Controversial opinions

[Rainbow-Rain]

The Kalos starters really felt like a formality they wanted to get out of the way.

Well Chespin and Fenniken did at least.

Froakie not really so much

 

[Daren]

The Kalos starters really felt like a formality they wanted to get out of the way.

As I've written before--the Kalos league ending with the most popular gen 6 Pokémon getting defeated by Charizard was actually very thematically appropriate for how the XY games handled the starters.
Probably not on purpose, though.

 

[CyberMonsterTrainer]

This is something that came up in a preview thread, and I figured would fit better here:

Goh doesn't deserves nor needs a Mega Ring.

There's just... no reason at all to give him access to it because he doesn't battles and is never in a competitive scenario where the extra power would truly be useful such as a League, Gym battle or a PWC match. And besides, the only Pokémon he has that can Mega Evolve are Scizor, Pinsir, Heracross and Absol, none of which he has any sort of strong bond with that justifies a Mega Stone being earned. The only reasoning to give Goh access to it would be if the writers wanted to pamper him even more by giving him something he not only doesn't really deserves, but also doesn't needs.

Ash deserved it much more than Goh and only got it now, years after XY ended solely because the writing team didn't wanted to give him one then for whatever reason. Giving one to Goh now would be disrespectful imo.

Wait what? Is there something implying they’re giving one to Goh as well? That better not happen

 

[Unireon]

Wait what? Is there something implying they’re giving one to Goh as well? That better not happen

Not really, there is not any implication.

But there are people who said that they would like it happening.

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

Wait what? Is there something implying they’re giving one to Goh as well? That better not happen

There's nothing implying that.

It's only because he has a Scizor which he admittedly does use more often than any of his pokemon bar the Starters

 

[JinksChow]

Unless the writers come up with some BS reason like Mega Evolution altering the DNA of Pokemon, meaning Go has to get Mega Evolutions as well to get all the DNA for Mew, I don't think Go is getting Mega Evolutions.

But hoo boy, wait till Go discovers that Mew has its own exclusive Z-Move. He'll probably be scrambling to get a Z-Ring just to "get closer to Mew".

... actually, with the renewed focus on Mew, as well as Z-Moves making a return in JN, the anime could very likely make a plot revolving around Mew's Z-Move, since that never got any representation in the movies, the anime, or even the manga up till now.

 

[Jewel the Quaxly]

I know Uncrushing Defeat is an iconic episode from DP, but after rewatching it a couple times, I couldn't help cringing ngl. Like, the episode should've been focused on Ash in the slumps, yet they for some reason decided to push Team Rocket into there? And Ash got out of his slump way too quickly for me-seeing him cheer up instantly would've been believable, but it would've been nice to see some level of struggle during the aftermath. Not to mention, the scene where Team Rocket crashes Dawn's performance was ridiculously cringe-worthy and was a huge tonal clash from the first half of the episode. I felt genuine second-hand embarrassment from watching that scene. The writing and dialogue itself were very choppy throughout and it overall felt really low in quality. Uncrushing Defeat felt more like an arc-aftermath filler episode than an actual aftermath.

 

[RafaSceptile]

I know Uncrushing Defeat is an iconic episode from DP, but after rewatching it a couple times, I couldn't help cringing ngl. Like, the episode should've been focused on Ash in the slumps, yet they for some reason decided to push Team Rocket into there? And Ash got out of his slump way too quickly for me-seeing him cheer up instantly would've been believable, but it would've been nice to see some level of struggle during the aftermath. Not to mention, the scene where Team Rocket crashes Dawn's performance was ridiculously cringe-worthy and was a huge tonal clash from the first half of the episode. I felt genuine second-hand embarrassment from watching that scene. The writing and dialogue itself were very choppy throughout and it overall felt really low in quality. Uncrushing Defeat felt more like an arc-aftermath filler episode than an actual aftermath.

A bit related to this...my controversial opinion is that the previous episode Evolving Strategies is not great. We already know that Paul was the better trainer at this point into DP, having Ash losing this battle so badly was completely unnecessary, and it should have been a more closer battle. It doesn't even feel like a full battle when the other trainer just was much superior.

The next episode only makes things worse.

 

[Sai]

Speaking of that, Chimchar should have evolved to Monferno much earlier. Always thought it was ridiculous we were past the 7th gym and Chimchar...was still a Chimchar. I really wish we saw more of Monferno like we did with Grovyle or to a lesser extent Frogadier.

 

[Jewel the Quaxly]

I know I've said it before, but the idea of another badge quest just for the Gen 9 series just really bothers me. The old formula is still good, in my opinion, but it's also grown tired. And I don't mean with the fanbase, before somebody says something. I mean, it's grown tired with the narrative itself. It's kind of like how HunterXHunter's entire shtick is going on a rinse and repeat narrative with its story: the same formula for each arc but different each time with a tiny bit of information gained to further the overarching narrative. Pokemon has basically stopped continuing an overarching narrative(if there even was one, then it would be from OS-DP, which at the point I think the formula should've changed) so I don't see anything wrong with changing it up a little. I guess it could be the fact that the gym leaders and game characters themselves would show up less, but there's nothing stopping them from showing up in a different manner in the anime.

Of course, this is a controversial opinion on here particularly, so I don't expect anyone to agree with me, which is probably why I've stopped expressing this opinion so much in the first place, but I still really would like to see the anime try to do something new without garnering much backlash or it falling flat on its face like it has with SM(in regards to backlash) and JN(in regards to how the concept is being handled in the first place-e.g the whole "world tour" aspect).

 

[Hidden Mew]

I don't think Pokemon has ever really been an overarching narrative exactly. A lot of fans treat the first three series as this on-going narrative and I can understand that given the slow sense of progression for Ash's skills as a trainer, especially with how he slowly improved with each League. But I've often felt like that was overselling these series a bit. Every Pokemon series has always been stand alone. You didn't need to watch the original series to follow along with AG or DP. The anime has always been designed for a new audience to jump into it every few years. They were arguably more willing to make use of continuity than some of the later series, but I just don't think it's quite accurate to say that there was an overarching narrative with those first three series.

 

[Daren]

Although they were always prepared for a new audience set I think AG is a sequel to the OS somewhat more strongly than later shows. The original even ended on a cliffhanger to link up with AG. I partly wonder if the reason many of the later series' end with him going home instead is to make it easier to jump off?

Most notably to me is that he beat Brandon with his Kanto starters instead of the Hoenn Pokémon. In retrospect that's gotta be weird from the perspective of someone who started with AG. DP used the reserves a bit in the end, but he only used the DP team for the important battles, and since then they're mostly just cameos outside Charizard's brief return in BW.

 

[J Bouken]

Ash has outgrown the badge quest by now. Even if we're iffy on the Alolan Champion thing, Ash should still be facing off against the best trainers the Pokemon world has to offer at this point

So if it comes back one day, it has to be a new trainer who can actually benefit from it while Ash does something else.

The good news is, Journeys has officiay divorced the anime from the games almost completely, so they aren't beholden to what Gen 9 does in the slightest outside of basic promotion.

 

[Hidden Mew]

The good news is, Journeys has officiay divorced the anime from the games almost completely, so they aren't beholden to what Gen 9 does in the slightest outside of basic promotion.

I don't really see that is good news exactly, especially if you like the new games and wanted to see more of Galar in the anime. It's also pretty hard to say for sure that they'll treat the next generation the same way they've treated Galar. Just because Journeys is not specifically focused on Sword/Shield doesn't necessarily mean that the anime will keep doing that for every series after Journeys. If every series is just about Ash and Goh traveling around the world, then I suspect that people would get tired of that formula eventually too.

I understand the appeal of not having the anime tied down to a specific generation since that has allowed for them to try something different. Even if they do continue with this format for the next generation, I just want them to do more than just basic promotion. Journeys hasn't really benefited older regions since we barely spend any time there to flesh out those locations and it definitely hasn't benefited Galar for the same reasons, on top of how little they've featured any of the new characters and Pokemon. I would rather see them stay in one location for a series and make use of the new locations, Pokemon and characters as opposed to traveling around the world and not being effective in making use of a variety of locations, most of which already had their time to shine during their respective series to boot.

 

[Jewel the Quaxly]

If every series is just about Ash and Goh traveling around the world, then I suspect that people would get tired of that formula eventually too.

Not every series has to be about that spcifically-they can easily find something new to do each series. And even then, they can still confine the story to one region, like what they did in Alola. Getting tired of the gym badge quest doesn't seem to be that popular of an opinion at this point, and that formula has been done for 6 generations straight already. I don't think changing it up will get tiring because of this.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Not every series has to be about that spcifically-they can easily find something new to do each series. And even then, they can still confine the story to one region, like what they did in Alola. Getting tired of the gym badge quest doesn't seem to be that popular of an opinion at this point, and that formula has been done for 6 generations straight already. I don't think changing it up will get tiring because of this.

It's still a bit strange for me to see people complaining about the Gym quest formula. There were complaints about it at the time, mostly in regards to Ash seemingly not being allowed to win a League, but I really don't remember people being that bothered about Ash doing Gyms. Granted, part of that could also be because of how the games only had Gyms as the main form of battling until the seventh generation. I wouldn't be against Ash doing something else if it was engaging and ideally they either had another character taking part in Gyms and/or still effectively using the new characters/regions. Since I don't find the PWC engaging and Journeys isn't as effective in using elements from Sword/Shield as I would have preferred, I don't have a lot of confidence that the next series could potentially create a new engaging goal for Ash.

 

[Jewel the Quaxly]

It's still a bit strange for me to see people complaining about the Gym quest formula

I mean, it's really not that strange when you think about it, because it's just a matter of opinion...

and/or still effectively using the new characters/region

I think that this is the main reason why people are worried about the anime taking things in a different direction, because if I recall correctly, people weren't too happy with how in game elements were handled in SM, and the complaints about JN speak for itself. The island trials in particular were unsatisfactory.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I mean, it's really not that strange when you think about it, because it's just a matter of opinion...

I know that it's just a matter of opinion. I'm just saying it's strange for me to see people complain about the Gym badge quest formula nowadays when I really don't remember people being that annoyed about Ash challenging a new set of Gym Leaders with every series. Most of the complaints on the Gym badge formula were on Ash losing Leagues.

I think that this is the main reason why people are worried about the anime taking things in a different direction, because if I recall correctly, people weren't too happy with how in game elements were handled in SM, and the complaints about JN speak for itself. The island trials in particular were unsatisfactory.

People definitely weren't happy with how game elements were handled in SM. The Island Challenge was especially bad since it felt like such a huge afterthought. There were so many times I legit thought that they were going to drop it because of how it wouldn't come up for months on end. I've been rewatching SM and I think I understand part of the reason why the regular Trials weren't handled well. They were one-on-two battles in the games, but the anime made them proper two-on-two battles. Admittedly, it might have been more difficult for a one-on-two battle to work in the anime and it would potentially give more of Ash's Pokemon something to do, but that just made the Trials much less difficult and refreshing than they were from the games. They also pretty much stopped doing regular trials in favor of focusing primarily on the Grand Trials since that was closer to battling a Gym Leader.

While I don't think that SM handled the Island Challenge or Lillie's storyline for that matter from the games particularly well, it still made use of the new locations and Pokemon. Even staying primarily on Melemele Island for most of the series was understandable given the larger cast size. Alola still felt fleshed out by the end of the series' run and it felt distinct from other regions. Journeys hasn't really done that for Galar and that's a huge shame when it's one of my favorite games in the series. If Galar was treated anywhere close as well as Alola itself was, I'd be thrilled. That's why the idea of the anime doing just the bare minimum of basic promotion for a new generation doesn't really sound like a good idea. I'd much rather have the anime be focused primarily on something new instead of sticking with this world tour setup indefinitely when it doesn't make use of old or new regions. It is a different setup that potentially allows for more creative freedom in what Pokemon can be caught, so I can understand the appeal to a degree. If they were able to balance out old and new Pokemon, I'd be fine with it too, but since they aren't and this setup doesn't really seem to benefit new or old Pokemon/regions, I would prefer new Pokemon, characters and region to have more of a priority going forward than just the bare minimum of basic promotion.

 

[Jewel the Quaxly]

I'm just saying it's strange for me to see people complain about the Gym badge quest formula nowadays when I really don't remember people being that annoyed about Ash challenging a new set of Gym Leaders with every series. Most of the complaints on the Gym badge formula were on Ash losing Leagues.

This is kind of tripping me up, though, because people not complaining back then has nothing to do with people complaining now. I began actually following the show when XYZ started, so my perspective might be different from yours, but I still don't think it should be that strange to see people complain about the formula. You have to consider the fact that the gym badge quest has been used since the very first generation until it was dropped in the seventh. Seven generations of gym badge collecting is a pretty long time, and even if they managed to keep it new some way or another each time, people like myself could just want to see something different from just the gym badge and league driving the narrative forward. Sure, most people aren't tired of it, but some are, which shouldn't be that strange.

That's why the idea of the anime doing just the bare minimum of basic promotion for a new generation doesn't really sound like a good idea.

I don't think this is a good idea, either, and I'm not sure why doing something new from the badge quest has to require the new generation being neglected in some way or another. Technically speaking, the whole "world tour" aspect for Journeys could've easily taken place in Galar-and had no real reason not to-which could've helped better showcase the pokemon and region itself. It's kind of the reason why I found the idea of Leon travelling around with Ash, Goh, and Chloe on a roadtrip to be so appealing to me. There's no real gym badges driving that kind of narrative, so it would just be an adventure that could help grow each character evenly. And nothing says that Ash couldn't face off against any gym leaders while doing this-he just doesn't have to collect badges. This is Journeys' fault, admittedly, but there is still potential there that Gen 9 could take into account. Nobody expected XY to come after BW, nor did they expect BW to come after DP, so it's reasonable to expect the new series to change in some way or another, for better or worse.

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

We didn’t see the Kalos team’s full potential and Ash handicapped himself and his team in the finals (ex: leaving in Pikachu and Greninja for too long, not switching out Noivern against an ice type that is 4x effective is Ash’s worse move, not dodging Blast Burn)