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Controversial opinions

Mega-evolutions always were used at the end of all the battles
That's not true. In most battles with mega evolutions, most of the battle is fought while pokémon is mega evolved. Sometimes whole battle is fought while both pokêmon are mega evolved from the start (like the second battle of the Mega Evolution Special I).
meanwhile Z-moves had more variety in which moment of the battle it was used,
90 percent of times they're used as finishing moves.
 
Of the Trainers who have defeated Ash in League Conferences, I usually prefer the ones who lose after defeating Ash. That makes them feel more human and realistic, and less like Gary/Mary Stus.
  • As much of a letdown as Ash and Ritchie's match was, I still like Ritchie fine as a character. He lost his next battle after beating Ash, and also taught Ash an important lesson how to cope with losing, getting points from me.
  • Harrison was a good rival, as he foreshadowed Generation III and provided us with one of the best battles of the original series, as well as my favorite League loss for Ash. He's my favorite rival amongst those who defeated Ash.
  • Tyson is not that great for me. He has basically no flaws as a character, despite showing human emotions, and went on to win the whole League. It also doesn't help that I hate his Meowth's attitude towards Team Rocket's Meowth.
  • Tobias is kinda self-explanatory. He's a Gary Stu, through and through. While his battle with Ash was awesome, he as a character is about as shallow as a Stunfisk.
  • Cameron is an exception in my rule. He sucks, despite losing his next battle after Ash. 'Nuff said.
  • Alain is also pretty much a Gary Stu. He really would've deserved to lose at some point to show how his quest for power had consumed him and become and unhealthy obsession for him.
Let's also do this for the Coordinators who defeated the main female character of their respective series in Grand Festivals:
  • Drew was a competent rival, but, as far as I recall, he was kinda annoying during the Hoenn saga. Also, his Roselia is overpowered. At least he didn't win the Grand Festival.
  • Solidad was definitely a Mary Sue. She was kinda like May's Tobias: an unstoppable and overly flawless wall to stop her progress once they had managed to defeat their rival.
  • Zoey was a good rival for Dawn, but despite her losing occasionally, I think she was a bit too close to a Mary Sue to my taste.
And finally, the one that doesn't fit either of those:
  • Aria was also a bit of a Mary Sue IMO. Overly flawless and was never seen losing.
 
Cameron is an exception in my rule. He sucks, despite losing his next battle after Ash. 'Nuff said.
Okay, here's the controversial opinion to end all controversial opinions. I actually really liked Cameron as a character. He was like if they gave him an Ash dial and turned it all the way up to 11, which imo was pretty refreshing for a rival. I don't like how he beat Ash, but that alone is not enough to take away from how I feel about the character. I had a lot of fun whenever he was on screen.
 
Tyson is not that great for me. He has basically no flaws as a character, despite showing human emotions, and went on to win the whole League. It also doesn't help that I hate his Meowth's attitude towards Team Rocket's Meowth.
It's weird looking back at older posts from when I was younger and going through that phase where you can't fully control yourself and really hated Tyson (or perhaps mostly his Meowth).
Now he's a top tier league kicker, not necessarily through re-evaluation, but by virtue of how much worse it got.

Okay, here's the controversial opinion to end all controversial opinions. I actually really liked Cameron as a character. He was like if they gave him an Ash dial and turned it all the way up to 11, which imo was pretty refreshing for a rival. I don't like how he beat Ash, but that alone is not enough to take away from how I feel about the character. I had a lot of fun whenever he was on screen.
Okay, you win the first prize for most controversial. I think we can close the thread now. :p
(Actually I read he's fairly popular in Japan, but it was on TvTropes so who knows if it's true)

Edit: All joking aside I wonder what the opinion in this thread that would get the least traction is? Not that it's really possible to test.
 
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  • Solidad was definitely a Mary Sue. She was kinda like May's Tobias: an unstoppable and overly flawless wall to stop her progress once they had managed to defeat their rival.
  • Zoey was a good rival for Dawn, but despite her losing occasionally, I think she was a bit too close to a Mary Sue to my taste.
  • Aria was also a bit of a Mary Sue IMO. Overly flawless and was never seen losing.
I wouldn't say Zoey was an Mary Sue tho. She lost in some competitions and had her fair shair of flaws, the most glaring imo is that she was a bit too condescending in the sense of her always talking like she knew way more than Dawn, Ash and Nando.

Now I totally see what you mean with Solidad and Aria. I would argue that Aria was worse tho. Out of the blue she was revealed as Kalos Queen (even tho that there was absolutely zero indication that she was indeed the Queen before), and she just seemed a bit too perfect for my taste. I would also argue Solidad was a bit better due to we knowing more about her beforehand thro Drew and we saw more of her latter down the line.
 
I wouldn't say Zoey was an Mary Sue tho. She lost in some competitions and had her fair shair of flaws, the most glaring imo is that she was a bit too condescending in the sense of her always talking like she knew way more than Dawn, Ash and Nando.
I said she was close to one, but not quite. She's definitely the best defeater a main female character has encountered in a major competition.
I would also argue Solidad was a bit better due to we knowing more about her beforehand thro Drew and we saw more of her latter down the line.
She was, but her curbstomping May just after she defeated Drew (and mostly off-screen too) was also a bit too flawless to my liking.
 
I think the reason Aria comes off as especially egregious in the "that one rival whom the protagonist can't beat" department is that in Serena's last showcase, Serena's performance definitely came off as being far more impressive and better choreographed than Aria's, yet Aria's the one who ended up winning it. Another thing that doesn't help is that Showcase winners are decided via audience votes rather than by judges like in Contests, making it come off as though Aria's victory was simply because she was the more popular performer in-universe rather than the better one. Kinda like how Oscars will give Pixar the Best Animated Feature award 9 times out of 10 even in cases when there are other animated films infinitely more deserving of it.
 
I think the reason Aria comes off as especially egregious in the "that one rival whom the protagonist can't beat" department is that in Serena's last showcase, Serena's performance definitely came off as being far more impressive and better choreographed than Aria's, yet Aria's the one who ended up winning it. Another thing that doesn't help is that Showcase winners are decided via audience votes rather than by judges like in Contests, making it come off as though Aria's victory was simply because she was the more popular performer in-universe rather than the better one. Kinda like how Oscars will give Pixar the Best Animated Feature award 9 times out of 10 even in cases when there are other animated films infinitely more deserving of it.

Yeah, they definitely should've made Aria have a better performance...and the entire performances should've had actual judges like contests-then it's just a matter of likability or popularity. I do understand why Serena lost, though-she didn't have the independence that Aria had and still didn't understand what Aria had that she didn't...the only issue is that Aria's performance was very lackluster, so it makes her whole "keep on smiling" thing redundant. On another note, why do some people constantly diss Palermo? Was she not a figure to represent Serena's growth?
 
I said she was close to one, but not quite. She's definitely the best defeater a main female character has encountered in a major competition.

She was, but her curbstomping May just after she defeated Drew (and mostly off-screen too) was also a bit too flawless to my liking.
In Zoey's case, I still have the take that Dawn still deserved that win. I might do an more in-depth analysis one day, since the one that I did got lost somewhere down the threads lol. Zoey got away with stuff both Dawn and Kennedy got punished for and were major plot points in other Contest episodes, and in the last battle, Dawn did a lot of stuff that she should've won points for and didn't, even tho Zoey gained points for doing that exact same thing. She was indeed close to Mary Sue territory, but I do think they probably caught on to that and hit the brakes before the point of no return tbh.

And also, yes. Solidad and May's battle should've been shown to us, even if May got stomped. I still wish we could've seen May taking down at least one of her Pokémon.
 
im sure this isnt controversial but the fact that pokemon showcases are judged by the audience and not judges, thus making it a popularity contest, is one of the reasons why showcases fall really flat in comparison to contests. i also think contests are just more interesting with how theyre set up and incorporate battles, the point system allowing for some crazy twisted rules on the standard battle formula by encouraging off the walls combinations and strageties....... much more fun to watch in comparison to "la la la im dancing with my pokemon im so cute and sparkly" and dont get me started on how i feel the entire concept of pokemon showcases is extremely sexist...... making only girls play dress up and bake like typical housewives??? yuck

though on the topic of if rivals are mary/gary stus, i know im in the minority who actually likes alain and personally im not too bothered with his "flawless" win record. at least to me i dont see it much as a "hes unbeatable and perfect wow" but more of a representation of just how hard hes willing to work towards his goal of making mairin smile again........ like did you see this guys face in mega evo special 4 at the end?? he was mad determined. i do wish that he had a loss thrown in to spice things up but imo his realization that he had unknowingly been benefitting team flares goal to end the world was a pretty good wake up slap to him and he truly looked like he realized he was too focused on his power goal. besides, looking at his finals battle with ash, hes a very competent battler and didnt win because the plot ordered him to against all odds like someone else we all very much love and adore from best wishes..........
 
Zoey got away with stuff both Dawn and Kennedy got punished for and were major plot points in other Contest episodes, and in the last battle, Dawn did a lot of stuff that she should've won points for and didn't, even tho Zoey gained points for doing that exact same thing.
Wanna know what? I will give an example of what I mean by that:

In her last Contest before the Grand Festival, in DP162, Dawn's Pokemon got trapped by Plusle and Minun's Encore, and while making Mamoswine and Cyndaquil attack each other to break the Encore, Dawn got punished and almost lost. And Kenny, in DP172, didn't made it past the Appeal Round because while, yes, his combo didn't worked out, it was more because his Empoleon hurt his own Floatzel with Flash Cannon. So what can we take from this? Hurting your own Pokémon in an Contest Battle is very bad, correct?

Then in DP177, she made her Glameow use Thunderbolt on her own Gallade. And you cannot even argue that he wasn't hurt by that: you can clearly see and hear her Gallade screaming in pain. And yet, she didn't lost points there. Like, what? If Dawn alredy lost so many points in a regular Contest, Zoey should've lost even more by doing that in the finals of the Grand Festival, which is so unfair tbh.
 
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