Old Characters in Pocket Monster 2019

[SammyW27]

• Tate & Liza on an upgraded space gym would be very cool, and could provide a Double battle which are very scarce nowadays.

Or at least them with Sophocles. Heck, I kind of thought the 3 of them teaming up could be a nice Ash-free special

I'm actually wondering if now that we're spending so long in Kanto they might actually resolve Team Rocket (the organization) as a plot. The TRio could stay around on their own even without the organization.

Sorry, but we need the organization to motivate the TRio.

Remember: Most of the TRio does, they do in the name of Giovanni & the Organization. Otherwise they'd be even MORE pointless, annoying, and intrusive than they already are. And nobody wants that...

Though on a slightly more serious note, she isn't a "returning" character because she never appeared in the first place so I'd like to see Drasna appear in the anime.

Heck, I'm surprised she wasn't in XY with the other 3 members of Kalos Elite 4 being animated. Shoot, they could've had her meet up with Iris. Two Flying-types, one Rock-type move.

 

[TheLoonyRebel]

I wouldn't be shocked if Gary Oak makes some kind of return at some point.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I wouldn't be shocked if Gary Oak makes some kind of return at some point.

He's a researcher now. So I don't see him taking part.

 

[ShinyUmbreon1]

He's a researcher now. So I don't see him taking part.

He could come to the Sakuragi Institute and research the Pokemon living there

 

[BigDocFan]

I know they haven't long left the series but I would love to see Kukui and Burnet reappear as I loved their family relationship with Ash, especially after the final shot of Sun and Moon

 

[ShinyUmbreon1]

I know they haven't long left the series but I would love to see Kukui and Burnet reappear as I loved their family relationship with Ash, especially after the final shot of Sun and Moon

Kukui and Burnet were great characters and I agree with the family relation with ash was amazing
I’d love to see Ash’s Alolan Pokemon again

 

[BigDocFan]

Kukui and Burnet were great characters and I agree with the family relation with ash was amazing
I’d love to see Ash’s Alolan Pokemon again

Agreed, there appear to be hints of a Dusk Lycanroc appearing in the future so it is possible

I wouldn't be shocked if Gary Oak makes some kind of return at some point.

Would love to see Gary return as well, it was good seeing him in Diamond and Pearl so would be nice to see him again

Butch and Cassidy would be great as well, proof how reliable and competent they are over Jessie and James

 

[Islander Princess]

If we don't get to see Kukui and Burnet in this series I will riot.

Outside of them, I think there's been a lot of great suggestions in this thread. My biggest wish is always for the old companions. I'm always down for Brock and Misty, since they're my favorites, so they're always at the top of my list, but I'd love to see everyone else again too, especially May and Dawn (May because I love her, Dawn because her return episodes in BW were incredibly weak). The BW and XY gangs deserve returns as well, since they didn't really get them. I know Cilan and Iris had specials, but they went undubbed which limited the audience/knowledge of it, and Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena got nothing at all (well, Clemont and Bonnie had that special with Cilan, but same difference as the other specials). I don't even really like those three, so personally it doesn't bother me, but even I can admit that's pretty unfair.

I'm also interested in seeing gym leaders, particularly those who Ash didn't have great battles against (like Sabrina) or ones who haven't appeared at all (like Janine). I think it'd be really cool to see battles between them.

In the more unlikely category...old rivals. Gary and Paul especially. They're my two favorite Ash rivals and I think they could be used well in this series (Gary in a research role, Paul as a participant in the PWC). My ultimate dream is to see May's old rivals again (Drew, Harley, and Solidad are my favorite group of rivals of all time) but I know that's probably never going to happen. I can still dream, though!

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I'd prefer if Brock and Misty were at the lowest priority level possible. They’ve returned very often compared to other companions. I know people have nostalgia googles on regarding them, but there are companions whom we haven’t seen in years. (And some actually haven’t even appeared outside their own series, not even in specials).

Popular companions like Dawn that haven’t appeared recently should have more focus. Same should go for the reserves. As much as I like them, we’ve seen the Kanto starters hundreds of times, while Pokémon like Infernape haven’t even made an appearance outside of their region (barring a photograph).

I really hope they’d stop with this warped idea of nostalgia where they don’t include references to other regions because Children won’t remember them! but the only references we do get end up being dated 13 years even before the target audience was even born. Korrina is a step in the right direction, but the "middle generations" (3,4,5) deserve love too, even if some users are apathetic at best to them.

 

[nickdt]

I would like to see Nando again. He was kinda unique in the way that he did contests and Pokemon Battling, which i liked. He also most likely can combine the PWC with contests, so at least he can appear (If he is gonna, is a different matter, since i doubt it).

 

[Charcoatl]

If they will bring back Ash's companions/classmates I just want them to get equal focus, no favoritism.
As for rivals, if they won't bring back all of them they better don't bring back any at all. Morrison, Cameron, Ritchie or Harrison deserve an appearance as much as Gary, Paul, Alain or Tobias.

 

[BigDocFan]

I would like to see Nando again. He was kinda unique in the way that he did contests and Pokemon Battling, which i liked. He also most likely can combine the PWC with contests, so at least he can appear (If he is gonna, is a different matter, since i doubt it).

Nando had great potential as a rival during Diamond and Pearl but was grossly underused

 

[Galactic_V]

Going all the way back to the OS, I'd like to see some recurring characters we haven't seen since then. Hiroshi, Sakura, Tohru and Hazuki for instance.

 

[DarkraiKnight]

I would like to see Nando again. He was kinda unique in the way that he did contests and Pokemon Battling, which i liked. He also most likely can combine the PWC with contests, so at least he can appear (If he is gonna, is a different matter, since i doubt it).

Oh yeah! Nando was the coolest!

On another note, how about we bring back Casey and have her Beedrill Mega Evolve?

 

[Daren]

I always liked Nando, but recently liked him more when I noticed he's a "balanced" trainer (both gyms and contest) with a minstrel theme--bards (musicians) are often a balanced class in RPGs.
I don't think that was intentional, but I love it.

If they will bring back Ash's companions/classmates I just want them to get equal focus, no favoritism.
As for rivals, if they won't bring back all of them they better don't bring back any at all. Morrison, Cameron, Ritchie or Harrison deserve an appearance as much as Gary, Paul, Alain or Tobias.

Yeah, it would be nice to see the old rivals in the PWC.
Ritchie could finally have a proper and fair battle with Ash instead of the debacle in the Indigo League.

 

[BigDocFan]

The writers were certainly at their worst during the Indigo League, setting up Ritchie to be a strong opponent only to have Team Rocket pad out the episode whilst tiring out 2 of Ash's Pokemon and rush the battle

Having Ritchie come back would be good

 

[Daren]

The writers were certainly at their worst during the Indigo League, setting up Ritchie to be a strong opponent only to have Team Rocket pad out the episode whilst tiring out 2 of Ash's Pokemon and rush the battle

Having Ritchie come back would be good

I believe it was Dogasu's Backpack that noted the show just didn't really do full episode battles back then; I think the closest was Lt. Surge, and that was two battles with some character development in between (in later series' the rematch would have been a separate episode).

But yeah, whatever meta complaints there are about later leagues Ritchie was just outright unfair in-universe. I also felt it hurt the followup in the next episode when Ash was criticized for not training Charizard properly--considering how the whole thing went I really think Ash would have won if TR hadn't interfered.
One could argue Ash should have asked for a wait but the league should really have asked what happened when he showed up late with an exhausted Pidgeotto pulling a balloon.

 

[Galactic_V]

I believe it was Dogasu's Backpack that noted the show just didn't really do full episode battles back then; I think the closest was Lt. Surge, and that was two battles with some character development in between (in later series' the rematch would have been a separate episode).

But yeah, whatever meta complaints there are about later leagues Ritchie was just outright unfair in-universe. I also felt it hurt the followup in the next episode when Ash was criticized for not training Charizard properly--considering how the whole thing went I really think Ash would have won if TR hadn't interfered.
One could argue Ash should have asked for a wait but the league should really have asked what happened when he showed up late with an exhausted Pidgeotto pulling a balloon.

Dogasu also pointed out Hiroshi debuted way too late, only one episode before the battle, which also hurt any chances of getting people to actually care about the rivarly.
Btw I still don't understand why Shigeru was eliminated from the league so fast. He could be the one to defeat Satoshi, at least they'd have at least a battle in the entire Kanto portion.

 

[BigDocFan]

Just shows how bad the writers were back then.

Thankfully things have improved significantly

 

[Daren]

Just shows how bad the writers were back then.

Thankfully things have improved significantly

I think that's a bit far; Kanto mostly had poor battles but I think it had some very strong episodes in other areas like the TRio's backstories or Butterfree's release.