed to be an adult. He exclusively hits on older women (who occasionally return his affection), and in Japanese he often says things like "I'll look forward to her in eight years" when referring to younger characters. That would be extremely inappropriate if he was minor and wouldn't make much sense.

 

[prog rocker]

"I'll look forward to her in eight years"

*has flashbacks of the old man from "Beauty and the Beach"* Suddenly, I'm not sure how to feel about him.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I don't know where that came from, but I think it's pretty obvious that Brock is supposed to be an adult. He exclusively hits on older women (who occasionally return his affection), and in Japanese he often says things like "I'll look forward to her in eight years" when referring to younger characters. That would be extremely inappropriate if he was minor and wouldn't make much sense.

I don't think he was ever treated as an adult though. He was often the wise/knowledgeable person about Pokemon in the group, but that didn't make me think he was an adult. As for his gag, I don't think it would be unheard of for a teenage boy to hit on older women, especially when it is primarily used for comedy relief. Although, the line from the Japanese version is pretty creepy regardless of his age and shows that his gag could cross the line too. Honestly, I think it would be weirder for Ash to be traveling with other kids and one adult. Not that it would be inappropriate or anything like that, but just that it would be kind of a weird setup for a show aimed at kids like Pokemon.

 

[ii kanji]

I don't know where that came from, but I think it's pretty obvious that Brock is supposed to be an adult. He exclusively hits on older women (who occasionally return his affection), and in Japanese he often says things like "I'll look forward to her in eight years" when referring to younger characters. That would be extremely inappropriate if he was minor and wouldn't make much sense.

He would also call these older women 'onee-san' (big sister) indicating that all of them, even the ones who looked pretty young, were older than him! The 8 years line is afaik a one-off from early Kanto and referring more to the fact that in 8 years time she would be 18 as opposed to it having anything to do with his own age.

Besides which, his age was confirmed as 15 in Shudo's novels. (Whether we accept those as canon or not is another story I suppose )

 

[prog rocker]

Thank you, now I see Brock in the same way as Edgar from Final Fantasy VI.

 

[Daren]

in Japanese he often says things like "I'll look forward to her in eight years" when referring to younger characters.

This does remind me that one of Meowth's lines in the Japanese version of "Go West Young Meowth" was rather darker. Per Dogasu's translation:

"She thinks I'm a freak, does she? Well I'll show her! I'll become the richest, most powerful freak she ever saw, and she'll come crawling back to me, beggin' for my love."

"If that's the way it's going to be then I'll just become even better than humans and become evil. And then I'll make Madonnya mine, even if by force"

Horrific emphasis in bold by me.

He would also call these older women 'onee-san' (big sister) indicating that all of them, even the ones who looked pretty young, were older than him! The 8 years line is afaik a one-off from early Kanto and referring more to the fact that in 8 years time she would be 18 as opposed to it having anything to do with his own age.

Besides which, his age was confirmed as 15 in Shudo's novels. (Whether we accept those as canon or not is another story I suppose )

Oh thank heavens.
15 is pretty much what I always pegged him as, actually.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

The 8 years line is afaik a one-off from early Kanto and referring more to the fact that in 8 years time she would be 18 as opposed to it having anything to do with his own age

It implies that he would only be interested in her if she was of legal age. He also made a similar comment of Casey in Jhoto. It's not unusual for teenage boys to hit on women, but in my experience it's unheard of for a teenage boy to find minors completely off limits and ONLY find adults attractive. If this were the case, most of these women should say things like "you're too young for me", but they're actually just put off by how forward he is. It would also raise questions about the few women that actually fell for him.

 

[ii kanji]

It would also raise questions about the few women that actually fell for him.

But did any actual adult women fall for him? In my memory they were all other teenagers.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

But did any actual adult women fall for him? In my memory they were all other teenagers.

I doubt we've ever gotten specific ages, but Lucy, Olivia, and a Nurse Joy from DP off the top of my head.

But really, why would a 15-year-old say they look forward to a 10-year-old turning 18. That's nonsensical, and at least for me confirms that Brock is at least 18. The Shudo novels are definitely non-canon given how drastically they diverge from the anime.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

While I prefer the original series Mewtwo due to its rich and dark backstory and the nostalgic attachment I have to the first movie (never saw it in theaters, but finally seeing it on DVD years later felt so rewarding, even though I had already seen in on the internet before that), I still also like the Mewtwo seen in the Black & White series. Its character had its own interesting twists to it, like it being more dismissive towards humans than outright malicious (for example, just asking people to forget about it rather than forcibly wiping their memories). I also liked how it got a special episode building up to its movie, its Mega Evolution was cool (as was its fight with the Genesect), and the choice to give it a female voice was interesting. Miriam Pultro did a good performance with this character.

The question still remains, though: which one of these two will be returning in Pokémon Journeys?

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

The question still remains, though: which one of these two will be returning in Pokémon Journeys?

Watch it be a third Mewtwo

As for something relating to this thread, here's my controversial opinion: Pokémon Origins is massively overrated and nowhere near as good as a lot of people seem to think it is. While it does have some merits going for it, namely the much more fluid animation, it's rivaled or even surpassed by other animated specials in that department. But in the factors that actually matter when setting a story to animation, such as character development, it's very subpar at best, and while you could argue that that's just because of how short it was, I don't think everything can be blamed on its length, since other specials have been just as short as Origins if not shorter and they managed to get in lots of characterization: the Buddy episode of Twilight Wings did a fantastic job showcasing the bond between Hop and his Wooloo in under seven minutes, but Origins never bothers to develop the bond between Red and his Charizard: we're just told that they've bonded and even then it takes until the very last episode to actually see the fruits of that supposed bond.

Also, I know that this isn't exactly Origins' fault, but it does greatly bother me that it has a very egregious disregard for the type chart despite its supposed status as a more faithful adaptation to the games than the main anime (a Jolteon being defeated in one hit from a Rhyhorn's Thunderbolt being by far the worst example; even if we're to assume that Abilities don't exist or Jolteon had Quick Feet, it still should resist that attack. Which by the way, wasn't even STAB and was coming off of an opponent with super low base special stats. Seriously, how can anyone take this as anything else than plain bad writing?), yet fans will practically trip over themselves to excuse or justify it, when this flaw is something that many spent YEARS crucifying the main anime for doing. I mean, at least the main anime is upfront about taking liberties and very rarely has its battles be OHKOs, whereas in Origins literally everything that isn't Red's Charizard or an opponent that's facing Red's Charizard will be taken out in one hit, which only makes the type chart disregard stand out even more.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I learned this from a YouTube video I saw a day or two ago. Ash's Alola team was largely constructed around marketing and promotion.

• Rowlet: One of the starter Pokémon, which are usually used to represent and market each generation, and as such, a perfect tool to market the Sun and Moon games. Plus, Rowlet is considered cute by many, so as controversial as keeping it unevolved was, it does make sense from the marketing standpoint.
• Rockruff/Lycanroc: Rockruff was also another Pokémon used to promote Sun and Moon pre- and post-release. And once it evolved into the never-before-seen Dusk Form, it handily turned into Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon promotion in the process.
• Litten/Torracat/Incineroar: Another starter. Plus, Fire-type starters have generally been popular, with Incineroar even getting into Smash, so it made sense to give one to Ash.
• Poipole/Naganadel: Another Pokémon that was also used as part of the Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon promotion. Also helped to promote the expanded Ultra Space.
• Meltan/Melmetal: A Pokémon used to promote Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, as well as its connectivity with Pokémon GO.