Who's release was Worse? Greninja's or Ambipom's?

[Rainbow-Rain]

It's definitely no disagreement that these 2 releases have been arguably the most controversial for reasons

And I want to know who's release do you guys think was worse?

Greninja leaving to find Zygarde cells?

Or Ambipom leaving after discovering a passion for Ping Pong?


Tell which one you hated more and Why?

 

[A Wild Luxray]

I think I was more irritated about Greninja's release, especially because of the reason. You mean to tell me that even after 100% Zygarde did a clean swoop using all of its power to eliminate the vines that somehow they returned and ONLY Greninja could take care of them? Not Zygarde? The Legendary Pokemon that already dealt with the vines? I thought it was a poor excuse for Greninja's release. It was even more insulting cause we never got to see Greninja defeat that OP Mega Charizard X. But yeah, I hated how they released Greninja more.

 

[Picardluke]

Greninja is not really released, I don’t see what difference it would make if it was in Oak’s lab doing nothing or protecting Kalos. If the writers want to bring it back; they will.

Can’t see why Greninja being “released” would bother anyone; it got a full goodbye episode than just being dumped off screen like the other Kalos Pokémon were.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Ambipom is easily the worst in my opinion. After they showed how much Aipom loved Contests and they buildup the trade between Ash and Dawn with her first Contest, they hype up an otherwise random sport tournament to be Ambipom's sendoff. It was such a shame since Ambipom just got to be in a few Contests, was a part of only two victories for Dawn and then released. Ambipom really should have been at the Grand Festival instead of Togekiss.

To be fair, if they wanted to make room in Dawn's team or were forced to for marketing reasons, Ambipom was really their only option. Piplup obviously wasn't going to go anywhere, Buneary was Dawn's first capture, which aside from Butterfree don't tend to be released, Pachirisu was the first time a cast member caught an Electric type and Dawn had already released it during its capture episode and they had Mamoswine's disobedience storyline too. If they had to release Ambipom, I wish that they could have handled it differently or at the very least made it so that it could come back for the Sinnoh Grand Festival. Gliscor came back to help Ash and he even though of Aipom when he was going through his Gym battles, while Ambipom got nothing.

I honestly never really had a problem with Greninja's release. Given the amount of testing Team Flare had done before their attack, the idea that these vines could flare up and only Greninja could see them sounded reasonable enough. With all of the attention Greninja got, it kind of made sense that it would be doing something else instead of being at Professor Oak's lab. If Greninja had been able to defeat Mega Charizard X, then there probably wouldn't be as much backlash towards this release. Plus, the goodbye was pretty emotional and showed the strength of Ash's connection with Greninja. It also help that it is quite plausible for them to bring Greninja back at anytime. It's still a popular Pokemon well after the sixth generation and the world tour setup for Journeys would make it even easier for them to run into Greninja at some point in Kalos. It's not a guarantee, but if they can randomly bring Charizard back in BW due to its popularity, they can easily do the same for Greninja. Ampibom, on the other hand, is gone for good, which makes its release much more upsetting to me by comparison.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Yeah, gonna have to go with Ambipom on this one. Sure, Greninja's release was annoying too due to Ash having to let go of one of his aces (and the very first fully-evolved Water-type he's had since Kingler to boot), but it at least had a sense of closure to it due to it ending with Greninja being the hero and defender of Kalos, which was actually foreshadowed for quite some time, and thus staying behind to help Zygarde bring back balance to the region. Yes, Greninja not getting to defeat Alain's annoyingly OP Charizard is a pretty big bummer, but at the very least its performance against Team Flare somewhat makes up for that and lets its story end on somewhat of a high note.

Ambipom on the other hand got this completely unforshadowed interest in ping-pong that led to her being unceremoniously written off so the writers could make room for Togekiss presumably because someone in the executive team thought Ambipom as a species just wasn't as popular/marketable as the rest of Dawn's team so she's gotta go. Nevermind that they gave Ash a Gliscor, which wasn't exactly well-recieved initially either, and that thing managed to singlehandedly vindicate its species through how lovable its personality was, so I don't see why Ambipom couldn't have done the same for hers. Especially because I have yet to encounter a single person who doesn't think Ambipom was done dirty and deserved better: she was probably one of Dawn's most reliable Pokemon overall, being both amazing at contests and a pretty strong battler thanks to her experiences while on Ash's team, so it really sucks that all her potential was flushed down the toilet for really no good reason.

 

[Galar Adventurer]

Ambipom. If the anime wanted to make room in Dawn's team for HGSS promotion, then they easily could've just put Ambipom
in rotation by having it stay back home with Johanna or at Professor Rowan's lab instead of having her release it.

 

[Enzo]

I will have to say Ambipom, no doubt. You create a Pokémon who has a storyline of being interested in Contests, you make so that said storyline is something that crosses over to another series, you have a whole arc about how it realized it prefered Contests over Gym Battles, have a plot line about another Pokémon who prefered the inverse and was under the care of a Contestant, trade them over (seriously: that just clicked so well), you even create over plot lines such as it evolving and learning to control it's moves better... and you throw all that way for... ping pong???

It's even crazier because ''Pokémon Ping Pong" was something they just created on the spot and was made solely to boot Ambipom from the team. And I always felt that was extremely cruel because the monkey finally got what she has always wanted, to participate in proper Contests, and then she barely tasted it because she was sent away for no reason. Idk, it felt so unfair to me. I will forever love DP with all my heart, but that was one of it's biggest mistakes imo.

Greninja was also mistreated in this aspect, especially since it never managed to win against that cursed Charizard and the reasoning, while making sense... was weak imo. But at the very least, not only did it do a lot throught it's whole series, it did had a sense of ''closure'', it just wasn't perfectly what the fandom wanted.

(Btw, I still have a feeling that the crew decided to release it so Ash couldn't access it anymore, at least not easily, because they realized a very large part of the fandom would never shut up about ''Bring Greninja back!!!" throught all the future series. At least now, there's a reasonable in-universe explanation on why the frog can't just return as opposed to ''Ash just... can't be bothered to go to a Pokécenter and call Oak to send Greninja over")

 

[RafaSceptile]

Both were not that great, but at least Greninja had some more justification in terms of the story behind its release. Ambipom's release was probably the worst thing about DP.

 

[PikachuSmasher]

Ambipom for sure. It was caught in Kanto , dumped at Oak’s and snuck with Ash to Sinnoh, was traded with Buizel and evolved under Dawn’s ownership only to be released for Ping Pong and the worst part is that Dawn promised it would participate in the Grand Festival with her. I feel Ambipom was only released so Dawn had a free space in her party. Greninja was probably the right decision. Ash leaving it at Oak’s would make it useless and bringing it to Alola and Galar would make Ash too OP and wouldn’t give his other Pokemon a chance to show their strength in battle. Greninja in Kalos is better than a lifetime at Oak because it actually does something which is protecting Kalos. Plus Ambipom is in Vermillion City and Cerise Labs is in Vermillion City, Ash can meet it easily and have a reunion rather than Greninja which is in some forest in Kalos.

 

[isrrael120]

Both were not very pleasant to be honest but I leaned towards Ambipom, with Greninja you could have a weak theory of why his release and while with Ambipom it was just a random change of interests, that reason is weaker to be honest!

 

[Craiden]

Firstly, Primeape or Squirtle (though not really "released") can contend for this distinction too, that being said, in this context (I personally dislike the Squirtle one the most), I think Ambipom's release fairly easily wins here. Before I get into why, though several people have, I actually have no issue with Ambipom...shifting interests, that actually was/is a fairly interesting trait and they did a good job working that in throughout her time in DP. That being said...unlike Contests, we don't nearly get enough..."buildup" (though that wasn't necessarily needed) to show her interests in Ping Pong, or other avenues for that matter, on top of Ambipom getting shafted in her last Contest.

 

[Alola]

Greninja was much more emotional, with Rica's performance during that goodbye making me cry and all, but I think Ambipom's was the absolute worst hands down. I still don't see any justification for it.

Pokémon Ping Pong? What even was that? A poor writing decision to get rid of one of Dawn's better Pokémon, that's what. It completely came out of nowhere and was unceremonious given everything Ambipom had been through with both of her Trainers and their cast of Pokémon. And let's just revisit that for a bit - Ambipom was the first, and so far only, Pokémon to originate from an entirely different region and be raised by two main character Trainers; she's been in Gym Battles (and even took out Gardenia's ace) as well as Contest Battles (where she has excelled in both the Performance and Battle Stages). The girl has history and a lot of it. It's even more egregious when you consider Ambipom hasn't been referenced since; Ash is even in Kanto now as we speak - Vermilion City to boot, where Ambipom is apparently located. And has there been a visit? A pointless Journeys filler episode where Go learns about Pokémon Ping Pong, and by extent Ambipom? Nope.

It's a shame because Dawn's Ambipom is what got me hooked on the species when I was a kid - otherwise, I would have probably have given it no attention; I still have memories of using Technician Double Hit on opponents left and right. It also was a great way to showcase and promote both Platinum and HGSS, given that the Aipom line is in both games. And while apparently she was axed to make room for Dawn's eventual Togekiss (which was a notable ways off; Dawn also didn't even have Cyndaquil yet either, so the decision certainly appeared premature), I feel like Dawn could have easily rotated seven Pokémon. Ambipom could have stayed home with Johanna when Dawn went back to visit or with Prof. Rowan temporarily for inter-regional evolutionary research; something, for it to then come back akin to what Ash did with Goodra in Kalos for the Grand Festival. And speaking of Ash, he was Dawn's parallel in several ways - both have a 3-stage bruiser who gave them obedience issues, both have an electric rodent, both have a main partner who doesn't want to evolve, both had several Sinnoh rivals, etc. If Ash could rotate his team in his respective cumulative Sinnoh tournament, I don't see why Dawn couldn't mirror that with her even fewer selection of Pokémon; the Grand Festival was conducive to Coordinators using multiple Pokémon anyway.

It just was really sad and a complete waste of a character; they didn't even have her last major appearance end in a win, against Kenny's Prinplup (or against O in the Ping Pong thing, if you count that). Ambipom deserved to finish one of her interests through, whether that be Gym Battles or Contests, to the end. She was full of potential, was unique in battle and as a Pokémon (prior to Yanmega's confirmation, she was even the first female Pokémon on the squad not to be overtly feminine in appearance, which I thought was unique), was great representation for her region, and was an overall symbol of the friendship, respect, and trust Dawn and Ash have for one another.

 

[Nicolas721]

Greninja's was forced, yeah, but the two aren't remotely comparable. For that to happen, they would have Greninja give up the Ash Greninja transformation, being released in order to go and try dancing before the league and being replaced by Sylveon shortly afterwards.

Ambipom really deserved better, they could have made her take Togekiss' place in the Grand Festival or at least mentioning her in the ending, but nope. The release is asily DP's biggest flaw and possibly the worst thing in the Pokemon anime, taking into account how much stuff she had to go through.

 

[Eevee800]

Oof a difficult one. Ambipom was the worst in my opinion. It can out of the blue without her showing interest in it before the Pingpong stuff

 

[Haruka_Hikari_Kazumi_22]

Releasing ampibmom had a more creative style. New one indeed. But i don't like cause i bwcome like ampibom so much

 

[CharizardFan7]

Ambipom really deserved better, they could have made her take Togekiss' place in the Grand Festival or at least mentioning her in the ending, but nope. The release is asily DP's biggest flaw and possibly the worst thing in the Pokemon anime, taking into account how much stuff she had to go through.

Y'know, besides screwing over a certain Continent Pokemon and Ash losing in the Kalos League, but yeah, it's definitely right up there. Ambipom basically got Primeape'd.

 

[Haruka_Hikari_Kazumi_22]

Y'know, besides screwing over a certain Continent Pokemon and Ash losing in the Kalos League, but yeah, it's definitely right up there. Ambipom basically got Primeape'd.

Ambipom one of the best in the sinnoh reason. I really didn't like The trade between ash wifh dawn. I want ambipom with ash cause we bored from the same types over and over. But it happened.

Now, i aboit the release then i think it was a creative way to release this time but i really hate cause i loves ambipom and aipum. But you and nicolas are right cuase As nicolas mentioned, they called mentioning her in the ending. I love togekiss and ambipom so i want them both.

And i am totally agree with "it's definitely right up there. Ambipom basically got Primeape'd" that been said by you.

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

I don’t like Ambipoms release and as bizarre it was, I now realize that Greninja’s release is worse. This is one of Ash’s strongest Pokemon who was destined to be one of the greatest, DIDNT become the greatest, and then released without any major accomplishments. If Greninja won Ash the league it would be different.

 

[CharizardFan7]

And i am totally agree with "it's definitely right up there. Ambipom basically got Primeape'd" that been said by you.

Thank you, I've always thought that Ambipom and Primape's departures were similar, what with them both being primate based Pokemon owned by Ash, both evolving not under his ownership, and both being used in a random sporting event only to be given to a random COTD and never seen again.

 

[CharizardFan7]

I don’t like Ambipoms release and as bizarre it was, I now realize that Greninja’s release is worse. This is one of Ash’s strongest Pokemon who was destined to be one of the greatest, DIDNT become the greatest, and then released without any major accomplishments. If Greninja won Ash the league it would be different.

I actually have to respectfully disagree with you on that one. See, there's a good chance Greninja might be returning in Journeys, based not only on that recent bit of information we received about Ash's rivals returning, but also this https://twitter.com/Mootmonthly/status/1469288488864518145. Now, I'm not sure if that's official of not, but if it is, Greninja's return is all but guranteed, and with it, perhaps a chance of redemption against Alain and ol' OP Zard (assuming he's also one of the rivals who returns.)