Proof Journeys Isn't Canon

[Blob]

Journeys isn't canon and here's why:

1. Pikachu would never try to run away because another Pokémon is getting more attention than him.
2. Ash didn't even mentioned Ambipom despite the fact she and Ash are now based in Vermilion.
3. Dawn not only didn't get a single new Pokémon, she also hasn't had a single evolution since Quilava. This is pretty unrealistic for a person who's travelled 3 regions on her own. Keep in mind she's been travelling on her own longer than Iris too (at least since Ash left), who is now a champion and fully evolved Axew.
4. The Pichu eggs in Johto and Journeys look extremely different.
5. Team Rocket barely even appear and when they do, they don't even use their own Pokémon anymore. Pretty unrealistic for people so caring about Mimikyu and Mareanie that they refused to let them go to Team Rocket HQ.
6. Goh caught Suicune.
7. Pretty sure in JN82 GMax Pikachu had a normal tail instead of the normal long one, meaning they can't even be consistent on what GMax forms look like. Same with the TCG.
8. Ash used Mega Evolution even though at one point they said Ash would never get a Pokémon that would Mega Evolve.
9. Barely any advertisement towards the new region, we haven't even seen most Gym Leaders...
10. Ash suddenly sucks at training more than he did in BW. He doesn't even bring a full team with him anymore and instead leaves all of his team minus Pikachu in offscreen land.
11. For a series that's meant to be a "conclusion" for Ash winning a league, he doesn't once thank all of his older Pokémon that got him this far. Of Ash's older Pokémon, we've only seen Infernape battle.
12. The tournament at the end of the series only has 8 competitors. Additionally, all battles are 3 vs. 3. No other region has had the finals be a 3 vs. 3 battle (I'm including Kukui in Alola), nor so few battles either. There has also been minimal build up towards it in the last year.

 

[Hidden Mew]

None of this is proof for Journeys being non-canon. This is a list of complaints. Some of thse complaints I understand or agree with. I've mentioned multiple times that Dawn's team staying the same really does bother me, but none of these contradict their continuity to the point where Journeys has to exit within its own universe.

Just because Journeys does stuff that you don't like doesn't make it non-canon. Goh capturing Suicune doesn't negate all of the characters returns or nods to previous serious. This is just a grasping at non-existent straws to claim that it's non-canon.

 

[Kelleo]

None of this is proof for Journeys being non-canon. This is a list of complaints. Some of thse complaints I understand or agree with. I've mentioned multiple times that Dawn's team staying the same really does bother me, but none of these contradict their continuity to the point where Journeys has to exit within its own universe.

Just because Journeys does stuff that you don't like doesn't make it non-canon. Goh capturing Suicune doesn't negate all of the characters returns or nods to previous serious. This is just a grasping at non-existent straws to claim that it's non-canon.

Agreed. Some of the complaints are valid. But only a few.

And on top of Goh having a Suicune not actually affecting any past anime things, we have seen trainers owning legendary Pokemon multiple times before. Tobias in the Sinnoh league had Darkrai and Latios (even though it was kinda BS lol), the Pyramid King Brandon had the three Hoenn Regis, and there was an episode that was never dubbed that featured a Nurse Joy with a Latias.

Oh, and this is freaking Goh we're talking about here. He wants to catch every Pokemon, and that would include legendaries. It was practically guaranteed that he was going to get one at some point.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

1. Pikachu would never try to run away because another Pokémon is getting more attention than him.

I wish this wasn't.... but I'm afraid it is, and that makes me weep.

4. The Pichu eggs in Johto and Journeys look extremely different.

That's because the eggs are now based off what they look like in the GO mobile game.

7. Pretty sure in JN82 GMax Pikachu had a normal tail instead of the normal long one, meaning they can't even be consistent on what GMax forms look like. Same with the TCG.

It was meant to be a quick gag. I believe Leon even pointed this out himself.

Other than those three things I've mentioned, this series is very much canon... I don't think we've ever seen an event or scenario that was not deemed canon to the series itself (not counting anything movie related).

 

[Eitarou]

"X series is non-canon because reasons" posts are never funny.

 

[Enzo]

I agree with basically everything you said and hate most of it just as much, but the fact that it happened and you didn't liked it doesn't means it's not canon.

Reminds me of people who tried to claim SM wasn't on the same canon of OS-XY because of how different it was from XY.

 

[Blob]

That's because the eggs are now based off what they look like in the GO mobile game.

Basing canon things on mobile games is never a good idea, especially when eggs have had unique designs from the start until Gen 7.

 

[Kurolegacy]

I’m far from Journeys biggest fan and even I’m gonna call malarkey on this one. These are just a combination of general complaints and the series’ usual inconsistencies. Nothing about this makes Journeys non-canon.

 

[HiroHunter]

This isn't proof that JN is non cannon. This is proof that JN is poorly writen.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Pretty much every saga starting from BW has been deemed non-canon by someone on the fanbase, but it's honestly an annoying trend. You can dislike the direction a saga has taken as much as you want, but that alone isn't enough to make it non-canon.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I really don't like Journeys, but this is more of a sign of the poor writing of the series than it not being canon. Nothing about it screams its not canon, especially considering we've seen Ash's old Pokemon, we've met his old friends, and we've had many references to the past. We've even had it acknowledged that Ash is the Alolan Champion.

 

[R1ke]

Alright come on man. Ash is literally meeting his past companions and pokemon. Besides those are just complaints. I think you just wanna dismiss the series as non canon because you don’t like it.

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

Totally agree.
My personal headcanon is that the anime stops at XYZ, so this thread def peaked my interest, but I think this isn't really "proof".
(also, doesn't Ash have his trophies from the other series with him still?)

Same. In fact I have my own AU canon

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

I'm going to have to make another addition, because I feel a lot of fans are prone to forgetting this: the only people who can decide what is and isn't canon are the anime staff, aka, the ones in charge. So essentially, the only way for a saga to be non-canon would be if the director or one of the head writers came forward and explicitly made it known that it took place in an alternate universe, and not only has that so far never happened, but we've been given every indication that yes, all the sagas do indeed take place in the same continuity.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Totally agree.
My personal headcanon is that the anime stops at XYZ, so this thread def peaked my interest, but I think this isn't really "proof".
(also, doesn't Ash have his trophies from the other series with him still?)

He does have the Alola League trophy in his room. That was one of the first shots from the second episode, so I was hoping that would be enough to avoid this whole non-canon nonsense from the start. It still hasn't been as bad as SM was in that regard. People were so set on that series being set its own continuity until Misty and Brock showed up and even afterwards, there were some people who still believed it was non-canon.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I agree with the above posts. These are just complaints, not actual proof regarding whether Journeys is canon or not.

Also:

7. Pretty sure in JN82 GMax Pikachu had a normal tail instead of the normal long one, meaning they can't even be consistent on what GMax forms look like. Same with the TCG.

That wasn't a Gigantamax. Leon points out that Pikachu just ate Gigantamax Alcremie's G-Max Finale and became huge as a result.

 

[ii kanji]

Pretty unrealistic for people so caring about Mimikyu and Mareanie that they refused to let them go to Team Rocket HQ.

 

[Audino1008]

I'm sure there is no bias in this statement at all /s

Stuff like this has always been part of the show. Just because they DIDN'T mention past events doesn't make it a seperate canon.
The only thing that would make sense to consider as something that would make Journeys non-canon is if something directly contradicts past EVENTS. And even then, Pokemon always had this kind of stuff.

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

"It's not canon because I don't like it" is not a valid argument besides it has many MANY callbacks to previous series

I really don't like Journeys, but this is more of a sign of the poor writing of the series than it not being canon. Nothing about it screams its not canon, especially considering we've seen Ash's old Pokemon, we've met his old friends, and we've had many references to the past. We've even had it acknowledged that Ash is the Alolan Champion.

Pretty much this


If anything I could make more of an argument for XY/XYZ not being canon because of how self-contained it was with little to no continuity to the past series (other than one off-hand comment about remembering a certain Piplup)

Not helped by the fact that Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie are some of the few Ash companions that haven't shown up in Journeys yet

 

[Hidden Mew]

If anything I could make more of an argument for XY/XYZ not being canon because of how self-contained it was with little to no continuity to the past series (other than one off-hand comment about remembering a certain Piplup)

Not helped by the fact that Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie are some of the few Ash companions that haven't shown up in Journeys yet

It would be pretty hard to make that argument given the number of times Korrina has shown up in Journeys. She wasn't a main character, but she did travel with Ash for a few episodes, had the most attention out of any of the Kalos Gym Leaders and was clearly already familiar with Ash when she first appeared in Journeys.