Things you are mad at that the anime didn’t do/take advantage of

[Sham]

Mallow is only saved for that Poni Island episode featuring her mother. I think that’s one of the best episodes Pokemon has produced tbh

 

[Zoruagible]

Mallow is only saved for that Poni Island episode featuring her mother. I think that’s one of the best episodes Pokemon has produced tbh

And the only one she had without the TRio... when they should have been there.
Imagine Jessie seeing her mother

 

[DatsRight]

And the only one she had without the TRio... when they should have been there.
Imagine Jessie seeing her mother

The one where she gets her Z Ring also at least naturally involved Meowth into the plot rather than having a standard TR barge in.

It's weird they never made TR fast food rivals for Mallow though.

It felt like they didn't really click stuff for her occupation, in spite of that (or maybe because) they'd done it so many times before with COTD. Neither Tsareena or Shaymin had abilities that really added an agency in terms of cooking either.

 

[Zoruagible]

The one where she gets her Z Ring also at least naturally involved Meowth into the plot rather than having a standard TR barge in.

It's weird they never made TR fast food rivals for Mallow though.

It felt like they didn't really click stuff for her occupation, in spite of that (or maybe because) they'd done it so many times before with COTD. Neither Tsareena or Shaymin had abilities that really added an agency in terms of cooking either.

It's just a sign that they didn't know what to do with her, tossing the TRio into an episode they shouldn't be in most the time and yet ignoring them when there were moments where it would have been actually interesting to see them appear. Like when Lillie had Pikachu, that was the absolute perfect moment for them to strike! The weakest link(at the time) watching over the prize they sought for so long...
Let's also not forget that Tsareena's evolutions all involved Team Rocket, that was just absurd! -_-

Thankfully they seem to be avoiding putting them into Chloe's episodes, I hope that continues. Any episode but hers please we hardly see her as it is, don't need 1/4 of the episode revolved around Ash saving her from Team Rocket's POTW(Unless they get a bad draw again... which hasn't happened for awhile, not sure why. That was the only praise I ever gave that stupid hunk of metal, Wailord that only knows Splash and a freaking Bellsprout were quite amusing) or unnecessary drama.
I really hope we get a sign of what they're doing with her soon, I love Chloe but I do have this lingering fear that she's going to wind up like Serena and Mallow where the writers clearly had no idea what they were doing with those characters

 

[Sham]

And the only one she had without the TRio... when they should have been there.
Imagine Jessie seeing her mother

Jessie’s mother isn’t confirmed dead nor actually really mentioned in the main timeline anime. Her backstory is like from outside stuff

 

[Leonhart]

Mallow is only saved for that Poni Island episode featuring her mother. I think that’s one of the best episodes Pokemon has produced tbh

I personally didn't care for it. I dislike sappy episodes, especially ones that are blatantly made to inspire sympathy in characters that otherwise don't have much else going for them. To me it felt artificial, and was a standard case of too little, too late.

 

[Zoruagible]

I personally didn't care for it. I dislike sappy episodes, especially ones that are blatantly made to inspire sympathy in characters that otherwise don't have much else going for them. To me it felt artificial, and was a standard case of too little, too late.

I normally am not a fan of that stuff either but Mallow definitely needed it, I just hope they don't do the 'dead parent' plotline for another main character anytime soon. If they want to do something unique, how about divorced parents? That's a concept I'd like to see, it could be quite interesting and a unique twist on the family life of a main character

 

[LilligantLewis]

Let's also not forget that Tsareena's evolutions all involved Team Rocket, that was just absurd!

Tsareena literally only had 2 evolutions, which is the maximum for any Pokémon, so TR being involved in both isn't super-shocking, plus, I'm sure it's been done many times with other Pokémon in the history of the anime considering that in the early generations TR was involved in almost every evolution.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Crush that hideous TR Evolution Stone into pieces, please.

 

[Redstar45]

Crush that hideous TR Evolution Stone into pieces, please.

Everstone plot in the ani is so stupid sorry but Hikari's and Lile's Pokemon should have evolved in the first place !

 

[LilligantLewis]

Again I think the whole late DP era may have seemed filler due to what a slog of formula it was, even in the episodes that had some vague continuity. Slapping a small bit of progression onto the end of an otherwise monotonous episode doesn't really automatically improve its entertainment value.

Examining the 38 non-fillers between Snowpoint and Sunyshore to determine whether they were truly non-fillers, or whether they were semi-fillers.
Semi-filler = Formulaic episode that has a small bit of progression slapped onto the end of an otherwise monotonous episode

1. A Pyramiding Rage! True non-filler: Paul vs. Brandon

2. Pillars of Friendship! True non-filler: Pokémon Hunter J / Brandon / Regigigas episode

3. Frozen on Their Tracks! Semi-filler
Looker does debut in this episode, but to an anime-only viewer, with no game context, he seems like a COTD and the overall plot of the episode is fillerish. Until Team Galactic's logo appears in the final seconds of the episode, it's not clear this episode is relevant at all.

4-6. Ash vs Paul Lake Acuity, plus the episode where Dawn cheers him up. All 3 true non-filler.
Pedal to the Mettle!
Evolving Strategies!
Uncrushing Defeat!

7. Promoting Healthy Tangrowth! Semi-filler. Dawn's Mamoswine learning Hidden Power is literally the definition of "slapping a small bit of progression"

8. Gateway to Ruin! True non-filler. Mt. Coronet / Team Galactic / Looker episode

9. Three Sides to Every Story! Semi-filler. Johanna inviting them to the Twinleaf Festival is literally the definition of "slapping a small bit of progression"

10. Strategy Begins at Home! True non-filler. Important episode in Dawn's arc & in terms of Dawn's relationship with her mother

11-12. DP140-1. Semi-fillers, because they had fillerish plots and Palmer ends up being a COTD at the end of the day since it never set up a Sinnoh Battle Frontier
Historical Mystery Tour!
Challenging a Towering Figure!

13. An Egg Scramble! True non-filler. Johto Festa begins, they meet Lyra and Khoury, Dawn gets egg and hatches Cyndaquil

14. Dressed for Jess Success!! True non-filler. Whole episode is taken up by a contest, which James wins for Jessie

15. Bagged Then Tagged! Semi-filler. The Johto Festa ending is literally the definition of "slapping a small bit of progression"

16. Unlocking the Red Chain of Events! True non-filler
17. The Needs of the Three! True non-filler
18. The Battle Finale of Legend! True non-filler
Team Galactic finale 3-parter

19. Mastering Current Events! True non-filler. Air Master training episode for Gliscor

20. Double-Time Battle Training! True non-filler. Whole episode is contest related. Zoey wins fifth Ribbon. Dawn training episode including development of Flame Ice combination

21-22. DP156-7. True non-fillers. 2-parter in which Ash catches Gible
A Meteoric Rise to Excellence!
Gotta Get a Gible!

23. Short and to the Punch! True non-filler. Buizel learns Ice Punch, and the whole episode is dedicated to training for it

24. Yes in Dee-Dee It's Dawn! True non-filler.
25. Playing the Performance Encore! True non-filler.
Dawn 5th ribbon 2-parter

26. Fighting Ire with Fire! True non-filler. Paul and Barry both appear, also Monferno evolves into Infernape.

27. Piplup, Up, and Away! This could be seen either way. While Piplup learning Hydro Pump is kinda "tacked on" to the end of the episode, I do feel the plot of the episode isn't really fillerish. It is basically the finale of the long-building confrontation between Piplup and Gible. However, to give you the benefit of the doubt, I will count this one as a semi-filler.

28. Flint Sparks the Fire! True non-filler. Introduces Flint and Volkner, Ash battles Flint, and Volkner comes out of his depression

29. The Fleeing Tower of Sunyshore! Semi-filler. Very fillerish TR plot, and the only meaningful thing that happens is that Volkner says come back after Grand Festival

30. Teaching the Student Teacher! Semi-filler. Jessie wins her fourth ribbon and Dawn perfects Ice Chandelier, but both of these are tacked onto a fillerish plot.

31. Keeping in Top Forme! Semi-filler. It's not a filler only because it debuts stat trainer Marley

32. An Elite Coverup! True non-filler. Ash battles Bertha

33. Dawn of a Royal Day! True non-filler. Whole episode is spent on a contest, which Jessie wins. Dawn also gets Togekiss in this episode

34. With the Easiest of Grace! True non-filler. Whole episode is a training episode for Dawn to get Togekiss into contest-ready shape.

35. Last Call!! First Round!! True non-filler.
36. Opposites Interact! True non-filler.
37. Coming Full Festival Circle! True non-filler.
38. A Grand Fight for Winning! True non-filler.
Grand Festival 4-parter

So based on this analysis, out of the 38 non-fillers during the "year-long gap", 28 are true non-fillers, and 10 are semi-fillers.

In total, out of the 51 episodes in the "year-long gap",

13 fillers
10 semi-fillers
28 fully meaningful episodes

 

[Blastmaster]

As another defense of the year-long gap, even a lot of its fillers are among the series' best. The infamous evil Togepi episode, Pikachu and Piplup falling in love, Piplup/Meowth running away, Jessebelle returning, etc all happened during that span and are all pretty well known for being crazy over-the-top or just plain bizarre. The gap is definitely a flaw but it's a bit overhated imo. The majority of what was happening was pretty important to happen in that order.

 

[LilligantLewis]

As another defense of the year-long gap, even a lot of its fillers are among the series' best. The infamous evil Togepi episode, Pikachu and Piplup falling in love, Piplup/Meowth running away, Jessebelle returning, etc all happened during that span and are all pretty well known for being crazy over-the-top or just plain bizarre. The gap is definitely a flaw but it's a bit overhated imo. The majority of what was happening was pretty important to happen in that order.

Yes. Thank you. I posted it a few pages ago, but here is my description of the 13 fillers for people to remember:

-Pokémon Hustle
-the "A Faux Oak Finish" episode at the Twinleaf Festival
-the evil Togepi
-Valley Windworks
-Lyra/Khoury Gible episode
-an episode about two siblings who have a Murkrow and a Misdreavus and are both searching for a Dusk Stone
-Pikachu and Piplup fall in love with each other
-a James episode in which Jessebelle appears again
-a random episode about a Magnezone and a Metagross fighting over territory - it was Magnezone's debut episode
-Pokéthlon
-Pokémon Ranger! Heatran Rescue!!
-an episode about some Flint fangirl who always dresses like him and she has 2 Ditto, one of which is shiny
-one of those classic TR split-up episodes, this time Meowth is about to leave because of some Glameow, at the end of the episode he decides to stay

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

Jessie’s mother isn’t confirmed dead nor actually really mentioned in the main timeline anime. Her backstory is like from outside stuff

Confirmation is pending but it seems like Jessie's mom is in the same area as M1!Mewtwo in the sense OLM would need to work a deal with Shudo's state in order to use her.

If that's true - that's unconfirmed as far as I know - then we might not see her at all.

 

[DatsRight]

Concerning the DP gap, I suppose in hindsight there were more good episodes than expected. Maybe it was just something akin to DA in BW or the Ultra Adventures season in SM, in that while the episodes are okay to go back to, they were harder to appreciate when everyone was kind of tired of the slow progression and wanted some bigger steps to be taken already.

 

[DatsRight]

Tsareena literally only had 2 evolutions, which is the maximum for any Pokémon, so TR being involved in both isn't super-shocking, plus, I'm sure it's been done many times with other Pokémon in the history of the anime considering that in the early generations TR was involved in almost every evolution.

I suppose it was glaring because Tsareena had pretty much ZERO limelight besides those evolution episodes and a couple other generic baddie curbstomps (at least until Ultra Legends where she gained slightly more of a personality and role) while SM was making more of an effort for character driven stories and bulk ups with the other Pokemon in the group. The only Pokemon that were as bland as her in Bounsweet/Steenee form were arguably Primarina and Charizard and even then we at least saw Primarina train for a few of her boosts.

Team Rocket being used for nearly every damn boost got monotonous after a while, especially since very rarely do they make beating up Team Rocket or some substitute bad guy very very easily something the protagonists gain an entertaining personality from, it's hardly like say, Bugs Bunny, where there's at least some fun variation in methods in spite of how one sided it is, they either beat them up easily with the same old attacks, or they get a boost the moment TR are remotely challenging and THEN beat them up easily with the same old attacks.

I admit it got more annoying in XY, since they went back to doing it nearly full time, after BW at least seemed to learn not to have TR interrupt every third act and let the heroes drive their own stories once in a while. I kinda get bored of Team Rocket being used a straw losers to hide how dull and plot armour reliant the twerps are so seeing Mallow still be the one in SM that needed that old padding trick didn't endear her to me that much. Like her episodes in Ultra Legends weren't amazing at fleshing her out but they were at least TRYING by then.

I personally didn't care for it. I dislike sappy episodes, especially ones that are blatantly made to inspire sympathy in characters that otherwise don't have much else going for them. To me it felt artificial, and was a standard case of too little, too late.

I don't mind when the show has a more quiet and contemplative episode, though I do agree it felt a bit like that. I think the saving graces were that they did at least still keep trying to make Mallow work afterwards rather than settling for one tissue box episode, and they did also kinda tie in Shaymin to it in a clever way in hindsight, keeping to the 'transformative secondary capture' pattern of that series (even if that would have been easier to appreciate if they gave Shaymin more of a role afterwards).

 

[Luthor]

I really don't like how Trip and Ash's battle in the Unova league wasn't a full 6 on 6 battle. Not only that, but I didn't like how their battle took place in the first round.

Look, I get that Trip is really just bargain bin Paul, but I wanted their rivaly to have SOME stakes in the league. The rivals are my favorite part of the show (minus most of the Unova ones). Did the writers honestly think we'd be worried that Ash would get knocked out of the first round? It baffles me.

Yeah that wasn't great. Trip really should have been a bigger rival. The problem I think is that from the start they didn't treat Trip as serious challenge to anyone but Ash. He lost in the Club battle and the Clubsplosion tournaments very quickly . By the time of the League they seemed to have given up on him. I think if they'd treated him as a bigger deal consistently by the time of the league their battle would have felt important and maybe they wouldn't have had to add in rivals with very little build.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

Not using each region to show off a new, more interesting protagonist who actually cares about something beyond an impossible childish dream

XY was the closest we ever got and then they backpedaled HARD back to the safety of familiarity where they didn't have to try or take risks with the writing or characters

 

[Leonhart]

As another defense of the year-long gap, even a lot of its fillers are among the series' best. The infamous evil Togepi episode, Pikachu and Piplup falling in love, Piplup/Meowth running away, Jessebelle returning, etc all happened during that span and are all pretty well known for being crazy over-the-top or just plain bizarre. The gap is definitely a flaw but it's a bit overhated imo. The majority of what was happening was pretty important to happen in that order.

I'll credit the evil Togepy episode as being one of the best fillers ever, but I disagree completely about the others you've listed. Rumika's return episode was just randomly wacky without it being actually funny from my viewpoint, and the Pochama episode where he got fed up with Fukamaru's Draco Meteor was somewhat interesting, but I was also very annoyed by it because of how long it took Satoshi and Hikari to realize why Pochama was so upset.

 

[Applecorp]

Yeah that wasn't great. Trip really should have been a bigger rival. The problem I think is that from the start they didn't treat Trip as serious challenge to anyone but Ash. He lost in the Club battle and the Clubsplosion tournaments very quickly . By the time of the League they seemed to have given up on him. I think if they'd treated him as a bigger deal consistently by the time of the league their battle would have felt important and maybe they wouldn't have had to add in rivals with very little build.

Maybe Trip was originally going to be more focused on but the earthquake changed the plans? We know that Team Plasma was affected by that crisis so maybe Trip was too.