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Controversial opinions

Although I do appreciate that the show plays with the cat/mouse rivalry in a few ways; the mouse is the by far the physically superior one, the cat isn't looking for a snack but to capture the mouse to ultimately make them work with them, and the two are oddly amicable at times.
Yeah, Pikachu and Meowth are a (much) less mean-spirited version of Tom and Jerry that way: Jerry may not be more physically powerful than Tom, but he's still the one that holds the upper hand most of the time, and the two have formed alliances quite often.
 
If you ask me, having a seemingly-innocuous Pokemon turn out to be a tough opponent is a far more effective way to establish it as a threat than to try to visually paint it as tough from the start. This is an aspect where "show, don't tell" can really shine in a narrative.
This so much. Since the anime wants everything to be all flashy and dramatic I get why Ash is one of the only trainers walking into these regional tournaments with cute and unvolved Pokemon. But that doesn't I don't want other trainers pulling off similar stunts. Electivire, Ursaring and Magmotar are large and intimidating Pokemon so we expect them to be tough. But can you imagine Paul sending out say, a Clefable or a Delcatty and showing that they're just as powerful as the three stated?
 
Ash treats his old Pokémon like leaving a dog with a petsitter for long times on end and then visiting them once in a blue moon. I’m shocked how none of Ash’s Pokemon lash out at him or Oak making a comment about him not checking in/visiting his old team members enough. Why wouldn’t they also be bugged that Ash isn’t using them in battle, especially in the PWC? What supports this is we haven’t seen Ash calling in to check on his old Pokémon since BW started, mainly because that’s when he stopped using reserves. I headcanon that at least Ash calls at least once a month to check in on his Pokémon and make sure they all get attention.
 
I get where you're coming from and i'd love for Ash's reserves to be used more, but I think you're blowing it out of proportion. Between his journeys we don't know how much time he spends at home before leaving. It might be days, weeks maybe even months before he's on the road again. Hell, between Alola and Journey's Kukui and Burnett have had a son who looks many months old now. So while he's at home before leaving again he most likely visits his Pokemon at Oak's corral everyday.
 
This so much. Since the anime wants everything to be all flashy and dramatic I get why Ash is one of the only trainers walking into these regional tournaments with cute and unvolved Pokemon. But that doesn't I don't want other trainers pulling off similar stunts. Electivire, Ursaring and Magmotar are large and intimidating Pokemon so we expect them to be tough. But can you imagine Paul sending out say, a Clefable or a Delcatty and showing that they're just as powerful as the three stated?
I know those can't be argued as official, canonical captures as those were just created as an "what-if" fanart series by a guy who just happened to have worked on the anime, but this is actualy why I liked those arts imagining Paul's teams across regions. (The ones somebody posted here a few weeks a go on the General Discussion thread, I think).

Of course there were "evil", intimidating-looking Pokémon in the mix, but there were some like Aromatisse and (I believe) a Shiinotic, and this is actually something I wanted to see more in the anime. Because one of Paul's most defining traits is cuz he refuses to keep a Pokémon unless said Pokémon is very naturally strong, so, really, how strong would that Pokémon be for Paul to keep and use despite being from a "weak species"?
 
Ash treats his old Pokémon like leaving a dog with a petsitter for long times on end and then visiting them once in a blue moon. I’m shocked how none of Ash’s Pokemon lash out at him or Oak making a comment about him not checking in/visiting his old team members enough. Why wouldn’t they also be bugged that Ash isn’t using them in battle, especially in the PWC? What supports this is we haven’t seen Ash calling in to check on his old Pokémon since BW started, mainly because that’s when he stopped using reserves. I headcanon that at least Ash calls at least once a month to check in on his Pokémon and make sure they all get attention.
Just because Ash seemingly isn't visiting his older Pokemon more often doesn't mean that they don't get attention. They're still being cared for by Professor Oak, or Professor Kukui for his SM team. And if the Johto and Sinnoh Leagues were any indication, they are still training off screen to learn new moves. Even Infernape was battling the other Fire type before going to find Moltres earlier in Journeys, so they aren't just waiting around for Ash to come by.

As for being upset over not being used in battle, I don't think that they'd want to make being left at Professor Oak's lab as a problem. It's kind of a necessity since Ash needs to get a fresh team with every series, so he needs a place to leave his Pokemon and have them be taken care of. I understand being upset or disappointed that they seemingly aren't interested in using Ash's reserves at this point, but they aren't going to make leaving his reserves at Professor Oak's lab a problem in-universe.
 
Just because Ash seemingly isn't visiting his older Pokemon more often doesn't mean that they don't get attention. They're still being cared for by Professor Oak, or Professor Kukui for his SM team. And if the Johto and Sinnoh Leagues were any indication, they are still training off screen to learn new moves. Even Infernape was battling the other Fire type before going to find Moltres earlier in Journeys, so they aren't just waiting around for Ash to come by.
Regarding training, while I REALLY wish we could see it on screen, JN114 showed us that it is happening. I can understand why we don't see it though because his reserves aren't the focus of the series. But you can tell its happening. You mentioned Infernape, but in JN114, I did notice other things. I believe one of his Grass types learned Leaf Storm and Oshawott seemed perfectly fine throwing his scalchop for an attack. Normally he'd panic. I genuinely appreciate that episode though for showing Ash's Journeys team actually training though.
 
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Yeah they basically confirmed in canon all of Ash's Pokemon train with each other at Oak's lab now. In some of the older Oak's lab episodes in earlier series like in AG or Johto it didn't really seem that way and it just seemed like they roamed the fields or slept, but then they started showing us they all train together which is nice.

On another note anyone notice only Ash's Pokemon are at Oak's lab now? Remember how Bulbasaur had to stop all the random grass and water pokemon from fighting each other back in the day, or how Oak's lab had countless other trainers pokemon living there too? Nowadays it seems like only Ash's Pokemon are there. I guess Bulbasaur doesn't have to be an "ambassador" for the lab anymore since only Ash's Pokemon are there.

I wonder if that's another thing the writers phased out over time, you don't see any random Pokemon at Oak's lab anymore from different trainers. When was the last time we saw something like that?
 
I know those can't be argued as official, canonical captures as those were just created as an "what-if" fanart series by a guy who just happened to have worked on the anime, but this is actualy why I liked those arts imagining Paul's teams across regions. (The ones somebody posted here a few weeks a go on the General Discussion thread, I think).

Of course there were "evil", intimidating-looking Pokémon in the mix, but there were some like Aromatisse and (I believe) a Shiinotic, and this is actually something I wanted to see more in the anime. Because one of Paul's most defining traits is cuz he refuses to keep a Pokémon unless said Pokémon is very naturally strong, so, really, how strong would that Pokémon be for Paul to keep and use despite being from a "weak species"?
I know this is pedantic, but I'm not sure Shiinotic should actually count as a proper example of a straightforwardly cutesy and harmless Pokemon, because according to Pokedex lore in the games it leads people astray with its lights (to the point that forests where Shiinotic are known to live are dangerous to traverse through at nighttime) and feeds by draining the vitality of other living creatures. Its face can also be pretty unsettling to look at once you realize its eyes reflect no light and its mouth is featureless and both are pitch-black. So... yeah, Shiinotic is already a subversion of the "cute equals weak and harmless" trope all on its own.
 
Of course there were "evil", intimidating-looking Pokémon in the mix, but there were some like Aromatisse and (I believe) a Shiinotic, and this is actually something I wanted to see more in the anime. Because one of Paul's most defining traits is cuz he refuses to keep a Pokémon unless said Pokémon is very naturally strong, so, really, how strong would that Pokémon be for Paul to keep and use despite being from a "weak species"?
i mean, looking at ou at the moment, i can spot clefable, alolan ninetails, and slowbro all in the top 3 spots and i would not consider those particularly intimidating, so for sure non-intimidating mons can be pretty strong, hell there's even the infamous championship-winning pachirisu.
 
Yeah they basically confirmed in canon all of Ash's Pokemon train with each other at Oak's lab now. In some of the older Oak's lab episodes in earlier series like in AG or Johto it didn't really seem that way and it just seemed like they roamed the fields or slept, but then they started showing us they all train together which is nice.

On another note anyone notice only Ash's Pokemon are at Oak's lab now? Remember how Bulbasaur had to stop all the random grass and water pokemon from fighting each other back in the day, or how Oak's lab had countless other trainers pokemon living there too? Nowadays it seems like only Ash's Pokemon are there. I guess Bulbasaur doesn't have to be an "ambassador" for the lab anymore since only Ash's Pokemon are there.

I wonder if that's another thing the writers phased out over time, you don't see any random Pokemon at Oak's lab anymore from different trainers. When was the last time we saw something like that?
I think that the last time we saw any Pokemon that weren't Ash's was back in AG. Bulbasaur came back for an episode after May caught her own, but had to go back to Professor Oak's Lab at the end to stop the wild Pokemon from fighting with each other. Those were still wild Pokemon and I don't think we saw many Pokemon from other trainers after the Kanto portion of the original series.

I think that they phased that out to keep the focus on primarily on Ash's Pokemon whenever he does come by. Plus, I don't think that they've been too interested in showing that other trainers from Pallet Town exist aside from Ash and Gary for ages.
 
i mean, looking at ou at the moment, i can spot clefable, alolan ninetails, and slowbro all in the top 3 spots and i would not consider those particularly intimidating, so for sure non-intimidating mons can be pretty strong, hell there's even the infamous championship-winning pachirisu.
Ahh, yes. Sejun Park's Pachirisu. He actually beat BDSP with just 6 Pachirisu and he had to get through Champion Cynthia to do that. But yeah, Pachirisu is not that intimidating but proved the world wrong.
 
On another note anyone notice only Ash's Pokemon are at Oak's lab now? Remember how Bulbasaur had to stop all the random grass and water pokemon from fighting each other back in the day, or how Oak's lab had countless other trainers pokemon living there too? Nowadays it seems like only Ash's Pokemon are there. I guess Bulbasaur doesn't have to be an "ambassador" for the lab anymore since only Ash's Pokemon are there.
I think it’s partially for casual audiences. Many of Ash’s pokemon that don’t move the plot end up in the background when they show up, so sprinkling some random ones in there might confuse people that aren’t caught up.
 
I think it’s partially for casual audiences. Many of Ash’s pokemon that don’t move the plot end up in the background when they show up, so sprinkling some random ones in there might confuse people that aren’t caught up.
That and in the earlier seasons Ash had far less pokemon there. It was only a few Kanto and Johto pokemon. Now we're several series later and his entire older teams besides the Alola pokemon are there.

With Ash having so many older pokemon now there's no need to include say random Oddish and Hopip and Nidoran there like the older seasons did. Hell I don't even know where all of Gary's other pokemon are since all of Gary old pokemon should be at Oak's too. And Gary has like 100+ pokemon, lol
 
About missed opportunities like Trainers forgetting experience and reverting to a younger behavior while time was going backwards, there is also the missed opportunity of making Ash's corral Pokémon evolve. What I mean by there is that Poipole evolved while it was not in his Team. Ash visited the corral in Journeys twice, and we remarked that none of his non-final stages evolved (be them base stage or not fully evolved). It's not like they don't train, because it's been stated that they do. Did they all eat an Everstone? How come did none of them evolve?
 
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About missed opportunities like Trainers forgetting experience and reverting to a younger behavior while time was going backwards, there is also the missed opportunity of making Ash's choral Pokémon evolve. What I mean by there is that Poipole evolved while it was not in his Team. Ash visited the choral in Journeys twice, and we remarked that none of his non-final stages evolved. It's not like they don't train, because it's been stated that they do. Did they all eat an Everstone? How come did none of them evolve?
Not sure what your trying to say here
 
I edited my post, I realized I've made a spelling mistake. I also said that Ash's corral Pokémon do train, so I find it weird that they didn't evolve at all.
 
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