• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Your Least Favorite XY Episodes

Joined
Jul 16, 2010
Messages
8,705
Reaction score
13,526
Though we still have about 5 more episodes and one more potential blunder, the XY series has been very well liked among the fans. I'd say its one of the best series, despite some of the more controversial decisions the writers made. This topic is dedicated to those controversial decisions, or generally, those episodes you did not like. What are your least favorite XY episodes?

XY 045: The sibling feud episode with Meowstic was one of the most boring fillers of the whole series. I just couldn't stand watching it.
XY 070: Goodra's release was just an awful and pointless decision if Goodra was going to come back anyway.
XY 106: Rushed battles and Alain's debut into the main series was one thing I did not like. Seeing his broken, overpowered Mega Charizard X beat Ash was always something I hated to watch.
XY 111: The lock picking filler episode was another one of those pointless filler episodes I couldn't stand. A boring CoTD and plot drew me away.
XY 125: The worst league opening episode ever. Everett was pointless, Mega Charizard X sweeping Y was a horrible way to introduce the Y form and barely seeing Ash's battle with that guy with the Altaria was terrible.
XY 131: While I didn't like Goodra falling again, the real crime of this episode was forcing Ash to lose to Alain, despite how it completely made sense for him to win the league. It made no sense from a story stand point for Alain and that overpowered Mega Charizard X to win and it was a failed oppritunity for development on Alain.
 
Last edited:
I agree with Goodra's release being awful and pointless. Although Ash should have won since he lost twice to Alain already, it did made sense that the writers had to come up with a way for Ash to lose due to the whole status quo. It did made sense for the story for me and it is was a successful opportunity for development on Alain. Trevor was nowhere near Alain's level and that is why his team got sweep. Alain was meant to be a powerful trainer and his Charizard was meant to be overpowered. No need to to hate him and Charizard.
 
XY114 - Honestly, this episode was boring, and they could've did more with the CoTD.

XY096 - A bland way of revealing Mega Audino.

XY045 - *grabs flamethrower*

*waits patiently for everyone to scream XY131*
 
My LEAST favorite episodes were:
The pointless Release of Goodra
The Episode where Ash LOST to Alain
When Ash releases Ash-Greninja

It's hard to call that last one of your least favorite episode when it hasn't even aired yet and Greninja isn't confirmed to be released yet. Even if it does get released, it could be handled in a good way or at least better than fans are expected.

Anyway, A Keeper For Keeps is easily my least favorite episode in XY. I'd probably say that it's the worst episode in the series too. I haven't seen the Kalos League yet, but even when I do, I doubt that I'll be as enraged as I was watching this episode. Granted, it was about Bonnie's gag with asking people to marry Clemont and that's one of my least favorite aspect of the series, so that was a tough sell to begin with, but the episode itself was so awful. Bonnie was an unlikable selfish brat, she was never called out on her behavior and she was basically rewarded for it at the end with the girl deciding to go out on her own despite being so terrible. That alone would have been bad, but then we have the ending that basically showed that Bonnie learned nothing from the experience and the gag continued. If Bonnie was worried about Clemont not spending time with her, maybe that angle could have made her behavior more understandable, but she was worried about being in charge of the Gym, which is in itself a ridiculous fear when she isn't even considered a trainer yet, even though she basically should be after raising Dedenne. There were some funny moments here and there, but the episode was awful, Bonnie was at her worst and the ending made the whole thing feel extremely pointless.

The Origins of Mega Evolution episode was also pretty bad. Instead of focusing on training before the Gym battle, we had Ash trying to learn how to dance, learning about the first Mega Lucario and then Team Rocket trying to steal some secret about Mega Evolution, which turned out to be completely worthless by the end. I guess that they wanted to showcase Mega Lucario before the Gym battle to show that Korrina was still in control of it, but it was a pretty sloppy episode.

As a result, Showdown at the Shalour Gym was also pretty bad and easily the worst Gym battle in the series for me. While Ash giving up on a strategy that wasn't working for him made sense, they made such a big deal about Ash trying to learn Tierno's battling style to help him against Korrina and even spent part of the previous episode trying to deal with Ash's inability to dance that giving up on it felt too anticlimactic. It made sense for Ash to not just try to copy someone else's battle style and he was smart enough to recognize when it wasn't going to work, but it just made me wonder why they bothered to deal with it if that was going to happen. Plus, he didn't have any other strategy besides just attacking head on, which could have maybe worked if they didn't basically waste the previous episode on what ultimately didn't matter and actually have Ash train his Pokemon. It was supposed to be cool to see Ash finally defeat Mega Lucario with Pikachu after they hyped upt its power, but it just felt so forced and unsatisfying to watch when it was just attacking head on without any kind of battle style or strategy in mind. After all the buildup to the Gym match, they just couldn't deliver on it due to both the previous episode and how they rushed through most of Korrina's other Pokemon in order to get to Lucario. It also reminded me why I like that Team Rocket doesn't normally get involve in the Gym battle episodes anymore due to how they were taking up a bit too much time here.

As for some of the episodes mentioned here, I actually like Splitting Heirs. The characters of the day weren't particularly interesting, but I liked how it showed Clemont and Bonnie's relationship. They actually acted like an older brother and little sister to me and without making Bonnie completely annoying too. They were upset, but sad about how they weren't comfortable with each other and were still wanting to protect each other. The way they made up at the end felt genuinely sweet to me. It wasn't one of the best filler episodes in the series, but far from one of the worst and if someone wanted to see how their relationship worked, I'd sooner point them to this episode than the horrible episode revolving around Bonnie's gag.

I also actually liked Unlocking Some Respect. The setup is pretty forced and it was a weird way to showcase Biancie, but I kind of like that the episode focused on some characters of the day and the relationship between the locksmith and his apprentice seemed nice, mainly towards the end. It wasn't a stand out episode. At most, I'd said it's serviceable, but I wouldn't say that it's bad. I can understand why people dislike this episode though, at least more so than some of the other filler episodes listed here.
 
Kalos league victory?! Writer's ultimate cocktease!
Fixed that for you.

I didn't like the entire Summer Academy arc thanks to it mostly feeling like a half hearted redo of the Sinnoh version. I enjoy math too, so the frequent inconsistencies with team scores honestly made me want to scream at my monitor in exasperation. I also wasn't too into Tierno's dancing battle style and really wished that Ash wasn't wanting to use this himself by the end of the arc. Pikachu beat all three of them with Chespin's aid, I never got the impression that it would be an improvement for Ash as a result.

This leads into the Shalour Gym setup episode previously mentioned by Hidden Mew, but Ash putting this silliness to rest and defeating the Mega Evolved form of the Pokémon species that ended his Unova League run with the same Pikachu saved the battle itself. If we ever needed any proof that XY Ash beats BW Ash, this is it.

Following this, I haven't seen most examples here apart from Goodra's release episode which I honestly like because of Florges's motivations and it being a touching end to Goodra's initial time with Ash. As rushed as this Pokémon's development was, I like Ash's Goodra as a character and I feel that this helps me still shed a tear or two despite it now returning for a while, just as Misty's Togetic saying goodbye also does.

My own personal addition here is Noivern's evolution episode. Not only did this one come across as a poor imitation of Talonflame's evolution and clash with Moltres, but all of Noivern's subsequent battles make his performance against Zapdos appear grossly exaggerated (Still calling bullcrap on Noivern vs Doublade). I suspected that they'd overdo this, Noivern as a species is a clear favorite of theirs thanks to its early reveal and pre-hype.

Speaking of writer favoritism, Mega Charizard X. Specifically, fourth Mega Evolution special, Kalos League opening, and Ash vs Alain Part 2. Sweet shit on a sundae, where do I even begin with these?!
 
Last edited:
-XY007: Yeah, unpopular opinion, but it's kinda boring and I hate when an interesting competition is sacrificed for a Team Rocket fight.
-XY29: One of the most generic Arc-starts ever.
-XY34 (Hawlucha): Boring as hell, and ends in a very anticlimatic way.
-XY60/70: Our first evil two-parter in 2 years...is about Team Rocket being more evil than Hunter J and some airplanes for the sake of it.
-XY84 (Chespin): Poorly developed plot with too many childish scenes.
-XY96: No real sense of connection between Joy and Mega Audino and everything is just a gimmick.
 
I've missed out on a lot of XY, but from what I remember, Hawlucha's debut episode was pretty dreadful. Enough with the jerkass Ursarings already.
 
Any and all XY&Z fillers. (minus the XY115)

No writers, don't try to develop characters and major plotlines as much as possible. Just use updated OS stories with 30 seconds of relevant scenes hella awkwardly thrown in :mad:
(You know things are grim when an episode features the Professor and a Mega-Evo yet is STILL pointless :( )

XY125
I guess we should've known the League would turn out like it did with such a bad start, focusing more on some random butthurt punk in a hall than actual League battles. :cry:
I know they had bigger fish to fry (no pun!) with Team Flare and getting ready for SM, but damn son...
 
they could have made a draw between Alan and Ash.
But they wanted to show that mega pokemon is stronger and that Ash needs more training with his teams. More strategies. Ash always goes like a fast ball player without thinking more about how to win.
 
Please note: The thread is from 8 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom