Review New series: Initial thoughts

[Hidden Mew]

How? Other than the Sinnoh E4, Shirona's group, we barely see anything of other E4.

We still usually see at least one member of the Elite 4 in every series and they've always been depicted as being much more powerful than ordinary trainers. That's why I can't really see Ash defeat any of the Champions. I could see him maybe giving some Elite 4 trainers a good run for their money depending on what kind of team he could put together, but even defeating the Elite 4 would be pretty hard to pull off in a believable manner for me.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

That's why I can't really see Ash defeat any of the Champions.

I refuse to believe this! We won't fall into despair, and we won't give up on our dreams!

Uhm, ahem....Yeah, let's agree to disagree.

 

[Daenerys]

I feel like having Ash beat the E4 (as in all in a row) would still be a challenge for the writing staff. I still doubt that Ash is at the level where he can defeat multiple E4 members unless he uses his reserves, but this is Pocket Monsters 2019 so the odds of the writers caring enough to have Ash use his reserves aren't looking so good.

 

[Almonds]

Just a thought, maybe they're deliberately avoiding trainer battles because like with Episode 7, it'll only feature Ash destroying every single opponent. Just like how easy captures are boring, easy battle-wins would be expected of Ash and thus pretty boring if it continues on and on. They obviously can't downplay Ash and make him lose for drama or it'll make his (Alolan) champion status look bad (and "unacceptable"). I don't think they'll risk writing another Zekrom scenario to make Pikachu lose for any reason due to possible backlash. We might get some really good battles once the series progressed enough for them to meet up with the big names in the pokemon world.

But until then, it looks like they're preserving Ash for later and focusing on Gou at the moment.

 

[J Bouken]

Easy solution to that problem: introduce strong trainers for Ash to battle. Nothing says they have to wait.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Just a thought, maybe they're deliberately avoiding trainer battles because like with Episode 7, it'll only feature Ash destroying every single opponent. Just like how easy captures are boring, easy battle-wins would be expected of Ash and thus pretty boring if it continues on and on. They obviously can't downplay Ash and make him lose for drama or it'll make his (Alolan) champion status look bad (and "unacceptable"). I don't think they'll risk writing another Zekrom scenario to make Pikachu lose for any reason due to possible backlash. We might get some really good battles once the series progressed enough for them to meet up with the big names in the pokemon world.

But until then, it looks like they're preserving Ash for later and focusing on Gou at the moment.

I don't really see how losing a battle would make his Alolan Champions status look bad. They had him lose after both the Orange Islands and the Battle Frontier. That didn't suddenly negate those accomplishments or make them worthless. Losing just made him realize that he still needs to become stronger, which wouldn't be a bad motivation for Ash to have either instead of just basking in the glory of being a Champion. They probably don't want to have another case of Pikachu losing to Snivy, but I don't think that Ash is now too powerful to where he'll crush every single opponent he comes across. He currently only has Pikachu and Mr. Mime. Ash is not an unbeatable force just because he won the Alola League, especially when I don't think that his SM team is even that good. It isn't one of the worst teams he's made, but I don't think that it's anything to write home about either.

Besides all that, they could still make good engaging battles for Ash even if he wins. He would usually win Gym battles on his first try, at least after Kanto, but that didn't make all of them boring or bad. It would also be incredibly easy to introduce strong trainers for Ash to battle against too. I still don't think that Ash can't ever lose again if they don't want to ruin his Alola Championship title, but they could introduce a new character who actually has traveled around multiple regions like he has to make them more of an intimidating threat.

 

[Shadowlarvitar]

Just a thought, maybe they're deliberately avoiding trainer battles because like with Episode 7, it'll only feature Ash destroying every single opponent. Just like how easy captures are boring, easy battle-wins would be expected of Ash and thus pretty boring if it continues on and on. They obviously can't downplay Ash and make him lose for drama or it'll make his (Alolan) champion status look bad (and "unacceptable"). I don't think they'll risk writing another Zekrom scenario to make Pikachu lose for any reason due to possible backlash. We might get some really good battles once the series progressed enough for them to meet up with the big names in the pokemon world.

But until then, it looks like they're preserving Ash for later and focusing on Gou at the moment.

A lot of the Galar gym leaders are extremely strong, the games even say Raihan could become the champion. And Kabu is so strong that he made people give up on the challenge

Also if Pikachu wasn't the one to win Ash's title, then I see no reason why they can't sideline Pikachu for the first gym to let Sobble/Grookey get in some experience while Ash whips Pikachu out for the Gigantimax part

 

[Almonds]

I don't really see how losing a battle would make his Alolan Champions status look bad. They had him lose after both the Orange Islands and the Battle Frontier. That didn't suddenly negate those accomplishments or make them worthless. Losing just made him realize that he still needs to become stronger, which wouldn't be a bad motivation for Ash to have either instead of just basking in the glory of being a Champion. They probably don't want to have another case of Pikachu losing to Snivy, but I don't think that Ash is now too powerful to where he'll crush every single opponent he comes across. He currently only has Pikachu and Mr. Mime. Ash is not an unbeatable force just because he won the Alola League, especially when I don't think that his SM team is even that good. It isn't one of the worst teams he's made, but I don't think that it's anything to write home about either.

Besides all that, they could still make good engaging battles for Ash even if he wins. He would usually win Gym battles on his first try, at least after Kanto, but that didn't make all of them boring or bad. It would also be incredibly easy to introduce strong trainers for Ash to battle against too. I still don't think that Ash can't ever lose again if they don't want to ruin his Alola Championship title, but they could introduce a new character who actually has traveled around multiple regions like he has to make them more of an intimidating threat.

*glances at Alain

If the writers are up to it, I guess.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

SM being different from the usual Pokemon anime was in response to the games subtly changing direction. The Sun and Moon games placed greater emphasis on its characters and world, so the anime adjusted accordingly to reflect that aspect. Within those three years, the franchise as a whole shifted from using these mainline games as its backbone to targeting the substantial audience attracted by Pokemon Go. PM2019 seems to be the next step in that strategy, as its focus is far broader than what came before it, and it's very keen to acknowledge Pokemon Go's existence (if the protagonist being called "Gou", the show's catch-phrase being "Let's go!", and the Pokedex screaming "Excellent!" whenever a capture is made is anything to go by). It distances itself from being a Sword and Shield adaptation so it can target the people who haven't played those games, and engage in the franchise through other means. Notably, the show using the "Pocket Monster" title on its own, without a sub-title, is further evidence it's trying to broaden its appeal.

Meanwhile, the movies made a radical change due to declining box office numbers. The strategy with them now seems to be detaching them entirely from the anime by making them standalone. Anyone with just a basic knowledge of Pokemon can watch I Choose You! and The Power of Us, where people were less inclined to watch any of XYs movies if they hadn't seen any of the XY anime. Again, removing the sub-headings, and going purely with "Pocket Monsters" symbolises this new distance between the anime and the games.

So basically, Pokemon's new direction is likely less about any one season being poorly received, or the brief success of Yokai Watch, and more to do with its own audience changing.

They may as well call the new series ''Pokemon The Series: Let's Go!'' since it's focusing it's attention more on Go and less on SwSh.

 

[Daren]

A lot of the Galar gym leaders are extremely strong, the games even say Raihan could become the champion. And Kabu is so strong that he made people give up on the challenge

Also if Pikachu wasn't the one to win Ash's title, then I see no reason why they can't sideline Pikachu for the first gym to let Sobble/Grookey get in some experience while Ash whips Pikachu out for the Gigantimax part

That's the thing, the Galar Gym leaders are pretty much on par with other region's Elite Four.
If Ash does enter the Galar League they may not want him fighting the same people in the Gyms and the tournament so they could have the Galar Gym Leaders use their endgame parties when they battle him during the challenge since he's a regional champion and not a rookie they need to hold back against. Similar to how Falkner's party got upgraded in Johto since Ash was packing Charizard when he battled him.

 

[Hidden Mew]

*glances at Alain

If the writers are up to it, I guess.

I was thinking more along the lines of Paul than anyone else. Aside from his brief trip to Hoenn, I don't think that it was made clear that he traveled through different regions. It wouldn't have really made sense for him to go to multiple other regions when his goal was to collect Mega Evolution energy. Not to mention that they didn't really make him seriously overpowered until the third Mega Evolution special.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

How peculiar

XY didn't get a third version game, and SwSh didn't get a proper anime series with Ash dedicated to it.

 

[Hidden Mew]

How peculiar

XY didn't get a third version game, and SwSh didn't get a proper anime series with Ash dedicated to it.

I don't really see the connection here.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Just a thought, maybe they're deliberately avoiding trainer battles because like with Episode 7, it'll only feature Ash destroying every single opponent. Just like how easy captures are boring, easy battle-wins would be expected of Ash and thus pretty boring if it continues on and on. They obviously can't downplay Ash and make him lose for drama or it'll make his (Alolan) champion status look bad (and "unacceptable"). I don't think they'll risk writing another Zekrom scenario to make Pikachu lose for any reason due to possible backlash. We might get some really good battles once the series progressed enough for them to meet up with the big names in the pokemon world.

But until then, it looks like they're preserving Ash for later and focusing on Gou at the moment.

Easy solution to that problem: introduce strong trainers for Ash to battle. Nothing says they have to wait.

In addition to it, here’s an extremely crazy idea... please don’t call me insane but I had a really radical idea. Why not give Ash new captures to train? *runs away to escape the crowd*

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

I don't really see the connection here.

I mean, Gen 6 has XY, an anime based in Kalos with Ash, but no third version like Pokemon Z

While Gen 8 has SwSh, has no anime based in Galar with Ash, but has a sort of third version in the form of DLC, expansion, The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I mean, Gen 6 has XY, an anime based in Kalos with Ash, but no third version like Pokemon Z

While Gen 8 has SwSh, has no anime based in Galar with Ash, but has a sort of third version in the form of DLC, expansion, The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra.

I still don't really see much of a connection here, or at least why it would be noteworthy to mention.

 

[RileyXY1]

Ash finally caught something. That is noteworthy to mention.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

Ash finally caught something. That is noteworthy to mention.

Yet he could have had Dragonite back in Black and White but instead was given to Iris.

I still don't really see much of a connection here, or at least why it would be noteworthy to mention.

You're doing this deliberately, aren't you?

 

[Hidden Mew]

You're doing this deliberately, aren't you?

No, because I genuinely don't understand how these two different points are connected or what it means about really anything in relation to the anime.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

No, because I genuinely don't understand how these two different points are connected or what it means about really anything in relation to the anime.

It's just that in this, Galar is not properly shown or explored to promote SwSh for this new series, and is instead focusing mostly on Pokemon Go because that's where the real money-making is for Pokemon now. I wouldn't be surprise that in summer we will get Gen 6 Pokemon and in christmas time Gen 7 Pokemon for Pokemon Go. Thus leaving Gen 8 for next year, or for when Gen 9 comes out.