How do you think the writers decide on who catches what?

[Rainbow-Rain]

Has anyone else ever wondered what is the process for deciding Teams in the Anime?

Has the staff ever commented on it?

There have been a few choices on Teams where I have questioned what some of the decision making is going on in the Writer's room before such as:

Ash having Dracovish (I like Dracovish but why that specific one out of every Galar Mon?)

Misty having Togepi

May not catching Swablu

Dawn releasing Ambipom and replacing it with Togekiss

Lana catching Eevee

James catching Morpeko

Goh catching Suicune (Why specifically Suicune? Why not Entei or Raikou?)

Chloe not catching Yamper or Galarian Ponyta

What do you guys think the thought process is for some of the Team choices in the series?

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

I don't think there's ever been any word from the staff on how what Pokemon get to join the main cast and to which character they go to if so, to the point that any sensible theories we could make on the matter could be equally likely:

Ash having Dracovish could be for any number of reasons. Maybe Dracovish is just part of Ash's Journeys team simply because it was lucky enough to be the favorite Galar mon of one of the major writers, but it's also entirely likely that it was picked precisely because of how bizarre and unusual it is compared to basically every other Pokemon Ash has ever had, since with very few exceptions that are still debatable in an of themselves, Ash tends to catch Pokemon that are conventionally cool, cute (albeit still not so cute as to be considered "girly"), and easily marketable, so him having a Frankenstein's Monster whose very existence brings up rather morbid implications is the perfect way to throw the audience for a loop. Finally, another possibility is that since there's exactly two scientists in Galar and possibly the world who can even make a Dracovish, that effectively makes the Galar Fossils among the rarest Pokemon ever in-universe, so giving Ash one would further reinforce this narrative of him being extra special that has been in place since Kalos. As for why Dracovish and not another Galar Fossil... well, two of them are Electric-types, which automatically rules them out, and the other, Arctovish, isn't mobile on land, so that made Dracovish the most viable option.

Misty's Togepi is so old that it's really hard to pinpoint what the idea there was. My best guess is that because it was an early teaser for Gen 2 the writers wanted it to be onscreen at all times, but since Ash already had Pikachu as his out-of-ball companion he obviously wasn't a good candicate to keep it. Brock might have actually been better than Misty due to his caretaker nature and the fact that he's the one who watched over Togepi's egg in the first place, but I guess the writers felt that the designated girl needed to have her own "Pikachu" in a sense for the sake of gender equality. For what's worth, Misty did recieve some character development due to Togepi's presence, so it's not like it was too big of a waste to give it to her in the end. Even now, though, I do wish they'd done more with both Misty AND Togepi. I especially don't like that she released it, tbh.

May's Swablu I'm like 99.99% sure that she actually was originally supposed to capture it, but for whatever reason the writers decided against it at the last possible second, which is why Swablu's flock appears literally right after May offers it a spot on her team: presumably the episode was well on its way to being animated, so the only way they could "undo" this capture was a blatant Diabolus Ex Machina added at the very end. Maybe because its evolved form was Dragon-type and the writers still thought of those as inherently being "too powerful" for the underdog protagonists?

Dawn's Ambipom is probably the most baffling one. My only guess is that the writers didn't like her having two pure Normal-type Pokemon, so they decided one of them had to go, and sadly Ambipom is the one who got the axe presumably because she's less conventionally cute than Buneary. As for why Dawn got a Togekiss to replace Ambipom instead of literally any other Gen 4 Pokemon... callback to Misty's Togepi, perhaps?

Lana being the one to get Eevee is still one of my least favorite decissions by the anime, but here it's obvious that they just wanted an Eevee in the main cast due to its then-recent promotion to co-mascot, and since Illima was not considered a main character, then that apparently meant the writers had to create a brand new Eevee to give to one of the main characters instead of the far simpler and more practical solution of giving more prominence to the character that already had one. As for why Lana was specifically chosen over literally anyone else... I personally like to imagine that Ash is the one who was gonna get Eevee originally, but that's pure wishful thinking due there being no basis other than the fact that Sandy's personality and mannerisms bore a resemblance to Ash's, which in and of itself isn't really strong evidence, so it's entirely possible, and maybe even probable, that the writers' plan was always for one of the Alola girls to get the Eevee. Lana is certainly a weird choice to give an Eevee to, though. I've seen people theorize that Lana got it because she was the most battle-active of the Alola girls, meaning Eevee theoretically had the best chances at growth with her than with the others, but that point is rendered fairly moot by the fact that Lana did literally nothing with her Eevee besides giving it a haircut, something literally anyone could have done, to the point that the poor thing didn't even get a single onscreen official battle or even the most basic of notable moments with its trainer. This leads me to believe that Lana may have actually been chosen at random, and that Eevee could've gone to any of the Alola girls, because there's literally nothing that ever properly justified Lana getting it in my eyes. Plus, the fact that nothing was ever done with Eevee means that it really would've made no difference if Lillie or Mallow had caught it instead.

James with Morpeko has similar marketing reasons: ever since Gen 4 there's always been a major character having the resident "Pikaclone", and this time James got it probably because Morpeko is technically the most "villainous" one what with its mood swings and being partially a Dark-type and all. And since Jessie already had Mimikyu last saga (plus the fact that she already has Wobbuffet as a permanent member of her team) I guess it was just James's turn.

Suicune feels completely random to me tbh. No idea how to explain this one. Maybe because it's the only one of its trio that was ever a Boxart Legendary?

I feel like Yamper and Ponyta might have originally intended to join Chloe, but the idea was scrapped due to Chloe having so little focus compared to other main girls, meaning there wasn't space for her to develop other Pokemon besides Eevee. I do think that if Chloe ever actually decides on a concrete goal by the end of Journeys, it's possible that she'll get to go on her own travels and Yamper will officially join her then as a bookend to that subplot, though I still feel like Yamper should've had at least a supporting role in Eevee's Eeveelution arc: Yamper is the whole reason Eevee and Chloe even met. Would it have really been too much of a chore to give him a bigger role with the girls?

Now, keep in mind that not only are all of these just my personal speculations, but that hindsight is 20/20: it's entirely likely that the writers simply didn't think through some of these decisions at the time they were made, so they didn't seem too outlandish at the time and might think differently looking back.

 

[Alola]

Dawn's Ambipom is probably the most baffling one. My only guess is that the writers didn't like her having two pure Normal-type Pokemon, so they decided one of them had to go, and sadly Ambipom is the one who got the axe presumably because she's less conventionally cute than Buneary. As for why Dawn got a Togekiss to replace Ambipom instead of literally any other Gen 4 Pokemon... callback to Misty's Togepi, perhaps?

I think this was more of a checklist thing. The writers went out of their way to make sure every new Sinnoh cross generational evolution got some substantial screen time, whether by an episode dedicated to it, being used by a rival or opponent, or the main cast owning it; some of these Pokémon overlapped in these categories, such as Dusknoir, Gliscor, and Lickilicky. Obviously, Porygon-Z is excluded from this.

Anyway, that lead to the question of what to do with a Togekiss, who is notably more special and scarce than other Pokémon. And I suppose the writers felt rather than waste it on a COTD, they could emphasize the Pokémon's graceful traits through Contests, and, thus, Dawn. It also was to serve as Dawn's analogue to Zoey's Gallade: new, powerful, elegant, cross gen Sinnoh evolutions that each of the girls had never faced before (who served to work with their Trainer's original Starter Pokémon, in the final Contest battle of the saga).

 

[Turbo]

I think it’s a mix of factors

Pre journeys

Mostly I think it’s decided on the games and the reception to Pokémon at least for the early-mid Pokémon

They try to showcase all the new Pokémon in that series (All Hoenn Pokémon have to appear in AG)

There they have to distribute the Pokémon amongst the relevant characters (Main cast, rivals, recurring characters)
As well as considering the games for some (Gym leaders usually at the very least keep their Ace Pokémon from the games in some capacity so that’s about 8 Pokémon that are already pre-determined)

Then once that is determined the rest of the Pokémon are regulated to COTD/POTD episodes

Giving Ash a starter was one of the main marketing and relatability strategies
Which and how many? it depends as I would say they usually try to give him the starter that would appeal to kid boys if I had to guess, with the female characters getting what would appeal more to girls but that’s just pure guessing

Then you spread the starters out amongst Ash or the other main characters to cover all three (May and Brock in AG, Lana in SM, Paul and Dawn in DP, Serena and Clemont in XY, etc)

So depending on their decision of how many starters to give to Ash that could be most of his team right there ex: Johto, of his Johto Pokémon 3/6 were starters

Then they pick an early route Pokémon for the main cast that way they can all have a catching moment in the beginning and have more than just the starter (depending on how the starter was obtained ex: Clemont was reversed as he had Bunnelby the early route Pokémon then caught Chespin)

Ash usually gets the flying type as there’s always a regional bird which is usually one of the mascots of the region along with other mascots other characters would obtain (Pidgeotto, Tailow, Starly, Pidove, and so on)

The girl companion usually gets what is considered cute like May with Wurmple/Beautifly, Dawn with Buneary, Iris with Emolga, etc

The other companion also gets an early route Pokémon but could get what is considered a mid-game Pokémon like Brock with Croagunk or Cilan with Dwebble

So now Ash would have 3+ and the companions can have 2+

The rest I feel are either popular Pokémon or Pokémon that would fit their goal/dreams or fill some other external marketing

May got Bulbasaur Squirtle and Eevee because of FireRed and LeafGreen (External Marketing)

Dawn excluding Mamoswine had a lot of conventionally cute Pokémon to fit with her contests (Goal/Dream)

Serena got a Sylveon as it was popular and the new Eeveelution (Popularity + Goal/Dream)

And the type specialty trainers like Kiawe, Misty, etc get their type specialties Pokémon more often than not with exceptions like Togepi with Misty
for the wild cards it usually just either fills a need or time placement, etc

Ash getting Glalie might not have seemed like an Ash Pokémon but the timing of giving Ash his 6th and the location he would be in makes Pokémon like Snorunt one of the few remaining Pokémon left to choose from

I could say other things that are probably not close to accurate, like none of the good guys would get Pokémon that can be considered evil (ex: the evil teams' most common and main Pokémon), there might be Pokémon that feel like they’re team Rockets and not Ash and co, Ash will never catch another electric type as he has Pikachu and so on but no way to really support that

So usually Ash has a type diverse team with at least one starter, one flying “bird” and Pikachu so that’s usually 3 given Pokémon the rest are a mix of some popular Pokémon and what would make sense for him to catch when they decide it’s time to give him a new Pokémon

The other characters also get the leftover starters, as well as some other early Pokémon, to go with Pokémon for their dream/goal or are also very popular but may or may not fit Ash


Journeys

Due to the nature of the series they didn’t emphasize Gen 8 like past series did with their Gens plus with Goh it affected how they went with deciding both teams

They initially also wanted to show every Pokémon ever but that seems to be mostly dropped after a certain point

They gave Ash some of the most popular Pokémon that he doesn’t already have plus high demand for Ash to have since he wasn't restricted to just using Galar Pokemon plus Pikachu

Dragonite and Gengar are two of the most popular Kanto Pokémon and two Pokémon (especially Gengar) fans wanted Ash to have

Lucario the most demanded Pokémon for Ash to have ever

Then for his Galar Pokémon outside of the starters, Sirfetch’d was one of the most well-received Galar Pokémon to be announced and was announced reasonably early
other Pokémon would have fit if Journeys was a more traditional series ex: people thought Corviknight/Rookidee was given as he always used to catch the Regional bird

And for Dracovish he got massively popular once the game was released as it was quickly discovered to be one of the strongest Pokémon in the games, so much popularity thanks to YouTube and such that I would say most fans have at least heard of it by the time the writers were considering his sixth Pokémon
So he still had some Gen 8 connected to him

Goh took over Ash’s role of having the starters and in this case has all of them similar to Ash in OS, and BW with his main/first partner being Cinderace which I think was the most popular starter

Plus with his catch ‘‘em all/Pokémon Go angle he caught a lot of Pokémon to not only help his initial goal but also the series trying to show every Pokémon as there were episodes where he caught multiple Pokémon so therefore his team was destined to be rotatable from the start but I would say he has some main Pokémon

The starters are the starters lol showcase Gen 8 and Cinderace can parallel with Ash’s Lucario as they are both their aces

Scizor had a similar thing with Sirfetch’d and has become one of his main Pokémon ever since it was a Scyther

Flygon similar to Dragonite mainly a flyer but is powerful enough that he uses in tough battles

Then other Pokémon like Raichu, Golurk, and Pinsir have been fleshed out and recurred enough to warrant being some of his main Pokémon

Couldn’t say why they picked them other than some diversity, some power on them, and they are all cool in some way

I would say the first 3-4 Pokemon are planned for Ash and the other 2+ are decided later as the series goes on whether due to popularity or what they feels fits narratively or other factors like the games

Similar with companions as I’m sure Lana getting Eevee wasn't planned from the very beginning but I would say Lillie getting Vulpix was and Sopocles with Togedamaru was a game thing


(I need to learn to type less)

 

[ManUtd22]

I think that's it a random thing cause they new that a lot of eople want this pokemon for this person and that pokemon for that person and. So on.

I want Ash to have roselia Rosedale and to have the darling darling. I want him to catch all of elgyem, munna, and zorua.

And sometimes they thought that they throw this type or this kind of pokemon out of nowhere such as sandshiroshe so they gave the girl from sinnoh to find the pokeball under the water. Such as monkey and preimeb so they gave goh mankey. The same for pidgey or pidgey is much better. Darling and so one

 

[Nichole the Otter]

I feel they tend to pick the most marketed Pokémon or Pokémon that often had better initial reception from the fandom. I imagine Ash would not have caught a Dracovish if its competitive prowess wasn’t so well known, or how Dragonite and Gengar had been highly requested by the fans.

 

[nickdt]

I think popularity and marketability with the general audience is factor(But not always, else Ash would have gotten Sobble/Inteleon in Journeys and Primarina in Alola).

 

[isrrael120]

I think there are several factors instead of a determined factor for the elections!

like marketing, animation, plot and more!

 

[KrspaceT]

I honestly always thought that there tends to be a certain amount of 'you must' slots that afterwards are filled at the writers whim. So something like, say, Glalie is a freebie.

Though in modern times the list is upended: Ash's Alola team felt the most 'marketable' of them all with how the last two slots went, and Journeys...honestly I'd love to know what is going on there. I mean if I was going for Ash and popular mons I certainly wouldn't be limiting myself to just five new captures: plenty of popular mons exist still after all. But I suspect many of us would find the behind the scenes of Journeys a more interesting story than Journeys itself.

 

[nickdt]

I honestly always thought that there tends to be a certain amount of 'you must' slots that afterwards are filled at the writers whim. So something like, say, Glalie is a freebie.

Though in modern times the list is upended: Ash's Alola team felt the most 'marketable' of them all with how the last two slots went, and Journeys...honestly I'd love to know what is going on there. I mean if I was going for Ash and popular mons I certainly wouldn't be limiting myself to just five new captures: plenty of popular mons exist still after all. But I suspect many of us would find the behind the scenes of Journeys a more interesting story than Journeys itself.

I think another factor is a Pokemon that is generally liked by Gamefreak, OLM or the Pokemon Company themselves and this might contribute towards a mon being on the main cast.

Lets look at Glalie here. Its kinda obvious someone on the higher end at least loves it, as shown by Ash getting it in the anime, but it also receiving a Mega (And Glalie would probably be the last Pokemon you would think about giving a Mega).

In Journeys, we have Dewgong. Its one of Gohs mons that gets a lot of focus, but also background screentime. So someone at OLM probably loves Dewgong (Since there are more popular water choices who can fill that role).

 

[KrspaceT]

I think another factor is a Pokemon that is generally liked by Gamefreak, OLM or the Pokemon Company themselves and this might contribute towards a mon being on the main cast.

Lets look at Glalie here. Its kinda obvious someone on the higher end at least loves it, as shown by Ash getting it in the anime, but it also receiving a Mega (And Glalie would probably be the last Pokemon you would think about giving a Mega).

In Journeys, we have Dewgong. Its one of Gohs mons that gets a lot of focus, but also background screentime. So someone at OLM probably loves Dewgong (Since there are more popular water choices who can fill that role).

Dewgong also snuck into Twilight Wings, alongside Ash and Pikachu, to add to the Dewgong bit.

 

[ripplefieldz]

Goh catching Suicune (Why specifically Suicune? Why not Entei or Raikou?)

because it already got a movie and boxart legendary status so CLEARLY it doesn't get enough recognition already! unironically i have such a petty grudge against suicune because of this it's unreal

anyway, honestly when i was watching AG this question very much came to mind, especially since i had watched sun/moon beforehand. like oh yeah sceptile that makes sense, swellow's the regional bird so like sure i guess, but then there's like. ok let's be real here how many people think about torkoal or glalie or corphish like ever. personally my guess is that sometimes they just kind of throw darts at a list of pokemon or something like that. dracovish and sirfetch'd in journeys i def can't say i expected, sirfetch'd in particular since i mainly associate it with s*rdward and sh*elbert

 

[Nicolas721]

It's definitely a mix of marketability and story potential, with sometimes minor things like typing, animation being important too. If a writer lacks a Pokemon and champions it for a particular story the Pokemon may also have more chances to be considered.

Now as for specific examples...

Spoiler: Ash's Pokemon

• Pigeotto & Butterfree: Pokemon that everyone caught early during their playthroughs so it would make Ash more relatable. Butterfree's release also matches the idea that the player can leave some Pokemon behind as the game progresses. Pidgeotto not evolving could be due to them focusing more on Charizard, as the opening seems to hint Pidgeotto was going to evolve earlier.
• Snorlax and Lapras: Caught fully evolved so they could be competent enough for the Orange Islands' challenges without much training.
• Phanpy: As a replacement of Bulbasaur which would have looked out of place among the other Johto mons. As to why they didn't go the above Snorlax route or why didn't they straight up used Larvitar (which going by the fourth opening was going to appear earlier), I don't know. Maybe they just liked how it had Ash color scheme?
• Gible: To change the status quo a bit for the remaining episodes they had. Riolu was a more requested option but seeing it or Lucario in just a couple battles would have caused uproar from the fans.
• Goodra: Many theories have been made and it's hard to guess. I think it may have something to do with Ash lacking a powerhouse that wasn't weak to Electric types to battle Clemont, and Pikachu was going to battle Bunnelby by obligation.
• Gengar: I've always suspected its story was finished early so Ash would have a second Pokemon for the Visquez battle that unlike Dragonite could afford a loss (as Dragonite's episode was basically a training one).
• Dracovish: Very popular in Japan, and also in the west (but by a lesser degree) due to the metagame.

Spoiler: Other Pokemon

• Azurill: A replacement for Togepi, but with the direction they took with Misty in SM it wasn't necessary anymore.
• Vulpix/Psyduck: The fact that they were introduced in back to back episodes makes me think they saw some merchandise potential in them.
• Pineco: Johto's only rock types were Sudowoodo and Larvitar, which may have been ruled out due to not looking like Rock-types and the latter's pseudolegendary status, so they went to the only other thing that looked like a Rock, and like most Johto stuff they forgot to evolve it until the end. However, it's also likely that late evolution is what lead it to appear in the next series. I know Sudowoodo was indeed caught later but by that time its typing was less of a secret.
• Swablu: Its episode happened right in the middle of the Skitty and Bulbasaur captures, so there wouldn't have been enough time to develop it and Bulbasaur was going to get priority for obvious reasons. Or maybe the writer of that episode used the episode to toy with the idea and reimplement it later, but by that time Munchlax appeared...
• Squirtle: BF was the time when Contests started to be more flashy and less like circus performances, so a Water type that also had Ice moves and that promoted Kanto looked like a great option.
• May's Eevee: I think it didn't evolve in BF for two possible reasons: 1. The game producers weren't sure about Leafeon/Glaceon's designs (in the beta both have their final designs, but that doesn't mean they were already set in stone). or 2. They may have intended to keep May for DP to avoid the complaints of the fans when Misty left.
• Togekiss: The Grand Festival was going to be about couples yet Piplup didn't have a partner for the final battle. So they killed two birds with one stone by going the Snorlax route and showcasing a Pokemon that hadn't debuted yet.
• Deino: It didn't fit any role in the Best friend/Powerhouse/Gag trio companions usually have, and its evolutions may have look to them very ugly or evil.
• Shaymin: As I said on its day, I think it was caught so Mallow wouldn't look out of place compared to Lillie & Snowy and Lana & Sandy, just count how many scenes there are of the six together in the pre-league SM episodes. It being mythical apparently was a plus to the writers rather than a con.
• Suicune: Suicune being a fixed appearance in the Crown DLC and appearing in the series later always looked fishy to me, so TPCi may have asked for it themselves. Also, Goh needed a big accomplishment for being considered for Project Mew, so it's also possible TPCi just asked for Suicune to appear and staff decided Goh could catch it.

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

It's definitely a mix of marketability and story potential, with sometimes minor things like typing, animation being important too. If a writer lacks a Pokemon and champions it for a particular story the Pokemon may also have more chances to be considered.

Now as for specific examples...

Spoiler: Ash's Pokemon

• Pigeotto & Butterfree: Pokemon that everyone caught early during their playthroughs so it would make Ash more relatable. Butterfree's release also matches the idea that the player can leave some Pokemon behind as the game progresses. Pidgeotto not evolving could be due to them focusing more on Charizard, as the opening seems to hint Pidgeotto was going to evolve earlier.
• Snorlax and Lapras: Caught fully evolved so they could be competent enough for the Orange Islands' challenges without much training.
• Phanpy: As a replacement of Bulbasaur which would have looked out of place among the other Johto mons. As to why they didn't go the above Snorlax route or why didn't they straight up used Larvitar (which going by the fourth opening was going to appear earlier), I don't know. Maybe they just liked how it had Ash color scheme?
• Gible: To change the status quo a bit for the remaining episodes they had. Riolu was a more requested option but seeing it or Lucario in just a couple battles would have caused uproar from the fans.
• Goodra: Many theories have been made and it's hard to guess. I think it may have something to do with Ash lacking a powerhouse that wasn't weak to Electric types to battle Clemont, and Pikachu was going to battle Bunnelby by obligation.
• Gengar: I've always suspected its story was finished early so Ash would have a second Pokemon for the Visquez battle that unlike Dragonite could afford a loss (as Dragonite's episode was basically a training one).
• Dracovish: Very popular in Japan, and also in the west (but by a lesser degree) due to the metagame.

Spoiler: Other Pokemon

• Azurill: A replacement for Togepi, but with the direction they took with Misty in SM it wasn't necessary anymore.
• Vulpix/Psyduck: The fact that they were introduced in back to back episodes makes me think they saw some merchandise potential in them.
• Pineco: Johto's only rock types were Sudowoodo and Larvitar, which may have been ruled out due to not looking like Rock-types and the latter's pseudolegendary status, so they went to the only other thing that looked like a Rock, and like most Johto stuff they forgot to evolve it until the end. However, it's also likely that late evolution is what lead it to appear in the next series. I know Sudowoodo was indeed caught later but by that time its typing was less of a secret.
• Swablu: Its episode happened right in the middle of the Skitty and Bulbasaur captures, so there wouldn't have been enough time to develop it and Bulbasaur was going to get priority for obvious reasons. Or maybe the writer of that episode used the episode to toy with the idea and reimplement it later, but by that time Munchlax appeared...
• Squirtle: BF was the time when Contests started to be more flashy and less like circus performances, so a Water type that also had Ice moves and that promoted Kanto looked like a great option.
• May's Eevee: I think it didn't evolve in BF for two possible reasons: 1. The game producers weren't sure about Leafeon/Glaceon's designs (in the beta both have their final designs, but that doesn't mean they were already set in stone). or 2. They may have intended to keep May for DP to avoid the complaints of the fans when Misty left.
• Togekiss: The Grand Festival was going to be about couples yet Piplup didn't have a partner for the final battle. So they killed two birds with one stone by going the Snorlax route and showcasing a Pokemon that hadn't debuted yet.
• Deino: It didn't fit any role in the Best friend/Powerhouse/Gag trio companions usually have, and its evolutions may have look to them very ugly or evil.
• Shaymin: As I said on its day, I think it was caught so Mallow wouldn't look out of place compared to Lillie & Snowy and Lana & Sandy, just count how many scenes there are of the six together in the pre-league SM episodes. It being mythical apparently was a plus to the writers rather than a con.
• Suicune: Suicune being a fixed appearance in the Crown DLC and appearing in the series later always looked fishy to me, so TPCi may have asked for it themselves. Also, Goh needed a big accomplishment for being considered for Project Mew, so it's also possible TPCi just asked for Suicune to appear and staff decided Goh could catch it.

Goodras reason was just to battle Clemont? God that’s stupid and now it’s release kind of makes sense but still it’s release is the worst release in the show. Yes it’s worse than Greninja’s.

 

[Kurolegacy]

I honestly always thought that there tends to be a certain amount of 'you must' slots that afterwards are filled at the writers whim. So something like, say, Glalie is a freebie.

Though in modern times the list is upended: Ash's Alola team felt the most 'marketable' of them all with how the last two slots went, and Journeys...honestly I'd love to know what is going on there. I mean if I was going for Ash and popular mons I certainly wouldn't be limiting myself to just five new captures: plenty of popular mons exist still after all. But I suspect many of us would find the behind the scenes of Journeys a more interesting story than Journeys itself.

It’s times like that that I wish anime like Pokémon were more like comics when it comes to interviews on the thought processes behind creative decisions and just a look behind the scenes.