True but the problem with a lot of people's arguments for Kanto pandering being a con and not a pro isn't because Kanto pandering sells, it's that some of the generations they choose to set an example strictly for Kanto-pandering, such as Gen 7, is practically pointless as such generations panders to each and every generation before it. Actually come to think of it, there hasn't really been any actual Kanto pandering alone except for Johto which was designed to be the last Pokemon games and the Let's Go games which are remakes. The more I think about it, the more stupid it sounds trying to argue that Kanto pandering alone even exists.
You really cannot say the amount of callbacks to Kanto are nearly comparable to callbacks to other regions. It's not pandering to anything not named Kanto. I could easily listen 10+ features that are Kanto pandering. We got Zygarde and the Sycamore assistants as Kalos "pandering" in comparison.
Actually you can compare and it doesn't matter if one is slightly more than the other. To completely focus only on Kanto pandering is to completely ignore all the great "pandering" to other regions and ignoring the irrefutable evidence does not change it. I have come to the conclusion that the argument to say Alola is strictly kanto-pandering, especially as a con, is complete non-sense and should not be taken seriously whatsoever.
And still no cameo for Iris.
Iris will always be a memorable rival in most Pokemon fans eyes. I hope she becomes Pokemon Champion in the BW2 story arc like in the games. Speaking of a 100 years, how many years do you guys think will take to finish the BW2 arc lol?
That's such a tunnel vision way to look at this. Referencing=/=pandering. The latter is an extreme version of the former. There is no Johto/Hoenn/Sinnoh/Unova/Kalos pandering because the amount of callbacks to their plots, characters, locations etc is obsolete compared to Kanto's. Slightly? No, it's a big gap. How does criticizing the strong focus on Kanto isolate the callbacks from the other regions? It doesn't. You're basically shutting down a valid argument because you fill such is ok (which I'm not saying you can't say because I could care less). Your argument boils down to "If every other region gets references, then calling out Kanto for having a relatively higher amount is uncalled for." and there's so much wrong with that that it's hypocritical by your own logic.
No offense but 1) your exaggerating how big the Kanto pandering is compared to other pandering. 2) Twisting my words into focusing how strong the Kanto "pandering" is over how people strictly focus on Kanto for the sake of Kanto and belittling how huge the callbacks are does not change the fact that 3) ignoring the heavy callbacks to the past regions is also to ignore facts and ignoring facts does not make them go away.
It's been 3000 years...
