Controversial opinions

[FluffleFi]

That was certainly part of the disinterest in Ash. Most of Ash's friends have been able to get a good amount of closure in their respective series, while Ash couldn't get that due to being the main character and having to stick around for the next journey. I can understand wanting to see Ash continue to make progress towards his goal, but I do have to wonder if he has moved from that cycle. I still don't think he's going to beat Leon and the PWC definitely isn't treated like the next step in Ash's dream to become a Pokemon Master either. Plus, I still think that the screen time complaint is too exaggerated for my tastes. Ash always has had his fans and I like him too, but I just didn't think that people would be that upset over Ash not getting more focus.

If I had to guess, i'd say some people complaining are less angry about Ash, but more about how its Goh getting the focus. OS, OI and Johto were pretty much all about Ash. his companions hardly got any focus episodes and their Pokemon certainly got the short end of the stick when it came to development, and XY pretty much had everyone looking up to the guy, so Ash has gotten plenty of focus over the years. But imagine if it were one of the female companions or someone in the Alolan crew getting a lot of screen time(or hell, an entire episode dedicated to them), I doubt too many people would be complaining.

 

[Enzo]

That was certainly part of the disinterest in Ash. Most of Ash's friends have been able to get a good amount of closure in their respective series, while Ash couldn't get that due to being the main character and having to stick around for the next journey. I can understand wanting to see Ash continue to make progress towards his goal, but I do have to wonder if he has moved from that cycle. I still don't think he's going to beat Leon and the PWC definitely isn't treated like the next step in Ash's dream to become a Pokemon Master either. Plus, I still think that the screentime complaint is too exaggerated for my tastes. Ash always has had his fans and I like him too, but I just didn't think that people would be that upset over Ash not getting more focus.

Spoiler tag to make it easier to read

Spoiler

In all honesty, imo and by a lot of other people in a lot of places on the internet, is mainly due to insastifaction with Journeys in general than just Ash not getting enough focus.

I do agree with you that we don't truly know if Ash will beat the PWC and by consequence Leon, since only time will tell, but like Daren said, ''the walk through new region -> go beat 8 gyms -> go to league -> fail -> rinse and repeat" cycle was broken in Alola. That's undeniable. That's pretty much the reason why so many people were pissed off and annoyed with Ash: this infinite cycle of defeat happening over and over again for 20 years is not a interesting to watch.

But Journeys came changing everything. And I do think quite a lot of people were excited by this series, specially during the first 10-15 eps where Ash got an Dragonite, an Gengar, the PWC proved itself different, and the whole thing. It just seemed like the perfect moment to look what Ash would do next, since all bets are off at this point.

But then... we are barely doing anything with it now. The thing that was supossed to be the major thing about the series just gets reduced to an afterthought nearly every episode. Ash's new team is arguabilly his worst team in the subject of development, and even Ash is reduced to an cardboard version of himself in a lot of eps. The whole thing got so weird that I personally saw people that I knew didn't liked Ash scratching their heads and wondering what was going on.

Guys, I talked about it in another threat (idek if it was in this thread tbh), but the fact that we cheered and got all excited over the fact that Gengar just had an 2 second cameo (I repeat, a cameo) in the Grookey ep, something we wouldn't even blink in another past series, is not a normal thing, and not in the good way.

By what I can personally see, it's the way that Journeys is arguabilly the series with the most potential and the boldest of them all, since even the format of the series itself changed to an episodic format. It's an ''wild card'' type of series: We cannot predict what is gonna happen like we did with the other series. But what's frustating to so many people, me included, is that there's so many chances and opportunities with these series, and they just don't do anything with it. It's also why pratically everyone is hyped to the max about Project Mew: it's finally what Journeys should be doing from the start. And even then we have to be cautious about disappoitment. In all honesty, they should've been doing that from the start.

 

[Sobblelelle]

I think Typhlosion looks like a upside down pizza slice.

 

[Alola]

If anything, Pikachu having the need to constantly one up its evolution diminishes his resolve to not evolve. It’s like he’s still insecure about his worth.

Not to take away from your point (as it is an interesting perspective), but I wanted to mention that I'm a fan of the Pikachu Vs. Raichu fights. I feel like they are always well done when it comes to animation, like the Sho and Visquez fights, and they are not too egregious like Rowlet Vs. Decidueye was. Ash Vs. Surge still holds a sentimental place in my heart as I thought it was one of the coolest fights ever as a kid growing up on Yellow. I'm still bummed we didn't get to see how Pikachu would have handled an Alolan Raichu's Psychic-capabilities.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I'm really surprised that we didn't get a proper Pikachu vs. Alolan Raichu battle as well. It seemed like it would have been a terrific setup to explain why Pikachu doesn't want to evolve for the new kids in the audience and still make it refreshing after having battling against two other Raichu in the past. Granted, SM not being particularly battle driven might have made that less of a priority, especially when Ash just explained why Pikachu didn't want to evolve in a quick throwaway line too, but that would have been so interesting to see.

 

[PrettySylveon]

I’ve criticized Goh a lot recently, but it didn’t bother me when he became interested in battling. This is why I didn’t have an issue with him winning a Hitmonchan at the Dojo (unfortunately Ash lost to Bea).

At the same time, I’m disappointed that Ash didn’t get to choose between having a Hitmonchan or a Hitmonlee. It bothers me how Ash doesn’t even have as much Galarian Pokémon. He should have had at least one starter from there.

 

[Jewel the Quaxly]

Personally, I think the worst part of the anime is the gym battles-or rather, the working towards Ash and his goal. Don't get me wrong, I love Ash's growth and it isn't like I don't want him around or just want his appearance to have no relevance, but I've always felt the gym battles to be rather...bland? I always liked it when the characters added flair and strategy to their battles, making it significantly more exciting, but when it's just action for the sake of action it kinda makes me...not really that excited anytime Ash goes for another gym battle. Think back to the OS series days-a lot of its charm was from the fact that it wasn't really battle focused, and was more so about the adventure and journey that Ash took with his friends. Though, that does get boring after a while, but that's what we have the evil team plots for, right? Think about how much more interesting the anime could be if the focus was exclusively on the journey Ash takes-meaning that more time could be spent developing Ash and his pokemon as characters, making the story character focused instead of plot-driven.

This is actually a reason why I loved the 21st movie so much-majority of the movie is spent building up and developing all these different characters and showing how all their stories come together in a way that isn't forced or shoe-horned in...everything just feels right. Ash may not have a major role there, but he actually has a strong effect on the other characters as well-so it isn't as if he wouldn't be important. Ash and Pikachu's relationship were excellently handled in that movie, as well as small worldbuilding moments-as subtle as showing Ash and Pikachu overlooking the city from their hotel room veranda to a character shown exiting the bathroom to a news channel that just BUILDS to the essence of this world. What I want is THAT.

For the Gen 9 anime, I'm honesty crossing my fingers slightly for it to be a kind of Ash and his pokemon journey(feat. Team Rocket+CotD)travelling through the region. It's a complete and utter fantasy that'll probably never happen, but just focusing on Ash's character, Pikachu's character, more chance for Team Rocket development(especially if Ash and his pokemon are the only ones they'll have to share screen-time with), and just overall making the characters drive the story forward is what I want to see. This entire anime is about the travelling aspect and pokemon development-both things which the current series is failing at and is getting hate for as a result. The anime has always been mainly plot-driven rather than character-driven, which leads to a lot of forced and OOC moments throughout the show, but they've shown before that when they focus solely on characters-they do a better job than anime as big as Naruto do when it comes to characters.

Quite honestly, I just want to see some type of character development arc that just shows the pokemon anime at its finest. Ash showing that he does have another side to him that he hides from others(SM has actually done this before), Pikachu getting proper development that is NOT battles(please no battles for Pikachu. Can I start a hashtag on that?), Ash's pokemon showing up more and how their personalities bounce off of each other, Goh's history being explored(seriously JN, you set up a very interesting character and backstory potential and just...rarely explore it for a poorly executed goal), less random filler episodes and if there must be filler-more filler that follow the traditional formula(it's old, yes, but it's a pick your poison. The old "help out CotD and see some potential for a good one-episode story" or a two-parter random episode that...could also have potential, I guess???), and just more character focus in general.

I know that might not be everyone's cup of tea, since people like the Gym battles(as the constant complaints about OS not having any has shown...)and Ash's goal in general, but I've always been someone to prefer fluff and energy when it comes to battles compared to entirely action focused with maybe occasional strategy to mix it up. It's purely a personal preference based on a hopeless fantasy, but I'm still hoping for that Gen 9 thing. Dreaming never really hurt anyone, now did it?

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Controversial opinion: You could remove Ash from JN and not lose anything of value currently, except for some nostalgia and companion appearances.

 

[CyberKitten05]

Controversial opinion: You could remove Ash from JN and not lose anything of value currently, except for some nostalgia and companion appearances.

Except for Farfetch'd/Sirfetch'd's training arc. Oh, and also pretty much all of the battles in the show. Goh isn't much of a battler himself.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Except for Farfetch'd/Sirfetch'd's training arc

Aren’t those literally just three episodes though?

 

[CyberKitten05]

Aren’t those literally just three episodes though?

Fair enough.
What about the other thing?

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Fair enough.
What about the other thing?

I’m not sure, because they haven’t really delivered on Ash's PWC goal anymore. Go can clearly battle if needed. It was meant to be an exaggeration, but it’s baffling how the only point that goes against what I said is "battles", and that’s pretty sad.
The PWC has been totally butchered till now.

 

[CyberKitten05]

Ash should've caught Solgaleo.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

It bothers me how Ash doesn’t even have as much Galarian Pokémon. He should have had at least one starter from there.

He does have one.

 

[PrettySylveon]

He does have one.

I said he didn’t have as much :-/

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I said he didn’t have as much :-/

Oh. Sorry. Misunderstood. I personally don't mind Goh having all three starters, though.

 

[Jewel the Quaxly]

Ash should've caught Solgaleo.

Personally, I've never been a fan of the prospect of Ash catching legendary pokemon. It gives off a similar vibe to Naruto, which isn't something where I want this series to go. If Ash catches a legendary pokemon, where's the room for growth? If he catches a legendary pokemon, then he basically just has this naturally strong powerhouse with him when he goes into battles-what about all his other pokemon? Knowing Ash, he would probably try to make sure his other pokemon get a chance to battle too and not just rely on his legendary, but then how would the fandom react? Ash using his legendaries all the time would make him another Tobias, but him not using the legendaries enough, and I get the feeling people will complain. And as Journeys has shown, Ash catching powerful pokemon straight off(despite an emotional and well-written buildup to the capture)wouldn't really benefit the story in the long run.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Personally, I've never been a fan of the prospect of Ash catching legendary pokemon. It gives off a similar vibe to Naruto, which isn't something where I want this series to go. If Ash catches a legendary pokemon, where's the room for growth? If he catches a legendary pokemon, then he basically just has this naturally strong powerhouse with him when he goes into battles-what about all his other pokemon? Knowing Ash, he would probably try to make sure his other pokemon get a chance to battle too and not just rely on his legendary, but then how would the fandom react? Ash using his legendaries all the time would make him another Tobias, but him not using the legendaries enough, and I get the feeling people will complain. And as Journeys has shown, Ash catching powerful pokemon straight off(despite an emotional and well-written buildup to the capture)wouldn't really benefit the story in the long run.

I agree that Ash shouldn't be catching Legendary Pokémon to avoid him getting too powerful. The only one I could realistically see him catch is Kubfu, similar to how him catching and evolving Meltan didn't make him overpowered.

 

[CyberKitten05]

Personally, I've never been a fan of the prospect of Ash catching legendary pokemon. It gives off a similar vibe to Naruto, which isn't something where I want this series to go. If Ash catches a legendary pokemon, where's the room for growth? If he catches a legendary pokemon, then he basically just has this naturally strong powerhouse with him when he goes into battles-what about all his other pokemon? Knowing Ash, he would probably try to make sure his other pokemon get a chance to battle too and not just rely on his legendary, but then how would the fandom react? Ash using his legendaries all the time would make him another Tobias, but him not using the legendaries enough, and I get the feeling people will complain. And as Journeys has shown, Ash catching powerful pokemon straight off(despite an emotional and well-written buildup to the capture)wouldn't really benefit the story in the long run.

There's a very simple solution to this problem:
Ash catches Nebby as a Cosmog. It is practically useless in battle up until evolving into Solgaleo, at which point the Lusamine-Nihilego arc immediately starts, and Solgaleo is released at the end, leaving pretty much no room for Ash to use it in regular battles.

Or, alternatively, I had this idea that after the whole Necrozma ordeal, Solgaleo remains handicapped due to being absorbed and then seperated from Necrozma, making him unable to open Ultra Wormholes and also fainting when overworked. Ash catches it to take care of it until it regains its ability to open Wormholes, and the fainting is a real vulnerability in battles and makes it challenging to overcome, which requires Ash to develop a strategy where Solgaleo has to use all of his power at once before fainting, like a time bomb.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

It gives off a similar vibe to Naruto, which isn't something where I want this series to go.

This actually is a very good point that I've also come to think over the last few years. Watching a protagonist who always wins can be awesome, but it can also get boring, especially when you consider many anime protagonists end up beating overwhelming odds due to DEM things, like Yugi drawing just the right card at just the right moment or Naruto and Sasuke getting a divine power boost in the midst of the final battle, just when they both had been saved from the brink of death. Pokémon doesn't (at least usually) have that. Ash doesn't tend rely on sudden power-ups or DEMs to win fights. And even when they does sometimes happen, people are quick to point it out.