Your least favorite traveling companion?

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Which one of Ash's main traveling companions you like the least, why is that, and how would you have improved them?

 

[Kurolegacy]

Still Max. He was literally just dead weight within the group by not even possessing any Pokémon of his own and thus was mostly just there for the most part. Even being the knowledgeable character and holding the pokenav were both things that could have easily been given to Brock. The cast really didn’t need an annoying younger sibling.

 

[Rocket Messiah]

I prefer Max over Bonnie anytime, specially given how acid and sarcastic was Max.

Maybe that was just in the spanish dub but I did not dislike him at all.

 

[Emmy]

Iris for me.

Really couldn't stand her.

 

[Insanish Danish]

Serena. Yawn.

I liked Max in Hoenn but in Battle Frontier he was unbearably boring, so I'd say him, too.

 

[SammyW27]

Max, followed VERY closely by Bonnie.

Max barely did anything in Hoenn and then did nothing AT ALL in the Battle Frontier (no, doing a lame running gag over and over doesn't count), while Bonnie was just there to be cute, though at her role in the role in the Zygarde story gives her a (very) slight edge.

After that it's a 3 way tie between Tracey, Sophocles, and Mallow for being oh so nigh-useless....x_x

THIS is why Ash-tachii should be 3 at a time with some honorary members coming and going.

 

[RahmaFatima]

Serena hands down.

 

[Galactic_V]

Kenji.

 

[KyseL]

I couldn't decide on the other poll, but this one's far easier for me lol.

100% Cilan. I could not go through with BW once he joined the group and every time I'd catch the show on TV I would get visibly frustrated as soon as he opened his mouth.

Also surprised so many people (well 2 as of right now) are voting Bonnie, she literally saved XY for me, mostly because she was the only person in the main cast that wasn't head over heels for Ash.

 

[Rockapheller]

I like Max. He brought a fresh energy to the gang.

 

[Rocket Messiah]

Misty: Meh

Brock: Funny, but should have been gone before Sinnoh

Tracey:Never hurt anyone, I would have rather kept Tod as a companion

May: Good

Max: He was the acid part of the group, Should have stayed in Hoenn

Dawn:THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST

IRIS: Annoying but the Anime will never destroy the awesomeness of her Black 2 theme

Cilan: Also Annoying but at the same time he had those "moments", clearly the most unique of the companions

Clemont:Nice but after the gym battle he kinda deflated his momentum

Bonnie: That stupid song...

Serena: The one who did the unthinkable

Mallow: Dead mommy issues helped her

Lana: The best of the Alola companions, that dark side of her was interesting

Lillie: Better than in the games ,guess that your mommy not being a Psycho helps

Kiawe: He annoyed me for some reason.

Sophocles: Nah

Goh: Not the best, but not the worst Of course he can get better or far far worse in the future. I don't like him. A better goal may do the trick. But I also have the feeling that he and Ash can have some frictions in the future in my book that is a good thing.

 

[SammyW27]

Gotta say, I'm surprised Goh's getting SO many votes when he hasn't been around very long.

I know he's kind of a little snot, but didn't think the newbie would be so disliked so soon.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Gotta say, I'm surprised Goh's getting SO many votes when he hasn't been around very long.

I know he's kind of a little snot, but didn't think the newbie would be so disliked so soon.

I think a part of why Go is getting so many votes is that the writers really aren’t making him out to be a very compelling character, especially with how they’ve implemented his goal. Him catching Pokémon isn’t really treated as anything special, instead feeling like ‘oh, well that happened’ in the grand scheme of most episodes. For them officially placing him as the co-protagonist, they really haven’t done a good job especially when you compare it to past characters you could consider co-protagonists with Ash like May and Dawn. As a result, he feels more like the third companion in that he gets moments of his own, but doesn’t really do anything special that any other traveling companion wouldn’t already do in his place.

 

[Daren]

I mentioned this before, but I think Gou's popularity is also hurt by the world championship.

Gou's a newbie trainer whose "catch 'em all" goal is mostly just a quick ball toss and done (some do put up a struggle and he spent an episode befriending Cubone). If Ash was doing a standard Gym run it would probably stand out better--a constrast between two of the big things in the series (battling and catching).

Unfortunately for Gou Ash isn't doing a standard badge quest; he moved onto a higher level of competition and Korrina's upcoming appearance means other old characters are on the table, plus he's been the protagonist for over twenty years so there's investment in seeing what happens now that his story arc is moving again. Conversely there's good odds Gou will be gone forever in two or three years.

Let me make up an imperfect analogy:
Imagine if in Return of the King, roughly half the page/screen time was devoted to a newly introduced Hobbit who was staying out of the War of the Ring and going on his own random adventures.

 

[Islander Princess]

Serena. In all honesty, I think she's a pretty good character on her own, but in the group setting, she just doesn't really hold up. I really feel like it's because the writers made her so reliant on and infatuated with Ash that it basically became her defining personality trait, which isn't great. I will never not be beyond annoyed with her final declaration in XY, because it just felt so disrespectful to the rest of her development.

I really wish they had made her crush on Ash less all encompassing and focused more on her own growth as a trainer and individual. Give her more than three Pokemon to work with. Give her more than a one time struggle with Showcases. Let her see that Ash isn't 100% perfect and that him potentially losing a gym battle isn't the end of the world (it's not for him, so why would it be for her? I never understood her near constant anxiety during basically every single one of his Kalos gym battles). I know they tried that after the Snowbelle gym battle, but by that point it was too little, too late, and her reaction to Ash's mood was way too over the top.

 

[pharaohyami5000]

IRIS: Annoying but the Anime will never destroy the awesomeness of his Black 2 theme

... I'm confused on this...

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Goh. Its not his character I don't like. Its his goal and the way the anime is handling it. Goh's goal is to catch all Pokemon so he can somehow catch Mew and does it in the same way you do it in Pokemon Go, which I honestly think should not have been represented in the anime in the way it has. You just throw a Pokeball and hope it works. If they focused only on representing the 3 teams rather than its capture mechanics, maybe I'd be all about Pokemon Go representation. For Goh, its taken the joy out of a capture episode because he catches Pokemon with no effort and he catches multiple new Pokemon every episode. I just can't root for him because theses captures don't feel special at all and he does it all too easily. A collector doesn't make for a compelling protagonist. If they built his goal around building and training a team that can help him defeat and catch Mew, rather than catching them all so he can catch Mew somehow, maybe I'd like him more.

 

[Nicolas721]

Lana. There's something unique about the idea of an introvert girl who was sarcastic and came from a humble background, but I didn't like the execution. She was very good at everything, which meant she had to overcome less trials than all of the other classmates, and she faded away into the background specially during the first half of SM.

 

[Rocket Messiah]

... I'm confused on this...

What I meant is that his videogame counterpart is so good that makes me forget how a bad character she was in the anime.

I will name some of Go flaws according to me:

1- His goal does not make any sense. He wants to catch Mew by catching one species of each Pokemon, does that makes any sense? Is a trial made by Mew maybe?

2-Thanks to this goal Pokemon are seen more as collectables, that they are to an extend but in the anime was never seen this way.

3-His attitude is kinda annoying sometimes, but also this can generate some friction with Ash(Episode 3) in the future and in my book this is a good thing.

4- His background is really bland, Koharu has a better background and it was only shown in one episode.

5- In the end, Raboot is the only one that gets some development.

6-Go does not generate hype. Ash does with the tournament and the battles but Go?

7-Catch Mew and after that... what?

8-The way his voice cracks everytime he comands a move, calm down dude you are not punching Bakugou in the face.



How will I change it:

1- In order to catch Mew he will join Sakuragi Lab to investigate some strange phenomena arround the Pokemon World

2-He catches only the nescessary Pokemon to help him explore places and investigate, more than 6 but less than 39 in 24 episodes

3- He is intelligent by himself, he does not need to look up at his phone every second

4- A troubled and dark past

5- Friction between him and Ash, he shows some distrust to him at some moments

6- His episodes are not about catching are about exploring mysteries of the Pokemon world, make him a blogger or a Youtuber like the guy from movie 21.

7- He struggles in battles but get better by using different Pokemon

8- He has an attitude that leads him to trouble

9- He feels an strange connection with Mew

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

IRIS: Annoying but the Anime will never destroy the awesomeness of his Black 2 theme

You said "his" when referring to a female character.