SPOILERS! General Pokémon Anime Discussion

My thoughts, I loved croagunk and honestly he was the best punchline to Brock joke. Seeing him being dragged offscreen after the jab and the other characters continue as if nothing happened was quite hilarious.
I compeltely agree. He's the only one that made the gag of Brock getting hurt after falling in love funny. It wasn't as funny when Misty did it and even less funny when Max did it, IMO.
 
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Pikachu315111

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Looks like Misty is still afraid of Bug pkmn =/
And sadly we still wait for the day they show her one of the Bug/Water Pokemon to see how she reacts (I'm predicting either (1) oddly neutral to it, (2) interested in it but doesn't want to touch it, (3) her head explodes).

Course I'm also curious what Iris thinks of the Fairy-type with her scared of Ice-types (for comedic effect I'm thinking an angry dislike and highly critical of them).
 
And sadly we still wait for the day they show her one of the Bug/Water Pokemon to see how she reacts (I'm predicting either (1) oddly neutral to it, (2) interested in it but doesn't want to touch it, (3) her head explodes).

Course I'm also curious what Iris thinks of the Fairy-type with her scared of Ice-types (for comedic effect I'm thinking an angry dislike and highly critical of them).
I would have loved it if Ash had captured an Araquanid/Dewpider.
 
And sadly we still wait for the day they show her one of the Bug/Water Pokemon to see how she reacts (I'm predicting either (1) oddly neutral to it, (2) interested in it but doesn't want to touch it, (3) her head explodes).

Course I'm also curious what Iris thinks of the Fairy-type with her scared of Ice-types (for comedic effect I'm thinking an angry dislike and highly critical of them).
unfortunately they probably won't be in Kanto that long
 

Champion Leon

Banned deucer.
Tracey is a Pokémon artist - his goal was making drawings of the various unique Pokémon found on the Orange Islands. It's true that this isn't too ambitious of a goal, but he did encounter some exceptional Pokémon there. He then settles down with Professor Oak to help with his research as he is also good at seeing subtle differences between Pokémon to draw conclusions based on that. Overall, he did accomplish the things he was set out to do.
Did he end up becoming an artist or using his traces?
Or did he end up popping up only in Oak video chats with Ash? Tracey was a filler character among protagonists as much as filler episodes detract from any storyline. Or as I like to put it "He was a character of the day that never went away" - OM! From Smogon.com

Yes, he encountered some exceptional Pokémon such as the Pink Island Pink Rhyhorn, he even encountered Lugia, Slaking, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, and the former 2 weren't even introduced until Gen 2!
On that note- so did Ash, Misty, and Team Rocket!
Did he do anything that Ash couldn't do? No, he was basically a Gary Oak... without any badges- as he assisted in research as nothing but an extra pair of hands.

Oh, I guess his Maril mated with another Pokémon and gave Misty an Azuril... cool.

One thing I like about Tracey... he made Bonnie and Max seem relevant.

It's been confirmed for just two episodes. But, hey, it's still nice to see Ash's previous companions, especially the original two who got at least in one continuity got retconned.
Wow, if they can bring back characters from 6 generations ago for a cameo, Iris must be pretty bad.
 
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Pikachu315111

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OM!
Honestly the only relevant characters in terms of Pokemon's overall story is Ash, Misty (minor), Brock (minor), May, Dawn, Cilan (minor), and Clemont (minor). And depending how the story turns out maybe Lillie, but once again she'd be minor. Why is that? Because honestly the story of a Pokemon is a one trainer's journey. You only need one main character to be the viewer's viewpoint into the world's main thing, Pokemon battling. Everything thing else like different battling styles, other mechanics, world lore, etc. can be handled by one off characters. Reason I say Misty, Brock, Cilan, and Clemont have minor relevance is because they are Gym Leaders, they are bosses in the games you needed to defeat to progress and that was brought over to the anime (Iris and the majority of the Alolan crew being the exception, Iris isn't a Gym Leader yet and they completely removed the concept of Trail Captains from the anime).

May and Dawn had a unique position, Gen III and IV had Pokemon Contests which, at the time, were treated as as alternate activity to Pokemon battling. This meant in the anime they could have an additional main protagonist with relevance. They tried doing this with Misty and Brock, Misty representing the "collector" and Brock the "breeder"... but there wasn't really anything to enforce those (especially breeding, at least on the level of Brock's goal; also since the main point of the games was catching them all it made Misty's goal seem small in scale as she only wanted to catch Water-type Pokemon). But after Gen IV the characters were given nothing to work with or nothing that was in the game. Serena was given Pokemon Showcases which were Pokemon Contests-lite as the main point of them was to show off Serena as they wanted her to be a waifu. We'll see where Lillie's development goes but without being Trial Captains the others in the Alolan Crew are now also irrelevant.

That said, a one trainer show would be boring pretty fast, you need additional characters with different personalities, goals, and skills to keep things interesting. The majority of Ash's companions serve more to be an extension of Ash's capabilities, what he can't do they can do and learn from them (well, in theory, being they hit the reset button almost every generation now). Also, if the writing crew gave a mulch, they could have made more interesting characters that went with a mechanics or even plot of that generation. Well, actually, they did try between Gen I and IV, but in Gen V they gave up producing a subpar region arc, and Gen VI onward decided to make the anime they want not really caring if it was Pokemon or not.

Wow, if they can bring back characters from 6 generations ago for a cameo, Iris must be pretty bad.
She wasn't the greatest, but I don't think that's why she didn't return. It's because the writing team stopped writing a Pokemon series a while ago. They wanted to focus on Shonen battling (complete with super transformations) and idol making. Follow a show tradition by bringing back the previous female companion for a few episode cameo? Well Iris wasn't that popular and now we have waifu Serena, why do we need anyone else? Actually, scratch that, Yokai Watch! is doing pretty good so we're changing Pokemon into a slice of life. Cut out Serena, ship her off, she doesn't fit. We'll just give Ash a harem of the new girls.

Course, why is Misty & Brock being brought back then? Well, nostalgia obviously (and that comes with a ratings boost). That's why Charizard was brought back. I also wonder if it's because of their exclusion from the movie. "Probably not, their episode were probably planned during the production of the movie". True, though maybe they had a moment of thinking and realized the fans wouldn't be happy of them chopping out the characters who scored first and second place on the "Ash's Companion" popularity poll so planned these episodes just in case of backlash. Which they got. Though now that makes me wonder if there's alternate episodes/scripts which has Ash visiting the new movie characters in case they did go over well.
 

Champion Leon

Banned deucer.
OM!
Honestly the only relevant characters in terms of Pokemon's overall story is Ash, Misty (minor), Brock (minor), May, Dawn, Cilan (minor), and Clemont (minor). And depending how the story turns out maybe Lillie, but once again she'd be minor. Why is that? Because honestly the story of a Pokemon is a one trainer's journey. You only need one main character to be the viewer's viewpoint into the world's main thing, Pokemon battling. Everything thing else like different battling styles, other mechanics, world lore, etc. can be handled by one off characters. Reason I say Misty, Brock, Cilan, and Clemont have minor relevance is because they are Gym Leaders, they are bosses in the games you needed to defeat to progress and that was brought over to the anime (Iris and the majority of the Alolan crew being the exception, Iris isn't a Gym Leader yet and they completely removed the concept of Trail Captains from the anime).

May and Dawn had a unique position, Gen III and IV had Pokemon Contests which, at the time, were treated as as alternate activity to Pokemon battling. This meant in the anime they could have an additional main protagonist with relevance. They tried doing this with Misty and Brock, Misty representing the "collector" and Brock the "breeder"... but there wasn't really anything to enforce those (especially breeding, at least on the level of Brock's goal; also since the main point of the games was catching them all it made Misty's goal seem small in scale as she only wanted to catch Water-type Pokemon). But after Gen IV the characters were given nothing to work with or nothing that was in the game. Serena was given Pokemon Showcases which were Pokemon Contests-lite as the main point of them was to show off Serena as they wanted her to be a waifu. We'll see where Lillie's development goes but without being Trial Captains the others in the Alolan Crew are now also irrelevant.

That said, a one trainer show would be boring pretty fast, you need additional characters with different personalities, goals, and skills to keep things interesting. The majority of Ash's companions serve more to be an extension of Ash's capabilities, what he can't do they can do and learn from them (well, in theory, being they hit the reset button almost every generation now). Also, if the writing crew gave a mulch, they could have made more interesting characters that went with a mechanics or even plot of that generation. Well, actually, they did try between Gen I and IV, but in Gen V they gave up producing a subpar region arc, and Gen VI onward decided to make the anime they want not really caring if it was Pokemon or not.



She wasn't the greatest, but I don't think that's why she didn't return. It's because the writing team stopped writing a Pokemon series a while ago. They wanted to focus on Shonen battling (complete with super transformations) and idol making. Follow a show tradition by bringing back the previous female companion for a few episode cameo? Well Iris wasn't that popular and now we have waifu Serena, why do we need anyone else? Actually, scratch that, Yokai Watch! is doing pretty good so we're changing Pokemon into a slice of life. Cut out Serena, ship her off, she doesn't fit. We'll just give Ash a harem of the new girls.

Course, why is Misty & Brock being brought back then? Well, nostalgia obviously (and that comes with a ratings boost). That's why Charizard was brought back. I also wonder if it's because of their exclusion from the movie. "Probably not, their episode were probably planned during the production of the movie". True, though maybe they had a moment of thinking and realized the fans wouldn't be happy of them chopping out the characters who scored first and second place on the "Ash's Companion" popularity poll so planned these episodes just in case of backlash. Which they got. Though now that makes me wonder if there's alternate episodes/scripts which has Ash visiting the new movie characters in case they did go over well.
TLDR: um, that's apparent. My point was Tracey was the least relevant of all companions, including compared to Bonnie and Max.
 

Champion Leon

Banned deucer.
Am I the only one who likes Tracy? I feel he had a great personality and his pokemon were pretty useful if not the most useful during the Orange Island arc. Bonnie had a thing with the Zygarde core or something.
Tracey is a nice guy who finishes last, he is the most kind of all companions but he tends to offer little, i.e. Brock and Cilan each cook, Clemont brings his tech and gadgets which can at times save them from team rocket.

Misty, and Iris might have had their fights with ash but they cared as best friends, and Misty even offered him her Pokémon against Brock and the Indigo league, and always supported him with advice, even when she was mad at him. Also Iris grew ash up a little, unlike Misty she wasn't older, but she could still make sure ash knew he wasn't that big of a deal and keep things in perspective. Brock, and the other guys never really challenged ash. Iris and Misty handled him.

Dawn was a cheerleader and basically the nicest of the female friends, while May was very much an equal with a friendly rivalry that became mutual respect.

Serena had her own quest, but also looked after ash emotionally, and max saved the world with his relationship with Jirachi and Deoxys. Yes, Bonnie had a thing with Zygarde, and like max she saved the world because of it.

Put Tracey in place of Max or Bonnie, and those movies might have ended very differently.
 
Delia is in the VA list for the Misty and Brock episodes.

Which was pretty likely considering they're going to Kanto but also nice to see. I think this is the most we've seen of Delia outside of the Kanto saga.

SPOILERS
Popplio and Marowak-A get lost in Oaks lab when they arrive, with Team Rocket closely following behind.

For the next episode, it's an extra curriculum lesson where the class go to Cerulean City to learn about gym battles. Misty and Brock are guest lecturers for the episode. Kiawe and Ash are unsatisfied and want a serious gym battle, so it's decided that Kiawe will battle Brock, while Misty battles Ash.
 

Pikachu315111

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Delia is in the VA list for the Misty and Brock episodes.

Which was pretty likely considering they're going to Kanto but also nice to see. I think this is the most we've seen of Delia outside of the Kanto saga.

SPOILERS
Popplio and Marowak-A get lost in Oaks lab when they arrive, with Team Rocket closely following behind.

For the next episode, it's an extra curriculum lesson where the class go to Cerulean City to learn about gym battles. Misty and Brock are guest lecturers for the episode. Kiawe and Ash are unsatisfied and want a serious gym battle, so it's decided that Kiawe will battle Brock, while Misty battles Ash.
Delia will probably be at the beginning and end of that episode, assuming they leave from Professor Oak's lab and Delia saying goodbye to Ash as he flies back to Alola.

Ooh, that would be a nice chance to incorporate a lot of Ash's Pokemon. Popplio and Marowak-A encountering them, having a wacky scene where they get lost, and later Ash & co. come by and are told where the two went (you could even have some travel with the two to help find their trainers not realizing their friends of Ash & Pikachu. Would be funny to see Popplio interact with Totodile and Oshawott). Actually, you'd think they'd also have Litten get lost so it could get the chance to interact with Charizard, Quilava, Infernape, and Pignite (and they can then swap sad stories). Oh well, they can at least have Rowlet join Ash's other flyers to search for them.

Learn about Gym Battles, eh? Hey Ash, why don't you go to your house and show them the 48 Badges you won (well, 52 if you count the Orange Island Badges, and there's also the 7 Frontier Symbols. Speaking of which, tell them the time you were offered a position equal to that of an Elite Four that you turned down, that's be a funny story).

Wait, CERULEAN? That's kind of far if they start from Pallet. Wouldn't Pewter be closer? Heck, maybe you could have borrowed the Viridian Gym (course they'd then have to address whether they found a new Gym Leader for it). Actually, maybe that's why they're going to Cerulean. Does the VA list mention Misty's sisters by any chance? If they don't want to bring in any other Kanto characters aside Misty and Brock it would be easy to enough to have Misty's sisters go on vacation (went to Pewter they'd have to at least include Forrest, you know, the Gym Leader of Pewter City. You remember, writers, right?).

Ah, so that's how Misty and Brock figure into this (even though Brock isn't a Gym Leader anymore), though I'm guessing Professor Oak set this up and how could Misty & Brock miss a chance seeing Ash again and tell embarrassing stories on how bad Ash was against them in their Gym Battle.

Considering Misty and Brock both now have Mega Pokemon I think we can safely say their gonna wipe the floor with Ash and Kiawe unless they dare to make the Z-Moves a OKHO (though, to be fair, Inferno Overdrive and Bloom Doom would be super effective against Mega Steelix and Mega Gyarados).
 

Pikachu315111

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Tauros confirmed too
Didn't see Tauros (though they always include them cause they love their stampeding joke. Hey, Ash, considering Kiawe has a farm maybe give some to him your Tauros, would save Oak on fence repairs. Actually I could imagine a gag scene:

Kiawe: That's a pretty big herd.
Ash: Yeah, they can be a handful at times.
Lillie: Oh, is one of them yours Ash?
Ash: They're, um, all mine.
Alolan Crew: WHAT?!
Kiawe: *Makes big exaggerated surprise face* That herd was as nearly as big as the one my family farm!
Mallow: Why do you have so many?
Misty: Hehe, *devilish smile* yeah Ash, why don't you tell them why you have so many.
Ash: *Nervous face* Hee, well, it's because *makes faux confident face* I'm so good at catching Pokemon.
Brock: More like you're good at accidentally catching Tauros in the Safari Zone.
*Ash pouts as everyone laughs*


Anyway, there was Muk though!

wait, that Kanto Marowak is Brock's? The Vulpix and Ninetails scene was cute
Huh, didn't think about that. Thankfuly it does look like they remember Brock is a doctor so maybe he caught a Marowak to help with bone examinations (after all, which Pokemon is better at judging bones than a Marowak?), as long as they stay away from the folk medicine angle. Also if it is his Marowak maybe he'll use it to battle Kiawe's since it looks like they formed a rivalry.

While the scene with Ninetales was cute, I actually liked the scene with Brock examining Snowy, a callback to Suzie's Vulpix.

Also, if you have Flash enabled, there is a small preview on TV Tokyo's website (top left hand corner).

http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/pokemon_sunmoon/
Hm, doesn't show much new except for Ash will use Pikachu against Misty's Gyarados.

EDIT: The first dub trailer for Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You!
Nothing major though, it's the first trailer so only interesting thing is hearing Sarah Natochenny's Ash voice speaking the first episode famous lines.
 
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Champion Leon

Banned deucer.
I hope Jessie and James have a gym battle, that would be cool, just like old times sake where they interrupt a gym battle but
After the preview while it aired live there was another segment including Tauros
now all we need is pidgeot... Mega evolution time!
J/k
 
After reading the comment section for the new trailer for I Choose You, I feel like I'm the only one who's legit hyped for it and doesn't have any problems with Sarah Natochenny voicing Ash or the story and characters being different from the first episode.
 
Basically nostalgia and people wanting Misty and Brock and basically the whole gang back together and this movie is disrespectin' this tight bond between them because no Misty makes people go crazy
Pretty accurate. People are still mad about Brock and Misty not being there despite the fact that it's the movie's a retelling of the first episode and that they are already coming back in Sun and Moon.
 

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