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How would you Fix all the problems with Journeys?

Rainbow-Rain

LEADER OF THE INTELEON DEFENSE SQUAD
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Title is simple to understand. Everyone has something that they complain about in Journeys.

I wanna hear what changes you guys would make it this series

Here's some examples of what I would do.

- Let the Pokemon on the Main cast interact with each other outside battling

- Let Chloe catch Yamper

- Introduce Project Mew earlier

- Keep Cinderace out of his ball

- Give Drizzile more screentime

- Debut more Galarian characters
 
Agree with giving Drizzile and Yamper more screentime, I love them
Don’t hand Ash gimmicks and OP Pokemon
Have Ash use reserves
Characterize Ash more like XY and go back to XYs artstyle
 
First of all, I would like to say that I personally do not think the Journeys series is as bad as most people make it out to be. It does have its own flaws, that's for sure, but not as extreme as discussing one character's tendency of catching Pokémon regularly for 20+ pages just because they caught a Pokémon in a three-second scene, to say the least. Or whenever it is whether relevant or irrelevant, bringing the same things up over and over and over again gets tiring to see and read at times.

That being said, there are things that could have been handled promisingly much better to leave a better impact on the audience than how the series has been handling the things for a while now.

I think the main thing I would like to see is more engaging Pokémon among main characters' teams. We had Sobble with a different personality, but it faded quickly as it evolved so suddenly. The whole time as a Drizzle, he hid in the cave and did nothing. Now it is an Inteleon with occasional appearances but doing nothing remarkable. The writers could have spared an entire year for Sobble's characteristic evolution along with its literal evolution, and he would have left a bigger impact on us than that.

The episodes sometimes end up being easy to forget. I am not saying the writing is necessarily bad. But they could have been handled it better with somewhat more interesting writing. If you were to ask me what happened in JN035, other than Goh catching a female Pikachu, I can't remember a single thing about it. It is the same situation with some other episodes, such as JN067 and JN019.

I feel sorry for the Galar region as a whole, as well as the Pokémon introduced with that region. Obviously most people feel the same way, that instead of focusing more on Kanto, the setting to be in Galar would have left a better outcome in general, but it is needless to elaborate on that.

And one last note, I would focus on battles more frequently and better for Ash's goal at the PWC. Since this is the world traveling theme going on, I would make more CotD returns from all series in the past. Like that Samurai from Viridian Forest to have a proper battle with his now-Butterfree, for example.

However, I am happy with the dynamics that Goh has with Ash. I will remember the duo happily after the series is over. It has made things way better when Goh had a more solid goal with the Project Mew's introduction. Despite of the claims I often see here and there, Goh is a caring Pokémon Trainer who understands or tries to understand his Pokémon's feelings and wants to do what is best for them.
 
I'm not gonna just present all my fanfiction ideas and say that they would be the best for the show, because the truth is, any idea can work as long as the execution is good.

You don't have to change the premise of Journeys to make it good, Team Changes and location won't fix it, it just needs better writing.
 
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If the region hopping is kept, do something with it. Explore areas from the games the anime didn’t cover previously. It seems like most of the time it’s Kanto, the third time a Pokemon series has focused on it (Indigo League and Battle Frontier), when there are eight other regions

Show Go doing more analytical stuff instead of just throwing a pokeball. Maybe he uses apricorn balls, bait, pokeblock etc
 
If the region hopping is kept, do something with it. Explore areas from the games the anime didn’t cover previously. It seems like most of the time it’s Kanto, the third time a Pokemon series has focused on it (Indigo League and Battle Frontier), when there are eight other regions

Show Go doing more analytical stuff instead of just throwing a pokeball. Maybe he uses apricorn balls, bait, pokeblock etc
Yeah, it was a BIG missed opportunity for Goh not to use all of the different catching mechanics. They could've had an episode where Goh learns how to make pokeballs from Kurt and Goh could've made use of things like status effects as well.
 
If the region hopping is kept, do something with it. Explore areas from the games the anime didn’t cover previously. It seems like most of the time it’s Kanto, the third time a Pokemon series has focused on it (Indigo League and Battle Frontier), when there are eight other regions

Show Go doing more analytical stuff instead of just throwing a pokeball. Maybe he uses apricorn balls, bait, pokeblock etc
The first thing you said is exactly what they did.

They visited the Unova ruins, Pewter City Museum, the Kanto Power Plant with Zapdos, Seafoam Islands, the Saffron Fighting Dojo, the Sinnoh region resort and many more areas the original anime sagas skipped over.

Some of you are posting things the series actually did. Now of course we could visit more areas but saying we aren't is plain wrong
 
Mainly I'd balance Ash Goh and Chloe put. Ash would get more minor battles, he and Chloe would get their goals earlier etc etc. Go elements would be reduces where possible
 
Title is simple to understand. Everyone has something that they complain about in Journeys.

I wanna hear what changes you guys would make it this series

Here's some examples of what I would do.

- Let the Pokemon on the Main cast interact with each other outside battling

- Let Chloe catch Yamper

- Introduce Project Mew earlier

- Keep Cinderace out of his ball

- Give Drizzile more screentime

- Debut more Galarian characters

This could be interesting. But first of all, I would encourage you to state what about Journeys would not change in this premise.

Because @Audino1008 is right, almost anything can work, at least as base story premise, if executed well and coherently.

Obviously we could discuss the most egregious story points and mishaps. And possible quick fixes.

But to really stir one's imagination, it is better to give some constraints and anchor points. In this case:
  • Journeys still about region hopping?
  • still Ash on way to conclude his massive arc and possibly leave the Anime?
  • Goh still Pokémon-Go inspired Pokémon catcher?
  • PWC still a thing?

Obviously, I could infer from your post that you aim more on subtle improvements than changing Journeys completely.
Nonetheless, IMHO, explicit constraints would help.
It is easy to understand why, once you start think about it.
E.g. - more Galarian characters. The PWC is one single reason why it is quite complicated to integrate them well. Allister was good example, but it is hard, in case you do not want to end up with world championship accidentaly dominated by one region. (If Leon being Monarch and Raihan the only Gym Leader in Masters 8 is not enough)
 
The biggest change, Sakuragi lab is in Galar and that is their home base instead of Kanto. Second and arguably most critical, i.e. if they were going to implement just one of these make it this one: a female main character. She can either be Chloe or if they have to, turn Goh into a tomboy if they still want just the duo. But aside from those we would want to have more narrative consistency, with things foreshadowed so the show doesn't keep saying, "the story we wrote for this one needs this to have happened so it happened offscreen at some point earlier," or, "remember how this character was working on this goal or captured this Pokemon? We don't."

The other important change is have more EDs than just the two and make them be good like ending songs used to be. Also the guy who likes watching karma Houdinis torture innocent characters (Morpeko and later Grookey) gets either fired or given strict instruction to cut that crap out.

Other than those fundamental flaws most of Journeys' problems come from inconsistent writing and failure to live up to the potential of the setup, so just fix that and you're good. When Journeys is firing on all cylinders it's tends to be genuinely great, the primary issue being how rare that is.
 
Journeys has a couple of issues, but it's biggest is definitely in the writing. It really needs (or should've been, it's probably too late at this point) to be tightened up. The World Championship is an interesting concept, but it's appeared too infrequently and could've been better executed. Project Mew has potential, but it started too late and also doesn't have the proper flow to it. It's okay for not every episode to be centered around those two things, but they should really be the main focus of the series with less mundane episodes in between. Instead, they both feel like they were afterthoughts and just haphazardly thrown in with a bunch of fillers.

I also would've focused on Chloe more in the beginning of the series and implemented her into the main group earlier. Ash and Goh do have a good dynamic, but them being just a duo for such a long time (and still more often than not) just leaves me feeling like something is missing. Chloe really adds to the overall group dynamic and I find I enjoy episodes that she's involved in a lot more.

Also, this makes me feel a little ungrateful because I begged for older character cameos and I love that we've been getting them, but I wish their returns were better incorporated into the plot of the series. Also, their developments were all over the place (Iris is now Unova champion, Serena is a super successful and borderline famous coordinator, Brock is officially a Pokémon doctor, and Dawn is...the same as she was last time we saw her?) I guess it's easier to brush aside when it's only one or two characters showing up per series, but once you're getting a lot of them at once, the inconsistences are a little more glaring.
 
I also would've focused on Chloe more in the beginning of the series and implemented her into the main group earlier. Ash and Goh do have a good dynamic, but them being just a duo for such a long time (and still more often than not) just leaves me feeling like something is missing. Chloe really adds to the overall group dynamic and I find I enjoy episodes that she's involved in a lot more.
For a while there it looked like she was going to be the permanent third main, but then they faded her into the background again and now she's back to where she was before with one focus episode every 2 or 3 months if she's lucky and little else between.
 
Where do I even start....

  • The premise of Ash and Goh being researchers and region hopping is fine, but they should have instead been researchers working with Professor Magnolia and Sonia in Galar.
  • Chloe would have been a full time cast member, with her reason for joining merely being so she could travel, while finding her own path.
  • Goh....Would be entirely different. I wouldn't even have named him Goh. Same personality and design, and his goal is still catching Mew, though how he works towards it is not through catching every Pokemon. Its through Project Mew, which would be introduced A LOT sooner. He joined Professor Magnolia to research Pokemon so he could understand Mew with her and Sonia, though around episode 20, Project Mew is introduced.
  • The Galarian starters would be split between the three of them, with Scorbunny staying with Goh, Ash getting Sobble, and Chloe getting Grookey.
  • I like Lucario, Gengar, and Dragonite, but I'd have Ash use his reserves instead, while also adding Inteleon, Sirfetch'd, and maybe an Appletun.
  • We'd see more episodes where the cast has their Pokemon out of their Pokeballs interacting.
  • We'd actually have episodes dedicated to Ash training his Pokemon.
  • Early PWC battles aren't just quick battles with random trainers with little significance, rather having Ash face against past Gym Leaders or rivals.
  • Galar's Gym Leaders all get a chance to appear, with more than Bea being in the PWC.
  • The Darkest Day arc happens later into the series and is built up over time.
 
I feel like JN's ultimate fatal flaw was being too ambitious. I feel like they tried to do everything and at the end barely did anything. There was the pandemic (which was completely out of their control and I don't blame them for it, if it's not clear enough) holding them back, there was the clear lack of plan for most of the things that happened, the writers are just... not good. There was a lot.

This is the only point I'm gonna expand because I feel like I need to: I would not make a "living dex" goal in the anime for Goh, nor anyone else. While I do agree that good, well planned, competent writing can make things work, I do personally disagree that it can make every single thing work. Some concepts and storylines are just too fundamentally flawed to ever work, even if you put the world's best writers on the case. And to me, this whole "capture everything to complete the national dex!" thing is one of those. (Btw I'm not expanding on what all those flaws are because it's a whole other convo on itself)

Now for the other things:

  • Focus on Galar, it's regions, Pokémon, and characters;
  • Goh would focus on Project Mew since the very beginning and would be way more research-oriented than what he is now. Besides, no living dex;
  • Way more Pokémon interactions and overall development;
  • Better characterization for both Ash and Pikachu;
  • Way better female representation;
  • Not rely so much on off-screen development because that's just lazy;
  • Eventual region-hopping is fine but as long as they use those regions better and not focus just on Kanto;
  • Not have this much pointless, boring fillers;
  • I still think Ash should've caught less Pokémon in this series and actually just rotated his reserves (as in: Chu, a Galar starter, random Galar mon being the only 3 fixated team members while the rest keeps on changing).
 
Project Mew definitely should have been introduced right at the very beginning. It seems like it was added because the writers realized just having Go capture pokemon all series wasn't going to go anywhere. Sadly it feels like it got introduced a little too late to make full impact but we'll see where it goes.
 
I was thinking about this a few days ago. But I think the way they handled Goh just wasn’t good. I have issues with how he is written but don’t out right hate him.

I think it really gets highlighted in episodes where it focuses on one or the other of Ash and Goh. Like in the Greninja episode Goh was 100% dead weight, which is typically not normal for Ash’s companions this late in a series.

As he is now, he’d be better as a reoccurring character. Like Todd, only he shows up more often, so you can see his progress.

It also took them too long to figure out what to do with Chloe, only for them to take the typical route with their girl characters again.
 
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Complicated question, because there's a lot to think about and there's not a single thing that would fix all the problems. Also you have to ask yourself "Would I build upon what's there or would I try out different things?". I'm gonna do a mix of both.
Ash
  • His personality is closer to his XY self.
  • Goodbye Journeys team, I will not miss you. They could be reworked into Goh or Chloe's mons though. Reserves are used instead, who also get new developments and training. Charizard replaces Lucario's "Megastone Arc" and Hawlucha or Oshawott take Sirfetch'd place in his arc. While they have experience and it shows, they never feel like they are too amazing for a battle.
  • To make things easier for the writers, Leon isn't explicitly the best trainer in the world, just one of the best. He still won the last PWC.
  • Battles are more common, through some of them take place partially off screen.
Goh
  • He doesn't start as a pro, actually the opposite. He's like Max or Sophocles in the sense he's got a lot of knowledge but almost none hands-on experience, so he sucks badly at catching. It's only through the help of Chloe and other characters that he can make his first 3 catches: Scorbunny, Grookey and Sobble, whose personalities and arcs are more or less the same, but as they are captured within the first episodes they have more time to breathe and to have relationships with each other.
  • Horace is key to Goh's development and his main rival. JN032 is now one of the first episodes, and gets a part two where Goh and Horace talk about their differences and ends with Goh getting Grookey and Horace getting Chikorita at the same time.
  • He gets more Galar Pokemon and his catches are more technical and thought out. They involve different kinds of balls.
  • Project Mew is introduced earlier.

Chloe
  • She gets Eevee by episode 30 and joins the main cast, appearing in every episode.
  • She completes the eeveelution quest by episode 80, and it's more based on Chloe trying different careers in different regions, like musicals, Pokewood, etc.

Team Rocket
  • The gatcha stays but Jessie gets a Chewtle and James a Sinistea as permanent companions, but they behave more like pets. Also, all of their Pokemon from the HQ appear and are used in at least one battle.
  • Morpeko is not redeemed. He has a similar role at first but a few episodes after its debut TR teams up with Goh and they get it caught and sent to the HQ.
  • Cassidy and Butch replace Matori and appear as TR's rivals on a few missions. After the Dialga & Palkia plot they retire, so JN095's development stays the same but happens sometime later.
Miscellaneous
  • The lab is located in Galar. Super creative, I know. It still belongs to Cerise, but...
  • ...is financiated by Rose, who is a more prominent figure who is really good at hiding his true intentions. He becomes interesed in Ash and Goh because he suspects they are the heroes of the Galarian legends so he wants to keep them in check.
  • However, the real heroes are Ash and Leon, who Rose previously dismissed because of his confidence issues when battling wild Pokemon (he's a person who does great at battling trainers). Therefore, the Darkest day is more about the relationship between Ash and Leon. Goh also gets some development by figuring out that it's okay to not be special.
  • After the arc, the lab is now financiated by Mostaz, who comes from Sinnoh.
  • The Dialga/Palkia arc and Arceus specials are merged into a bigger story that is foreshadowed more and has more content from Legends. It culminates in Goh being braver than ever and obtaining his first legendary, Heatran (Goodbye Suicune).
  • Sonia is Chloe's older sister, the trainer of Yamper and Goh's mentor. She replaces Ren and Chryssa and is almost a main character. Also, she had the same goal as Goh in the past but gave up to be a researcher. That makes Ash, Goh and Chloe conflicted about whether it's good or bad to "give up" on your dreams.
  • The duo still travel the world, but for reasons less lame than "I want to meet x Pokemon".
  • Marnie is Ash's main rival and the person he has to beat to enter the Masters 8.
  • Raihan appears more, his relationship with Leon is framed as similar to Ash and Goh, and makes it into the Masters 8.
 
Off the top of my head...

* Make the series more consistently focused on the PWC/Project Mew episodes. Both of them (the latter especially) never really feel like the highlight of the series and I feel like more episodes could've been spent earlier on fleshing out Ash/Goh's goals.

* Make Chloe a protagonist. She not only would've made the group dynamic feel more realized, but I feel that she has gradually become less interesting as a character because most of her character development now is associated with Eevee. Yamper also should've stayed as her main Pokémon, with how underused Gen 8 Pokémon are in this series)

* More Pokémon interactions. We should not be this deep in the series and still not have a single scene where all of Goh's starters interact with each other.

* More Galar. With how much personality the Gen 8 Gym Leaders have, I'm amazed that only HALF of them have appeared even once this series. The Pokémon sadly aren't doing much better either...

* No off-screen shenanigans. Why does Ash jump so rapidly throughout the series? Why does Morpeko randomly end up in Kanto? Why does half of Ash's lineup randomly learn new moves?

* Establish TR's radio show much earlier on in the series. This would not only allow them to have more unique traits beyond the Gacha but give them a creative way to appear in the PWC episodes without being a hindrance, as they could become great commentators

* Have Jessie actually end up catching Ditto. It's a shame this will probably be the first series that Jessie doesn't get a single new Pokemon, and I think that there was a lot they could've done with it (the Pikachu shenanigans episode literally screamed Ditto, cmon lol)
 
Off the top of my head...

* Make the series more consistently focused on the PWC/Project Mew episodes. Both of them (the latter especially) never really feel like the highlight of the series and I feel like more episodes could've been spent earlier on fleshing out Ash/Goh's goals.

* Make Chloe a protagonist. She not only would've made the group dynamic feel more realized, but I feel that she has gradually become less interesting as a character because most of her character development now is associated with Eevee. Yamper also should've stayed as her main Pokémon, with how underused Gen 8 Pokémon are in this series)

* More Pokémon interactions. We should not be this deep in the series and still not have a single scene where all of Goh's starters interact with each other.

* More Galar. With how much personality the Gen 8 Gym Leaders have, I'm amazed that only HALF of them have appeared even once this series. The Pokémon sadly aren't doing much better either...

* No off-screen shenanigans. Why does Ash jump so rapidly throughout the series? Why does Morpeko randomly end up in Kanto? Why does half of Ash's lineup randomly learn new moves?

* Establish TR's radio show much earlier on in the series. This would not only allow them to have more unique traits beyond the Gacha but give them a creative way to appear in the PWC episodes without being a hindrance, as they could become great commentators

* Have Jessie actually end up catching Ditto. It's a shame this will probably be the first series that Jessie doesn't get a single new Pokemon, and I think that there was a lot they could've done with it (the Pikachu shenanigans episode literally screamed Ditto, cmon lol)
Oh my gosh I loved the Ditto episode so much! James should have caught a Cramorant in JN, Team Rocket and Cramorant was the best part of Secrets of the Jungle (though I am bias)
 
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