History YMMV / Pokemonanime

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[[index]]
* [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/{{Pokemon}} Alternative Character Interpretation]]
* [[AmericansHateTingle/{{Pokemon}} Americans Hate Tingle]]
* [[BaseBreakingCharacter/{{Pokemon}} Base-Breaking Character]]
* [[BrokenBase/{{PokemonAnime}} Broken Base]]
* [[DieForOurShip/{{Pokemon}} Die For Our Ship]]
* [[DracoInLeatherPants/{{Pokemon}} Draco In Leather Pants]]
* [[EnsembleDarkhorse/{{Pokemon}} Ensemble Darkhorse]]
* [[EpilepticTrees/{{Pokemon}} Epileptic Trees]]
* [[FandomEnragingMisconception/{{Pokemon}} Fandom Enraging Misconceptions]]
* [[Fanon/{{Pokemon}} Fanon]]
* [[FranchiseOriginalSin/{{Pokemon}} Franchise Original Sin]]
* [[HilariousInHindsight/{{Pokemon}} Hilarious in Hindsight]]
* [[MemeticMolester/{{Pokemon}} Memetic Molestor]]
* [[Memes/{{Pokemon}} Memetic Mutation]]
* [[MoralEventHorizon/{{Pokemon}} Moral Event Horizon]]
* [[RonTheDeathEater/{{Pokemon}} Ron the Death Eater]]
* [[TheScrappy/{{Pokemon}} The Scrappy]]
* [[ViewerGenderConfusion/{{Pokemon}} Viewer Gender Confusion]]
* [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter/{{Pokemon}} They Wasted A Perfectly Good Character]]
* [[WhatAnIdiot/{{Pokemon}} What An Idiot]]
[[/index]]
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[[folder:A - F]]
* AccidentalAesop: James's grandparents approve of their grandson being part of a criminal organization in ''Sweet Baby James'', and even hope for his success in the future. Umm...
* AccidentalInnuendo:
** In "Ditto's Mysterious Mansion", Team Rocket take Duplica's Ditto and say that they'll "have some fun [with it] before we hand it over to the boss!" Ditto is notorious for being able to breed with any Pokémon than can lay eggs. Then again, this episode was released ''before'' breeding became a mechanic.
** In the original series episode, "It's Mr. Mime Time", there's a scene where Brock grabs Ash, asks him to "help" him, and then caps it off with Ash screaming when the screen cuts away.
** In the Johto Journeys, the episode with the Ursaring explains near the end that the reason they've been aggressively attacking the characters is that it is their mating season and are trying to scare off anyone who gets in the way. Cue a pan up to the forest, where Ursaring are shooting Hyper Beams into the sky. Note that Hyper Beam from these Ursaring are massive beams of white shooting into the sky.
** In the second episode of ''Diamond and Pearl'' ("Two Degrees of Separation"), Brock says "These two men are gonna do it with or without a beautiful woman at their side!" with Ash's approval.
** In "Ancient Family Matters!" Byron responds to his son Roark about how he loves how a hole was dug. It's easy to take out of context.
--->'''Roark:''' Somebody dug this hole!\\
'''Byron:''' I don't believe it! [long pause] I love this hole! [In response, everyone else facefaults]
** In the second episode of ''Black and White'' ("Enter Iris and Axew"), there's the line "You can't find anything this jiggly in Unova!" that reads like an advertisement about the [[{{Gainaxing}} bounciness]] of Unova's women. This was also a TPCI English Dub dialogue change.
** Serena wearing Ash's clothes. Where Serena's clothes went is never shown, leading it to either be a case of DressedInLayers, or she changed into them while in Ash's tent.
** A subtle RunningGag is how they make it look like small Pokemon are looking up a girls's skirt in certain angles. This is most infamous with Dawn's miniskirt, Serena to a smaller extent, and Lillie.
** Episode 8 of ''Sun & Moon'' anime ("Lillie's Egg-xhilirating Challenge") has Ash asking Lillie if she wants to do some "practicing". He's talking about touching Pokémon, but Lillie's tone of voice and the look on her face afterwards make it look like she thought Ash was suggesting something completely different.
--->'''Ash:''' Hey, Lillie!\\
'''Lillie:''' Hm?\\
'''Ash:''' How about doing some practicing?\\
'''Lillie:''' Do you mean what I think you mean?\\
'''Ash:''' Yeah! Let's practice touching Pokémon!\\
'''Lillie:''' (mouth wide open) Uh....
* AdaptationDisplacement: If you ask anyone who isn't a fan of the games (or at least Creator/{{Nintendo}}-savvy to a minimal extent) what they know about Pokémon, they will very likely answer with anime-exclusive information (i.e. the protagonist's name being "Ash", trainers being 10 years old, Pikachu being the "star" Pokémon, Team Rocket consisting of Jessie, James and Meowth, [[MemeticMutation "Aim for the Horn"]], the Pokémon Theme or Pokérap, PokemonSpeak, etc.). Many ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' players brought in via the NewbieBoom are mostly familiar with the anime, and often use its storyline and depictions of Lugia and Team Rocket in fan concepts and parodies. The presence of {{Recursive Adaptation}}s (including an animefied version of the [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue original Kanto games]]) doesn't help; almost every game released nowadays uses Ikue Ohtani's voice clips for Pikachu rather than the original sound clips. The game protagonists' popularity also depends on whether they appear in the anime or not.
* {{Adorkable}}:
** [[DependingOnTheWriter While the level varies from series to series]], Ash is often depicted as clumsy and absent minded in spite of his competence.
** Pikachu often picks up some of Ash's silly or clumsy habits. He is also ''extremely adorable.''
** Team Rocket. They serve as the villains but are just so gimmicky and so... fail that they aren't even threatening anymore. Their determination is admirable too.
** Delia has her moments, especially in [=SM024=]. This is one of the traits she and her son share.
** May is brave, optimistic, kind, and at times, awkward.
** Flannery is excitable, clumsy enough to get set on fire while training with her Pokémon, and she's very cute when she's frustrated.
** Dawn's Buneary sometimes shows shades of this when around Pikachu by blushing and hiding her face in her fur.
** Ash's Oshawott. His appearance, combined with being a Casanova wannabe, makes him this.
** Cilan at times, usually as a result of his hammy behavior.
** Trip has shown signs of being one but most of this is suppressed by his [[SugarAndIcePersonality aloof attitude]], but once certain people (Alder) are around him though, that side of him is gone almost instantly, with his voice suddenly getting childishly high in the process.
** Elesa's enthusiasm at being a Gym Leader as well as being a referee for a battle brings this out in her.
** Cheren's bashful attitude is meant to be sympathetic and endearing.
** Ash's Hawlucha's behavior in "Pikachu and the Pokémon Music Squad" is a far cry from his normally confident self, as he's the cause of the initial problem in the short due to not thinking he's a good singer. He overcomes it by the first third of the short, though.
** Just from Goomy's design alone, you can tell it's a comical Pokémon. Even by the time it's developed and evolved into Goodra however, it remains adorably silly and innocent in personality.
** Clemont's poor physical condition and obsession with technology, just to name a few of his endearing quirks.
** Serena. Let's see: Acts like a schoolgirl around her crush, fumbles around her words when people ask if her and said crush are a couple, always comes off as sweet and endearing in everything she does...yep, she definitely qualifies.
** Mairin. With all of her tripping over things that aren't even there, getting stuck in places that are ''extremely'' unconventional (Not to mention ''how'' she got stuck in those places in the first place), her cute nicknames for her Pokémon, and fangirling over the thought of meeting Seibold of the [[BadassCrew Elite Four]] and freaking out when doing a double take when she actually met him, Mairin is definitely adorkable.
** Trevor's love of meeting new Pokémon rivals Bonnie's.
** Ash's Rowlet's ditzy and slightly bizarre behavior turns it into quite an endearing little critter.
** Lillie's a meek CuteBookworm. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Except towards her mother]].
* AlasPoorScrappy:
** Though disliked by her fans due to the perception of ruining Misty's character, Togepi's farewell to Misty was still rather depressing and heartwarming to them.
** Kenny's send-off also made some people who were less than impressed with his antagonism sympathetic toward him.
** Despite the poor reception of Ash's rivalry with Trip, most fans were disappointed by his AntiClimaxBoss battle with Ash in the first round of the Unova League, feeling he at least deserved better than that.
* AnimationAgeGhetto: While the franchise as a whole has developed a diverse fanbase over time, after Takeshi Shuudo left, the anime is noticably focused more on young children, with {{recycled script}}s and a StrictlyFormula format of Ash and the gang helping a local, then riding off into the sunset. As such, [[BrokenBase fans of the games either loathe the anime, or look on it fondly.]] It goes double for areas where the anime never aired, or came in late - it's not unusual to find fans of the game who know nothing about the anime.
* AntiClimaxBoss:
** Trip in the Unova League. Despite being built up as Ash's rival throughout ''Black & White'', Trip loses to him in a 1v1 preliminary match, which also marked the only time Ash ever defeated Trip.
** The conclusion to the Team Aqua and Magma, Team Galactic, and Team Plasma arcs all suffered from this. The battle between Groudon and Kyogre is pathetic and barely-animated, with Archie and Kyogre ending up going down way too easily. Cyrus and Ghetsis are [[TheUnfought not battled at all]], and neither are the Legendaries under their thrall (Dialga & Palkia and Reshiram respectively), who instead get [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath talked down]].
** Averted by Team Rocket in Unova and Team Flare, with Giovanni and Lysandre both bringing things to truly apocalyptic levels before being taken down after a fierce, all-out brawl.
** Zigzagged with the Aether Foundation arc. While the battle itself takes advantage of [[spoiler:an AdaptationalBadass Motherbeast and gets all the companions involved in a 2-episode struggle against it and Lusamine's Pokémon]], most of the fights are considered to not be noteworthy, with only [[spoiler:Lusamine's Absol managing to get an effective hit, as well as Nebby not even participating in battle and Silvally not doing what it was designed to do]]. The subversion comes in that [[spoiler:TalkingTheMonsterToDeath is used less as a resolution and more to allow Ash and Pikachu the final blow.]] [[AssPull Though even that is contested]].
** During the Necrozma arc, [[spoiler:the elite force of Team Rocket known as Matori Matrix is built up as a major threat for the arc, with one of their members even shown to have a ''Mega Aggron'' capable of defeating enemies in one hit. Not only do they never interact with the classmates, said Mega Aggron is ultimately defeated quite abruptly in only one move by having Kukui's Incineroar use Malicious Moonsault on it, which then prompts Matori Matrix to abandon the fight]].
** Ash's battle with Hapu. It's effectively the same as an eighth Gym battle, typically the culmination of Ash's main arc pre-League, however, the battle being 1-on-1, Ash using Pikachu instead of [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter the underused Rowlet and Torracat]] and the battle, itself, not even starting until halfway into the episode contributed towards the battle being underwhelming. This was compounded by very few strategies used and [[spoiler: Pikachu's victory by splashing Mudsdale with regular seawater to make it weak to Electric attacks (something that, even with a HandWave, has [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness never happened past the infamous Brock Gym battle]]) and ending, as usual, with Gigavolt Havoc]], making the fight lackluster.
* ArcFatigue:
** Ash's quest ToBeAMaster has been going on for over ''twenty years'' now. Heck, he's [[NotAllowedToGrowUp still 10 years old]]; some say that he looks ''younger'' than when he started. It doesn't help that with each new arc he hits a ResetButton on his team, his Pikachu's level, his own experience as a trainer, and that he never catches particularly many Pokémon each region (if you consider that one of the qualities of a master, it's never clearly outlined). Compare this to Gary whom eventually quit his journey and got a job as an advanced Pokémon researcher under his grandfather's prestigious name reviving dinosaurs from fossils. [[spoiler:It takes him 22 years to finally win a Pokemon League Conference and even then, that's only the first step to becoming a Pokemon Master.]]
** Johto took 160 episodes. Compounded by the fact that there was only one main quest (Contests and the like would not be introduced until [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire the next season]]). Some contend that the Whirl Islands {{Tournament|Arc}} and [[TheCameo Special Guest]] arcs could've been removed, but that would have had the tied-for-4th longest gap between badges (27 episodes) succeeded by what would have been the ''shortest'' gap (1 episode, usurping Kanto's [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Boulder-Cascade's and Marsh-Rainbow]] gaps of ''2'').[[note]]The Whirl Islands arc, in total, lasted only 14 episodes, 15 if you count the battle with Jasmine.[[/note]]
** Sinnoh lasted 191 episodes [[note]] As much as the Hoenn and Battle Frontier arcs in total [[/note]], and is to date still the single longest arc in the anime. It also holds the record for both the longest and second longest gaps between Gym battles, with 31 episodes between Gardenia and Maylene and '''52''' episodes between Candice and Volkner.[[note]]Kanto actually has the 3rd longest at 28 between Koga and Blaine.[[/note]] Granted, in these gaps we had the buildup and resolution, respectively, of ''both'' the Contest and Team Galactic arcs, and the first further justified by the distance between those two Gyms[[note]]the latter having no such excuse[[/note]], but that still meant that the [[MythArc main quest]] was demoted to '''[[ThirdLineSomeWaiting C-Plot]]''' status ''twice''.
** ''Sun & Moon'' only ran for 146 episodes, but nevertheless is believed by some fans to suffer from it. The beginning of the series was mostly spent with a rather laidback pacing that focused more on trying to capitalize on the new format to focus on some unique fillers that couldn't be done in previous series. While said pacing was seen as being rather balanced between progression and less important episodes up to the Akala arc, the period after that (the ''Ultra Adventures'' part of the series post-Aether arc in particular) had a rather massive drought of important developments happening, with not many major captures aside from Ash's Poipole [[spoiler:which was released roughly 20 episodes later after never being involved in battles save for a few semi-serious instances]], no evolutions beyond Ash's Litten and Mallow's Steenee, and no major milestones beyond the short Ula'Ula and Necrozma arcs (the latter of which felt remarkably self-contained in terms of story importance). While the subsequent ''Ultra Legends'' season heightened the pace of important episodes, with more battles, team changes, and story and character development (including the long-awaited debut of [[EnsembleDarkhorse Team Skull Boss Guzma]]), some fans feel this started going too far in the ''opposite'' direction, with a lot of characters obtaining notable boosts in quick successions in a way that felt contrived. This wasn't helped by the fact it became obvious that the characters received them so they could complete in [[CosmicDeadline the Alola League]].
*** The trials. With huge gaps in between each of Ash's trials (albeit to deal with other plot points), it makes what most consider the main plot feel relegated to C-Plot status.[[note]]There is a 38-episode gap between Ash's grand trial with Olivia and his first attempt at a grand trial with Nanu, which rivals some of the gaps between Ash's Gym battles in Sinnoh.[[/note]] Its a bit more glaring than in previous series due to the fact that Ash isn't WalkingTheEarth and normally stays put on Melemele Island where he attends school (with occasional visits to Akala). Basically Ash advances his Island Trials [[CosmicDeadline when the writers feel like they showcased the newest game plot point and tie-in long enough]].
* ArchivePanic: A 1000+ episodes, 20+ movies, numerous TV specials and movie shorts. Anyone who wants to watch all the episodes of the anime better be prepared for tons of sleepless nights, or at least several breaks, since there's so many episodes. Even if you restrict yourself to the dub, [[MissingEpisode which cut out many episodes from the Japanese original]], there's still tons to get through. And say you still decide to just restrict yourself to one arc? The official [=DVDs=] for the Kanto arc alone have 78-79 episodes, depending on the edition you own, and that's ''after'' removing a few episodes here and there.
* AssPull:
** Many an attack has had its power mitigated by introducing strange physics into battle at the writers' convenience -- in the rematch for the Thunder Badge, Pikachu safely {{No Sell}}s Raichu's Thunderbolt by balancing on its tail and using it as a ground to divert the electricity. Said strategy got an explicit CallBack in the ''Journeys'' series, only with the usage of Iron Tail to serve as a proper ground.
** The [[MemeticMutation very well known]] "Aim for the horn!" trick used during Ash's first fight against Blaine, which somehow allowed Pikachu to ignore the Ground-type Rhydon's immunity to Electric attacks by [[ShapedLikeItself aiming for its horn]]. While Ash didn't win the match due to this, it's still easily the most well known example of the writers' disregard for the games' rules.
** During the battle against Tate and Liza in ''Advanced'', Pikachu uses "Thunder Armor", an improvised move that has him use Thunder on himself and Swellow to increase their power and speed (WITHOUT even damaging themselves) and let them beat Lunatone and Solrock with an Electric-infused Aerial Ace. It comes out of nowhere with no real foreshadowing, and the technique is never used again.
*** At one point in the ''Advanced'' saga May had Bulbasaur use a Razor Leaf to divert an incoming Fire Blast. No explanation is given for how this works, as the leaves should burn up due to the fire.
** Ash's loss in the Sinnoh League. Tobias shows up, having no prior appearance, with a ''Darkrai'' at the League and one-shots half of Ash's Pokemon. When Ash beats Tobias's first, he sends out a ''[[OlympusMons Latios!]]'' Who then wipes the floor with Ash's remaining Pokemon before drawing with Pikachu. Nothing is ever explained about how Tobias had those two and he is never heard from again.
** Some Pokémon captures that are just suddenly given to certain characters without any explanation whatsoever could be viewed as such. Brock's Zubat that he caught off-screen at the entrance of Mt. Moon, and James' Weepinbell that he apparently left at Butch and Cassidy's fake Breeding Center, are prime examples of this.
*** The reveal in ''Pokémon Journeys'' that Delia's housekeeper Mr. Mime was actually one of Ash's Pokémon this entire time is viewed as this by some people. Since the show never once hinted at it being under Ash's ownership up to this point except for very obscure pieces of japanese promotion (notably, he wasn’t in the picture of all Ash’s Pokémon residing in Pallet taken at the end of the BW series), the fanbase always assumed that "[[InUniverseNickname Mimey]]" either stayed a wild Mr. Mime, or was caught by Delia.
** During the climax of the Aether Foundation arc, [[spoiler:Ash's Electrium-Z spontaneously turns into a Pikashunium-Z, allowing him and Pikachu to unleash 10000 Volt Thunderbolt against the Motherbeast. No explanation for what happened is given, and the Pikashunium-Z returns to be an Electrium-Z after the move]]. This isn't helped by the fact that it keeps happening later and never gets an explanation, aside from a vague and poetic talk about the “Power of Alola” in its final usage that does little to contextualize why it happened when it did prior.
** Hidden Power has been vaguely used to reverse certain situations: usually an attacking move, it's also used to heal Brandon and his Regis.
* AuthorsSavingThrow: Each generation seems to fix individual complaints from the series before it:
** ''Advanced Generation'', after the initial controversy of Misty being removed from the cast, fixed a number of issues from the padding that Johto introduced, making the plot move forward quickly with both Ash's Gym badges and May's Contests (with this well-received after Misty's own character being relegated to very little in Johto). On top of this, a stronger focus on a smaller team that prevented the Hoenn Pokémon from getting the shaft the way [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter most of Ash's Johto team did]] helped, especially with his old Pokémon getting ADayInTheLimelight during the acclaimed Battle Frontier arc.
** ''Diamond and Pearl'' as a series addressed the issue of a lack of rivals for Ash that the ''Advanced Generation'' series showed by bringing in not only ''three'' major rivals for Ash, but Paul, who is widely praised as Ash's best rival to this day (despite his BaseBreakingCharacter status) for the way he pushed him, all the way down to their 3-part battle (an event never seen before or since). It likewise addressed the relatively lackluster Contest arc of ''Advanced Generation'' by making the competition in Sinnoh more fleshed out, much tougher and requiring Dawn to constantly train as opposed to what some saw as May's lucky wins. Even Team Rocket, mainly Jessie, had more moments of being legitimate opponents compared to Hoenn, here [[TookALevelInBadass managing to make the Grand Festival and get all the way to the semifinals]].
*** It also was the first series to seriously tackle a villain plot from the games, with Galactic largely praised and setting the tone for further integration of a strong villain plot in later series.
** ''Best Wishes'', for all of its issues, helped to instate a swifter pacing approach taken in later series, as well as making Team Rocket an integral part of the plot for at least the first 100 episodes, rather than just Ash's stalkers. It also limited their appearances where they would simply not show up for a few episodes, allowing for more variety of plots that don't involve Team Rocket being shoehorned somewhere and could have the twerps feel more proactive to the story. The abundance of rivals and smaller tournaments, and an equal balance of the three companions in terms of cast involvement in episodes also helped, especially after Brock’s [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter general uselessness through most of Diamond and Pearl]].
*** Within the series itself, the final half did gradually try to fine tune the controversial new dynamics and characterizations to make an even balance. Ash slowly regained some of his former competence while keeping his more humorous side, Team Rocket by contrast regained their old personalities and roles as the buffoonish main villains, while still offering more creative and challenging schemes and occasionally taking a backseat for twerp-exclusive stories. Iris humbled into a less arrogant character without losing all her spunk. Cilan remained mostly stagnant, though this was still considered an improvement over Brock's eventual demotion beforehand.
** ''XY'' corrected many of ''Best Wishes''' faults by giving Ash a smaller, condensed team as in past series, rather than the rotation of multiple Pokemon, restoring his competence as a skilled trainer rather than a rookie while maintaining Team Rocket's ability to take the main characters to task in the early parts of the series ([[VillainForgotToLevelGrind until the heroes began to outpace them in strength]]). Add to this that Ash finally obtains his first ''fully-evolved'' Water-type starter Pokémon, and Bonnie is seen as, at least, an improvement over Max as a TagalongKid, since she has a direct impact on the plot in the end.
*** The Mega Evolution specials played a part in this, as well, not only introducing a deuteragonist in Alain that catered to the PeripheryDemographic, but also tied into the widely-praised Team Flare plot. In the end, the Specials showed how a villainous plot could be built up over the series (even if not intersecting with the main characters until the final third) and still end with an emotional and intense five-part finale that [[BrokenBase undid the damage of the Kalos League for some]].
** ''Sun and Moon'' can be seen as this to those who disliked either aspects of ''XY'' or those who were tired of the formulaic nature of past series, namely the fact that Ash is far more expressive (compared to his more goal-focused personality in previous series), a larger focus on individual Pokémon relationships, sparser, more progressive usage of Team Rocket as an antagonistic force, and giving Ash and other main characters Z-Moves right from the very first episode (where none had Mega Evolution in ''XY'' besides Alain), along with more {{Call Back}}s and {{Continuity Nod}}s, up to and including a guest appearance by Brock and Misty, compared to the relatively self-contained ''XY''. To some, Ash’s stationary location at the Pokémon School is also a factor, especially since it downplays the use of {{One Shot Character}}s in favor of a recurring supporting cast. [[spoiler:Finally, the series' deviation from formula also allowed Ash to make several breakthroughs as a trainer, such as officially catching mythical tier Pokemon for the first time and, most iconically, finally winning a Pokemon League, likely in response to the massive backlash over Ash not winning the Kalos League after massive ArcFatigue began to set in within the series.]]
*** With the English dub, one of the biggest complaints was that the original Japanese soundtrack was getting replaced more and more often, especially once [=TPCi=] took over, to the point that by ''XY'', almost none of the original OST would make it into the dub. Starting with ''Sun and Moon'', the dub started fixing this in two ways: '''1)''' It started using the Japanese OST for the more important parts of some episodes ([[spoiler:Poipole's farewell]], Bewear vs Pheromosa) and '''2)''' had the dub make music that was arguably more fitting than the Japanese soundtrack in some instances (Episode 21 in particular getting praise).
** ''Pokémon Journeys'' can be seen as continuing the BreakingOldTrends approach ''Sun and Moon'' began while fixing some of the biggest gripes people had with ''Sun and Moon''. The first teaser announcement confirmed right off the bat that the series would be visiting ''every'' region, not just Galar, further shaking up the show's formula while putting the focus back on adventure after some fans felt turned off by the focus on slice of life and wacky hijinks of the Alola series. The art style was also tweaked after the major backlash the ''Sun and Moon'' artstyle got (especially for [[YouDontLookLikeYou what it did to Ash]]), meeting the original style and the animation-friendly ''SM'' style in the middle, with Ash himself more resembling his better received ''The Power of Us'' look.
*** On another note, one of the major complaints of ''Sun and Moon'' was that the Pokémon School, in spite of being the big hook of the season, was [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot fairly underutilized]] with very few plots related to it or time spent focusing on the lessons, making it seem more like an excuse to keep Ash stuck in Melemele than a core part of the show, alongside never giving a straight reason for why Ash choose to enroll and baffling old fans about why a veteran trainer would need to go to school now, especially with Ash's wanderlust being an important part of his character. ''Pokémon Journeys'' fixes this by making Ash a research fellow for a Pokémon Laboratory and ensuring that the region-hopping premise is due to Ash's work for it, making it a proactive part of the show alongside showing clearly why Ash got the job in the second episode. The new role has also been better received by the fandom for feeling more in-tune with Ash's characterization.
** Another complaint of the ''Sun and Moon'' series that caused the BrokenBase surrounding it was that the stationary setting, while seen as a breath of fresh air by a part of the fanbase, ultimately led to the pacing of the series feeling arbitrary (as explained under ArcFatigue) due to a milestone-based progression not fitting too well with an Ash that mostly stays still in one place. ''Pokémon Journeys'' fixes it by having Ash's goal for the season be qualifications to the Pokémon World Championships to face the current World Champion Leon, replacing the typical badge quest with a ranking system where the majority of battles lead to progress, replacing the milestone-based progression with a progressive grind that allows for Ash to move closer to his goal at a faster pace, alongside removing traveling as a necessity and ensuring Ash doesn't need to constantly travel to Galar to improve his ranking. Alongside Goh catching several Pokémon at a fast pace as part of his goal and the generally lower number of cast members, this allows the Generation VIII series to have a constant feeling of progress after everything is established.
** The anime in general tends to fix the complaints about how useless the adults (mainly the gym leaders and Elite Four) can be in the games. Lance is more useful in the two-part lake rage episode with the red Gyarados (with Pryce saving Ash and co the last minute). Norman is useful in helping Ash and co stop Team Rocket, Maylene helps out Officer Jenny in one episode against Team Galatic, while the recurrent Officer Jennys of the series assist the cast multiple times. The best example of all was in the 4 parter episode of XY with Team Flare when ''all the gym leaders'' show up and help stop Team Flare's [[AxCrazy psycho]] boss Lysandre.
*** The attitudes of the gym leaders Whitney and Clair were changed to make them not act like {{Sore Loser}}s whenever they would lose battles, especially the latter who would make the protagonist take a trip to the Dragon's Den to prove his/herself worthy of the last badge.
* AwardSnub: An infamous example of this happened at the 2000's Kids Choice Awards. The anime, which was at its peak popularity at the time, was nominated for "Favorite Cartoon". Because of this, many people expected ''Pokemon'' to reign victorious, only for ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', one of Nickelodeon's own shows, to win. Adding more salt to the wound, some saw the snub as a way to plug the ''WesternAnimation/RugratsInParis'' film, as after the winner was announced, they cut to a specially-animated sequence of Angelica Pickles.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: If there's one element of the show that is praised for consistently improving upon it's the animation quality, with ''XY'' in particular providing a larger selection of much sharper and more fluid battle and action scenes, with ''SM'' expanding on that with a looser art style that enabled the team to cut corners in order to churn out far more expressive animation on a regular basis. Note the attention to detail is often no less, animator Iwane Masa'aki tweeted he thought he would die making [[https://www.sakugabooru.com/post/show/41487 a scene in "Faba's Revenge!"]].
* AwesomeEgo: Gary is incredibly smug about his abilities and knowledge as a trainer during the original series, but the way the show portrays him is so over-the-top it's hard to not enjoy it. Even though he's only a 10-year-old he has his own car, [[KidAnova a group of cheerleaders that always follow him around]], and he was able to get 10 badges to qualify for the Indigo Plateau even though only 8 were required. This lead to several memes such as [[MemeticBadass GARY OAK]] to declare how awesome he is.
* BadassDecay:
** In the first season, Gary was always three steps ahead of Ash, rolling around the region in a Corvette with teenage cheerleaders, acting like a total jerk to Ash whenever they met, flaunting his superiority. Then after a BreakTheHaughty moment occurs when he loses a big match, Gary is far more modest and humble out of nowhere, only lightly teasing Ash for the rest of his rivalry.
** When introduced, Brock was a cool headed Gym Leader and a genuine threat. After joining Ash and Misty, his character became softer and comedic, with his battling became less frequent (and more prone to suffering TheWorfEffect). Just by looking at his previous most used Pokémon (Onix) and one of his last teams (Happiny and Bonsly), one can start to notice the difference. Generally most return appearances after his tenure as main character tend to subvert this and showcase his competent side more often, in particular his two returns in ''Sun and Moon'' where he could hold his own against powerhouses such as Kiawe and Olivia, even if his comedic lovesick persona is still very prevalent.
** Jessie's Lickitung. It was one of the most powerful Pokémon they ever owned; it easily defeated Ash's Bulbasaur, Brock's Vulpix, and Pikachu, before it was eventually defeated by Misty's Psyduck. In later appearances it was defeated easily by Ash's Pokémon, especially Pikachu, who previously couldn't even harm it.
** In-story case. Ash's Charizard was repeatedly trashed, demeaned, and outshone during the episode featuring the Charicific Valley, in order to justify Ash leaving it behind. However, it should be noted that unlike most examples, Charizard is still seen as one of Ash's strongest, coming back after that moment to not only defeat Clair, Gary and injure Harrison's Blaziken, but also becoming the first of Ash's team to defeat a Legendary. Given the head Charizard of the valley was implied to have a ''crush'' on Ash's by a later episode, he supposedly evolved out of being the runt of the litter.
** Turtwig. In his first major battle, he was able to beat a Rampardos that's more than four times his size. Then writers turned him into a {{Jobber}} to make Paul (and by extension, Infernape) look stronger. Torterra was ''meant'' to still be considered strong, but beating nobody except [[GoldfishPoopGang Team Rocket]] seriously weakened his cred.
** Team Rocket during ''Black and White'' took a level in badass, and had become a viable threat. But then in X and Y, they went back to being a GoldfishPoopGang (if a [[ForgotFlandersCouldDoThat slightly more formidable one]] than before).
** Goodra and Noivern seem to be heading this way. Prior to getting PutOnTheBus, Goodra was able to win Ash his 5th gym badge and save his homeland. Meanwhile, after evolving, Noivern was able to give [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu a Zapdos a run for its money]]. Come the Kalos League, [[spoiler:neither Pokémon is able to get a single straight win in both of Ash's full battles.]]
** Downplayed for Kiawe who, similar to Brock, started off as a stoic and cool headed battler in the early parts of ''Sun and Moon'', though shortly after, his personality became increasingly comical as the battles became less frequent. However, he did retain his skill level whenever the plots became more intense (such as the Akala and Poni Island trips and the climax of the Aether Foundation arc). This is particularly noticeable in the Alola League, as he was the only other main cast member besides Ash to make it all the way to the semifinals.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
** The Johto episode "Hocus Pokémon". The gang helped a magician, Lily, find ingredients in order to help her complete a spell that would allow her to understand Pokémon speech. Ash volunteered to be the guinea pig, but the spell ended up turning him into a Pikachu instead. The spell carried over into the beginning of the next episode As Clear as Crystal, but wore off after a few seconds.
** Also from ''Diamond and Pearl'' is the evil Togepi episode "Where No Togepi Has Gone Before!" that had the main cast randomly sent to space for a few minutes (which included a cameo from a Rayquaza).
* BileFascination: The episodes in which Ash loses a League, particularity the Kalos League, gained this reputation by the curiosity of the backdraft generated by fans.
* BizarroEpisode: Several ''Sun and Moon'' episodes qualify due to the huge break in formula and even many episodic plots being far more random or unusual than the usual format of the show. In particular, the seventeenth episode in the series is ADayInTheLimelight for the Rotomdex, seeing it play CluelessDetective after Ash loses his Electrium-Z crystal.
* BrokenBase: [[BrokenBase/PokemonAnime Has it's own page.]]
* CantUnHearIt: While the voice actor change for the main characters is usually diverse, many agree that Creator/EricStuart is this for both Brock and James.
* CatharsisFactor: Regardless of the debatable quality of the League itself, [[spoiler:''finally'' seeing Ash ''win'' an official game related Pokemon League after 22 years of trying and failing was ''major'' catharsis for those who stuck around since the start way back in the 90s.]]
* CommonKnowledge:
** Gary's starter is commonly mistaken to be Eevee, the first and only Pokémon he sends out against Ash for a long time. This is also fueled by Eevee being the starter for the rival in the anime-inspired ''Yellow'' game. He actually started with Squirtle, which won't be shown until his confrontation with Ash in the Silver Conference as a Blastoise.
** People like to assume the reason Ash doesn't evolve some of his Pokémon, especially Pikachu, is because he wouldn't let them. However, at no point was Ash ever against his Pokémon evolving--he enthusiastically welcomed it every single time it happened. Even with Pikachu, in the two episodes that Ash considers evolving him (''Electric Shock Showdown'' and ''Pika And Goliath''), Pikachu has been the one that refuses the offer, even in a dream (''Dream a Little Dream from Me!''), and Ash keeps him as a Pikachu to respect his partner's wishes. In addition, the other unevolved Pokémon in the series also refused evolution (Ash's Bulbasaur and Dawn's Piplup), or their time simply never came (Everyone else).
** People often believe that Ash won his Gym Battle with Brock by setting off the sprinkler system by accident. In fact Ash ultimately forfeited that battle because he ''didn't'' want to win by cheating.
** It's widely believed that Erika banned Ash from her gym because he didn't like her perfume line. In truth, she only banned him from her ''store''; it was her ''assistants'' who kept Ash from entering the gym out of petty revenge. Once Ash managed to sneak in, Erika was fine with battling him, even pointing out how Gym Leaders must accept challenges from trainers.
** Following [[spoiler:Ash's loss in the Kalos League]] the rumors that they had hired the "BW writers" for it flared up, along with the constant saying that "XY hired new writers". However, the series, until ''Sun and Moon'', always had all the same writers (Tomioka, Matsui, Yonemura, Fujita, etc.) since the original series with no "BW writers" or "XY writers".
** A very commonly seen statement regarding Serena's character is that she left home solely [[StrangledByTheRedString to find Ash, follow him around, revolved around him and that she blushed every time they were on-screen together]], that their meeting in childhood was a hint that they were ChildhoodFriends which was retconned in, and that the concept of Amourshipping was out-of-character for Ash. However, in the show, Serena says she left home to get away from Rhyhorn Racing, only joined Ash's group after he asked her, searched for her own goal which became the focus of her CharacterArc, and rarely blushed around Ash until later in the series (and even then, it was reserved for certain episodes). Likewise, the show never treated them as an explicit romantic pairing, with only Serena having clear feelings and Ash being [[ObliviousToLove his usual dense self]].
** Following Ash's victory in the Alola League, a common sentiment among certain fans has been to refer to him as a Champion, putting him on par with estabilished game ones such as Lance and Cynthia, and expressed frustration over the fact that the following series doesn't appear to directly acknowledge it. Thing is, as clarified by the well-known translator Dephender, [[https://forums.serebii.net/threads/september-15th-sm139-hes-born-the-alolan-league-winner.670070/page-9#post-18837114 this is born from a misunderstanding]] [[https://forums.serebii.net/threads/september-29th-sm141-final-battle-satoshi-vs-kukui.670072/page-40#post-18854091 of what Ash's title actually means]]. Ash is consistently referred to as the Champion of the Alola ''League'', while in the past Champions were consistently referred to in Japanese as the Champions of the X ''Region'', and the way Ash has been referred to doesn't have a prior example with in-game regions. Considering the fact that even in the last few episodes of ''Sun & Moon'' Ash is allowed to leave the region without much fanfare and he didn't appear to gain any responsibilities towards the region, the title seems to more closely match up being just a League Conference Winner (such as Tobias and Alain) or the very similar Orange League Champion title (which, much like Alola's, didn't come with responsibilities nor taking over a position of authority).[[note]]One reason for the confusion is that, while previous series estabilished that after winning a Conference the trainers had the possibility to face the 'Champions League' to defeat Elite Four and Champion for the title, Alola doesn't have one, and between the several liberties Alola took with the League format (to the point of never calling the League 'Manalo Conference' like previous game-based League would have), Ash appears to have taken the "Alola League Champion" title by default. As the series didn't take time to properly explain if the title is more akin to a permanent position or more like the similarly-named Orange League Champion that's just a title for the winner of the competition, the audience is really only left to puzzle out what the title means, even if the following series doesn't act like the title puts Ash on the level of Lance and Leon.[[/note]]
* CompleteMonster: The whole Pokémon franchise now has its own list, [[Monster/{{Pokemon}} seen here, where you can find the examples from this anime]].
* ContestedSequel: ''Sun & Moon'' to a higher degree than any past series. Fans either praise it for breaking from a stale formula, having a much more expressive art style, animation and cast, its lighthearted and comedic tone and its focus on slice of life, or dislike it for being directionless and poorly paced, several old and new characters being mishandled or poorly represented, the downgrade in battle presentation, and seemingly putting more focus on incidental stuff than what should be the main plot. There's little middle ground to be found.
* CreepyAwesome:
** Conway remains an EnsembleDarkhorse well after the end of ''Diamond and Pearl'' due to his hilariously disturbing demeanor (A BadassBookworm strategist frequently framed in ScaryShinyGlasses while speaking in a CreepyMonotone) and equally creepy awesome Pokémon.
** Jessie's Mimikyu runs off the sheer hatred and contempt of Pikachu because of how much love he gets. Fans love this for being somewhat of a TakeThat to the species while being highly disturbing, especially the animation of the disguise ability.
** Guzma's Golisopod counts, if its menacing giant isopod-samurai-tank design along with a brutal fighting style that makes Mimikyu look tame doesn't make it a huge EnsembleDarkhorse more popular than it was. Then its English Dub voice went from a soft sounding PokemonSpeak to a [[https://twitter.com/PrinceOfPufftop/status/1154248537514754048 more monstrous sounding version of it]] further emphasized it which fans have [[SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound absolutely enjoyed it.]]
* CreepyCute: Many of Team Rocket's Pokémon are supposed to be menacing antagonists to Ash and his friends, but at the same time, they're just as cute and endearing as the protagonist's Pokémon.
** There are many pokémon that can qualify as this. Of particular note is Jessie's Pumpkaboo[=/=]Gourgeist in Kalos, whose true face is just a couple button eyes and an expressive mouth. It has CuteLittleFangs as Pumpkaboo as well.
** Jessie's Mimikyu is portrayed as a terrifying creature due to its intense personality, but remember that its still a tiny little costumed creature.
** James' Mareanie. Get under the starfish-like tentacles, and she's actually pretty cute.
* CriticalBacklash:
** After the huge backlash stirred up by Ash's loss at the Kalos League, some fans who saw it as a ForegoneConclusion were confused by the amount of vitriol it stirred up, and found it ridiculous that some people claimed that it retroactively ruined the whole Kalos series.
** When the ''Sun and Moon'' anime trailer was first shown, there was a massive TaintedByThePreview among the fanbase, due to several factors such as the overly "gag show"-ish nature, Ash's hideous face, the removal of Serena, the much more "rounded" animation style, Ash's hideous face, the fallout and resentment against the anime due to the Kalos league, the school setting, and [[RuleOfThree Ash's hideous face]]. Then when the first episode was released, many fans retracted their opinion, as while Ash did become more wacky, he still was competent, and while the storytelling was more comedic, it managed to win some fans over with its different approach. Despite this, the show was still very controversial due to the other reasons above.
* CriticalResearchFailure:
** The many times that attacks have worked on types they should be immune against, with the prime example being Pikachu's Electric attacks damaging Ground-types yet are easily brushed off by types that are weak to it on more than one occasion.
** A large number of moves, especially those that are defensive in nature, are shown working very differently than they do in the games, like Light Screen and Reflect being able to outright block attacks as opposed to halving damage, Safeguard ''also'' being a glorified Protect instead of just blocking status moves, and Heal Bell being used to calm Pokémon to stop them from fighting. Though in later seasons, most of these moves are depicted much more accurately.
*** The move Aerial Ace is drastically different from its game counterpart. Aerial Ace is meant to be a swordfighting technique that can be learned by pretty much anything with claws or talons but is only used by Flying-types in the anime as a glorified Tackle. Fortunately, the move is depicted more accurately when used by Ash's Greninja.
*** The first couple of times Dragon Rage is seen in the anime, it takes the form of a massive cyclone as opposed to in the games, where it is simply fairly weak breath attack. A Dragon-type move that [[HilariousInHindsight actually takes the form of a twister]] would later be introduced in Generation II, and Dragon Rage is more accurately depicted from then on.
*** Pokémon moves that exhaust the user afterwards, or need to be charged up beforehand, are very rarely ever used properly throughout the anime since the writers tend to ignore the downsides of said moves in favor of faster or well paced battles. What you're left with is witnessing exhaustion moves, like Hyper Beam, not tiring the user out after firing one off, or how charge-up moves, like Sky Attack and Focus Punch, get activated almost instantly. Depending on the episode, sometimes the exhaustion effect does actually happen in an episode, though more often it is used when the opposing Pokemon needs a way to defeat the one using the move. On the other hand, flying Pokemon such as Scizor and Gliscor utilize a tactic in which the vulnerable portion of such a move can be used to help them fly a long distance into the air from the opponent, which gives them time to recover.
** The 4Kids and (to a lesser extent) [=TPCI=] dubbing companies are prone to compounding this with translation mistakes, such as:
*** Getting attack names wrong, calling certain Pokémon the wrong names, stating the wrong evolution chains and so on.
*** The 4Kids dub-added Trainer's Choice misspelled many Pokémon names, got the ElementalRockPaperScissors wrong on multiple occasions, and once asked "Which Pokémon evolves into Seviper?" They claimed Arbok does, but in reality, Seviper is a fully-contained 'mon that doesn't evolve from or into anything.
*** The 27th episode of Advanced Generation, "A Three Team Scheme," was one of the biggest examples of 4Kids glossing over stuff that appeared in the Gen III games. Not only did they mistake Tabitha of Team Magma and Shelly of Team Aqua by calling them "Harland" and "Isabel" respectively, they also ended up calling the Red and Blue Orbs as the "Rose" and "Indigo" Orbs. These errors are fixed in later episodes.
*** One of the earlier episodes in ''both'' versions confidently stated that Pinsir evolves into Tauros. They don't, and aren't even remotely similar in design to warrant the confusion.
*** On more than one occasion, the Fire-type has been referred to as the "Flame-type", and at least one of these occurred late in the Johto arc. You would think at least the voice actors would have caught that one.
** From the Johto episode, "Wired for Battle," Shingo orders his Scizor to "finish it off with [[HpToOne False Swipe]]." In this example's defense, the anime portrays this exactly like what would happen if you tried to finish a Pokémon off with False Swipe as Ash's Heracross wasn't actually knocked out by the attack. CriticalResearchFailure would have been a lot worse had the knock out actually happened, but the question still remains if the creators at the time forgot that False Swipe doesn't defeat Pokémon.
** Very rarely do the anime writers take a Pokémon's game-defined weight into consideration. What you're left with is seeing some very strange, but funny, occurrences where the characters (children in particular) will be holding up Pokémon that they should have no business being able to lift. May and Max being able to pick up a 231-pound Munchlax is probably the most infamous case, but some other noteworthy examples include Ash carrying around a 158-pound Larvitar on his back, or when he was holding up a 109-pound Hippopotas on his head.
* CriticProof: For all the complaints critics and older fans have for the series and the movies, nothing they say has an impact on their success (WordOfGod even says this is by design -- [[FleetingDemographicRule right as the current demographic is disillusioned, the uninformed/carefree next one starts to tune in, keeping the cycle going]]). The movies in particular never had a continued slump until the Kalos era, whose movies were relative disappointments and the lowest-grossing of all (though still making a lot), and still managed to make a large comeback with the next film.
* DelusionConclusion: Some fans speculate that Ash Ketchum has been in a coma ever since Pikachu electrocuted him in the first episode, and that every adventure he's experienced since then was AllJustADream - as "evidenced" by the fact that Ash has never been seen to age in the years since then.
* DesignatedMonkey: Ash in the ''Sun & Moon'' series is seen as this for some people. While past series did give him some ButtMonkey qualities, the comedic and slapstick tone of Alola means that he ends up receiving far more comedic abuse than even his co-protagonists, such as in episodes like the Ride Stoutland (where his Stoutland ate his pants, in addition to constantly licking him with BigFriendlyDog-like behavior, while the others were all serious) or the Pokemon Center episode (where Ash is forced to crossdress while Kiawe and Sophocles are not for seemingly no reason other than humor). Given that Ash is still the usual NiceGuy he's always been for the most part in ''SM'' and rarely deserves such punishment, treating him like a punching bag feels undeserved for a part of the audience.
* DesignatedVillain:
** An Orange Islands episode involving a school of wild Lapras has, as its villains, a team of what are essentially pirates who are leaving the local police on edge by tracking a herd of wild Pokémon and then...weakening them with Pokémon they already have and tossing Poké Balls to capture them. In other words, exactly the same thing every trainer ever does. All the episode has to go on for [[SelectiveCondemnation why this is a bad thing when these pirates do it]] is mention of a "no-capture zone". Not even that Lapras are rare and endangered and need to be left alone to keep from going extinct, which would make sense with what its Pokédex entries have mentioned - no, just an arbitrary no-capture zone in the middle of the ocean with no actual reason specified for its existence.
** Guzma's tactics in the Alola League (positioning Kangaskhan's child between her and his Scizor so Kangaskhan hesitates to attack, and having Golisopod use Throat Chop on Lana's Primarina to prevent it from using Sparkling Aria) are treated with shock and contempt by the cast...Even though those are valid strategies and Guzma isn't breaking any rules. Zigzagged since Lana does point this out after her defeat when the other students object to his style, while the Kahunas and Kukui's objections with Guzma are more his overall callousness towards his opponents and the league itself than how he wins, never once threatening him with disqualification.
* DontShootTheMessage: Ash's loss in the Indigo League was meant to be ''intentional'', [[RealityEnsues to show that being a scrappy underdog/the protagonist alone doesn't mean you will win]], as a contrast to the 'underdog victories' that were running rampant at that time. However, the unfair circumstances that led up to it combined with Ash still losing each subsequent official league afterwards until [[spoiler: Alola]] despite being less of an underdog as time went on wound up diminishing the message.
* DorkAge:
** The Johto seasons: ''The Johto Journeys'', ''Johto League Champions'', and ''Master Quest''. They have an absurd amount of {{Filler}} (nearly half of the 167 episodes) that spaced out the time between Gym fights too much, the main cast got [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]], and focus on Brock and Misty was lessened. Most of this was due to it being the point when Creator/TakeshiShudo quit the show over the formulaic nature contrasting with his vision.
** For the dub, The Battle Frontier is considered to be the lowest point since it was at this time that the entire English cast was replaced following [=TPCi=] taking over the dubbing, and the new cast hadn't found their footing yet.
** ''Black and White'' and its subsequent seasons. The writers pushed the ResetButton on Ash in such a way that his IdiotHero qualities got highlighted in a negative manner that contradicted his experienced ''Diamond and Pearl'' personality, many highly questionable narrative decisions were made like making the new rival Trip beat Ash's Pikachu in battle with an inexperienced Snivy, the Plasma story arc from the games didn't get involved as the anime advertised until after the TournamentArc was over, and there was some EndingFatigue caused by said Plasma story arc combined with a FillerArc created to stall until ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' were released. Along with this, the movie ''Anime/PokemonGenesectAndTheLegendAwakened'' and its [[ReplacementScrappy controversial Mewtwo character]] caused some heated debate on the anime's relationship with its adult PeripheryDemographic and whether the creative team was capable or willing to cater to older fans ''at all''.
** While the ''XY'' series was typically (though not [[BrokenBase universally]]) seen as an improvement over ''Black and White'', the same cannot be said for the era's movies. ''Anime/PokemonDiancieAndTheCocoonOfDestruction'' and ''Anime/PokemonVolcanionAndTheMechanicalMarvel'' are usually seen as [[ClicheStorm a collection of the series' cliches]] and SoOkayItsAverage, while ''Anime/PokemonHoopaAndTheClashOfAges'' is rather disliked and seen as one of the weakest overall movies.
* EndingFatigue: The quick pace of the Unova season plus the ExecutiveMeddling that surfaced during the development of ''Black 2 and White 2'' resulted in the last 5 months prior to the release of the Gen VI games having an Orange Islands/Battle Frontier-style round of pure, aimless island-hopping filler, only ''without'' a pseudo-tournament like those arcs had. The subsequent ratings drop shows the extent of the wear and tear.
* EvenBetterSequel:
** You can't get a universal sentiment with this [[BrokenBase fandom]], but a fairly common opinion about ''Diamond & Pearl'' is that it took everything ''Advanced Generation'' did right [[note]] [[DumbassNoMore Ash]] being OlderAndWiser, a secondary female protagonist whose quest [[RotatingArcs alternated with Ash's]], a more balanced focus of Ash's regional team including better handling of the regional bird, etc. [[/note]] while rectifying that season’s flaws [[note]] Ash had [[NoAntagonist no rival]] in ''AG'', so ''DP'' introduced [[KnightOfCerebus Paul]]. The Teams Magma & Aqua arc was superfluous, so Team Galactic gets more focus and their storyline is better weaved into the overall narrative, while the main antagonists, Team Rocket, have their GoldfishPoopGang role broken away from more often and [[TeamRocketWins even get sporadic victories]]. And so on and so forth. [[/note]], resulting in an even stronger season in the process.
** While technically the same series, the ''XYZ'' season arc of the ''XY'' series was an improvement over the previous two years of the series in terms of momentum of an ongoing StoryArc and paying off elements that were getting slowly built up before, with the writers going out of their way to also avoid the pratfalls of the third year of ''Best Wishes: Season Two''.
* EvilIsCool:
** Mewtwo. While not a truly "evil" character, it's also praised for its dark backstory and being a chilling portrayal of the original ultimate Pokémon, and even more for its surprising character depth in the Japanese version.
** Pokémon Hunter J. While clearly one of the worst human beings in the show, she's got plenty of RuleOfCool going for her and happens to be pretty damn effective in a show that is starved for competent characters.
** The evil Malamar are also loved by the fandom for the sake of being a rare example of truly evil Pokémon.
* EvilIsSexy: Sabrina, with her miniskirt outfit.
* FandomRivalry:
** Internally, it's pretty much Original Series fans vs. ''Diamond & Pearl'' fans vs. ''X&Y'' fans vs. ''Sun & Moon'' fans whenever the debate of the show's best series rises up. The former two will always be attacked for not aging well by the others, and the latter two will always be attacked for many of the choices made that differ from the previous series. ''Advanced Generation'' is also well-liked, but isn't as debated as the others due to the reasons detailed under SoOkayItsAverage:
** Animé fans vs. ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' fans and game fans, both of whom chide the animé for [[StrictlyFormula its unchanging formula]], [[AnimationAgeGhetto staying focused solely on kids]] when other iterations of the franchise manage to attract and maintain an older PeripheryDemographic, and taking [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks often questionable liberties with the original games' stories and characters]]. Animé fans defend their show for its [[AdaptationExpansion expansion on the locales and characters]], and they point out [[NotSoDifferent similar problems with the opposing media]] (such as the games having a rarely-changing formula and ''Adventures'' applying AdaptationalVillainy to many characters).
** Fans of ''Anime/PokemonOrigins'' and ''Anime/PokemonGenerations'', both of which are less juvenile and TruerToTheText of the games than the main animé, are likely to argue with animé fans over what the "better" animated iteration is, in artstyle, tone, storytelling, etc. To a much lesser extent, there's also the fans of the animated trailers to certain games, which are closer to the aforementioned miniseries than the animé.
** ''Anime/YokaiWatch'' fans and ''Pokémon'' fans are prone to butting heads over whose show is better, particularly in regards to their English dubs. This only escalated when ''Sun & Moon'' retooled the series into a slice-of-life-comedy series with a different art style; ''Yo-kai Watch'' fans accuse this of ripping off their show, while ''Pokémon'' fans argue that the change was made specifically to compete with ''Yo-kai Watch''.
** There was once a pretty big one back in the late 90's with ''Pokémon'' and ''[[Anime/DigimonAdventure Digimon]]''. Even though the two had nothing in common with one another aside from being {{Mon}} series marketed towards children and also served the purpose of being a marketing vehicle for video games and virtual pets respectively, there was definitely the argument of "which one was better" among parts of both fandoms. The Japanese fans of each don't care; there's [[FollowTheLeader plenty more shows like that over there]], especially during that era, but in America you were either a ''Pokémon'' fan or a ''Digimon'' fan; it's possible to like both, but no one could admit it at the time. It also didn't help that the ailing Creator/FoxKids attempted to mimic the success of the former to compete with Creator/KidsWB, up to and including having Patamon, who had some minor similarities to [[SeriesMascot Pikachu]], serve as an unofficial mascot.
** When it was revealed that, after twenty years, the anime was moving to a Sunday slot in Japan to be a part of a new family block, fans of the ''Pokémon'' anime began a rivalry with ''Manga/SazaeSan'' and ''Manga/ChibiMarukoChan'' of all series'. ''Pokémon'' fans were worried the two anime would eclipse ''Pokémon'' in viewership.
* FanMyopia:
** A [[VocalMinority loud contingent]] of ''Sun and Moon'' fans tend to praise the series for supposedly changing everything for the better, calling it the best series out of every region, dismissing anyone who harbors any criticism as a hater or someone salty from [[spoiler:Ash losing the Kalos League]]. This comes with being ignorant of many of ''Sun and Moon's'' flaws such as the more fluid animation and "better" art style being mostly wasted on comedic expressions instead of battles, the shying away from battling in general outside of the trials, which are few and far between, and many questionable writing decisions that fans feel weigh down the impact of many important episodes (the Alola League being where this problem became most apparent). These fans became far more vocal after [[spoiler:Ash won the Alola League, intensifying the split between fans into becoming "fans from every prior series vs ''Sun and Moon'' fans".]]
** To a similar extent, some XY/XYZ fans claim that the series is flawless for engaging in the PeripheryDemographic and making Ash a badass, touting fans who criticize it as having bad taste. This comes with ignoring that series' flaws such as Ash's newfound badasseery coming at the cost of some of his personality, making him feel more like a VanillaProtagonist. Serena being a LoveInterest, while widely loved by these fans, also gets some flak for being built off of a ForgottenFirstMeeting and with her coming off as a SatelliteLoveInterest. That ''XY'' and ''SM'' are almost polar opposites in direction and moderation (especially in arc vs filler quality and abidance of the old formula) does not help the division one bit.
* FanonDiscontinuity:
** Ash being confirmed to still be [[NotAllowedToGrowUp 10 years old]] at the start of ''Black and White'' was NOT accepted by those who believed Ash was just in a slow aging process. That this fact has been reiterated repeatedly since then hasn't deterred these people.
** Some fans tend to dismiss the Orange Islands, Battle Frontier [[spoiler:and Alola]] as actual Ash wins.
*** The Orange Islands tend to be dismissed because they were a filler saga created only for the anime, despite being the arc where Ash captured Snorlax and finally got Charizard to obey him, and both Pokemon would play a big role in giving Ash future victories, such as the one against Gary at the Silver Conference.
*** The Battle Frontier, despite existing in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Pokemon Emerald]]'' and actually playing a role in Ash's rivalry with Paul in the following season, is dismissed as another filler event.
*** [[spoiler:Alola's status as the first 'official' League victory is disputed by some fans for several reasons, among them the LighterAndSofter nature of ''Sun and Moon'' (which always treated battling as a minor concern at best, with several episodes not featuring any battling at all) and the lack of several of the usual hallmarks of a Pokémon League such as badge-esque entrance requirements and a very limited number of Pokémon per match, alongside other complaints such as Ash's fluctuating competence level, the writing seemingly rigging several matches in his favor[[note]]Such as Rowlet managing to survive Decidueye's Z-Move due to his hoodie acting as a shield and Ash getting to resume a match he was declared the loser of, Golisopod's Emergency Exit making it so Ash defeated Guzma's Scizor by accident and turned their match into a 2 VS 1 in Ash's favor, and Ash's Meltan evolving into a Melmetal without any input from Ash and managing to inflict massive damage on Silvally even as it went down[[/note]], and the fact that several of the other trainers who made it to the tournament portion weren't portrayed as particularly strong, all of which contribute to dampening the feeling of the Alola League being on the same level as any of the previous ones, with some going as far as to consider the aforementioned Orange League a worthier achievement.]]
* FirstInstallmentWins:
** Older fans tend to defend the first season (and occasionally the Orange Islands/Johto seasons that are a part of the same series) as legitimately good or at least an enjoyable GuiltyPleasure compared to the later seasons, due to them not having as strict an adherence to [[StrictlyFormula the formula]]. The formula is still there, [[FranchiseOriginalSin just not as blatant as later on in the show's lifetime]]. It also features some episodes that seem [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness downright bizarre]] now, which may add to the appeal for some.
** The first series also remains the most iconic of franchise. The show's image developed in the mind of the general audience during that era and has stuck there since. When most people think of Ash's traveling companions, they think of Misty and Brock; when most people think of Ash's rival, they think of Gary. This is despite the fact that Misty and Brock haven't traveled regularly with Ash in over a decade (nearly ''two'' decades in Misty's case) and Gary stopped being his rival at the end of Johto.
* FountainOfMemes:
** Brock's anime characteristics such as his fondness for women, being able to tell each Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny apart, having his ear pulled for flirting with women by Misty then Max, and eventually being knocked out cold by Croagunk have all stood the test of Pokémon fandom time.
** Team Rocket's various antics, costumes, and plans have all generated their own memetic appeal over the years.
** Gary Oak doesn't just have his anime memes, but his game counterpart Blue's memes as well due to his large fandom.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:G - L]]
* GatewaySeries: A fair few anime fans and fans of other ''Pokémon'' incarnations started with this in their youth.
* GottaShipEmAll: As befitting the alleged TropeNamer, practically every notable character has been shipped with every other character that they've had a decent amount of interaction with that could be construed as romantic. Many of those characters even each borderline qualify as a LauncherOfAThousandShips.
* GrowingTheBeard: In Japan, ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'' showed that Pokémon stories could entertain adults as well as children through compelling characters and interesting storylines - which was one of Takeshi Shudo's goals from the beginning - and the next couple of films followed suit. In the US, the film was dubbed as a straight-up kids' movie (mainly due to 4Kids bowdlerizing the film by changing Mewtwo from a complex character trying to find his purpose in life, to a generic "destroy the world" villain, most likely due to the belief that kids would find the plot too confusing) and only became popular with adult fans years after its debut, but either ''Anime/Pokemon3'' or ''Anime/PokemonLucarioAndTheMysteryOfMew'' more or less filled this role instead.
** ''Master Quest'' for the Johto era. (Seasons 3-5) The Johto era is widely known for its too many filler episodes that spaces way too far out the era's main story involving Ash battling gym leaders to get into the Johto League, Brock and Misty are both relegated in most of the episodes, and most of the episode plots are formulaic with very little variety. (Ash and friends arrive in a new area, they meet a "Character of the Day", Brock falls in love with a pretty girl, and Team Rocket shows up to kidnap Ash's Pikachu and/or other Pokemon they are interested in) Around the middle part of ''Master Quest'', the heavy amount of filler episodes is downplayed, making the gym leader battle episodes a lot less spaced out, the episode plots steer away from the formula and offer episodes that not only brings variety to the formula, but also gives the characters like Team Rocket some development, in which [[Recap/PokemonS5E22DuesAndDonts they even get an episode where they are the main focus with Ash and friends being side characters]]. Brock and Misty's downgraded roles are even downplayed giving them more time to shine.
** ''Advanced Generation'' was seen as a general improvement over the Original Series after a initial rough start: Ash was generally smarter, the pacing issues were amended by having May seek Pokémon Contests out, and the animation improved over the previous seasons. Some fans say it was a case of this trope from the start, while others hold up the ''Battle Frontier'' segment of ''Advanced Generation'' as stronger than the earlier Hoenn-set episodes; this is mostly due to the season's brisk pacing [[note]] only 60 episodes, half the length of the Hoenn set seasons [[/note]], [[EnsembleDarkhorse Ash's Grovyle]] [[TookALevelInBadass evolving into Sceptile]] and becoming a true powerhouse, Ash [[GuestStarPartyMember making frequent use of his reserve Pokémon]], and most significantly, Ash actually seeing his goal through for once by defeating all the Frontier Brains.
** The Mega Evolution specials themselves follow this pattern. Act I focused more on action than story, and mostly served as an introduction to the new cast of characters. Act II introduced more backstory and plot elements, including a PlotTwist for fans of the games that [[spoiler:the main character is working as an UnwittingPawn for Lysandre, secretly the leader of Team Flare]]. It helped that these specials appealed to the PeripheryDemographic, and were later tied into the main series.
* HarsherInHindsight:
** In ''Battle Aboard the St. Anne'', the captain decides to "test out one of the life boats". Then take a look at what happened in Korea in 2015.
** One city in the Kanto saga features mass disappearances of young children. The culprit for this missing persons case? Hypno, who would later gain a reputation for being a MemeticMolester. In ''Sun and Moon'', Faba even uses a Hypno to [[spoiler:forcibly erase Lillie's memories]], furthering this.
** "Volcanic Panic" has Ash and co. try to stop the eruption of Cinnabar Island's volcano. In ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', Cinnabar Island has not only erupted, it's buried the whole island. There was only one year in between the Japanese debuts of the episode and the game.
** In "So You're Having a Bad Day!", Bonnie receives a fortune saying she's going to have her "worst day ever". This episode was first aired in the US on July 11, 2015, which, for many Nintendo fans, did indeed become a very bad day when Creator/SatoruIwata died.[[note]]Although Nintendo didn't announce it to the public until two days later.[[/note]]
** During the penultimate episode of XY, Olympia predicts that Kalos will be facing a great crisis. She's actually referring to the events of ''XYZ'', but one real life month later, Paris was struck with terrorist attacks.
** It is not uncommon for Pokémon Center to be portrayed as an ultimate healing service, even being able to cure cancer from humans. But by the time [=SM021=] rolls around, a Stoutland is brought there, and Nurse Joy couldn't do anything as it's dying from old age.
** James fabricates a fake childhood story in the episode “Holy Matrimony” that has him freeze to death while his Growlithe, Growlie watches and howls in despair. Fast forward twenty years later in Anime/PokemonIChooseYou, Sorrel reveals [[spoiler:that his Luxray died freezing to death when he was a child.]]
** Mallow lashing out at her father and running away becomes even harsher when it's revealed that [[spoiler:her mother died when she was younger, and Mallow [[PartingWordsRegret lashed out angrily at her before her death for always apologizing for getting sick]].]]
* HeartwarmingInHindsight:
** The episode "Noodles; Roamin' Off!", Meowth discovers his Fury Swipes are intricate enough to make him a talented cook and is offered a FriendOrIdolDecision to leave Team Rocket for a successful noodle business. He ultimately stays with the team, though said skill remains a ChekhovsSkill throughout many of Jessie's coordinator escapades, even [[TeamRocketWins winning contests and showcases]]. A talent that nearly had him abandon his teammates for business ventures instead helps one of them with their own.
** In a sense, nearly all of the Team Rocket trio's idolizing and yearning for Giovanni's respect becomes heartwarming when they finally achieve success in ''Black and White'' and become respected agents, even managing to save Giovanni's life at one point.
** Pretty much any rare praise or encouragement [[NoRespectGuy Ash]] got at the start of the series about his potential to become a good trainer becomes heartwarming by the later periods of the anime, especially by ''XY'' where he verges as TheAce for his current team.
** Both voice actresses for Ash noted Greninja's departure scene in ''XY'' to have been emotional for them, helped partially due to the tragic coincidence of them both losing pets shortly before voicing the scene (a dog and a cat for Rica Matsumoto and Sarah Natochenny respectively). Come the next series, two of the Pokemon Ash captures and develops affectionate bonds with are Rockruff and Litten, a dog and a cat.
** These line from the very first Japanese Pokemon opening became this after Ash[[spoiler:finally won a Pokemon League.]]
---> "Chase your dreams, keep them close, they'll eventually come true. So it's said in all those songs and childhood stories. And I know just like flower buds eventually will bloom, that all my dreams will soon come true."
* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct:
** No matter which language you're watching, there is one consistent; Team Rocket's actors can make you laugh ''and'' cry.
** For the [=TPCi=] dub, Sarah Natochenny has really stepped up her voice-acting ability as Ash ever since her early Battle Frontier days.
* HoYay:
** A lot of Ash and Alain's dialogue to and about each other can come off this way, which also isn't helped by the fact that [[spoiler: Ash is the one who ultimately triggers Alain's HeelRealization about Team Flame, not to mention his internal dialogue about Ash during their match with one another.]]
** In ''[=JN03=]'' Goh is visibly blushing whenever Ash reaches out his hand and is frozen in adoration at the boy's heroics. Goh is also very flustered when asking Ash if they're still friends, his face red and going redder when Ash confirms it as if he doesn't want to be just that. This continues in the following episodes, Goh being completely comfortable with reaching for Ash's hand, patting his shoulder, hugging him, and faintly blushing at his compliments.
--->'''Ash:''' What are you talking about? Of course, we're friends!\\
'''Goh:''' O-oh, right! *stammers and his face lights up like a tomato* Of course! *nervous laughter*
* IdiosyncraticShipNaming: Pick any two characters. There is a ___Shipping name for them. The more complete lists have thousands of entries. [[http://shipping.bulbagarden.net/ Here's the list]].
* IronWoobie: Ash Ketchum never wins any regional tournament, is constantly chased by Team Rocket for his Pokémon, has to see friends go in separate ways to achieve their own dreams and has even died temporarily multiple times. But that never stops him from taking joy in his adventures and forming meaningful relationships with the people he knows, not to mention he saves the world on a yearly basis through ThePowerOfFriendship and HeroicResolve. It takes a lot to make Ash depressed, but when that happens, he always finds the strength to soldier on.
* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: One of the show's biggest criticisms, as not much has actually changed in 20+ years:
** Every episode hits the same beats as all the others, and the plot resolutions are very predictable. Even the deviations from the norm (like Gym Leader battles) have their own norm that rarely, if ever, is broken. The lack on any overarching plot does not help at all (ToBeAMaster does not count to some when the main character is perceived as being no closer to his goals than when he started).
** The movies get this treatment too. One can count on a typical ''Pokémon'' movie consisting of Ash and friends teaming up with the current "cute" legendary or [[{{Expy}} Lucario clone]] to help save the world from either a human villain or a scary Pokémon that turns out to be not evil, but just misunderstood. Or a human villain ''and'' a scary Pokémon that's not really evil.
** One of the many {{re|cycledScript}}curring elements is the backstory for most of Ash's Fire-type starters; they all get abandoned by their abusive trainers, meet Ash, become his Pokémon, and eventually confront their former trainer in some fashion.
** Ash [[StatusQuoIsGod never being able to win a Pokémon League]] has not sat well with a lot of fans, given how long the show's been running for. This feeling started gaining ground when Tobias, an enigmatic trainer who uses [[OlympusMons legendaries]], appeared [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere out of nowhere]] during the Sinnoh League. The feeling continued to gain steam with the Unova League when Cameron, who was already [[TheScrappy widely despised]], defeated Ash with a 5-on-6 handicap. The fandom's outrage reached a fever pitch with the Kalos League when all the hype surrounding the final match made it seem like Ash was finally going to claim a complete League victory against Alain. [[spoiler:This was finally averted in ''Sun and Moon'', with Ash finally claiming a League victory.]]
** The moveset of Ash's Pikachu has kept the same 3 moves (Thunderbolt, Quick Attack, and Iron Tail) ever since the days of early Hoenn, which can end up feeling somewhat stale after awhile since it leaves Pikachu's 4th move to be the only one that ever gets swapped out. Pikachu dropping Volt Tackle for Electro Ball in particular received some backlash when it happened since doing so just ended up giving Pikachu another long-range electric special move alongside Thunderbolt. Pikachu learning Electro Web in ''Sun and Moon'' does serve to counter this, as it functions differently from most of Pikachu's other moves, allowing for more versatility and creative battling.
** Lana's Eevee, Sandy, has gotten this, as not only is it the third time a female companion has gotten an Eevee in spite of it being a BreakoutCharacter, its personality is eerily similar to Ash's Poipole in the worst ways, making Sandy one of the more divisive Pokémon during the ''Sun & Moon'' saga.
** Ever since the show's inception, the basic red-and-white Poké Ball has overshadowed everything. Compared to the wide variety of Poké Balls seen in the games that only continues to get larger with each passing generation, the characters will only continue to fall back on using the red-and-white ball. There ''are'' some rare exceptions, such as Ash and the gang being handed some of Kurt's custom balls during the Johto journey, or how the ''Sun & Moon'' series actually did have some different Poké Balls used for catching. However, the other 99.9% of the time is just the characters using the standard red-and-white Poké Ball. For some, this is viewed as a bit of missed potential for not pushing the concept of using different Poké Balls any further, and it became especially noticable by the time of ''Pokémon Journeys'' where Gou's entire quest is centered around him catching a multitude of Pokémon in order to one day get a chance at obtaining Mew. You'd think that this would be the time to finally introduce a character amongst the main cast that will go about using a variety of different Poké Balls to help with his quest of catching different Pokémon, yet he ''still'' ends up relying on just the basic red-and-white Poké Ball.
** Up until ''Pokémon Journeys'' [[BreakingOldTrends threw everything for a loop]], the Pokémon that made up Ash's team for each new series was usually quite predictable to the point of lacking any real creativity in how his team was built. Ash's primary team of six would, of course, always start with his partner Pikachu, and up until Alola, he always had to catch the early route regional bird Pokémon. The next three Pokémon would then be made up of the Fire/Water/Grass trio, which almost always involved the generational Starters, and those that weren't were Pokémon of said types to fill the void. Finally, since Ash didn't usually catch extra Pokémon that would immediately get sent to storage (aside from his Kanto and Unova journeys), this left the 6th spot of Ash's team as the only opening for an actual wildcard that would get people guessing as to what Pokémon would fill the final slot.
* ItWasHisSled:
** Ash [[MemeticLoser never]] wins the regional Pokémon League. [[spoiler:Until Alola. All of social media, including news organizations like CNN and ESPN and the official Pokémon Twitter, was all over that within moments of it happening.]]
** [[spoiler:Serena kisses Ash in the final episode of [=XYZ=]]].
* JerkassWoobie: While the Team Rocket Trio may be a pain for Ash and friends to deal with, they also have to go through a lot of humiliation throughout the series; and while most of it is played for laughs, there are a few times where one can't help but feel bad for the three. For starters, Meowth was abandoned and left to die before he could even talk, and at some other point, he feels he was never meant to be happy. And although Jessie is the meanest of the bunch, she was bullied through most of her life and her mother, the one person she loved more than anyone else was killed in an avalanche. And James, the friendliest of the trio who nearly froze to death as a child after running away from his oppressive home. He also becomes broken when he's forced to leave behind a few of his Pokémon, such as his Chimecho. The three are always struggling and more often than not, they only have each other and their Pokémon with them.
* JustHereForGodzilla: A few fans of that stopped watching the show admitted they got back into the series during XY because of either [[TheAce Ash's status and competence]] and/or Amourshipping.
* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Given the fact he's been the main character for a story that has gone on for over 1,000 episodes, Ash has gone on to gain quite the collection of characters he's been shipped with. While currently he's a case of an ObliviousToLove ChasteHero, plus the only cases of potential romantic interest being towards girls, there's been enough ShipTease with countless characters that the fandom treats him like an ExtremeOmnisexual. Who (or what) he's shipped with has been done so regardless of gender (he's had enough HoYay to rival his ShipTease with girls) age (besides girls his age, he's also been shipped with those [[LikesOlderWomen older]] and [[NoYay younger]] than him) and even ''species'' (he's had plenty of female Pokémon that are canonically in love with him, but even those that aren't have often had moments that can be seen as potentially romantic. That's not even getting into how much shipping fuel has been provided involving ''[[HoYay male]]'' Pokémon, the most prominent being his permanent traveling buddy Pikachu, the two of them having such a strong HeterosexualLifePartners relationship, it's quite easily to view as not quite "heterosexual").
[[/folder]]

[[folder:M - R]]
* MagnificentBastard:
** [[DiabolicalMastermind Giovanni]] is the boss of Team Rocket and discreetly the Viridian City Gym Leader. Giovanni approves of plans that he finds clever and supports agents that give him results. At the same time, Giovanni allows his less competent agents to do what they want if they don't get in his way. After the incident with Mewtwo, Giovanni tracked it down and captured the clone Pokémon to use as hostages before trying to force Mewtwo to obey his will. Discovering the Meteonite in the Unova region, Giovanni planned to use its power to coax business leaders and politicians into giving him power. Later on, Giovanni led the operation to capture Meloetta and use its power to control Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. Possessing both cruelty and mercy, Giovanni never let go of his ambitions for world conquest.
** [[MadScientist Colress]] was a perky scientist working for Team Plasma who sought to discover how to bring out strength in Pokémon. Colress invented a machine to control Pokémon as well as up their power. As the machines got destroyed, Colress recorded more data and upgraded to new machines. When Team Rocket attempted to persuade Colress to join them, Colress responded by successfully controlling Meowth, in spite of his resistance, and using him against Jessie and James. Arriving at the White Ruins, Colress forced N to give the Light Stone to Team Plasma by controlling Pikachu and using him against Ash. With Reshiram revived, Colress controlled it, all while marveling at the Legendary's power. Even upon arrest, Colress was still ambitious, as he planned on finding a way to communicate with Pokémon directly.
* MemeticBadass:
** Gary Oak. From being [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter one step ahead of Ash the entire time]], to catching over ten times the number of Pokémon Ash does and getting 10 badges when only eight are needed.
** Ash's Sceptile for being the only Pokemon in the entire Sinnoh League to take down Tobias' Darkrai, a feat that many fans attribute to him being one of Ash's most powerful Pokemon.
** Bewear was already a powerful Pokémon upon its debut in the games, being able to destroy anything in its path by accident, but its anime counterpart ramps this up to the point where it can leap several bounds into the air and on top of buildings, and even run so fast that it can tread water[[note]]For the record, Bewear can't even learn Surf[[/note]]. Bewear even manages to top this feat by running on water for at least ''three days'' without any sign of exhaustion, ''from Kanto to Alola''. When finally forced to battle, it fought toe-to-toe with not one but three Ultra Beasts, managing to keep a stalemate with Buzzwole, and outright ''destroying'' Pheromosa. The one and only time it ever got decisively overpowered was against [[TheDreaded Guzzlord]], and even then was the only character shown able to keep pace with it individually without Z-Moves.
** Ash's Lycanroc for [[spoiler:being the Pokémon that finally allowed Ash to win a Pokémon League based on the games.]]
* MemeticLoser:
** Ash has been granted this status in no small part because he simply isn't allowed to return home a winner. Usually, he'll simply lose in the middle of a tournament, but even when he does "win" (as in the [[FillerArc Orange Islands]] or the Battle Frontier), within a week of him returning home, Gary Oak will drop by to steal ''that'' from him. The first time, Pikachu lost to Gary's Eevee, and after the Battle Frontier, Gary subjected Ash and Pikachu to a straight-up CurbStompBattle with his Electivire. The movies are usually kinder, allowing Ash to have quite a few heroic moments, but still..."Gary was here, Ash is a loser"[[note]]Originally ''[[http://i.imgur.com/bJ2QMHS.jpg Shigeru is the best, Satoshi is an Idiot]]''[[/note]]. ''Black and White'' [[TookALevelInDumbass didn't help this at all]], [[http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1257625-pokemon despite it being his second best showing]]. It got even worse with ''XY'''s [[spoiler:[[ShaggyDogStory ill-fated battle with Alain at the Kalos league]].]] [[spoiler: And even when he finally won an official league tournament in Alola, the fact it was in a League with no entrance requirements coupled with several controversial writing choices made the victory not as fulfilling as it should have been to see after over 20 years for part of the audience.]]
** Ash's Torkoal has a rough reputation due to it's poor track record during Ash's Hoenn journey. The few times it's been called upon after Hoenn has also resulted in losses, but to be fair, those fights were against [[OlympusMons Brandon's Registeel and Tobias' Darkrai]].
* MemeticMolester:
** Muk and Heracross, and they are ''loved'' for it.
** [[LoveableSexManiac Brock]]. Need we say more?
** Ash Ketchum himself. Some of the most popular memes including him are [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ash-pedreiro-dat-ash Dat Ash]] and [[http://funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/357767/Ash/ him being an ass man.]]
* MemeticPsychopath:
** Cilan is often depicted as a BitchInSheepsClothing who murders and eats his Pokémon, due to his catch phrases, "It's tasting time!" and "I caught a/n [X POKÉMON] with good taste!". Episode 19 introduced his rival, who claimed that Cilan was a monster when she battled him, complete with SlasherSmile. Naturally, this got more notice from the fandom: when he's not portrayed as [[MemeticMolester her rapist]], he's thought of as a psychological torturer.
** Serena. One of the memetic depictions of her is nicknamed [[{{Yandere}} Yanderena]], stemming from Serena's dedication and massive crush on Ash.
** Mimikyu from the ''Sun & Moon'' series, particularly since Meowth is constantly terrified of what it's saying and unwilling to translate it for anyone since he finds it too disturbing to repeat.
* MisaimedFandom:
** Paul. He's is written as a criticism of some competitive players, as he demonstrates a total LackOfEmpathy, loves to gloat, and is strong enough to get away with it. A few of the less savory competitive players who otherwise cannot stand the show or its characters love Paul because they emotionally connect to him and see him as a role model, though how much of this is joking around is uncertain.
** Similarly, Conway, who was intended to be a case of ThisLoserIsYou. But again, [[BrokenAesop it's rather botched in writing]]: if Conway's creepy attitude toward Dawn is meant to be bad and thus fans like him are bad too, then why does the anime staff go out of their way to [[MsFanservice show Dawn off]]? There's also the fact that in his first appearance, he and Dawn work together quite well in a Tag Battle tournament (more so than Ash and Paul).
** A few fans of the series tend to root for Georgia over Iris regarding their petty squabbles and rivalry, while even a few even say that Georgia should have even replaced Iris as Ash’s female traveling companion. This is ignoring the fact that while Iris has her flaws, Georgia was written to be a meaner and nastier counterpart of Iris who gloats over her wins, blames others when she loses, and antagonizes everyone around her (she’s also even rude to Ash and Cilan on a few occasions, the characters that aren’t even jerks).
** In a cross-media example, there's the Ash vs. Red debate. Yes, the side for Red brings up some good points...but they completely ignore Ash's accomplishments and qualities while playing up Red's. And that's not going into the fact that many fans treat Ash and Red ([[CompositeCharacter often conflated]] the ''Adventures'' and ''Origins'' incarnations along with the games) as two completely separate characters, even though Ash ''is'' clearly the anime incarnation of Red (A young boy from Pallet Town whose rival is Professor Oak's grandson).
** Many fans liked the Mega Evolution specials for making a story and protagonist unrelated the main anime, and accused Alain's crossover into ''XYZ'' later (along with his infamous defeat over Ash in the Kalos league) to be hashed in. WordOfGod revealed that Alain was designed to be Ash's final opponent in the league from the beginning, and the Mega Evolution specials were merely to make him a fully realized character beforehand.[[note]]Made evident in the way ''Getta Ban Ban'' showed Ash and Alain across a mirror a good 30 episodes before they even met.[[/note]]
* MisBlamed:
** Poor, poor, Porygon...the only reason it and its evolutions are banned (aside from a cameo here and there) from the show all together is because they were the [[OneShotCharacter Pokémon-of-the-week]] in the infamous seizure episode when it was actually [[SeriesMascot Pikachu's]] Thunderbolt that caused the flashing red-and-blue images. What really rubs the salt into the wounds is that Pikachu has been featured in ''almost every episode since''. Popularity really ''can'' let you get away with anything, it seems...
** The Anime version of Erika has been [[TheScrappy widely disliked]] for her perceived unprofessional ban towards Ash challenging her Gym just because he didn't like perfumes. However, in the episode proper, at no point is it said that Erika approved of the ban: while she did approve [[DisproportionateRetribution having Ash rather aggressively kicked out from the perfume shop]], this was in response of him insulting her shop and merchandise ([[WithFriendsLikeThese which his friends]] [[NoSympathy made no objection of either]]). It was [[OverzealousUnderling her staff]] that denied him permission into the gym over his earlier slight, and when Ash does manage to sneak into the Gym, Erika never mentions the ban at all and agrees to battle (even flat out saying that as a Gym Leader she's required to accept any challenge right before facing Ash), which all point out to her not having been involved in what happened. At worst Erika can be blamed for being a CluelessBoss who doesn't keep check on her overeager employees.[[note]]Compare to Frontier Brain Lucy, who has a similar HotBlooded assistant that aggresses Ash, but promptly tells her to knock it off.[[/note]]
** Fans who hate the way Ash lost the Indigo League often foist their anger on Ritchie. Opinion on Ritchie himself is certainly up for debate, but in this circumstance, the blame ''should'' be pointed at just about everyone else: the judge for ruling "fell asleep" as "knocked out", Charizard for disobeying, Team Rocket for capturing Ash, and Ash himself for not requesting a chance to let his Pokémon rest from said capture (most fans agree that having been kidnapped should be considered a circumstance worthy of delaying the battle, and his Pokémon being worn out is definitely a big reason he lost), and not having a full team of Pokémon to use (had Ash had six Pokémon on him, he'd have had another choice besides Bulbasaur[[labelnote:*]]not really an option because of the type disadvantage against Zippo[[/labelnote]] and Charizard). Heck, all Ritchie actually did was happen to be Ash's opponent and not go down easy. These fans also forget that it was Ritchie who convinced the referee ''not'' to award him the match by forfeit.
** On the subject of the Pokemon episodes that were banned from airing on TV and creating plot holes in the English dub in the process, 4Kids gets hit with this frequently. But in actuality, the reason why those episodes were banned was not because 4Kids banned them, but because the networks banned them. The original voice actor of Brock and James in the dub, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZEwxKn6t58 Eric Stuart explains more about this]], saying that 4Kids had to comply with Broadcast Standards and Practices in order for their dubs to air on network TV. He confirms that 4Kids DID receive those banned episodes from Japan, but when they presented them to Broadcast Standards and Practices, they told 4Kids that the episodes were not allowed to air and had to air a different episode in its place because of how inappropriate or offensive the episodes were.
** The 2011 Fukushima earthquake and nuclear disaster catches the blame for pushing Team Plasma into an arc after the badge quest, as well as for some fans, [[DorkAge dramatically changing (for the worse) a saga that started off strong, or at least decent]]. In reality, the production of [[Videogame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 sequel games]] ''instead of'' the usual third version is what caused the Plasma arc to be temporarily aborted and the series to change so dramatically. This also made the aforementioned two-parter a MortonsFork, in that, if it ''did'' air, the fans would be on the writers for giving Team Plasma as short of shrift as they gave [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Teams Magma and Aqua]]. That said, it certainly didn't help matters.
** As the years have gone by, [=TPCi=] has come under increasing flak for their music replacements, especially once Ed Goldfarb took over from ''XY'' onward. While the quality of the dub soundtracks is fair game, the real culprit behind the cutting of the Japanese OST is Sony Music Japan.[[labelnote:Explanation]]Until 2012, the anime and games had their soundtracks produced by Pikachu Records. However, after it was bought out in October 2011 and subsequently retired, Sony Music Japan and [=OVERLAP=] took over the production of the anime and game soundtracks respectively. Given Sony Music Japan's notoriety concerning copyright ([=YouTube=] comes to mind), and the fact that the soundtrack stopped getting distributed overseas after ''Best Wishes'', the last soundtrack to be produced by Pikachu Records, it's safe to say that they're far more strict than Pikachu Records was, essentially forcing the dub to compose it's own music in-house since it's much less expensive than trying to get the rights.[[/labelnote]]
** With ''Sun and Moon'' a common misconception was criticizing the animation for making Ash and other characters look too different from how they looked in regions prior. While the animation isn't without it's haters for other reasons, it's actually the show's ''art style'' that was changed in order to improve the animation.
* {{Moe}}: Various Pokemon and Humans have counted as this over time due to their Adorkable nature and cute designs, including Lillie, Snowy, Serena's Eevee, Goomy, and Togepi.
* MorePopularReplacement:
** Halfway into the original series, Jessie's Lickitung was accidentally traded for Wobbuffet, who quickly became a popular PluckyComicRelief for Team Rocket and ended up a mainstay in the anime series, compared to Likitung, who made only sporadic appearances beforehand.
** Dawn to her immediate predecessor, May, who was initially deemed by some a ReplacementScrappy to Misty for being too similar in personality while not living up to the original. In contrast, Dawn had a more refreshing straight-up NiceGirl personality and lacking the previous girls' {{tsundere}} side. While Dawn doesn't quite surpass Misty's popularity, she is still held in quite high regard by the fanbase.
** Serena to Iris, who is one of the least popular female companions to date. While Serena is not without her detractors for her perceived RomanticPlotTumor and for her never-before-mentioned ForgottenFirstMeeting with Ash, some of the fandom agree that she's an improvement over Iris. She also further won fans for having an arc of CharacterDevelopment that helped to have her RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap, although how it ended [[BrokenBase is a point of severe contention]]. Also, she's one of the few girls to [[KissingDiscretionShot kiss Ash]], and the only female companion to ever do so, so she definitely has that going for her.
* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
** "Char, Char, Charmander!"
** Any time ''[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic XY&Z]]'' would start playing.
** Many fans of the ''Best Wishes'' series enjoyed Ash's Leavanny's voice.
*** Another "Best Wishes" example (which is also InUniverse). Fans (and the characters) enjoyed Meloetta's singing.
** In ''Sun & Moon'', Guzma's Golisopod in the English Dub counts. Not only did fans enjoyed its CreepyAwesome sounding PokemonSpeak, its right up there to Tessho Gunda's Blastoise as the most awesome sounding Pokemon.
* MyRealDaddy: Creator/AtsuhiroTomioka, the head writer of the series from ''DP'' to ''XY'', is considered by many to be one of the best writers in the series. For May, he wrote a large number of her [[ADayInTheLimelight major Contest episodes, including the one where she chooses to be a Coordinator]] in ''Advanced Generation'' and her entire [[TheBusCameBack return arc]] in ''Diamond & Pearl'', thus playing a key role in defining her as her own character, rather than the expected ReplacementGoldfish for Misty. In the same vein, while Takeshi Shudo defined a lot of ''OS'' elements and he's still highly respected by a section of the fanbase, Tomioka's contributions are valued as having some of the most mature writing of the show while tackling darker subject matters, with ''DP'' and ''XY'' being considered serious contenders as best ''Pokémon'' series in certain circles. Even shows where Tomioka isn't the head writer tend to garner this reaction, with Litten's arc in early ''SM'' (completely written by Tomioka himself) being widely praised as one of the big highlights of the season.
* {{Narm}}:
** The early usage of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci3uHxJE59I&feature=youtu.be&t=9s Razor Leaf]] when it was performed by Ash's Bulbasaur looks ''terrible''. The leaves just awkwardly swirl to the front from behind Bulbasaur's bulb, and don't look threatening at all as if the Razor Leafs are being pushed forward by a slight breeze.
** The Orange League episode "The Mandarin Island Miss Match" puts in quite an effort to show off Lorelei's[[note]]Or rather, [[DubNameChange Prima's]][[/note]] [[https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/f/ff/DeletedsceneEP099.png assets]] to the viewers. It's pretty much a given that you ''will'' be distracted with regards to how far the animators were willing to push it.
** Throughout the Johto episodes, the Narrator will often claim that Ash and his friends are currently "on the road to Johto," which can come off sounding really odd when the group is already traveling within the Johto region.
** Serena's [[http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/327/b/8/la_expresi_oacute_n_de_serena_by_angylopez-d6vd2bw.png reaction]] seen here is supposed to come off as a heartwarming moment during her reunion with Ash. Instead, the look comes off kind of hilarious due to how over-the-top her eyes are drawn here...[[AccidentalNightmareFuel and maybe even a bit creepy]].
** Ed Goldfarb's score for the ''XY'' dub caught many off-guard, especially those who grew up listening to Shinji Miyazaki's music, for being overly repetitive.
** Zygarde's voice in the Japanese version. A bit silly but still fitting enough when he's in his Core form, but hearing that same high-pitched voice coming from the [[HumongousMecha Humongous Mecha-esque]] Perfect Zygarde makes it a bit hard to take his BigDamnHeroes moment seriously.
** The "Giant Rock" from the ''XY'' series. While technically an appropriate translation of the Japanese name (rendered as "Megalith" in fansubs), the name is impossible to take seriously after watching ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' and seeing the episodes involving the Tablet of the Pharaoh. One might almost expect to hear something like this:
---> '''Mairin:''' Oh my God, a giant rock!\\
'''Alain:''' Yes, clearly it was my destiny to behold this giant rock.
* NarmCharm:
** A lot of the title themes and image songs in both the Japanese and English edits are ridiculously tense and dramatic in spite of their cheesy lyrics and the subject matter of the show itself, but damn if they're not catchy. Especially so for the original English theme, which wouldn't be out of place as an 80s rock anthem, and is adored by nearly every long time fan of the series.
** The dialogue from Teams Magma and Aqua (whose schtick is that no-one knows what they're up to, but it must be baaaad) tries so hard to be mysteriously menacing that it goes straight past bad and into genius. It's hard not to laugh with lines like "If the experiment is a success, we'll be much closer to succeeding in our plot! Hahahahaha!"
* NauseaFuel: For some, many of the [[https://images.nowloading.co/image/upload/c_fill,h_470,q_auto:good,w_620/otdj1uv4egausngf5esu.jpg odd faces]] made by Ash and co. in the SM anime. This is especially evident with [[http://i.imgur.com/5puGQyo.png?1 a shot of Ash screaming]] with his mouth wide open, which among other things, shows his ''uvula screaming alongside him!''.
* NeverLiveItDown:
** Fans tend to remember Ash's failures better than his successes. "Ash will never win in any Pokémon League" is a common punchline, even though he had won the Orange Islands League (which, due to being filler, fans tend not to count, even if the creator's do) and has been able to come out on top in other competitions. His loss at the Kalos League after seeming like he would finally win one is especially infamous. [[spoiler:This thankfully died down once Ash won the Alola League Championship. Though it did admittedly take him more than twenty real life years to do it, the fact that Ash finally won was enough to silence most of those criticisms, albeit controversy persists on whether said victory was earned or not.]]
** Pikachu's love for ketchup occurs in a total of ''one'' episode of the original show's run, yet it ends up becoming one of his defining characteristics (with the image of [[http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/1/20314000/ngbbs4af8d1bcd5113.jpg Pikachu crying over the "death" of its ketchup bottle]] achieving [[MemeticMutation meme]] status. It has been referenced in a few episodes of later series,and even had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JUwoSUZA34 an entire ending revolving around it]].
*** Pikachu's infamous loss against Trip's Snivy is easily the worst black mark he has on his battle career. Never mind that Ash was unaware that he got locked out of his electric moves, leaving him with only Iron Tail and Quick Attack, until the battle itself already began while Trip's Snivy had access to Leaf Tornado, a move that a starter ''fresh from the lab'' shouldn't have access to. Pikachu's previous battle being against ''Tobias' Latios'' just made things worse for him. Now it is hard to find videos of Pikachu defeating a strong opponent without someone bringing it up in the comments about how he "couldn't beat a Snivy".
** Ritchie gets this for winning against Ash in the Indigo League by default after Ash is disqualified for his disobedient Charizard. This is despite the unfair parts were caused by everyone except Ritchie [[labelnote:specifically]]Team Rocket for capturing Ash [[WorfHadTheFlu leaving his team exhausted]] save for Charizard, the judges for not giving time for them to recover despite this and ruling "fell asleep" as "knocked out" [[AssPull which has never counted before or since]], Charizard disobeying Ash, Ash's friends showing him NoSympathy despite [[UnintentionallySympathetic the circumstances being out of his control]][[/labelnote]] while Ritchie convinced the referee ''not'' to award him the match by forfeit giving Ash as fair a fight as possible.
** Serena is often treated by her detractors as walking scenery [[SatelliteLoveInterest who only exists to be in love with Ash]]. While her development was slow initially, she has done plenty of things on her own, and her crush on Ash was only that big in the beginning before her character expanded beyond it, though it never actually went away and in fact developed healthily along with the rest of her character. This especially holds true after her outfit swap and ImportantHaircut.
** In canon, Paul's abusive trainer side was only really showcased through Chimchar, which he only insisted on training in spite of not being receptive of it because he wanted to unlock the power of its Blaze, but a lot of fans seem to believe that Paul extended said treatment to his whole team or released every Pokémon [[YouHaveFailedMe that failed to live up to his standards]], which the series itself shows to not be true due to the occasional PetTheDog moment towards his team, proof that several of Paul's Pokémon respect him, how none of the other mainstays of Paul's team were ever released even when they lost onscreen, and how the few other Pokémon he released were always either on the spot or in far more humane ways than Chimchar was (most notably giving his Azumarill to a younger trainer rather than releasing it in the wild).
* NightmareRetardant: From the ''Sun & Moon'' series, Guzzlord's cries in the Japanese version. Hearing the yelling of what sounds like a ''grown man'' come from what is supposed to be a horrible EldritchAbomination is...''jarring'', to say the least. In ''Journeys'', a Fearow that sounds exactly like Guzzlord helps the gang, it honestly sounds more fitting on it than Guzzlord.
* ObscurePopularity: Everything outside of the [[FirstInstallmentWins original series]]. The anime has millions of watchers worldwide and has been running for twenty years, but people outside of children and the dedicated fandom are often surprised to see that it's still on-going.
* OlderThanTheyThink:
** The first time a Picnicker was depicted wearing shorts with her uniform was in "Pokémon Scent-sation", just over two years before Generation II.
** Ash not aging was in effect well before the ''Best Wishes'' series; though ''Best Wishes'' was the first time it was brought up in the show itself, The Pokemon Company had confirmed it as far back as 2003, [[http://web.archive.org/web/20030402094510/http://pokemon.com/letters/2002916.asp likening Ash to Mickey Mouse]].
** Several people complained about Ash's defeat in the Kalos League by claiming that there were several bits of foreshadowing aimed in that direction, usually bringing up his battle against Emmett the Furfrou trainer where he promised to win and the last Kalos League episode title including 'Kalos League Victory', claiming that said things were nothing but 'hype bait'. However, ''every'' past season had hyped up the possibility of a League victory to a similar degree, notably having Ash promise to his Lapras in Johto that he'd win the League and both Ash and Gary resolving to reach the first place in the tournament of victory during the Silver Conference, and past League closure episodes had similarly bombastic titles in Japanese (Indigo's last battle episode being called 'Pokémon League! Final Battle!' and Ever Grande's being 'Conclusion of the Fierce Fighting! The Road to Championship!!').
** The Alola finale is frequently claimed to be the first depiction of [[spoiler:human pregnancy]] in the franchise. This isn't true. ''Manga/TheElectricTaleOfPikachu'' beat the anime to it 20 years earlier when [[spoiler:the BabiesEverAfter depicted Jessie pregnant by James]].
* OneSceneWonder:
** This series is highly well known for memorable one-shot characters, many of whom [[CanonForeigner aren't even from the games]]. Many of these characters are considered far more appealing that the main cast (which in some cases is not hard to do), and while sometimes it is justified why we never see them again, other times it's not.
** Gym Leaders: Lt. Surge, Erika, Koga, Falkner, Bugsy and Chuck (after which all Gym Leaders are featured in at least two episodes). Sabrina is hugely considered to be a One ''Arc'' Wonder, thanks to being such a memorably ''terrifying'' ArcVillain. Marlon and Cheren also count.
** Elite Four: [[{{Meganekko}} Lorelei]], [[RatedMForManly Bruno]], [[CoolOldLady Agatha and Bertha]], and [[CoolOldGuy Drake]].
** Ironically, Steven Stone, despite being the Champion in ''Ruby And Sapphire'', is reduced to one of these in the Hoenn episodes (he ''does'' return and is expanded upon in the Kalos episodes, where his personality is more similar to his game counterpart). However, in his home region, he was given a much different characterization (in particular, being hypocritical about Team Rocket digging holes in a cave, saying it would disrupt the Pokémon in the cave, as he ''[[RefugeInAudacity blew a hole in the cave's roof]]''), to the point that his one episode is rather infamous.
* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: Team Rocket (Jessie, James and Meowth) as written by Takeshi Shudo can be considered one of the best parts of the show's history given his development of their origins, personalities, and even philosophy before {{Flanderization}} set in from Advanced Generation on, turning Team Rocket into a GoldfishPoopGang. Some would argue that they never reached the status they were at when Shudo was writing them ever again.
* OvershadowedByControversy:
** The episode "Electric Soldier Porygon", which has the notorious status of "that ''Pokémon'' episode that caused hundreds of kids in Japan to have seizures" rather than "the first [[MisBlamed (and only)]] time Porygon appeared in the anime".
** The ''Episode N'' arc of ''Black & White'' is infamous for the fact that the original version of it was cancelled after an earthquake that hit the Tokohu region of Japan in 2011, and the fact that it is criticized for completely butchering the portrayal of [[AnimalWrongsGroup Team Plasma]] (with their depictions solely being based on the Team Plasma from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'', with their ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' depictions completely removed save for [[AntiVillain N]]) alongside [[LoveToHate Ghetsis]] as a GenericDoomsdayVillain.
** The ''XY'' series will likely never live down [[spoiler: Ash's failure to win the Kalos League. While Ash losing Leagues is nothing new, various signs (such as the episode's title, promotional material, and Ash's growth throughout the series) seemed to point towards him ''finally'' winning, and yet the rug was pulled out from under everyone. More so than any other League, this one suffered a huge amount of fan backlash across both sides of the Pacific]]. This also saw Alain, having before been a well-liked character, become a pariah among the fanbase for [[spoiler:being the one Ash wound up losing to]].
* PanderingToTheBase:
** [[spoiler:After the intense backlash over the bait-and-switch of Ash losing the Kalos League despite hints that he was finally going to win a league, him winning the Alola League and finally becoming a champion in ''Sun & Moon'' can come off as this.]]
** The ''Journeys'' series. Ash catches a Gengar and a Riolu, (both highly-requested Pokémon for him to catch), the series travels across all regions and brings back ''many'' old faces, some that haven't made appearances in over a decade.
* PeripheryDemographic: [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]]:
** The show's popularity with older fans has gone up and down over time, but as of ''Journeys'' it seems to be in a good place overall. A good chunk of the games' PeripheryDemographic (especially in the West) disliked or outright hated the show for various reasons[[note]]some of the more common ones including: a lack of ParentalBonus, the show's AdaptationDisplacement in pop culture, and fear that elements from the anime - or at least the more controversial bits (such as PokemonSpeak and strange portrayals of Pokémon species) will [[CanonImmigrant make their way into future games]][[/note]] but a small following of teenagers and young adults exists. The anime writers seemed to ignore this, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids to the dismay of said demographic]]...until the ''XY'' season, where the animation and writing were kicked up a notch and the Mega Evolution specials were made to draw in older viewers. Despite this, the show is still ultimately meant to be static and advertise the franchise to kids, resulting in some painful enforcement of StatusQuoIsGod (especially the League finals). Additionally, Pokémon Inc. creates separate animated features that [[PanderingToTheBase deal with many of the older fans' wishes]], such as ''Anime/PokemonOrigins'' and ''Anime/PokemonGenerations'', which are meant to appeal to a wider demographic. As the series went on, the show strived for more universal appeal and more consistent creativity and production values, resulting in a dampening of the series' hatedom despite its retaining its main audience of children.
** This trope was one of Takeshi Shudo's goals for the series, as he wrote in his blog entries. Despite this, ExecutiveMeddling prevented him from using all the {{Parental Bonus}}es and creative ideas he wanted, and the show's MerchandiseDriven and StrictlyFormula aspects would eventually overpower his ideas and make the show less accessible to older fans.
* PopularityPolynomial: When the ''Pokémon'' anime was first aired, it was beloved by children around the world but hated by adults. As time went on, nostalgia for the earlier series grew, but ''Pokémon'' fans growing up saw the show as a negative AudienceColoringAdaptation that made the franchise seem like little more than a [[MerchandiseDriven shallow toy commercial]] [[AnimationAgeGhetto aimed solely towards young children]]; this especially held true for ''Best Wishes'' which became one of the worst-regarded seasons of the show and accompanied [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite games]] that were praised (especially at the time) for going in a more creative and slightly more mature direction. However, as the original ''Pokémon'' demographic grew into full-fledged adults with creative power of their own, the show learned from its mistakes and began new ventures to appeal more to older fans, including different approaches towards character and plot development, the dodgy [=DuArt=] English dub improving in quality, and (starting with ''Anime/PokemonIChooseYou'') each movie going in a completely different creative direction. Despite some missteps, not only did the ''Pokémon'' anime come to no longer overshadow the games, but it also became a more respected entity in its own right, and one that many fans both old and new actively keep up with in some capacity.
* RainbowLens: ''Go West, Young Meowth'' can be interpreted as a transgender allegory. Meowth defies the expectations of his species by learning how to walk and talk like a human being, only to be shunned as a freak by the one he was trying to impress. In the end, one of the reasons he sticks with Team Rocket even though they're not only criminals, but [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain loser criminals]], is because they actually accept him for who he is. Notably, this episode was [[http://awesomedbycomics.blogspot.com/2008/12/i-was-extremely-saddened-to-learn-of.html reportedly the reason]] why the late Creator/MaddieBlaustein came out as transgender.
* ReplacementScrappy: The anime is one of the longest running in history, so this was bound to happen at least once. [[LongList Or several times]]:
** All of the male companions to Brock, though Tracey was hit the hardest for temporarily replacing him in Orange Islands. Cilan also gets flack for being his first replacement after permanently leaving the main cast, though ''his'' replacements, Clemont and Kiawe, are much better received overall.
** All the female companions past [[NostalgiaFilter Misty will be this for some]]: May for replacing Misty, Dawn for replacing May, Iris for replacing Dawn, Serena for replacing Iris, and then a ''trio'' of girls (Lillie, Mallow and Lana)[[note]]but Lillie in particular[[/note]] replacing Serena. It's an everlasting trend, unfortunately, not at all helped by the ShipToShipCombat.
** Sophocles to Clemont in a downplayed sense for some. He was initially presented as ''extremely'' similar to Clemont as an Electric-type expert and an inventor but without Clemont's amusing and interesting sides before his character was [[AuthorsSavingThrow taken in a different direction]] thanks to his love for space being played up and his efforts into becoming a better trainer and grow more independent became more prominent, but between a lot of his development happening in the tail end of the series and him usually being one of the least focused on members of the main cast, he ended up feeling like a much less memorable character than Clemont was.
** To [[SocialDarwinist Paul's fanbase]] and others, Trip's initial characterization -- stuck-up and critical of Ash -- was too similar to Paul's character, without the experience that the latter had. Even his design is a PaletteSwap of Paul's with only minor differences of their facial features.
** The second Mewtwo is VERY unpopular with fans due to her story's lack of originality and her replacing of the famous first movie Mewtwo.
** May's Squirtle, due to being a poor replacement of Ash's beloved Squirtle from the first generation that lacks any of the charm and personality that made the original a fan favorite.
** Every single one of Ash's rivals after Gary can be hit by this, mostly due to Gary's MemeticBadass status. Though it's not uncommon for people to cite other rivals as presenting a better rivalry than Gary. In particular Paul is the most likely to avoid being seen as an inferior replacement and, to many, actually surpasses him.
** The [=TCPi=] English dub voice actors were initially this to the 4Kids voice cast, not helped by the jarring transition between the casts. While the bitterness has mostly subsided as the [=TCPi=] actors have settled into their roles, some fans still considered them inferior to the original cast.
** Goh has become this in the eyes of many a [[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Hop]] fan, as Hop has yet to be seen in the main anime and Goh essentially took over the role he had in the games during the Eternatus arc.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
** Post-Togepi Misty to [[BaseBreakingCharacter those who didn't like her Tsundere self]].
** May got criticized much less by [[ReplacementScrappy Misty fans]] after the latter returned in ''Advanced Challenge'' and became fast friends with May. This also led the ''Advanced Generation/Ruby & Sapphire'' series in general to be rescued. After she returned not one, but ''two'' more times, fans of both characters were elated.
** Bianca, after she TookALevelInKindness in Nimbasa City, and [[TookALevelInBadass one in Badass]] in the Clubsplosion.
** For those who didn't like Dawn, many found her very enjoyable in BW, where she received less focus and bounced off [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Iris]] and [[LargeHam Cilan]] well.
** Ash himself in XY. In BW, he displayed [[IdiotHero the worst stereotypes]] ''[[FailureIsTheOnlyOption of his own character]]'', and was hated for it. In XY, the writers made him a lot more competent and mature despite not actually increasing his age, and fans are a lot kinder towards him despite [[NeverLiveItDown his bad reputation never going away]].
*** Even then, some fans felt that Ash was [[VanillaProtagonist a little too bland]] that season, but still appreciated his skill as a trainer. In ''Sun and Moon'', fans of both sides got a compromise: Ash not only keeps his competency in battle from XY[[note]]though debate rages on about ''that''[[/note]], but also becomes less bland, having more animated facial expressions, being more prone to AmusingInjuries. Though, he's still subject to BaseBreakingCharacter status.
** While Ash's Pikachu never needed ''saving'' per se, as he wasn't a full-on scrappy, his single-handed taking down of ''both'' Alain's Tyranitar and his Metagross has caused many fans to remember why the little mouse was so popular in the first place.
** While Whitney maintained her status as the toughest Johto gym leader, her tantrum did not carry over, giving viewers less of a reason to hate her.
** Team Rocket started to earn the ire of the Western fan base for being a tired GoldfishPoopGang for most of the Hoenn and Sinnoh eras. After an unusual stint as competent, serious bad guys in the Unova era was met with mixed results, Kalos made them comical again, albeit with a more palpable number of formidable moments and even omission from certain episodes to allow full focus on the heroes' arcs, making their shtick less repetitive than before.
** Noibat got a lot of flak when it first appeared in trailers for [[ReplacementScrappy taking Goodra's spot on Ash's team]]. However, it quickly redeemed itself upon first appearing as more than just a in-season rehash of Goodra's arc.
** Bonnie was initially disliked for essentially being Max 2.0, but gained a slightly better reception after she turned out to be more supportive towards her brother than Max was to May, as well as not being nearly as smug and having quite a few legitimately funny moments to her name. Then XYZ arc made her a plot-relevant figure and borderline {{Woobie}}, which elevated her in the eyes of many fans, although a few consider her a SpotLightStealingSquad instead.
** Sawyer was considered the most polarizing rival of the anime since Paul, being way too nice and a new trainer. The Kalos League battle with Ash was considered a highlight of the already divisive league. His scene where he cries over the loss won him over many fans due to seeing his emotional investment in the league.
** Lillie was initially less popular than the other ''SM'' girls due to how radically she changed from her game self, who is rather popular. Her backstory being later expanded upon and the focus on her in the Aether arc won her quite some fans, though, even if she's still considered a BaseBreakingCharacter.
** After the controversial decision by [=TCPi=] to [[TheOtherDarrin recast the entire series]], Sarah Natochenny received the bulk of fan backlash for replacing Creator/VeronicaTaylor as Ash. As time’s gone on and Natochenny has had the chance to [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct settle into the role and make it her own]], fans now positively regard her take on Ash.
* RootingForTheEmpire:
** Despite their BaseBreakingCharacter status in the West, the Team Rocket Trio are cheered for more than Ash due to being {{Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain}}s and having surprisingly well-developed backstories (It was Takeshi Shudo's ''intent'' for Team Rocket to be more interesting than Ash).
** Gary is made to be an unlikable {{jerkass}} in the beginning of the Kanto region. A few fans of the show, however, would root for [[TheRival him]] over Ash due to the latter being a rookie trainer, Gary being more competent, and [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter alway being one step ahead of Ash]]. This is also due to Ash wrongly earning four[[note]]The Gym Leaders he unfailry got badges from were Brock, Misty, Erica, and Sabrina[[/note]] out of the eight badges in the Kanto region (while Gary rightfully earned ''ten'' badges) and winning some Indigo league challenges out of sheer luck and not skill.
** Georgia is meant to be a rival and a [[NotSoDifferent meaner and nastier version of Iris]], but a few of the fans of this show tend to root for the former when both Iris and Georgia will get into [[SitcomArchNemesis their petty squabbles]]. This is due to Iris’ flaws as a character (her catchphrase towards Ash and her being condescending). This is also due to Georgia being able to throw Iris’ catchphrase back in her face, and the fact that despitebeing a SoreLoser she [[JerkassHasAPoint made a good point on how Iris winning against her was unfair due to Dragonite being disobedient and not about Iris’ competence as a dragon trainer]]. It also helps that Iris even agreed with her eventually.
** Guzma is clearly intended to be seen as a pathetic ruffian holding a petty grudge and trying to destroy Kukui's dream out of spite. However, as seen in UnintentionallySympathetic and StrawmanHasAPoint below, lackluster battles and questionable decisions (such as Mallow wanting to quit her match against Lana, or Ash's ''extremely'' controversial victory over Hau)[[note]]Rowlet falls asleep on the battlefield after taking several strong attacks from Decidueye, but unlike when Charizard slept on the battlefield in Kanto, Rowlet did not forfeit the match and Ash was allowed to resume and win[[/note]] make people feel Guzma is right when he called the league a "schoolyard tournament for weaklings". And coupled with the fact that Guzma had the better battles so far, it makes people want to see Guzma winning the league unironically.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:S - W]]
* SavedByTheFans: The Team Rocket trio were planned to be PutOnABus during ''Black and White'' (and their previous Pokémon team ''were'' PutOnABus for that series). However fans of the trio, including those in the production team, decided against the idea, and so they were allowed to stay, [[CharacterRerailment returning to their fan-favored goofy personalities from previous seasons]][[note]]Albiet keeping a bit of that competence as a compromise to those who liked it[[/note]] as their serious characterization had only been for the case of Unova being their final story arc. A podcast vote also asked for the fanbase's favorite Team Rocket Pokémon to return, with Wobbuffet back with the trio in ''XY''.
* ScapegoatCreator: When it was spread around online that the writing team for ''Black and White'' were behind [[spoiler:Ash's loss in the Kalos League]], many fans took up pitchforks and demanded their heads for screwing up yet another chance for Ash, essentially accusing them of being brought back ''just to do this''. Other fans have pointed out that the writing team from ''Black and White'' is the ''exact same writing team'' of the entire ''XY'' saga, and that the majority of them have been on board since the ''start'' of the entire anime.
* SeasonalRot:
** Pretty much everything after Kanto has a fair share of detractors, with the most common complaints being ExecutiveMeddling, [[RecycledScript recycled plots]] or (perceived) lack of major character development for Ash and Team Rocket. The eras most commonly accused of this, however, are Johto (too much {{Filler}} resulting in poor pacing, Ash and his friends' misfortunes frequently being caused by WhatAnIdiot moments especially when dealing with Team Rocket, Brock and Misty's characters began to stagnate, and Ash's Johto team [[note]] aside from [[ClingyJealousGirl Bayleef]] [[/note]], wasn't very well-fleshed out in comparison to his original Kanto team) and Black & White/Unova (Ash lost all his character development and reverted back to being a naïve IdiotHero, Cilan and especially Iris were poorly received and viewed as [[PoorMansSubstitute inferior copies]] for Brock and Misty, the League storyline was mishandled, the Team Plasma story arc was too short, Charizard's return was a wasted opportunity, and Decolore Islands was essentially an entire arc of {{Filler}} that made Johto look eventful).
** Funnily enough, despite both Johto and Unova generally being considered the show's weakest eras, ''where'' the rot sets in for them is the opposite. For example, while Johto's beginning and middle sections are widely perceived as uneventful and moving at a snail's pace, the last third (featuring well-received moments like the Larvitar arc, Ash defeating Gary at the Silver Conference, and the original trio's [[TearJerker emotional]] [[TheFellowshipHasEnded farewell]] in ''Gotta Catch Ya Later!'') is widely viewed as an improvement. In contrast, Unova is widely considered to ''start out'' as promising, addressing many fan complaints (Team Rocket's incompetence, Ash not catching enough Pokemon) head-on, but it starts squandering this potential around the middle, so that by the time of Decolore Islands the season was viewed by many as irredeemable.
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny:
** Kanto gets the [[FirstInstallmentWins most praise of any region]] and many feel the show has declined greatly since then. However, others find that it hasn't aged well due to the EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. Others still also note that many of the problems later sagas have [[FranchiseOriginalSin had their roots in Kanto.]]
** Back in the day, the fact that Ash lost the league was actively a ''major'' shock to the community, but ''[[HarsherInHindsight actually was received rather positively]]'', as 'scrappy underdog actually LOSES whatever major sporting event they're in' was ''nigh-unheard of'' back in UsefulNotes/TheNineties; which were so full of [[StockAesop stock "you can make it if you really try" aesops]] that a show having the balls to spell out that, [[HardTruthAesop no, "trying hard enough" will NOT guarantee you success]] was considered to be a nice breath of fresh air among the cynical Generation X at the time. It also helped that the loss made sense since Ash actively dodged a lot of valuable opportunities to train and instead got up to a lot of random shenanigans that caught his interest before the League, and that the loss ''actively served to further Ash's CharacterDevelopment'', as he did ultimately learn from it and take a more pro-active approach to Pokemon training from then on. However, as the years went on more shows in the UsefulNotes/TurnOfTheMillennium started to parrot that Aesop to the point of being suffocatingly nihilistic and Ash's repeated losses becoming [[WriterCopOut more and more obviously done just to keep]] the StrictlyFormula nature of the show ongoing, it can be hard to see why his first league loss was actually considered to be a good thing.
* SignatureScene:
** The first episode is just loaded with these from the moment Ash first receives Pikachu, to the Spearow chase on Misty's bike, and watching Ho-Oh fly across the sky. The last of which has had several {{Call Back}}s throughout the series.
** Ash's rivalries usually result in this given the build-up to their final battles.
** Out of all of Ash's companions being PutOnTheBus, Misty's and Serena's are the two most iconic. Misty's because of her popularity and because she was the original female companion, and Serena because of [[spoiler:the kiss]].
** Ash [[spoiler:winning his first-ever game-based league in the Alolan League after 22 years of failures.]] Unique in that it is more for the milestone reached than, necessarily, the events surrounding it.
* ShipsThatPassInTheNight: The giant list of pairings (like the one featured by Bulbapedia) includes hordes of couples constructed from characters that never meet in anime canon. One example might be Brendan/May (the anime incarnations of the protagonists of ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire''), the latter of whom being, of course, the Deuteragonist of the Hoenn saga while the former only cameoed a few times in the movies.
* ShipToShipCombat: Pick any Ash/Female Companion, ships and you'll get this with another. Particularly between Ash/Misty, Ash/Dawn and Ash/Serena fans. [[note]]Ash/May fans are typically seen as the nicest, and Ash/Iris has relatively few active fans.[[/note]]
* ShockingMoments:
** Almost anytime TeamRocketWins (or nearly wins).
** Practically anything to do with Ash-Greninja once it made its proper debut in ''XY & Z''. Episode 25 of ''XY & Z'' in particular really got the ball rolling with Ash-Greninja finally being fully revealed along with the battle against Diatha's Gardevoir, being able to push them enough to Mega Evolve and then briefly gain the upper hand despite not having mastered it yet. It was with this episode that many fans, at the time, believed that there was a real possibility of Ash winning the Kalos League.
** [[spoiler:Ash winning the Alola League, after 22 long years of failing in previous Pokémon Leagues]].
** Ash's first three captures in ''Pokémon Journeys'', Dragonite, Gengar, and Riolu. The former two get this for being [[BreakingOldTrends fully evolved from the start]] while the latter two were [[PanderingToTheBase highly requested]] Pokemon for him to catch for years. The later capture of Farfetch'd was a surprise to fans for different reasons: Farfetch'd was only advertised ahead of time as a minor feature of an episode focusing on Leon and Raihan and viewership found the capture a pleasant surprise.
* SlowPacedBeginning:
** Serena's character arc takes quite some time to take off, given that, unlike other female leads she didn't have a clear goal from the get go, and became a trainer mostly to get away from the Rhyhorn Racing her mother enforced upon her. A good deal of episodes at the beginning were spent on her trying different activities in order to find her calling, before she finally set on becoming a Pokemon Performer. After that, she gets considerable focus and development at a much steadier pace.
** This is also a criticism usually levied to the initial stretch of ''Journeys'' series episodes, particularly the ones making up the first batch uploaded on Netflix. The first six episodes effectively make up a CharacterDevelopment arc for new companion and coprotagonist [[BaseBreakingCharacter Goh]], with Ash relegated in a more supporting role for its duration down to not having a clear goal for himself. The following episodes were dedicated to a first taste of the region-hopping series premise that were mostly seen as unremarkable, while giving little idea of what the show intended to do with its premise and cast, not helped by how the show didn't seem to want to embrace continuity in spite of going back to known locations beyond small nods. After the Leon introduction arc, however, things got much better as Ash obtained his own goal in taking part in the World Coronation Series (a global tournament to crown the implicit strongest trainer in the world), alongside making him more involved in the plot with several new captures and major battles, alongside allowing for more [[TheBusCameBack old character returns]] (such as [[spoiler:Korrina]]) and [[ContinuityNod continuity]] while delving deeper into Goh's backstory and further development, with the common sentiment being that the show improves from that point on.
* SoBadItsGood: Some fans believe the ''BW'' series gradually became this, even [[DeathOfTheAuthor likening it as a self-referential parody.]]
* SoOkayItsAverage:
** This seems to be the overarching fandom sentiment about ''Advanced Generation''; it’s almost never ranked as one of the show’s worst seasons, but in time it seems to have been eclipsed in popularity by later seasons such as ''Diamond & Pearl'' and ''XY''. Pluses include strong development for [[DumbassNoMore Ash]], several memorable characters (May, her rivals, Ash's Sceptile and Corphish), and a more balanced focus on Ash's Hoenn team in comparison to his Johto team [[note]] particularly with Swellow, who unlike previous Regional Birds did not fall OutOfFocus and set the trend for later additions like Staraptor and Talonflame [[/note]] , but cons include [[NoAntagonist Ash's lack of a rival]], the mishandling of the Team Magma & Team Aqua arc, and an abundance of [[StrictlyFormula formulaic filler]].
** The fans who don't find the ''Black & White'' series to be bad or SoBadItsGood tend to settle on this rating as well, usually citing that the good things it established used to further effectiveness in the ''XY'' and ''Sun & Moon'' series helps balance out all the admitted bad things it did.
* SpoiledByTheFormat: You could tell [[spoiler:Ash's Kalos League defeat]] a mile away just from the fact that [[spoiler:[[TitleThemeDrop the theme song already played in full for Ash's fight with Sawyer]],]] thus there'd be no way for it to repeat for the very next battle.
* StrangledByTheRedString:
** A complaint of Ash/Serena, which is completely unsubtle in its ShipTease and originates in a {{Retcon}} to Ash's backstory (though in its defense, it is one-sided on Serena's part, as the retcon to Ash's past [[ObliviousToLove doesn't affect him at all]]).
** Kukui and Burnet in SM fall under this for some fans: while in the games and ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' they're a married couple from the beginning, the Anime opted to show them fall in love and get married during the show starting with Burnet's introduction during the Aether Foundation arc. However, they only shared four to five significant scenes that could be classified as romantic throughout the arc, before the final episode of it features their wedding after very little hints towards it. For some, this comes across as them ending up together because canon dictated they should.
* StrawmanHasAPoint:
** Several early episodes were about Ash learning important life lessons...except the show would deliver these lessons [[DiabolusExMachina after giving Ash such a raw deal]] that the audience would take his side.
*** In the show's fourth episode, Ash encounters fellow trainer [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Samurai]], who rakes him over the coals for the novice mistakes of letting a Weedle get away and letting his Metapod get kidnapped by a Beedrill swarm. Thing is, the Weedle actually got away because Samurai rudely intervened right as Ash was about to attempt the catch (sticking a ''katana'' in his face and demanding a battle), giving the bug time to recover and escape. Later, Samurai indicates that the Beedrill swarm only mustered because that same Weedle went to gather them, conveniently ignoring the fact that the swarm is therefore his fault. During a rescue attempt, Ash tries to excuse himself by pointing out that he got sidetracked and that it's Samurai who's ''really'' to blame, which the writers would have you believe is a case of NeverMyFault...[[BrokenAesop except he's correct in this case]] and it's ''Samurai'' who's been deflecting the blame. Ash's actual mistake in this episode is [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny standing around gawking]] at the Beedrill swarm rather than getting himself and his Pokémon the hell outta dodge, but he can't be blamed for failing to anticipate [[DiabolusExMachina Spontaneous Beedrill Kidnapping Syndrome]], and it should be noted he takes immediate measures to try and rectify it...not that Metapod cares, since it also blames Ash for the disaster.
*** Upon being defeated by Ritchie in the Indigo League, Ash becomes incredibly upset; this was meant to serve up AnAesop about being a SoreLoser, judging from the criticisms the show delivers through Misty and Brock. The problem is that Ash has legitimate reasons to be upset about losing, considering it was a grossly unfair match. After nearly being disqualified due to fending off ''three separate Team Rocket attacks'' keeping him from the match, he and his Pokémon were under huge amounts of stress and exhaustion (so they battled under a handicap), [[NewRulesAsThePlotDemands a new elimination rule was added (and never used again)]] that declared sleep-status a case of "unable to battle" and equivalent to fainting (costing Ash his first Pokémon due to a lucky Sleep Powder attack), and Ash's last resort, Charizard, the only one healthy enough to be a viable choice in combat, decided to flake on him by taking a nap instead of fighting. It would be one thing if Ash was being moody and petulant after losing a fair match, but he actually lost because of bad luck and a wicked handicap, so this is a sting the audience can really sympathize with.
** Back during the ''Indigo League'', the episode "A Chansey Operation" introduced Doctor Proctor, a callous, lazy physician who would rather flirt with Nurse Joy than lift a finger while off duty. When Team Rocket causes a traffic accident that injures a literal truckful of Pokémon, Nurse Joy essentially commandeers him and his hospital into helping treat the monsters, a decision which he protests strongly. While the episode treats this decision as bad (and his casual attitude is admittedly cruel), he's absolutely right - he's a human physician, not a Pokemon doctor. He has little knowledge about their reactions to certain medicines or proper temperatures, if he had to do a major operation there would be no guarantee that he would have the faintest idea which major organs did what, never mind that a large number of the Pokémon are very dangerous and hard to control (many were severely agitated to the point that Ash and company had to use their own Pokémon to subdue them and one of them, an agitated Dodrio, ended up accidentally sedating the doctor in question). If anything, he's being more responsible than the trio or Nurse Joy. She never seemed to consider just using the clearly established Pokémon teleportation technology to send them to another Pokémon Center.
** A minor moment in "Lost Leader Strategy". Maylene tried to get her Lucario to apologize to Electabuzz, Pikachu, and Piplup for using its Aura Sphere on them, and Lucario was made out to be in the wrong for not wanting to apologize. Sure Lucario went too far, but those three Pokémon refused to stop fighting one another even after the other trainers tried to get them to stop.
** The Alola League. The main cast tries very ardently to defend the idea of a League where anyone can take part, because it defends Kukui's dream, against Guzma who looks at it as a schoolyard tournament for weaklings. It's hard to not see his point when [[GoldfishPoopGang Jessie and James]] make it to the Top 16 by running away and one of those Top 16 competitors tries to ''give up in the middle of battle''. [[spoiler: In fact, this became a major point of contention among fans regarding Ash's League win in Alola, with some stating that the victory didn't feel earned because of the circumstances and execution of it.]]
* SubbingVersusDubbing:
** ''Pokémon'' is an interesting variation; at the time the series first went international, lack of development of the Internet made the raw Japanese versions of anime and comparisons with the dub (let alone {{Fansub}}s) not as easy to access in the West as they are now. So many fans [[IgnoranceIsBliss were not aware of any differences between the Japanese version of the anime and dubbed version]]. But then early 2000 (mid-Orange Islands) Dogasu's Backpack launched, whose biggest feature is an easy-to-use Japanese-to-dub comparison for Pokémon, basically "Yu-Gi-Oh Uncensored: Pokémon Edition". Within a few years, Creator/FourKidsEntertainment's banning and censorship of episodes like ''Beauty and the Beach'', music replacement, and radical editing of ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'' became common knowledge. Still, many still preferred the dub, and the otherwise-criticized [=4Kids=] [[SacredCow still gets a pass on Pokémon]], mostly because of the fact that it was actually one of their most faithful adaptations. So while the main series doesn't suffer much for it, a few episodes and movies have it quite bad - such as the first movie, with fans' perception of Mewtwo and the movie itself being affected by [=4Kids'=] changes, and the dub getting a dismal rating on Website/RottenTomatoes. Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] due to [=4Kids'=] Michael Haigney [[http://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/comparisons/kanto/ep011.html admitting his]] cluelessness in regards to the series and [=4Kids'=] dub in general being aimed at a narrower demographic than Shudo intended; also, contrary to popular belief, the early Japanese dub ''did'' contain a bit more ParentalBonus humor, though not enough to make for a completely different series. Still, Dogasu's Backpack has made many fans go off to the Japanese version, and when [=TPCI=] took over, the dub became more of a [[AcceptableTargets target]] for criticism and many Western fans now watch the {{Fansub}}s, especially since ''XY'' when the music replacement got more prominent than it ever was under 4Kids. As a result, anime exclusive characters and even some of those from the games are referred by their Japanese names, even when they have official names in English. It doesn't help that, unlike with its contemporaries ''Manga/DragonBallZ'' and ''Manga/SailorMoon'', ''Pokémon'' has ''not'' released an official Japanese subtitled or uncensored English dubbed version to appease older nostalgic fans, and is regarded as antiquated and out-of-touch in that respect.
** Some also argue that the PokemonSpeak, which is usually lambasted by Western fans, is less {{Narm}}y in Japanese. It's handled ''quite'' differently due to Japanese syllable structure, is often used for puns that are inevitably LostInTranslation [[labelnote:Example]]such as Bonsly ("Usohachi" in Japanese) crying "Uso, uso!", which translates to "No way, no way!"[[/labelnote]], and apparently has more work put into the voices themselves (as hinted by Michael Haigney just not caring for some of the English Pokémon voices). This can even be seen within the English dub itself, in which Charizard's cry, usually considered cool and not {{Narm}}y at all, is actually PokemonSpeak of "Lizardon!" [[NonDubbedGrunts retained from the Japanese version]].
* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing:
** The Norwegian dub may be one of the few dubs that actually has a guy voicing Ash, and while his voice is obviously way past hitting puberty, it's still cartoonish enough to fit, and has left many people agreeing it's a fresh and unique type of voice for Ash than the usual strained female voices (not counting the original). Listen for yourself [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTGbUdxh_BM here]].
** The French-Canadian dub also used a similar teenager-ish voice for Ash, which like the Norwegian voice, some may find more tolerable than the CrossdressingVoices used in most other languages. Of note is the fact that it also used the English dub names for Pokémon and characters, unlike most other French Pokémon media, which the French-Canadian fanbase seems to appreciate - and which also means means they [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks needed time to "adjust"]] when Nintendo of Canada started importing the games from France.
** Many people consider the [=4Kids=] English dub this.
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Coming off the heels of the heavily disliked ''Black and White'' series, the first two years of ''XY'' were widely well-received in the fandom for the most part for having improved writing, action and battle animation, a much more competent take on Ash, a better balance on having Team Rocket threatening at times while keeping their comedic traits, a likable group of companions and supporting characters, a good pacing that averted ArcFatigue, and the Mega Evolution specials enticing viewers with a quite different take on the series than usual.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Team Skull's {{Leitmotif}} sounds similar to [[Music/SouljaBoy Soulja Boy's]] song ''Crank That (Soulja Boy)''.
* TaintedByThePreview: Especially coming off [[spoiler:Ash losing the Kalos League]], the Alola arc reveal left many fans with negative expectations. Reasons include Ash being the protagonist once again, the more simplistic art style, the anime shifting to a school premise due to Alola having no league [[spoiler:yet]] and much of the promotional material focusing on over-the-top gags, causing many fans to draw comparisons to ''Anime/YokaiWatch''. Fortunately, the season started out not as badly as fans feared, and the announcement of ''Anime/PokemonIChooseYou'' also helped convince fans that the team was still making an effort.
* TastesLikeDiabetes: The anime has several moments of this. Specially in the scenes when the Pokémon start [[PokemonSpeak "talking"]] to each other:
** A lot of Dawn and Piplup's moments together.
** The Pikachu shorts very often qualify, due to being nothing but soft slapstick and "talking" from the current Pokémon. Especially so in the recent shorts, where even Team Rocket's Pokémon are unambiguously friendly and a ridiculously cheery narrator gives all the antics commentary.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
** Misty getting PutOnABus after Johto will always leave a gaping hole in the hearts of some fans, thinking that her departure ruined the show completely.
** One of the main complaints from the side of the BrokenBase that doesn't like ''Black and White'' is how it diverged from the formula that the previous AG and DP arcs used, and drastically changed the characterizations of Ash and Team Rocket. Somewhat ironically however, both aforementioned seasons got similar criticisms (hence the ''other'' side of the BrokenBase).
** Pikachu learning Electro Ball at the cost of '''Volt Tackle'''. Many were upset that Pikachu's most powerful move was replaced by one far weaker. Some would eventually get used to Electro Ball, seeing it as a surprisingly versatile move, only for it to meet the same fate in ''Sun and Moon'', getting replaced by Electroweb.
** Sun and Moon changed quite a few things about the series, turning it into a more Slice of Life based series, drastically altering the art style for the previously existing characters, reducing the number of battles, and making it a more stationary setting wherein Ash goes to school instead of traveling. As detailed under BrokenBase, this wasn't well received by a significant part of the fan base.
** While ''Journeys''' incorporation of ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' elements has been somewhat controversial (especially in regards to how Goh is handled), the fact that Eggs were changed from having unique designs to being only the generic colors and shades seen in ''Go'' and to a degree the main series games was one of the worst-received results of this by a part of the fanbase, as it was one of the better received elements of the Anime that had been consistent for more than two decades before the Generation VIII Anime.
** The dub (4Kids/[=TPCI=]) gets hit with this hard whenever they decide to make changes to the original Japanese content.
*** The prime example nowadays is [=TPCI's=] music replacements over the original Japanese soundtrack, especially since ''XY'' when a new dub composer, Ed Goldfarb, took over and even less Japanese music got kept. Whenever a new dub episode is released, most of the forum discussion among viewers isn't about what occurred in the episode, but about how much Japanese music got replaced, and how much "suckier" the dub music is compared to the original music pieces. According to Goldfarb himself, [[https://twitter.com/edgoldfarbmusic/status/966730622696800256 this is a business decision by TPCi.]]
*** Some fans [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere bailed on watching the English version of the show completely]] ever since the controversial voice-actor switch when [=TPCI=] took over the dub.
*** The title cards during ''X & Y'' often showed one of the main characters in the Japanese dub (even Korrina got one dedicated to her), as well as episode 14 parodying horror movies. Since episode 12, the English dub simply recycled the Ash-centric title card, continuing to do so for the rest of the series (even after Serena's attire change). Some older fans were not pleased.
** In French-speaking Quebec, Canada, the decision to re-air the series using France's dub was met with this reaction, as French Canadians had their own dub of the early anime [[InconsistentDub that used English Pokémon and character names rather than the French ones]][[note]]which was simply a modified version of the European French one, with the exact same voice actors from that dub simply re-dubbing their lines with the English names instead of the French ones[[/note]]. A particular sticking point is that Netflix Canada's French audio track for the Indigo League season - one of the seasons with an existing French-Canadian dub - is the unmodified European French one.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
** The GS Ball, which was building up to Celebi's reveal, gets left behind at Kurt's house despite many fans wanting to know what was inside. The reason being because the makers felt Celebi's appearance was no longer needed after the release of ''Anime/Pokemon4Ever''.
** Some of the special Johto Poké Balls Kurt provided for the original gang were left untouched after handing them 3 Fast Balls, 2 Lure Balls, and 1 Heavy Ball. Brock used a Fast Ball to catch a Pineco while Ash and Misty used the 2 Lure Balls to catch Totodile and Corsola respectively. On the other hand, Ash and Misty never used their Fast Balls for anything while Brock never used his Heavy Ball.
*** The 65th episode of the Advanced generation, "Gulpin it Down," really missed an opportunity for Brock's Heavy Ball to finally come into play. The episode has one of Professor Jacuzzi's experiments accidentally enlarging a Gulpin. Said professor ends up failing to catch the Gulpin in a normal Poké Ball, which Nurse Joy then provides him a Heavy Ball to catch it since Gulpin becoming large really increased its total weight. In the end, it will leave some viewers wondering why a random Heavy Ball was used rather than finally giving Brock's Heavy Ball a purpose.
** During the Johto journey, Ash obtains a Sun Stone for winning the Bug Catching Contest. Perhaps this is hinting that somewhere down the line, Ash will capture a Gloom or Sunkern to perform a stone evolve? Nope. It turned out that the Sun Stone gets wasted in a {{Filler}} episode on a wild Sunkern that never appears again.
** [=AG008=] shows off Ash's Treecko training at a waterfall to strengthen its Pound attack on a rock for a rematch against a Seviper that eventually gets caught by Jessie. Said training could have been an opportunity to upgrade Treecko with a new move, such as replacing Pound with the higher powered Slam attack, yet the training ends up being just a different method of using the basic Pound attack.
** The Battle Frontier arc ultimately did very little with its Kanto setting, with the group almost never revisiting characters or locations from the original series; the season could have remained in Hoenn and it would’ve had practically no effect on the overarching narrative.
** The training arc for Ash's Turtwig had a lot of missed potential due to the grass-turtle developing strategies that went nowhere once it evolved. Grotle's eating Energy Ball power-up strategy was handed to Dawn's Mamoswine, and Grotle/Torterra only successfully used its tanking strategy once against Candice's Sneasel before going on to lose every subsequent fight. He suffered BadassDecay so bad that the Pokémon eventually became a MemeticLoser for fans.
** Dawn's development with her battle-hungry Buizel that was touched upon in "An Elite Meet and Greet" was pretty much thrown out the window when the writers decided to have her trade Buizel away for Ash's Aipom.
** Despite Gary being brought back for sporadic appearances in DP, he and Paul never meet, wasting the opportunity to have Ash’s two greatest rivals interact or even face off in battle.
** [=DP103=] hinted at the idea of finally giving Meowth a new move in Night Slash, yet it's never brought up again due to him claiming that the move was too scary. The latter part alone could have been a bit of an arc for Meowth to work towards getting over said fear, but alas, nothing came of it.
** The backstory of Ash's Snivy was ripe for some interesting storytelling as Snivy was said to have outright abandoned her original trainer for being unworthy. Unfortunately, the Unova series never delves any deeper into this plot-point even if this point did get brought up a few times.
** From the BW Series, Ash's way of adventuring and his relationship to his Pokémon would have made him the ultimate foil to what N thinks is the average trainer and would have punched more holes in his logic even more so then Hilbert or Hilda (the Pokémon Black and White protagonists) ever could. Not to mention the ideological battle between Ash and King Plasma N would most likely have been the greatest highlight of the entire series. Instead, [[HeelRealization N]] and Team Plasma are already in their ''Black 2/White 2'' selves.
*** Speaking of Team Plasma, being simply being a generic evil organization in the anime annoyed many people. To be fair, this ''was'' how they were portrayed in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'', but the anime lacks the background of what they originally were in the first games and how that incarnation of the team got divided into the good side and the bad side, with only the bad side being portrayed. The ones that serve N rarely, if not never bring up their past as Team Plasma.
** Also from the BW Series, the fired Meowth arc where he travels around with Ash and the gang for several episodes had the potential to completely turn the series on its head. What would the series have been like had Meowth actually moved on from Team Rocket? How would Meowth have acted if he actually was caught by Iris? Would his loyalty to Jessie and James come into question if he came to enjoy his time with the gang, or was caught under the ownership of another trainer? So many intriguing ideas come to mind regarding this plotline, but in the end, it turned out that Meowth was just faking it to trap the gang in a glorified 2-part Team Rocket scheme.
** In the XY Series neither Ash, nor any of his companions, receive a Mega Ring/Key Stone. Instead, Ash gets a unique Bond-Greninja evolution as a replacement for learning how to mega evolve while the Mega Evolutions are given to other major characters like Alain, Sawyer and Sycamore. This comes off as a missed opportunity to some when Ash owns several Pokémon that can Mega Evolve, such as Charizard, Heracross, Sceptile, and Glalie.
** Malva, one of Kalos's Elite Four, works for Lysandre like in the games...and then she does nothing for him, except challenging Alain to a fight in the Mega Evolution special. When the Team Flare arc actually starts, she very quickly does a HeelFaceTurn, making her role as a part of the villain team pointless when she committed no evil deeds onscreen. While this is in keeping with how her game self was also never shown committing villainous acts, the Anime could've taken the chance to show more of her role as a Team Flare agent and part of the Elite Four than the game did.
** While ''Sun & Moon'''s school setting received a ton of backlash upon its reveal, some fans saw some potential in the new type of setting that would justify its inclusion. Unfortunately, the school ended up being a rather unimportant backdrop in the grand scheme of things, mostly serving as a way to keep Ash in Melemele rather than part of the story in its own right, only rarely seeing lessons as more than a backdrop element.
** In [=SM041=] many fans were displeased that Charjabug was in a go-cart race rather than the trainers themselves. It would have been fun to see some actual WackyRacing.
** Considering how Ash-Greninja's debut in the games was in ''Sun and Moon'', many wanted Ash's Greninja to return to his team at some point in the ''Sun and Moon'' anime. This didn't happen, needless to say.
** The 20th anniversary specials featuring Brock and Misty's return were generally well-regarded, though many had issues with the fact that the episodes almost exclusively focused on the Kanto era of the anime, with anything after that either being referenced only briefly or, in the case of ''BW'' and ''XY'', not at all. Fans of the later seasons were disappointed by this, feeling that the big anniversary celebration should probably have given more attention to celebrating the ''entire'' franchise, rather than just Gen 1.
** The 1st episode of ''Pokémon Journeys'' started off with the neat idea of finally showing the backstory of Ash's Pikachu. Unfortunately, the episode ended up being viewed as a missed opportunity for not answering some of the more intriguing questions people have surrounding Pikachu's past, such as how he was captured by Professor Oak, or why Pikachu had a strong dislike of humans the day he was given to Ash.
** The 3rd episode of ''Pokémon Journeys'' brings back the Bulbasaur-line evolution phenomena that was seen way back in [=EP051=] of the original series, "Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden." Only this time around, the Ivysaur are getting ready to evolve into Venusaur. The fact Ash's Bulbasaur wasn't somehow involved this time around after being the focus of the prior episode is seen as a missed opportunity for some fans since it seemed like a perfect set-up to bring back an old favorite, and possibly add a bit more to Bulbasaur's 'not wanting to evolve' plotline, such as perhaps having Bulbasaur come to a decision that it's finally ready to evolve into Ivysaur.
* ToughActToFollow:
** Sinnoh had Ash with one of his best teams, a great rivalry in Paul that culminated in a three-part battle, and ended on Ash having a very climatic battle against a trainer with legendaries, getting closer to beating him than anybody else would. It was safe to say that Unova had some big shoes to fill as the next series.
** Kalos had Ash at his [[TookALevelInBadass finest, most formidable trainer level to date]]. The perceived impossibility of topping this [[spoiler:since his losing the Kalos League showed he still wasn't allowed to become formidable enough to break status quo]], and Ash's competence seemingly [[TookALevelInDumbass having nowhere to go but down]] a la [[DorkAge Unova]] left his fans with negative expectations for the anime's future. While his battle competence is generally better than Unova in ''Sun & Moon'', he was far ''more'' of a childish, comedic ButtMonkey than he was in Unova as well, creating yet another example of a BrokenBase.
* UncannyValley: Team Rocket has a knack for using obvious puppets and masks to impersonate other human characters. While the disturbing unrealism of the whole thing is PlayedForLaughs, it's bound to creep out the show's target audience of children.
** In the Pokemon Chronicles episode "A Date With Delcatty", Casey gives Georgio [[https://imgur.com/a/x8qzh8o/ what appears to be bedroom eyes.]] She even calls him "fella".
* UnexpectedCharacter:
** Ash did not use Tauros at the Indigo League like he did with Krabby and Muk. Made it that much more of a surprise that he brought Tauros in for his battle with Drake.
** The times when Ash caught Aipom and Gligar were seen as surprising captures due to the belief that the anime was on a bit of a trend where Ash will only catch Pokémon of the current generation that was going on. In these cases, Aipom was caught during the Hoenn generation when Ash was back in Kanto taking on the Battle Frontier, and Gligar was caught during the Sinnoh journey. Of course, everyone caught on shortly after that the reason they were captured was because Gen 4 provided them new evolutions.
** It was surprising that the anime gave Grant an Onix; in the games, he's the first Rock-type Gym Leader who didn't have either Onix ''or'' a Geodude on his team (Roxanne had a Geodude but no Onix, and ''all'' Rock-type Leaders before Grant have had a member of the Geodude line on their team). This makes the anime version of Grant the first to have an Onix while lacking a member of the Geodude evolutionary line (counting Brock in the ''Gold and Silver'' games).
** Clemont catching a Luxio during the Kalos journey was a bit of a surprise for a lot of people. This is primarily due to the Pokémon being from a past generation, and because the Shinx-line isn't even in the Kalos Pokédex in the games.
** [[spoiler: Astrid and Remo from the Mega Evolution Specials]] both participate in the Lumiose Conferance. [[spoiler: Astrid]] loses to Ash in the Top 8, while [[spoiler: Remo]] is soundly defeated by Alain in the semi-finals.
** After both having been absent from the show [[LongBusTrip for years]] and [[ExiledFromContinuity their exclusion from the 20th movie]], very few, if any, fans were expecting Brock and Misty to make a guest appearances in ''Sun & Moon''.
** [[http://comicbook.com/2017/08/31/pokemon-anime-ashs-bulbasaur-jigglypuff/ Jigglypuff]] (Yes. That [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Jigglypuff_(anime) Jigglypuff]].) who was absent from the anime for nearly ''fifteen'' years, also returns in ''Sun and Moon''.
** The final year of ''Sun and Moon'' threw a big curveball by finally allowing main characters to [[OlympusMons capture mythical Pokemon]], with Meltan and Shaymin ending up in Ash and Mallow's teams respectively. Shaymin was especially left field, being a Generation IV Pokemon that cannot be caught normally in any Generation VII games nor was tied to any promotion at the time.
** ''Journeys'' quickly made this one of it's staples, becoming well-known for bringing in many unexpected chracters:
*** Ash's first capture being a [[spoiler:Dragonite]] came out of left field for most fans for several reasons. [[spoiler:Not only did it mark the first time since Gligar that Ash has caught a Pokémon not native of the current generation as part of his main team, it was also his first capture of a fully-evolved Pokémon since Noctowl, and a pseudo-legendary to boot. Getting such a Pokémon as his first series capture instead of a starter or a regional bird was something few predicted]].
*** Korrina and her Lucario. Of all of Ash's friends who people had been expecting to return, she certainly wasn't high on the list, as while her arc had its fans, she was still ultimately a minor character in the XY series compared to Ash's companions and rivals. Additionally, Mega Evolution had been removed from ''Sword and Shield'', making her and Mega Lucario's return an even bigger surprise.
*** Very few people expected Ash to catch [[spoiler:Galarian Farfetch'd]], especially right after [[spoiler:Riolu]], another pure Fighting-type. What also played into the surprise was many people feeling that the marketing around this time was leading up to Ash eventually catching a [[spoiler:Sobble, who ended up being caught by Goh in the episode after Ash's Galarian Farfetch'd capture]]. Basically, the captures happened in the exact opposite of what people were expecting.
*** The 2021 new years trailer surprised people by revealing an appearance of [[spoiler:Wikstrom the Steel-type master of the Kalos Elite Four]] as an opponent for Ash. This was not a highly expected character due to [[spoiler: never having appeared properly in the series beyond a very brief cameo in the opening segment of the Diancie movie, not to mention being a fairly minor character from ''X and Y'' that didn't get particular focus during or after Generation VI]].
*** [[spoiler:Gary Oak and Iris' confirmed reappearances in the third opening. Despite Gary's iconic status, it had been more than a decade since he'd appeared outside of non-speaking cameos. Iris' appearance came even further out of left field, as most fans expected the XY companions would be the next to reappear, especially since ''Journeys'' up to this point had only featured returning characters and callbacks from the original series, ''XY'', and ''Sun and Moon'' (The exception being Matori, who had appeared in every series since her debut anyway)]]
*** Ash's capture of [[spoiler:Dracovish]] took many by surprise, not just because Ash never caught a [[spoiler:Fossil]] Pokémon before or already had a [[spoiler:Dragon]] Type on his team, but also because said Pokémon is just a ''really'' unconventional choice for Ash, in general.
* UnintentionallySympathetic:
** Team Rocket:
*** Given the entire premise of the show involves catching Pokémon, the trio are sometimes condemned and attacked even when they try to take Pokémon or other goods through legitimate means or with a sympathetic motive. Some of their punishments can also get incredibly vicious in some of their more pitiful bouts as well (sometimes characters have had to maintain their "Blasting off" RunningGag [[DisproportionateRetribution for very petty reasons]]). Throughout Hoenn and Sinnoh in particular, they were so much more [[StrawLoser loser]] than actual villain it verged on depressing.
*** At times, only one or two team members are causing trouble, with the others sometimes even protesting or trying to help the heroes. [[GuiltByAssociationGag They are still always blasted off indiscriminately.]] "Got Miltank!" was an especially bad case, since Ash knew Meowth didn't want any part in the scheme and even saw him get BoundAndGagged by the other members in response.
*** Their Pokémon even more so. Most of them are portrayed as more loyal and loving to Jesse and James than malicious in any way, and a lot of them (especially James') are blessed with heart wrenchingly cute designs and dispositions, making a lot of the heroes' smug {{Curbstomp Battle}}s against them look like vicious KickTheDog moments.
** Guzma is very clearly meant to be seen as the villain that wants to destroy the League and Kukui's dreams. However, given the Alola League is an open League with no requirements compared to past Leagues,[[labelnote:*]]Past leagues had a badge requirement, typically at least 8 badges with the exception of the Orange Islands only needing 4[[/labelnote]] his comment that it's just a schoolyard tournament starts to make sense. His later insistence on getting tired of Kukui and Hala's holier-than-thou attitude about following tradition (a tradition abandoned by those very two people by building their own stadium after stating that the traditional island challenge ended on Mount Lanakila) and wanting to get stronger without Z-Moves after they've been used to facilitate battles without strategy throughout the season, gives him a strong case of JerkassHasAPoint. That he's also taking part in the tournament legitimately and fairly, abiding by the rules to make his point, also makes one wonder just why Guzma is considered such a heinous villain by the cast.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic:
** We're supposed to see Lillie's side of things whenever her strained relationship with her mother is brought up, and her mother certainly isn't the best in the world ([[WhenYouComingHomeDad constantly busy due to her work]]). The problem is that Lillie doesn't really bring this up at all - instead, Lillie is angry with her mother for once evolving a Clefairy that was under ''her'' (not Lillie's) ownership without consent. (If Lusamine's ImagineSpot is to be believed, Clefairy had no problem with evolving.) In the present day, Lusamine brings the whole gang to Aether Paradise for a tour, but when she uses the opportunity to try and make small talk with her daughter, Lillie actually takes offense and angrily storms off with the rest of the gang, more upset with being treated like a child than happy her mother is attempting to set aside time for her (though Ash and Professor Burnet do at least point this out to her later). [[spoiler:When Lusamine is taken by Nihilego, Lillie continues to treat her mother as selfish and condescending for being absorbed despite Lusamine TakingTheBullet for Lillie's brother. The speech she gave her mother did get cleaned up and made a bit more impactful in the dub as Lillie did say near the end she respected her mother.]] Part of this issue seems to be because of the AdaptationPersonalityChange given to Lusamine. Lillie's behavior works for the game characters, but due to the anime's changes, she no longer comes out as being entirely in the right.
*** Moreover, we're supposed to see Gladion as the big brother who promised to become stronger to protect his sister...except he kept Lillie's problems a secret for years, and if the main thing to jolt her memory was to explain what ''really'' happened that day when Nihilego captured her (and it was Type: Null trying to ''save her'') then all Gladion had to do was ''explain'' this to her or at least go to his mother sooner. Instead, what this does is make him seem like [[NeverMyFault none of Lillie's lingering problems was his fault]] and points the blame ''solely'' on his mother.
* ValuesDissonance:
** "The Legend of Dratini" was banned outside of Japan for this reason. The episode featured a character named Kaiser who wielded a gun on screen with him threatening to shoot Ash and his friends a few times, and even fired them at Team Rocket, which was all taken as comedy in Japan. In America however, network television has very strict standards at that certain content due to how controversial and offensive those subjects are that the episode was not allowed to be aired on TV, let alone have a dubbed episode because of the episode's heavy use of firearms.
** In one episode, the heroes continuously vilify a Pokémon smuggler who was capturing wild Scatterbug, having them evolve into different kinds of Vivillon, and selling them to collectors all over the world. Which is [[YouBastard pretty much what everyone does with Vivillon in the games.]]
* VanillaProtagonist: [[AllThereInTheManual According to Shudo's notes]], Ash (Satoshi) was never meant to stand out very much. His original vision for the series gave rise to far more interesting antagonists (and so we got Gary, a jerk with a harem of cheerleaders, and Team Rocket, who need no explanation), and even Ash's traveling companions are more dynamic and interesting (Brock and his women-starved antics come to mind). Certain points in the show do attempt to give Ash more of a distinct personality (''Advanced Generation'' made him more short fused, while ''Sun and Moon'' converts him into a LoonWithAHeartOfGold), though since said characteristics often come and go each series, it's still hard to paint a consistent picture of him.
* VideoGameMoviesSuck: The movies wildly vary in acceptance with the fanbase, but barring a few (such as ''[[Anime/PokemonGenesectAndTheLegendAwakened Genesect and the Legend Awakened]]'' and ''[[Anime/PokemonHoopaAndTheClashOfAges Hoopa and the Clash of Ages]]'') they largely avert this, being seen as SoOkayItsAverage at worst. Among critics? Of the seven movies to receive any sort of theatrical release outside of Japan, the only one to receive a "Fresh" rating on Website/RottenTomatoes is ''Anime/PokemonThePowerOfUs'', ''twenty-one movies'' into the series. The second highest-rated is ''Anime/PokemonIChooseYou'' (which is not only the ''twentieth'' one, but also a full-on ContinuityReboot) at only 43%, with many of the more forgiving reviews boiling down to "(Young) Fans will probably enjoy it."
* VindicatedByHistory:
** The ''Orange Islands'' arc was originally disregarded as {{Filler}} that didn't really amount to anything since the Gym challenges weren't always actual battles and the League itself wasn't based on an in-game region. Nowadays, whenever a debate starts concerning Ash's competence as a trainer, people will often mention it immediately, since his victory there technically means Ash qualifies for the title of Champion, and that also marks the first real sign of his growth as a Pokémon Trainer. It is also pointed out that the Orange Islands brought several fan-favorites such as Ash's Lapras, Ash's Snorlax, and the Crystal Onix, and that the battle between Ash and Drake was the series' first full battle.
** More fans overtime have been starting to consider the controversial ''Black and White'' series an example of this trope. While it did several things wrong, particularly with Ash, it also did several things right that have continued to be done to great effect in the subsequent ''XY'' and ''Sun and Moon'' series - namely, a better series structure and pace, a more faithful rendition of the region from the video games, the regular formula for {{Filler}} episodes being mostly dropped in favor of more inventive situations, Team Rocket not appearing in every episode and not [[SpotlightStealingSquad taking up too much unneeded time]] in episodes they do appear in, attempts to give the male companion a broader dynamic within the main group than [[OutOfFocus Brock]], Team Rocket [[NotSoHarmlessVillain being given more developed arc roles or competent moments]], and introducing much longer [[StoryArc story arcs]] (the Meloetta arc and the ''Episode N'' arc) which were the predecessors to the ''Z'' arc of ''XY'' and the Cosmog arc of ''Sun and Moon''. Some will argue there were even things that it did better than other series, such as a more even group dynamic and the actual Team Rocket organisation being the BigBad at last. Essentially, it is viewed as the reverse of FranchiseOriginalSin - even if it is not considered good overall, it originated many popular trends used in subsequent entries in the series.
* {{Wangst}}:
** [[{{Jerkass}} Paul]] being the [[BadBoss way he is]] because of his brother losing and giving up his dream has been met with this response, as it doesn't even ''remotely'' justify anything. It doesn't help that said brother doesn't have any angst over it himself, and only gave up his dream because he found a new occupation that he decided he liked better.
** While it was understandable for Max to get upset over dealing with his BrokenPedestal regarding his father losing the gym battle to Ash in the Hoenn arc of the show, what made the whole thing qualify for this trope was the fact that Max thought that losing was a bad thing regarding battles and Norman being a gym leader. Even Norman had to argue against this by telling Max that losing is an important thing when it comes to being a gym leader and that losing overall can be a good experience, so Max was essentially whining over his father ''doing his job''.
* WereStillRelevantDammit: ''Sun & Moon'', with its GenreShift towards slice-of-life comedy as opposed to action and adventure, and its DenserAndWackier animation, is often seen as an attempt to ape ''Anime/YokaiWatch'', which in Japan rivals and even outdoes the success of ''Pokémon'' (especially the movies, of which ''Pokémon'' has suffered diminishing box office returns).
* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids:
** It can get pretty damn dark at times, especially in some of the movies, but is still a children's show all the same. Special mention goes to the surprisingly dark and deep Japanese version of ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'', as well as ''Anime/PokemonZoroarkMasterOfIllusions'', which got the equivalent of a PG-13 rating in Japan - something very odd to hear about [[AnimationAgeGhetto this show]].
** Creator/TakeshiShudo hadn't originally wanted the show to be only for children. When one looks closely at episodes written by him, they're noticeably more serious in tone than a great deal of other episodes and tend to focus on the darker aspects of the Pokémon universe. For a quick example, ''[[Recap/PokemonS1E1PokemonIChooseYou the very first episode]]'' was a {{deconstruction}} of being a Pokémon trainer.
** Paul’s relationship with Chimchar, and its subsequent healing from it, is ''horrifyingly'' similar to abusive relationships in real life, down to the repression, victim blaming and shaming, deeply-rooted trauma, as well as both physical and emotional abuse. In addition, Chimchar’s reaction to facing Zangoose in both ''Glory Blaze!'' and ''Tears For Fears!'' can only be described as PTSD.
* WinBackTheCrowd:
** Advanced Generation (Hoenn) could be considered this after people started to get tired of the franchise due to the Johto era being plagued with tons of boring/irrelevant {{Filler}}. The makers even felt the need to shake up the main cast.
** ''XY'' did this later down the line; not only was it one of the most well-loved seasons on its own merits, but it came immediately after the [[DorkAge poorly-received]] ''Black and White'' season.
** ''Sun And Moon'' to an extent, as several people who stopped watching the anime [[spoiler:(especially after the Kalos League)]] said that the snippets they'd seen piqued their interests about it, so much so that some started watching it again. [[BrokenBase Many fans of the previous series remain at odds with it for various reasons, though]].
** The 20th movie preview did this. Fans had been accusing the movies of becoming less imaginative and descending into FranchiseZombie territory. Then the preview aired, showing the title of the movie ("Pokémon I Choose You") and nostalgic footage of Ash and Pikachu in Kanto with Ho-Oh flying overhead, heavily suggesting that the movie would be a nostalgia-laden MilestoneCelebration. Fans were ecstatic.
** After complaints about the lack of continuity in ''XY'', Ash returning to Kanto for a two-episode arc in ''Sun & Moon'', with the confirmed appearances of Misty, Brock, and at least some of his reserve Pokémon made older fans ''very'' excited.
** Coming off of the divisive Alola League, the [[spoiler:Ash vs Kukui]] 4-parter was seen as one of the best battles in the series, particularly [[AnimationBump in its final half.]] Many who were critical of the league admitted that the ensuing 6v6 full battle was a huge standout in the series and [[spoiler:served as a better League final battle than Ash vs Gladion was.]]
** The movies after years of FranchiseZombie accusations and diminishing returns that came to a head with the late Unova and Kalos movies. Starting with ''Anime/PokemonIChooseYou'', the approach to the yearly ''Pokémon'' movie was shaken up drastically, with a different story approach and artstyle for each one. The movies since that era have been significantly better-received than the pre-reboot movies, with ''Anime/PokemonThePowerOfUs'' being widely praised and becoming the first ''Pokémon'' movie to get a "Fresh" rating on Website/RottenTomatoes.
* TheWoobie:
** Sometimes Dawn, sometimes Ash, sometimes May and/or Max, and sometimes the Team Rocket trio, especially James. And on the Pokémon side of things, Charmander and Chimchar in their debuts.
** After the revelation that they're simply {{punch clock villain}}s in "Island of the Giant Pokémon", it's impossible not to feel sorry for poor Arbok and Weezing. After getting {{curb stomp|Battle}}ed by the heroes every single episode, you'd think that they would run away from Team Rocket just to escape the daily pain. But no- they keep on because they care about their trainers. And their final appearance [[TearJerker is a testament to how Jessie and James feel the same way.]]
*** Hell, most of Team Rocket's Pokémon are this or a {{Jerkass Woobie}}, even Jessie, James and Meowth a lot of the time. Sure they try to steal Pokémon and look like evil villains, but it's all just in desire to please their boss and have some sort of impact for once. Not to mention they're nearly all TrueCompanions and once a member has to depart, it's usually as big a TearJerker as for one of the heroes. Take Dustox, Cacnea, and Chimecho as further evidence.
** The Abra in "Fear Factor Phony." It was left behind by its owners and left to live in old, abandoned, dilapidated building and always tormented about its abandonment (as seen by its dream). Furthermore, it was demonized by the ghost Pokémon and Team Rocket thanks to its siblings obnoxious behavior, despite it probably hated the noise as well, hence the force field.
** N, [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite just by virtue of being N.]]
** Serena's Eevee. Eevee was specifically caught as a SecretWeapon for showcase performances due to her adorable dancing. However, as it turned out, Eevee was crippled by shyness and nerves, heavily effecting her performance in battles and showcases (even [[TeamRocketWins losing to Team Rocket]] in one instance). Despite Serena being very sympathetic towards her, Eevee spent most of the time looking depressed over bogging her team down. She TookALevelInBadass after evolving into Sylveon, though she does retain some of her nervousness and Moe-qualities.
** Lillie was left traumatized since early childhood after nearly being abducted by Nilhego, leaving her unable to touch Pokemon or even be touched by them [[DeerInTheHeadlights without freezing up]]. Even after she overcame her phobia, she was targeted by her mother's corrupt lead scientist Faba for [[TheyKnowTooMuch knowing too much]] and then witnessed her mother getting abducted and brainwashed by Nihilego in one of his botched experiments. Add in a good dose of {{Adorkable}} moments and [[LovableCoward Lovable Cowardice]], and you have one of Ash's [[BrokenBird most tormented companions]].
** Mallow becomes a huge one in [=SM108=], "Memories In The Mist" when it's revealed [[spoiler:that her mother died of an illness when she was little and that her last words to her was that she hated her; and [[PartingWordsRegret she wasn't able to tell her sorry before she died.]]]] She spends most of the episode feeling down and when she [[spoiler: finally meets her mother one more time, she breaks down in her mother's arms apologizing for her harsh words and then the two thank each other for all they've done.]] All the sadness she goes through at the time would make one want to comfort her too.
* {{Woolseyism}}:
** Naturally quite a few, particularly the puns which can/can't be translated:
** All of Team Rocket's English Mottos. Don't you dare deny it.
** When the Squirtle Squad holds Misty hostage in Squirtle's debut episode, they originally threatened to kill her if Ash didn't do what they say. In the English dub, they threaten to dye her hair purple (which Misty is equally upset about). It might be censorship, but not only is it way funnier, it makes more sense given her reaction.
** When Ash crossdresses to infiltrate the Celadon Gym, Team Rocket introduce him posing as "her" parents. In the Japanese version, the "-shi" in Satoshi is replaced with a "-ko", which gives him the very feminine alias of Satoko. In the English version, he's referred to as Ashley (the gender-neutral, full variant of Ash).
** A lot of fans prefer 4Kids' flashback sequence during Misty's goodbye. In Japan, the clips focused on Misty's character while the dub clips focus on her relationship with her friends, which is seen as better suiting the episode. The Japanese clips are also considered to be too lengthy and less exciting.
** Brock's Sudowoodo's use of "Take Down" in the original Japanese - which Sudowoodo cannot legitimately learn in the games - was changed in the English dub to "Double Edge", a move with similar properties which Sudowoodo ''can'' use. Similarly, in the episode where Ash challenged Roxanne's Gym, her Nosepass apparently used "Hyper Beam" twice in the Japanese version (during Ash's episode battling her) - but given the electric-based properties of the attack (which was actually plot-relevant), the dub changed these two instances to "Thunder Wave" and "Zap Cannon" respectively, which actually makes ''more'' sense (Zap Cannon is probably what the attack was ''meant'' to be, anyway).
** Hikari/Dawn's EmbarrassingNickname, "Pikari"/"Dee-Dee", is a particularly clever one, which [[FridgeBrilliance makes you wonder if PUSA had planned it ahead]]. Dawn's nickname is treated as a NoodleIncident until the last DP Season, where its origins are revealed to be from Dawn having been shocked by a Plusle and Minun when she was little - her friend Kenny [[KidsAreCruel partially traumatized her]] at the time by calling her "Pikari" (in reference to ''pikapika'', the sound an electric sparkle makes). Since the dub changed her name, the nickname becomes Dee-Dee - which is short for "Diamond Dandruff", a rather suitable nickname for the scenario.
** While being a "Pokémon Sommelier" fits for Cilan "tasting" the compatibility between Pokémon and trainers, "Pokémon Connoisseur" works much better when it comes to Cilan's various hobbies when he declares himself a "-- Connoisseur", seeing as a connoisseur is another term for an enthusiast.
** Throughout ''Sun and Moon'', many of Samson Oak's Pokémon puns are translated very awkwardly. Since they're ''supposed'' to be cringeworthy however...
** While Ed Goldfarb's score in the ''XY'' saga is divisive, his score for the ''Sun & Moon'' saga has some nice standouts, one of the biggest being the solemn piano piece from episode 21 that plays over Ash keeping vigil over the distraught Litten. Said sequence's original Japanese self simply had Shinji Miyazaki's "Meowth's Ballad" playing over it, not quite fitting for such sadness.
* WriterCopOut: Ash [[spoiler:losing the Kalos League to Alain]] was seen as this by many after the far from insignificant amounts of buildup, including in the trailers and the episode's title itself, that strongly hinted [[spoiler:Ash would finally win]]. This managed to negatively affect the view of the ''XY'' series, prior seen as one of the best due to its willingness to indulge the PeripheryDemographic, now seen by some as something of a ShaggyDogStory that copped out at the last minute.
[[/folder]]

** While being a "Pokémon Sommelier" fits for Cilan "tasting" the compatibility between Pokémon and trainers, "Pokémon Connoisseur" works much better when it comes to Cilan's various hobbies when he declares himself a "--- Connoisseur", seeing as a connoisseur is another term for an enthusiast.

** Many an attack has had its power mitigated by introducing strange physics into battle at the writers' convenience -- in the rematch for the Thunder Badge, Pikachu safely {{No Sell}}s Raichu's Thunderbolt by balancing on its tail and using it as a ground to divert the electricity. Said strategy got an explicit CallBack in the ‘’Journeys’’ series, only with the usage of Iron Tail to serve as a proper ground.

** For those who disliked her anime portrayal in DP, Cynthia's characterization in ''Black and White'' made some leeway in redeeming her. It helps that the preachiness was toned down some, with focus on making her a CoolBigSis {{Mentor}} towards Iris.
** Trip wasn't too popular until the Junior Cup, when he made up for his losses by impressively sweeping the tournament (with just Serperior). Losing to Alder and getting some much-needed CharacterDevelopment also softened him up, making him a more likable ''person'' as well.

* StopHavingFunGuys: Paul starts off as this, criticizing Ash's more lax style of training and constantly beating him in battle to prove his point. After some CharacterDevelopment and being [[HumblePie humbled]] by Brandon, however, he grows to respect Ash's point of view (and vice versa).

* FanDislikedExplanation: The true meaning of Ash's [[ToBeAMaster goal]] has been deliberately kept ambiguous and vague by the creators, likely to keep it from being one of these. Pokemon.com stated as much in a response to an email asking them about it.
-->I'm very sorry, but the Pokémon Company does not answer questions of this nature. It is the intent of the Pokémon creators that such questions be left to the imaginations and interpretations of Pokémon fans, adding more excitement and mystery to the Pokémon universe.

** ''Master Quest'' is this for the Johto era. (Seasons 3-5) The Johto era is widely known for its too many filler episodes that spaces way too far out the era's main story involving Ash battling gym leaders to get into the Johto League, Brock and Misty are both relegated in most of the episodes, and most of the episode plots are formulaic with very little variety. (Ash and friends arrive in a new area, they meet a "Character of the Day", Brock falls in love with a pretty girl, and Team Rocket shows up to kidnap Ash's Pikachu and/or other Pokemon they are interested in) Around the middle part of ''Master Quest'', the heavy amount of filler episodes is downplayed, making the gym leader battle episodes a lot less spaced out, the episode plots steer away from the formula and offer episodes that not only brings variety to the formula, but also gives the characters like Team Rocket some development, in which [[Recap/PokemonS5E22DuesAndDonts they even get an episode where they are the main focus with Ash and friends being side characters]]. Brock and Misty's downgraded roles are even downplayed giving them more time to shine.

** Dawn is this to her immediate predecessor, May, who was initially deemed by some a ReplacementScrappy to Misty for being too similar in personality while not living up to the original. In contrast, Dawn had a more refreshing straight-up NiceGirl personality and lacking the previous girls' {{tsundere}} side. While Dawn doesn't quite surpass Misty's popularity, she is still held in quite high regard by the fanbase.
** Serena is this to Iris, who is one of the least popular female companions to date. While Serena is not without her detractors for her perceived RomanticPlotTumor and for her never-before-mentioned ForgottenFirstMeeting with Ash, some of the fandom agree that she's an improvement over Iris. She also further won fans for having an arc of CharacterDevelopment that helped to have her RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap, although how it ended [[BrokenBase is a point of severe contention]]. Also, she's one of the few girls to [[KissingDiscretionShot kiss Ash]], and the only female companion to ever do so, so she definitely has that going for her.

* ObscurePopularity: Everything outside of the [[FirstInstallmentWins original series]] is this. The anime has millions of watchers worldwide and has been running for twenty years, but people outside of children and the dedicated fandom are often surprised to see that it's still on-going.

** Sophocles is this to Clemont in a downplayed sense for some. He was initially presented as ''extremely'' similar to Clemont as an Electric-type expert and an inventor but without Clemont's amusing and interesting sides before his character was [[AuthorsSavingThrow taken in a different direction]] thanks to his love for space being played up and his efforts into becoming a better trainer and grow more independent became more prominent, but between a lot of his development happening in the tail end of the series and him usually being one of the least focused on members of the main cast, he ended up feeling like a much less memorable character than Clemont was.
** Among [[SocialDarwinist Paul's fanbase]] and others, Trip is this. His initial characterization -- stuck-up and critical of Ash -- was too similar to Paul's character, without the experience that the latter had. Even his design is a PaletteSwap of Paul's with only minor differences of their facial features.

** Among [[DracoInLeatherPants Paul's fanbase]] and others, Trip is this. His initial characterization -- stuck-up and critical of Ash -- was too similar to Paul's character, without the experience that the latter had. Even his design is a PaletteSwap of Paul's with only minor differences of their facial features.

* StopHavingFunGuys: Paul, who was created as a TakeThat toward those types of players, but developed a MisaimedFandom (thanks in due part to [[CreatorsPet the head writer's apparent favoritism toward him]]).

** The fact Ash was confirmed to still be [[NotAllowedToGrowUp 10 years old]] at the start of ''Black and White'' was NOT accepted by anyone who believed Ash was just in a slow aging process (Example: Ash aging one year for every three years of real life or two years every region).
** A set of fans tend to dismiss the Orange Islands, Battle Frontier [[spoiler:and Alola]] as actual Ash wins.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** The ''Advanced Generation'' episode ''Shaking Island Battle! Dojoach VS Namazun!!'' had a Whiscash cause an earthquake, trapping Ash and his friends. One week before the episode was set to air, the Niigata region of Japan was struck by an earthquake and the episode was permanently shelved. A month and a half after that in the Indian Ocean...
** Due to Japan being quite prone to earthquakes in general, moves that involve either a realistic earth-shaking effect or having a name reminiscent of said natural disaster (Earthquake, Fissure and Magnitude) were [[ExiledFromContinuity banned from ever being used in the future]] after the 2004 Niigata earthquake - probably to minimize the risk of HarsherInHindsight and "too soon!" kicking in for local viewers (now moreso than ever, given the now-infamous controversy with the perma-shelved Rocket/Plasma two-parter of BW). Small uses of other earthquake related moves such as Earth Power and Bulldoze still slipped by, even if sparingly.

** These line from the very first Japanese Pokemon opening became this after Ash's long treck over the course of the anime's history to [[spoiler: him finally winning the Alolan League.]]
--> "Chase your dreams, keep them close, they'll eventually come true. So it's said in all those songs and childhood stories. And I know just like flower buds eventually will bloom, that all my dreams will soon come true."

-->'''Ash:''' What are you talking about? Of course, we're friends!
-->'''Goh:''' O-oh, right! *stammers and his face lights up like a tomato* Of course! *nervous laughter*

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: This is one of its biggest criticisms, as not much has actually changed in the show's 20+ year run:
** Every episode hits the same beats as all the others, and the plot resolutions are very predictable. Even the deviations from the norm (like Gym Leader battles) have their own norm that rarely, if ever, is broken. The lack on any overarching plot does not help at all (ToBeAMaster does not count as a plot to some when the main character is perceived as being no closer to his goals than when he started).

** The moveset of Ash's Pikachu has kept the same 3 moves (Thunderbolt, Quick Attack, and Iron Tail) ever since the days of early Hoenn, which can end up feeling somewhat stale after awhile since it leaves Pikachu's 4th move to be the only one that ever gets swapped out. Pikachu dropping Volt Tackle for Electro Ball in particular received some backlash when it happened since doing so just ended up giving Pikachu another long-range electric special move alongside Thunderbolt. Pikachu learning Electro Web as of ''Sun and Moon'' does serve to counter this, s it functions differently from most of Pikachu's other moves, allowing for more versatility and creative battling.

** Ash [[MemeticLoser never]] wins the regional Pokémon League. [[spoiler:Until Alola.]] All of social media, including news organizations like CNN and ESPN and the official Pokémon Twitter, was all over that within moments of it happening.

* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Given the fact he's been the main character for a story that has gone on for 7 series, 23 Seasons, and over 1,000 episodes, Ash has gone on to gain quite the collection of characters he's been shipped with. While currently he's a case of an ObliviousToLove ChasteHero, plus the only cases of potential romantic interest being towards girls, there's been enough ShipTease with countless characters that the fandom treats him like an ExtremeOmnisexual. Who (or what) he's shipped with has been done so regardless of gender (he's had enough HoYay to rival his ShipTease with girls) age (besides girls his age, he's also been shipped with those [[LikesOlderWomen older]] and [[NoYay younger]] than him) and even ''species'' (he's had plenty of female Pokémon that are canonically in love with him, but even those that aren't have often had moments that can be seen as potentially romantic. That's not even getting into how much shipping fuel has been provided involving ''[[HoYay male]]'' Pokémon, the most promiment being his permanent traveling buddy Pikachu, the two of them having such a strong HeterosexualLifePartners relationship, it's quite easily to view as not quite "heterosexual").

** ''Best Wishes'': [[MadScientist Colress]] was a perky scientist working for Team Plasma who sought to discover how to bring out strength in Pokémon. Colress invented a machine to control Pokémon as well as up their power. As the machines got destroyed, Colress recorded more data and upgraded to new machines. When Team Rocket attempted to persuade Colress to join them, Colress responded by successfully controlling Meowth, in spite of his resistance, and using him against Jessie and James. Arriving at the White Ruins, Colress forced N to give the Light Stone to Team Plasma by controlling Pikachu and using him against Ash. With Reshiram revived, Colress controlled it, all while marveling at the Legendary's power. Even upon arrest, Colress was still ambitious, as he planned on finding a way to communicate with Pokémon directly.

** Ash's Lycanroc for [[spoiler:being the Pokémon that finally allowed Ash to win a Pokémon League based on the games, with some saying it's even stronger than Ash-Greninja.]]
* MemeticLoser:

** Paul. The [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk way he's written]] and [[CreatorsPet how the writers treat him]] encourage this somewhat. More specifically, Paul is written as a criticism of some competitive players, as he demonstrates a total LackOfEmpathy, loves to gloat, and is strong enough to get away with it. A few of the less savory competitive players who otherwise cannot stand the show or its characters love Paul because they emotionally connect to him and see him as a role model, though how much of this is joking around is uncertain.

** Many fans liked the Mega Evolution specials for making a story and protagonist unrelated the main anime, and accused Alain's crossover into ''XYZ'' later (along with his infamous defeat over Ash in the Kalos league) to be hashed in. WordOfGod revealed that Alain was designed to be Ash's final opponent in the league from the beginning, and the Mega Evolution specials were merely to make him a fully realised character beforehand.[[note]]Made evident in the way ''Getta Ban Ban'' showed Ash and Alain across a mirror a good 30 episodes before they even met.[[/note]]

** Halfway into the original series, Jessie's Lickitung was accidentally traded for a Wobbuffet, who quickly became a popular PluckyComicRelief for Team Rocket and ended up a mainstay in the anime series, compared to Likitung, who made only sporadic appearances beforehand.

*** Pikachu's infamous loss against Trip's Snivy is easily the worst black mark he would ever have on his battle career. Never mind that Ash was unaware that he got locked out of his electric moves leaving him with only Iron Tail and Quick Attack until the battle itself already began while Trip's Snivy had access to Leaf Tornado, a move that a starter ''fresh from the lab'' shouldn't have access to. Pikachu's previous battle being against ''Tobias' Latios'' just made things worse for him. Now it is hard to find videos of Pikachu defeating a strong opponent without someone bringing it up in the comments about how he "couldn't beat a Snivy".

* NightmareRetardant: From the ''Sun & Moon'' series, Guzzlord's cries in the Japanese version. Hearing the yelling of what sounds like a ''grown man'' come from what is supposed to be a horrible EldritchAbomination is...''jarring'', to say the least.
** In the ''Pokémon Journeys'' series, a Fearow that sounds exactly like Guzzlord helps the gang, it honestly sounds more fitting than Guzzlord.

** [[spoiler: After the intense backlash over the bait-and-switch of Ash losing the Kalos League despite hints that he was finally going to win a league, him winning the Alola League and finally becoming a champion in Sun & Moon can come off as this.]]
** The ''Journeys'' series. Ash catches a Gengar and a Riolu, (both highly-requested Pokémon for him to catch), the series travels across all regions and brings back old faces like Korrina, the Alola gang, and '''''[[spoiler:the Mewtwo from Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie''''''' in Episode 46.]] And now, both [[spoiler: Iris and '''Gary''']] have been confirmed to return as well.

* SlowPacedBeginning: Serena's character arc takes quite some time to take off, given that, unlike other female leads she didn't have a clear goal from the get go, and became a trainer mostly to get away from the Rhyhorn Racing her mother enforced upon her. A good deal of episodes at the beginning were spent on her trying different activities in order to find her calling, before she finally set on becoming a Pokemon Performer. After that, she gets considerable focus and development at a much steadier pace.

** While ''Pokémon Journeys'' ' incorporation of ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' elements has been somewhat controversial for the fanbase (especially in regards to how Ash's newest companion Goh is handled), the fact that Eggs were changed from having unique designs to being only the generic colors and shades seen in ''Go'' and to a degree the main series games was one of the worst-received results of this by a part of the fanbase, as it was one of the better received elements of the Anime that had been consistent for more than two decades before the Generation VIII Anime.

** Ash's first capture in ''Pokémon Journeys'' being a [[spoiler:Dragonite]] came out of left field for most fans for several reasons. [[spoiler:Not only it marks the first time since Gligar that Ash has caught a Pokémon not native of the current generation as part of his main team, it's also his first capture of a fully-evolved Pokémon since Noctowl, and a pseudo-legendary to boot. Getting such a Pokémon as his first series capture instead of a starter or a regional bird was something few would have predicted]].
** Korrina and her Lucario in the ''Pokémon Journeys'' anime; of all of Ash's friends who people had been expecting to return, she certainly wasn't high on the list, as while her arc had its fans, she was still ultimately a minor character in the XY series compared to Ash's companions and rivals. Additionally, Mega Evolution had been removed from ''Sword and Shield'', making her and Mega Lucario's return an even bigger surprise.
** Very few people expected Ash to catch [[spoiler:Galarian Farfetch'd]], especially right after [[spoiler:Riolu]], another pure Fighting-type. What also played into the surprise was many people feeling that the marketing around this time was leading up to Ash eventually catching a [[spoiler:Sobble, who ended up being caught by Goh in the episode after Ash's Galarian Farfetch'd capture]]. Basically, the captures happened in the exact opposite of what people were expecting.
** It was a given that one of the main characters was going to catch [[spoiler: Eternatus]], since the plot of ''Sword and Shield'' basically forces you to. But not many fans expected ''Goh'' to be the one to do it, rather than Ash.
** The ''Journeys'' new years trailer for 2021 surprised people by revealing an upcoming appearence of [[spoiler:Wikstrom the Steel-type master of the Kalos Elite Four as an opponent for Ash]]. This was not a highly expected character due to [[spoiler: never having appeared properly in the series beyond a very brief cameo in the opening segment of the Diancie movie, not to mention being a fairly minor character from ''X and Y'' that didn't get particular focus during or after Generation VI]].
** [[spoiler: Gary Oak and Iris' confirmed reappearances in ''Journeys'' took quite a few fans by surprise. Despite Gary's iconic status, it had been more than a decade since he'd appeared outside of non-speaking cameos. Iris' appearance came even further out of left field, as most fans expected the XY companions would be the next to reappear, especially since ''Journeys'' up to this point had only featured returning characters and callbacks from the original series, ''XY'', and ''Sun and Moon'' (The exception being Matori, who had appeared in every series since her debut anyway)]]
** Ash's capture of [[spoiler: Dracovish]] took many by surprise, not just because Ash never caught a [[spoiler: Fossil]] Pokémon before or already had a [[spoiler:Dragon]] Type on his team, but also because said Pokémon is just a ''really'' unconventional choice for Ash, in general.

** Team Rocket sometimes get flak for this:

** From the ''Sun & Moon'' series, Guzzlord's cries in the Japanese dub. Hearing the yelling of what sounds like a ''grown man'' come from what is supposed to be a horrible EldritchAbomination is...''jarring'', to say the least.
*** In the ''Pokémon Journeys'' series, a Fearow that sounds exactly like Guzzlord helps the gang, it honestly sounds more fitting with the bird than the Guzzlord.

* ObscurePopularity: Everything outside of the [[FirstInstallmentWins original Kanto arc]] is this. The anime has millions of watchers worldwide and has been running for twenty years, but people outside of children and the dedicated fandom are often surprised to see that it's still on-going.

** As ''Pokémon Journeys'' moves along, some fans have felt that Ash's climb through the rankings for the World Coronation Series has not lived up to the potential. There's been some standout battles so far, such as Ash's ranking matches with Visquez, Korrina and Bea. However, all the other ranking battles have just been short-lived 1v1s. Most of which will have Ash just relying on Pikachu for a minute, and quickly win the match. This has left these fans feeling disappointed that the series hasn't been providing enough Pokémon battles worthy of such an event, and that the rest of Ash's team is getting the short-end of the stick when it comes to participating in ranking battles. In addition, one particularly questionable ranking jump happens when Ash was struggling to stay above the 1000-Rank in [=JN036=], yet 15 episodes later in [=JN051=], he's revealed to have already climbed his way up to the 415-Rank. This is despite no on-screen ranking matches being seen with the exception of his rematch against Bea, which resulted in no Ranking change anyway due to ending in a tie (which of itself also had a offscreen rank jump of Ash back up to the Super Rank after the events of 36). Thus, this has left fans even more annoyed that around 600 Rankings of potential World Coronation battles were completely glossed over.

** As ''Pokémon Journeys'' moves along, some fans have felt that Ash's climb through the rankings for the World Coronation Series has not lived up to the potential. There's been some standout battles so far, such as Ash's ranking matches with Visquez, Korrina and Bea. However, all the other ranking battles have just been short-lived 1v1s. Most of which will have Ash just relying on Pikachu for a minute, and quickly win the match. This has left these fans feeling disappointed that the series hasn't been providing enough Pokémon battles worthy of such an event, and that the rest of Ash's team is getting the short-end of the stick when it comes to participating in ranking battles. In addition, one particularly questionable ranking jump happens when Ash was struggling to stay above the 1000-Rank in [=JN036=], yet 15 episodes later in [=JN051=], he's revealed to have already climbed his way up to the 415-Rank. This is despite no on-screen ranking matches being seen with the exception of his rematch against Bea, which resulted in no Ranking change anyway due to ending in a tie. Thus, this has left fans even more annoyed that around 600 Rankings of potential World Coronation battles were completely glossed over.

** [[spoiler: Gary Oak and Iris' confirmed reappearances in ''Journeys'' took quite a few fans by surprise. Despite
Gary's iconic status, it had been more than a decade since he'd appeared outside of non-speaking cameos. Iris' appearance came even further out of left field, as most fans expected the XY companions would be the next to reappear, especially since ''Journeys'' up to this point had only featured returning characters and callbacks from the original series, ''XY'', and ''Sun and Moon'' (The exception being Matori, who had appeared in every series since her debut anyway)]]

** [[spoiler: Gary Oak and Iris being featured in the third version of the opening for Journeys took quite a few fans by surprise. While some expected Gary to appear in the series due to his iconic status, given the fact he hadn't appeared in over a decade outside of brief cameos in a BW ending and two recent movies there was still some uncertainty. Iris being teased for a reappearance especially came out of left field for many people, as most fans suspected the XY companions to be the next to be featured in the series and Journeys up to this point had only featured returning characters and callbacks from the original series, ''XY'' and ''Sun and Moon'' (The exception being Matori, who had appeared in every series since her debut anyway)]]

** [[spoiler: Gary Oak and Iris being featured in the third version of the opening for Journeys took quite a few fans by surprise. While some expected Gary to appear in the series due to his iconic status, given the fact he hadn't appeared in over a decade outside of brief cameos in a BW ending and two recent movies there was still some uncertainty. Iris being teased for a reappearance especially came out of left field for many people, as most fans suspected the XY companions to be the next to be featured in the series and Journeys up to this point had only featured returning characters and callbacks from the original series, XY and Sun and moon (The exception being Matori, who had appeared in every series since her debut anyway)]]

** The ''Journeys'' series. Ash catches a Gengar and a Riolu, (both highly-requested Pokémon for him to catch), the series travels across all regions and brings back old faces like Korrina and the Alola gang and '''''[[spoiler:the Mewtwo from Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie''''''' is implied to return in Episode 46]].