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The Most Mistreated Ash's Companions

Kuzehiko

That moment I found a lifetime treasure
Personally, treating a character well means developing them well. You can only develop well when it happens on-screen. Something happening off-screen with the vaguest of explanations is just handing a character something.

And especially in Iris's case she never even showed a want to become Champion so it seems weird that she suddenly is other than "games".

Characters need more than a high position to have been treated well.
But Iris was developed well in BW, goal wise at least. She participed in the Club Battles, batted Dragon-type trainers and caught Dragon-type Pokemon as well, had her moments bonding with Dragon -type Pokemon as well.
I understand it does not feel a genuine development as she achieved it off-screen but her goal was heading there since BW and her special episode.
What else can you expect if she was gonna get replaced either way?
 

Sham

The Guardian of Ruin and Birth
I don't know if we can count Iris out for two reasons:
1) We never saw how she became Champion and Drayden's explanation basically amounts to "she felt harder".
2) She's not a Dragon Master yet, and while Axew evolved, it was all entirely offscreen.
She’s not a Dragon Master and the last I recall Serena is not Kalos Queen, Cilan is not S class, Ash isn’t a Pokémon Master and Dawn and May aren’t Top coordinators. What’s the point?

Axew evolving was never the end all be all to her becoming a Dragon Master and even The Elder and Drayden said that wasn’t the reason why she was sent on a Journey.
And especially in Iris's case she never even showed a want to become Champion so it seems weird that she suddenly is other than "games".
And Serena never showed interest in participating in Contests until the third to last episode of a 140 episode show. It's almost like people are allowed to develop new interests.
 

SerGoldenhandtheJust

Deluded Dreamer
Serena had one of the best intended treatments by the writers. Sadly they didn't excute well.
I think she's alright though.
Agreed, I like her character but really feel like they dropped the ball on her arc. Doesnt help how showcases were quite a downgrade from contests or how amourshipping was handled, it being too one sided and prominent and all
She feels to me like shes a nice character the writers cared for, but failed to deliver and a lot was wasted potential
Which is why im excited for her to return though, its overdue and maybe we could get more closure about her
 

Morax

King of heroes
Agreed, I like her character but really feel like they dropped the ball on her arc. Doesnt help how showcases were quite a downgrade from contests or how amourshipping was handled, it being too one sided and prominent and all
She feels to me like shes a nice character the writers cared for, but failed to deliver and a lot was wasted potential
Which is why im excited for her to return though, its overdue and maybe we could get more closure about her
Serena can only truly get a closure when ash reciprocates her feelings i.e at the end of the anime. Cameos don't serve as closures, they just bring them one step towards their dream and serena's "one step" would be some sort of reciprocation from ash . Considering all possibilities, it's impossible to give her a cameo until they grow up.
 

SerGoldenhandtheJust

Deluded Dreamer
Serena can only truly get a closure when ash reciprocates her feelings i.e at the end of the anime. Cameos don't serve as closures, they just bring them one step towards their dream and serena's "one step" would be some sort of reciprocation from ash . Considering all possibilities, it's impossible to give her a cameo until they grow up.
I meant closure in the sense of how contests have helped her improve showcases and where she has progressed in showcases
 

BlueDragonfangirl

Well-Known Member
By the staff oh come on, its no contest that's Tracey for sure and its sad because he's been my favorite companion since his introduction. After that hmm maybe Max I guess??? Serena at least had a goal even if half way through the series and had a close relationship with Ash. I'd also have add in Journey's Ash, I think the staff forgets he's here in the series half of the time. He rarely gets to capture pokemon, I miss the days when he had motivation to catch Pokemon and have strong rivals to focous on, I don't mean just Leo as that seems to connect to his goal of the series. I mean guys like Paul or I'll even accept Gary.

Fandom: Too many to name, I'd say Iris for sure got some major heat and I am apart of that guilty party. Tracey still even though he has made little to no mention of his character since I think that BW ending. May got some flack for that episode she defeated Ash in her beginning days. I didn't really watch Sun and Moon so I can't say as I was absent from the fandom during those days. I know Ash's sun and moon design was pretty hated. Go seems to be causing a friction between the fandom, some either love or hate the guy with passion.
 
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BlueDragonfangirl

Well-Known Member
Serena can only truly get a closure when ash reciprocates her feelings i.e at the end of the anime. Cameos don't serve as closures, they just bring them one step towards their dream and serena's "one step" would be some sort of reciprocation from ash . Considering all possibilities, it's impossible to give her a cameo until they grow up.
Maybe her hopefully next cameo will have her goal relationship wise with Ash a step closer too some how. Maybe not become an item yet but something says its possible from Ash's side???
 

DatsRight

Well-Known Member
I think Clemont had some nice supporting roles sometimes, and was maybe the best of the XY lot to interact with ancillary characters in a natural way, but yeah they did have a long period they sorta stopped caring about him. I liked the tech guy hook to him, but it was kept to a running gag too often, and unlike Sophocles, none of his Pokemon were particularly connected to it (being his one Electric type on hand, you'd think Luxray could have gotten some agency there).

I feel like halfway between XY they shifted all investment from character dynamics/funny antics stuff to very linear arc focus, so if a character didn't have connection to a tournament or big event, they were kinda screwed. He at least got a small leapback near the tail end however, and ended the series with a nice enough special.

Serena got limelight later on but I think always had the issue of being the non-action girl in a very action focused series. Even by the Flare arc they're struggling to find a place for her. I feel like the reason Clemont got a special is because you can just do more stuff with his character, even if his potential wasn't used as much.

Agreed, although I wouldnt mind a character like Dawn who has flashy tournaments about her because I never really saw her fading into backgrounds when those episodes werent happening. She was very enjoyable enough on her own too and in filler episodes, a great chemistry with Ash and even in gym battles Ash had she could be of help. She to me was the perfect mix and part of the reason why shes my fav companion
In hindsight yeah. Maybe that's why Dawn comes off as such a strong personality, even in episodes she wasn't necessarily the star. She GOT her big arc, but she didn't NEED one.

The biggest shame is her ability to bounce off of everything didn't apply as well with Brock. It would have REALLY said something about Dawn as a character if she gained a better chemistry to actually salvage him.
 
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