#but then in orange islands and johto he really starts to come into his own and he earns all his badges for real

[perenlop]

dude this is legitimately difficult cause i still wanna stay semi faithful to the series and think like, what would be cool for the character to have first and what i'd personally like second, but ash's kanto team is honestly so lackluster as a full team that idk if i can salvage this. i wanna keep the overall experimental vibe but so many of these guys do jack shit and get no screentime that they're honestly better off being wiped and given a small story arc like haunter or something, or being decorations for oak's lab. like, there's a reason why most episodes around his kanto team, whether its in the arc itself or when there's a nostalgia bait episode, they only focus on the starters or butterfree cause they're the only ones who had an actual presence in the show.

honestly a funny bit would be ash catching pokemon and wanting to fight with them but he keeps catching pokemon who don't actually want to fight so they just get oak'd most of the time. so he spends most of kanto struggling to actually find pokemon who want to battle. but i don't want to add too many pokemon like that because what's the point if i give him a gloom and it just gets chucked at oak like the others.

[punz4lyfe]

Now you've been asked what you do like about him what about the opposite what don't you like about goh?

Aw man, this is gonna hurt.

TL;DR - Goh’s a completely lovable character, but I have three particular issues with him that I feel could become worse if not taken care of properly.

First off, DISCLAIMERS!! To all my fellow Goh fans, please know that writing this, I do not mean any hatred to Goh in anyway. I LOVE Goh, and if you’ve seen literally ANY of my past anipoke posts, you would already know that. These are just issues I find with his character that I want to be changed for the best.

Now with that outta the way, here’s what I don’t like about Goh:

1. His iffy character development. While he’s doing fine in becoming more open to people and more willing to help Pokemon, his fighting skills are what I have trouble with it. Let’s go back to his first ever official battle.

It was at Hoenn’s Frontier Cup where he used Scorbunny and Scyther against a trainer’s Mightyena. Despite having a type advantage with Scyther, he lost horribly, which is completely understandable. He’s a beginner and doesn’t possess the same kind of street smarts and experience Ash and many other trainers have. Alright then, so maybe this will lead to a change in character of wanting to become better in battles by getting some training with Ash, who made quick work of that Mightyena trainer. Surely we’ll get some development over this topic after this episode!

He beats Saffron City’s Karate Master and scores a free Hitmonchan.

...Okaaaay, I mean, we’ve never seen the Karate Master in battle before, so perhaps it was just another fodder trainer the anime is filled of. I sure we’ll get some more Goh development after thi-

He easily defeats and captures a powerful Flygon.

.....Alright, alright, it was only a wild Pokemon. Everyone can beat those, right? Heck, in the next episode, he technically suffers a curbstomp loss against Kiawe and admits he only battles Ash every so often. Perhaps this loss will encourage Goh to train more with Ash so he could become a stronger trainer. I mean, despite his good luck with Pokeballs, he’s gonna need to be as strong as he can be for tougher mons, like Legendaries. I’m 100% sure we’ll get something out of thi-

He takes down a wild Zapdos and NEARLY captures it.

.........Uh, okie dokes, it wasn’t a successful capture, and who knows? Even though we have not seen him battle/train that much on-screen, maybe he just got a little lucky. Even in the games, it happens to the best of us. Perhaps this barely missed victory will finally give Goh the time to actually development more on-screen so that he could have a better chance agai-

He defeats Oleana’s Milotic, using his fire-type Raboot who only wanted to use a weak fire-type move.

..............Allllriiiiight, maybe Oleana just got a little cocky later on. Plus, Raboot finished Milotic by evolving in Cinderace and finishing it off with Pyro Ball. With this powerful evolution in hand, maybe Goh will finally realize that, in order for Cinderace to reach its greatest potential, he must start training for once and obtain some proper development for a chance against stronger threa-

Cinderace fights decently well against Mewtwo, even lasting longer than Pikachu and being on-par with the more trained Lucario.

....................At this point, I’m all out of excuses for him. Overall, Goh’s development as a trainer is very rushed to the point seeing him achieve numerous victories despite all odds being against his favor to be iffy.

2. Slightly touchy topic, but there are some negatives with his whole catching all Pokemon goal. So Goh wants to catch every single mon he can in order to reach up to Mew, as he said to Mewtwo in episode 46. And yes, this includes Legendaries as well. Unfortunately, this is where my issues with his goal starts. First off, where in the world will Goh keep any Legendary he encounters? Cerise’s glorified garden dome? Yeah, keep Dialga and Palkia, literal beings of space and time, inside a glass dome with a bunch of weaker mons. And speaking of which, wouldn’t catching mons like the Creation Trio or the Island Guardians cause quite the upset in, well, y’know, the natural balance of things? Sure, Goh technically hasn’t caught a single Legendary yet (Eternatus doesn’t count because it had to be sealed away), with how the anime is playing out, issues like this will surely rise throughout the series.

And yes, the anime is playing it out for Goh to indeed catch every single mon before reaching Mew. If you pay attention to the openings as well as many of Goh’s own character moments, such as episode 46, then you can easily see the signs telling us that Goh is bound to catch them all, just as Ash is bound on defeating Leon. In the past, pretty much all of Ash’s traveling companions had their own goals as well, but it’s usually because of those goals is why they leave Ash by the end of their journeys, like May and Dawn pursuing contests in other regions, Brock wanting to become a doctor, Iris wanting to find more Dragon types, Kiawe wanting to become an Island Kahuna etc. Because of that, it becomes up to the audience’s interpretation (and fanfics) on how they achieve their dreams and what challenges they could face throughout the way. With Goh, there will a lot more focus and emphasis placed on his goal, and while this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s too bad there aren’t really any stakes or obstacles in Goh’s journey!

Really now, another glaring issue with Goh’s goal is that he has NO trouble going through with it at all. From his very first fodder capture, all he has to do is get a good throw and then PING! Pokemon caught. Guess the thing of having to weaken a Pokemon first before capturing it has been retconned out of the anime forever. With that said, there’s absolutely no struggle for Goh to overcome in his journey, which kinda makes things boring. Where’s the challenge? Where are his rivals? Are there any doubts? Does he have any issue of having to catch and connect every single mon in existence? No, well then good for him I guess! Sad thing too is that he catches so many Pokemon with so much potential, but they then disappear completely after their debut.

Remember that free Hitmonchan he scored from Saffron’s Fighting Dojo who seemed completely willing to train with Riolu and Farfetch’d? Never seen again. That female Raichu who loves giving berries? Completely forgotten about. That Aerodactyl Goh resurrected and bonded with before catching? Thanos snapped. The Heracross Goh obtained from a trade at the cost of a second Pinsir he worked hard to find? Literally who?

3. And my biggest issue with Goh. The fact he’s somehow on the same scale as Ash.

Don’t believe me? Well, let’s go back to the ending of episode 46. After Mewtwo teleported him, Ash, Pikachu, Lucario, and Cinderace back home, Goh said this: “We’ve still got a long way to go.”

Excuse me, but WHAT?!?!?!

You BOTH got a long way to go, even though you both suffered a complete curbstomp from a mon that would probably even make the likes of Lance, Cynthia, and Leon comparable to Youngster Joey?!?! What the Distortion World?!?! Why is Goh and, by extension, the writers implying he and Ash are on even terms when it comes to being a trainer? Goh, as a reminder, you literally only began your trainer career 45 episodes ago!!

Alright, let’s talk about Ash for a second and what he’s been through since he started his trainer career. Ash started in Kanto, and while he really only fairly achieved three out of his eight badges (Brock and Misty’s were givens, Erika’s was a thank-you gift, Sabrina’s was all Haunter’s doing, and Jessie and James are complete jokes that no one should take seriously), he still partook in as many battles as he could against tough trainers while getting some pointers from the much more experienced Misty and Brock. After that, he went on to become a much more impressive trainer in later journeys. Instead of a full recap, I’ll just list two impressive things Ash has done in each region he’s journeyed through after losing in the Kanto League.

Orange Islands: Won his first official double battle with Pikachu and Charizard despite neither initially getting along at first and then defeated the Orange League champ, Drake.

Johto: Survived an entire forest of bloodthirsty Ursaring with his friends and defeated Gary’s Blastoise with his Charizard.

Hoenn: Helped stopped both Team Magma and Team Aqua’s elemental threats and reached Top 8 in the Hoenn League despite only two of his mons being fully evolved with one being a glass cannon bird.

Kanto again: Conquered the Battle Frontier and tied with May in his first ever contest.

Sinnoh: Helped protect a Riolu from the famed Hunter J and knocked out two of Tobias’ Legendary Pokemon.

Unova: Defeated Iris’ Dragonite twice (Charizard pretty much had the high ground in their fight) and helped protect Meloetta.

Kalos: Defeated four Mega Evolutions (Lucario, Abomasnow, Absol, and Sceptile) and was one of the main heroes against Lysandre.

Alola: Became an Ultra Guardian and conquered the Alola League.

And right now as of Journeys: Defeated Korinna’s Mienfoo and Mega Lucario with only Dragonite right after the two curbstomped Gengar and defeated Chairman Rose.

And this isn’t even scratching the surface, and yet, somehow, Ash is still on the same scale of Goh. This doesn’t make any logical sense, it completely negates Ash’s experience while over-wanking Goh’s, and it ruins any semblance of power scaling between the two. Logically, Ash should be leagues above Goh and the latter should always confide to Ash whenever he needs assistance or pointers, not “Oh, we both lost to a powerful legendary, guess that means we both have stuff to learn and we’re both beginners lul”. It’s like Deku and All Might both losing a villain that’s beyond both of their capabilities, and then Deku saying that they BOTH have much to learn afterwards! Does it make sense? HECK NO.

If they had to have Goh comment about their loss, why couldn’t he say something that would’ve made more sense? Maybe say something like “Wow, I can’t believe I lasted that long, honestly.” And then Ash would say, “Hey, you’re only getting better. And me and my team will always be there in case you need more training.” Have the two acknowledge the fact that even trainers like Leon wouldn’t fare any better than them against Mewtwo. Just absolutely anything that doesn’t completely ruin what we know of these characters to the point the two are considered equals, despite all the evidence saying otherwise.

I’m getting a little exhausted now, so I’m done, but thanks for asking, anon!

And for anyone reading, please feel free to agree or disagree. I’m completely acceptable to anyone else’s thoughts/opinions over Goh and would love to hear them.

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Pokemon Johto Journeys, Episodes 27-31

In which we return to a still-unsolved mystery, Ash says another goodbye, and Team Rocket says another hello.

Back to Business

When last we left off Ash and the gang, they had finally met up with Kurt, the man Professor Oak told them to deliver the GS Ball to. This mystery has been going on probably close to 100 episodes at this point; what the hell is in this ball that requires so much buildup? I was starting to think we’d never actually see it open. But now that we’ve found the man at last, we’re finally able to... keep the mystery going because he doesn’t know how to open the ball either. Folks, I lmao’d so hard when I realized we still weren’t going to get to find out exactly what Ash has been lugging around ever since the Orange Islands. It’s not like I’m upset, to be clear; I’ve always said that Pokemon as a show is more about the sidetracks than any real overarching plot, and I’ve got no real emotional investment in what the GS Ball ends up being. It’s one of those things that will get answered at some point and until then, we’re just along for the ride. But it’s still pretty amusing just how long this mystery is being dragged out. Like, there’s narrative wheel-spinning and then there’s this. Even Ash and his friends are getting impatient to find out what’s in this damn ball already. And it looks like it’s gonna be a while yet before we get our answers. Oh well, at least we got a second gym badge out of our visit to this city, so I guess I can’t complain too much.

So Long, Squirtle

And in far more substantial happenings this session, Ash is once again tasked with saying goodbye to a Pokemon he’s had with him pretty much since the beginning of the show. Man, I did not see Squirtle’s departure coming. This cuddly little turtle has been a mainstay since the very first chunk of episodes; outside Bulbasaur and Pikachu, he’s been with Ash longer than any other Pokemon currently on his team. But I can’t help but respect this show for having the balls to bid long-term “cast members” goodbye like this. It shows a willingness to shake things up and try new things, as well as leverage the audience’s sympathies for a heartily emotional goodbye. And while this episode is nowhere near as great as Charizard’s recent departure, it was still a blast getting to see the Squirtle Squad back in action. They even have their own gang handshake that they do with their tails, how can I not love that? It’s easy to forget that our Squirtle was a regular badass punk when we first met him, but he slips right back into the roll like he only left yesterday. His vicious takedown of Team Rocket was an awesome reminder of just how cool this little dude can be. Once a Squirtle Squad member, always a Squirtle Squad member. And I like how he and Ash leave on such good terms, parting ways with nothing but smiles between them. Our boy really has matured if he’s able to face hard goodbyes with such good cheer. And I eagerly look forward to whichever pokemon takes his place.

Best of Team Rocket

On the subject of comings and goings, hoooooly shit was I excited when I first saw Wobuffet on screen. I have fond memories of the lackadaisical, deadpan energy this blue blob brought to Team Rocket’s antics in future seasons, and it was a blast to see him officially join the team. They didn’t even mean to snag him; Jessie accidentally traded her Likitung away and Wobuffet took its place. And I can’t wait to see more of its oddball antics.

-Did they seriously just make a cardboard bush to hide behind I swear to god

-”It’s tired and true! I mean, tried and true!”

-”Don’t move! Just act organic!”

-”It’s simple, it’s nasty, and it’s cheap!” “Yeah, just like me!”

-”I’m sorry, but my tummy needs a yummy!” “We all need a yummy!”

-JESSIE YOU CAN’T JUST YEET MEOWTH BY THE TAIL

-Lol at James chilling in Victreebell’s mouth for the entire fight. He’s resigned to his fate at last.

-”Think about that next time you bite the head that waters you!”

-OH MY FUCKING GOD IT’S THE SAME MAIGKARP SCAM SALESMAN I’M DYING

Odds and Ends

-GOD, this theme song is a such a bop.

-Ooh, I forgot how some special Pokeballs are carved out of apricorns. This world has some cool mechanics.

-Team Rocket, teaching kids to reduce, reuse and recycle since 1997.

-Oh boy, I bet that’s not the last time Brock’s gonna get a Pineco explosion to the face.

-”I don’t know what to say except, you’re welcome!” ...Moana?

-”But before we start... could you get the ladder? I’m kinda stuck up here.” sdkjfhsdkfh okay that got me good

-Sorry, Bugsy, but Ash learned not to make type advantage the be-all-end-all of his strategy loooong ago.

-Kinda interesting we get such a small selection of apricorn balls, but I kinda dig it. Feels more realistic that they wouldn’t get a full set.

-Not gonna lie, Brock in a hard-boiled detective trench coat is a Look(tm).

-”You’re only a loser if you’re a quitter!” What do you know, he does sound smart sometimes.

-”And on top of me!” Professor Oak is slowly building a harem composed of Ash’s Pokemon and one day the world will know the truth. One day.

-Alright, switching manju with butter rolls is easily the least egregious food localization choice in this anime so far. Well done.

-Okay, but hearing actual Japanese food like bento lunches listed alongside hot dogs and hamburgers just confuses me. What are you doing here, localization team?

-Aaaw, nice to see Tauros again.

-Every once in a while Team Rocket comes up with a scheme that’s actually halfway decent and I can hear the universe struggling not to implode.

-”It even comes with a 90-day warranty on parts and labor!” Ash I swear to god you are the worst salesman ever

-Oh shit, it’s the Wartortle Squad from Orange Islands! There’s a callback I wasn’t expecting.

Aaah, it’s good to be back. See you next time!

[alolanrain]

Who’s who in Alola Swap!au (might change later on)

Ash Ketchum is a retired Champion of both Orange Isles, Kanto, and Johto. He is now a Professor at Principal Lana’s pokemon school. He adopts Kukui when his parents die in a car crash in the beginning of the year and then Guzma after he finds out that he lives in a really abusive house hold. Ash kinda-adopts Plumeria when he finds her hanging out with Guzma at his house and Ash just shrugged and said she’s always welcomed at home. Ash was married to Professor Hop, Galar’s main leading Professor, back a few years before starting at the school but it was a Vegas style wedding and both were extremely drunk at the time. Ultimately ruining their long friendship. Ash is still the sun of Lugia and Tapu Koko and that makes both Kukui and Guzma their grandsons.

Lillie is the Aether Paradise President. She is the mother of Lusamine and an Aunt looking after Faba since both parents of his are in no way shape in raising a child. Their both students in Professor Ash’s class. She and Ash are long standing friends along with her brother Gladion. She comes down every time Ash’s Pokemon takes charge of the class if Ash is sick or is currently to busy to teach class with Godly duties as he is still the Chosen One.

Gladion is the main science teacher and English teacher at the school. He has a slight crush on Professor Ash but ultimately knows that Ash isn’t looking for a relationship right now and that he doesn’t really have a chance. He has Hala, Nanu, Mallow’s son, and Molane in his class and he genuinely loves his kids even though they always compete with Ash’s class on who’s the most rowdiest even though their mostly a grade above them.

Hau is the Melemele Kahuna and the Mask Royal. Sometimes he and Ash switch out if something happened that needed Kahuna oversight when there’s a battle Royal he needed to be at. This causes mass confusion since both ash and Hau are wildly different in both height, body structure, and skin tone. He is taking care of his grand son Hala since his son is a no good man locked up in Kalosian prison for multiple high end crimes.

Lana is the principal of the school, her two younger sisters run the family fishing business and she has two children, three if she’s counting Mallow’s separate child from a different relationship, that are entering the Pokémon school next year. She and Mallow are married and on the weekends the citizens of Melemele can see Lana helping Mallow and her brother out in the restaurant.

Mallow is the owner of the best restaurant in Melemele, and Alola if you ask her friends, and has a young son who’s in Professor Gladions class. She is also the trial captain for Hau and usually takes care of any problems that don’t really needs his attention.

Kiawe is the Kahuna of Akala and the father of Olivia along with his two other kids. His sister, Momo, helps the most out on the ranch as he takes care of Kahuna business all around the island.

Sophocles is one of, if not the best of, Kiawe’s trial captains. He works and owns the observatory and is the guardian of his younger cousin Molane who is mostly known as and referred to as Lil’Mo.

Ash’s Class is made up of; Olivia, Wicke, Faba, Burnet, Kukui, Guzma, and Lusamine

Gladions class is made up of: Nanu, Hala, Lil’Mo, Plumeria, Viren, Mina, and Ilima

Acerola is Ula’ula’s Kahuna and is the guardian of her nephew Nanu. She is one of the nicest Kahunas and has a campaign going around her island that Ghost’s and Dark types aren’t that scary and are more afraid of people then people should be of them. She is also the oldest Kahuna out of the four and is the most respected out of them all.

Hapu is the Poni island Kahuna and is the only Kahuna that is not a guardian towards a child.

Professor Hop of Galar is also a teacher of a mixed grade class of special needs students. He is Ash’s ex-husband and the one to cut off contact much to both of theirs displeasure.

Hops class is made up of; Melony, Leon, Raihan, Piers, Bea, Rose, and Oleana

Hops research assistant is Sonia

Hops class assistants are Kabu and Opal

Gloria is the Champion of Galar whole Victor is the Chairmen. Both are still twin siblings and work extremely well together

Gloria will be giving endorsements to both Leon and Raihan when they reach the age of 12. Leon is 10 right now and Raihan is 11, though Raihan promised Leon he would wait for him until he also turned 12

Gordie is a single teen dad that is also a gym leader, he has three younger siblings that are trying to get their feet underneath them and is the father of Melony

Allister is the older brother to Bea and is also a gym leader.

Marine is the older sister to Piers and helps out with Professor Hop’s class all the time. She is also a Gym leader and is considered the strongest gym since Hemmerlocke doesn’t have one just yet.

Bede is a gym leader as well as he is the guardian of his granddaughter Opal. He doesn’t really interact with the class outside of when Hop is able to drag his ass over to his class so that they can meet some different fairy types or whe they go on field trips outside of Galar

[themattress]

Pokemon Franchise Narrative Comparison

To this day, there have been only three other mediums that have run for as long as the core Pokemon game series has: the anime series, the Pokemon Adventures manga series, and the Trading Card Game. With the obvious exception of the TCG, these have all had narrative arcs within each passing generation, and I want to use this post to compare their quality.

GEN I Games: Red/Blue/Green/Yellow Anime: Original Series: Indigo League + Orange Islands (The Beginning) Manga: Red/Blue/Green Chapter, Yellow Chapter  

1st Place - Manga. The original R/B/G Chapter brings the world of the Game Boy games to life in stunning accuracy, while also its own spin on certain things and crafting a simple yet sophisticated coming-of-age narrative, with the Yellow Chapter being its Actionized Sequel that raises the stakes even higher and deepens everything within this manga series. Add to this clear influence from the anime and the fact that it’s the only Gen I product to feature the character of Green in it, and we have the definitive story for the franchise’s first generation.

2nd Place - Anime. While increasingly less faithful to the details of the games, the anime remained very faithful to the spirit of them while telling its own coming-of-age tale for Ash Ketchum in the Indigo League series, plus a “postgame scenario” equivalent with the Orange Islands series. The highlight of this story is definitely how it fleshes out the games’ main antagonists: Gary Oak, Team Rocket and Mewtwo, into interesting, memorable characters.

3rd Place - Games. The 8-bit adventure that started it all is incredibly bare-bones and basic: take the Pokemon League challenge, thwart the evil Team Rocket along the way, and if possible fill up that Pokedex with all 151 Pokemon (”Gotta Catch ‘Em All!”). As a story, it’s not very interesting, but as an excuse for gameplay it works marvelously and established a winning formula for the series, and to this day it’s still charming in its wholesome simplicity.

GEN II Games: Gold/Silver/Crystal Anime: Original Series: GS (Gold and Silver) Manga: Gold/Silver/Crystal Chapter

1st Place - Manga. It’s funny - in the first volume of the G/S/C Chapter, things seemed to be a definite downgrade from the Kanto-based arcs that came before in terms of artwork, characterization and narrative. But then the mysterious masked antagonist appears at the end, and from then on out things just keep escalating to such epic heights that it becomes the best Johto story in the franchise and arguably the best arc in the whole manga series! Practically everyone and everything from the previous two arcs end up joining up with the new elements and the series up to this point is brought to a satisfying, conclusive note. 

2nd Place - Games. While the League challenge and Pokedex narrative threads are basically the same as before, and the Team Rocket thread is actually weaker, this story also features a stronger regional setting, a stronger rival, and stronger characterization for side characters both old and new, especially in the special edition, Crystal, making it a welcome step-up.  

3rd Place - Anime. An attempt at a new narrative was notoriously abandoned early on, with Takeshi Shudo leaving the head writer position and the whole show devolving into formulaic Filler Hell. While the Johto League tournament that concluded the whole thing was good, there was barely a story to support getting there, and the main characters had all become Flanderized versions of their former selves by the end. Without question, the anime had jumped the shark. But Shudo did give us the best movie and an OVA that properly concluded Indigo League’s Mewtwo arc before he was through, so let’s not say it was a total waste.

GEN III Games: Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, FireRed/LeafGreen Anime: Advanced Generation (Ruby and Sapphire) Manga: Ruby/Sapphire Chapter, FireRed/LeafGreen Chapter, Emerald Chapter

1st Place - Games. The first time that the games get first place, but only on the technicality that the other contenders are worse, since this really isn’t that big an improvement over the previous two generations’ game narratives. The biggest difference is that your character is the child of one of the Gym Leaders, and the evil team narrative thread (Team Aqua and/or Team Magma this time) builds to an epic high-stakes event that involves the Legendary Pokemon mascot of the game which will become a mainstay of the formula from now on. There is also the remakes of the original Gen I games, and aside from some small tweaks of improvement and a postgame scenario in an island archipelago (anime-inspired, perhaps?), the narrative is basically the same as it was before. Nothing outstanding, but serviceable. 

2nd Place - Manga. Talk about a mixed bag...the R/S Chapter started out with promise but ended up going to shit in its second half, the FR/LG Chapter was fantastic only to conclude with a bullshit last-minute cliffhanger, and the Emerald Chapter that connects the two arcs is just stereotypical, badly-written shonen crap with only a few good elements in it (plus some ironic enjoyment to be had in its batshit insane climax). On the whole, this was the weakest period that the manga series has ever had, despite Kusaka and Yamamoto’s best efforts.  

3rd Place - Anime. Beyond May and her character arc which, by some lucky fluke, came together wonderfully, the anime hadn’t improved that much from the Johto days. Hoenn was not done any justice (even the manga did a better job with it!), and the FRLG/Emerald composite for the filler arc afterward was just weird in spite of how entertaining half of it was. All in all, the anime hadn’t gotten a real narrative back. It was just going through the motions.

GEN IV Games: Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, HeartGold/SoulSilver Anime: Diamond & Pearl Manga: Diamond/Pearl Chapter, Platinum Chapter, HeartGold/SoulSilver Chapter

1st Place - Manga. Pokemon Adventures retakes its crown in this generation, with a phenomental two arcs in the Sinnoh region that are so linked that they essentially make up one whole story, and a brief, adequate arc in Johto that properly bridges the gap between those Sinnoh arcs and the Emerald arc before them. Whenever I think of Sinnoh, it’s the region portrayed in this manga that comes to mind, which is a testament to its high quality.

2nd Place - Games. One word can describe the narratives of these games: overcooked. There are a lot of good ingredients here that elevate the series’ storytelling to a new level, but way too many cooks who don’t have a unified idea of how to properly mix them together means that it becomes a muddled mess of mythology, philosophy and vague character motivations. This particularly pisses me off when it effects the otherwise solid Gen II remakes. However, the good elements are still good regardless, and as showcased by the following generation this was a necessary learning curve to get through, so it deserves some respect.

3rd Place - Anime. Ugh. Newly appointed head writer Atsuhiro Tomioka tries to have his cake and eat it too here, maintaining the anime’s banal filler formula while also attempting to tell a legitimate narrative, but he as just one man somehow manages to clutter up that narrative more than the several writers did for the games in this generation! It is an increasingly insufferable roller coaster of plot threads and supposed character arcs that are drawn out to the point of disinterest across four years, with you really feeling the disastrous pace when it takes a years’ worth of time between Ash winning his 7th badge and him winning his 8th. Combine this with the source material of the games being disrespected or cast aside perhaps worse than ever, and you get what I will always believe is the lowest point for the anime.  

GEN V Games: Black/White, Black 2/White 2 Anime: Best Wishes + Best Wishes Season 2 (Black and White) Manga: Black/White Chapter, Black 2/White 2 Chapter

1st Place - Games. With this generation, particularly with its first set of games, the learning curve undergone in Gen IV paid off. This is quite possibly the richest narrative in the whole game series in terms of plot, characterization and themes, and the peak of the traditional formula. Combined with stellar gameplay, it creates a high point that has yet to be matched.

2nd Place - Manga. The Black/White Chapter had a rough start, just copying the games’ plot almost to the letter but with the characterizations for the main characters truly being less than ideal (see what I did there?) However, once Black and White go their own separate ways the arc starts rapidly improving until it ends on a phenomenal high note that segues perfectly in the Black 2/White 2 arc that, like the Yellow arc, is an Actionized Sequel and, like the Platinum arc, is essentially the continuation and conclusion of the same story as in the previous arc. The only real mark against it is that it can be too fast-paced which only adds to the frustrating irony of the absolutely Hellish schedule slip it underwent (8 fucking years for an arc of just 24 chapters / 3 volumes to be completed! It’s never going to live that fact down!)

3rd Place - Anime. Kind of the reverse of the manga: had a great start being the best that the anime has been in a long time, only to get progressively weaker, with the third and final year being a trainwreck of checking off plot points in a mad rush to promote the upcoming Gen VI and pander to the whiny fanboys who’d been complaining about the loss of the formula and D/P-style story writing (yes, they actually liked those) plus the “soft reboot” aspect going on, particularly with Ash. However, much like the Gen IV games, the Gen V anime proved to be a necessary learning curve for the future and is a highly impactful series in that regard, so it deserves respect for that (although I hate that both a natural disaster and the B2/W2 games screwed up the originally planned Team Plasma arc! It’s never going to live that fact down!) 

GEN VI Games: X/Y, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Anime: XY + XY&Z Manga: X/Y Chapter, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Chapter

1st Place - Manga. I thoroughly dislike the story of the X/Y games and the Delta Episode of OR/AS, so imagine my surprise when Pokemon Adventures actually makes something good out of them (or, in the Delta Episode’s case, something tolerable at best). The X/Y Chapter is a delightful deconstruction of a lot of what’s in the games, turning what was light and fluffy and hollow into something dark and suspenseful and meaningful. And the OR/AS Chapter gets points for being the best that Ruby and Sapphire have ever been characterized, to the point where they’ve been officially Rescued from my Scrappy Heap (Emerald’s still lame tho).

2nd Place - Games. Like I said, I dislike the X/Y games’ narrative and the Delta Episode of OR/AS; I think they are the worst writing the game series has ever seen to date. But the main narrative of OR/AS - the actual remake of the Gen III games which features a lot of new and necessary improvements - is solid, and that’s enough to put the games at second place here.

3rd Place - Anime. Similarly, the one thing the anime series does really well - the Myth Arc, which includes the Team Flare storyline - is not enough to elevate it beyond third place, because the rest of the series’ narrative is just as lame as the X/Y games’, there’s not much benefit from OR/AS elements, and everything that it positions in its shameful fan-pandering utterly fails to deliver or add up to anything meaningful in the end. The Mega Evolution specials pretty clearly demonstrate that this should have been Alain’s show, not Ash’s.

GEN VII Games: Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon Anime: Sun & Moon Manga: Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon Chapter

1st Place - Games. The Gen V games have serious competition story-wise with the Gen VII games. Both S/M and US/UM are excellent, with things not done so well in one being done better in the other and vice-versa to the point where they compliment each other beautifully.

2nd Place - Anime. Miracle of miracles! For the first time since Gen I, the anime series gets its narrative in second place, with Daiki Tomiyasu and Aya Matsui completely reinventing it in a refreshingly fun and vibrant way. There are some missed opportunities here and there, but overall it’s a perfect adaptation of the Alola region and everything that makes it so great.

3rd Place - Manga. While this is still an arc of good quality that I like, it’s also perhaps the most disappointing since Ruby/Sapphire back in Gen III. After doing so well with Sinnoh, Unova and Kalos, one senses that Kusaka and Yamamoto struggled to adapt Alola to that same standard, and while the decision to keep US/UM as part of the same arc rather than be a separate one was wise, it’s during the US/UM half of the arc that things really start falling apart and the wasted potential of stuff that got set up earlier becomes overbearing. It doesn’t help that the leads are an unlikable hero with an interesting, relatable goal and a likable heroine with an uninteresting, unrelatable goal respectively. Let’s hope that the patchwork done in the volume releases fixes some of the problems so that I can like this arc even more.

GEN VIII Games: Sword/Shield Anime: New Series (Journeys) Manga: Sword/Shield Chapter

1st Place - Manga. As I recently stated, Kusaka and Yamamoto are back at their A-Game with this arc, taking advantage of all that was lacking in the games’ story and utilizing them in an interesting narrative that I can’t wait to further experience alongside our surrogate, Marvin.

2nd Place - Games. If the Gen IV games’ narrative was overcooked, then the narrative of the games four generations later is most definitely undercooked. It’s not the worst story - that’s still Gen VI - but it’s possibly the most disappointing since it’s so easy to see how it could have been better and you are left baffled as to why the writers didn’t go in that direction.

3rd Place - Anime. This series is highly enjoyable thanks to the continued leadership of Daiki Tomiyasu, but not only is there not as much of a narrative as there’s been in earlier shows, it isn’t even uniquely Gen VIII-based: taking place across all regions in the Pokemon World and taking influence from mobile games like Go (released in Gen VI) and Masters (released in Gen VII).  Add to that the unfortunate hiatus it’s now on and it can’t help but be placed last.

[smilingperformer]

Okey yeh. I’ll be done with Johto series in 3 weeks. And I started it early this year. Quite a 8 months journey it’s been (with a 2 month gap in the middle due to personal stuff so, 5-6 months actually).

Knowing more about Ash/Satoshi’s journey throughout Kanto and Johto has been quite fun! Neither Kanto or Johto tops other series for me, but I’ve come appreciate them in a whole new level. My favourite detail about Kanto/Johto era is the charmful conversations and dynamics between Rocket Gang and OS trio. It’s such enjoyable content. Another is how you can actually see how Ash progresses with his battling skills and all! Same with Pikachu!

I’ve learned way more about Misty/Kasumi, even now knowing she actually owns the Politoad from fifth movie. I never ever knew that! I thought it belonged to Brock/Takeshi! They didn’t exactly explain which Pokemon belong to who in the movie... It’s quite a guy thou, Misty/Kasumi sure ended up with a team full of personality. With Corsola, Psyduck and Politoad. I wish there was more Corsola, she’s my fav ;V;

I also used to think all she did was bicker with Ash/Satoshi and that would have been all there is to her character. Oh boy am I glad to be proven wrong. She’s temperamentic but also caring, and her bugfobia is way too relatable to me. And the way she loves Water Pokémon is so charming! The episode that really made me like her was the one with Marill. That was such a sweet episode.

Even Brock/Takeshi has gained new level of respect from me! He knows so much about Pokemon, and even with his ‘falls in love with every woman he meets’ personality, he’s shown to be extremely caring for all Pokémon. I’d be happy to have him around on my Pokémon journey for sure! The episode that stood out to me from Brock/Takeshi’s episodes might be the Stantler episode from Johto. He showed what a good person he is there!

Favourite Pokemon from the OS era? Do I even need to say it? If you’ve been following me at all, you know what the answer is!

This bugger stole my heart the moment I saw its debut episode a whole year ago in japanese. He’s full of personality, so cheerful, excited dancing. I just love everything about Totodile/Waninoko. He makes every Pokeani episode better.

I actually ended up loving the whole Johto Starter Trio! Chikorita and Cyndaquil are so cute! And I love how much Chikorita loves Ash/Satoshi! And the way she evolved to Bayleef, still having so much personality! Ah ♥ I somehow knew I’d like her from the day I saw Bayleef in DP Sinnoh League.

And of course, Bulbasaur! ♥ I don’t need to explain Bulby. He was my fav since childhood. I mean, I wasn’t a Pokémon fan back then, but I still had picked some favourites from the Pokémon I had seen. And Bulbasaur has always been the Kanto starter I liked!

Favourite episodes in OS series? Well, St Anne arc is what comes up to my head right of the pat when thinking about Kanto, so I’d say those episodes are my favourites from Kanto journey. From Johto, I really really adore Larvitar’s arc. I also really enjoyed the Red Gyarados episodes, because it showed how much Satoshi wants to help the enraged Gyarados. It also finally made me connect the Dent/Takeshi special from BW to Johto era. That’s what Takeshi was reminded of when seeing Dent talk to that enraged Gyarados!

There are other episodes I really liked as well (Orville Pidgey episode for example. That was a beautiful episode), but my memory can’t think of the names well at this moment. I’ve still got to see the Johto League and the actual end of this series, but that’s in 3 weeks time.

What’s next? Well, I’ve already started exploring the early DP, and will most likely start watching AG next as well, so I’ll probably do both series simultaniously on Pokemon TV. I don’t have the patience to wait another 6 months til I’m done with AG to watch DP, so I’ll just explore them both. I think it should be a fun journey!

Anyway, sorry about this ramble, I’m just really glad I decided to explore rest of Kanto, all of Orange Islands and all of Johto in english dub, despite my initial problems. Now I’ve grown used to it, and don’t have too many problems with the dub anymore. If anything, it’s better than Digimon Dub. In my opinion that is! Feel free to like it if you do. I’m not here to judge :)

Anyway, thanks for reading, I’ll look forward to seeing how OS Trio’s journey ends!

[aion-rsa]

​​​​Pokémon: The Evolution of the Dub Opening Themes

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When you talk to any casual fan about Pokémon, they’ll remember three things. Pikachu, Porygon seizures, and the theme song. The original theme of Pokémon has entrenched itself into pop culture, and is arguably the biggest song to come out of an anime dub ever.

But the Pokémon franchise has had a long journey since that initial success, its opening theme songs changing with the times. Even as theme songs for TV have mostly gone away, Pokémon has kept the light of them alive with no fewer than 24 songs across as many years!

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Why don’t we take a look back and see how they’ve evolved in that time? It’s worth examining how music trends influenced the songs and which ones are just straight up bops. Along the way we’ll look at how the songs match up to the visuals of the openings as well, because these songs don’t exist in a vacuum and exist first and foremost to be paired with the shows.

Pokémon Indigo League

‘Pokémon Theme’

How do you begin to discuss perfection?

This is the theme song by which all Pokémon theme songs are judged. That isn’t just nostalgia talking, they hit this out of the park. The opening notes convey a sense of wonder and mystery, aided by the sights of Mewtwo and Mew. The lyrics expertly convey the core appeal of the franchise and the anime in particular; you’re traveling on a big adventure to catch as many of these creatures as you can! It should feel like cynical marketing, especially with “gotta catch ‘em all,” but it’s inspiring! It’s right up there with ‘The Fellowship’ theme from Lord of the Rings as one of the best adventure songs of all time.

But you know what this song has that the Lord of the Rings theme doesn’t? Visuals timed to the beat of the song! Let me tell you, Lord of the Rings would have won 11 Oscars for every single movie in the franchise if they started their films with opening visuals edited together this perfectly. Damn near every cut in the opening is put on the beat or matches the flow of the song. The perfect example of this is the shot just before the logo where Ash tosses the Poké Ball. The timing of that ball toss with “gotta catch ‘em ALL” is expert level.

You may think you remember this opening solely because of the song but those visuals do a lot of legwork.

 Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands

‘Pokémon World’

Pokémon could have stuck with the original opening forever, endlessly remixing it (Degrassi style, baby!) but they made the bold decision to make ‘Pokémon World’ it’s own thing and it earns major points for that. The original theme is a classic adventure song but this feels more like an adventure song specifically for the summer. It’s bouncier, breezier, and lighter but still communicates the wonder of the Pokémon world.

The visuals aren’t timed quite as well but we’ve still got shots like that one of Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy perfectly synced to the cadence of the “CROWWWDS” lyric.

Pokémon: The Johto Journeys

‘Pokémon Johto’

‘Pokémon World’ boldly broke free from the original but it still maintained the general feel. This one does something completely new. This isn’t an adventure song; this is a fun time with your friends! It’s practically a campfire sing-along song! This reflects the general shifting of what the Pokémon franchise was at the time, from a game and anime with some shades of gray to a bright and colorful, suitable for every demographic with all the edges filed off. That isn’t a knock by the by, the theme needs to be an accurate portrayal of what you’re getting and this song does an excellent job at that. It’s just not as exciting as what came before.

The editing and visuals are above average here but we’re seeing the beginning of a noticeable issue with the opening themes. They’re mixing visuals from the Japanese opening (which clearly has better animation) and visuals from the show. You’ve got this crisp and bright animation next to the softer visuals from the show. It takes you a little out of the experience of the theme, even if it’s only subconsciously.

Pokémon: Johto League Champions

‘Born to Be a Winner’

Oh I am HERE for this song. First off you’ve got the song leading with the chorus of the original theme but it’s got a solid new beat behind it. That beat drives the entire song and it only gets bigger and better as it goes. This is the feeling of adventure the first two themes gave us but with a new edge!

And man that cut when Ash and Pikachu land that’s timed perfectly to “JOH-TO” is sublime. Shame the visuals, which look so crisp and uniform, are oddly broken up with that shot at the end of Umbreon taken from the show. Why is it the only one? It’s a good shot but come on, keep it consistent!

Pokémon: Master Quest

‘Believe in Me’

This one is… fine. It’s fine! It’s biggest sin is that it’s pretty generic. Besides the two shouts of “Pokémon!” it feels like it could fit any other early 2000’s anime dub. Also we’ve got the first (and  not the last) awkward shoehorning in of the title of the season. “I’m on a MASTER QUEST!” I mean, I get it. Ash wants to be a Pokémon master. I get what they’re going for but… eh.

The song also doesn’t have a strong beat behind it so I guess they decided not to care about matching the edits to the song. It’s not bad but again, very average.

Pokémon: Advanced

‘I Wanna Be a Hero’

…I wanna be a hero? I know Ash has saved the world way more times than he can even remember but that really isn’t his focus. He’s not a hero. (And don’t you dare come in these comments and talk about Slowking and the world turning to Ash, this ain’t the movies!) He’s not trying to stop evil, corruption, or the dozens of criminal organizations that challenge children to Pokémon battles. He’s just a guy! The song itself is once again fine but generic. The editing is a little better than last time, if only for finally making all the visuals consistent.

Pokémon: Advanced Challenge

‘This Dream’

Now THIS is more like it. That guitar adds so much! The lyrics are back to feeling more like Pokémon. Dreams! Rising to the challenge! Friendships! This theme is proof that Pokémon openings are far better when the lyrics reflect the show. I know someone in the Pokémon music office (I imagine there’s just 100 Jigglypuff plushies in there) has dreams of one of these openings taking off on the pop charts and wants to make it as generic as possible with as few references to Pokémon as possible to do so. That’s a mistake. This isn’t some generic anime that has a song about love or whatever and never mentions the title in the song (looking at you basically every anime opening ever.) This is a gigantic franchise! Let the song be unabashedly about the series!

The power is back in the editing as well! Should almost every opening time its music to Ash tossing a Poké Ball? Yep!

 Pokémon: Advanced Battle

‘Unbeatable’

We are on a roll! Great instrumental, good singer, and those lyrics really hone in on the battling aspect of Pokémon. What really makes this one work is that, “from the stars and the ancient past” lyric. Hinting at the mystery of the Pokémon world adds a richness and wonder to any opening theme and it breaks up all the lyrics about battling. Also I’m just a sucker for “Ooooowhoaaaa” in songs.

This one feels like they had the clips they wanted to use in the opening and gave it to whoever wrote the song because they all fit so damn well!

Pokémon: Battle Frontier

‘Battle Frontier’

Uh, well that roll was short. Also, this song is way too short! It has no time or room to build! Not that it has much to work with, it’s an extremely weak song which isn’t helped by needing to get “BATTLE FRONTIER” in there somewhere. It worked for Advanced Battle because those two words are cool. Battle is cool, obviously, but the word frontier is wasted on a song like this. If this was more of an adventure tune like the original opening it might work but this is just generic filler music. The first opening that falls into the “below average” category.

Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl

‘Diamond and Pearl’

I take it back! Give me ‘Battle Frontier’ back! When you start a new era of Pokémon you need your opening theme to hit hard and this is beyond weak. Working in the lyrics “it’s a new game” and “DIAMOND AND PEARL” does it zero favors, nor does the speak-singing. These openings, both in their music and visuals, are quickly becoming forgettable.

Pokémon: DP Battle Dimension

‘We Will Be Heroes’

We’ve got a stronger singer this time but the song has no energy driving it! On paper the lyrics are fine, even if someone at the Pokémon office does not understand, once again, that Ash and company aren’t heroes. Also this theme just isn’t exciting. A Pokémon theme song NEEDS to be exciting! Come on, you’ve got a shot of the team on jet skis! How is this boring?!

Pokémon: DP Galactic Battles

‘Battle Cry – (Stand Up!)’

Okay, we’re back on track! Great singer, sense of adventure, a chorus echoing the lyrics (always a good move) and that killer drumbeat! A drumbeat that the editor smartly timed a lot of the clips to. I dig it! It also smartly only busts out the “GALACTIC BATTLES!” at the very end, which more of these seasons with awkward titles should do.

Pokémon: DP Sinnoh League Victors

‘We Will Carry On!’

At this point I need to ask, why are we even bothering with an intro? Sure Galactic Battles was okay but the songs are so short they don’t use that short time properly. 30-second intros can be done, OK K.O! did an amazing opening song in 20 seconds! This song though is just some mindless Disney Channel level butt rock.

Pokémon: Black and White

‘Black and White’

I wish this had more of that male singer. It sounds like he’s trying to do an ‘80s ballad impression (a little Michael Bolton) which would have been INCREDIBLE for a Pokémon theme but instead we go for a passable if generic vocal. I think there’s a lot of potential in using the “black and white” concept for a song (good and evil in the Pokémon world is a thing!) but then I remember. It’s Pokémon. We’re not wrestling with deep moral and ethical questions about good and evil here.

Also the choice of a CG opening is… a choice! It’s certainly unique for the franchise but if the show isn’t CG what’s the point?

Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies

‘Rival Destinies’

Look, I love some butt rock. ‘Phenomenon’ by Thousand Foot Krutch is a killer song but you need more OOMPH in your song to pull it off! Pokémon is one of the biggest franchises on the planet! It needs a better song than one you’ll forget five seconds after it ends. Embrace the butt rock! Let these singers really go for it!

Pokémon: Adventures in Unova and Beyond

‘It’s Always You and Me’

I didn’t know Christian Kids Rock was a genre the Pokémon series would try and tackle but here we are. What hath God wrought? I guess I can give it a point for its commitment to not have even an inkling of edginess? Honestly I’m so distraught by these openings at this point I’m just trying to find anything good I can.

We’re also long past the visuals and editing that bother to match the opening song and it’s a shame. I know the anime is a disposable product meant to prop up the games and franchise as a whole but man, the lack of care in the editing is a little sad. We’ve certainly come so far from the very first opening.

Pokémon the Series: XY

‘Pokémon Theme (Version XY)’

Oh. Oh my god. Oh my GOD. It’s good. No, it’s great. No, it’s INCREDIBLE. I’m saved! You may think it’s only because of nostalgia but let me tell you, they could have done that original song dirty. No, they pulled out all the stops and gave that classic a new lease on life. They pick up the pace and give it a harder rock sound. It’s still only 30 seconds but they use every moment to its fullest extent.

This extends to the visuals which, for the first time in a long time, perfectly match the song. When the chorus hits and the song picks up they toss endless battle shots at you! It’s epic! It pumps you up! After so long it finally feels like a Pokémon theme song again in music and visuals.

Pokémon the Series XY: Kalos Quest

‘Be a Hero’

Welp, it was nice while it lasted. Look, Pokémon, I need to explain to you that Ash is just a kid on a quest to make friends and catch Pokémon. Stop trying to make “be a hero’ happen. It’s never gonna happen! The song itself is back into generic land but that singer going ham on “heeeeROOOOO” did make me smile. It’s total butt rock and I’m here for it. As much as the hero thing doesn’t fit Pokémon the visuals of the opening do sell that FEELING and that deserves some points.

Pokémon the Series: XYZ

‘Stand Tall’

Stadium rock for a Pokémon opening? I’m kinda here for it! If Ash was a wrestler I could easily imagine this as his entrance theme. It certainly stands out from previous openings, even though it doesn’t utilize its 30 seconds well enough. Ash seemingly tapping his feet to the beat is glorious, even if the rest of the visuals aren’t well timed to the song.

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon

‘Under The Alolan Sun’

I. Love. This. Opening. It’s the second best Pokémon opening, just behind the original. It’s so fun! It matches the slice of life comedy vibe that Sun & Moon did so well. More than that it feels inviting in a way so many of these themes haven’t been. The original theme made you excited to go on a journey but this one makes you want to live on the island with these characters!It’s that shot of everyone dancing alongside their Pokémon that does it. How can you not groove along and smile with that? Then we’ve got those crossfade shots of everyone with their Pokémon that takes it over the top. This is how you start a new era of Pokémon!

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures

​​‘Under The Alolan Moon’

A new genre for these openings, which I’m all for, but the problem is that it feels like the song is ramping up to the big chorus but before it can get there the song just ends. The beat is fine but after the fun of the ‘Under The Alolan Sun’ opening this pales in comparison.

 Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends

‘The Challenge of Life’

The drums make this song! It feels big yet keeps the fun of the first Sun & Moon opening. It even sneaks in some of the grand feeling that only the Pokémon world has. I can’t say this is a song I’d put on repeat on its own but it sets the tone for the series pretty damn well. Plus that shot of Ash jumping into the water at the top is just damn cool.

Pokémon Journeys: The Series

‘The Journey Starts Today’

Pokémon, but what if it was sung by Imagine Dragons? The first half is bland but once we hit those “Whoaoaoaoa” I can’t help but want to clap along. It’s not a memorable opening by any means but as a kid I can imagine getting into it. That tracking shot that starts with Pikachu helps a lot.

Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series

‘Journey to Your Heart’

That guitar riff! Holy hell, this song does not mess around with its 30 seconds. A powerful hook, rockin’ beat, and engaging lyrics. Look, “journey to your heart” is kind of a meaningless phrase but damn if it doesn’t get you pumped! It’s so anime. It’s so Pokémon!

The editing of the opening visuals matches the song. We start with a calm shot of the team looking over a cliff at sunset but then as the drums kick in we get that jeep flying into the air! Majesty, action, and not too long after we’ve got Ash dancing! It’s so cute and it matches the song!

Conclusion

I’m glad we could end this look back through the Pokémon openings on such a high note. The Diamond & Pearl through Black & White era was easily the roughest but the last few series have managed to get back some of that original Pokémon theme song glory. I’d be lying though if I said any theme managed to stand up to the original though. They knocked it outta the park from the jump. I can only imagine how intimidating it is for any band to come in and try and add to the Pokémon legacy after that, especially with it now being watched by many corporate overlords. It’s honestly a bit of a miracle we could get something as good as ‘Under The Alolan Sun’ from a franchise as big as Pokémon. 

Still, anytime a new Pokémon theme drops I always give it a listen. The ones that manage to capture the magic of Pokémon are some of the most special and fun opening themes out there.

Also if anyone from the  Pokémon music office is reading, please release a full three-minute version of ‘Under The Alolan Sun.’ The world needs it!

The post ​​​​Pokémon: The Evolution of the Dub Opening Themes appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[rocketshippingassbutt]

So here’s my thoughts on pokeani theme songs that absolutely no one asked for

I freaking love music. Music is my life. Add that to the fact I’ve just finished watching through AG, and you end up with me prattling on about pokeani dub themes.

I wish I’d had the sense to do this after I finished OS. But I didn’t. So I’m combining OS and AG now.

Warning: long post...

POKEMON THEME (Indigo League)

Instant hit or grower? Instant, obviously! This will always be the quintessential pokemon theme, you ask me to sing pokemon, this is what you'll get.

Musicality: It's catchy, love the piano, can't help but dance to the guitars, great vocals and kick-ass harmony, it's really hard to try and sing the words AND the music at the same time. Love it! 10/10

Animation: MEW!! Pokemon in space! Everything fits to the beat, and matches the lyrics too. Points for Gary and Delia. 9/10

TR appearance: Once. 3 seconds. They look good though. Posing!! 5/10

Bonus points? It’s the original! 10/10

POKEMON WORLD (Orange Islands)

Instant hit or grower? Not a fan tbh, worst of OS.

Musicality: It is kinda catchy but that's the only thing going for it. That whole shout and reply thing (’so ya wanna be’… ‘number one’) annoys me. It feels like it's trying too hard. Nothing special musically, at all. Just nope. 2/10

Animation: Mandi!! We had a bit of a crush on him back in the day. And yay for Richie, and more Delia and Gary, and Duplica too. And Gio! Yay for Jigglypuff! Overall a lot more visually energetic than the last one. Plus pretty rainbow background makes Kel happy. 8/10

TR appearance: Once. 5 seconds. Cute posing plus comedy.  7/10

Bonus points? Bonus points because I love the 2nd movie so much. 5/10

POKEMON JOHTO (Johto Journeys)

Instant hit or grower? A grower. I hated it back in the day. But when I started my adult pokeani watch-thru I LOVED it! I think I only hated it way back because I was such a fan of gen 1 and the original theme.

Musicality: THOSE BACKING DO DO DOOO'S! GAH! It's so damn catchy and singable! Good harmonies too, not quite on the first one's level though. Fab beat, love the drums. 8/10

Animation: The twerp running sequence at the start and the way it fits with the music, I freaking love it! More Gary :D and Jigglypuff :D CHIKORITA! GET AWAY FROM ASH! Stupid chikorita trying to take Pikachu's place. It really bugged me during Johto. Yay, Mew's back, being all cute, and Lugia too :D 7/10

TR appearance: Once. 3 seconds. Cute sleepy rockets!  5/10

Bonus points? It will always remind me of one of my fave gishwhes items. 5/10

BORN TO BE  WINNER (Johto League Champions)

Instant hit or grower? Instant, kinda. No, no, what are you doing? You can't do this! Stop destroying the original! You're sullying it! STOP! Wait, what's happening, holy… HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME!! I LOVE THIS!!

Musicality: JFC when it kicks in at ‘my whole life’, it's incredible!! That fucking beat!! Those chords after ‘time to test my skills’ make me so happy inside. And that chord on ‘show the world’! This was the first one that I used to actually animatedly sing and dance and tap and clap to, every damn time. EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS SONG IS AMAZING! 10/10

Animation: Man, the twerps mean business at the start! Delia! And Tracey too! And reminds me so much of my fave movie with the Lugia stuff near the start. Entei! Mew's back for more too!! Don't really care for any of the gym leader cameos tbh. They haven't made as much effort to get the video synced perfectly to the audio as in previous ones, it seems a bit chaotic? 6/10

TR appearance: Once, 4 seconds, but really only 1 second close up.  2/10

Bonus points? HOLY FUCKING WOW AT THE SONG! 10/10

BELIEVE IN ME (Master Quest)

Instant hit or grower? We've just had a kick ass theme, and now we have another one??! Instant!! 

Musicality: It's rocky, that bassline, rockin’ guitars, fab vocals. No harmony except the last line but I don't miss it, it works well without. Toe-tappingly good. 8/10

Animation: Back to making an effort to make everything fit to the beat, which is good. Yay for Gary, Richie and Casey! Those stairs remind me of the 3rd movie. Legendary dogs and birds, Lugia too. Awww Celebi!! 7/10

TR appearance: Twice!! 5 seconds in total. And both freaking awesome! The second one especially is one of my faves of the gang. 9/10

Bonus points? The song rocks. 8/10

I WANNA BE A HERO (Advanced)

Instant hit or grower? As much as I freaking love it now, it wasn't instant, but it was a quick grower. The chorus was an instant hit though.

Musicality: 'town' and 'learn' sound whiny and annoy me, I think that's why the verse wasn't instant. That beat is awesome tho. The wee bridge 'take a step' to 'again' - it's growing, it's growing... Chorus hits, and it's just YES!! That first line with the harmony, gah I always launch straight in to singing the harmony full blast. I can't help it. Plus the fact the music stops for that line makes it even more epic. That wee guitar bit behind 'pokemon advanced' I freaking love it! 8/10

Animation: It's fine, I don't love it, it's nothing special, lots of action, no cameos (apart from Aqua and Magma). Though bonus points for the very end with all the pretty colours. 6/10

TR appearance: Once. 2 seconds. But yay for James getting a hug from Cacnea. 4/10

Bonus points? Awesome song. 8/10

THIS DREAM (Advanced Challenge)

Instant hit or grower? It was a grower.

Musicality: A bit of a step down after I wanna be a hero, but still awesome. It lacks the singability and toe-tappiness of some but it's catchy enough. Great harmonies in the chorus. Every song ends with the usual 'pokemon' and this was the first where I thought the theme song didn't lead well in to it, it feels like it was just shoved on to the end with no through of the previous chords, and that annoyed me. 7/10

Animation: Starts with space and an aurora so bonus points right from the get go. I liked the appearance from the Kanto starter final evolutions. Pikachu is so damn cute sitting on Ash's knee on that hill. Watching it now I'm like Yay Drew!, but at the time I wasn't fussed, he was a grower lol. Medicham annoys me with that wee head thing. 8/10

TR appearance: Once. 2 seconds but blasting off so they're barely there. 3/10

Bonus points? Crotch shot (blink and you’ll miss it). 5/10

UNBEATABLE (Advanced Battle)

Instant hit or grower? FUCKING INSTANT!

Musicality: How freaking epic is this?!?! This wins the award for the pokemon theme sung most often by Kel. It was constantly in my head. In fact I used to sing from 'woah' to 'pokemon', point at hubby, who would roll his eyes before saying 'advanced battle' and I would cheer. Good times. Harmonies are fantastic. Guitars are fantastic. I can't help but air-drum at 'they'll never last'. That bassline!! What is not to like about this? It's brilliant!! 10/10

Animation: That whole things with Brock, Munchlax, May and Max shrugging, love it! I like the way Drew and Harley appeared behind May. Yay again for Celebi and the legendary dogs and birds. That wee nose rub Ash does, I don't know why but I adore it! DANCING TEAM ROCKET!!! Fucking Batman??! Yay for Delia and Tracey and Misty! Who even are those shadowy dudes in 'come to play - never last'? Good mix of action-packed vs funny, plus everything fits to the beat. 9/10

TR appearance: Twice! 5 seconds in total. DANCING! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS! 9/10

Bonus points? EPIC SONG! Also, in case I hadn't already mentioned, DANCING TR! 10/10

BATTLE FRONTIER (Battle Frontier)

Instant hit or grower? Ugh, not a fan. Worst of AG, plus worst so far.

Musicality: From 'if you're strong' to 'find your destiny' eventually grew on me a little, but the rest of the song is abysmal. There is nothing about this song that is special, even the half of the chorus that I don't mind as much is nowhere near the level of the other themes. Big thumbs down from Kel. 0/10

Animation: I kinda like that sequence with May, Drew and Harley with the pokemon in front of them. I don't care enough about the frontier brains to enjoy their cameos. The fucking bit with Ash during 'it's the master plan' and he's turning round to the beat, ugh it annoys me so much! Overall a bit chaotic. Nothing special at all. 2/10

TR appearance: NO TEAM ROCKET!! -10/10

Bonus points? Everything’s shit, plus minus bonus points for the god-awful song at the end!! Fucking hell. -20/10

POKERAP GS (SHORT VERSION) (Pokemon Chronicles)

Instant hit or grower? Grower

Musicality: I wasn't fussed on it at first but damn it's catchy. Can't help singing along and bopping your head. But it's nothing special. 6/10

Animation: Yay Celebi. Everything fits to the beat. Yay Tracey and Misty and Richie. Nothing else really to say. 5/10

TR appearance: None, but this is about side characters / 'old friends' (even tho TR have their own eps) so I forgive them. 0/10

Bonus points? The song is catchy as hell. 4/10

[sage-nebula]

A long time ago I typed up a post about Alan’s biological parents. This post has been lost to the depths of my blog (or else got mysteriously deleted somehow), and I can no longer find it. That said, since two people have asked today (in messages I have yet to answer—hang tight, guys), I went ahead and re-typed it, this time adding more detail and tying things back to Pokéworld history. There are still some finer details I need to work out (such as what, specifically, his parents’ families actually do), but the important bits are all here, so that’s what matters. So with that said …

I’m actually going to start this post by talking about a bit of history, because I’ve fleshed out some of Alan’s (biological) family history even more than I had previously, and it ties a bit into the world building that I’ve given the Pokémon world, building on the foundation that Game Freak laid out for us.

Essentially, I imagine Alan to have mixed heritage—specifically Johtoan (Japanese) and Kalosean (French). His biological father’s side of the family has been Kalosean as far back as genealogy records can be traced, but his mother’s side of the family hails from Johto … albeit before Johto was actually Johto, and rather was still part of Kanto instead.

Without getting too deep into the history right at this moment (because that would be better saved for another post), Kanto used to be more of an empire than a region and used to cover far more territory than it does in the present day. In the present day, Kanto consists of, well, what we know of as Kanto, and also the Sevii Islands (which are recognized as the Sevii Islands, but are still considered Kanto-owned territory, i.e. they pay Kantonean taxes, answer to the Kanto government, et cetera). In the past, however, Kanto used to comprise of everything in Johto as well, and the Orange Archipelago to boot. Several wars and rebellions are what led to that changing (and the Kanto-Johto civil war was particularly bloody and violent, given that it’s one huge landmass, whereas the Orange Islands rebellion was much more easily won due to the fact that the Kantonean government had to sail out to the Orange Archipelago, wherein the Orange Crew had the home field advantage), but as much as we are used to thinking of Johto and the Orange Islands as their own independent regions (despite how Johto still relies heavily on Kanto in terms of sharing the Indigo Plateau and the like), this was all still fairly recent history in the grand scope of world history, to the point where Johto has only been its own independent region for ~150 years (I’m not good with numbers, so I always try to be a bit vague, heh).

You may notice that, despite the tilde making it a bit vague, 150 is something of a specific number, and perhaps a familiar one if you’re brushed up on Johtoan history. If your mind is nagging at you when you see that, that’s because the Brass Tower burned down and resulted in the creation of Raikou, Suicune, and Entei 150 years ago. History tells us that a lightning bolt struck it, but I like to imagine that the lightning bolt struck at around the same time the civil war was taking place, which the people took as a sign that the heavens were not happy with what was going on (especially since Ho-Oh fled after reviving the three pokémon who perished in the blaze). The civil war was won shortly after that and Johto was officially established, but I like to imagine that the destruction of the Burned Tower happened right around this time. (If not, though, then perhaps the civil war happened fifty years earlier. Again, numbers are not my strong suit.)

Now, back then, not only was Johto not quite established as its own region yet, but we also didn’t have all of the same cities and towns back then that we do now. Some of the names were still around, people were still living in some of the areas, but life was different ~150 years ago than it is in the modern day. As far as Alan’s ancestors are concerned, they hailed from what is in the modern day Blackthorn City, but back then was more often called the Blackthorn Prefecture due to how massive it was. Blackthorn used to encompass a much larger area than it does now (like, Mahogany Town and New Bark Town didn’t used to exist—they used to be part of Blackthorn, that’s how big it was), but several centuries of history changed that and lessened the dragon clan’s influence over that part of the region. Blackthorn is much smaller now, comparatively, even if the dragon clan is still in power there to this day. Nonetheless, that’s where Alan’s maternal ancestors hail from: Blackthorn City, Johto, albeit back when it was still known as Blackthorn Prefecture, Kanto. (So if you had asked his great-great(etc)-grandmother, she would have said she was from Kanto, because back when she left, it still was Kanto, rather than Johto.)

To get more specific …

As I said, the Kanto-Johto civil war was rather bloody and violent and, to be honest, Kanto had the advantage. Part of the reason why the civil war was even happening was because Kantoneans were moving away from the traditions (religious or otherwise) that Johtoans held dear, something that those living in Johto disliked (obviously). Kantoneans were modernizing, ceasing to pay respects to the legendary pokémon, and opting for government-funded destruction of sacred monuments and sites that the Johtoans felt it important to preserve. For instance, the actual incident that sparked the civil war was the Kantonean government moving to destroy the Ruins of Alph in order to build a new settlement there (maybe another town, or something like a Radio Tower, whatever). The Johtoan people were outraged and decided to revolt, and everything spiraled from there. All the same, Kanto was larger, had access to more powerful pokémon and better items due to the fact that manufacturing plants were more often in Kanto rather than Johto, and as such Kanto had a severe advantage against the Johtoan people, even though the Johtoan people felt that they had the blessings of the legendaries on their side.

And then the Burned Tower incident happened.

This inspired different feelings in the people, depending on who you talked to. Some found it as evidence that moving away from the traditions and ceremonies would, in fact, anger the legendaries and other deities, and therefore it was correct to fight for them and that the legendaries themselves were on the Johtoans’ side. Others saw Ho-Oh leave (along with the newly born Raikou, Entei, and Suicune) and felt that they were being abandoned wholesale and that the fight was already lost. Opinions varied, but the part of this that’s actually relevant to Alan is that his ancestors felt that Johto was going to ultimately lose the civil war, even if they weren’t willing to stop fighting. Like, they figured they were going to die, but damn if they weren’t going to die swinging. All the same, his great(etc) grandparents didn’t want their children to die, so they picked up their children, put them on a boat, and sent them sailing off-shore. The oldest children on the boat were ~10/11 year old (so of training age at least), and they were supposed to be sailing to Sinnoh (if it was even called Sinnoh back then), where they would be safe.

They did not, in fact, end up in Sinnoh as planned. Rather, they ended up in Kalos (and if you’re like, how tf did they wind up in KALOS if they were aiming for SINNOH, remember that the oldest person on this boat was eleven and had no experience in sailing, so it’s a wonder they made it anywhere in one piece tbqh). And so when the children’s parents tried to get messages to Sinnoh to find their kids when the civil war ended and it was safe to come home, they were unable to do so because the kids were not in Sinnoh, but rather Kalos. Oops.

So the kids made it to Kalos, and they dispersed. (It was like, an entire ship crew’s worth of kids, mind you. Not all of them were siblings—some were cousins, some were unrelated—but it was a good number of kids.) Some stuck together, if they were related or really small, but for the most part they got to Kalos (thinking it was Sinnoh at first), and then had to figure out wtf to do from there, because they didn’t have a plan for that. They were just told, “Get on this boat and go to Sinnoh where it is safe, and we will call you home when the war is done if we are still alive,” and that was that. Not exactly the most responsible thing to do, but this is the Pokémon world, so what do you expect.

Anyway, to once again make it relevant, one of these kids was Alan’s great(-etc) grandmother, and after roaming around the Kalos region for a time she eventually grew up, got married, and settled down in Shalour City. Over time they (as in, the whole family) ended up being rather successful and amassing a good amount of wealth. I’m not sure precisely what their family business is (or even if there is just one family business, rather than a bunch of different lucrative careers), but the point is that Alan’s mother comes from a wealthy family with genealogy traced back to Johto, back when it was still Kanto, and they are Japanese therefore. His mother’s given name is Lucia.

His father, on the other hand …

As mentioned, his biological father is as Kalosean as it is possible to get, probably. I say “probably” because while his father can trace his genealogy back to Kalos as much as his mother can trace her genealogy back to Johto, there’s no way for him to really know if perhaps his ancestors immigrated from another region (such as Unova or Orre) before that ~150 year mark. Either way, as far as he or anyone else knows, his ancestors are and have always been Kalosean, and in specific, his family has lived in Dendemille Town for generations. I’m not entirely sure what his family does either (part of me wants to say farmers, but then I also lean toward some manufacturing), but I know that they are pretty solidly middle class as a contrast to the wealth that his biological mother’s family amassed over the years. Like, they’re not poor, but they’re pretty normal people even if they have been established in Dendemille Town for generations. Alan’s biological father’s name is Sebastian.

So! All of that said!

Lucia and Sebastian met when they were young teenagers, traveling around the region as trainers. I want to say that they were about thirteen or fourteen at the time. While their romance didn’t start then, they did hit it off pretty much immediately. Lucia was traveling in order to try and find what she wanted to do with her life (her parents wanted her to find something successful and important, and Lucia wanted that as well, but she didn’t know what she wanted in specific and their ideas didn’t sound appealing), and Sebastian likewise was looking for adventure, something fun and more exciting than boring old Dendemille Town. They traveled together on and off, sometimes acting as friendly rivals, often time acting as friends. By the time they were about seventeen they had developed feelings for each other, and just as Sebastian was about to ask Lucia to date him, she interrupted him to ask first. He pouted a bit, but it was playful pouting. Really, he was quite happy.

Now, here’s the thing. Lucia’s parents were more concerned with her doing something with her life than they were her finding someone to settle down and have a family with. Like, they didn’t care so much if she did that too, but they really wanted to make sure that she had a stable future, financially. They also, despite being about seven generations removed from their Blackthorn roots (well, perhaps only one side of the family had Blackthorn roots, but it’s possible that Alan’s great(etc) grandmother had married one of the other kids from the ship when they were older, since again, they weren’t all related to each other), still had the pride of the dragon clan, so they wanted her to be a powerful trainer and focus on that as well. Lucia wanted those things, too, but she was also seventeen and in love and wanted to have fun with her beau. It’s not that she wanted to get married right then per se (and Sebastian didn’t want to get married right then, either), but she wanted to keep traveling the world, and if her parents called that “aimless,” so be it. It led to some fighting, especially since her parents felt that Sebastian was encouraging this behavior (and tbh he kind of was, but Lucia could also make up her own mind), so they didn’t exactly approve of him.

Meanwhile, Sebastian’s parents were getting antsy for him to actually settle down and come back to the family business (the farm, perhaps, or whatever else they do in Dendemille Town). They actually wanted him to get married, start his family, and be an adult. Sebastian, at seventeen, was not ready to do this. So this caused THEM to disapprove, but mostly just because they were disappointed in Lucia for not wanting a ring. Like, they would have been fine with her had she pressured Sebastian into marrying her. But she wasn’t going to do that, so they were upset, too.

Either way, neither Lucia or Sebastian cared. They were seventeen (perhaps nearing eighteen), they were in love, they were strong trainers in their own right—

And they were also careless, and Lucia got pregnant.

That put the traveling plans on hold. Like, they had so many things they wanted to do; they wanted to go so many different regions, see so many different things. But Lucia was pregnant, and while she could travel for some of the pregnancy, near the end of the pregnancy she would need to take it easy. And then the baby would be born, and they’d have to take care of it. They couldn’t exactly gallivant around being teenagers while carting around an infant, could they? This led to a lot of debate, arguing, and fighting; neither of them could really make up their minds on what to do. They considered going to Sebastian’s family, but they knew that his family would pressure them to keep the baby (and get married et cetera) and they weren’t sure they wanted to do that. And telling Lucia’s family was out of the question, because they would be apoplectic if they found out that she was pregnant out of wedlock, and so young, at that. Lucia did not want to deal with that. She did not want to have to explain to them just how she was pregnant. (Like, they know how pregnancy works, but that’s what Lucia didn’t want to divulge.)

Eventually, the two of them decided to carry the baby to term, and settled in Geosenge Town (near enough to Shalour to give Lucia anxiety, honestly, but finding a place to rent was cheaper there than it was in other areas, they had a good hospital, et cetera). They still waffled back and forth over whether or not to give the baby up for adoption when it was born, but eventually decided to try raising it. It could be fun, they thought. There were cute baby onesies. Maybe they could travel with the baby. It could be fun.

It wasn’t fun.

Lucia had the baby—their son—and she felt … nothing when he was born. Or, well—she did feel something, but that something was anxiety. Fear. She didn’t know what to do. She started crying when she saw him because she had a baby now, she was eighteen and she had a baby and what were they going to do? Sebastian tried to calm her down, like—okay, they had a baby, but they loved each other, they could be a family—but she just kept crying. And she cried even more when she realized that this didn’t really end her self-imposed exile from her family, because it’s not like the baby was going to go away now that she had given birth to him. If she brought him to her parents at any point she would have to explain him, and how could she do that? They’d be furious at any point. She couldn’t tell them. It didn’t matter how many years she waited. She gave up her whole family for him, and how was that fair?

Both Lucia and Sebastian thought that, in time, Lucia’s feelings would change, but they didn’t. In truth, she most likely had postpartum depression. Like, she had legitimate concerns (being a teen mother, missing her family, et cetera), but the lack of a bond that she felt toward her son, the resentment she felt toward him because he was “keeping her” from her family, the fact that she felt overwhelmed and anxious constantly … those were all likely caused by postpartum depression. And Sebastian, too, was overwhelmed and stressed out, both because he wasn’t ready to be a father any more than Lucia was ready to be a mother, and because Lucia was so depressed and upset 24/7. As much as they tried to raise their son, whom they had named Liam, they just found themselves completely miserable and unable to handle it.

So within three months, they decided to give him up for adoption.

The thing is, though they made this choice, neither of them really knew how to go about it. Geosenge Town didn’t really have a foster care system in place, and since the people of Geosenge Town knew them they felt too ashamed to ask someone if they wanted to take their baby off their hands. Lumiose City has a pretty thorough CPS system (albeit one that’s not the greatest given all the orphans on the streets), but they felt that it was too far to travel to with an infant. Similarly, even if Cyllage City had a foster care system in place, they felt that Cyllage was too far as well. Shalour was out of the question because that’s where Lucia’s family was, and that … that was how they found Isolé Village. Isolé doesn’t have a CPS system either, but it’s small enough that they thought that they could ask the mayor if someone there would be willing to adopt their son and take him in. They thought it would be fine to ask, especially since no one knew them, so they didn’t even have to say that Liam was their son. They could deny it and say no. And it was fine to ask, wasn’t it? This was the right thing to do, wasn’t it? It was all going to work out, wasn’t it?

Well … no.

Lucia was the one to take him. Sebastian stayed behind to settle the house they had been renting with the landlord, as they decided to skip town and go back to Shalour City after that. Lucia was supposed to take her baby son Liam to the mayor of the village, to ask her directly if they would take the baby in. But the nearer she got to the village, the more she felt she couldn’t do that. She felt ashamed, and anxious, and afraid. She thought they would look at her in disgust and horror. She thought they would say no. And so, being a panicking eighteen year old, she set her baby on a rock near enough to the village so that she thought someone would hear him if he started crying and … left.

It was a terrible thing to do, obviously. It was awful for her to do that, and to be honest Lucia has felt guilty about it ever since she did. She didn’t even tell Sebastian that she did that—she told him that she handed Liam off to the mayor, as she said she would—because she was too ashamed to. She also opted against traveling; she convinced Sebastian to move to Anistar City with her after receiving a loan from her parents to get them started, and they both picked up jobs in Anistar to support themselves after that. Sebastian still wanted to travel, but Lucia felt too guilty, at least right away. They did travel some in the years that followed—they took vacations—but immediately following leaving her baby in the woods, Lucia felt like it would be bad if she immediately started traveling the world. She decided to settle down and try to be responsible, in a way that she just couldn’t be for him at the time.

Appearance-wise, Alan’s looks are really a mix of both of his parents. Both Lucia and Sebastian have black hair, but texture-wise Alan’s hair—nice and soft and floofy as it is—is more similar to Lucia’s. He has her eyes, too, in both shape and color (Sebastian’s eyes are more hazel, whereas Lucia has that dragon clan blue). Alan gets his height and body type from Sebastian (well, at least in terms of his shoulder and hands—his metabolism comes from his mother, because they both burn calories just by sitting there), as well as his smile. He’s definitely got his father’s grin (and his father’s cheekbones, too, for that matter). Point is, you can absolutely tell that Alan is their son if you look at the three of them together. He has noticeable features from both of his parents (especially when it comes to those dragon clan eyes, damn). 

At any rate, in the present day, both Sebastian and Lucia still live in Anistar City. They still think about their son daily, and they still think of him as Liam even though he has never known that to be his name. It’s quite possible that they’ll seek him out at some point, particularly if they, say, see footage of the League matches, and think that even if that boy is named ‘Alan,’ he looks an awful lot like how Liam would probably look now, and he’s about the same age …

Well, it’s possible that they could decide to seek him out, but that’s another story for another time.

[mysidewriting]

Through the Storm

Note: Alright! Sorry for making you guys wait so long for this chapter! I'm on break for a week now so I think I'll be able to get a lot of writing and possibly postings in! Hopefully!

From the start-->Previous chapter

Chapter Nine

Ecrutek City was permanently stuck at the peak of fall. It was heavily wooded for a city, trees bordering every side of the town and small patches of them burst through between buildings and houses. Every leaf was either orange or red, almost as though there was an eternal fire burning through the foliage.

All the streets were old style brick, the kind of roads that made your car bounce all over the place when you drove by. Most of the buildings were heavily influenced off traditional Japanese paper homes. Two towers stood at the northern point of the town, one of which reached towards the stars and was almost painful to look at on a sunny day. The other had burned down years ago and stayed there, blackened and destroyed, as a tribute to the three legendary beasts that were born from the ashes.

The history was rich and deep and the scenery was breathtaking and as such, I decided to stay in Ecruteak for the rest of my time in Johto. I'd rented a room at the hotel in town, putting down for at least two weeks. The room I was given provided a stunning view of the two towers. Every other night I caught a glimpse of a large shimmering Pokémon flying to the taller of the two - bell tower, I'd briefly read up on the legendaries of the region while working with Elm and believed that the Pokémon was Ho-Oh.

I wanted to meet Ho-Oh but something about it was frightening, even to me. I accredited it to the fact that it was another fire pokemon like moltres - except bigger, stronger, and more ancient. Every time I saw it something twitched in my chest and I ached to run to the tower and ascend its many levels to meet the bird... almost like a magnetic pull. But I couldn't, even if I wanted to, even if I did surmount the weird fear I had of it - the whole area surrounding the towers was blocked off from visitors. I found it odd that such a huge tourist attraction would be off limits. But I had overheard there was a want to preserve the nature growing and thriving within the walls of the barricade. That there was something important about the vegetation in that area.

Whatever it was, I hoped someday I'd get the chance to see it.

I wandered the city and the area around with my Pokémon. Passing short conversations with those I passed by that recognized me for various reasons. One elderly woman I walked by had previously joined me for lunch out of the kindness of her heart. A man that I had brought a Pokémon egg too for his child to hatch as a starter. A group of kids I had saved from a horde of ledyba on their way home from school. There was such a cute little community in this town, it almost filled that hole in my heart of not being able to talk face to face with friends.

I bumped into someone on accident as my mind drifted off to think about the last phone call I'd had. I quickly stumbled back and looked up at the guy, "I'm sorry! I was distracted!" Eevee popped out of my hood, crying out at the stranger.

The man's gold eyes locked on mine momentarily before staring in shock at the Pokémon on my shoulder. His eyes widened, "Is that a shiny eevee?!" He shouted.

I nodded, "yeah this is Rosemary!" I scooped the small Pokémon off my shoulder and held her up to the man. "She's a tough little eevee."

"Dude, I want one so bad. Where'd you find it?" He asked, reaching a hand out to let Rosemary sniff him.

"Near Ilex Forest." I peered at the guy in front of me as he got acquainted with my Pokémon. He wore a black and gold hat that rested backwards on his head, long black hair that nearly hung over his eyes but was swept out of the way. He dressed casually, but a full set of six pokeballs hung from his belt and a heavy looking bag was slung over his shoulder. "What's your name?" I asked.

"Whose asking?" He retorted with a sly grin.

Eevee crawled up my arms and back to my shoulder where it stood, I placed my hands on my hips. "Champion of Alola, Moon Hillel." I said with my own grin.

The guy laughed, "Really? Gee who would guess that two champions ended up in the same town."

"So you're Gold then?" I asked, surprised as he nodded and presented a card proclaiming him as Champion of Johto - Gold Boyer.

"That's me." He said with a nod, "Nice to meet you, champion of Alola."

"You too! Honestly didn't think I'd meet you while I was here." I said, throwing a hand forward for a handshake. He accepted, his grip on my hand firm and the shake very steady.

Gold wasn't able to stick around very long, but he did manage to set up a day to get together for dinner and get to know each other. He was off to some dragon cave not too far from here and I almost accepted his offer to go with. I had other plans for the day already and had to get heading that way if I wanted to be there before the sun set. He seemed like an interesting person, outgoing and similar to Green, minus the narcissism.

I hiked towards Olivine City, the town that boarded the coast and led out to what were called the whirl islands. I was interested in exploring the islands and had caught myself a gyardos in order to surf out there and investigate. I doubted they would be as crazy as Seafoam had been, but I was still interested due to the similar geology.

I understood why the islands were called whirl islands once I actually got out on the water. The entrance to all four of the caves were behind huge whirlpools that could only be transversed with a special move my gyardos didn't know. I pushed the Pokémon as close as it dared to get to the whirlpools and tried to judge another way I could access the land formations.

The water swirled violently below as I stood on gyardos's back, tottering as I attempted to balance myself on its slippery scales. The space between where I stood and where the shore to the caves began looked possibly jumpable. I bent my knees, calculating if I could make it before Gladion's voice suddenly echoed in my head - telling me to not make stupid choices.

A heavy sigh escaped my mouth as I flopped back down onto the back of my Pokémon, this was a stupid choice. I had been contemplating risking my life without even thinking about it. Gladion would kill me if I survived that jump. I pat gyardos's side and directed it away from the islands, figuring I could re-access my transportation to the islands if need be.

We turned around and started back towards Olivine, gyardos grumbling in disappointment. I struggled to think of another way to get over those whirlpools that didn't involve me bringing my dragonite back onto the team, I wanted to challenge myself with only using Pokémon from the region... aside from Kai and Null. So pulling Tsunami out would be cheating myself....

A roar sliced through the air, causing gyardos to stop its movement towards land and release a mirroring roar in the direction the other had come from. It rose from the water, stretching its long body over the surface, bringing me up with it. My stomach dropped as I realized how far the water was below me and I clung harder to gyardos's fins.

Something burst from the depths, causing a huge series of waves to knock my Pokémon off balance. Gyardos fell over, dragging me under the waves with it. Water exploded in my ears and swept down my throat as I slipped into the ocean. I slapped a hand over my mouth and quickly stopped my downward momentum by thrusting myself to the surface. Gasping as my head popped up over the bobbing waves. My Pokémon sunk lower and lower and anxiety clenched my stomach as I worried it had been fatally injured by something in the process of the waves knocking it over.

Rain was now sprinkling above head, dark clouds seemingly coming from nowhere. A large figure hung in the sky, glittering a gorgeous silver with the dampness of the air. Large fin like wings beat the air and a gaping mouth shot jets of water towards the sky. The sheer power of the beast was enough for me to realize it was another of Johto's ancient legendaries, though I hadn't read much about this one. Lugia, probably? The books had claimed it lived under water somewhere.

Each time a screech left its mouth, the storm intensified by a noticeable margin. The rain falling harder, the winds picking up, booming thunder shattering my ear drums. I slipped back under the water, the outside becoming more dangerous than what lay below. I could just barely see through the burning salt of the ocean and a form from below was rushing towards me rapidly. Relief surged through me as I realized it was gyardos returning. I snagged a hold of its scales as it burst back to the surface and roared at the large Pokémon in the skies.

Lugia roared back, lightning struck behind it and I caught a momentary glimpse of another bird in the clouds. The size of it remarkably small in comparison to the storm creating beast, jagged yellow wings sliced through the gray skies and I was shocked to see that it was Zapdos.

Lugia faced the bird, a ferocious growl leaving its chest - sounding much like the rumbling thunder that still rang out every few seconds.

A boat skidded past, stopping only momentarily so the driver could scream at me to get out of the water. They offered to drive me back to land but I declined, figuring gyardos could handle bringing us back its self. I tried to pull my Pokémon away, shouting for it to head towards land as another huge strike of lighting arched across the sky. It took a lot of tugging but gyardos finally turned and sped towards the shore of Olivine. The rain pelted my face, forcing me to keep my eyes closed and rely on my Pokémon's own sensibility to get to safety.

The booms of the storm continued to intensify as gyardos dropped to let me onto land. I stumbled off and recalled the Pokémon to its ball, rushing towards the nearest shelter. A woman waved to me, inviting me into her house, I thanked her as I rushed in and made sure to stop before I dripped all over her hardwood floors.

"I can't believe you were outside in this! This weather is horrible!" The woman said with an intense shiver, she rushed towards her kitchen, pulling a jacket tight around her shoulders. "Come inside!" She shouted when I didn't follow her.

"Sorry!" I shouted in response, wringing my drenched clothes and removing both my shoes and socks before stepping out of the doorway. "I didn't want to get everything wet."

"Don't worry about that, it's just water." She called as I entered the kitchen. "Were you on the ocean?!"

"Yes I was." I replied as she shoved a steaming mug of tea into my shivering hands.

"Was it Lugia?" The woman asked, meeting my gaze with these bright, excited gray eyes.

I nodded, taking a sip from the warm tea and relishing in the feeling of the heat moving through my body. My skin felt like ice, stiff with the damp chill of the rain and ocean salt.

She cheered, "I knew it!" Her hands clasped together, "I could tell from the clouds."

"Really? There's a difference?" I asked.

She nodded, "it's a lot of technical jargon I'm sure a random person off the streets wouldn't understand." She waved me off and I shrugged, clouds weren't something I was experienced with so she was right about that. "By the way, I'm Krys." She giggled, "Sorry I didn't introduce myself right away."

I shook my head, "it's okay, the circumstances were kind of strange." I laughed as well. "I'm Moon, from Alola."

Those energetic gray eyes of hers lit up again, "Oh! I heard about you! You’re the champion visiting our region!"

I grinned, "Yeah that's me."

She extended a hand for a shake and I accepted, "Nice to meet you, Moon. I'm actually the Johto region's champion's rival." A loud laugh left her mouth, "boy that's a mouthful."

I stayed with Krys, watching the storm with a pile of blankets draped over my shoulders. She tried explaining the cloud stuff to me but most of it went over my head. There was a good half hour where we could actually see Lugia, battling with something under the waves. Krys, apparently a self-proclaimed legendary researcher, explained that for the past month things like this had been happening around the world.

"All the region's legendaries have been acting up recently. In varying degrees, something big is happening." She said with a distant look out the window.

"Yeah I experienced a lot of weird stuff with the Kanto legendaries too." I replied, sharing my experiences with mew and moltres upon request. She was so excited to hear the stories and begged me for any other experiences with legends.

I hesitated before explaining that I had went face to face with lunaala and multiple island guardians back in Alola. I avoided all information about ultra-space and cosmog with skill, though, and the story lacked any obvious gaps that Krys picked up on. I showed her pictures of lunaala and the tapus as she had never even heard of them.

We tried to deduce what could be happening to drive all the legendaries mad... but none of our suggestions seemed to accurately explain things.

I was thankful Krys let me stay, she even made dinner for the both of us to help me warm up. She was kind, and I could feel a friendship forming as we both sat on her couch - watching the booming storm outside grow and intensify at a less rapid rate.

M//Have any of the legendaries in Alola been acting up?

H//Not from what I've seen.... why??

M//just wondering haha

H//they all seem normal to me! //also HI WHENS THE LAST TIME WE TALKED???!

M//sorry, things have been crazy lately

H//Lillie told me about the restaurant //your still mentally stable, riiight?

M//yes duh hahaha

The rain and winds didn't die down for the rest of the night. Lugia had long vanished according to Krys, the clouds returning to their 'normal state' after a while. Something about pressure kept the storm going though, it would be surprising if it didn't last into the next day.

Krys invited me to stay for the night considering the weather and I accepted the offer after momentary hesitation. I didn't know her that well but I could tell she was a genuine person and even if things went sour, Ecruteak wasn't that far. After another hour filled with pleasant chatter and getting to know each other, a very soaked looking champion entered the house. Gold's eyes landed on me and he nodded absentmindedly, as though it wasn't even strange to see me at his rival's house after just meeting hours beforehand.

Apparently he was staying with Krys as well, the two were good friends beyond being rivals. He didn't hang around to talk though, disappearing to a basement that he apparently had claimed his own the past year. Not that Krys cared, she had offered it up to him.

G//What's going on in Johto...?

M//You mean the weather?

G//It looks horrible on Doppler Radar, there are storm warnings over here as well. //Everything ok by you...?

M//yeah... I'm okay thanks to the Johto 'elites' haha

G//What happened?

M//Lugia happened lol

G//Lugia?

M//A legendary out here, totally almost killed me with this storm haha.

G//Moon...

M//I'm okay! Just freezing my ass off for eternity now! c:

G//Have some soup or something, blankets, sweaters. Whatever. Don't get sick, okay?

I sent him a picture of myself, already wrapped up in multiple blankets and a half eaten bowl of soup resting in my lap.

M//trying that haha

G//Still cold?

M//yes :c

Krys set up a spare bed for me in a side room before inviting me to watch a horror flick. She claimed the affect was far better during a thunder storm. I decided then that she was worth keeping around as a good friend even after I left Johto. It was rare I stumbled on another person who enjoyed horror movies, and I was in need of a horror buddy.

G//hot shower... heating pad... get a fire Pokémon to keep you warm...?

M//lol it's okay, dork. I'll survive the chills.

G//Okay //I called the Sinnoh champion today...

M//Really? Did she tell you anything?

G//Nothing we didn't already know //You said you're with the Johto elites now?

M//Yeah, the champion and his rival. I'm staying at their house tonight because of the storm.

G//...I feel like there's a significantly higher chance you could be attacked when your with another champion. //Please be careful... if possible.

M//I can't imagine anything would happen tonight with this rain though!

G//But that could be more of a reason to launch an attack... if you’re unsuspecting they have a better chance of.... //Arceus, I need a break.

M//Relax, Gladion. Everything's fine. //everything WILL be fine

G//...

Krys looked at me cryptically as the title of the movie she had put in flashed across the TV screen. I shoved my phone into my pocket and apologized for being on it when we were about to watch a movie. She shook her head.

"I don't really care if you’re on your phone." She laughed, "I just wanted to know why your face was all red like that."

I looked away, my apparently red face heating up even more. I probably looked like a tomato. "I don't know." I laughed, rubbing my cheek.

Her laughter grew louder, "Whatever man, let's just watch the movie."

I still kept my phone hidden away while we watched the film. Feeling awkward about what she had seen. We'd only just met, I didn't want to explain my emotional life so quickly, I hadn't even told Lillie about what was going on in my heart lately. That and it just wasn't something you told a new friend.

Krys and I jumped at every jump scare the movie threw at us and we laughed it off. Calling ourselves babies and wimps because we normally didn't jump at stuff like that. A loud roll of thunder boomed overhead, shaking the house and covering the sound of the tv. Another, sharper sounding bang echoed from somewhere in the house and Krys jumped to her feet as Gold walked into the room, laughing as he saw how scared she had gotten.

He plopped onto the couch opposing us, "The hell you two watching up here?" He said with a sneer.

"A horror movie, don't look too long! You might get scared!" Krys said with an imitated ghost voice and a witch cackle. I couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Yeah, okay." Gold shook his head, annoyed. "How much longer is it?"

"Like an hour, why?" Krys asked, pausing the film to see the time stamps. "Did you want to do something? It's kinda too nasty outside to do anything."

He nodded, "it's too dark at this point too... We can just go tomorrow."

"Go where?" I perked up.

He grinned, clearly excited to see he had sparked my interest. Everything about Gold was so casual and laid back, I really enjoyed the vibe and the way his smiles stretched across his lips. "I wanted to go get a closer look at Lugia, see what's going on."

Krys gasped, "You mean you want to go to the bottom of the whirl caves? That's so dangerous!"

He shrugged, nonchalant. "I've never had any issues getting down there."

Krys shot him a glare in response, rolling her eyes when he didn't react to it. I spoke up, "I was trying to go to the whirl islands when I ran into Lugia actually."

He nodded, "it lives at the bottom of the caves."

"Gold has a great relationship with Lugia for some reason. It's like it thinks he's its best friend or something." Krys said with an obviously jealous sigh.

I quickly explained that I had a strange connection with articuno back in Kanto as well. That it had been oddly fond of me and let me touch it and everything. Gold had the same experience with Lugia and since he actually lived in the region and could spend his time with the beast, the two had formed an interesting companionship. I was jealous, I would have loved to continue interacting with articuno if possible, but I just wasn't able too. Krys was clearly jealous too, with how interested she had been in Lugia's storm, I knew she liked the Pokémon a lot. She admitted to the jealousy after the film ended and Gold had wandered off to make food for himself. But she was still grateful that she could see it close up because of her friend/rival.

I followed after Gold while Krys put the movie away. He was standing in the kitchen, staring intensely at the stove as it cooked a pizza. I laughed at him and he shot me a comedic look in reaction. "Kinda funny that we ended up at the same house tonight." He said. "It was already odd enough to be in the same town."

"Yeah the coincidences today are insane." I replied. "Funny how things work out."

He took a long sip from a bottle of soda, gaze staring out a window on the far end of the room. "Have you heard about those weird charizard attacks around the regions?"

My heart stuttered in my chest at his words. "Yeah... I have..."

"It's weird. Three in a week..." he mumbled, he set down the soda with a loud thud and opened the stove to remove his pizza from the oven. Krys came to stand in the doorway of the kitchen and listen in. "How long before they hit here too?"

I frowned, "hopefully never."

"What's that?" Krys asked.

"The charizard attacks. In Kanto, Sinnoh, and Kalos." He replied evenly, pulling open a drawer for a knife. He sliced the pizza to pieces and handed both Krys and I one on a paper towel. "Just wondering if they'll hit here too."

"I didn't hear about those." Krys said.

"My friend is looking into them, trying to figure out what or who is causing it." I chimed in, "I actually experienced the one in Kanto first hand."

Gold winced, "Damn really? That was the goriest one too." He said.

I nodded, trying to not think about it again... I took a bite of the pizza, ignoring the burn it left on the roof of my mouth. I thanked Gold for the food and wandered off to the room I had been provided to sleep in for the night.

I laid on the made up bed with the layers of blankets still wrapped tightly around me, folding myself as deep into the duvet as possible. Everything smelt freshly cleaned, but the kind of freshly cleaned where it had been preserved in a closet full of other freshly cleaned things. A window sat just above the bed, allowing me a view of the stormy sky.

Sleep wasn't coming to me whatsoever, my mind was reeling with thoughts of that horrifying night about a week or two ago. I tried to clear the images from my consciousness repeatedly but it just wasn't working. I'd be lucky to sleep tonight...

Light danced across the ceiling as a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. The small room I rested in seeming far darker after the sudden brightness had faded. I reached for my phone, I felt bad texting Gladion again... or rather just felt awkward about it considering we'd talked not that long ago and I didn't want to come off needy. But Lillie was asleep by now for sure and there was no way Hau was still up. I felt like I needed to talk to someone to get my mind off things.

So I sent Gladion another message, testing to see if he was still awake.

M//Are you asleep yet?

I stared at the screen, heart racing as I waited for a reply. Realizing I was really hoping he would be awake and able to talk. Realizing I didn't even want to talk to anyone else...

G//Of course not. I have a ton of paperwork to get through

I grinned despite the content of the text, I felt horrible that he was getting such little sleep... but so happy he had replied.

M//I'm sorry, that doesn't sound fun

G//It's not horrible.

M//Gold brought up the attacks...

G//Who is Gold? //After what happened in Kanto it's all becoming big news.

M//He's the Johto champion. //I can't stop thinking about that night now...

G//Is it bothering you? We can talk about it, Moon.

M//I want to get it off my mind... ^^

G//Ah, alright. //Here, one second.

He sent two pictures of Silvally, one of them I had begged for the last time we'd talked on the phone - of the beast smashed up between a wall and a dresser. The other a picture of it grinning happily at the camera, its tongue lolling out the side of its mouth.

M//Aw, how cute!

G//He wouldn't leave me alone today, I had to bring him into the office with me.

M//Haha, he misses you!

G//Yeah, I know he does. //We need to get out more.

M//You should, it'd probably be good to get out every once in a while.

G//Did Hau tell you about what happened with Guzma?

Guzma? What?

M//No...?

G//Really? Damn. //Slow for being such a loud mouth.

M//Gladion don't be mean //I haven't talked to him a lot recently so that's probably why. I wanted to make sure all his attention was on Lillie!

G//Sorry. //yeah he brought that up to me the other day. I didn't know anything about all of that. //its odd.

M//is not haha //so what about Guzma?

G//I'm afraid I'll have to pull a you for that and explain it later. Sorry. //I need to get this paperwork done tonight

I buried my face in my blankets, hoping the fabric would muffle my laugh at his word choice. 'Pull a me', I was horrible with actually telling him things. I'd still not told him about mewtwo or talked in depth about the Pokémon tower.

The last part of his message made me feel bad, though. I was kind of being selfish, half begging for his attention when he needed to get work done.

M//I'm sorry, I can leave you be haha

G//No, no. Texting is fine, Moon. //If its helping you then I don't mind at all.

The room flashed with lightening once again, one of my pokeballs bursting open and eevee jumping up onto the bed with me. It snuggled up against my leg and I coaxed it up closer to my face, letting it get comfy on my chest instead. It trembled a bit, clearly scared by all the noise.

"It's okay, Rosemary." I coo'ed, stroking its back until it stopped shaking. My eyes started to feel heavy as I watched the small Pokémon relax and smile at me.

M//I think I'm okay now, I feel sleepy

G//Do you? //You should try to sleep then. //If you can't, I'll be here for you still.

My stomach burst into butterfree, the sheepish grin on my face made me feel so awkward and embarrassed despite the fact that no one could see it. Holy miltank, when did I develop such a huge crush on him?! He was just far too sweet on me, especially in the past few months. A better question was how could I not have developed a crush like this...

M//Thank you c: //Good luck with the paperwork, and hopefully goodnight

G//I hope you sleep well, Moon.

Do I tell Lillie about this...? She would want to know... but it's her brother... Rosemary stirred, reminding me that Pokémon could typically sense emotions such as this. Her head popped up and her tiny smile grew brighter. She made a tiny noise and rolled onto her back, eyes closing once again. I followed the small Pokémon, closing my eyes and trying to calm my racing pulse and flustered thoughts.

[pokemon-anime]

The Big Problem with the Pokémon Anime - An Essay and a Rant

Warning: Very long read, so take your time.

Contents

I. Introduction

II. I Wanna Be the Very Best, Like No One Ever Was

III. The Long and Winding Road

IV. His Name was Tobias

V. You're Such a Little Kid!

VI. You Really Are an Amazing Person

VII. “Kalos League Victory! Satoshi's Greatest Decisive Battle”

VIII. To Be Continued: The Cycle of Failure

IX. A Jobber in Alola

X. Closing Remarks

As this is a site where discussion of the Pokémon anime is allowed, I feel this is an appropriate place to make this post, for discussion purposes. The following below is an incredibly long rant about the state of the Pokémon anime. I make no attempt to hide any salt and I have no intention of trolling anyone, only to narrate and tell from my heart my deepest feelings about the anime. Although it's worth 15 pages long, the message of this work is very simple. The essay was originally posted in unedited form at Serebii Forums on December 31, 2016. So have some popcorn, sit back, and relax.

I. Introduction

My first foray into Pokémon was back in 1998, when I got the Game Boy Camera that summer (might've been my birthday, can't really remember). I had a ton of fun with that little thing—the games, the DJ, the photos, among other things. What was particularly cool was being able to place silly stamps on the photos. There were eyes, mouths, accessories, various Mario characters, and some creatures that my older brother referred to as generic “dinosaurs” or “monsters”, can't exactly remember which word he said. But I used them on my photos anyway, cause why not. Little did I know that wasn't going to be the last time I saw those critters, oh no.

Come Autumn later that year, my brother tells me all the neat things about a new craze going on in school called Pokémon. He introduced me to the TV show, where we watched it together. I, being but a young boy at the time, was hooked and completely loved every minute of it, and just wanted to watch more and more of it. I made sure to watch every new episode premiere to the best of my ability and was happy to watch the reruns. Around the same time, I saw the commercial to the games, and wanted to play them badly. Soon enough, I got the game, and was completely hooked to it, and became a young Pokémon fan.

Every Pokémon fan has likely heard of and watched the anime at some point in their lives. When we saw the anime for the first time, plenty of us found it exciting to see Ash and others traveling, battling with their critters and getting stronger, strengthening the bonds and friendships with each other and their Pokémon, helping out others, earning badges, fighting evil, and so forth, in hopes of achieving the goals and dreams they wholly desire. Many today still have nostalgia for those days. But today, the Pokémon anime is scorned by both Pokémon and anime fans, something that gives both the franchise and the medium a bad name. What went wrong? Let us review Ash's journey throughout the years.

II. I Wanna Be the Very Best, Like No One Ever Was

According to Wikipedia, the premise or synopsis of the entire anime is this: “After he turns 10 years old, Ash Ketchum (Satoshi in Japan) is allowed to start his journey in the world of Pokémon and dreams of becoming a Pokémon master.” Remember this carefully.

So our boy Ash, despite getting up late, manages to begin a brand new journey in a new region, with Pikachu by his side, in hopes of becoming a Pokémon Master. The Pikachu, given to him by Professor Oak, at first does not get along very well with the newbie trainer; but not long after they get along very well and become a strong team. They later get joined by Brock and Misty, two people who are in charge of Pokémon Gyms, a place where trainers are tested by battling such leaders in hopes of defeating them to obtain a Gym Badge, of which eight are required to enter the Pokémon League. As Ash desires to win the league he tries hard to get these badges, all while going through some extra battling, capturing more Pokémon, visiting places, helping out strangers, and stopping Team Rocket, a trio consisting of Jessie, James and Meowth, who hope to capture his Pikachu due to their impression of how strong he is. In addition, he hopes to win his rivalry against the snobby Gary, the grandson of Professor Oak. Misty herself desires to become a Water Pokémon Master, and Brock desires to become a Pokémon Breeder.

Ash manages to get all of the Gym Badges at Kanto, though sometimes by unconventional means (he was simply going to get the Cascade Badge without a battle, he got another by making its Gym Leader laugh, and yet another by not fighting the actual Gym Leader). Nonetheless he was happy with his badges, and went off to enter the Pokémon League. Ash had a bit of struggles with his opponents, among them a long green-haired weirdo and a woman in traditional Japanese clothing with an overpowered Bellsprout. But despite those, Ash manages to win four 3v3 Pokémon matches. Ash is now in the Sweet Sixteen!

So he faces off against a trainer that isn't so different from him—he is similar in personality and fights with similar Pokémon. His name is Ritchie. Like our boy Ash, Ritchie resembled and was loosely based on Red, the protagonist of the first Pokémon games. He marked his Poké Balls with stars and gave nicknames to each of his Pokémon. He similarly had a Pikachu that was always with him by his side. He too wanted to become a good trainer. Unsurprisingly, Ash and Ritchie became good pals and always want to see each other succeed. However, the time came where the two trainers had to face each other in the tournament. The two felt conflicted, and yet were ready to engage in a battle. The two fought valiantly, but thanks to some poor refereeing and the stupidity of Ash's Charizard, Ash loses the match. He is eliminated from the tournament. Unlike his game, manga, and Pokémon Origins counterparts, Ash does not become the Pokémon Champion. Ash does not obtain his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master.

While many of us were disappointed with the outcome, plenty of us also thought, “Well, losses happen. It's okay to lose.” 255 trainers had to lose the tournament, and Ash (and Ritchie) ended up becoming one of them. Losing is part of life. Time to move on.

Little did plenty of us know that this was just the beginning of would later be an awful predicament.

III. The Long and Winding Road

After the league ended, Ash decided to continue traveling. He and his companions enter a region called the Orange Islands. Brock was replaced by an artist named Tracey, while Misty continues traveling with our protagonist. We continue to see much of the same—battles, catching Pokémon, helping strangers, Team Rocket blasting off again, and so forth. Ash gains four more badges by doing non-battle challenges, which qualifies him to enter the Orange League.

The battle was Ash against Drake in a full 6v6 battle. It was quite exciting to watch, and the great highlight was seeing Ash's Pikachu take down a mighty Dragonite, giving Ash the victory. It was not a true league however, so Ash's journey is not quite over. But hey, it's something, right? Well, not really.

So off he goes to Johto. Brock returns and replaces Tracey, who didn't really get anywhere with his goal; we're back to the original team. Meanwhile, Team Rocket continues to attempt getting Pikachu but never succeeds. The Johto saga was notorious for its heavy amount of filler, yet despite that Ash manages to get eight more badges, qualifying him to enter into the Johto League. Misty also decided to do something with her goal as she and Ash enter the Whirl Cup, a tournament where trainers are only allowed to use water-type Pokémon. Despite Misty's apparent expertise at that kind of thing, she is defeated, and thus does not really fulfill her goal in becoming a Water Pokémon Master, whatever that is. Brock continues to tag along, flirting with women along with other activities.

Eventually Ash arrives to the Johto League. He defeats a good number of opponents, among those were a girl who was heavily infatuated with him and his biggest rival Gary. But despite this great accomplishment, he gets defeated by Harrison at the quarterfinals, in a match that unlike against Ritchie, turned out to be a good loss for our hero. He got further than he did before, and was finally able to overcome Gary, who reconciled with Ash and then quit becoming as a Pokémon Trainer, joining his grandfather in his research. But Ash's adventure is far from over.

So next he arrives to Hoenn. It wasn't without a bit of controversy—Misty fans were enraged as the tomboyish mermaid was getting written out and replaced by May, who was the female protagonist of the then new Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire games. With an emotional goodbye to Misty, Ash continues his adventure, catching all sorts of new Pokémon, meeting various people, engaging in many battles, fending off Team Rocket (who continues but fails to capture Ash's Pikachu), and winning another eight badges to enter the Hoenn League. Meanwhile, May finds her own goal—become a Master Coordinator. In her attempt to reach her dream, she entered so-called Pokémon Contests, which are more or less Pokémon pet shows plus some battling, in hopes of winning some ribbons. She manages to get the five ribbons required to enter the Grand Festival, where the winner will be donned Master Coordinator.

Despite her hard work however May is defeated in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Ash himself is yet again beaten, this time by eventual Champion Tyson and his Meowth at the Hoenn League quarterfinals, yet he was able to make it that far using only his Hoenn team. But that wasn't enough for our boy. He travels on, as the journey continues!

IV. His Name was Tobias

By this point, Ash had become an experienced player. He, Brock and May return to Kanto and do stuff; May tries again with her goal but fails a second time, this time being defeated at the semifinals of the Kanto Grand Festival. Ash himself enters and wins the Battle Frontier, which seems to be the Pokémon equivalent of an All-Star Game or the International Champions Cup, which although impressive, was not an important competition like the regional Pokémon League. So Ash heads off to Sinnoh.

May (and her forgettable brother) get written out without getting their goals accomplished and Dawn, the female protagonist of the Gen IV Pokémon games, now takes the spotlight. Brock tarries on longer, practically getting relegated to a shadow of what he used to be. Team Rocket still stalks Ash in hopes of getting that Pikachu of his, yet again they do not succeed. More of the usual happens—Ash captures Pokémon, Ash does more battling, Ash wins some badges, etc. Dawn, like May, desires to become a Master Coordinator. She too enters contests and despite some struggles gets the ribbons necessary to reach the Grand Festival. Unfortunately she only gets so far just to lose to rival Zoey at the finals, thus being unable to fulfill her goal. Too bad.

As for Ash, he enters a Pokémon League for the fourth time. This time he goes really far, and manages to defeat rival Paul in an epic battle that lasted three episodes, sending him to the semifinals for the first time in his history as a Pokémon Trainer. Having momentum by overcoming a fierce rival, Ash looked on his way to the long awaited victory after 13 years worth of episodes. But not so fast.

In comes a man in a cloak, named Tobias. He had swept all of his previous opponents, using a single Darkrai. Yes, Darkrai, the legendary Mythical Pokémon. This same Darkrai ended up taking about half of Ash's entire team. But Ash wasn't just going to roll over and die. With great effort, the Darkrai was finally taken down by Sceptile, yet those efforts came in vain, as Tobias sends out a second legendary Pokémon, Latios, who managed to wipe out the rest of Ash's team, though it was not without Latios himself fainting together with Pikachu.

Just when Ash looked to be on a possible road to victory, he gets crushed by this guy who has a team of multiple legendary Pokémon with him. For the fourth time in a fourth region, Ash again does not fulfill his dream. Tough luck.

Let us review the premise of the anime again: “After he turns 10 years old, Ash Ketchum (Satoshi in Japan) is allowed to start his journey in the world of Pokémon and dreams of becoming a Pokémon master.” For some reason, the writers felt that they didn't really want to have Ash make any further progress towards that goal, and as a way to do that, we get a God-mode trainer that stands in his way, one I would like to call a pastiche of players who enter Pokémon Leagues using legendary Pokémon in the games. So Tobias just comes into the anime as a plot device who only exists to do just that, halting the fulfillment of the premise of the anime by defeating Ash with overpowered legendary Pokémon. It is quite disastrous. But hey, to those who looked on the bright side, Ash proved himself to be the second strongest Pokémon Trainer by performing best against the eventual Champion Tobias. Surely, this could mean that Ash could make progress towards his dream and win the next league at Unova, right?

Nope, instead it would only get worse. Much, much worse.

V. You're Such a Little Kid!

Brock more or less outstayed his welcome, having been relegated to a mere background character and did almost nothing towards fulfilling his goal of becoming a Pokémon Breeder. So he changes his goal to become a Pokémon Doctor instead, and then is subsequently axed from the show without really seeing him become one. As for Dawn, she was going to go with Ash but suddenly gets written out thanks to some unforeseen circumstance. So despite her popularity Dawn too gets axed, and she becomes the third Poké Girl who doesn't reach her goal—Ash must be some kind of bad luck charm.

So Ash heads alone to Unova, where a new adventure awaits him. You figure that with all those strong Pokémon he's collected over the years he could finally create the team necessary to get the badges required to enter the Unova League and eventually give him the Championship win he deserves.

Oh wait, over the years is very misleading. Because at the very first episode of Best Wishes, we Ash's age retconned back to 10 by the narrator even though an anniversary scene existed in the original series. Worse, we witness a battle where his Pikachu, who just battled Latios a couple of episodes prior, faced a brand new Snivy... and lost.

Though Pikachu was partially handicapped this was still an embarrassment for our veteran trainer. It was just the beginning of the problems the Unova saga had; that one match symbolized the horrible things that were to come, resulting in many anime viewers panning it. Pikachu was made weak and Ash regressed as a trainer. Far from the guy that took on Tobias, we see Ash make some ridiculous noob mistakes like not knowing how to catch a Pokémon, not knowing about type weaknesses, scanning a Koffing as if he never knew the Pokémon. Those are not things a veteran trainer like Ash should've done; those kind of mistakes allowed Iris, a girl with insane hair with an affinity for dragon-type Pokémon, to belittle him with destructive criticism, constantly calling him a kid. She aspired to become a so-called Dragon Master but does not achieve it, making her a real hypocrite. They are accompanied by Cilan, a Pokémon Connoisseur, one that although skilled does not achieve the top rank. All while getting pursued yet again by Team Rocket, who actually changed up a bit for a short time before going back to the comedic trio that unsuccessfully attempts to get Pikachu.

The Unova League was the pinnacle of how bad the Pokémon anime had gotten. Despite the incompetence of Ash, he again manages to get eight more badges, along with other accomplishments, like being able to face Team Rocket boss Giovanni for the first time (though he got creamed hard), and witnessing the return of his powerful Charizard. So he comes into the league, takes down a few opponents, and proceeds to fight a trainer in the quarterfinals named Cameron. This should've been an automatic win for Ash, as Cameron didn't even get the required amount of badges to enter the league, and thought he could only enter five Pokémon in the match. Yet thanks to rubbish nonsense, Ash loses that match as Cameron's Riolu evolves to Lucario. Cameron proceeds to get smacked 3-6 in the semifinal match. This was followed by an arc made entirely of filler in the Decolore Islands.

It seems that all of that development Ash had prior to Best Wishes was deliberately thrown out by the writers, showing a gigantic middle finger at the premise of the anime. To those who wanted to see the anime's premise fulfilled, Best Wishes went the opposite route. In terms of fulfilling the premise of seeing Ash become a Pokémon Master, the writers have failed tremendously. It was mainly thanks to this series that the anime got the notoriety it is known for. Furthermore, the TV ratings had decreased from good to bad, where the effect had carried over to XY and now Sun and Moon.

Allow me to quote from a user in a Pokémon forum at how bad the anime had gotten:

They took everything Ash worked for (and almost won) in Sinnoh, then smacked him on a trip to Unova, where stupidity ensued. Then when Ash managed to earn eight badges with enough time left for a full conference arc, the doo-head writers wasted all of it up until the next plane ride over to Kalos.

Within Unova, Ash had lost:

His right to age

His Pikachu's experience

His ability to call out those who insult him (Such as Iris. He at least snapped at Misty a few times).

The Club Battle

The Clubsplosion

The Wishing Bell Festival

Any mutual respect Dawn had for him to Iris.

The Meloetta that followed him for a few episodes.

The Vertress Conference, along with his top 4 record, and chance to fight his intended league rival, Virgil.

Another user from the same thread said, “I’m sure it was the intention of both series that Satoshi would grow from where he started out, but whereas DP was able to show this competently, BW failed to show he went through any growth at all. And as far as I'm concerned, failing to show that growth in the main character of the show severely hurt the quality of Best Wishes and is one of the biggest reasons - though there are several outside of that - why I personally rate it the worst [series].”

At the end of the series, Iris and Cilan get written out by taking a train. But we're not finished with Ash. Oh no.

VI. You Really Are an Amazing Person

After the disaster in Unova, five-time loser Ash is back home in Pallet. Ash again has not fulfilled his dream. There goes a moment where he is pondering about his adventure, thinking about many folks in he's known in his journey—Gary, Misty, Brock, Tracey, May, Dawn, Iris, and Cilan. He also reunites with the Pokémon he's collected over plenty of time. As his dream remains as strong as ever, he heads off to Kalos in a brand new outfit along with his trusty pal Pikachu. Team Rocket continues to pursue the duo.

So when he arrives there, much to the pleasant surprise of people, and in contrast to how bad he had gotten in BW, Ash is made a strong trainer again, almost as if he picked up straight from the end of Sinnoh. By the second episode we see an epic story that involves Pikachu nearly losing his life and Ash jumping off Prism Tower to save him. He and Pikachu are accompanied by three others—Clemont, the Lumiose Gym Leader, whose goal is to gain more confidence (a noble albeit subjective goal), Bonnie, his younger sister, who desires to become a trainer in the future, and Serena, a girl whom Ash met in their childhood, who at first did not have a goal but eventually decided to become a Pokémon Performer by participating in Pokémon Showcases (which you can say are basically beauty pageants with Pokémon), in hopes of ultimately becoming Kalos Queen. In deep contrast to the treatment Ash received from Iris, everyone seemed to admire him and his qualities, both his traveling companions and his rivals (detractors call them a fan club), and for once, Ash was no longer reliant on an older guy for advice or something; he felt like he was a true leader in his group.

In the meanwhile we are introduced to a young man named Alain. He was the protagonist of the Mega Evolution specials, and desired to become the strongest trainer. He sure had power indeed; his Mega Charizard X was able to take down ten other Mega Evolved Pokémon in a row. He was accompanied by a young girl named Mairin, a beginner trainer who was in many ways the opposite of Alain, being both bubbly and clumsy at the same time.

Throughout the Kalos saga, Ash seemed like he was taking his goal very seriously; he is seen training his Pokémon often, and with great effort wins another eight badges, along with the usual affairs of fillers, catching more Pokémon, helping more strangers out, fending off Team Rocket yet again, and other activities. Serena on the other hand, gets the three Princess Keys needed to enter the Master Class, where the winner would receive the title of Kalos Queen. Yet despite her great efforts, she is defeated by reigning Kalos Queen Aria. Like all of Ash's female companions before her Serena fails to achieve her dream, this time of being Kalos Queen (all this despite a closing credits dedicated to it). She was so close yet so far. Poor girl.

Plenty of viewers saw that coming, however. But Ash on the other hand had become a really strong trainer. As a matter of fact, Ash was perhaps at the strongest he has ever been, surpassing the level he was at the end of Sinnoh. He had a solid team with him of fully evolved Pokémon (except for his trusty Pikachu of course), a team of Pokémon that had amazing accomplishments by taking on Mega Evolutions and/or Legendaries. In particular, his Greninja, whom Ash had found as a Froakie, created an enormous bond with him, to the point where he would transform into a more powerful form known as Ash-Greninja. The bond is considered so strong that Ash himself would share whatever pain Greninja received while on this form. This was prophesied by one of the Kalos Gym Leaders, Olympia, who stated that Ash and the then Frogadier that they would reach levels never seen before. The strength of Ash-Greninja gave Pokémon Champion Diantha and her Mega Gardevoir a run for their money before abruptly ending as Ash was unable to handle the Ash-Greninja's power, causing him to faint and thus be unable to battle. However, after several losses and then some subsequent words from Serena, Ash and Greninja received important development that allowed them to master the transformation, which proved to be crucial for winning that last badge.

VII. “Kalos League Victory! Ash's Greatest Decisive Battle”

With the eight badges Ash got at Kalos, he was ready to enter the Lumiose Conference. The number of entrants were quite low, only 64 I believe. Ash easily wins the first four rounds with his Pokémon, but before he was able to begin his match against his friend and rival Sawyer, he was stopped by a punk who wanted to battle him. After Ash took care of him, the punk confessed that he was saddened that he did not get the badges necessary to enter the league, and begs Ash to win for him. In front of a crowd, Ash vowed that he would win for all of those trainers who couldn't enter the league.

The semifinal against Sawyer was a hard fought battle, where it came down to Ash-Greninja vs Mega Sceptile, but Ash came down victorious despite the type disadvantage. The other semifinal on the other hand was seeing Alain destroy Louis 6-1 in embarrassing fashion. The final was going to be tough.

Ash had never made it this far in a tournament, making this the biggest match he's ever had in all his tenure as a Pokémon Trainer. Alain on the other hand didn't really care for the title or the tournament itself and only wanted to become the strongest and battle Ash and collect some energy for his boss, Lysandre of Team Flare, who was misguiding him that the energy would be used for righteous purposes. Both characters had a very strong team with them. The previews made sure to hype up this huge match, making emphasis that Ash had never beaten Alain before since they met, having lost to him twice previously although Ash was close in one of those matches. Team Rocket themselves commented in the anime that Ash could finally win one of these leagues. Would this be the time where Ash finally overcomes his rival? Will this be the time where Ash wins his first ever Pokémon League title? Watch the match to find out!

So after an intermission, the Kalos League Final commences. Although Pokémon never really had good animation, the battle scenes were beautiful to the eye and the action was epic. Ash was doing very well as a trainer, and I personally believe that the matches against Tyranitar and Metagross was undoubtedly one of Pikachu's finest moments in the entire anime. His efforts helped Ash be put into a 3v2 advantage by end of the first episode, with only Alain's Bisharp and Charizard remaining. Pikachu would continue to battle, putting on some hits on Charizard including a powerful and supereffective Thunderbolt.

Alain later withdrew Charizard after taking down Pikachu, and eventually the match came down to Ash-Greninja vs. Mega Charizard X. Having previously taken down a Mega Sceptile, Greninja was primed to take on Charizard, and was gifted with a type advantage. With his powerful bond with Ash they achieved a power that was never previously before seen, a bond far more impressive than by comparison a mere Mega Evolution. And for most of the match, it showed. Ash-Greninja was doing more of the damage against Mega Charizard X while keeping damage against him at a minimum. Stacked with the damage Pikachu had done against Mega Charizard X, Ash-Greninja appeared to be winning. We soon see Ash-Greninja perform a wild gigantic orange Water Shuriken which he is soon to throw at Mega Charizard X.

Let's pause here. Look at that beautiful thing. Look at it. Amazing. Unto many viewers, it looked to be the finishing move. It looked like victory was coming. The premise of the entire anime boiled down to this. Ash had his highs and his lows. Of all the stupid mistakes, errors and shortcomings Ash had made in the past, of all the failure he had to endure, they don't matter anymore. He was going to win that Championship. He was going to accomplish that dream of his. That Water Shuriken looked to symbolize the victory Ash deserves after 900+ episodes of experience, trials, happiness, sorrow, and accomplishments as a Pokémon Trainer. It looked to give the positive message that all of Ash's hard work, time, effort, training, teamwork, discipline, strength, endurance, speed, determination, patience, diligence, passion, desire, heart and love was finally, finally going to pay off. On we go! Kalos League Victory!

VIII. To Be Continued: The Cycle of Failure

Alain, perhaps in panic, causes Mega Charizard X to counter with a Blast Burn. A great explosion results. After the explosion, both Pokémon are seen standing. Mega Charizard shakes a bit. But Ash-Greninja falls down. Ash-Greninja reverts to his original form. Ash-Greninja fainted. Ash is out of usable Pokémon. Ash has lost the Kalos League Championship final.

Alain is awarded the Championship trophy. His Charizard is standing right there, appearing unfazed, showing that despite the improved bond Greninja actually performed worse than before. Ash is seen smiling like the good boy he is.

There are so many things wrong with what happened at that scene. This is Best Wishes level writing here. Ash had just lost the biggest match of his life, and yet he is smiling.

In contrast, let us look at three real life athletes, all who lost earlier that same year in the finals of a major sporting competition. Look at Cam Newton at Super Bowl 50. Look at Stephen Curry at the 2016 NBA Finals. Look at Lionel Messi at the Copa América Centenario. Did all three of them just move on and smile after losing those huge games? No! They all took their losses hard. Newton was so bitter that he walked out in the middle of a press conference. Curry was seen crying in the locker room. Messi temporarily quit the Argentina national soccer team. These are human responses. I can't really blame them for their actions there. I likely would've done the same thing if I were in their spots.

Ash on the other hand, seems perfectly content with his loss. To quote one guy from Reddit: “He takes it instantly. Not a single second of disappointment or frustration, even after having come so close. No human acts like that. Everyone would at least need to breath deep for a second there. But not Ash, because the narrative bends him into getting over it immediately. Poor kid.”

It is almost as he is fine with a lower standard and not fulfilling his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master. This is a massive contradiction to the premise of the anime! It makes no sense. How can people relate to this? If the writers are trying to teach that it's okay to lose, then they've failed this badly with such execution. While I agree it's okay to lose, it's also okay to feel disappointed. The anime didn't do this (and arguably didn't even do the first part either).

Let us use an altered quote of the late Roger Ebert, because it perfectly sums up my thoughts on what happened at those very moments:

I hated this scene. Hated hated hated hated hated this scene. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it.

To me, this was the absolute worst moment in all of Pokémon, and that really says something.

. . .

The league was soon interrupted by a crazy invasion by Team Flare, yet the excellent Team Flare arc and succeeding episodes could not save the disastrous conclusion of the ending: That after about 940 episodes and 20 years of anime production, Ash Ketchum is back at Pallet, still beginning a brand new journey in a new region, with Pikachu by his side, in hopes of becoming a Pokémon Master.

The reason the writers had Ash lose was clearly because they wanted to continue this anime. I can't think of anything else. The status quo was in full power in that scene. The status quo of the Pokémon anime runs a cycle like this:

Ash enters a new region with Pikachu by his side in hopes of becoming a Pokémon Master.

Ash meets the professor of the region and gets a starter Pokémon from that region.

Ash also meets some people who'll end up being his companions in the region. Some of those companions have goals of their own that they want to achieve.

Team Rocket follows Ash and his crew in hopes of obtaining the Pikachu.

Throughout the region, Ash and his companions do some Pokémon battles, enter some unimportant competitions, win some Badges or equivalent, catch some regional Pokémon, fend off Team Rocket over and over, help random strangers, etc., etc., etc.

After doing all that, Ash enters the region's Pokémon League, but despite his valiant effort, he is defeated. His companions likewise fail to win in their respective competitions.

At the end of the region, Ash's Pokémon and companions (except Pikachu) are all written out, and Ash returns to Pallet.

Ash enters a new region with Pikachu by his side in hopes of becoming a Pokémon Master... and proceeds to lose that region's League.

The consequences of the status quo results in these:

Ash does not obtain his dreams of becoming a Pokémon Master.

His companions also do not obtain their respective dreams, and will likely never do so thanks to getting written out of the anime.

Ash's Pokémon except for Pikachu also get written out despite their hard work and achievements throughout his adventure.

TRio, despite failing over and over again to obtain Pikachu or some other goal, nonetheless continue to stalk him.

Thus, any existing bonds or relationships between Ash and his Pokémon and peers are gone, because the latter groups are no longer in the anime.

Finally, the entire region becomes filler, as Ash remains in the initial state he was at the beginning of the saga—ready to start a new adventure with Pikachu by his side.

Plenty of us love to bash Ash for the repeated failings he's had and point out his mediocrity as a Pokémon Trainer. For a long time, Ash's incompetence was a pretty valid argument on why he kept losing. But this is no longer the case. It's just no longer Ash's stupidity or mediocrity, but vile and rubbish codswallop that caused him to lose. The message is really no longer “It's okay to lose” (though as far as I know the anime has never actually taught this), but rather “No matter how hard you try, you will always fail.” This is downright insulting, even for a kids' show.

The status quo has caused this Reddit post to happen after Ash's loss:

Ash lost. He lost with a smile on his face. I understand this is to show kids not to be a sore loser. It's a good lesson and I appreciate Pokemon doing it. But my feelings for the conclusion are separate from that.

I had fallen out of the anime after Diamond and Pearl. It wasn't that I didn't like it, I just wasn't really watching it. I had other shows I was watching and Pokemon just wasn't satisfying. XYZ changed that. They developed Ash's character, expanded on the world in an interesting way, upped the animation to a grand scale to make everything feel important and hyped the Kalos League like something important was going to happen. It was enthralling. It was intoxicating. It helped unite 20 years of Pokemon fans. But ultimately, this season was no different from the others. And that is when it hit me.

He is doomed to fail. Always. He will never win anything that has any importance and will never have any meaningful character development. No matter how the Pokemon anime presents itself, we will never see Ash win a meaningful event until the series is over. And that will never happen as long as it is marketable. This made me sad, more than angry. This is a kid I grew up with who I am to watch fail over and over again. This is a kid who is, by all definition, a good kid and we will never see it pay off. But he will always have a smile on his face. He takes it. He takes it like a champ. Like the champ he is destined to never be because it is marketable.

This series is somehow optimistic and sadistic at the same time. It teaches us it is okay to lose, but at the expense of this poor character who is doomed to never reach his goals or achieve his dreams until the show he is in dies.

I will likely not be continuing with the series after XYZ. Not because I doubt the next arcs will be poorly written. But because there is no longer a reason to stay invested. Thank you Pokemon anime.

Ash is not the only person who has failed to reach his dream. In the 20 years the Pokémon anime has run, his companions also all have failed to achieve their respective dreams. These are the results:

Misty has failed to become a water Pokémon Master

Brock has failed to become a Pokémon Breeder and has not become a Pokémon Doctor

May has failed to become a Master Coordinator

Dawn also has failed to become a Master Coordinator

Cilan did not become a Class S Connoisseur

Iris failed to become a Dragon Master

Serena has failed to become Kalos Queen

Failure and defeatism is the recurring theme of the anime. Failure for just about every major character. No one ever seems to win anything. For Ash's traveling companions, they get a goal, they fail at reaching the goal, and then they all get written out, never to be seen again, never ever fulfilling their goals. For the Permanent 5 (Ash, Pikachu and Team Rocket), they get a goal, they fail at reaching the goal, then they fail again, and again, and again, and again, ad infinitum. All in a show full of broken promises and unfulfilled dreams. I am sick of it all.

This crap normally comes from politicians for crying out loud. I have never seen such a lack of respect for Ash the protagonist or any of its characters like this. I ask you: How on earth is this a good thing? I honestly want to know. I want answers.

What I have shared is nothing new. This is not some kind of grand revelation. It is a problem that has existed for a while. I have repeatedly said in the past how much the status quo damages the quality and reputation of the anime. The status quo is something that has bothered me and other people for years, and plenty of us wanted it gone. XYZ looked like it could finally destroy the status quo after so long. And yet the writers completely blew it. Those kids that watched the anime back in the late 1990's are adults now. Deep inside we all wanted to see Ash win. It is a very long time. The anger that resulted in the Kalos League loss is justified. One person from a forum said this:

The salt is understandable thought. It's been twenty years of loss for Ash. His goal to become a Pokemon Master is not yet fulfilled. Fans think Ash is losing his edge and he might have run past his prime without him achieving any of his goals. Thus the salt.

It's not about the sportsmanship right now. We've had five leagues for that kind of show. We need[ed] him to win badly right now.

IX. A Jobber in Alola

We now know that the anime staff (writers, directors, producers and executives) had no intention of actually making a meaningful and lasting impact on the show and instead continue to make Ash a jobber at every place he goes, bringing about all of his companions down with him. Ash and Pikachu are running around in circles now. I cannot help but believe that the writers do not really care for their audiences, both kids and older viewers; the older viewers for repeatedly angering them with bullcrap like the Kalos League loss, and the younger audiences for assuming that they're stupid and don't know any better, to the point where they can rehash the same plots from previous episodes. I honestly think they intend to please no one but themselves.

Three times has these people deliberately gone against the premise of the show for the sake of keeping the show to continue for who knows how long now. First with the existence of Tobias, second with the entire Unova saga, and third with Ash's Kalos League defeat. That's three strikes now. The fact that they could pull garbage decisions like those can very well indicate that they can continue the anime for another 20, 30, 50, or even 100 years, with Ash never fulfilling his goal. I hate this show now. Hate it. It breaks my heart to see my childhood show come to this. I never thought that after watching XYZ it would come down to me hating this show. Believe me, I truly detest this anime.

If they continue this approach, then there is no point to speculating what will happen in the Sun and Moon anime, no point in what character will get what Pokémon, no point in what character development will come, no point in discussing how a battle will turn out. What's the point of discussing what'll happen to Rowlet and Lillie (just to give two examples) if they're only going to get written out in the end? If they just get thrown out just like every other character and Pokémon (except of course for the Permanent 5), then there is no point to their existence in the anime; hence, no reason to talk about them. Nothing matters. I was modded for posting about this in some threads at another forum, where the moderator said to me that I was “forcing [a] nihilist mindset onto others”, but it seems that the “nihilist mindset” is truly the case for this anime.

Whatever merits the Sun and Moon anime may have, it is not worth seeing a show where the premise seems to take a backseat to comedy (never mind that comedy was never the main focus of the anime). It is not worth seeing Ash run and around in circles and lose again. I will go and make a prediction: Ash will not become a Pokémon Master in this saga.

I feel that as Pokémon fans we deserve better than this embarrassment. We as a fandom deserve a better anime than this. We really should be watching a good show instead of one that has debased itself so badly it may go down as one of the biggest wastes in animation history.

To use a quote from a Yahoo user (misspellings corrected):

Unfortunately, the Pokémon [anime] has ended up in repeated cycle that has irked many fans. What could have been a great coming of age story has devolved into bad writing and characters that has now earned Pokémon in the cesspool of other anime that would have great like Sword Art Online or Guilty Crown. Mars of Destruction only wishes it could be this bad.

Plenty of these essays typically come with a solution to the problem. Time would fail to tell me the many, many ways they could've improved this. After all, wouldn't the show be so much better and more interesting had Ash actually won that Kalos League final? I wish I could translate this essay into Japanese and send this straight to TV Tokyo so they could know about how I and thousands of others feel about the anime. Sadly, I feel powerless right now and have no choice but to acknowledge the existence of the continued anime: an endless and ultimately worthless adventure of an allegedly eternal 10-year-old.

The worst thing about all this is the fact that people are willing to go to far lengths to defend this tripe. I'll briefly counter a few common arguments:

1. It's a kids' show. Being a kids' show is no excuse for bad writing.

2. It's a 20-minute advertisement. Being an advertisement for the games is no excuse for a bad show. Pokémon Adventures alone disproves these first two excuses.

3. The anime is teaching kids it's okay to lose. Except I don't believe it ever actually did this. Even then, with a goal like Ash's, you're supposed to win after. Losing once for a protagonist is okay; losing twice is pushing it; losing six times is unacceptable.

4. The term “Pokémon Master” was never defined. While it's true that the anime hasn't exactly explained what a Pokémon Master really is, the fact that Ash is trying to win these leagues should give us a good idea, at least by the anime's definition. At the very least, winning a league is a step, and thus required, in his path to becoming a Pokémon Master. If you're telling me that's not the way to go and that the whole thing is a red herring instead, then that makes this show even worse than it already is.

5. If Ash won that finals match, then the anime would have to end. Have this quote:

Yeah I'm sure everyone would have loved the ****ing Rocky movies if Rocky lost his rematch to Apollo, lost to Clubber Lang, and then lost to Drago. Winning is not the end. Winning is a new beginning. You guys think Alain is gonna stop trying to get stronger now that he won? Nope. When you get invested in a character whose sole goal is winning, eventually they need to ****ing WIN.

If there ever was a time, this would be the ideal time to make Ash win the Pokemon league.

And even if we granted this argument, is that really a problem? The status quo problem should've never existed in the first place, and should've been eliminated a long time ago.  Ash, Pikachu and Team Rocket have all outstayed their welcome and should've been written out by now. Why does the anime still need them? Since the writers are willing to boot everyone else out, they may as well replace Ash with a new protagonist, give him/her a Pikachu or some other Pokémon, and replace Team Rocket with another comedic team. Plenty of other animes do something like that; no reason why Pokémon can't do the same.

6. It's all about the journey, not the destination. This one gets two quotes. Here's the first:

I'm still trying to understand this 'true message of the anime' without remembering that Ash fought on so many leagues before with the sole intention of winning them, even the most recent one.

I don't see any problem in focusing on the 'journey', but...slapping your audience with wrong expectations is not the right way to do it, I don't blame the salty fans for this (the name of the episode, all the foreshadowing, character development, even the moves...).

And the second:

The journey IS the destination, though. If they wanted to focus on the journey, they shouldn't have even BOTHERED giving Ash a goal in the first place. In fact, just have him say he doesn't care about winning or even having a goal, just having an adventure, like Sonic does, or even that old adage about how it doesn't matter if you win or lose, but just getting out there to play the game. Instead, Ash has an explicitly stated goal, and the entire point of even HAVING a goal is to achieve it. And in order to achieve it, one needs to actually REACH the destination.

If the journey was truly the true message of the anime, they should NEVER have given Ash a goal in the first place. I know if I were writing the series and that was the intended message of the anime, I'd make SURE Ash and the others NEVER give a goal other than 'hey, this sounds like fun' specifically to REINFORCE how it was never about the destination (no goal = no destination). Heck, even Dragon Ball doesn't have Goku having an explicit goal of becoming the absolute greatest Martial Arts Master, just the best he can be. Heck, considering that he constantly resets at the end of each region and doesn't seem to retain much of what he learned, we can't even say it follows through the intended theme anyways (if it did, Ash would have actually RETAINED what he had learned and not have his Pikachu especially undergo level resets), since even under the argument that it was the journey that matters, not the destination, he needs to actually RETAIN that knowledge he gained on the journey for the journey to truly matter.

Even ignoring all of that, however, it's not like if Ash actually beats Alain, he's finished. Remember, DP revealed that even if he won the Sinnoh League, he'd still need to challenge the Elite 4 and Champion before he can truly become Champion. They could have had him beat Alain, yet lose against an Elite 4 member, so that he technically beats a league, yet still has work to do before Ash truly manages to succeed in his goal.

Instead, we most likely have to wait until Generation VIII before he even HAS a chance to accomplish his goal.

X. Closing Remarks

Long ago I felt very underwhelmed about Pokémon Sun and Moon after seeing some early footage of it. Since then, I went from being underwhelmed to being on the fence when it came to getting the game. I determined that I would get the game if one of two conditions were fulfilled. One of them was to see Ash win the Kalos League. It would've been my way to thank the writers for giving my childhood hero the victory he finally deserves. But because that didn't happen, I will not get the game. (This may actually become a blessing in disguise if the Pokémon Stars rumor for the Nintendo Switch ends up being true; I'll just get that instead.) Unfortunate, but I want to stay true to my word.

I cannot in good conscience watch a show where there exists a premise of Ash desiring to reach his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master, yet instead we see him and Pikachu running around in circles, forever chased by Team Rocket, and where everyone else—from Gary, Butterfree and Duplica to Jessebelle, Greninja and Serena—all get axed out of the anime without making even a hint of a permanent dent. Seeing Ash lose over and over again is the opposite of what I and many others wanted from this anime. I hate it.

So if the anime tries to lure you with a premise about a kid hoping to reach his dreams of becoming a Pokémon Master, with little critters and legendary creatures, along with flashy battles, humorous scenes, worthy goals and cute girls, I implore you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLKDV-_SCBs

Now that is one quality cartoon.

. . .

Now what was the other condition? I will confess it: It was to see Ash and Serena together in a romantic relationship. I am a so-called Amourshipper; however I concede that thanks to Serena getting axed out of the anime, where it continues Ash's adventure with Sun and Moon, Amourshipping is dead. You win, critics. But know that it came at a heavy, heavy cost.

However, allow me to close my post with this dialogue between Ash and Serena from the 40th episode of Pokémon XY. Regardless of what you may think of Serena and Amourshipping, please put your love or hatred for them aside and read the passage below:

Ash: I hope the PokéVision turns out good.

Serena: Yeah.

Ash: You see, I have a feeling that what I do at this camp might help me in my battles.

Serena: Yesterday's fishing tournament and today's PokéVision, too?

Ash: Of course! I don't think anything is pointless. Everything on our journey will lead up to victory at the Kalos League. That's why I need to work a lot harder.

Serena: You're already working hard, Satoshi. You do plenty enough.

Ash: Nah. I still have a long way to go. My dream won't come true like this.

Serena: Your dream is...

Ash: ...to become a Pokémon Master.

Serena: I see. You really are amazing, Satoshi.

I admit it, I thought all this really meant something when it was first aired. I really did. I sure was deceived.

TL;DR – Although the Pokémon anime's premise is to see Ash become a Pokémon Master, the writers have repeatedly failed to fulfill or make any progress towards it when there was ample opportunity to do so, instead making huge, lasting decisions in the story to ensure that premise doesn't happen. Ash's repeated failures and subsequent move to a new region renders everything he does pointless. None of Ash's actions ever amount to anything in the end.

Well, time for some eggnog. That's all, folks!

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Pokemon Master Quest, Episodes 11-14

In which we wrap up the Whirl Islands with one last pit stop.

Poseidon Quivers Before Him

At this point, I’ve just accepted that the legendary Pokemon encounters in the show are never gonna measure up to their movie appearances. Articuno’s return was a wash and Mewtwo’s direct TV movie sequel did my boy dirty, so I was not surprised to end up disappointed by our gang’s next encounter with Lugia either. What’s weird is that the characters now suddenly acknowledge the events of Pokemon 2000, while they didn’t during the Articuno expedition earlier in Johto. So we’ve got a situation where TV Ash both went through the events of the second movie and didn’t go through them at all. This continuity is weird as shit, man. And sadly, acknowledging the movie’s existence only drives home just how much less compelling the TV version of Lugia is in comparison. It’s not just that the show’s budget isn’t capable of selling the majesty of legendary Pokemon like a movie can; it’s that the Pokemon themselves always come off as so much less powerful. You may recall how I took issue with Mewtwo Returns reducing Mewtwo from a nigh-unstoppable psychic warrior to someone who could be easily taken down with a few Team Rocket robots. The same thing happens here; Movie Lugia was a goddamn force of nature, if nowhere near as all-powerful as Mewtwo, but TV Lugia is easily restrained. I guess you could argue this Lugia is just weaker than the one we met on the Orange Islands- certainly, the fact it can’t speak human suggests it’s less of a god and more just a relatively powerful sea beast- but it’s disappointing all the same.

Best of Team Rocket

Still, if there’s one fun thing about this arc that caps out the Whirl Islands, it’s confirmation that the rest of Team Rocket is just as extra and ridiculous as Jessie, James and Meowth. Butch and Cassidy have their fair share of puns and self-satisfied wordplay (”Watch out for the long arm of the lawbreakers!”/”We’re a bit pressed for time, so let’s skip the rest.” “But make no mistake, hands down, we’re the best!”), and the evil Dr. Nanba would fit right in among our bickering threesome (”What are your orders, sir?” “The same thing I always order! Fish sticks!”) Clearly, everyone’s favorite trio of losers are home among fellow lunatics, even if they sometimes go against their boss for their own desires. Never change, Team Rocket.

-”It’s Butch, he’s a little sensitive about that.”

-”And why am I wearing a beret?!” “I heard they’re coming back in style.”

-”You’ll be hearing from my insurance company!”

-”I haven’t said any words!” “That was five.”

-”Brilliant use of the letter C!”

-”And John!” “You said ti wrong on purpose!”

-”This isn’t really the time for the motto!” “No! We started it, so let’s finish it!”

-”Surrender now, or-” I’ve surrendered already.”

-”Mountains of therapists have tried and failed!”

Odds and Ends

-Oh right, Richie! I kind of sort of remember him. He beat Ash in the Indigo League.

-”Gotta go clean my nails, bye!” akdaskdhask smooth

-Wow, Ash gets strong when he’s pissed. He just ripped metal out of its socket!

-”Professor Nanba, are you okay?” “Am I okay? I’m floating on a twig!” pfft

-kjdfhskdfhsd could you be more suspicious dude

-why is Jigglypuff just floating here I swear to gd

-Everyone gangsta until Ash turns his cap backwards.

And with that, it’s time to get back to the gym crawl. See you next time for badge six!

[alolanrain]

So we all know that in February, Lance is going to face of Leon for the title of the strongest trainer in the world.

Imagine Ash, and Gou, coming to Galar so Ash can cheer on Lance. Since he’s known the Kanto/Johto Champion for about 9-10 years now, because fuck canon age okay Ash is a big boy, and he just can’t help but pick a side. Soley because it’s Lance. And also the fact Aah wants to see Lance use the shiny Garados he helped the Champion catch all those years ago, that’s like the main reason he’s really here tbh.

And both Lance and Leon are talking to some interviewers and reporters. Suddenly Lance sees a familiar young adult with a Pikachu bouncing from shoulder to shoulder. 

Ash is talking to Gou, who has Scorbunny on his head, and not really watching where he’s going though he’s easily dodging everything that might trip him because he’s so used to walking backward and talking.

A reporter ask’s both Lance and Leon a question, and Leon’s is answering half way, when Lance immediately surged forward. The very large crowd parts as they watch in concern and wonder where Lance is going. Until they see the two boys walking and not watching where their going.

Ash’s back hits Lances chest and the young man looks up, because he’s so fucking short, and see Lance. The man is looking down at Ash with a soft smile, taking off Ash’s cap so that it stops getting crushed between the twos body.

“Oh hey, Lance.” Aah hums happily. Pikachu excitedly greets the Champion as well.

Everyone else is like “who is this boy!?!? And why is he not showing the correct respect to Champion Lance!?!?”

Lance smiles and scratches at Pikachu’s cheeks. The mouse Pokémon had hopped onto his shoulders, and he looks back down to Ash. “You gave your mother a fright.” Was his answer.

Ash smile turned sheepish, “A fright... about what??”

Lance eyes narrowed as his hand came up again to card through Ash’s hair. “The fight with the three... Ultra Beasts.” Lance voiced wavered a little at his uncertainty. “The one before your final match with Professor Kukui.”

Ash let out a soft ‘oh’ before his cheeks burst with color. “You watched the Manalo conference!” He twirled around and pointed an accusing finger at Lance, “and you didn’t even tell me.” Mock hurt filled his voice. But a loud giggle fell from his lips as Lance rolled his eyes heavily.

“Your my Godson, Ash, I wouldn’t miss a single conference. Even if the world was dying.” Ash’s bright sunny smile made Lance’s own grown. Before a very slight blush covered his cheeks. “Plus your mother would have my head if I didn’t.”

“Ever the Ursaring,” Ash commented. 

“Me or your mother?” Lance asked.

Ash just shrugged with a sillysmile as Lance reaches over to cuff the young man’s head lightly.

“Prat.” Lance joked.

“Old man.” Aah responded.

Both Lance and Ash stuck their tongues out at each other. Completely forgetting about everyone else standing before them. A large crowd had surrounded the pair and Gou, who was watching the interaction with bugged out eyes and quickly searching up Ash and the Manalo Conference.

Which quickly led him to Ash’s Champion page, and Gou sees that Ash is Champion of the Orange Islands and all of his other accomplishments. Gou soon flinches at the sight of some pictures that popped up, Ash was bruised and bloody. What looks like Kalos was in the background. Ash was giving the camera a tired peace sign as Pikachu, equally battered, was sleeping in his lap.

“You’re a Champion?!” Gou ask’s suddenly, cutting off the pair’s conversation.

Lance gave Ash a knowing look as the boy’s face burst with color again. “Yeah,” Ash stated, looking everywhere but Gou and the cameras, “it’s not something that comes up a lot, and I don’t really like how people treat me differently after they learn that tidbit.” His face falls, “it also makes traveling harder.”

“You should have signed up.” Lance butted back in, both of his hands falling on Ash’s shoulders. “It would have been amazing watching you battle against what the world calls their strongest trainers.” Lance pulled Ash closer and lifting a hand to the spreader sky.

“Ash and his original team, taking down challenger after challenger. Never wielding.” Lance was laughing as he was pushed off by Ash who wordlessly yelled ag him to back off.

“Their Pesudo-Gods,”Lance kept laughing much to Ashs dismay, “don’t think I haven’t seen you Charizard constantly fighting Articuno over the birds islands.”

“Charizard still isn’t letting go of their first fight.” Aah weakly defended. But that didn’t stop Lance.

“You’d kick my ass to be honest.” Lance tried soothing, though his laughter turned to chuckles. “Pikachu here could probably take down my whole team if it were angry enough.” Said Pokémon butted heads with Lances hand that moved to pet it.

“Whatever!” Aah huffed, face truly scarlet now. “Don’t you have a battle to get to?”

That made Lance pause, and fully recognize the surrounding people that made a semi circle around them. Leon was standing off to the side, more up the stairs, and his eyes held a fascinating glint to them as he watched Ash and Lances talk together.

“Shit.”

That got Ash and half the people to laugh. But before anyone could say anything, Lance unclamped his capes buckle and swung it in a flourished movement over Ashs shoulders. Pikachu once more jumping onto Lances shoulders, turning to look at his human partner with the black and red cape. The piece of clothing barley brushed the ground from Ashs height.

“Wha-“ Aah was about to ask before getting cut off by Lance who ruffled his hair once more.

“Be my good luck charm?” The other asked.

Huffing, it was Ash’s turn to role his eyes in amusement. “Been your good luck charm since I was ten.”

“How so?” Lance challenged.

“Garados.” Aah stated blandly. “That Pokémon is one of the sole reason why I’m here.”

“Cheering on your God Father is one of them as well?” Lance asked

“Don’t push it.” The other responded before grabbing Lances biceps and turning the Champion around and started pushing him past the crowd and up towards the stairs. Lance was laughing all the way as Ash manhandled him towards Leon.

“Cheer me on!” He called after Aah as the young man made his way back to Gou. He cackled as Ash flipped him off without looking back.

Gou soon hounds Ash, because it says here Ash has helped a lot of mythical and Godly Pokémon and also has challenged all the other Regions besides the Galar Region. But it’s more so out of mental concern for Ash because that’s a lot of stress for one person to handle, even so if it started out when he was fucking 10 years old.

Ash waves Gou’s concerns off and drags him to their seat, right between the two and down on the front row, and forcibly sits Gou down and plops both Scorbunny and Pikachu onto Gou’s lap.

“I’ll answer all your questions later.” Aah promised before the crowd roared as both Champions entered the pitch. “But for now,” a sly smile streached over his face as Ash looked back and Lance, eyes flashing blue briefly, “let’s enjoy the fight.”

And if Leon heckled Ash’s phone number out of Lance, than so be it. He just wanted to actually talk to the Chosen One without anyone spying on them.

[alolanrain]

Ash was often cast out by his teachers during Elementary and Middle school for being “ to rowdy, loud, and disrupting the class as a whole “ and “ unable to keep up with the class learning pace “ when he had a severe case of ADHD, it wasn’t until being shown about the Pokemon School by Mallow did Ash really want to get back into learning.

But what Ash didn’t know was that Principal Oak had access to almost all his records, that means his school records and his trainer records.

 his school records if printed out was a good size stack because most of it was nasty comments his past teachers had about him and there was a good chunk that came from teachers that he never had. His trainer records quadruple in size, making the other stack look like a few flimsy sheets of paper to the monument that was the accomplishments that he had acquired over the past few years. 

Thankfully Principal Oak had taken his time going through both stacks, highlighting what he himself think are key details, and scanning it into two PDF’s and adding the video links also. adding it to an email he CC’d the teachers that cold hold one more student in their class at such a short moment. it was only five teachers, and Professor Kukui was one of them. 

“ Hello all, I would like to state that I am sincerely sorry for reaching you all so late into the night, but I've got a particular student wanting to join our school and you five are my only teachers that have a spot available. in these links are the students School records, notes, and comments from past teachers and their Trainer records - note that I had highlighted details that I myself had thought were important in both documents but feel free to send me any notice or concerns about said student and it would be much appreciated if you all talked about what classroom would be the right one for them so that we can reconvene tomorrow. Sincerely, Principal Oak. “ 

Kukui was working on other scientific paperwork when he got the email, he had a feeling that he already knew who the trainer was but nonetheless he opened the email and the two docs on separate tabs. immediately he was taken back at how many notes and teacher comments from the first document that were all underlined in yellow highlighter. 

“ Ash had somehow had bribe the visiting Lucario and Riolu from interacting with his other classmates, and when confronted about this had denied it until going into a crying fit and brought to the Principals office where we called his mother and viewed the tapes. “ 

the first comment had left something incredibly sour in Kukui’s chest that curled between his ribs, his mind supplied that Ash hadn’t gone into a tantrum but actually pushed to the point of crying by a teacher. the comment didn’t even say if Ash had actually bribed the Lucario and Riolus to him or not. 

scrolling down the pages some he stopped at another comments. 

“ Ash couldn’t sit still during assigned reading time and when faced openly about it he said that he ‘ couldn't consintrate on his book because it was hard for him ‘ he was promptly sent to the Principal’s office and would be retrieved once reading time was over. “ 

now Kukui could understand that sightly, if one of his students acted antsy then it would slowly spread about to the rest. But asking him openly in front fo everyone else in the classroom instead of pulling to him to the side? that was just a dick move right there. 

he scrolled down more until he got to the section of his last year of Middle School. 

“ Ash is incredibly lazy and doesn’t work during most of the class hours. he would approach my after school asking for help with last weeks homework, I asked if his mother helps him. he replied that she’s been busy with her work at the deli shop. I asked about his father and he mumbled something that I had to tell him to repeat it louder, maybe if Ash had a father figure in his life he could actually get some school work done. “ 

Kukui couldn’t believe what he was reading on his computer screen, how can these people be teachers!? you don’t just say that to one of your students that was actively coming after school hours for help. The disgust was slowly started to thicken inside him, but he ignored the document for the email conversation that was happening instead. 

“ I personally don’t want a slacker in my class, all these notes from these teacher must be true! “ ah, good old Amy. Kukui is all for productivity but he know’s that if a student has a bad day, their going to be slower than normal - or in Kiawe’s case, faster and sloppier. 

“ You have a point Amy, but a lot of the comments accusing Ash never stated if they were right or wrong. so you just can’t go assuming that their all right. “ Victor was always apart of the neutral spot, his place next to Kukui since both of them had experienced bad teachers personally and actually worked with them. 

“ Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt, it say’s that he stopped going to school over 6 years ago, Ash probably wasn’t mentally prepared for school and Kanto does grade harder than we do. this might be really good for him! “ Kukui couldn’t help but figure out who his hackles rose at Petunia’s words. it maybe because Kukui had traveled Alola and Kanto himself, and he didn’t go to collage or any kind of further studies for a while after he got back from Kanto. 

he didn’t bother with a reply because he hasn’t seen the other PDF and so he couldn’t make a full judgment, and he knows Jackson won’t answer until morning because that’s just the type of person he is. 

looking over to the other screen he started from the yellow box surrounding the basic info of the trainer, only to stop and squint at his big screen. 

“ Name: Ashton Ketchum. Class: Pokemon Trainer. Starting Age: 10 - Current Age: 17. Titles: Orange Island Champion; secondary Champion to Kanto and Johto’s Champion Lance, reserving spot for Frontier Brain - though unlikely. Starter Pokemon: Pikachu {through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos}. Relatives: Delia Ketchum [Mother, Alive], -Unknown Father-, Kanto Champion Red Ketchum [Older Brother, Deceased], Kanto and Johto Champion Lance Wataru [Uncle, Alive]. Doctor Notes: has a severe case of ADHD and has quite the larger appetite for a boy his age and size. “ 

Kukui ha heard about Orange Islands and Secondary Champion during passing, but he never knew it was an actual thing. but he miraculously passed that information over to focus more on the Frontier Brain title, he knows from passing boring students that come from Sinnoh that the Battle Frontier doesn’t hold a spot for a person that was undecided - but apparently for Ash they did. 

getting over his initial shock he was hit by a different wave of emotion when he read through the relative section. He had personally met Delia, she was such a sweet woman during their short meeting and he he couldn’t help remember their last name for some reason. 

this kid - or young adult now - has been dragged through the mud as a young child by his teachers, doesn’t know who his father is and his brother is dead. pursing his lip’s he leaned back into his chair, Kukui pulled his glasses off to lightly chuck them onto the cluttered desk, his hands coming up to press the palms of his hands into his eyes. 

he was honestly fighting himself. 

Kukui had a good reputation with the kids he taught and watched graduate from the Pokemon School, but this year he noticed that Principal Oak had given him... he really shouldn’t call them special kids and those weren’t the right words in any way. 

Lillie comes from a small family, but a family with privilege and wealth, her mother sends over donations for the school to do big projects and that also help pay for any big field trips that they have. Lana’s father is one - if not - the best fishermen in Alola, he helps out the other Scientist if their work is surrounding marine Pokemon and they pay him a very big check every time he brings them the Pokemon on their list. Kiawe’s farm gives a bunch of free food for the kids that usually can’t bring their own lunch and is one of the most sought out brand for certain foods on all four Islands. Sophocles is the younger cousin of Molayne, and is a growing mastermind at technology. Mallow’s father runs one of the best restaurants in Alola and had been featured on many TV shows and some that even went international. 

but unlike them who were placed in his class for one reason or another by Principal Oak, none of his students have the same vibe like Ash. just being in the same room as the young adult Kukui felt like all the colors around him had turned more vibrant, more colorful in general. and watching him practically sink up with Kiawe during the battle between those three team skull kids was amazing, he spoke the commands to Pikachu in such a way that you just imidieatly know that he had been doing this for some time. and from how he interacted with Mallow, they acted like they already knew each other for quite sometime even though they haven't known each other for probably more than two hours. 

but the question rises, where would he stay? The empty loft sitting in his house collecting dust pushed forward in his brain and he knows for a fact that the other teachers wouldn’t give one of their rooms up in their house to a complete stranger. so it was perfectly clear to Kukui. 

ignoring the conversation still going on between the other three teachers he types out his answer to the Principal. 

“ Give him to me, I have a loft in my house since he’s going to need a place to stay and he had already met all of my students. “ he leaned back after he sent the message, chewing on his bottom lip as his mind flashed through the basic paragraph, he should start searching what could help ADHD people learn better. 

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Pokemon Orange Islands, Episodes 58-60

In which the end of the first journey paves way for the start of a second one, and old friends make welcome returns.

Old Friends

At long last, our crew’s home from the Orange Islands and right back to the comforts of home. It’s been a long and winding road through this archipelago adventure, but man, it’s good to be back. And I could ask for a better Welcome Home present than the return of the man, the myth, the legend himself: Brock! God, I’ve missed this doofus. How long has it been since we’ve seen him corral his two charges with some sage advice, only for his own lack of braincells to bite him in the butt right afterward (”That’s fine, Brock, but west is this way.”)? How long has it been since we’ve seen him crumble from the sorrow of being rejected by a woman far too good for him (Stealing James’ parasol was an inspired touch)? How long has it been since we’ve seen him proudly and defiantly reject gender norms with his love for housekeeping and caregiving? It really is apparent now just how essential all three members of this show’s power trio were essential to its success; Brock was the perfect counterbalance to Ash and Misty, and his camaraderie with them never ceased to be entertaining. Tracy, as fine as he’s been, was never given even half the opportunities to develop such a winning rapport, mostly relegated to standing in the background and talking about sketches. Heck, his incredible nervousness upon finally meeting Professor Oak is easily the most character we’ve ever gotten out of him, and it only serves to highlight how flat he was in comparison to the guy who’s spot he took. I wish him all the best as Professor Oak’s new assistant, but I’m not complaining at all that Brock’s back in the saddle.

And speaking of welcome returns to old faces, Gary’s back and better than ever! The arrogant prick’s actually been doing some growing up since we last saw him; not only is he a far better trainer with a far better sense of style (seriously, that Fist of the North Star entrance was something else), he’s actually learned some goddamn humility. He acknowledges that he’s not a master yet, that he still has a lot to learn and a lot of people to thank. He gives his Pokemon the credit they deserve for growing under his tutelage. And most shockingly of all, he’s actually magnanimous in victory. He doesn’t even call Ash a loser once! He actually compliments his rival on a battle well-fought, recognizing his opponent’s strengths and continuing to push himself to be better! I talk about how far Ash has come, but Gary’s grown up more than anyone else in this show at this point. That’s the mark of a true Pokemon Trainer right there; Ash couldn’t ask for a better rival to test himself against. He’s even got his own signature furry critter to match Pikachu now! The animosity between them has truly developed into a much more mutually beneficial sense of competition, and I couldn’t be more proud of them. Something tells me they’re gonna have a lot of fun matching each other’s pace as they set out on a new adventure.

New Adventures

And speaking of new adventures, at long last, it’s Johto time! Yes, we’ve finally reached the end of Gen 1 Pokemon, and an entirely new region awaits just over the hill. There’s more Pokemon to catch, more gym leaders to face, more new and exciting discoveries to make, a few mysteries still hanging in the air (I swear if the GS ball doesn’t have a worthwhile payoff inside it), and a world of possibility waiting to be discovered. And weirdly enough, it’s the very last thing Ash says before setting out with his old crew that sticks with me: a casual response to his mom reminding him to wash his underwear. Remember back in the first episode when he got all embarrassed by his mom doing the exact same thing? Now he takes it with grace and a smile. Our boy really has come a long way, and he’s still got so much good stuff waiting for him. So long, Kanto. Let’s see what Pokemon Gen 2 has in store!

Best of Team Rocket

-”How’s my hair?” “Good, how’s mine?” “Smelly!”

-You betray your environmentally-friendly sensibilities for mass animal purges? You’re dead to me.

-”This thing’s slipperier than a greased Gengar!”

-”Yeah, we usually dig a hole for ourselves!”

-We’re three losers!” He sounds so proud oh my god

-Ash applauding Team Rocket’s circus routine? Amazing.

-”Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of lightning!” “Surrender now, because these clown suits are frightening!”

-”He’s in over his head.”

-”Oh, Lucky Mucky!”

-”I’d sell my soul to rest my soles.”

-”Hey, look sharp!” “Sure does.”

-”Hey, get back here and spring me from this spring!”

-”Starved for affection” “Hungry for adventure” “Feast your eyes” oh my go HOW SHAMELESS CAN YOU GET

Odds and Ends

-”Maybe we should just take a chance and cross is anyway!” And that, folks, is why you don’t mess with karma.

-”That’s a bad sign!” Boooooo. Bad puns

-ksjdfhskf stone cold Ms. Ketchum

-”Sometimes you’re as dense as Gary.” “Don’t mention that name!” I SWEAR TO GOD ASH

-”If I work out with that, I won’t need another dumbbell!” Ash’s mom is pure chaotic evil, isn’t she?

-”Team Rocket’s gonna have to be a lot grosser than that!” You know what, sure.

-”Worst part is, they forgot my shopping list.” istfg Brock

-”And the next thing I really want is seconds!” I feel called out.

And holy crap, that’s the first round of Pokemon finished. Wow. Expect my series reflection in a bit, and then you’ll find out what long-running show I’ll be tackling next before moving on to Gen 2!

[themattress]

Why I Love “Pokemon: Best Wishes”

Given recent posts like this, and of course my ongoing petition effort, I’m going on a BW spam.  To start it off, I’d just like to sum up why I love it even though the online fandom generally hates it.  I am a big true believer in “the Takeshi Shudo way” when it comes to the Pokemon anime.  Takeshi Shudo, original head writer of the anime, defined his style as wanting to make the anime something accessible to all audiences, something a whole family could enjoy on different levels. The way he did this was made the anime very light-hearted, comedic and cartoony, embracing the animation medium for all its worth, but also very deep and heart-felt with characters you could care about - and frequently it could also go very dark, frightening, perilous and psychological, yet with these tone shifts actually feeling natural.

To me, the parts of the Pokemon anime that fully live up to this style is Indigo League, Orange Islands, 1/3 of Johto, 1/2 of Battle Frontier, Unova, and Alola.  I love all of those.

The Pokemon anime that does not, which I like much less as a result, are 2/3 of Johto, Hoenn, 1/2 of Battle Frontier, Sinnoh, Decolore Islands, and Kalos. In the case of 2/3 of Johto (the majority of it, sadly), it’s just bad, mindless, repetitive shlock that is a case of show producers and writers feeling like kids will just eat it up anyway so they don’t need to try...something the subsequent drop in ratings proved them wrong on. In the case of the rest, I think there was some of that sentiment still present, but there were also legitimate efforts at doing better - the problem is that there seemed to also be a very self-conscious effort to pander to specific demographics rather than just make a quality kids’ show that, while geared foremost toward kids, anyone of any age could enjoy too. Moves were made that just screamed “Hey, teen/adult viewers! This is for you!”, or “Hey, long-time audience members who are still with us! This is for you!”, or “Hey, hardcore Pokemon gamers! This is for you!” 

And while appreciated by those people being pandered to, I really don’t think it’s the right way to go about things. This, when you get down to it, is why so many in the online fandom actually hates BW (and the current SuMo series) - they became used to being pandered to, used to that kind of stagnation, and were outraged when the writers decided “Fuck it, we’re going to just let the show speak for itself and mainly aim for our primary target audience”, which is how it should be. To elaborate, I am NOT saying you shouldn’t like the Pokemon anime because it’s a kids’ show, or that you shouldn’t watch and enjoy kids’ shows, or whatever.  I’m an avid watcher of kids’ shows.  Hell, my whole point about “the Shudo way” is that quality kids’ shows should be well-written so that older viewers - whole families - can also enjoy them. But you need to own your maturity and recognize that it IS a kids’ show, that kids are the target audience and that the makers of the show don’t owe you a damn thing. You are not entitled to have the show cater to the wants and needs of you and your demographic. 

So yes, the show is going to be “rebooted” for a new generation of kids, not for viewers who have been watching since the beginning since that’s not who the show was made for. Ash is going to be regressed, because kids need to be able to relate to him. Ash is going to lose the League, because he needs to stay on as the mascot-bearing protagonist. Iris isn’t going to be a loli-bait fanservice girl on a shojo heroine-style quest because they want to try something new. Iris isn’t going to be sweet and submissive to Ash because that’s just your misogynistic preference of what she should be. Team Rocket is going to be serious and appearing less frequently because the writers think that’s a better direction to go with now. The show is going to be frequently light-hearted and silly. The battles aren’t always going to be as brutal and edgy as you want them to be. The Pokemon aren’t always going to evolve or be as strong as you want them to be. The story arcs aren’t going to be as long and “mature” as you want them to be. It’s not meant for you.  You can either accept this and enjoy it anyway (like I do), or you can accept it and just not watch it.  Refusing to accept it and continuing to bitch about it, even long after it’s finished airing, is, ironically enough, the epitome of childishness.

Or as Iris would put it, “LOL, such kids!” 

I wanna be like a kid in the right way, not the wrong way: embracing my inner child and fully enjoying BW for all its worth, and for 2 & 1/3 of its 3 year-run, it’s worth quite a lot to me.