• Hi all. We have had reports of member's signatures being edited to include malicious content. You can rest assured this wasn't done by staff and we can find no indication that the forums themselves have been compromised.

    However, remember to keep your passwords secure. If you use similar logins on multiple sites, people and even bots may be able to access your account.

    We always recommend using unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication if possible. Make sure you are secure.
  • Be sure to join the discussion on our discord at: Discord.gg/serebii
  • If you're still waiting for the e-mail, be sure to check your junk/spam e-mail folders

The Most Mistreated Ash's Companions

Sham

The Guardian of Ruin and Birth
I have no memories of Tracey nor was I watching the anime when he replaced Brock but based off how he’s been treated compared to past companions (ie getting cameos) I’ll just give him an honorable mention.

Most mistreated by the writers? The whole entire group of Unova rivals, Serena, Mallow, Lana and Serena’s rivals.

By the fandom? Iris that’s about it for me.
 

ash&charizardfan

Humans are tools
I think people overrate misty and brock too much especially because of nostalgia in kanto, they lost there shine post kanto and were pretty useless throughout johto and would have been better as recurring characters, though atleast brock used to help in gyms and commentate in his matches and used to train with him.
 

Spider-Phoenix

#ChespinGang
I think people overrate misty and brock too much especially because of nostalgia in kanto

Truer words were never spoken.

Honestly, I've never seen anything on those two that set them apart from everyone else besides they coming first.

To be honest, I've never even like their gags in the first show.
 

AznKei

Dawn & Chloe by ddangbi
Serena, by the writers. We might say that battling isn't her speciality but the same can be said to some other companions which at least they gave them some satisfying outcomes.

Iris, by the fandom. Outside of her infamous catchphrase, her physical appearence doesn't seem to appeal well to the audience.
 
Last edited:

Spider-Phoenix

#ChespinGang
From a design standpoint the only "bothering things" on Iris design is her pink skirt is too large and the hair is weird even if anime as a whole had put up worse hairstylist nightmares

But other than that I find him really, REALLY good as a character. Can see where people who doesn't like her are going for though I don't share their views.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
AznKei said:
Iris, by the fandom. Outside of her infamous catchphrase, her physical appearence doesn't seem to appeal well to the audience.

Her hair was a bit confusing in terms of physics since the mass of her hair seemed too big for her body. The writers had fun with it by making it Kibago's shelter, but I always thought that was more unhygienic than clever.
 

Zoruagible

Lover of underrated characters
Mallow.
I'll never forgive the writers for what they did to her

The one character who never caught a Pokemon and only has a singular Pokemon...
Hardly any focus at all, was basically a supporting character for everyone else!
Meanwhile let's give Lana a thousand focus episodes and ignore Mallow! :rolleyes:

Tracey I can forgive since he was meant to replace Brock, at least they gave him a happy ending instead of throwing him away like Brock originally was
 

DatsRight

Well-Known Member
Mallow.
I'll never forgive the writers for what they did to her

The one character who never caught a Pokemon and only has a singular Pokemon...
Hardly any focus at all, was basically a supporting character for everyone else!
Meanwhile let's give Lana a thousand focus episodes and ignore Mallow! :rolleyes:

Tracey I can forgive since he was meant to replace Brock, at least they gave him a happy ending instead of throwing him away like Brock originally was

Truthfully Lana didn't get treated THAT much better either. Sandy barely got any screentime, and Primarina, though fully evolved, was left kinda bland. Not to mention Lana not getting to do ANY battles before the league despite being set up as the battler girl of the SM lot, and her bubble goal just being kinda left as a loose thread (I'm not quite sure how they could have expanded upon it, though Sophocles' own seemingly fleeting dream at least got some sort of clever call back).

It kinda feels like they took the same short cut as they did with Cilan for Lana and just flanderized her into the comically 'good at everything' gag character to excuse her stagnant personality, though Lana's seniority played less into group dynamics compared to Cilan.

I feel like the combination of both Mallow and Lana, along with struggling to keep Lillie relevant, played into them deciding to make Chloe a mere supporting character. They've just not had a lot of ideas for the girls recently.
 
Last edited:

Leonhart

Imagineer
I don't know if I believe that Koharu's limited role in the current series is a result of the SM female cast members being so mistreated. I don't like the idea of the director or writers simply giving up on developing female characters just because they messed up with the ones from the previous saga. If anything, that should give them an incentive to try harder to develop Koharu.
 

janejane6178

Kaleido Star FOREVER in my heart <3
Mallow.
I'll never forgive the writers for what they did to her

The one character who never caught a Pokemon and only has a singular Pokemon...
Hardly any focus at all, was basically a supporting character for everyone else!
Meanwhile let's give Lana a thousand focus episodes and ignore Mallow! :rolleyes:

Tracey I can forgive since he was meant to replace Brock, at least they gave him a happy ending instead of throwing him away like Brock originally was
Honestly, before SM came out and we saw that first leaekd picture with Mallow, Ash and Litten's final evo (forgot its name) I really hoped she will be Ash's companion and that they will travel together in Alola.
 

Lacuna

Goodnight
Just about everyone in this thread has said Tracey but I'll do it again since he was my first thought even reading the title, lol

He was treated pretty badly by both the writers and the fanbase IMO. He was really kinda shoved to the side and we haven't seen him nor even had him mentioned in forever, so his character will probably never be developed any further. I feel like when he caught and gained the trust of his Scyther was a good example of what could've been. Makes me sad he's still being called useless even though he's just stuck in the basement of Oak's lab now.

Also, Iris by the fandom and Max by the writers. I actually really liked Iris and I still can't understand why she kept getting hated on - and Max's story just never went much of anywhere (and now it never will, because if he's a Trainer next time we see him, they'll have to admit that at least 3 years have passed... and you know how they are about that).
 

Applecorp

Well-Known Member
Tracey and there's nobody else who comes close. Not even Max because he was still the cast's navigator in Hoenn so he had a job to do but Tracey didn't.
 

Sham

The Guardian of Ruin and Birth
Iris, by the fandom. Outside of her infamous catchphrase, her physical appearence doesn't seem to appeal well to the audience.
Um. Anyway I liked her hair and seen no problems with her overall appearance. Clothing wise she's the first Pokegirl that's actually dressed like a child and I see no big difference aesthetic wise from past pokegirls? Was it the brown...eyes? I feel like characters with more abnormal features have been shown like for example Lana (not that I hate her appearance).

Anyway looking back on Bonnie they did Max kinda dirty as well.
 
Last edited:

AznKei

Dawn & Chloe by ddangbi
Um. Anyway I liked her hair and seen no problems with her overall appearance. Clothing wise she's the first Pokegirl that's actually dressed like a child and I see no big difference aesthetic wise from past pokegirls? Was it the brown...eyes? I feel like characters with more abnormal features have been shown like for example Lana (not that I hate her appearance).
Well, I used to watch Kyoto Animation animes like a decade ago and apparently physical appearences for the female characters mattered alot. There's a reason why Nichijou flopped to their audience, despite its gold comedy. Sure, you can't really compare with the KyoAni animes which are mostly slice of life compared to the Pokemon anime which is more adventure but there's people out there who really care how the female characters should look like.
 

pacman000

On a quest to be the best...
Tracey was a nobody. At least I can remember moments from everyone else's punching bags. Tracy likes to draw. That's it. We don't have a Ralts episode like Max nor did we have an Elesa episode like BW Ash. Even at his most boring (XY), Ash was still more compelling in that he frustrated me. At least I could muster frustration rather than apathy.
Tracey had potential. In the first episode he appeared in he interrupted someone's battle to tell them how poorly they were taking care of their Pokémon. That's an interesting trait; imagine him trying to do that to Jessie & James or Butch & Cassidy, or a Character-of-the-Day with a bad attitude. It would create conflict, which would lead to drama, & potentially interesting plot points, as long as the writers treated it carefully so it didn't become annoying.

Problem is, they didn't do anything with the character; that attitude, that crazy sort of care which would make him stop a battle & examine the competitor's Pokémon, was rendered a background detail.
 
Top