PokeMaster366
Well-Known Member
My thread about Charizard blew up into this conversation about evolution proving strength in the anime. I made a new thread for that conversation. So what are your views? Should Ash evolve all of his weaker Pokemon? Are they strong on their own? What role does marketing play in all of this?
The only big complaint that I have with evolution is that whenever it does occur in favor of Ash, it is typically contrived with little effort to make it seem natural. Under the typical Ash circumstances, his Pokemon almost always evolve when they're in a corner in an important battle such as a rival battle, Gym Battle, and certain Team Rocket battles. Whenever this does happen, the tables have a habit of turning very quickly and the newly evolved Pokemon finishes the current opponent off with a new move they pulled out of their arse. After that specific battle, however, the newly evolved Pokemon's win/loss record or power levels become sporadic at best and it's hard to tell whether or not they really are improving (Torterra is a prime example of this). We could blame Ash for the sporadic win/loss records, but the point or this thread is to see if evolution needs to happen to show the POKEMON'S growth, and not the trainer's.
Overall, I would prefer for evolutions to have more of a Zatch Bell presence and formula. They can happen to show physical proof that the Pokemon has gotten physically stronger, but that potential should only be hidden until the Pokemon shows an acceptable level of EMOTIONAL GROWTH and trainer/Pokemon synergy to accompany that power. Ash's Pokemon are okay as they are right now, but they have to show progress and be seriously pushed, otherwise, they'll stagnate even more than they already have. Marketing also has a negative impact on Ash's team since the people behind them are clingy. The people behind the Pokemon marketing are a lot like typical PO players in that they'll stay with one successful team for as long as possible until they run into the one person that is anti-teaming and anti-styling them. It's the big reason why