*Spoilers and Read the First Post* Controversial Opinions II

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Ash's Pikachu is the most overrated pokemon in the entire anime

Eh I only think it's overrated by the writers/higher ups. Greninja, Goodra, Charizard, and Infernape are more overrated imo.

 

[PokemonBattleFanatic-]

Eh I only think it's overrated by the writers/higher ups. Greninja, Goodra, Charizard, and Infernape are more overrated imo.

Greninja,Goodra,and Infernape sure but Charizard I don't think so personally,it went through legitimate training to achieve it's power,bailed Ash out of a lot of tough situations,and doesn't need a power up like the others do to win in big matches.

 

[AshxSatoshi]

Eh I only think it's overrated by the writers/higher ups. Greninja, Goodra, Charizard, and Infernape are more overrated imo.

I don't personally find Infernape overrated but the rest I can agree with especially Greninja

 

[DatsRight]

CO: I tend to find most of the 'aces' per region to be boring, because the writers ironically put so much effort into boosting and milking them that their pedestal makes them pretty lifeless characters who aren't allowed to take part in the fun elements of the show and just fight, fight, fight and look super serious and badass about it.

Sure they usually get a development arc, but said 'development' tends to always lead to them being diluted into the same lifeless soldier instead of being a fuller enjoyable character like their pre evolved forms usually were.

 

[AshxSatoshi]

CO: I tend to find most of the 'aces' per region to be boring, because the writers ironically put so much effort into boosting and milking them that their pedestal makes them pretty lifeless characters who aren't allowed to take part in the fun elements of the show and just fight, fight, fight and look super serious and badass about it.

Sure they usually get a development arc, but said 'development' tends to always lead to them being diluted into the same lifeless soldier instead of being a fuller enjoyable character like their pre evolved forms usually were.

I think the only exceptions to this are Charizard, Krookodile and Infernape


Anyway C/O I hope after Lana is written off, they allow her to do Contests since she's kinda interested in preforming. Maybe they can send her to Sinnoh. I also hope Lillie aims to be a Fairy Master, since she's pratically a Fairy specialist in the games.

 

[SH65]

I feel like Ash would had gain more from staying at BF for a year or two.

 

[DatsRight]

Anyway C/O I hope after Lana is written off, they allow her to do Contests since she's kinda interested in preforming. Maybe they can send her to Sinnoh. I also hope Lillie aims to be a Fairy Master, since she's pratically a Fairy specialist in the games.

Lana I admit has potential as a performer since her Pokemon at least has a unique battle style that would likely negate it relying on spamming basic strategies to win all the time. Lana's water type specialising would likely also grant her a gimmick to prevent her being the vanilla protagonist of the tournaments. She'd probably need at least on more Pokemon however.

CO: I'd gladly take the showcases returning if they did to them what Sinnoh did to the contests, ie. greatly developing the substance in strategies, gimmicks and opposition to make them entertaining in their own right instead of just a barebones pivot for the female companion's personality development.

 

[Epicocity]

That I admit was clever, but it didn't make up a whole season, especially the first half which just spammed as many one sided TR battles as possible (often even interrupting real battles the moment they required actual strategy).

Maybe it's bias, part of my apathy towards XYZ's battles was that so many of the Pokemon (and even some of the trainers) were cardboard, so didn't infuse as much personality into that strategy.

Controversial Opinion: Greninja was way more boring to watch than Froakie.

Like what? What battles were interrupted before they required real strategy? I don't think we can count episodes that were built around TRio because there, there was never going to be a strong battle in the same way that Bewear interrupts every TRio battle these days before it can go anywhere. As far as I remember, every important battle (gym matches, Diantha, Sawyer and Alain) either finished, or was interrupted by something else, like Ash fainting. The only one I think you're talking about is XYZ 22 with TRio interrupting Serena's battle with Jimmy, though even there, Serena had already shown strategy in the battle.

As for your constant complaint of saying "don't get hit", it's a viable command. Considering we have those Pokemon that do want to get hit. Look at Sawyer's Slaking: his entire strategy revolved around just taking the hits. Goodra was the same, as was Wulfric's Avalugg. Sure, they're all tanky Pokemon, but asking for them to not call dodge at all when it's possible the trainer wants their Pokemon to take a hit sort of makes me scratch my head. In fact, that was something discussed in the Korrina arc in terms of Pokemon taking orders instead of just assuming what their trainer wants...

As for strategies used in XYZ alone that weren't a spammable power fest (spoilerized for space):

Spoiler: XYZ Strategies

Sawyer's strategy of alternating between long range and short range to damage Greninja after analyzing his style
Greninja's Water Shuriken smoke cover to land a hit on Gardevoir
Sawyer maneuvering Clawitzer to instill maximum impact with Ice Beam against Hawlucha as he fell
Greninja freezing Avalugg's feet (for all the good it did)
Sliding on the ice to gain momentum and reduce damage
Iron Tail on the ice to try and stop Avalugg's Gyro Ball
Greninja using his blades as ice skates
Sawyer using Aqua Jet to keep up with Talonflame's speed and then freezing its wing
Pikachu using the trees as cover to get the advantage over Clawitzer
The Aegislash trick
Noivern using echolocation after creating smoke against Salamence
Slurpuff using its sense of smell against Goodra
Drenching Tyranitar with water while eliminating the sandstorm
Again, echolocation to find Weavile
Pikachu jumping atop Metagross so he couldn't be attacked
Pikachu using Iron Tail on the dirt to block Charizard's Flamethrower
Goodra using Rain Dance to eventually assist Greninja in taking down Bisharp
Greninja using Water Shuriken in the ground to counter Blast Burn
Greninja using Water Shuriken as a shield against Thunder Punch (admittedly less of a strategy, but still a smart way to use it)

 

[AshxSatoshi]

Lana I admit has potential as a performer since her Pokemon at least has a unique battle style that would likely negate it relying on spamming basic strategies to win all the time. Lana's water type specialising would likely also grant her a gimmick to prevent her being the vanilla protagonist of the tournaments. She'd probably need at least on more Pokemon however.

CO: I'd gladly take the showcases returning if they did to them what Sinnoh did to the contests, ie. greatly developing the substance in strategies, gimmicks and opposition to make them entertaining in their own right instead of just a barebones pivot for the female companion's personality development.

Bringing them back would be heavily forced in my opinion since the title is "Kalos Queen" and thats what performers aim to be. If the series pulls a BF and make a return to Kalos, then I guess I wouldn't mind seeing it improved upon. If they decide to expand the goal to other regions I hope they change the title to make it more inclusive.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Id rather not see Showcases return at all. I'd rather the female lead do gyms instead.

 

[Satoshi & Touko]

Id rather not see Showcases return at all. I'd rather the female lead do gyms instead.

Agreed. Seeing the female lead doing gyms would be fun to see. And I still don't believe Showcases are appropriate for the goal of a main lead due to lack of a battling element.

 

[potat_lasaro]

Id rather not see Showcases return at all. I'd rather the female lead do gyms instead.

As long as Ash is the main lead, he'll always do the battling oriented goal of the series. Whether it's the gyms, trials or Battle Frontier. They would never have two members of the main cast do the same thing since it would be repetitive and boring to see Ash and his female companion both face a gym leader.

At least with Contests/Showcases they have a goal that we can see strides being made towards for them. They're not my favorite thing, but at least it provides something.

 

[U.N. Owen]

The more "special" things they give Ash like aura powers, Ash-Greninja, the chosen one of Shamouti Island, Azelf's chosen person to which it reveals itself, and finally Cosmog's protector, the more it cheapens his character because it seems like the writers and marketing department are trying too hard to make Ash special. After all, when getting special things becomes his new status quo, then he stops being special. He just traded status quos.

 

[DankOverlord]

The more "special" things they give Ash like aura powers, Ash-Greninja, the chosen one of Shamouti Island, Azelf's chosen person to which it reveals itself, and finally Cosmog's protector, the more it cheapens his character because it seems like the writers and marketing department are trying too hard to make Ash special. After all, when getting special things becomes his new status quo, then he stops being special. He just traded status quos.

Well the Shamouti thing was a dub addition, AFAIK nothing meant Ash was the chosen one, and the aura powers have been seen on other characters so it isn't an Ash-thing only, Azelf alone didn't chose Ash, Mesprit and Uxie also chose Brock and Dawn as the people they reveal themselves to, the trio was simply at the right place in the right time.



I don't want to sound rude but you blow some things out of proportion

 

[SH65]

I think that Ash should try doing contests and gyms in the next region

 

[GarchompTheAssassin]

I think the only exceptions to this are Charizard, Krookodile and Infernape

I don't really see how Infernape stands out compared Greninja and Sceptile personality wise....

And people find Goodra overrated? I barely see anyone who rates it higher than what it actually is (a strong but underachieving pokemon), although I guess there might've been quite a bit of hype around the time Ash obtained it, being his first pseudo legendary and all, but nowadays noone overrates him lol

 

[AshxSatoshi]

The more "special" things they give Ash like aura powers, Ash-Greninja, the chosen one of Shamouti Island, Azelf's chosen person to which it reveals itself, and finally Cosmog's protector, the more it cheapens his character because it seems like the writers and marketing department are trying too hard to make Ash special. After all, when getting special things becomes his new status quo, then he stops being special. He just traded status quos.

Especially since Cosmog was suppose to be taken care of by an entirely different character. Not only are trying to make him special but they're stealing other people storylines just to make him "special"

 

[SH65]

Especially since Cosmog was suppose to be taken care of by an entirely different character. Not only are trying to make him special but they're stealing other people storylines just to make him "special"

Your acting like Lillie has nothing to do with Cosmog when thats not the case. She still has focus in the AF arc.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Especially since Cosmog was suppose to be taken care of by an entirely different character. Not only are trying to make him special but they're stealing other people storylines just to make him "special"

Honestly I only find Cosmog and being the chosen one for Ash Greninja kind of forced. As someone has already mentioned, Ash seeing and having connections with Azlef was pretty understandable since both Dawn and Brock had connections with Mesprit and Uxie. And I also don't have a problem with Ash being the chosen one in movie 2 since it was one of the first times he actually was a chosen one. Im indifferent about Ash using Aura, but then again he's not the only one that could do so.

 

[DatsRight]

I think it's more that all these situations don't really merge well with the twerps' already blatant plot armour at times. Since they're the protagonists, things tend to always bend to their will, and the more fatigue the series has suffered the more this happens due to the writing laziness/apathy. How many times does one of their Pokemon evolve or learn a new move at the right time in some OP way just to prevent them having to work and sweat for a victory with what they already have, or some random character (sometimes even a legendary) conveniently appear to always even the odds for them? You can't say it doesn't sometimes look like the forces above are constantly bestowing them until it's impossible for them to lose. They blatantly get special treatment.

Had it not been for the fact Nebby was Lillie's in the game, SM would have actually been a more tolerable case, since Ash was otherwise shown working for his power level to attract the Tapu's attention (which was believable after six regions), and this series actually called out how contrived Ash's 'chosen one' shtick was through Gladion (with a rather sympathetic reaction from Ash). I'm not saying the implied upcoming storyline with Ash getting tons of new Z Moves out of nowhere is a great climax however though we'll see how things go.