Which return did you like the best?

[Blue Saturday]

While I understand the Primeape part
I always thought it'd be fun if the dub narrator hinting at Primeape someday reuniting with Ash came true years later
Yes yes I understand it's a dub only thing and not an actual thing, but like the whole Pidgeot thing and it rejoining the party was definitely in response to the dub complaints
Coz in the original Pidgeot's release was like Butterfree, Lapras, Goodra and Naganadel only with the pretext of being pretty final and necessary

The whole idea of Pidgeot returning was just a dub mistranslation by 4kids but they actually brought back the old bird. I do wonder if they really were self aware and went off the dub outrage from western fans and threw a bone this way or if it was just one of those "meh, why not?" kind of things that situationally works for the scenery and episode. I could buy it being a dub thing with pokemon anime being written and handled for an internationally audience these days versus just Japanese.

I thought MPM was quite hilarious in how old Pokemon just appear and no one seems to care of acknowledge them as an oddity....TRio just treat Satoshi's rotating team like they always have and Satoshi responds to Manene and the other TRio Pokemon as if they were a permanent and constant unit he deals with regularly. You could argue them avoiding these in more self-contained series to avoid confusing viewers but it was some pretty organic continuity.

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

The whole idea of Pidgeot returning was just a dub mistranslation by 4kids but they actually brought back the old bird. I do wonder if they really were self aware and went off the dub outrage from western fans and threw a bone this way or if it was just one of those "meh, why not?" kind of things that situationally works for the scenery and episode. I could buy it being a dub thing with pokemon anime being written and handled for an internationally audience these days versus just Japanese.

I thought MPM was quite hilarious in how old Pokemon just appear and no one seems to care of acknowledge them as an oddity....TRio just treat Satoshi's rotating team like they always have and Satoshi responds to Manene and the other TRio Pokemon as if they were a permanent and constant unit he deals with regularly. You could argue them avoiding these in more self-contained series to avoid confusing viewers but it was some pretty organic continuity.

It was definitely a dub reference imo
The meme of Ash leaving his Pidgeot was VERY widespread, like to an insane degree. You would see it so much from everyone when there would be any Ash post in a normie or casual page and all
Everyone had the misconception that Ash promised to come back and get Pidgeot from that forest and never did, not that it was released like his other mons were for good
So him returning to Ash's team after Ash gets it back definitely feels like a fanservice to that

 

[Pteranodonte]

While I understand the Primeape part
I always thought it'd be fun if the dub narrator hinting at Primeape someday reuniting with Ash came true years later
Yes yes I understand it's a dub only thing and not an actual thing, but like the whole Pidgeot thing and it rejoining the party was definitely in response to the dub complaints
Coz in the original Pidgeot's release was like Butterfree, Lapras, Goodra and Naganadel only with the pretext of being pretty final and necessary

Well, if you watch it with subs Ash says that he'll be back after delivering the GS Ball in the original. At least he got the best bird back, even if it was the last episode.