Preview Pocket Monsters the series (2019)

[Beatsy Ray]

Problem there is, why should the girls just be relocated to the girly events? It got especially bad in XY where they literally invented a girls only event for Serena to take part in. It honestly feels a bit condescending towards girls by putting them into stereotypical roles in the series when they’re allowed to have roles at all.

No one said that they would be forced into girly events. Misty is a gym leader, May and Dawn do contests, which many boys do in universe, and from my perspective is way more difficult than battling gyms. Iris trained dragons. Serena is the only one who's really been pushed into a girls-only goal. The problem has mostly been giving secondary characters something different to do from collecting badges. Gender isn't the issue.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

If it’s not going as far as stereotyping, it’s at very least typecasting. This isn’t the 1950’s anymore with gender roles. Just as with the games themselves, the girls should be allowed to do the same things of prominence as the boys and shouldn’t just be about the cutesy simply because they’re girls. They’re Pokémon trainers all the same.

Well that mostly depend of what role Ash plays in the anime, which all the time is him competing in Gyms and the Leagues. If Go was female then that could fix things, but because he's male, then we're stuck with girly things. Hopefully there would be something the Female Trainer for Galar, or Gloria can do.

 

[Panky..]

Problem there is, why should the girls just be relocated to the girly events? It got especially bad in XY where they literally invented a girls only event for Serena to take part in. It honestly feels a bit condescending towards girls by putting them into stereotypical roles in the series when they’re allowed to have roles at all.

If it’s not going as far as stereotyping, it’s at very least typecasting. This isn’t the 1950’s anymore with gender roles. Just as with the games themselves, the girls should be allowed to do the same things of prominence as the boys and shouldn’t just be about the cutesy simply because they’re girls. They’re Pokémon trainers all the same.

The world isn't black and white or straightforward. Think of it this way, why aren't showcases inclusive... why are they female-only? See? Works both ways.

As for League related, girls can participate... Jeanette Fisher, Macy, Katie, Vivica, Katharine, Flora, Bianca, Astrid, Lana, Lillie, Acerola, Jessie, Mina, Mallow, Kahili, Plumeria, Rapp and Pikala say hi.
Oh and let's not forget Lorelei/Prima, Agatha, Bertha, Cynthia, Caitlin, Malva and Diantha.

The problem you described doesn't have anything to do with the female companion but is more of an issue with redundant goals.

 

[emerson.brant]

Hypothetical example:
Galar - Gloria is the female companion, walking with Ash and Gou, collecting badges and rivaling Ash.

Sinnoh - Cynthia (the great champion, could you find a stronger role for a girl than this?) is the companion, menitoring Ash for the champions league and Gou for local league.

Girls can be showcased in a very respectable way this time. I can only see good things in a girl not being part of fixed cast. Look at the bright side.

 

[RileyXY1]

Hypothetical example:
Galar - Gloria is the female companion, walking with Ash and Gou, collecting badges and rivaling Ash.

Sinnoh - Cynthia (the great champion, could you find a stronger role for a girl than this?) is the companion, menitoring Ash for the champions league and Gou for local league.

Girls can be showcased in a very respectable way this time. I can only see good things in a girl not being part of fixed cast. Look at the bright side.

I don't think that they would have two Gym Challengers on the main cast.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

I don't think that they would have two Gym Challengers on the main cast.

Who's to say Go will be competing in Galar's League?

Guess we'll have to find out.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

I don't think that they would have two Gym Challengers on the main cast.

I think you just killed your argument.

 

[emerson.brant]

I don't think that they would have two Gym Challengers on the main cast.

Well, they can.

 

[Kurolegacy]

No one said that they would be forced into girly events. Misty is a gym leader, May and Dawn do contests, which many boys do in universe, and from my perspective is way more difficult than battling gyms. Iris trained dragons. Serena is the only one who's really been pushed into a girls-only goal. The problem has mostly been giving secondary characters something different to do from collecting badges. Gender isn't the issue.

Misty may be a gym leader now but when she was a member of the cast, she was basically as aimless as Brock, simply existing in the cast (and don’t even get me started on them pushing the mother role on her with Togepi something that never occurred again with hatched Pokémon coming out able to battle). Meanwhile Contests, while giving the girls something to do, we’re still basically the more girl oriented answer to the badge quest. While yes, males did take part in it, it was basically a beauty pageant with a battle round that the anime added which fall more to the girl side vs competitive battling. Meanwhile, the females never even get to so much as touch the competitive battle scene.

 

[RileyXY1]

Well, they can.

It would be boring for both the viewers and the writers. The viewers would be forced to watch the same battle twice and the writers would be forced to write the same battle twice.

 

[game3524]

I don't think it is a typecasting issue outside of Serena (showcases were sexist as hell and I am glad it is never coming back). The bigger problem is that a battle-oriented goal overlaps with Ash's schtick. The girls having "meh" goals isn't something just reserved to them, I mean just look at the second male companion.

Anyway, cutting the cast to two is the right idea if that is the case. But they would have been better suited by making Gou a girl. His goal and personality are fairly gender-neutral so I don't see any issues with making him a girl. I don't know, maybe the writers are just tired of the usual Ash/Pokegirl dynamic and wanted to try something different.

 

[Kurolegacy]

The world isn't black and white or straightforward. Think of it this way, why aren't showcases inclusive... why are they female-only? See? Works both ways.

As for League related, girls can participate... Jeanette Fisher, Macy, Katie, Vivica, Katharine, Flora, Bianca, Astrid, Lana, Lillie, Acerola, Jessie, Mina, Mallow, Kahili, Plumeria, Rapp and Pikala say hi.
Oh and let's not forget Lorelei/Prima, Agatha, Bertha, Cynthia, Caitlin, Malva and Diantha.

The problem you described doesn't have anything to do with the female companion but is more of an issue with redundant goals.

Hence the fact that they don’t have to have a competitive goal to show importance. Like Gou has a goal of capturing all the Pokémon and is the duel protagonist. Give them a goal that can be expressed in the series without just being a bunch of hot air like they did with Brock, Misty, Iris and Cilan.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

Hence the fact that they don’t have to have a competitive goal to show importance. Like Gou has a goal of capturing all the Pokémon and is the duel protagonist. Give them a goal that can be expressed in the series without just being a bunch of hot air like they did with Brock, Misty, Iris and Cilan.

I'm not sure what you're still on about then. Those are clearly examples of bad character writing, not gender stereotypes. Ash has dibs on badge collecting, so it's hard for the writers to think of a parallel goal for secondary characters that conveniently allows them to travel with him. I think contests have been the best example. While showcases were basically Ms. America, contest were closer to talents shows, or even dog shows. They're not inherently feminine, just more refined and admittedly a little pretentious. If anything, they would be stereotypical of the upperclass.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Steven Universe (technically), Powerpuff Girls 2016, DC Super Hero Girls, Disney's Frozen. There is a bunch of them.

...Are you serious? And no, none of those are true.

Or in anime's case, Sailor Moon

Tuxedo Mask.

Considering that Ash didn't even mention Ho-Oh in that 20th anniversary episode, I consider this another AU hint in addition to the logo. It's a stretch to say that Ho-Oh had a big effect on the original Ash. The other Ash's goal was to be good enough to battle it.

His encounter with Ho-Oh had nothing to do with his goal to be Pokémon Master, so I'm not sure why did you even think of it.

...

Is there point to this chart?

Except it would come off as forced and even sexist, especially if they're old companions.

I'm sorry, what? How is it sexist to bringing back old companions?

Well tbh, the Female Companions are what dragged the six series down the gutter.

I wouldn't call it stereotyping, just the norm for 2 genders. Breaking the norm is just minor exceptions.

Now, that's sexist.

 

[Kurolegacy]

I'm not sure what you're still on about then. Those are clearly examples of bad character writing, not gender stereotypes. Ash has dibs on badge collecting, so it's hard for the writers to think of a parallel goal for secondary characters that conveniently allows them to travel with him. I think contests have been the best example. While showcases were basically Ms. America, contest were closer to talents shows, or even dog shows. They're not inherently feminine, just more refined and admittedly a little pretentious. If anything, they would be stereotypical of the upperclass.

Part of the problem there is that they not only feel more oriented towards the girls but they’re extremely limiting. Such a goal can only exist in regions where the sport does and as a result, since they’re only given to the girl of the group, the girl just becomes easily replaceable to the point that they can just rotate her out at the end of the region. In the case of this new series, they have a goal that is just as important as Ash’s battles and rather than take advantage of this to make a female character as prominent as Ash, they just give it to another boy. It’s a massive missed opportunity to have done something different with a girl and increase her prominence.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

Part of the problem there is that they not only feel more oriented towards the girls but they’re extremely limiting. Such a goal can only exist in regions where the sport does and as a result, since they’re only given to the girl of the group, the girl just becomes easily replaceable to the point that they can just rotate her out at the end of the region. In the case of this new series, they have a goal that is just as important as Ash’s battles and rather than take advantage of this to make a female character as prominent as Ash, they just give it to another boy. It’s a massive missed opportunity to have done something different with a girl and increase her prominence.

I agree to the extent that they may have actually come up with a goal for a travelling companion that is equal in importance to Ash's, and they gave it to a boy. They could have given it to a girl, but they didn't. I doubt that was done out of sexism, it was just one of many decisions that was made. Maybe there is a story significant reason for why he had to be a guy. Well if it's any consolation, they made him look like a girl. But consider:

1. We don't even know if he's a travelling companion. He may be a rival who is also staged as a main character.
2. On contests, they CAN exist in any region. The fact that they shoehorned showcases into Kalos proves this. They could have brought May to Sinnoh, but they wanted to focus on new characters. Actually, this is the first time where they might actually be considering fleshing out older characters rather then introducing new ones, so it's unfair to criticize that in hindsight. Also the title of Top Coordinator is made out to be pretty prestigious.

The role of travelling companions in almost any shonen is to support the main character. As such, they have to travel to wherever the main char needs to go. So in any case, it's going to be very difficult for any side character to actually chase their own goals while being tied down like that. That's why it's important that the companions leave at the end of the series, they are then free to chase whatever goal they want. For example, when Misty leaves, she is no longer restrained by the "travelling companion" leash. She goes on to become a gym leader, which I certainly wouldn't classify as a shoehorned "female goal".

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

I don't really understand the point of discussion. In my opinion, Pokémon Contests are a hundred times better goal than capturing every pokémon, which is simply a silly thing to do. It wasn't a girl-only thing to do as well.

 

[BugCatcherinVF]

The point is that Pokémon contests are a good goal only when it is not given to girl companions exclusively.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

The point is that Pokémon contests are a good goal only when it is not given to girl companions exclusively.

It isn't given to girl companions exclusively.

 

[Kurolegacy]

The point is that Pokémon contests are a good goal only when it is not given to girl companions exclusively.

This. Contests, in spite of being a competition for both genders, was treated as the female companion’s answer to Ash’s badge quest without them even entertaining the prospect that the female companion could have any other goal.