Will May be leaving this season?

[.Bambi.]

I think she'll stay, but I must say I'm impartial too. May is different and not as interesting anymore, but if anything is to blame, it's the Battle Frontier Saga. The writers "haven't have the time" to give her the ditzy, naive personality.

Compare her now to the Grand Festival. She believed every single thing Harley said, and even used his advice to stick to one attack. Then she got Squirtle and it all went downhill from there. Hopefully some new, weak D/P Pokemon which she has to train and care for will bring her Battle Frontier Syndrome to a hault. Hopefully...

 

[Yamato-san]

Yes, while the Battle Frontier has been kicking a** on Satoshi's side (best.... team.... ever!), it has friggin sucked on Haruka's side. Harley winning was pretty much the high point.

On another note, anyone else think she's too confident nowadays? I'm sure it's character development, but I liked it when she had to take advice from all her coordinator friends, Ash and even Max. Those were good times.

You know, I was talking with Heracross a few weeks ago, and I thought about making a thread (don't know why I still haven't gotten around to it) asking if anyone finds Haruka to be a Mary Sue. It's not just about the Eneko and Zenigame battles (and I still say Zenigame's the Mary Sue here, getting into the party through the most half-a**ed way and the writers always making it look good), or the way her Pokemon seem to learn non-natural attacks too easily compared to everything Satoshi has to go through. I'm looking more at the fact that she started off not even liking Pokemon, and only wanting to travel. I could buy Satoshi always striving for his goals because he wanted to be a Pokemon Master his whole life. Haruka, on the other hand, only just starts getting into Pokemon, and very suddenly, she chooses a profession in contests, practically becomes a pro at it, and winning the Grand Festival becomes her life goal.... anyone find that off? Really, it would be great if we at least saw some flashbacks of her as a child, always wanting to become a beauty queen (not Pokemon-related, of course), or something along those lines that can relate to her seeming like such a friggin natural on the contest scene.

And yes, things only got worse by the Battle Frontier. It's annoying that the writers are still giving her lucky breaks at this point in time.... I mean, by the time Jouto started, I'm pretty sure Satoshi started winning his battles through his skills alone, and hardly ever on some deus ex machina anymore. Haruka, on the other hand.... you'd think Houen was enough to develop her character and pull off skillful, yet reasonable wins. Ironically enough, she seems to be getting even more lucky breaks in Battle Frontier than she did starting out.... she didn't even try with Zenigame, Wakashamo suddenly learns Mega Kick when most convenient, and Eievui did get quite a cheap win (though, I still compare it to the Eneko scenario, in which it was prepared well but the writing fell flat for the battle itself). Also, her loss against Harley, while a huge treat for us fans, didn't seem to have any repurcussions on her characterization (even though the second title of that episode was "Harley and Taking the Game Seriously!"). She went on to her next contest more focused on that rose and letter she thought she got from Shuu rather than being concerned with getting another loss. Also, in the recent contest, when Harley reappears, there was practically nothing to reference the fact that he beat her last time.

That damn turtle might also be to blame.... aside from being a deus ex machina, she did use the thing for every damn contest except Wakana's and that could get dull as hell pretty fast. It didn't help that they made every Kantou contest have Grand Festival rules, yet had half of her team dumped off with her never getting a fourth member until a good ways into it.

 

[Tech 64]

No this will not happen, If anything Max will leave

;329;- T64

 

[Judai Yuki]

Max wont leave because May will stay.

 

[CyberCubed]

Yes, while the Battle Frontier has been kicking a** on Satoshi's side (best.... team.... ever!), it has friggin sucked on Haruka's side. Harley winning was pretty much the high point.

Really? Aside from the outcome of the very first Contest with Squirtle beating Ariados, I thought the Contest arc was great.

The Salaryman was a decent Contest, and it was followed by two great ones, (Harley beating May, and the Wakana/Drew Contest). The May Vs. Brock Contest was a great idea, but they had Eevee take too many hits which cause some problems. And after that we had the final Contest with May Vs. Jessie, again a pretty interesting idea with the Harley/Jessie teamup.

They may have focused on Harley a little too much this saga, but the Contest arc was great IMO.

Really, it would be great if we at least saw some flashbacks of her as a child, always wanting to become a beauty queen (not Pokemon-related, of course), or something along those lines that can relate to her seeming like such a friggin natural on the contest scene.

If you're talking about now, I imagine after doing several appeals she got the hang of it.

In Hoenn she was constantly fumbling and making mistakes with her appeals. In the BF saga she's improved, so she doesn't make many mistakes during her appeals anymore.

Wakashamo suddenly learns Mega Kick when most convenient

Eh, I don't really see the problem. Mega Kick should come natural for a fighting type that uses its legs a lot, it didn't need a huge backstory for that.

Also, her loss against Harley, while a huge treat for us fans, didn't seem to have any repurcussions on her characterization (even though the second title of that episode was "Harley and Taking the Game Seriously!"). She went on to her next contest more focused on that rose and letter she thought she got from Shuu rather than being concerned with getting another loss.

When Ash loses in Johto/Hoenn, he's pretty much the same way. He's more confident and determined than ever to win next time.

It was only in the Kanto days that Ash had problems with a rematch.

That damn turtle might also be to blame.... aside from being a deus ex machina, she did use the thing for every damn contest except Wakana's and that could get dull as hell pretty fast. It didn't help that they made every Kantou contest have Grand Festival rules, yet had half of her team dumped off with her never getting a fourth member until a good ways into it.

I like to think they played Squirtle up this season because it'll have no use come the D/P saga. It's only a FR/LG advertisement, not a permanant part of her roster.

Combusken and Munchlax are givens to go to the D/P region with her, Eevee might go too...but Squirtle on the other hand was used a lot so it would fill its worth during a single saga.

I still like my idea of May leaving her Squirtle with the Squirtle Squad to train after the Grand Festival ends. It would be neat to see it training with Ash's Squirtle, the same way her Bulbasaur is with Ash's.

That and it'll be a nice way to get it off her main team without it being a cop out.

 

[.Bambi.]

Really? Aside from the outcome of the very first Contest with Squirtle beating Ariados, I thought the Contest arc was great.

The Salaryman was a decent Contest, and it was followed by two great ones, (Harley beating May, and the Wakana/Drew Contest). The May Vs. Brock Contest was a great idea, but they had Eevee take too many hits which cause some problems. And after that we had the final Contest with May Vs. Jessie, again a pretty interesting idea with the Harley/Jessie teamup.

They may have focused on Harley a little too much this saga, but the Contest arc was great IMO.

I can only speak for myself, but it's not that the Contest episodes themselves were bad or horribly written, it's that they came far too frequently in the Battle Frontier Saga. Like, FAR. Sometimes only being a couple episodes apart.

In Hoenn, I used to get excited about Contest episodes because they were about as common as Gym Battles, and the ideas were still fresh. Now my reaction is "...Another one? Already?". And as already mentioned, she uses Squirtle WAY too much, so the appeals and battles become tedious to watch.

Oy.

 

[CyberCubed]

The Brains aren't that far apart either.

There were only three episodes between Greta and Tucker. There were only four episodes between Tucker and Lucy. There were only five episodes between Lucy and Spenser. Again, there are only five episodes between Spenser and Anabel.

And finally, there were 7 episodes between Anabel and Brandon...although he didn't beat Brandon yet so we'll be seeing this guy again.

Since they only had a little over a year to finish the BF saga, there's no wonder why the important events are so close together.

This won't be a problem in the D/P saga because it's likely to be a three year saga again. I kind of liked the quicker pace this saga, my only complaints is they kind of overused both Squirtle and Harley. If they can ease up on both next time, it should be swell.

 

[Chris]

Okay, the only thing that needs to be said is that she's in the next movie. It's VERY likely she's not going anywhere.

Do we REALLY need a new speculation thread involving Haruka's possible leaving every "season?"