Looking back, why do you think Brock stayed for the DP series?

[Cybersai]

You can't really compare him to Misty as the Japanese voice actress for her quit so that she could pursue a music career, she forced herself off the show.

Where in the world did you get that idea from? Misty left because the writers got rid of her like any other character who left, the VA did not, "quit."

Takeshi Shudo said they got rid of Misty because she was the least justified of all the original characters and served no purpose beyond being a token female.

 

[Jediknightdtv]

I personally, love Brock as a character. He is second only to Ash and Pikachu (tied for first) as my favorite all time character in the anime. I think that he had a rich character development over the course of his run (albeit a bit slower than most people, including me, would have liked) and I am going to dearly miss him in Isshu. I truly hope that the writers see fit to give him a "guest star" appearance in the future.

 

[Cybersai]

I think that he had a rich character development over the course of his run (albeit a bit slower than most people, including me, would have liked)

His character development wasn't much to be honest. After the first season or so, he took a major step back even in Johto and he didn't really do much for the rest of the series.

Although becoming a doctor was probably the best ending for him.

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

I wonder if it's because the writers took "one step at time", so to speak. Perhaps they realized that having four in a group wasn't the best idea, while being aware that Brock was getting old. But they decided to improve the former before doing the latter. Max was a rather redundant character (I liked him, but he wasn't really needed honestly) and proved rather unpopular with the general fandom. So by removing May, they removed him as well. This is most likely, as I'm sure we all know, is the reason Dawn didn't have a brother, or a fourth member wasn't added in DP. Then, they thought, once that was settled, it was time to make a new change in BW.
To be honest, I'm okay with this. I don't know about you Scott, but I think he went out with a bang.

 

[pharaohyami5000]

Could it be it's because of the time they did remove him from the Orange Island series, they got many complaints of Brock not being in the show so they wouldn't dare to do that again? I don't know. They still haven't fully explained the reason of his departure from Prof. Ivy.

DP should have tried a duo travel, so they can develop some father-figure actions from Ash (doesn't matter if he's still 10), and have Brock as a recurring character. More fresh like AG's four people traveling, maybe Orange's trio, and now BW's 2 new characters.

 

[Sheep]

It was stated in several interviews that the reason they removed Takeshi/Brock was because they felt he'd be too "racist because of his skin color" since the show had started becoming very popular and was globalized. Afterwards, they realized they liked Takeshi the way he was, so they removed Tracey and brought him back. That's why we don't exactly know what happened with Professor Ivy, since his return was rushed.

Sorry, I don't have proof, but I've read these interviews through various sources and I'm sure others have seen them as well. They're as official as official gets.

 

[Cybersai]

We can safely say Brock came back for Johto because he was more popular than Tracey at the time.

As for AG, I guess they decided they wanted to try a group of 4, and since Max had no Pokemon, you still needed an extra guy there to round out the group. Also since Brock just came back for Johto, having him leave AGAIN when Hoenn started would be a bit too soon.

For Battle Frontier, well it was still AG, and I guess they didn't want to change anything at the time.

For DP, it really isn't all that explained. 90% of DP focused on Ash and Dawn and the rivals, with Brock very rarely getting in on the action.

I understand perfectly why Brock was in the previous arcs, but for DP I really don't know. Even in the movies Brock broke the fourth wall about always being left behind.

 

[Thingamajig]

Probably because there was no decent replacement character in the D/P games. Ash was there in lieu of Lucas, and none of the male Gym Leaders could've really worked as part of a group of kids. They would've been hesitant to add another anime exclusive older character considering the last one didn't work out so well.

 

[Kakuna Matata]

So that he could be Mr. Exposition and explain to all the kiddies watching what was going on in the battles (and for some reason contests too.)

The writers/producers/whoever felt he was still popular enough with the fans to stay on the main cast, so they kept him. They didn't want a repeat of the Orange Islands. Once they realized the fans weren't as into Brock anymore, they found a suitable replacement for him and ditched him.

 

[Dogasu]

So what correlation does that have with Brock being in the remake games, then? Lyra was brought in for the HGSS advertising, and aside from Brock having a Sudowoodo very early on, he wasn't really there for any HGSS promotion.

Which is strange because he had a pokemon (Pinpuku) that can evolve into a Generation II pokemon. He really should have had a Happinas by the time HG/SS came out.

 

[Frenzy Plant]

Because D/P had the focus split between Ash and Dawn; another new character on top of that to develop would've detracted from what they wanted to do with Ash and Dawn in Sinnoh - Brock to tag along and get a little bit of extra development was the logical conclusion.

Also, I thought D/P had much more reference to the game mechanics from episode to episode; and having Brock there to explain all that for the kids made perfect sense.

 

[Ampharos King]

Brock was there for three reasons.
1): Comic relief involving females. Croagunk added to the routine by stabbing him in the back every time he looks at a girl.
2): To explain attack moves and abilities during an important battle. Brock usually does this for both gym battles and contests, and it is usually Dawn or Ash who asks about them.
3): To prepare meals for the group and take care of the pokemon. The Pachirisu episode showed that Ash and Dawn were not prepared to have taken care of a sick pokemon by themselves. Brock's expertise helped both of them; he also showed Dawn which types of berries were appropriate for picking based on surrounding soil moisture.
4): And on very rare occassions act as both a mediator and a referee. Although someone could easily replace Brock in this regard, we have always known Brock to be a referee during unsanctioned league battles (i.e. everything but gyms and conferences).

There was nobody that Brock could have been replaced with at the time. Nobody who was able to fill the big shoes that he filled.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Probably because writers wanted to have character which would serve as somekind of older brother to group who takes care of them by cooking,cleaning and giving tips from his rich knowleadge not wanting to differentiate from established formula they have been incorporating in pokemon series for years.
Sure some could say how they could have filled up his place with someone else but judging by that interview with mr.Hidaka writers rather like to replace girls to give new "eye candy"(terrible reasoning),than males.

However now that producers and writers wants to do somekind of "semi-reboot" to overall series wit introduction of BW games doing rehash of Kanto,they prpbably want to change as much as they can to make new series look like this is first region Ash is starting in eventually decuiding to ditrh out Brock aswell.However this doesnt mean how all connections with past or continuity are being erased with none of haracters from past returning,consdering this is not a complete and real reboot in its true sense.

Its more like a "new start" which has been iimplemented at start of Hoenn or DP with few other diferences than anything else.

He was a Gym Leader in HGSS.

Think about it:
Indigo Series = Gym Leader in R/B/Y
Johto Series = Gym Leader in G/S/C
Hoenn Series= Gym Leader in FR/LG
Sinnoh Series = Gym Leader in HG/SS

I doubt advertizing has anything to do with Brocks staying for 11 years prolonging his stay through DP.Its not like he was advertizing much anyway especially compared to Ash or female protagonists from games.
In DP and Hoenn games before remakes came out he didnt even existed in games anymore.

Besides Cyber brings up good point,if this was the case judging by Misty also existing in new games she would have still existed in series if not as main than as reccuring character of some sort.

I think that because they wanted to focus on Dawn and Ash's goals, they didn't want a new character to suffer from neglect. Now with Iris and Dent being on equal footing, there was no need for any "neglect".

Thruth to be told writers had their opportunity to give Brock more of involvment in DP having their chances by cutting some unecessary screentime from Dawn and Ash(some of those training based episodes or ones with rivals appearing not doing something especially significant could have been used for something else),having less arcs or fillers etc.

Reason why Brock never got much of a role lies more in my opinion due to writers having trouble finding more for him to do due to nature of its goal.If he had more active goal like trainer im pretty sure he would get little more.

Than again considering how his role was being like mentor and coach to Ash standging on side providing its help perhaps writers probably felt how more of a role wasnt needed to give to him doing his curent job already well.

Brock however, provides comic relief, with his over-the-top wackiness appealing to the younger audience, and his pervertedness appealing to the older fans. Misty's main relationship with Ash is emulated with May (Especially May) and Dawn (and now, maybe even Iris), aside from that aspect, she was a pretty dull character (especially as, if they used the Eye-Candy Girl bit for the older audience...awkward). At least Brock has always been the "Parent" of the group.

Maybe in your opinion,but character in question wasnt dull at all to many people.From objective standpoint it depends on viewers subjective interpretation whether he finds some character appealing or not.

Takeshi Shudo said they got rid of Misty because she was the least justified of all the original characters and served no purpose beyond being a token female.

And Shudo respectively made mistake instead of increasing said character rokle fixing on mistakes,choosing ditching her without closure which explains why so much dust was lifted up after her departure.

Also from what i noticed over course of original series Misty definitely had purpose,so i cant say how i agree with this rather false statement.

 

[Cybersai]

Come to think of it after the tag battle arc, did Brock ever enter another competition in DP?

The Twinleaf tournament barely counts, as all we saw was still-screens of battles. He didn't enter anything else as far as I remember.

 

[Afrojisiac-19]

They were afraid to get rid of him because they didn't want to face backlash from people who may have thought Brock was a certain race, so they brought him back. But he became stale after a while. This was very obvious in DP where he had no one else to play off of. In fact, I don't see why he was needed in AG because Max seemed to have all the qualities of Brock except the cooking or maybe pokemon care. But other than that they thought they should've kept him around because they didn't know what to do with him. But it was a bad idea overall.

 

[Cybersai]

Brock stayed for AG because Max had no pokemon, and they probably wanted Ash to still have one older friend at the time.

AG was the first big reboot/revamp the show ever had, and as such, many elements of the original series still remained in AG.

It wasn't until DP started that the older stuff started to get phased out.

 

[Afrojisiac-19]

Well, Max may not have had pokemon nor cooked or took care of pokemon, but when it came to explaining the details of pokemon, battles, abilities, etc...he had the same role Brock did...Brock really suffered in DP because he didn't have anyone else to fall back on, and in AG I just don't feel like Brock and Ash were playing off of each other as previous sagas...

 

[Cybersai]

Maybe they should have replaced the male sidekick with the female companion each arc.

You have to admit, over the last two gens it was strange just to see the female character change but then Brock stay.

I think if they had changed the male companion every arc too, it would have been more refreshing.

 

[Froakie]

Well, now I hope they change the male character every time - but I think it was a good idea they kept Brock for so long. Although I wanted him to be in the series from the whole time, I have to understand why they dropped him. I think they didn't need to keep him because, as Brock had said, Ash is now more mature than he was at the start and it was time for him to actually go do something with his life. If they changed the male character every time there wouldn't have been that sense of somebody helping him, as it wouldn't have seemed like he had such a strong bond with them. With Brock who he was very close to, we could see how Ash was helped along the way by friends rather than getting new friends every new series.
Although I'm still miffed about him leaving, I am glad he was kept in DP. Ash beat one of his main rivals of the whole show, and it was good Brock was there to watch it. At the end he said 'You finally did it...' to himself. I don't know, but Paul was a tough challenge and something that I think was an incentive for Brock to leave - as he had done his bit.

Although I only wish the writers actually showed that he was a gym leader more often and I think Ash should have given back the badge when Brock left

 

[CommanderPigg]

I honestly don't see any other character taking Brock's place during DP. Let's have a break down, shall we?

Paul: I've heard that a lot of people were thinking that this guy would join Ash's group when he was first revealed in the DP poster. First of all, Paul could not take the role of caretaker at all...I mean, really? "Chimchar, finish this measly can of food that I haven't even put in a bowl for you in 1 minute while I stroll off negligently." And having a rival travel with you every step of the way kinda ruins any element of surprise (which is what I liked best about their rivalry).

Barry: If Barry joined the group, they'd never get anything done, seriously. His antics are hilarious and all, but too much of it might be overkill. They'd be lost or arguing or eaten by ursaring or something...

Rorark: LOL, what? That'd honestly be really boring...Brock in my eyes has more to work with. Without Byron, Rorark isn't an interesting character at all just eyecandy

Conway: Creepy stalker to play as Mr. Exposition? I'm down with that. Creeper stalker to also play the role of mother/big bro, cook, navigator, and stabilizer? It could be amusing...But not entirely practical XD
Plus, it'd be majorly creepy since Conway would be in close proximity of Dawn all the time...even while she's sleeping *shudders*

[EDIT] You know, when I think about it more, Conway wouldn't be a terrible choice as a third party member...hm...though his participation in the league would have to be compromised...maybe.

Looking at it objectively, I don't know whether or not Dento will play the exact same role as Brock nor do I know if he'll perform his duties as well as Brock did. His personality is far more flamboyant than Brock's, and I think I posted in a previous thread that that type of attitude might be too tough to handle on the main cast. We'll see in time.

Who knows why Brock stayed in DP? I'm glad he did. I also agree with Bubblewrap on the whole badge deal XD