Any Companion You'd Like As Main Character Again?

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

To be honest almost anybody could work since nobody succeeded at their goals.

I always wondered why the characters with clear goals aren't allowed to achieve their dreams? It's not like we are going to see them again with the exception of small cameos. Especially Serena and Iris who didn't even get cameos at all.

It kind of leaves you hanging...

Depends on how you define succeeding I guess. Most companion characters grow a lot and leave different from how they entered (not you Brock). Becoming the best of the world or region or whatever is to most people not really a realistic goal in the first place, and they generally do get reasonably close to that (not you Misty). There's something humbling and relatable about the message that even if you don't win literally everything it doesn't mean you're a failure (which some people tend to forget, especially when talking about Ash). Even making it to the Grand Festival, to the League, to the Master Class, or growing to learn how to use Z-Moves, these are all formidable achievements for characters that shouldn't be easily brushed aside, especially for a character like Lillie who started out not even being able to touch pokémon, and now she's capable of using a Z-Move with her own pokémon and entering a pokémon league.

 

[BTS_fan]

To be honest almost anybody could work since nobody succeeded at their goals.

I always wondered why the characters with clear goals aren't allowed to achieve their dreams? It's not like we are going to see them again with the exception of small cameos. Especially Serena and Iris who didn't even get cameos at all.

It kind of leaves you hanging...

Iris's 'Dragon Master' goal seemed kind of vague though aside from the Axew evolution part, which we all know didn't happen because of marketing reasons.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Lillie, but that'll never happen.

 

[Emelie]

While Ash is a little hopeless there is still hope that someday he will achieve his goals. We don't really get to see much progression from the characters who left which is a little disappointing. Especially for Iris and Serena since we don't get to see any progression at all.

I really like how different Misty's gym looks in SM compared to OS. We get to see proof that she has actually changed and become stronger. I would say she has achieved her dream. It was nice to see as a long time fan.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Lillie has the right amount of characteristics that could lead to her traveling Galar with Ash. She is popular, has a cute Pokémon that could be used to help market the games, and she is learning how to be a trainer. She still feels a bit incomplete in terms of character growth and so much mor could be done with her.

 

[Emelie]

Iris's 'Dragon Master' goal seemed kind of vague though aside from the Axew evolution part, which we all know didn't happen because of marketing reasons.

Yeah, I think she could have used a more defined goal. Mabye those Don battle tournaments could have been more like Ash's badge quest and Dawn collecting ribbons? Instead of winning all the feathers at once she could have won only one feather each tournament which would eventually lead to her being able to enter some sort of Don battle league? It would have given her quest to become a dragon master a clear sense of progression similar to Dawn's Grand Festival.

I think mabye this is why Axew not evolving is so controversial among some fans since he was seen as a kind of measurement for Iris' progression?

If we want to get even more ambitious why not make the plot more like the BW games and make Iris involved with waking up the dragon? What better way to become a dragon master is there than saving Unova by taming a dragon that everybody worships?

I actually love gen 5 but there is so much missed potential. To me that is the most disappointing thing about the BW anime...

 

[Leonhart]

I do think it's a bit odd that the writers refuse to let certain characters achieve their goals by the end of their respective sagas, especially characters who are almost certainly never going to appear again. In the case of characters like Haruka and Hikari who had goals with a definitive endpoint, I feel that they both should've become Top Coordinator before they left the cast.

 

[BTS_fan]

Lillie has the right amount of characteristics that could lead to her traveling Galar with Ash. She is popular, has a cute Pokémon that could be used to help market the games, and she is learning how to be a trainer. She still feels a bit incomplete in terms of character growth and so much mor could be done with her.

I mean I agree that she has more room to grow, but I can't see her joining Ash in Galar because one of the anime's staff members admitted a while back that they like to change the female companion from saga to saga to keep the 'eye candy' on the show fresh. I'm paraphrasing his exact words, but that was the gist of what he meant.

 

[AznKei]

I mean I agree that she has more room to grow, but I can't see her joining Ash in Galar because one of the anime's staff members admitted a while back that they like to change the female companion from saga to saga to keep the 'eye candy' on the show fresh. I'm paraphrasing his exact words, but that was the gist of what he meant.

Does that mean that they're going to keep the trend that guys are doing battles and intense activities while the girls are cheering and go to shopping again?

 

[Redstar45]

I mean I agree that she has more room to grow, but I can't see her joining Ash in Galar because one of the anime's staff members admitted a while back that they like to change the female companion from saga to saga to keep the 'eye candy' on the show fresh. I'm paraphrasing his exact words, but that was the gist of what he meant.

That .....i do know that lille is popular but she was not a unreplaceable character that keep going

 

[Leonhart]

I do remember Masamitsu Hidaka saying something about the decision to switch the female cast members having something to do with giving boys new eye candy every now and then, but I think the main reason why the female characters are replaced is so that the writers can introduce a new girl to serve as promotion for the new games. The same applies to the male sidekicks after Takeshi left the cast obviously, but I don't take the eye candy excuse too seriously, because that interview was from over ten years ago and it sounds rather damaging when put into the wrong context.

 

[PorcelainVulpix]

Apparently the person who said that isn’t even on staff anymore so I’d take it with a grain of salt.

Although I do agree, they obviously replace the females each gen for promotional reasons and will continue to do so

 

[Hanto]

Does that mean that they're going to keep the trend that guys are doing battles and intense activities while the girls are cheering and go to shopping again?

I hope no. Iris was an amazing battler, had tomboyish attitude, unique traits and talents, criticizes Ash for being dumb (and he was dumb in BW), but the auditory (only Western one, I guess) did not like her. Then weve got a completely opposite example that is Serena with poor trainer skills, girly girl attitude, damsel in distress behavior and praising Ash all the time. She started the trend of useless PokeGirls.

 

[janejane6178]

I hope no. Iris was an amazing battler, had tomboyish attitude, unique traits and talents, criticizes Ash for being dumb (and he was dumb in BW), but the auditory (only Western one, I guess) did not like her. Then weve got a completely opposite example that is Serena with poor trainer skills, girly girl attitude, damsel in distress behavior and praising Ash all the time. She started the trend of useless PokeGirls.

Useless pokegirls? Your opinion is very interesting? From your statement it seems like this trend is official, could you tell me where you got this official information from?
Anyway, I would like for May to show up too

 

[Emelie]

I think it's a shame to pit the female characters against each other. It's nice to have some variety by having some of them be tomboyish like Iris, somewhere in the middle like Misty and Lana and feminine like Serena and Dawn.

I do wish there was some sort of battling involved in Serena's goal. I think her crush on Satoshi is cute but I also feel that it shouldn't have been the main focus of her rivalry with Miette either. Otherwise I think her emotional development is great and I feel her relationship with her mother was a step up from May's relationship with her dad.

Anyway, I think if Lillie were to travel to Galar she would need a more defined goal. In a way her goal in the Alola series is overcoming her trauma and dealing with her family issues, which she has already succeeded at. Mabye Lillie could become a fairy type trainer like in the games? She already has an ice stone so that would make at least one fairy Pokémon.

 

[BTS_fan]

Apparently the person who said that isn’t even on staff anymore so I’d take it with a grain of salt.

Really? Well I just thought that his inside knowledge was enough of a reason to mention his comments about the female cast members. He was also the guy who finally put the GS Ball theories to rest, so I found him to be really knowledgeable and probably one of the few former production staff members who actually gave us answers to some of our biggest questions.

 

[Hanto]

Useless pokegirls? Your opinion is very interesting? From your statement it seems like this trend is official, could you tell me where you got this official information from?
Anyway, I would like for May to show up too

I like Serena's personality, but she started the trend of poorly battling girls. Since Serena girls had minimal quantity of battles and rarely finish them. They shifted to flawless shopping drones not allowed to fight.

 

[Kuzehiko]

I doubt we will ever see May again.
Didn't her voice actress retire?

 

[Redstar45]

I doubt we will ever see May again.
Didn't her voice actress retire?

Not sure if she is ....she did getting voice problem year or so

 

[345ash-greninja]

Not sure if she is

IIRC the primary reason May didn't return in XY to promote ORAS was because her VA was retired. People in Japan are very sensitive regarding VAs of main characters as we all know.