Bond with Ash:
I’m going to exclude the SM companions from this..
1. Misty - I was originally going to rank Dawn over Misty in terms of bond, but after rewatching some old episodes yesterday, I changed my mind. Misty made Ash who he is. I was just rewatching the first five episodes and Misty is having to teach rookie Ash so much. I feel like people tend to over look how much of an influence Misty was on Ash because of her way of “teaching,” (yelling/sarcasm/teasing) him.
2. Dawn - The bestie. His equal. I like how they bounce off of each other so well. Although Brock took a back seat this saga, it really put emphasis on how strong Ash and Dawn’s friendship was.
3. May - It was nice seeing Ash going from being the mentee to the mentor, although I think people tend to exaggerate it, so I’ll put May here. I found May and Ash to be quite similar in a lot of ways.
4. Serena - I like her admiration for Ash but at times it just came off as stalkerish and her idolizing him. Her crush on Ash was just unnecessary to me, or at least had too much emphasis on it. He fought with her the least and some people think that’s a good thing but I feel like it’s okay and very normal for friends to bicker but I’ll still place her over Iris because her admiring for Ash wasn’t bad sometimes.
5. Y’all I really, reaaaally didn’t want to put Iris last but I felt like I had no choice. I’m probably one of the only people who didn’t mind the “you’re such a kid,” remakes but I don’t think it would be fair for me to overlook how hypocritical she could be sometimes. And her bond with Ash was truly the weakest in my eyes which upsets me..
Goal Improvement
1. Dawn - My favorite Pokegirl for a reason! The writers truly handled her development so well! Ngl, it hurt me when she took some losses, but looking back, it was needed. I’m not even bitter over her losing to Zoey. I feel like the writers made her coordinating journey was more realistic than May’s.
2. May - I count May as the first time they really put some effort into developing one of Ash’s companions, since Misty and Brock and Tracey really spent a lot of time mentoring Ash whereas Ash actually had a few chances to mentor May. The writers didn’t do a bad job to me and I loved May’s rivalries and how they handled them.
3. Misty/Iris - I personally feel like the writers need to spend more time focusing on how someone become a master of their type. Personality wise, I feel Misty is the most dynamic of all the pokegirls but as for her goals...eh.
4. Serena - It irks me how they handled her. Making her join Ash because of a crush? Really? The feminist in me isn’t here for it. They could have found a better goal than knock off contests for her. Her battling needed major developing. She needed a personality outside her crush, and warped view of Ash being some type of perfect hero.
Pokémon:
1. MAY - I love Blaziken and Beautifly. Skitty was a cutie. Etc. I think May’s team is a perfect mix of bad@ss and adorable.
2. Dawn - simply because I love cyndaquil. I wish they would have added Togekiss sooner but I still appreciate the addition of Togekiss.
3. Iris
4. Serena
5. Misty
Looks:
I’m adding the SM girls back now..
1. Dawn
2. Mallow
3. May
4. Serena
5. Misty
6. Iris
7. Lillie
8. Lana