Why Best Wishes and Iris are my favorite

[Kazuniya]

Scraggy was cool. He didn't take away from his teammates and I like his growth during the show.

Way better than Riolu at least.

And he had a nice bond with Iris' Axew. They were like little bros.

 

[Leonhart]

I’m sure Oshawott had a decent «win-rate» or whatever, probably better than some of the Pokémon Ash’s had throughout the years, but he was never a battler and just overall really weak. He was always badly hurt from fire attacks for example, and any electric attack would immediately KO him if he wasn’t able to block it with his scalchop that he relied way too much on. How on earth was it able to best Cilan’s Pansage? That battle would be the first battle to come to my mind if someone asked me where the plot would come to play

Mijumaru being extremely vulnerable to Fire-type attacks was played for laughs, much like every other part of his character. I didn't think it was amusing, but apparently the writers did. He wasn't a particularly good battler, and I always thought that he was a prime example of marketability's effects on Pokemon since he was a blatant Pochama clone, and that's probably why they didn't let him evolve.

 

[LilligantLewis]

I really have a hard time seeing Team Plasma as a positive for this series when they decided to scrap the original plot for B2W2 promotion instead. liberation/B1W1 Team Plasma>>>B2W2 Team Plasma

I would say the positive that came out of it was that it introduced the idea of standalone villain arcs, and allowed them to then improve on that in XY&Z and SM. For TMvTA and TG, the arc was spread throughout the series, sometimes there were 2-parters, or in the case of the TG finale a 3-parter, but for the most part these were standalone villain episodes. Because TP was a standalone arc after the league, even if that was only because TRvTP was scrapped, they clearly liked the idea enough to do another post-league villain arc with TF, and then several arcs in SM. The anime shifted to more an arc-based format specifically because of TP imo.

 

[Applecorp]

Scraggy was cool. He didn't take away from his teammates and I like his growth during the show.

Way better than Riolu at least.

He barely grew from what I remember? Like he learned a couple moves and did ok at the Clubsplosion tournament but that was the highlight of his development.

 

[Leonhart]

He barely grew from what I remember? Like he learned a couple moves and did ok at the Clubsplosion tournament but that was the highlight of his development.

It was mostly his bond with Kibago that I remember, although Zuruggu changed slightly over time and became less of a baby, which is something that I can't say about Kibago since his naive personality remained intact throughout BW.

 

[ichooseyou]

Mijumaru being extremely vulnerable to Fire-type attacks was played for laughs, much like every other part of his character. I didn't think it was amusing, but apparently the writers did. He wasn't a particularly good battler, and I always thought that he was a prime example of marketability's effects on Pokemon since he was a blatant Pochama clone, and that's probably why they didn't let him evolve.

I somehow thought it was kinda realistic that he was vulnerable to fire attacks because he just wasn't strong at all. God, I really disliked Dawn's Piplup. He was a lot worse than Oshawott imo. He was obsessed with being Dawn's favorite and was rude to a newly hatched Cyndaquil because it didn't say hi to him or whatever it was. I might just rewatch some of those episodes and point out everything I disliked about Piplup

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

It was mostly his bond with Kibago that I remember, although Zuruggu changed slightly over time and became less of a baby, which is something that I can't say about Kibago since his naive personality remained intact throughout BW.

Exactly.

Scraggy didn't need to become a powerhouse or the next big thing. I like his growth from a baby who goes on picking fights to a capable battling mon on Ash's team.

 

[Sham]

It was so stupid they didn’t allow not one of Ash’s starter to evolve fully. I understand Bianca and Trip having the fully evolved forms of Tepig and Snivy respectively but they literally had enough time to evolve Oshawott instead of letting Cameron have it’s evolved form.

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

I would say the positive that came out of it was that it introduced the idea of standalone villain arcs, and allowed them to then improve on that in XY&Z and SM. For TMvTA and TG, the arc was spread throughout the series, sometimes there were 2-parters, or in the case of the TG finale a 3-parter, but for the most part these were standalone villain episodes. Because TP was a standalone arc after the league, even if that was only because TRvTP was scrapped, they clearly liked the idea enough to do another post-league villain arc with TF, and then several arcs in SM. The anime shifted to more an arc-based format specifically because of TP imo.

The only other good thing from that arc was Charizard's return. I didn't like how he was treated afterwards (basically becoming a regional bird who didn't even get a moment to reflect on his past during that Decolore Islands episode with the gang of abandoned pokemon), but at that moment it was the perfect throwback to Ash & Charizard's bond right before the franchise became so reliant on Kanto nostalgia

 

[Leonhart]

but they literally had enough time to evolve Oshawott instead of letting Cameron have it’s evolved form.

Time wasn't really an issue though since it was quite apparent from early BW that Mijumaru's marketability was going to hold him back: I don't know where Mijumaru stands in the ranking of the latest popularity poll from earlier this year, but the species came in 8th place in the Nintendo Dream poll in 2011, while Daikenki came in at 25th place. Futachimaru didn't even make the Top 30.

 

[Ubermuk]

The only other good thing from that arc was Charizard's return. I didn't like how he was treated afterwards (basically becoming a regional bird who didn't even get a moment to reflect on his past during that Decolore Islands episode with the gang of abandoned pokemon), but at that moment it was the perfect throwback to Ash & Charizard's bond right before the franchise became so reliant on Kanto nostalgia

Charizard coulda done more though. It sucks that the highlight of his comeback was an interrupted battle between him and Dragonite. Sure it looked awesome but nothing came out of that...

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

Charizard coulda done more though. It sucks that the highlight of his comeback was an interrupted battle between him and Dragonite. Sure it looked awesome but nothing came out of that...

To me, the highlight was more the flashbacks & Charizard's reunion with Ash before the fight. Back then I haven't seen Charizard since the Battle Frontier, so I was fangirling over how much care the staff took to stay as faithful to OS with BW graphics. Even the dub was accurate with the flashbacks since the dialogue was practically identical to all of the lines from the original episodes. Plus, Ash and Charizard's interactions honestly felt as if they've never been apart and that they were as close as Ash is with Pikachu.

 

[Sham]

Time wasn't really an issue though since it was quite apparent from early BW that Mijumaru's marketability was going to hold him back: I don't know where Mijumaru stands in the ranking of the latest popularity poll from earlier this year, but the species came in 8th place in the Nintendo Dream poll in 2011, while Daikenki came in at 25th place. Futachimaru didn't even make the Top 30.

I think it had more to do with the fact that Oshawott was a victim to the Water Pokémon curse if anything. If memory serves me right: Snivy and or it’s line was the most popular out of the starters so they were safe anyway in terms of marketability. If they were dead set on giving Trip a Serperior which is more popular than Oshawott anyway, they should of just allowed Ash to have a Samurott.

 

[ichooseyou]

I like to believe in my head that no trainers wanted Oshawott as their starter pokemon and it’s why he was so shocked when Trip didn’t pick him because he thought he would finally get picked

it would’ve been a better narrative than what we eventually got from Oshawott (under the condition that he evolved and grew stronger)

And what was up with the fact that Iris didn’t get Deino after all... I thought she would instead of just obtaining a Dragonite
Sure, Axew could’ve stayed a baby if that’s what the writers wanted but they could’ve given Iris another dragon pokemon to evolve

 

[Leonhart]

I like to believe in my head that no trainers wanted Oshawott as their starter pokemon and it’s why he was so shocked when Trip didn’t pick him because he thought he would finally get picked

Considering Mijumaru's abrasive personality and him being a generally weak battler, I can see why he would've been considered as undesirable to rookie trainers. I like the theory that maybe most trainers just didn't want him.

 

[ichooseyou]

Considering Mijumaru's abrasive personality and him being a generally weak battler, I can see why he would've been considered as undesirable to rookie trainers. I like the theory that maybe most trainers just didn't want him.

Yes but I don’t think most trainers knew these personality traits of him before they pick

And hopefully Ash’s Oshawott was just a bad nut because Oshawotts are some of my favorite pokemons all time

 

[Ignition]

I found Oshawott annoying and wish Cilan got him and Palpitoad to be his Water Type. I usually don't mind gag characters but it was over the top

 

[Leonhart]

Yes but I don’t think most trainers knew these personality traits of him before they pick

And hopefully Ash’s Oshawott was just a bad nut because Oshawotts are some of my favorite pokemons all time

I like to think that part of the reason why Mijumaru was so obnoxious is because he'd probably been stuck at Araragi-hakase's lab for a long time, so maybe he was just starved for attention and that's why he reacted strongly when Satoshi noticed him in BW001.

 

[Applecorp]

I found Oshawott annoying and wish Cilan got him and Palpitoad to be his Water Type. I usually don't mind gag characters but it was over the top

You mean Palpitoad being Ash's only Water Pokemon in Unova? I'd only accept that if it evolved into Seismitoad because Palpitoad looks too ugly.

 

[Ignition]

You mean Palpitoad being Ash's only Water Pokemon in Unova? I'd only accept that if it evolved into Seismitoad because Palpitoad looks too ugly.

Yep. I’m fine with that because Seismitoad is my favorite Water Type