Who here misses the old Pokemon formula?

[Johtoo]

I miss the the old animation style. I miss Ash traveling with two companions, going through gym battles, team rocket being there every episode, an overarching plot following the series and a rival that Ash faces at the end of the series. I miss the character of the day, episodes actually prioritizing battling and even Pokemon contests. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't broken. What are your thoughts? Do you think the anime has moved in the right direction? Or would you prefer to go back to this?

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I genuinely do miss it. While some people have gotten bored of it, looking at how poorly executed Journeys has been really does make me miss the old formula. I was hoping to see it return for Sword and Shield with Ash traveling the Galar region with two or three companions, while he took on the gyms. At first, I was interested in Journeys region hopping formula, though it has been poorly executed, plus, I am not too crazy about how disjointed the episodes feel and how they don't flow into each other well.

 

[Craiden]

As someone coming back into Pokemon post-formula (though I did watch a Twitch marathon of the series) sometimes I will miss it/get missing it, but I like the concept of PM 2019 too much to want it to go back (how it's executing isn't consistent and can be debated). That being said, I would like some adventuring (like the OP potentially implies).

 

[Johtoo]

I genuinely do miss it. While some people have gotten bored of it, looking at how poorly executed Journeys has been really does make me miss the old formula. I was hoping to see it return for Sword and Shield with Ash traveling the Galar region with two or three companions, while he took on the gyms. At first, I was interested in Journeys region hopping formula, though it has been poorly executed, plus, I am not too crazy about how disjointed the episodes feel and how they don't flow into each other well.

It's so unusual why the anime decided to go away from this. Isn't the point of the games to travel, get gym badges and face the league? I don't remember Pokemon Sun and Moon taking place in a Pokemon school. It's so unusual to actually miss the anime following the games. You would think that would be a given, but it's been 5 years since we last had an anime that resembled the video games.

 

[ii kanji]

The other sagas were all about telling their own stories: as a viewer you made new memories, got invested in Satoshi's quest and the companions of the current arc and could expect a steady enjoyment of a region (even if nothing terribly mind-blowing happened). This series on the other hand is all about crazy hype and crashing disappointment - so much of what makes it exciting is the potential to make bank on the best bits of previous series. Episodes like the Visquez battle and the Alola reunion are high point examples of this. It means a precedent is set for us to expect continuity, even though the payoff has been minimal so far.

Aside from all this, my favourite aspect of the games is the exploring of a region. What could be better than crunching across the leaves to the Tin Tower, parting the stars as you surf down Route 120 or watching the sun set over Kala'e Bay? So from that viewpoint, I really miss the travelling and exploring aspect of previous generations. The only thing that made the absence of this tolerable in SM was the family and community both Satoshi and the TRio built up on Melemele, and the fact that their tropical homes were new and refreshing compared with the more temperate climates they had previously travelled through. That too is missing from the Kuchiba City base.

 

[Hidden Mew]

To be honest, I've missed the formula since SM. I really enjoyed the Sun/Moon games and wanted to see more of the Alola region, so staying in one place for the majority of SM was pretty disappointing. I do think that it worked more in SM's in the long run though. Despite staying in one island, they still made the Alola region feel distinct, the emphasis on togetherness and family worked really well with Alola's culture, staying in one place made it a lot easier to balance out the large cast than if they were traveling around Alola and Professor Kukui effectively being the father Ash never had created a new refreshing dynamic, as well as gave their battle more weight than if he was handled like most of the other new region's professor.

It is kind of a shame that I don't think that they adapted the games that well. The Nebby arc didn't quite work for me because covering the main storyline without the buildup and especially without the same storyline for Lillie made it fall flat for me. SM Lillie describing her new outfit as her Z-powered form always frustrated me because it just didn't carry the same weight and treating her more like her video game counterpart at that point just did not work. The Island Challenge was practically an afterthought, they skipped a good portion of the actual Trials in favor of going straight for the Grand Trial most likely because those were as close to actual Gym battles as they could get and there were multiple times throughout SM where I thought that they were dropping it. I think that one of the main reasons the PWC isn't as forgettable is because they remind the audience every episode that Ash wants to battle against Leon.

Despite my issues with how SM handled adapting the games, I think the series worked better when it was just doing its own thing, especially when I thought that the Necrozma arc was much better than the Nebby arc was. It had better buildup, a more interesting climax that fit with Alola's culture and more satisfying payoff with an emotional farewell. SM could have worked with the more traditional formula, but they would have had to rework everything from the ground up and we would have lost a lot of good episodes and moments as a result. I'm still not quite sure where I'd put SM on my favorite Pokemon series list, but I don't dislike it enough to want it completely gone either.

As for Journeys, I don't think I'm quite as upset or disappointed with it as other people here are, mainly because of how I don't follow the Japanese version. Effectively binge watching the dub on Netflix would give me a different impression on it, even though I'm still behind on the current batch of episodes. At the moment, I would say that going for the world tour gimmick instead of a traditional journey or even just staying in Galar so far isn't working out, especially when we're spending far too much time in Kanto for that gimmick to even remotely work. I like Goh and I think he gets far more hate than he deserves, but I do understand a lot of the common complaints about him and I do agree with some of them as well. The PWC is quite possibly the most overrated/overly hyped plot in the anime that I've ever seen. I can't judge the Darkest Day arc yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does remind me of the Nebby arc in that covering the main storyline in a short span of time without the buildup doesn't work.

Most of the episodes I've seen have been enjoyable. I like the dynamic between Ash and Goh, although I think it would have helped a lot to make Chloe a trainer sooner or to just include her more often than they originally did. It is a shame to miss out seeing more of Galar. Even SM was able to make Alola feel distinct despite the lack of traveling. They may be spending more time in Galar, which would be neat and could help them to flesh out the region more, but it is a shame that they aren't stationed in Galar or just traveling through it. I really love Sword/Shield and getting to see Ash do a proper Galar Gym Challenge would be a lot more interesting to me than the PWC currently is. At least he would actually be battling against noteworthy trainers frequently enough, instead of just mostly one-shot trainers. I assume that we'll still get the Galar Gym leaders in Journeys eventually, but it is a shame that it might take longer than it would normally.

Despite my issues with Journeys, I do enjoy it. I don't think I enjoy it more than a potential Galar journey could have been, but to be fair, I'm also comparing the series with my idea of what the series could have been, so it isn't exactly a fair comparison. By the end of its run, it's possible that I could look more favorable on its setup and choices much like what happened to SM. People hated the Pokemon School setup and staying in one place for most of the series, but SM still seemed to be pretty well received all things considered.

 

[SammyW27]

Oh yes. With SM they HAD to change things because Alola's a small region with only to much to do and they to stretch it out for about 3 years. Going to a different formula was a necessary evil (though they still could've handled it better).

Here...there's really no excuse. S&S may not be the deepest games, but they still gave them plenty to work with...yet for reasons I'll NEVER understand, they just straight up DON'T want to do anything with it in favor of slice of life misadventures again. Especially since the execution sucks half the time...

 

[Unireon]

I truly miss the old formula.
Thought that SM's changes to it would be exclusive to Alola, then go back to travelling across the next region.
Though, I disliked how they focused on a recurring cast, without giving at least some neat Cotd.
This is becoming the norm, it seems. Because I'm not liking any Cotd on Journeys. I still have a feeling that Rinto will reappear, same goes for Tokio.
Toning down Team Rocket's appearances, actually, was good. Having them in every episode was getting tiring.
Rivals for Satoshi...... How will they tackle that if his goal tends to get sidelined?
They even rushed the Main Plot of the SwSh games, packing everything in four episodes.

I'll say that many aspects were better executed in DP; even the Dual Protagonist schtick, without proclaiming it aloud.
Despite having TR appear in some episodes that didn't need them.
BW failed when they messed with Satoshi's character/competence/experience and then the League happened.....

 

[P_S_B]

The only thing that made the absence of this tolerable in SM was the family and community both Satoshi and the TRio built up on Melemele, and the fact that their tropical homes were new and refreshing compared with the more temperate climates they had previously travelled through. That too is missing from the Kuchiba City base.

Not putting the base somewhere in Galar was a terrible idea and I genuinely can't understand why they did it aside from, 'we heard you wanted more Kanto." Although that is to be expected since Journeys seems to have been made from terrible ideas even if some of them have been corrected in the year since.

 

[KyseL]

No, never. Just thinking about it is ew yuck gross.

The latest episode of Pokémon (2019) reminded how astonishingly boring CotD episodes are, and how much better is the TRio when they aren't forced into every episode. I'd rather have them try to do something different and fail than stay in the outdated mediocrity of Pokémon series of the past.

 

[Cinnabar]

I really do like your point of view, the classic travel with two friends while hitting every gym is one of my favorite things about the series, but the Sun and Moon series blew everything out of the water for me. As much as I love the classic theme, the variation in the series we've had so far has been really unique.

While the current series may seem to be going up and down for some, it's really a lot more interesting and unexpected than anything before.

 

[Kanto Pikachu]

I miss it, to be honest.

 

[Bulbabrain]

I truly miss the old formula.
Thought that SM's changes to it would be exclusive to Alola, then go back to travelling across the next region.
Though, I disliked how they focused on a recurring cast, without giving at least some neat Cotd.
This is becoming the norm, it seems. Because I'm not liking any Cotd on Journeys. I still have a feeling that Rinto will reappear, same goes for Tokio.
Toning down Team Rocket's appearances, actually, was good. Having them in every episode was getting tiring.
Rivals for Satoshi...... How will they tackle that if his goal tends to get sidelined?
They even rushed the Main Plot of the SwSh games, packing everything in four episodes.

I'll say that many aspects were better executed in DP; even the Dual Protagonist schtick, without proclaiming it aloud.
Despite having TR appear in some episodes that didn't need them.
BW failed when they messed with Satoshi's character/competence/experience and then the League happened.....

Give Unova some credit with at least trying to spread out the rivals. The whole competence bs is getting overstated, since Ash has forgetting information in the heat of the moment way before the trip v Ash fight.

 

[Unireon]

Agreed, the Rivals were more fleshed out in BW.
I retire my take on Satoshi's competence, since it is a recurring element in all series.
He's still being sidelined and nothing comes from his side of the story.
I miss what used to be Anipoke's essence, even if it was formulaic.

 

[Yami-no-Game]

I miss gyms more than I thought I would. I don't miss some of the bad things that went along with the show's previous patterns though such as side characters doing hardly nothing. People might not love Goh but I'm glad that he's not just another Brock or Clemont.

 

[Everclear]

I don't miss the old formula if we're talking about gym battles every few months interspaced with fillers out the wazoo, but I do miss some of the structure of the older series like only one region being the focus at a time.

 

[Islander Princess]

I didn't in SM. I do now.

Honestly, I don't actually have a problem with changing up the formula. I was skeptical before SM started, but it worked for me. The concept for Journeys, in theory, is actually very interesting. The execution, however, is way off.

I especially get bummed out when I think about how cool and unique Galar was in the games, and how because of Journeys' region hopping format, we aren't really getting to experience that. No big gym battles in massive stadiums made up to be like soccer matches. Not getting to see a consistent amount of their landmarks or towns. Not being able to give the new Pokémon the same amount of focus they would've gotten in the past. Even though Galar has been featured quite a bit, I don't feel like I know it very well or that I'm as connected to it as I would be if the entire series took place there.

More consistent COTD episodes is something that I still don't miss, and even though Journeys now has way more of those than SM, it's still much less than it was in prior series. But I do find myself starting to miss gym battles (which I actually wasn't expecting) and the travel aspect instead of having one set home base.

 

[Bulbabrain]

Something I’m starting to feel is that filler episodes are a bit over hated. Like, the various time travel episodes, ghost shenaniganry, sci fi shenaniganry, etc are all because of filler.

 

[skywaffles]

I hated the Sun and Moon show. I also dislike the new one that I forget the name of. I very much prefer the ones like Black and White or yeah

 

[Enzo]

No, never. Just thinking about it is ew yuck gross.

The latest episode of Pokémon (2019) reminded how astonishingly boring CotD episodes are, and how much better is the TRio when they aren't forced into every episode. I'd rather have them try to do something different and fail than stay in the outdated mediocrity of Pokémon series of the past.

Yeah, as much as I would like for Journeys to have been an classical SWSH anime considering the way JN has been handled so far, I just know they would shove the TRio in every possible episode and make them as obnoxious as they can be. And this is coming for somebody who does enjoys the characters That's my worst fear of the series ever going back to the ''og format'' tbh.