Will Iris return in the XY saga?

[PokeDot517]

Are we gonna see Iris return for a few episodes in the XY saga like Satoshi's previous female companions did in previous sagas?

Despite the fact that truly DESPISE Iris in the Best Wishes series (although she's cool in the games), I'd like to see the tradition keep going.

I'd imagine that if she'd return, she would have evolved her Axew into a Haxorous. Maybe also a redesign...however Dawn didn't receive a redesign though...well anyway.

 

[WatcherMark]

Are we gonna see Iris return for a few episodes in the XY saga like Satoshi's previous female companions did in previous sagas?

Despite the fact that truly DESPISE Iris in the Best Wishes series (although she's cool in the games), I'd like to see the tradition keep going.

I'd imagine that if she'd return, she would have evolved her Axew into a Haxorous. Maybe also a redesign...however Dawn didn't receive redesign though...well anyway.

Oh yeah, and if there's already a thread like this then post the link to it in your reply and close this one.

If Iris does return, I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised to see her with Kibago (with the same babyish manner) still travelling in her hair while her Fukumaru has already evolved all the way to Gablias.

 

[Moe]

It would make a huge deal of sense - her Dragon Master goal is impacted by the discovery of the Fairy type in Kalos, so there's lots of scope with a plot for her to return. I'd also like the tradition to keep going - at least so that there's the Serena cameo in the next region.

I'd think it would be a lot better if they just handled the returns as having everyone turn up to watch him in the league, with the mid-league filler episodes being him training with each of them individually. Might be a bit crowded - but it's better than getting exactly one cameo and then never appearing again.

Cilan coming back to give him a pre-league evaluation, Brock treating his Pokemon after battles with all of his Pokemon Doctor knowledge, Dawn reminding him that he used to have creative battle strategies, etc.

 

[CrashBash]

If there was one thing I would be willing to assume, something I usually hate doing, it would be that Iris would be making a return, if only because all the other major female travelling companions made a brief return the following saga.

That being said, I personally would like to see her return, for at least three reasons.

1. To get it out of the way, I actually liked her. So, yeah, go figure.
2. The fact Ash is practically confirmed to be getting a Noibat, part Dragon as it is, could make for an interesting battle set-up.
3. Bonnie and Axew. I mean, seriously, can't you just imagine all the cuteness? Don't you just want to see it?

So, sum it up, yes, I would like to see her return, and I think it's highly likely that she will return too. Prior to the release of OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire, I was wondering if they might try a bait 'n' switch and let May make another appearance, but that ship more or less seems to have sailed.

 

[UPratik_12]

I think, with the 20th Anniversary of the games coming up by next year, i guess they would be bringing all the previous characters as Ash returns to Kanto along with current team to spend time with his Pokémon and try to explore the concept of Mega-Evolution in the anime. Well Personally, i didn't like Iris at all. In the Games, the attitude was good, but in the anime, they just messed it up. The concept of continuously bullying Ash, was not so great. Thats what makes XY series different from BW series right?.

2. The fact Ash is practically confirmed to be getting a Noibat, part Dragon as it is, could make for an interesting battle set-up.
3. Bonnie and Axew. I mean, seriously, can't you just imagine all the cuteness? Don't you just want to see it?

well you are right, these make up an interesting stuff to follow and great overall concept

 

[SammyW27]

Hmmm...one on hand, it's expected. After all, it's a tradition to have the previous Female Companion come back for a few episodes. (And without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a Rock-type on the roof.)

But on the other...it's feeling a little late and I think we would've heard something by now. Unless, of course, they want to surprise us. To be fair, Dawn appeared in later episodes this time during BW (episode 86), so there's still a chance she'll show up later.
Though on the other other hand, Dawn didn't do much and her guest stint felt like an act of desperation...

Though I think the producers may be hesitant to since she's the Least Popular Female Companion, from the Least Popular Saga... :uhoh:

If Iris does return, I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised to see her with Kibago (with the same babyish manner) still travelling in her hair while her Fukumaru has already evolved all the way to Gablias.

Sweet Arceus, I hope not! :scared:

She got enough freebies handed to her on a platinum platter in BW (mainly Season 2) without a Gible fully evolving in record time offscreen. Then again, after what we just went through with Goomy/Sliggoo/Goodra...

I just hope and pray she doesn't somehow get a Mega-Evolution. If that happens I am going to scream a profanity that'll make people stop and look around.

 

[BigDocFan]

I'd love to see Iris return, hopefully she will have a new dragon type, wonder what her reaction to Noibat will be and will Ash mention Goodra, as for Axew, that will be interesting

 

[Hidden Mew]

Personally, I'd be perfectly fine if Iris didn't show up. She's easily my least favorite character in the anime's history and one of the biggest problems for me in BW, although I think the way both she and Ash were handled would probably be tied in that area. I have no desire to see her again. I also don't see a good reason for her to suddenly appear in Kalos. The fact that there are Fairy type Pokemon now doesn't mean that she has to go to Kalos in order find them. They've never said that they were exclusive to Kalos in the anime, as far as I'm aware of anyway, so Fairy types could be found in any of the other regions. Besides that, the majority of Fairy type Pokemon consist of older Pokemon that were retyped and one of the brand new Fairy Pokemon is another evolution for Eevee. There's really no reason why she'd have to go to Kalos in order to battle against Fairy type Pokemon.

I also wouldn't mind if they did stop the tradition of these cameos mainly due to how Dawn's return turned out. She also didn't have a good reason to pop up in Unova, I thought that she was out of character during the whole arc and she made no progress with her journey whatsoever. It really felt like they brought her back primarily due to the tradition and Piplup's popularity. If the main reason they bring the previous female lead back is out of tradition instead of also wanting to have their presence affect the current cast members and/or showcase what progress they've made on their own, then I would prefer that they stop bringing back female leads completely. With that mindset, I doubt that it would be good if Dawn's return is any indication.

Iris still might return and they do have time for it if they want to do that, but I could live without seeing her appearing in XY. If she does return, I fully expect that she'll still have Axew. They dropped the whole wanting to evolve into a Haxorus the moment it was brought up, so that won't change. Maybe her Gible will have evolved into Gabite, but I'd prefer for Iris to not get closer to a Mega Garchomp. I could see Dedenne battling against Axew and beating it. That would probably be the highlight of Iris' return for me if it did happen.

 

[Perpetual_Phoenix]

On one condition. The "what a kid" thing better not make a comeback.

Dear God it's one of the main reasons why I truly despise her and one of the major turn-offs of skipping Best Wishes all together.

The only female protagonist I would truly love to come back is May. Due to ORAS.

Although I acknowledge the chances are really low. ;-;

 

[EvilChameleon]

Iris comes back.
Iris calls Ash a little kid.
Serena says "he's not a little kid, he's my boyfriend!".
???
Profit.

 

[Jersey Jimmy]

Cilan coming back to give him a pre-league evaluation, Brock treating his Pokemon after battles with all of his Pokemon Doctor knowledge, Dawn reminding him that he used to have creative battle strategies, etc.

I want this so much. I'd love to see Misty, Brock, Tracey, May, Max, and Dawn again. Maybe even some gym leaders and others like Gary Oak, with the Hoenn leaders having their ORAS redesigns. I can imagine Winona lauding Ash for having fully evolved every region's regional bird, though he has to tell her about Pidgeot. (That is, unless Hoenn's bird is actually Pelipper...)

 

[Perpetual_Phoenix]

Cilan coming back to give him a pre-league evaluation, Brock treating his Pokemon after battles with all of his Pokemon Doctor knowledge, Dawn reminding him that he used to have creative battle strategies, etc.

I want this so much. I'd love to see Misty, Brock, Tracey, May, Max, and Dawn again. Maybe even some gym leaders and others like Gary Oak, with the Hoenn leaders having their ORAS redesigns. I can imagine Winona lauding Ash for having fully evolved every region's regional bird, though he has to tell her about Pidgeot. (That is, unless Hoenn's bird is actually Pelipper...)

The only way I can see that many past characters return is if Ash will finally wins a league.

All these past characters cheering Ash in the final round of the league? Yes pls.

A way to show they always supported and will continue supporting him even after said event.

 

[froakiefroak]

I will pay large amounts of money to assure Iris does not return for any reason.

 

[overlordreubs]

I may DESPISE of Iris, but I'd like to see how she handled the Fairy type if she did return. There's a lot of plot potential there!

Just imagine her battling something like Flabebe with Dragonite and thinking she's gonna win and then she gets owned

 

[Ampharos King]

As of right now, we are not sure when or if Iris will be a part of the XY saga. There was no pattern as to when the past female leads returned during their successor series. Misty made her cameo a few episodes after Ash got his third Hoenn badge, May appeared in the middle of the gap between Ash's Sinnoh third and fourth gym badges, and Dawn appeared just after Ash got eight Unova badges.

Even though some trends and traditions have been forgotten or abandoned over this anime's long life, I believe this is one tradition the writers will not readily give up one. After all, they did force Dawn, who was already set to depart for Hoenn at the end of SS023, to compete in a tournament in Unova that was completely irrelevant to her goal. The writers have demonstrated that they can script the plot in any way they so choose just to meet a quota.

But if Iris does appear, I hope the Elite Four member Drasna is somehow involved as well. What we know from Iris is that she is on a journey to become a Dragon Master; this entails her to challenge various Dragon-type experts. Iris has already fought against Cynthia, Drayden, and Clair; it would make sense for her to battle Drasna as well. And I want Iris to actually have the focus in her reappearance arc. I don't want a repeat of Dawn being shoehorned for Ash, Iris, and Trip at the Junior Cup.

 

[Madame Pika]

I have heard that Iris is not so popular in Japan and that this means that she might not show up. It is getting closer and closer to the time when a companion from the past would show up and so far there are no signs of such a thing happening. I am beginning to feel inclined to say 'no she will not turn up'. However, since Iris does have fans and Serena and Eureka have fans, I would not be surprised if Iris does instead of not showing up, just get a short cameo just for the sake of tradition. This tradition would therefore let Serena show up next series as well as give extra president for Eureka to show up (something that I would rather like.)

I hope that if she does turn up it is with better writing. That would include reactions from the XY cast being a lot better than the BW cast was with Hikari. My personal hope is that she looses to Dedenne and feels bad about calling people 'kids' after being beaten by one, but since that's clearly my bias showing through, it's not something I expect to happen.

 

[CrashBash]

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not entirely convinced general popularity, or lack thereof, is entirely relevant as to what will happen within an anime episode or not. Of course, I can't speak for the entire population of the UK, let alone Japan, but still...

 

[jskylinegtr34]

She will not return, May will return before Gym VIII due to the remakes, now, in her OR/AS clothing

 

[ii kanji]

I'm pretty apathetic towards Iris, having seen next to none of her saga (and not enjoying her character even one iota in the episodes I did see), so I don't have a particularly strong opinion either way. What is important to me however is this idea of tradition, precedent and whatnot. Just because you've always done something it doesn't mean you need to carry on doing it without any other good reason. I missed Hikari's return, which was by all accounts a huge failure, but I saw Kasumi's and Haruka's. Although I was in the Kasumi Camp and hated Haruka for many years simply because she was "the replacement", I found Kasumi's mandatory visit a damp squib because the reason she came back was so lame and she didn't really do anything, whereas Haruka's episodes were great - we got to see her progression in her goal and she had enough time to exert her character during the arc. By all means let them bring back Iris if there's a good reason to, if not please no. We can worry about whether or not they'll bring back Serena next series, and just enjoy her now itself!

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Iris chances for return are what appears to me almost completely guaranteed regardless of how popular and appreciated her character was. Every main female lead so far got one return in followng saga after being replaced.

Misty returned twice in Hoenn, although for very short period in group of 2 episodes per time(to conclude Togepi story and in Pallet reunion).
May returned for 4 full episodes and abit of 5th one at very end introducing her comeback for Wallace Cup.

Dawn broke record coming back for whole arc comprised of around 9 episodes.

So mystery isnt really if Iris will return, but when and for how long we may see her making reetrance in pokemon anime. To give us update, how much she improved, if she came closer toward achievement of her dreams and in what way she could help push Kalos story.

This infamous tradition of main girls coming back for one time deal and never again after being kicked out from anime has been practiced ever since year 2002, so i dont think wrters would suddenly break it and deny Iris of her deserved follow up.

Than again male companions get it worse not receiving even one substantial cameo appearance after leaving main cast. Receiving one side special(like Cilan and Brock did),. Or nothing like poor Max and Tracey.

That being said, XY series are affluent with so many plots like they were written solely for Iris storyline, dreams, ambitions and personality that it would be disgrace to actually let them pass of untouched and unexplored.

First of all Kalos series is filled with new pokemon specie, fairies which are biggest treat to dragons. Being highly efficiant against them, so as dragon master in training its only logical for Iris in wanting to learn more about this pokemon. Examnine its strength and weakness to develop adequate defense and counter moves from dragon pokemon in alleviating on their weakness to fairy specie.

Afterall from type specialists and masters its expected to learn how to overcome weakness of pokemon they focus upon.
And whats better region to do that than Kalos which contain highest number of them native to that land.

There is E4 member Drasna who is in games labelled as dragon master,. So i imagine Iris could learn alot from such authority on how to better establish communicatioon with dragon pokemon using them more productively.


Or if writers are still amicable toward promoting ORAS further she can through her return reintroduce ORAS character Zinnia, whole plot based around Rayquaza and meteoroid since this legendary pokemon was initial reason behind Iris venturing on to Hoenn region in first place. And could be reason behind traveling to Kalos to learn about mega evolution and help destroy meteoroid.

Ironic thing in all of this and something i cannot help but not to notice is how Kalos saga is first series which introduced equally viable plots which have just as much connection to water pokemon master dream, just like it did in Iris case and dragon master career.

Spoiler

Through E4 Siebold who like Drasna is water master and through meeting and entering water tournaments organized by him would help push Misty goals forward.

So would mega evolution learning to mega evolve Gyarados or Slowking(if she caught it), realizing how to use specie to full potential.

Catch new water types or visit region based on France wth redhead being huge romantic expressing desire to visit France and Paris in OS.

That obviously wont happen, but i found it interesting to bring up similarities existing there.

Back to talk about Iris it would be also nice to see if Iris Axew was finally able to evolve at least to Fraxture making big leap in accomplishing its dream of becoming Haxorous and this would serve as excellent way to reflect on how much training and achieving better bond with dragons Iris did in meantime improving as trainer.

Showcase evolution of Gible .

Or like Clair who traveled all the way to Unova to just catch Druddigon due to region being too far away and isolated from other regions for native pokemon to be found elsewhere. Travel to get new pokemon. Perhaps we could see Iris catch some new dragon from Kalos such as Tyrantrum adding interesting take on her team.

Either way her wild, abit intrusive and snarky character could at very least bring some spice and humor into main cast shaking things up. Which wouldnt be bad idea because i feel XY main group lacks more diversity in their dynamic acting always super nice and friendly which can be abit monotone at times.

Until she forever fades away in land of frorgotten and abandoned traveing companions sadly. Called Johto(everyone who left main cast are there except for three ex main characters).

However whatever is reason behind Iris return she cant be compared to Dawn situation imo being two entirely different quantities.

Dawn returned in region which had lower quality of writing for several things happening there and as coordinator needed and was heavily dependant on game quest called contests to be able to excell and develop truly forward.

With Iris and more anime exclusive careers such as training to become dragon master gives writers enough liberty and room to take further progression of such character in several ways depending on their imagination and what kind of plot they cook up in their minds.

Because any tournament , powerful pokemon expert and plot which has connections to becoming better trainer or are related to dragon pokemon could be used as valid justification to bring her back and gain something from it.

p.s. I wish with all breaked patterns new pokemon director and writers decided to do with XY saga much to my delight. would cancell policy of past friends never coming back again.

Because it would be amazing to see someone else beside Iris make comeback. Especially those absent for very long time like May or Misty doing sequel to their unfinished stories, see how much they changed and be in action again showing Ash reuniting with his old very close friends adding more emotion asnd depth to anime through such act.

But i know this is pipe dream.:-(

Either way while Iris isn't among my favorites she deserves return out of respect to her character, unfinished story, relevance she had in anime and her fans who deserve to get follow up.

I'm pretty apathetic towards Iris, having seen next to none of her saga (and not enjoying her character even one iota in the episodes I did see), so I don't have a particularly strong opinion either way. What is important to me however is this idea of tradition, precedent and whatnot. Just because you've always done something it doesn't mean you need to carry on doing it without any other good reason. I missed Hikari's return, which was by all accounts a huge failure, but I saw Kasumi's and Haruka's. Although I was in the Kasumi Camp and hated Haruka for many years simply because she was "the replacement", I found Kasumi's mandatory visit a damp squib because the reason she came back was so lame and she didn't really do anything, whereas Haruka's episodes were great - we got to see her progression in her goal and she had enough time to exert her character during the arc. By all means let them bring back Iris if there's a good reason to, if not please no. We can worry about whether or not they'll bring back Serena next series, and just enjoy her now itself!

I can agree about Dawn because she really didnt gained anything from return. But while Misty returns were very short and rushed i liked how episodes revolved solely around her with Togepi receiving development by evolution and Misty realizing how mysterious and rare her pokemon really was coming to accept and understand with hard heart how its right thing to let it go. To this day i consider that release one of most touching scenes emotionally speaking.

She also sported new outfit, revealed new changes in her team through Gyarados, later Azurill and atks she taught them having fun interaction with others briming with pride, lively sarcasm, more independence and headstrong funny nature leaving good impression(more so on May/Max).

While in Pallet reunion at very least someting productive came from bonding with Max teaching him about value of family having greast interaction imo.

So it was more fruitful than Dawn comeback, but thats just my opinion of course.

But in core of your post i agree. If writers were to reintroduce older character back in story and anime universum(this case Iris) there should be present effort from their side. Giving message to viewers how they put lot of thought and care in constructing viable reasoning behind her return. Show changes she experienced on personality base during all that time, how much new experiences, dangers and positive sides to traveling influenced her, what new pokemon she obtained and how much she improved as trainer.

Most of all provide interchangeable interaction between her and Ash, his new friends and tie her up within Kalos plot. So that both Iris could gain something from it serving as vector to advance her story forward, while also leaving some influence on Kalos saga through her return as well.

Feeling like something significant came from this.