Preview Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon

[Pokefan19]

I'm predicting about a 75% win percentage honestly. I had no idea also his win percentage for Sinnoh was so low also, when this was one of his better seasons. I honestly expected his BW win percentage to be that low.

Ash didn't seem to battle too many outside trainers often other then Paul. The other few times he took on the E4 and did about as well as expected, ending in a lost. Ash faced a ton of stiff competition in the Sinnoh region, but all that "failure" resulted in him placing the highest he'd ever placed up to that point, but improved so much from the experience he was forced out of the tournament by the writers interference.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

Probably 50% if Ash is going to regress backwards in the show. Maybe 80% if they keep Ash as XY Ash.

 

[Momentum]

I wonder what the Sun and Moon ratio will be

Spoiler: Ash's Winning %

Very surprising to see how badly Ash's ratio was in Sinnoh. Almost as shocking is how Ash's ratio was it's best both now in XY and back in Johto.

 

[Jaye]

For those saying we won't be seeing so-and-so character, I'd like to show you one of the initial promotions for Pokemon XY:

Spoiler

It's noticeably devoid of Serena, Clement and Bonnie, who turned out to be his travelling companions. So just because Hau and Glovehead aren't on the SM poster doesn't mean they aren't going to show up at all in the show.

Incidentally, here's a Best Wishes poster:

Spoiler

Notice how Ash looks like a serious, confident trainer there? Now recall how Best Wishes actually turned out. So it's not wise to try and gauge Ash's competence from a single image.

Just comparing these, Sun and Moon's first promotion has far more personality to it.

 

[Elementar]

I actually wouldn't mind Ash having a smaller winning percentage, because that's one of the things that made DP great. There were challenges he needed to overcome, and he eventually did, before something bigger came. That was one of the minor let-downs in XY, because he created a small challenge by losing to Sawyer, and he never overcome Alain's challenge. That being said...
It wouldn't make sense to go back that far in terms of skill.
And I'm not sure why everyone is presuming that the school is actually a school. There are many different types of school, and the Pokemon anime has many different possibilities when it comes to the word.
I think that it's best to wait for more info before making judgements. Hopefully, we get some footage this Thursday and that answers some of our questions.
Man, they're doing a good job at creating speculation and maintaining intrigue.

 

[Almonds]

I can understand the panic of people worrying about the SM series turning out to be BW 2.0 because I'm worried.
The concept of going to school itself is interesting. What bothers me is that there is a very high chance for Ash to regress. We've seen Ash at his best in XY/XY&Z, and he was this serious veteran who knew what he was doing in battles. But he's going to school in the next series. He's going to receive education for a reason. I seriously hope it's not an education for battles, which Ash had been an expert on, and if he gets reset... I hope it doesn't become BW 2.0

 

[Pokémon Spectrum]

Wait... Ash has a Rotom Pokédex... And Professor Oak caught a Rotom back in the Decolore Islands... I think Oak's Rotom is going to be joining Ash this time around!

 

[Daren]

I actually suspected Ash's Sinnoh win rate would be low. Remember he lost to several gym leaders and his various Paul battles.

 

[p0pp1i0D3f3nd3r]

m getting Best Wishes vibes just to look at Ash's ridiculously dumb face

Me, too TBH.

I hope this series does not turn out to be a BW 2.0.

I Hope not either, But I'm a pessimist.
Wait... Ash has a Rotom Pokédex... And Professor Oak caught a Rotom back in the Decolore Islands... I think Oak's Rotom is going to be joining Ash this time around!

Wait... Ash has a Rotom Pokédex... And Professor Oak caught a Rotom back in the Decolore Islands... I think Oak's Rotom is going to be joining Ash this time around!

I sure hope so.

 

[Jukain]

Well, I remember the climate around XY itself somewhat. It was only the previews that showed the promise of a better season, but many knew that none of the sagas have had the same kind of atmosphere. They each have their own identity. I can see why a lot are wary of BW being done to us again. Then again, the previews didn't really tell us what kind of atmosphere BW was going to have, either. The only course is to see for ourselves.

I do realize I'm one to talk since I ditched XY at the Battle Chateau ep due to being sick of filler and Serena had done squat up to that point. When I looked back into it, even if I had been more patient, I probably would've still ragequit since Serena took too long to do anything. I apparently missed the first Malamar ep, though, which was one of the eps that did interest me, since pokemon haven't been shown with that kind of power since Mewtwo. It might've been that I tend to be impartial when I'm doing an analysis, and I knew that some eps had greater importance in the scheme of things since the saga was already at it's other end. There was no way anyone could've known that when they originally aired. I still admitted XY was more interesting than I had given it credit for. I had to be given a saga wide perspective to see it, though. It has left me uncertain of how to act now. How much of a chance am I willing to give this? I can't be certain. I am not as angry as I was then. I'm not angry at all right now. Anything from BW can instantly flip that switch, but I doubt there'll be hard feelings this time. If I leave, I leave. It's not like the anime is all I have.

 

[Jaye]

If this new saga resembles Best Wishes that's not a bad thing, because Best Wishes was a good saga up until a certain point. After a rough start Ash did regain his competence, then inexplicably lost it again when the league rolled about, all the while it had a pretty decent cast of recurring characters. It was only Iris and Cilan, who I both disliked, and their chemistry with Ash, which was non-existent, that put me off the saga entirely around the time Ash won his 6th badge.

So for me, all Sun and Moon has to do is make sure it has a strong and likeable cast of supporting characters.

 

[Pokefan19]

Not gonna lie, it actually would be pretty awesome if Ash got Rockruff, he never gets a canine companion

 

[BigDocFan]

So Ash is going to school in Alola, that will be interesting

 

[Hidden Mew]

If this new saga resembles Best Wishes that's not a bad thing, because Best Wishes was a good saga up until a certain point. After a rough start Ash did regain his competence, then inexplicably lost it again when the league rolled about, all the while it had a pretty decent cast of recurring characters. It was only Iris and Cilan, who I both disliked, and their chemistry with Ash, which was non-existent, that put me off the saga entirely around the time Ash won his 6th badge.

So for me, all Sun and Moon has to do is make sure it has a strong and likeable cast of supporting characters.

I disagree that BW was a good saga up until a certain point. It was pretty bad from the start, especially with Ash's character, and things got worse for the battles and traveling companions pretty quickly, at least for me, So while I don't think SM is going to become BW 2.0, I can understand that concern people have. The fact that Ash is so competent in XY probably reminds people quite a bit of how he was in DP and in turn, how he regressed in BW. It just bothers me that people are panicking over virtually nothing though.

Not gonna lie, it actually would be pretty awesome if Ash got Rockruff, he never gets a canine companion

I really hope that he'll get Rockruff and then evolve it into its Midday Form. Considering its connection to the starters and how it's one of the first seventh generation Pokemon to get a plush toy, there's a pretty good chance for Ash to capture it. I'm sure someone on the main cast will have a Rockruff, but Ash getting it would be great.

 

[Jaye]

I disagree that BW was a good saga up until a certain point. It was pretty bad from the start, especially with Ash's character, and things got worse for the battles and traveling companions pretty quickly, at least for me, So while I don't think SM is going to become BW 2.0, I can understand that concern people have. The fact that Ash is so competent in XY probably reminds people quite a bit of how he was in DP and in turn, how he regressed in BW. It just bothers me that people are panicking over virtually nothing though.

I feel like there's a degree of revisionism going on with BW - the saga ended poorly so everyone says it was bad in its entirety. But perhaps up until that infamous 5th badge we had entertaining episodes, the Don George tournaments, decent gym battles, a potentially interesting plot with Iris and Excadrill, and had Ash catch more Pokemon than he ever did before. That it failed to deliver in the end doesn't take away from the solid foundation it built. I distinctly recall that opinions around that time were largely positive.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I feel like there's a degree of revisionism going on with BW - the saga ended poorly so everyone says it was bad in its entirety. But perhaps up until that infamous 5th badge we had entertaining episodes, the Don George tournaments, decent gym battles, a potentially interesting plot with Iris and Excadrill, and had Ash catch more Pokemon than he ever did before. That it failed to deliver in the end doesn't take away from the solid foundation it built. I distinctly recall that opinions around that time were largely positive.

I'm not saying that no one liked BW at any point of time. I recall that opinions on early BW were fairly positive/optimistic too, there were some interesting ideas/concept that they tried to do and there were some good episodes/moments. I just don't think it really had a solid foundation to begin with. Granted, part of it is probably me looking back in the series, but even then, I wasn't all that thrilled with BW well before the end of its first year.

 

[Daren]

I feel like there's a degree of revisionism going on with BW - the saga ended poorly so everyone says it was bad in its entirety. But perhaps up until that infamous 5th badge we had entertaining episodes, the Don George tournaments, decent gym battles, a potentially interesting plot with Iris and Excadrill, and had Ash catch more Pokemon than he ever did before. That it failed to deliver in the end doesn't take away from the solid foundation it built. I distinctly recall that opinions around that time were largely positive.

As I recall, a lot of people in the west liked the new Team Rocket, but even at the beginning people complained about the Snivy battle and that Ash seemed to have regressd more than ususal.

What exactly happened at the fifth gym? I'd stopped paying attention to what was going on by that point.

Personally, I was unhappy with almost everything I heard about BW from the start, which combined with Tobias is why I gave up on the series until last year, when I heard how good the XY series was.

 

[Jaye]

I'm not saying that no one liked BW at any point of time. I recall that opinions on early BW were fairly positive/optimistic too, there were some interesting ideas/concept that they tried to do and there were some good episodes/moments. I just don't think it really had a solid foundation to begin with. Granted, part of it is probably me looking back in the series, but even then, I wasn't all that thrilled with BW well before the end of its first year.

I just think the second half the series sours people's perspective of the first half, but we'll agree to disagree on its quality. All I'll say is that if SM does half of what BW attempted to do, and does it well, it'll be a good saga.

As I recall, a lot of people in the west liked the new Team Rocket, but even at the beginning people complained about the Snivy battle and that Ash seemed to have regressd more than ususal.

What exactly happened at the fifth gym? I'd stopped paying attention to what was going on by that point.

Personally, I was unhappy with almost everything I heard about BW from the start, which combined with Tobias is why I gave up on the series until last year, when I heard how good the XY series was.

The Snivy battle is a legitimate complaint, and Ash did start at a very jarringly low point coming out of DP. But then his competency came back for the first, third and fourth gyms. They were mostly inconsistent with it.

For the 5th gym, Ash decided he only needed Palpitoad to beat Elesa, and literally only took Palpitoad with him to the fight and made a moron out of himself. The whole moral was that Ash should never try and plan ahead because he sucks at it. It was probably the most random and OOC Ash has ever been in this show.

I'm not going to defend BW that much because, as I said, I didn't enjoy that much either (and this is a debate for another thread). I only feel that BW had some good ideas going for it, contrary to popular belief that the whole thing was awful.

 

[Simpsons138]

For the 5th gym, Ash decided he only needed Palpitoad to beat Elesa, and literally only took Palpitoad with him to the fight and made a moron out of himself. The whole moral was that Ash should never try and plan ahead because he sucks at it. It was probably the most random and OOC Ash has ever been in this show.

That was actually the fourth Gym, the fifth gym was with Clay and he spammed Attract when he got Snivy out

 

[Daren]

Okay, I heard about the Elesa thing later (then Pikachu just comes in and saves the day, I believe?) and thought it was the opposite of good character development.