OK, we all know that the intention of the writers in writing the series is for Ash to wind up with a team of 6 pokemon (consisiting of Pikachu and five new pokemon to the saga), win 8 badges and compete in the league. May's mission is similar. But do the writers make up the rest as they go along?
Section 1- Teams
Part A- Ash
The main theme of Ash's pokemon in Kanto and Johto was that he had the starters, one of which would evolve, the main common bird of that generation, in its second form, and another pokemon which could be any type. In Hoenn, he kept the starter types, but only caught one actual starter, which evolved once in Hoenn and again into its final form in the Battle Frontier saga. He also caught the common bird in its first form, which went on to evolve later, rather than be caught already in its evolved state like Pidgeotto and Noctowl. This time, the wildcard 6th slot actually went on to evolve, and the Battle Frontier actually brought back a Johto pokemon and evolved it.
Mudkip and Torchic were out of the question as team members after May and Brock caught them, and Treecko and Taillow were caught within the first ten episodes. Ash needed three more pokemon, and the intention was obviously to include one fire type and one water type.
There was very little choice for fire types, and it was either Numel/Camerupt or Torkoal. This decision could have been made at any time during the first 50 episodes, and both pokemon debuted within three episodes, leading up to the Lavaridge gym battle, while Camerupt also debuted less than ten episodes before. They obviously wanted Flannery's Torkoal to debut before Ash caught one episodes later with a very diferent personality. Was it always going to be Torkoal? Who knows.
Corphish, on the other hand, was caught in the lead-up to Ash's rematch with Brawley, only a few more than twenty episodes into the saga. Ash would always have a water type, and one was quite necessary in order to beat some of the gym leaders he came across. He would also need one which could move on land. Wingull/Pelipper and Lotad/Lombre/Ludicolo seem to be favourites of Nintendo and the anime writers, as Pelipper debuted early in both games and anime, and appears often on the show. Lotad, on the other hand, was caught early on by Brock and the entire line was well showcased and rather popular. Also, Ash had a grass and flying type already, and having a pokemon capable of doing two types of attacks would seemingly make another who can only do one redundant. However, Barboach, Carvanha, Wailmer, Spheal, Feebass, Clamperl, Relicanth and Luvdisc (the other options for Hoenn water pokemon) would not have been particularly great choices, and none of them would match the hilarity and strength of Corphish. I am glad of their choice, and it was obviously an early decision. It's unseen, unheard, unconfirmed epiphany to not evolve does, however get on my bosoms though.
Snorunt, however, took 113 episodes to be caught. Were the writers sitting at their table for two years knowing that Ash would catch a Snorunt eventually, which would soon after evolve into a Glalie and be the main League powerhouse? I doubt it personally. I think they realised that Ash needed a sixth pokemon at least half way through writing the Hoenn saga, and decided to give him a Snorunt at some point, deciding to give him one more or less in the area where Snorunt is caught in the games. As for the evolution, I can only guess. But they certainly wanted Glalie to be a star when it finally got there.
Phanpy being brought back was obviously in order to give more screentime to a pokemon shafted and weak in Johto and even the specials, and giving Ash one of the writer's favourite Johto pokemon.
Part B- May
May was given Torchic as her starter, but was it always going to evolve into Combusken? I think it was an inevitable event, as the writers also seem intent on keeping the sexy little chicken with her forever, and Torchic would never win any contests. But what about the others?
After 50 episodes on the team, May still only had a Torchic who was afraid to battle and a Beautifly who had entered and lost one contest in its life. Skitty is such an obvious pokemon for May, and such a popular pokemon, it was always going to be caught by the little lady co-ordinator. But did the writers have it in the grand scheme? Most probably.
Bulbasaur, on the other hand, was undoubtedly a part of the advertising for FR/LG, as if the episode featuring all the Kanto starters almost directly before this episode wasn't enough, and Munchlax was the same for the eternally far-off D/P saga. I highly doubt that either were part of the grand scheme, depending on how aware they were of the Red/Green remakes or the Snorlax prevo, which didn't debut in the anime until the seventh movie. So the two advertisements were probably late decisions, depending on how much Nintendo tells the writers and how far in advance.
Squirtle and Eevee are questionable, as both feature as starters in games which are currently popular and successful, namely FR/LG and Colloseum XD. Both were obtained within the first thirty episodes of the BF, and were most likely planned from the word go when writing the saga began, but I imagine a lot of discussion was probably involved about whether or not i should be a Crarmander instead. Once Eevee evolves we'll know if it's there for D/P or XD advertising specifically.
Part C- Brock
Brock's captures of Lotad and Mudkip were pobably pretty much immediate choices, and Bonsly was most likely also an early decision. But did they always intend on having Lotad go all the way? Lombre was the first evolved pokemon in the group (not including Beautifly/Dustox, who I personally consider to be single-stagers in anime terms, having evolved so quickly and only being caught for the purpose of evolving), and they wouldn't have decided to evolve Lotad so quickly if they didn't just want to bring Lombre into the show. I personally think that Lombre and Ludicolo are favourites of the writers, as they get some awful good treatment. Why Ludicolo left is probably because they decided it didn' work out, or was the only pokemon Brock would leave behind with his siblings, since Forretress is so special to Brock as well as boring to children. I don't get it either.
Mudkip's evolution must have been an early Battle Frontier decision, as evolving it 124 episodes after its debut when its buddies Lotad, Treecko, Torchic and Taillow evolved so long before must have been a way to turn around the show. They wanted to evolve Grovyle and Phanpy later on, and they still don't seem to want Combusken and Corphish to evolve yet, so Mudkip was the only one left. Still waiting on a practical use for it, though.
Part D- Team Rocket
OK, there's not much to say on these guys, as the exit of Arbok and Weezing, and the entrance of Cacnea, Dustox and Seviper were obviously immediate decisions, although the choice to give Jessie the opposite to May's signature pokemon at the time was probably made a little bit later. But Chimecho, having been caught in the same approximate area as it appears in the games, may have been saved until that time from earlier. But they obviously got bored pretty quickly, 'cause I doubt it's coming back! Manene was always going to be on the show as an advertisement, but was it always going to be James's? I think the only other potential owner was May, who it really wouldn't fit at all.
Future updates:
Section 2: Gyms, Contests and Leagues
Section 3: Recurring Characters
Section 4: The Changes of Emerald
Section 5: The Mini-sagas
And anything else you wish to request from me, or would like to contribute yourself!
Section 1- Teams
Part A- Ash
The main theme of Ash's pokemon in Kanto and Johto was that he had the starters, one of which would evolve, the main common bird of that generation, in its second form, and another pokemon which could be any type. In Hoenn, he kept the starter types, but only caught one actual starter, which evolved once in Hoenn and again into its final form in the Battle Frontier saga. He also caught the common bird in its first form, which went on to evolve later, rather than be caught already in its evolved state like Pidgeotto and Noctowl. This time, the wildcard 6th slot actually went on to evolve, and the Battle Frontier actually brought back a Johto pokemon and evolved it.
Mudkip and Torchic were out of the question as team members after May and Brock caught them, and Treecko and Taillow were caught within the first ten episodes. Ash needed three more pokemon, and the intention was obviously to include one fire type and one water type.
There was very little choice for fire types, and it was either Numel/Camerupt or Torkoal. This decision could have been made at any time during the first 50 episodes, and both pokemon debuted within three episodes, leading up to the Lavaridge gym battle, while Camerupt also debuted less than ten episodes before. They obviously wanted Flannery's Torkoal to debut before Ash caught one episodes later with a very diferent personality. Was it always going to be Torkoal? Who knows.
Corphish, on the other hand, was caught in the lead-up to Ash's rematch with Brawley, only a few more than twenty episodes into the saga. Ash would always have a water type, and one was quite necessary in order to beat some of the gym leaders he came across. He would also need one which could move on land. Wingull/Pelipper and Lotad/Lombre/Ludicolo seem to be favourites of Nintendo and the anime writers, as Pelipper debuted early in both games and anime, and appears often on the show. Lotad, on the other hand, was caught early on by Brock and the entire line was well showcased and rather popular. Also, Ash had a grass and flying type already, and having a pokemon capable of doing two types of attacks would seemingly make another who can only do one redundant. However, Barboach, Carvanha, Wailmer, Spheal, Feebass, Clamperl, Relicanth and Luvdisc (the other options for Hoenn water pokemon) would not have been particularly great choices, and none of them would match the hilarity and strength of Corphish. I am glad of their choice, and it was obviously an early decision. It's unseen, unheard, unconfirmed epiphany to not evolve does, however get on my bosoms though.
Snorunt, however, took 113 episodes to be caught. Were the writers sitting at their table for two years knowing that Ash would catch a Snorunt eventually, which would soon after evolve into a Glalie and be the main League powerhouse? I doubt it personally. I think they realised that Ash needed a sixth pokemon at least half way through writing the Hoenn saga, and decided to give him a Snorunt at some point, deciding to give him one more or less in the area where Snorunt is caught in the games. As for the evolution, I can only guess. But they certainly wanted Glalie to be a star when it finally got there.
Phanpy being brought back was obviously in order to give more screentime to a pokemon shafted and weak in Johto and even the specials, and giving Ash one of the writer's favourite Johto pokemon.
Part B- May
May was given Torchic as her starter, but was it always going to evolve into Combusken? I think it was an inevitable event, as the writers also seem intent on keeping the sexy little chicken with her forever, and Torchic would never win any contests. But what about the others?
After 50 episodes on the team, May still only had a Torchic who was afraid to battle and a Beautifly who had entered and lost one contest in its life. Skitty is such an obvious pokemon for May, and such a popular pokemon, it was always going to be caught by the little lady co-ordinator. But did the writers have it in the grand scheme? Most probably.
Bulbasaur, on the other hand, was undoubtedly a part of the advertising for FR/LG, as if the episode featuring all the Kanto starters almost directly before this episode wasn't enough, and Munchlax was the same for the eternally far-off D/P saga. I highly doubt that either were part of the grand scheme, depending on how aware they were of the Red/Green remakes or the Snorlax prevo, which didn't debut in the anime until the seventh movie. So the two advertisements were probably late decisions, depending on how much Nintendo tells the writers and how far in advance.
Squirtle and Eevee are questionable, as both feature as starters in games which are currently popular and successful, namely FR/LG and Colloseum XD. Both were obtained within the first thirty episodes of the BF, and were most likely planned from the word go when writing the saga began, but I imagine a lot of discussion was probably involved about whether or not i should be a Crarmander instead. Once Eevee evolves we'll know if it's there for D/P or XD advertising specifically.
Part C- Brock
Brock's captures of Lotad and Mudkip were pobably pretty much immediate choices, and Bonsly was most likely also an early decision. But did they always intend on having Lotad go all the way? Lombre was the first evolved pokemon in the group (not including Beautifly/Dustox, who I personally consider to be single-stagers in anime terms, having evolved so quickly and only being caught for the purpose of evolving), and they wouldn't have decided to evolve Lotad so quickly if they didn't just want to bring Lombre into the show. I personally think that Lombre and Ludicolo are favourites of the writers, as they get some awful good treatment. Why Ludicolo left is probably because they decided it didn' work out, or was the only pokemon Brock would leave behind with his siblings, since Forretress is so special to Brock as well as boring to children. I don't get it either.
Mudkip's evolution must have been an early Battle Frontier decision, as evolving it 124 episodes after its debut when its buddies Lotad, Treecko, Torchic and Taillow evolved so long before must have been a way to turn around the show. They wanted to evolve Grovyle and Phanpy later on, and they still don't seem to want Combusken and Corphish to evolve yet, so Mudkip was the only one left. Still waiting on a practical use for it, though.
Part D- Team Rocket
OK, there's not much to say on these guys, as the exit of Arbok and Weezing, and the entrance of Cacnea, Dustox and Seviper were obviously immediate decisions, although the choice to give Jessie the opposite to May's signature pokemon at the time was probably made a little bit later. But Chimecho, having been caught in the same approximate area as it appears in the games, may have been saved until that time from earlier. But they obviously got bored pretty quickly, 'cause I doubt it's coming back! Manene was always going to be on the show as an advertisement, but was it always going to be James's? I think the only other potential owner was May, who it really wouldn't fit at all.
Future updates:
Section 2: Gyms, Contests and Leagues
Section 3: Recurring Characters
Section 4: The Changes of Emerald
Section 5: The Mini-sagas
And anything else you wish to request from me, or would like to contribute yourself!
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