I'd imagine if Frogadier did evolve in that DBZ moment, it wouldn't have had much effect on the battle anyway. They already clinched the victory at that point. So yeah, you're right in that it could've been a reward for winning without interfering with the well-written battle itself.
Without altering the last moment or changing some things it would've been impossible for my vision of an evolution to occur, maybe even taking two episodes.
What isn't well-written is having Olympia foreshadow and hype something then have it happen in the very next episode.
That doesn't make any sense unless you really don't care if it wasn't building up to something. I don't remember if I made a volcano analogy here or for my video of this episode, but I said it's like expecting a volcano to erupt, getting ready to watch it erupt and it doesn't erupt and then when you don't care as much it erupts unexpectedly. The foreshadowing didn't have a climax, and when it does climax, it doesn't do anything for you because the build up is loss.
The entire point of the gym battle, it was supposed to be a climax because everything about foreshadowing Ash Greninja was DIRECTLY from Olympia, as I may have said, it would've been better to have a random character after the gym battle to foreshadow it, since the foreshadowing ultimately did nothing for the gym battle.
[quorw]
That's not how getting people invested in a series works.[/quote]But it isn't how you finish off a "series" to move onto the next one. And the type of foreshadowing done here isn't one you wait for a long time for it to happen.
You say that Greninja is being shoved in your face, and sure a lot of us know about Ash-Greninja already but a large majority do not. Your irritation with Ash-Greninja is clearly marginalized to being something that specifically bothers you rather than a fault with the writing/series.
I'll give you an example of good subtle foreshadowing for long distances:
Character- What is Eevee's fairy type eeveelution?
Character with Eevee: Sylveon
10-15 episodes later evolves into Sylveon
Outright obvious and bad foreshadowing:
Character- You're Pokemon is going to evolve really soon
Character with said Pokemon- Fantastic
10-15 episodes later Pokemon evolves
Me: What the hell?
Look I know I'm exaggerating but you don't end a series with foreshadowing that won't happen until the next series and probably 5-10 episodes after making said outright bold statement.
That's not even considering the fact that none of us know exactly how Frogadier is going to evolve and your automatic assumption in that it's going to be meaningless is such an exaggeration of the phrase "jumping the gun" that you started running a week before the race starts.
You are really missing the point. Under the assumption Frogadier evolves before Wulfric, I have thought of EVERY possible evolution that could occur between 2 important gyms, and NOT one of them would even compare to what I envisioned happening in the gym as it would have had its own satisfying climax
But I guess you also forgot to realize that all of this is my opinion so no, it's not a fact that Frogadier's evolution will be meaningless, but it is a fact that it will be meaningless to me. And as a viewer writing my personal opinion, my perception is unfortunately more important than anyone else's as it pertains directly to me. Don't necessarily mean to be selfish but that's how it is.
If you find meaning in Frogadier's evolution, then feel free to make that power your own and enjoy something that I will not likely be able to.
And besides, if Frogadier did evolve as a reward for beating Olympia, it would've just been proof that he didn't need to evolve in order to win. In terms of the way you claim that an evolution is only meaningful if it plays a vital role in Ash's participation in the league, that would've been an even more meaningless evolution than if he evolved to save Ash or beat a rival or whatever. So I don't know exactly what you're getting at here.
Let me copy and post my notes on this subject
Right after defeating Meowstic- This could be considered the least meaningful of the three options in regards to the story, but would have served a different purpose and meaning. By having Frogadier beat Meowstic would've shown that there was no need for it to evolve during the gym battle, but by evolving into Greninja it shows that Frogadier is ready to move forward and follow its new destiny shared with Ash. But now any other time will lead me to think "Oh so now you're ready to evolve *shrug shoulder* *deep sigh*
Yep that's right it sends a different acceptable and meaningful message. It may NOT be as meaningful but it serves its own unique special message.
That Frogadier is ready to take the next step to the next level, which does send its own powerful message. Now I can only look at it like Frogadier as a coward and isn't ready to take the next step to fulfilling its destiny.
And trying to see it from the writer's perspective, they either didn't get permission to evolve it in the gym or they were too afraid to ask.
But here's the ultimate reverse question for you:
Would Ash Greninja's role within the XY&Z series really be reduced (quality and quantity wise) simply because Ash had it before the XY&Z series or is it possible that you could argue having Ash Greninja (or Greninja) be a thing before the XY&Z series would've just ensured focus for the Pokemon?
And to be honest if Ash did have Ash Greninja, then arguably less time would need to be devoted to said Pokemon outside of what Ash Greninja's role is within the XY&Z will be.
Now an episode or two must be devoted for Frogadier evolving and for Ash Greninja which means 1-2 episodes will be wasted on focusing on the wrong Pokemon simply because they are trying to paint "Ash Greninja" as Ash's strongest Kalos Pokemon.
Instead that means LESS time for other Pokemon to develop, like such Pokemon like Noibat, who is likely to evolve in the next episode it receives major focus in it, ultimately doing nothing, but not Frogadier, it gets to have a LOT of episodes devoted to it evolving, and before you argue Ash has had Frogadier longer I'm referring to the episodes devoted to Frogadier/Greninja AFTER Ash caught Noibat. So the pre-gym episode, gym battle, and all the other Frogadier/Greninja episode we'll likely get before Noibat's focus.
The ultimate point of my opinion and it is my opinion will always be: Wasted opportunity for Ash not having Greninja (at the least) at the end of the psychic type gym battle. Serving Frogadier ultimately no purpose outside of completing the gym.
And to reply another way to one of your questions about it wouldn't be good writing for quick foreshawdowing before it happens. Neither is focusing so much on a character and seemingly giving purpose for this foreshadowing, only to ultimately wait until after the fact before it actually happens. Too much focus was given to Frogadier in these two episodes and just to have it NOT evolve, shows how meaningless that focus and attention was, because it was stuff we already knew about, and I'm not talking about Ash Greninja from Coro Coro, most of what we knew could've been inferred from the previous episodes, ultimately outside of "Ash Greninja" they just basically reiterated what we could already infer. Frogadier's bond with Ash, Frogadier's past, the reason why "Froakie" chose Ash over its other trainers, none of that needed so much FOCUS and ATTENTION only for it not lead anywhere.
Alright I'm done. You can respond, but I'm done here, this is ALL I can/want to say about the subject. If you disagree, I'm fine with that, ultimately I don't care. This is my opinion, and you have your own.
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