Lightning Bolt
Well-Known Member
Of course
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What arcs in the anime do you wish they did/would do?
- Thread starter Blastmaster
- Start date
Doppelgänger
Superancient Member
I've mentioned this before, but I want to see Ash handle a disobedient Pokemon again.
Ash and Pikachu have changed very little since OS, with Pikachu more or less only existing as a personality and Ash as a veteran trainer. The closest struggle we had was unlocking a consistent Ash-Greninja transformation, but had nothing to do with Ash's skill as a trainer. Dusk Lycanroc was also totally obedient until he lost his bloody mind when he got dirty. These aren't Pokemon who think they're better than Ash, as Charizard and Pikachu once thought way back in OS.
I've mentioned before that I think capturing and trying to tame an Yveltal is the ideal scenario. Yveltal isn't an overly cute Mythical too precious to battle, and its lore makes it an enemy of all life. This gives a good justification for capturing it in a Pokeball, since unlike other legends who mind their own business, Yveltal's instinct is to seek and destroy. We've seen other legends not care about the presence or status of a Champion, unlike normal Pokemon like the Red Gyarados.
Trying to raise an Yveltal or Yveltal chick gives Ash a challenge worthy of his experience and stature, and also answers one of the oldest outstanding questions in Pokemon: how did Tobias tame, let alone catch a Darkrai and Latios? What about that Saffron City Nurse Joy who caught a Latias between OS and the start of Best Wishes? These are trainers who come across as operating above the Pokemon League structure, with the power to enforce the league's will (i.e., overrule the champion).
It's a different type of growth narrative from Ash simply starting from scratch in a new region and either uncharacteristically struggling, or taking a backseat to the newbies he travels with.
So with Yveltal, you have a Pokemon that is naturally so powerful Ash doesn't have to train it, but also has good reason to be disobedient. Learning to tame something beyond
Ash and Pikachu have changed very little since OS, with Pikachu more or less only existing as a personality and Ash as a veteran trainer. The closest struggle we had was unlocking a consistent Ash-Greninja transformation, but had nothing to do with Ash's skill as a trainer. Dusk Lycanroc was also totally obedient until he lost his bloody mind when he got dirty. These aren't Pokemon who think they're better than Ash, as Charizard and Pikachu once thought way back in OS.
I've mentioned before that I think capturing and trying to tame an Yveltal is the ideal scenario. Yveltal isn't an overly cute Mythical too precious to battle, and its lore makes it an enemy of all life. This gives a good justification for capturing it in a Pokeball, since unlike other legends who mind their own business, Yveltal's instinct is to seek and destroy. We've seen other legends not care about the presence or status of a Champion, unlike normal Pokemon like the Red Gyarados.
Trying to raise an Yveltal or Yveltal chick gives Ash a challenge worthy of his experience and stature, and also answers one of the oldest outstanding questions in Pokemon: how did Tobias tame, let alone catch a Darkrai and Latios? What about that Saffron City Nurse Joy who caught a Latias between OS and the start of Best Wishes? These are trainers who come across as operating above the Pokemon League structure, with the power to enforce the league's will (i.e., overrule the champion).
It's a different type of growth narrative from Ash simply starting from scratch in a new region and either uncharacteristically struggling, or taking a backseat to the newbies he travels with.
So with Yveltal, you have a Pokemon that is naturally so powerful Ash doesn't have to train it, but also has good reason to be disobedient. Learning to tame something beyond
Xuxuba
Well-Known Member
I would change Mallow's arc so she would have some consistent development throughout the series. For example, i would have her catching pokémon to help her on the family's restaurant since she feels so overwhelmed about the amount of work she has there ever since her mother died.
She could have caught Oranguru to help her serving drinks in the restaurant after Team Rocket somehow destroys his place. She could have caught a pokemon like Herdier to help her finding some ingredients like berries by detecting their smell. Then have him evolve into Stoutland so she could use him as a ride, which would allow her to do some errands with him too. Maybe even giving her a Comfey who could use it's aromatic scents to relax the customers.
I would also have a arc where Mallow's family restaurant is going downhill: the sinks are not working, the bathroom has a leakage and customers aren't coming. So she has to earn some money to fix the place. She hears about a tournament happening in the Battle Tree where the winner can receive some money as prize. She then asks Ash to train her so she can beat the whole thing with her newly caught Pokémon.
Finally, for her arc conclusion, i would have her gathering some courage to tell her father that she wants to take some time off and have some well-deserved vacation, traveling with her new pokémon and visiting some nice restaurants around the world so she can get some inspiration for when she comebacks.
She could have caught Oranguru to help her serving drinks in the restaurant after Team Rocket somehow destroys his place. She could have caught a pokemon like Herdier to help her finding some ingredients like berries by detecting their smell. Then have him evolve into Stoutland so she could use him as a ride, which would allow her to do some errands with him too. Maybe even giving her a Comfey who could use it's aromatic scents to relax the customers.
I would also have a arc where Mallow's family restaurant is going downhill: the sinks are not working, the bathroom has a leakage and customers aren't coming. So she has to earn some money to fix the place. She hears about a tournament happening in the Battle Tree where the winner can receive some money as prize. She then asks Ash to train her so she can beat the whole thing with her newly caught Pokémon.
Finally, for her arc conclusion, i would have her gathering some courage to tell her father that she wants to take some time off and have some well-deserved vacation, traveling with her new pokémon and visiting some nice restaurants around the world so she can get some inspiration for when she comebacks.
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Leonhart
Imagineer
MockingJ said:
Another arc like the Orange Archipelago or Decolora would be fun if it's done right. I wouldn't expect that many major character comebacks since like you said, the writers don't like doing anything too extreme, but perhaps we'd see at least one familiar face like how we got Ibuki in the Decolora mini-arc.
Sham
The Guardian of War
Who would have a crush on Ash then err I mean compete in Showcases?
usagi10000
Member
Absolutely
I don't understand why people suggest Korrina as a companion in XY, assuming her personality would be the same as the eps we saw her in. I think her personality would get very boring or annoying fast if she was in every episode, and there's no real place to take her Lucario after it mastered mega evolution. She'd probably stagnant in the background for most of the series besides that because she wouldn't have a goal and she'd be too powerful to compete in regular battles with the cast. Just think of how Clemont's Luxray didn't get much use after the Gym battle.
Even if you don't like the shipping, Serena's character arc was not a bad one, she just needed a better goal and motivation.
Sham
The Guardian of War
Her character arc was eh to me, I’m sorry. Or rather should I say how it happened (which is essentially important for the end result). Let me start by saying “the girl who doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life” was done 11 years ago and countless time in other shows. Okay the anime is deciding to redo that? That’s completely fine. So tell me why they decide to let a complete year go by and THEN she decides to consider what she would like to do? You mean she was only traveling because Ash invited her (and possibly to get away from Grace)? Uh oh this isn’t starting out well. Fast forward she doesn’t consider a goal until she is visiting a camp and sees literally everyone else around her circle has a goal besides her (not because she herself decided she wanted one) and doesn’t consider one until Shauna decides to compete herself and aim for Kalos Queen. Skip a couple of more episodes and we are suppose to believe a goal that she essentially dominated (besides a few trip ups which I admit showed some character growth) was this great catalyst to her character growth? Yeah I think it’s fair for people to IMAGINE how Korrina would of turned out.
usagi10000
Member
That's fair enough, I just don't think Korrina would be interesting enough for a 140 episode series. Her whole arc was done in 5 episodes and even then it could have been shorter. I can't imagine 140 eps of her.
Sham
The Guardian of War
That’s true and she definitely could of turned into a potential Misty and Iris (staying stagnant for a decent amount of their series). Maybe she could of been collecting mega stones?
usagi10000
Member
Misty's problem was she was only designed for a year and a half saga (the anime was intended to end after Kanto), and then the show got extended to Johto and the writers had no place to take her but give her some eps about water pokemon every 40 episodes. Also the writers were relatively inexperienced in the early seasons, the concept of giving companions their own goals or a lot of screentime hadn't started yet. It's rather obvious the writers never cared much about giving Misty or Brock character arcs when they were on the show, almost all their development happens after they leave in their cameos or specials.
Zoruagible
Lover of underrated characters
Honestly that's what I was hoping for with Incineroar, given the species is a bit difficult.
Though I'd just like another disobedient Pokemon in general, thankfully Drednaw will most likely be that
Twilight-Kun
Pokemon World Champion
usagi10000
Member
Misty desperately needed an arc in Johto. The Whirl Cup was only 3 eps long. Going an entire 156 episode saga with the female companion having no goal to follow, no real development, no rivals and minimal focus on her Pokémon outside of Poliwhirl looks so dated in retrospect. Misty also only captured 1 Pokémon out of the entire 156 ep saga which was Corsola. Why only give her one new Pokémon?
It surprises me greatly that people are ok with how Misty was handled that saga. Johto alone was longer than BW, XY and SM are and almost the same length as AG and DP, and all the other girls leaving opinions on their personalities aside got double the focus, screentime and development.
It surprises me greatly that people are ok with how Misty was handled that saga. Johto alone was longer than BW, XY and SM are and almost the same length as AG and DP, and all the other girls leaving opinions on their personalities aside got double the focus, screentime and development.
D
Deleted member 384931
Guest
I would give Ash and Greninja more time to discover the Bond Phenomenon. Ash would not use Greninja anymore, because he is afraid to screw up. The other Pokémon like Noibat, could learn Ash again that he has to trust his Pokémon.
I would have given Mallow Lana and Lillie the same goal, so they have to compete against each other. A competition about different activities to prove you have the best bond. This would be only for girls
I would have given Mallow Lana and Lillie the same goal, so they have to compete against each other. A competition about different activities to prove you have the best bond. This would be only for girls
Leonhart
Imagineer
usagi10000 said:
I wouldn't have wanted her around for the entirety of the Kalos saga, either. She was a good promotional tool for Mega Evolution and she could've specialized in that if she had joined the cast in place of Serena, but I found Corni to be way too hyperactive. Also, the fact that she owned a Lucario would've almost certainly caused all kinds of issues with other main cast Pokemon being overshadowed by it on a regular basis.
Lightning Bolt
Well-Known Member
No one because Showcases were a mistake.
I don't want a "Serena war" in this thread, but Serena's character arc wasn't good for a bunch of different reasons, not just her goal and motivations. The writers screwed her hard with the "what I will do with my life" cliché which was just a carbon copy of May's character arc except done worse. (May's character arc wasn't that good either but at least the writers didn't forced a shipping with her)
And Korrina had great potential to be a companion if done right. She could replace both Serena and Clemont since she's a female character and a gym leader at the same time (plus we wouldn't have Bonnie and her annoying "marry my brother" gag in cast. She would want to be a great gym leader like Clemont, but also prove her worthy as a Mega Evolution successor. She would start the series with Riolu and Tyrogue. Then she catchs a Pancham like Serena but earlier in the saga. Eventually her Riolu evolves in Lucario and she tries to catch Ash's Hawlucha in a battle with Ash like what happened with Totodile. After that her Mega Evolution arc with Lucario happens. She then come across a unofficial Fighting gym with two gym leaders using Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan. After losing to them, she starts a training section with Tyrogue so she can bond with it. After training both Attack and Defense, he evolves in Hitmontop in a rematch with the fake gym leaders, learning Triple Kick in the process. In another episode she gets a Torchic from her grandfather, manages to fully evolve it and gets a Blazikenite to mega evolve it. She could also have Astrid and that cotd Sky Trainer as rivals to motivate her to grow stronger. That's only a few things you can do with her character. It's not exactly a perfect example of well developed character, but imo that alone it's better than what we got with Serena tho that's probably just me.
SandmasterL
Member
May’s arc of not knowing what she wanted to do was only a small part of her character, her arc was all her development with her rivals and learning about Pokémon. Regarding shipping I’m surprised you say that when May’s arc had the second biggest shipping subplot of the franchise besides Amour, besides some early Ash/Misty stuff.
Bonnie would have likely been on the cast either way and she was clearly the most important character of the companions in XY, there’s a reason Bonnie and Clemont are introduced before Serena is. Bonnie’s gag was a small part of her character and all her emotional moments, humor and climax with Squishy/Zygarde and focus in eps throughout the series and role in Clemont’s eps made it obvious the writers intended her to be a lead character, hence why she was popular and well received. Bonnie was loved when XY was airing and if you don’t like her that’s fair enough, but I don’t see how anything Korrina did would top her given what you posted. Mega evo stuff was covered mostly by Alain. A lot of your Korrina stuff sounds interesting but it’d just be covered in fillers.
Also i rather liked serena’s Pokémon despite their lack of screentime. Braixen And Pancham were great, they actually had more personality than some of May and Dawn’s Pokémon, it’s just that she didn’t battle much and she only had 3 Pokémon.
MockingJ
Banned
But that would've made Greninja's character arc way longer than it already was although I do think that Ash not wanting to use Greninja for fear of getting hurt would've been cool.
Lightning Bolt
Well-Known Member
That's why I said "done worse". May found her true calling in Pokémon Contests in the span of 13 episodes while Serena set her goal as a a Performer in XY 47 the same episode where she caught Pancham. Showcases were introduced so late that Serena ended the show as a undeveloped character. AG and DP had more episodes than XY, but even then I feel like the writers couldn't use Showcases to their fully extent. Serena's " rivals" weren't by any means half as interesting as May's or Dawn's rivals because the writers didn't tried to develop them. The entire Showcase thing feel rushed as heck. After the emotional breakdown in her first Showcase (which could be better, just saying) Serena never really had to improve in her goal. May and Dawn had to create unique combinations with their Pokémon, while Serena stayed at the confort zone by the entire series. The scene where Serena cuts her hair, as emotional and beautiful as it was, didn't meant nothing to Serena's character overall because deep down she never tried to really improve at Contests. She used the same "Fire Dance" appeal in almost every Showcase. May's "What to do?" arc was just a small part of her character, but it was more meanigful to May's character than Serena's because while it was really short, May could develop from it. In the start, May didn't liked Pokémon and just wanted to meet new places. That very same person made Top 8 in Hoenn's Grand Festival and Top 4 in Kanto Grand Festival and was the runner-up of The Wallace Cup being refered by Dawn and other Sinnoh Coordinators as "Princess of Hoenn". Serena developed as a character, but I honestly expected more from a Pokégirl who came after May, Dawn and even Misty.
Assuming you're referring to Contestshipping, it was, like you said, a Shipping subplot while Amourshipping was a big part of Serena's character. May x Drew wasn't "at your face" like Serena x Ash was. There were many hints to it, but that was it. The nature of their relationship gradually changed as AG went on, finally coming to a subplot climax in AG187 that seemingly put this Ship on the clear track to being canon over the litter of one-sided canon relationships that bloomed before it.
However, as canon as it feels to some, it fell short of actually revealing any feelings, left merely as very strong implications that any feelings between them were mutual or even there, and in turn leaves the absolution of this Ship's canonization in question, as it was not brought up during May's brief return to the group in Sinnoh.
For all I care you can like Bonnie as much as you want, but there wasn't anything really special about her IMO. Like Mallow with Shaymin, it felt like the writers just tossed Zygarde at Bonnie so she could feel relevant. She did next to nothing prior to XYZ so it's hard to say she was intended to be a lead character. She felt like a better version of Max because at least she could keep Dedenne at her pouch. But in terms of development she's hardly any better than him. Her focus episodes felt either incredibly bad or incredibly boring to me. Max also had really boring episodes aside from the Ralts filler. Maybe I'm biased since I don't like child characters but she was always a overrated companion to me. The Korrina stuff was just a small example of what the writers could do with her character. And if she replacing Alain means Ash would have won the Kalos League, then I'd pick her over Serena or Clemont anyday.
Xuxuba
Well-Known Member
She helped hiding Puni-chan from Team Flare whenever he was defenseless after using all of it's powers, she snapped him out of frenzy before he could do any further damage to Lumiose city at least until her brother was able to shut down the machine, she brought him to the center of the destruction where the other Core was and she restored the Cores' faith on humanity, which allowed them to fuse together and stop the Megalith before it destroyed the world.
Dunno about you but i think that is doing a lot more than Mallow ever did with Shaymin. Comparing these two cases is not reasonable at all, especially since Shaymin is not relevant in any way. You might complain they handed Zygarde to her on a silver plate, but at least she had to earn his trust and he was constantly trying to run away from her even though he clearly needed the humans' help. They grew a bond together, unlike Mallow and Shaymin...
Before XYZ, her development was focused on learning to let go of a Pokémon, which ends up being relevant to her final goodbye to Zygarde. You might not have liked it, but it still was important to her character in the end, because there was no way she would have been so grown up about leaving Puni-chan and allowing him to do his job if it weren't for the several instances where she had to do the same to other Pokémon, like Lapras, Tyrantrum and Flabébé.
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