I didn't expect very much from the finale, but this was pretty underwhelming. Pidgeot appearing was my favorite part, but it was so shoehorned and momentary I couldn't fully enjoy it. Nitpick point, but I actually felt bad for all the cute Pidgey & Pidgeotto that were following it as their leader, and Ash just takes it back from them on a whim, just for us to not even see it one more time? Okay... Also Butterfree would have been a more symbolically apt choice to return over Pidgeot, as it has the distinct title of the first Pokemon Ash caught. Would have been a better "full circle" moment for the finale, but I am happy either of them returned at all.
Ash's goodbye with Misty and Brock was so impersonal. I've frequently felt that about the other human-to-human goodbyes throughout the anime. It's very odd to me, because the mission of the Pokemon Company appears to be encouraging human contact and relationships (for example its new slogan "Pokemon Together"), so to represent the human relationships as feeling inconsequential is a confusing choice. Clearly the anime producers don't feel that sensitive/dramatic human moments are appropriate for their younger audience, which I think is actually antithetical to children's development, but I'm getting off on a tangent. It was just a very hollow moment for them to be like "okay byeeeee" and that's it.
As people stated above, to not bring Ho-Oh back despite having a rainbow scene... is honestly angering. Ho-Oh arguably symbolizes the journey to becoming a Pokemon Master which was the main theme of this episode. For it not to even just reappear as Ash was leaving or something is so symbolic of all the years of missed narrative & fanservice opportunities that the anime producers always neglected. It's almost better this way, so that the anime ends on the consistently disappointing note that it's always delivered. It's more fitting of reminding us of what amazing adventures this anime could have been but rarely were.
Final criticism, way too much focus on Ash & Pikachu. Would have much preferred a final shot of Ash & Pikachu surrounded by every single Pokemon they've "befriended" (as that was the newly decided qualification of a Pokemon Master, right?). Would have been a beautiful image, that's been done before throughout the anime. Would have much preferred that Ash stayed with all his Pokemon, mother, and hometown and did some kind of established job with Professor Oak or his mom, so that we have a consistent final image of "where Ash is". On the other hand, knowing that Ash's journeys are continuing could serve as a mechanism for him to reappear in the new series arcs from time to time. If they don't follow up in that manner, then knowing Ash and Pikachu are just wandering down roads dictated by thrown sticks is a very amorphous, unsatisfying final image for our protagonist.
Pikachu thunderbolting Ash in tub was an unfortunate shot lol
I KNOW! I thought the same thing. Extremely unfortunate to the point where it almost seemed purposeful or subliminal lol