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Controversial opinions

Wait wasn't Casey technically Ash's 1st recurring female rival?
I guess on a technical sense, but that still seems like too much of a stretch when they only battled once and she appeared only three times in all of Johto. I don't like anime Bianca, but at least she appeared more often during the Unova portion of BW. It doesn't help that they kind of just forgot she was also going for the Johto League and just had her travel around randomly after getting only four badges.
 
Wait wasn't Casey technically Ash's 1st recurring female rival?

Maybe, but you can't say she was a major rival, right? Unless I'm mistaken she appears in only three or four episodes, and the only fight between her and Ash, as far as I can remember, is the one that Ash's Charizard disdains her Chicorita. Cassey was a great character, though. Honestly, we need a Pokemon Chronicles comeback.
 
I guess on a technical sense, but that still seems like too much of a stretch when they only battled once and she appeared only three times in all of Johto. I don't like anime Bianca, but at least she appeared more often during the Unova portion of BW. It doesn't help that they kind of just forgot she was also going for the Johto League and just had her travel around randomly after getting only four badges.
True true. Bianca had an interesting backstory in the games that was briefly touched upon in the games - I wonder why the series didn't flesh that out a bit more?
Maybe, but you can't say she was a major rival, right? Unless I'm mistaken she appears in only three or four episodes, and the only fight between her and Ash, as far as I can remember, is the one that Ash's Charizard disdains her Chicorita. Cassey was a great character, though. Honestly, we need a Pokemon Chronicles comeback.
No, I wouldn't consider her a major rival tbh. Her appearances were mostly comic relief in nature, but she was still enjoyable. Probably a bit too early in the series to expect a full character arc like we see in other seasons, but I would've loved to see her growth in Journeys or something.
 
I am STILL angry about how badly the Galar cast got shafted.
.
ts horrible how the anime would rather bring back old characters that we've seen already rather than the brand new and fresh ones
Explore the new reigon and its characters?
No! Lets go back to the reigons that already had their own series.
Booo
 
I am STILL angry about how badly the Galar cast got shafted.
.
ts horrible how the anime would rather bring back old characters that we've seen already rather than the brand new and fresh ones
Explore the new reigon and its characters?
No! Lets go back to the reigons that already had their own series.
Booo
And yet tell that to the people who got excited to see Serena, Bonnie/Clemont, Lillie and the Alola cast, Dawn, Gary, Brock, Iris, Greninja, etc. again.

While I do wish we got to see all the Galar Gym leaders, the fact that the old character returns are the most hyped up eps of the show when they get confirmed says a lot
 
And yet tell that to the people who got excited to see Serena, Bonnie/Clemont, Lillie and the Alola cast, Dawn, Gary, Brock, Iris, Greninja, etc. again.

While I do wish we got to see all the Galar Gym leaders, the fact that the old character returns are the most hyped up eps of the show when they get confirmed says a lot
Of course people are hyped to see returning characters, especially the really popular characters or ones who haven't been featured for awhile. We didn't even know for sure about Serena's episode until the leaked poster showed up a couple of days before the episodes aired. But I don't think that negates the issue of how little focus Galar has gotten. They didn't have to choose between primarily focusing on older characters or new ones. They could have gone for a balance of old and new characters. We still could have gotten these return episodes, but still do something with the new region and characters too. That lack of balance between old and new regions has been one of my biggest issues with Journeys, especially when there was seemingly no attempt at trying to create said balance.

As great as it is to see a lot of these returning characters again, I still wish that Galar didn't get the short end of the stick as a result. Even after watching the Darkest Day arc, it left me wishing that Journeys was more of a traditional Galar journey or at least actually set in Galar. I just want to see new Pokemon and characters from the games in the anime, so most of the new characters, locations and even the vast majority of Pokemon from the games not being featured in Journeys is just rather disappointing.
 
I'm pretty sure the vast majority of cameos we would have never gotten if this series was Galar centic. Look at how little old characters returned before, and never more than one old female companion each gen.

Look at how Misty wasn't even given a DP cameo back in the day when there was no reason she couldn't have appeared. The writers figured since they brought May back that was all they needed to do. Look at how during BW we only saw Dawn whereas Misty/Brock could have returned during that Charizard Kanto episode.

Why do you think prior to now so many old characters hadn't appeared in years or decades? Because they were only focused on the current gen.
 
You know people complain about Lucario because it has the same generic personality alot of anime Lucario has. While I agree

Can't the same be said for Gengar. I feel like ash Gengar and hapu Gengar personality are basically the same. As well as other gengars
 
I'm pretty sure the vast majority of cameos we would have never gotten if this series was Galar centic. Look at how little old characters returned before, and never more than one old female companion each gen.

Look at how Misty wasn't even given a DP cameo back in the day when there was no reason she couldn't have appeared. The writers figured since they brought May back that was all they needed to do. Look at how during BW we only saw Dawn whereas Misty/Brock could have returned during that Charizard Kanto episode.
I think that you're assuming a bit too much about the writers if you think that they were content with just bringing May back. It's just as likely that they couldn't fit Misty within DP's storyline. I can't really think of a good reason for Misty to show up in Sinnoh. They had a much easier way to bring May back through Dawn's storyline. It wouldn't have been impossible for Misty to show up in Sinnoh, but I don't think there was an easy way to bring her back or at least that DP was lacking because they didn't feature Misty for an episode.

Considering how Charizard coming back was ultimately pointless, I don't think that we needed to add in Misty and Brock in that episode too. It wouldn't have really added anything and if Dawn's BW return was any indication, it probably would have felt forced to include them. That's a big reason why I was okay with Iris not getting an XY appearance. While it might have been able to set up Iris becoming the Unova Champion, I didn't think that there was any good reason for her to show up in Kalos and forcing a return for the shake of tradition honestly didn't work for Dawn either. I'm glad that they waited until SM to give Misty another return since that felt much more natural and allowed for her to showcase her off-screen progress more effectively. If they just continued having returns for the shake of them and not having any sign of progress or feeling natural with the series, then it would have felt hollow and unsatisfying.

Why do you think prior to now so many old characters hadn't appeared in years or decades? Because they were only focused on the current gen.
The fact that Journeys is airing during the anime's 25th anniversary is probably a big factor too. The world tour setup definitely makes it easier for them to meet up with older characters, but I don't think that the problem was that they were focused on just the current generation before. I think that it was more of a matter that they couldn't find a good reason for characters to show up or that they'd feel forced in the middle of the other storylines going on in that series. Misty would have felt just as out of place in XY as Iris would have in my opinion.

Honestly, as cool as it is to see a lot of these returning characters, I don't think that focusing on just the current generation would be a bad thing. These characters have already had their time in spotlight, along with their respective generation, but the current generation hasn't. So many characters, even the Gym Leaders, aren't going to be featured in Journeys and that's quite a shame. Most of the new Pokemon have bee largely ignored in favor of older Pokemon who don't really need the extra attention. Ideally, they could still put much more focus on Galar and still have these returning characters in Journeys. It does not have to be one or the other.
 
Look at how during BW we only saw Dawn whereas Misty/Brock could have returned during that Charizard Kanto episode.

I imagine you are totally wrong.

First, Dawn wasn't the only one to appear in BW, since she was accompanied by Cynthia, which makes sense since, according to the games, the champion spends her vacation in the region. In addition, when talking to Cilan, Dawn mentions Brock and explains his absence due to the fact that he is committed to becoming a Pokémon Doctor. Brock, still, at the end of the generation, received a special in which he appears alongside Cilan.

On the other hand, the episode where Charizard returns takes place in Unova. Ash and his friends come across a fair promoting Kanto's products and culture. So, out of nostalgia, he asks Professor Oak to send him his Charizard. That is, unless Brock/Misty were part of Kanto's cultural commodity, it makes no sense for them to participate in the episode.

And, as a matter of fact, the conventional thing at the time was that only the protagonists of the previous generation would appear in a mini arc, so the lucid did not expect a return of Misty or May.
 
A key issue with Galar is that Gen VIII has been, how should I put, less synergy compared to previous generation. It's biggest claim to fame was the DLC expansion packs, which is something Pokémon has never done. There have been third versions of the game or direct sequel/partial remakes of the original base games, but Sword and Shield is the first time that regions become DLC packs.

And then came the DP remakes plus Legends Acreus... and it has no connections to Galar whatsoever. Especially Legends Arceus which takes place in Sinnoh's past and you can't transfer any Pokémon from that game to Sword and Shield (for now), and there's no emphasis on D-Max or G-Max in the remakes (unlike OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire which at least continued XY's Mega Evolution showcase).

I'm not sure what's going on with Galar as a whole by GameFreak and the Pokémon Company, but it feels like Pokémon has gotten so large and everything moves fast (I mean, games are now being released worldwide simultaneously) that I think the anime just gave up on trying to follow Galar's storyline and instead do it's own thing. And they have every right to since they're a franchise within a franchise.
 
I'm not sure what's going on with Galar as a whole by GameFreak and the Pokémon Company, but it feels like Pokémon has gotten so large and everything moves fast (I mean, games are now being released worldwide simultaneously) that I think the anime just gave up on trying to follow Galar's storyline and instead do it's own thing. And they have every right to since they're a franchise within a franchise.
And that would be kinda (and I do mean kinda) fine if it was done well but it wasn't. And thats no excuse to shaft Galar and any new region just because it wants to "do it's own thing".
 
A key issue with Galar is that Gen VIII has been, how should I put, less synergy compared to previous generation. It's biggest claim to fame was the DLC expansion packs, which is something Pokémon has never done. There have been third versions of the game or direct sequel/partial remakes of the original base games, but Sword and Shield is the first time that regions become DLC packs.

And then came the DP remakes plus Legends Acreus... and it has no connections to Galar whatsoever. Especially Legends Arceus which takes place in Sinnoh's past and you can't transfer any Pokémon from that game to Sword and Shield (for now), and there's no emphasis on D-Max or G-Max in the remakes (unlike OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire which at least continued XY's Mega Evolution showcase).

I'm not sure what's going on with Galar as a whole by GameFreak and the Pokémon Company, but it feels like Pokémon has gotten so large and everything moves fast (I mean, games are now being released worldwide simultaneously) that I think the anime just gave up on trying to follow Galar's storyline and instead do it's own thing. And they have every right to since they're a franchise within a franchise.
Sort of springing off this, as much as it feels like Galar got burned by JN's format I can see why they did a world tour: if they wanted to do a world championship they were running out of time for even brackets, and unless they were going to wait for gen 16 and that is way too long to plan a TV show; a sizable portion of the current show staff could well be retired by then.

Now if they only wanted Ash+champions they could have waited until Scarlet/Violet...but then that region would be the one that didn't get it's own series.
Plus the Master Eight lineup seems very deliberate. I wouldn't be too surprised if they planned Alain to return from very early on, so this was literally there only chance to do this idea or someone would be left out.

All that said setting the lab in Galar would have made a lot of sense, but even that said I can understand wanting someone from Kanto to be operating out of Kanto for a world tour arc.
 
A key issue with Galar is that Gen VIII has been, how should I put, less synergy compared to previous generation. It's biggest claim to fame was the DLC expansion packs, which is something Pokémon has never done. There have been third versions of the game or direct sequel/partial remakes of the original base games, but Sword and Shield is the first time that regions become DLC packs.

And then came the DP remakes plus Legends Acreus... and it has no connections to Galar whatsoever. Especially Legends Arceus which takes place in Sinnoh's past and you can't transfer any Pokémon from that game to Sword and Shield (for now), and there's no emphasis on D-Max or G-Max in the remakes (unlike OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire which at least continued XY's Mega Evolution showcase).
I'm not sure if that's part of the reason why they haven't done much with Galar. It's possible, especially when BD/SP and Legends Arceus would have more of a connection with each other as opposed to Sword/Shield, but they didn't even show much interest in making use of the DLC areas of Galar either. They couldn't really continue to emphasize on Dynamax when that is exclusive to Power Spots in Galar. Mega Evolution didn't have that kind of limitation, so it was a lot easier for them to incorporate new Mega Pokemon in OR/AS.

I'm not sure what's going on with Galar as a whole by GameFreak and the Pokémon Company, but it feels like Pokémon has gotten so large and everything moves fast (I mean, games are now being released worldwide simultaneously) that I think the anime just gave up on trying to follow Galar's storyline and instead do it's own thing. And they have every right to since they're a franchise within a franchise.
I wouldn't necessarily mind the anime trying to do its own thing, especially when I think the anime does tend to work better with its own storylines as opposed to mimicking the games' storyline beat for beat, but I don't think that has worked out particularly well for Journeys. I don't dislike the series as much as other people do. I still enjoy most episodes and I like the characters, but I don't think that the world tour aspect has been handled well and the PWC itself, despite leading to Ash battling against regional Champions, has been really lackluster. The anime could still basically do its own thing without leaving Galar in the dust. Like I keep on saying, it doesn't have to be one or the other.

Sort of springing off this, as much as it feels like Galar got burned by JN's format I can see why they did a world tour: if they wanted to do a world championship they were running out of time for even brackets, and unless they were going to wait for gen 16 and that is way too long to plan a TV show; a sizable portion of the current show staff could well be retired by then.

Now if they only wanted Ash+champions they could have waited until Scarlet/Violet...but then that region would be the one that didn't get it's own series.
Plus the Master Eight lineup seems very deliberate. I wouldn't be too surprised if they planned Alain to return from very early on, so this was literally there only chance to do this idea or someone would be left out.
The fact that all regional Champions are there to represent their respective generations, including Ash as the Alola League Champion, is pretty telling in regards to the timing. The world tour format isn't a bad idea, especially when it most likely was used to capitalize on the anime's 25th anniversary, but I just don't think it was executed well. It doesn't make use of either old or new locations, which just makes the concept feel so much more lackluster than it should be.

All that said setting the lab in Galar would have made a lot of sense, but even that said I can understand wanting someone from Kanto to be operating out of Kanto for a world tour arc.
Even though Ash is from Kanto, I don't think his home base needed to be in Kanto. It might fit more than Galar in the sense that Kanto was the first generation, but I don't think we really get anything from having generic Vermillion City as the background for a decent portion of the series. Admittedly, I think that the idea of a home base kind of contradicts with the world tour gimmick. It's kind of hard to make use of different locations and regions if Ash and Goh have to head back home at the end of every episode or two. It made sense in SM since Ash was living in a new region, the cast was a lot larger and it fit with the theme of family that the Alola region had. I don't really see much of a reason as to why they'd need to go back to their home base in Kanto, aside maybe Goh needing a place to put all of his Pokemon in.
 
The Bea thing really sucks because when she was announced and they made it clear that she and Ash would have a rivalry, I got really happy because , to me, it meant Ash was finally gonna have a female rival who is actually a threat to him.

But of course, in true JN fashion, it was a "rivalry" fundamented on nothing, that lead to nothing, that wasn't exciting, that didn't challenged Ash in any way besides the generic "I need to get stronger!" and that got solved and done with too quickly.
 
I never expected it to be more than a character Ash would have to beat. We knew Leon was the endgame of the series so obviously Bea wasn't going to be relevant for much longer especially when we had to get to stronger trainers after like Raihan. They probably wanted to give one Galar Gym leader besides Raihan a bigger role
 
The PWC has been handled very poorly. Lot of random/CotD opponents, fighting Bea three times, fighting Iris (a Champion!) very early, fighting Marnie so late and only a 1v1. The idea that Ash will battle the regional champions is the saving grace of it so far so it needs to nail those battles
 
Fighting Iris early actually makes sense, they both battled in Super Class and Iris had to work her way up like Ash did. If Iris was in Master Class to begin with that would have been jarring. Now we know she started at the bottom like Ash did and worked her way up. Also Ash and Iris getting their battle out of the way early free Ash up to battle other people later.

As for Marnie, the battle itself being good is why it doesn't really matter it was 1 on 1. It probably would have just been Pikachu vs Morpeko if it was another fight.
 
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