Given that the anime has run for over 20 years and counting, there is bound to be some aspects of the show that people have different opinions about.
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General
- The series itself is very divisive among older fans, more so than other Pokémon incarnations. It's either an awesome cartoon that you grew up with, had its ups and downs, or an embarrassing Franchise Zombie that needs to be kept as far away from the games as possible. In this respect, it's considered the '90s equivalent of The Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987), both of which have similarly divisive "were they good or was it all just nostalgia" reputations.
- A section of the fanbase is split on if the show's focus should be on highlighting and progressing Character Development with serious arcs and a strong narrative, or rather be on entertaining episodes with little regard for the larger picture. Fans of the former usually favor entries that highlight Ash's veteran Trainer status and face him and his companions with problems to overcome in terms of rivalry or internal struggles, and feel the show should focus on portraying him as a skilled Trainer and progress as a character, and tend to perceive entries where his skills and/or personality hit the Reset Button back to square one as going against what the show should be about; fans of the latter tend to favor episodic storytelling, a take on Ash that highlights his more amusing and/or Butt-Monkey sides, wacky plotlines and amusing interactions between the cast members over major plot beats, either being largely uninterested in development or finding the major plotlines of the show to be nothing remarkable on the whole or pointing out their futility if none of it is guaranteed to carry over to the next entry.
- Which is the better English Dub, TPCi or 4Kids? Those in support of TPCi cite their more accurate translations, none of the Bowdlerization that 4Kids was known for, and far less of a gap between the Japanese airings and the dubs (Before TPCi picked up the dubbing, it was a near year-long gap. As of Sun and Moon the gap is just over 4 months). Those in favor of 4Kids feel that they had better dialogue and a wittier script especially with Team Rocket, and they had better voice acting with a cast of voice actors that fit the characters more. Said people in favor of 4Kids point out that despite 4Kids known reputation for replacing the score, it was nowhere near as bad as TPCi got post Best Wishes, and their music at least carried some charm that TCPi's dub OST lacks. Those in support of the 4Kids dub also believe that 4Kids simply put more effort and love into their dub, something that TPCi's dub has never been able to recapture, and even though they were prone to make more translation errors compared to TPCi, they fixed those errors in later episodes and were still mostly accurate with their translating. This was most noticeable with the dubbing of Pokémon: I Choose You!, which had some fans demanding that Veronica Taylor return to voice Ash, while others argued that Sarah Natochenny, having voiced the role for over 10 years by that point, was now the definitive Ash.
- Whether or not certain Pokémon, especially starters, should evolve or not has been a major point of contention since the first season (notable examples being Ash's Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Rowlet, Dawn's Piplup, or Goh's Grookey). Those who support the idea argue that since levels do not exist in the anime that there isn't necessarily a need for Pokémon to evolve like in the games, that keeping certain Pokémon unevolved is able to desmonstrate how powerful they can be without evolving, and that some Pokémon can acually esperience a Badass Decay upon evolving. However, detractors criticize the writers for envoking Status Quo Is God and Not Allowed to Grow Up each time it happens, dislike them for being "cutemons" who often have the habit of being a Spotlight-Stealing Squad in the anime and its merchandise, that they often have the habit of taking precedence over their fully evolved forms who may receive less attention in comparison, and that keeping them in their unevolved forms also prevents them from receiving certain moves that can only be learned through evolution.
- The depiction of certain Legendaries as "merely" very rare species and not lone individuals on par with gods. Either it makes complete sense as Legendaries are shown to breed in the anime, or it cheapens the awe of seeing them.
- The league. For over twenty years, fans and detractors of the anime have argued back and forth over this part of Ash's journey. Supporters, while annoyed at Ash's constant losses, defend its presence in the show's Story Arc and believe it is a vital part of Ash's journey, alongside a framework through which his progress can be measured, his rivalries be developed and concluded, and provide each regional adventure with a climax related to Ash's skill as a Trainer. Detractors often point to how the anime's formula surrounds the league conference and thus causes the plot to feel formulaic and boring to them, alongside compounding the issues of Ash's continued role as the show's protagonist by making each new region's tournament a "Shaggy Dog" Story that he's fated not to win. Sun and Moon brought this to a head with it's handling of the Alola League.
- Releasing Pokemon. Either it's a good way to keep the cast from having Pokemon who could become too overpowered to make anything interesting or it wastes a perfectly good member of the team for seemingly no reason.
- The benching of all of Ash's Pokemon (except Pikachu) whenever he goes to a new region post-Johto. Those for it feel that it allows new Pokemon from other regions to get their chance to shine while also preventing Ash from becoming too strong with a team he's already built up. Those against it feel that benching them essentially writes them out of the show for good, especially post-Sinnoh, where Ash's older Pokemon are rarely seen apart from Charizard and Bulbasaur.
- Which series is canon? Ever since BW, the fanbase has debated whether a series is canon or not with the only series universally agreed upon being OS to DP. Many fans who believe BW and SM are not canon point to how tonally different they are with the former series going so far as to remove some of Ash's knowledge as a Trainer to give a fresh feel to him. They also believe that XY was a return to the original universe and Ash's Unova journey was just an alternate universe. While SM had mistranslated tweets about the canonicity to serve as "evidence" for its status as an alternate universe. People who argue all series are canon point to the numerous references to past events and cameos by old characters, going so far as to say the people who deny events happen as not real fans of the show or telling them that they're trying to elevate their Fanon equal to canon. Those who argue that these series aren't canon say that similar events couldn't have happened in an alternate universe. Journeys established that all series are canon by displaying achievements from all series, rendering the argument moot, but the debate manages to rock the fandom.
- Just like the main series, the anime has many "Generation wars", with there being factions for each of its official series. The most prominent of these are between the original series, Diamond and Pearl, XY, and Sun and Moon, as these four are most often considered to have the greatest strengths in different areas of the show). Not helping matters is fans tend to gravitate to one of the series they started with raising arguments as to how much nostalgia is a factor. As with the games, debates are endless on which elements the anime should be focusing on and which series handled them the best.
- Special mention goes specifically to the rivalry between XY series fans and Sun and Moon series fans, for being by far the most heated and direct. Due to their extremely different tones and direction, and high popularity with different audiences, fans of these series are infamous for getting into Flame Wars where they play up the positive qualities of one and Accentuate the Negative for the other.
- Which is overall better: the "classic era" (OS-DP) or the "modern era" (BW-JN)? Fans of the classic era will point to the far more consistent characterization of Ash, natural sense of continuity between series, willingness to use Ash's reserve Pokémon for important events, and lack of jarring, radical tone shifts. Fans of the modern era will point to its more experimental writing, improved production quality, willingness to attempt more complex themes and stories, and breaking of the status quo by finally making Ash a Champion. This leads to further debates over whether the modern era's inconsistencies make Ash's achievements too difficult to enjoy as a whole, or whether the classic era's Strictly Formula nature made it overly stagnant and predictable.
- Every anime adaptation of the video games inevitably gets compared to the main one, and the discussions are rarely pretty, especially when they're about which are animated better. Fans of these other adaptations routinely denounce the anime for its lack of progression or growth and praise these adaptations for being Darker and Edgier and Truer to the Text. Fans of the anime denounce these adaptations for being underdeveloped and far too short to get attached to, praising the anime for at least trying to have its own long-running arc instead of blindly retelling the story of the video games. Notably, Pokémon Origins caused a resurgence in the "Ash vs. Red" debates.
- Accuracy to the games, especially as far as actual moves and strategy go. Quite a few moves are shown to be logically more powerful than the games would let on, due to not being stuck to the game's turn based structure or having a Required Secondary Power that boosts it's usefulness. note While some like the creative liberties taken to make battles more entertaining, others would like if the anime leaned more into moves that are consider the best being the best in the anime as well.
- Related, unevolved Pokémon being able to keep up with fully evolved Pokémon in the anime, despite in games being vastly weaker without evolving. Some people like the fact the earlier Pokémon forms get more time to shine in the anime as opposed to being a stopgap like in the games, and the anime makes the case that their small size would actually be to their advantage when it comes to speed and dodging attacks. However, this is a major case of Gameplay and Story Segregation, as the games rely on hard stats, and the sheer power boost evolving gives a Pokémon simply can't be overcome with EV training the games. As such, there are some people who feel that not fully evolved Pokémon (especially Ash's) tend to cheat their wins against fully evolved Pokémon, and wish the anime would be more accurate in that regard. (With a few feeling the only reason some Pokémon stay unevolved is because they're more marketable when they're small and cute.)
Seasons
The Original Series
- Kanto is considered good by some due to feeling fresh (before becoming a Franchise Zombie), with some good humor and an enjoyable cast chemistry, while to others it's seen as reeking of Early-Installment Weirdness that's subject to Nostalgia Filter and riddled with inconsistencies (both in itself and to the games) that later series avoided.
- In addition, were the earlier episodes more 'nuanced' than later seasons? A lot of people find a surprising number of the older episodes having a lot of soul/heart in them compared to later episodes. ("Charmander - The Stray Pokemon", "Bye Bye Butterfree", "Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden" and "Go West Young Meowth" being some noteworthy examples.) Others claim that it's mostly Nostalgia Filter and the few soulful episodes it did have don't really make up for the number of gag based filler that plagues a lot of the early anime writing. These fans also point out that the series never lost having soulful episodes; it's just that people won't give them a chance compared to the older stuff. (In particular, Sun and Moon is seen as having some of the best soulful episodes in the franchise, with episodes like "One Journey Ends, Another Begins" and "Memories In the Mist!" being top contenders for some of the anime's best episodes.)
Ruby and Sapphire
- The Chronicles episode “Training Daze” is either loved for showing the early struggles of the Rocket Trio turning into Fire-Forged Friends, along with providing prime fuel for the widely-beloved RocketShipping. Or it’s hated for retroactively applying Cassidy and Butch’s Villain Decay to their entire tenure, along containing several continuity errors and retcons regarding Jessie and James’ pasts.
- The rate at which May wins her Pokémon Contests has been rather contentious among viewers. Those who don't mind argue that May's ratio of victories is no more egregious than how often Ash wins his Gym Battles, with May still getting some crushing defeats that contribute to her Character Development. These fans note that May competing in two Contest seasons compared to Dawn's singular one, made it understandable for some things to be condensed. However, fans who take issue with this argue that it's unrealistic for May to always pass the Appeal Round and go her entire tenure as a main character with only five contest losses, considering how new May is to the profession and how often she messes up. These fans also note that three of her five losses were caused by recurring rivals (the two exceptions being a Hoenn contest where Bulbasaur refused to participate out of stage fright and the Kanto Grand Festival Semi-Finals), which ultimately causes the outcome of most contests to be devoid of any tension.
Diamond and Pearl
- This series is either considered one of Team Rocket's strongest regions, with many fan-favorite emotional episodes revolving around them and Jessie's Contest run being taken much more seriously than it was in the previous series, or one of their most annoying due to it being the peak of their Flanderization as comical losers.
- Whether or not it was a good idea for Ash and Dawn to trade Aipom and Buizel respectively in "Throwing the Track Switch". Those who agree with the trade argue that Aipom was better utilized under Dawn's ownership due to her natural interest in Pokémon Contests (something that had been hinted at as early as Battle Frontier) and eventual evolution into Ambipom, and Buizel was a better fit for Ash due to its headstrong attitude, interest in Gym battles, and Ash's lack of a Water-type Pokémon in Sinnoh beforehand. However, detractors argue that trading Pokémon interfered with the chemistry that had been built up between Ash and Aipom between the Kanto Battle Frontier and early parts of Sinnoh, that Aipom would eventually lose a lot of her personality traits under Dawn's ownership (including her crush on Ash), and that Dawn eventually giving Ambipom to O for Pokémon Ping Pong training seemed disrespectful to Ash after he previously traded with her.
- The finale of the region either suffered from Arc Fatigue (with a 52 episode gap between the seventh and eighth badges) or was well-paced with enough interesting things that made up for the gap (6v6 between Ash and Paul, Team Galactic finale, Grand Festival).
- Whether Zoey or Dawn should have won the Sinnoh Grand Festival is a contentious issue amongst fans. Supporters of Zoey's victory argue it would've been unrealistic and unwarranted for Dawn to become a Top Coordinator after a single contest season, particularly if her victory had come from the Togekiss she acquired only three episodes before the Grand Festival. Overall, this camp also argues that having Dawn win her first season would've gone against the main themes of the series and that it was good to see a recurring rival win finals for once, instead of giving the win to a character who gets introduced immediately before the big competition as is usually the case. Those against Zoey winning argue that Dawn had far more Character Development than any other companion has had prior or since, with Dawn growing to become the skilled coordinator she always strived to be. This along with Dawn having wanted to be a coordinator her entire life would've made Dawn winning her first season more justified and satisfying than if it happened to any other main character. The camp that felt Dawn should've won would increase in volume as fans grew frustrated with Dawn's stagnation presented during her returns in Black & White and Journeys. There's also a third camp who doesn't mind losing but would've preferred it if she lost to somebody else, as Zoey's win gives Dawn the dubious honor of being the only companion who couldn't beat their main rival.
Black & White
- The series can be seen as starting off strong with Team Rocket gaining newfound competence and importance along with a brisker pacing compared to the previous series, or much weaker with Ash gaining newfound incompetence, replacing previous, well-liked companions with a new cast entirely, and moving so fast that it resorted to a Filler Arc at the end to kill time before Pokémon X and Y released.
- Team Rocket's portrayal is another big subject of debate in itself. Either it was a breath of fresh air after the trio's Flanderization into Harmless Villains, or it ruined their characters by completely removing their depth and personalities. Some argue their more serious role didn't actually make them more credible villains to begin with, seeing as how it never stops Ash and co. from ultimately beating them every time anyway (often due to large oversights brought about by their massive egos, a flaw that was just as prominent with their previous selves).
- The return of previous characters and Continuity Nods in Best Wishes: Season 2 is either a welcome addition after a whole region of ignoring them, or empty Pandering to the Base an obvious backtracking on the series' initial direction. Dawn and Charizard's returns are the two biggest points of contention, both being criticized for receiving minimal focus despite coming back for rather lengthy periods of time.
- Team Plasma's arc was seen as either a passable villain arc that made up for the Unova League or a shadow of its game plot that had plenty of misfires and wasted arcs when it came to Charizard, N, and Team Plasma's motivations.
XY
- While some see the series as strong thanks to Ash's newfound maturity, a Love Interest for him in the form of Serena, and a strong villain climax rife with Character Development, others believe that it came at the expense of making Ash into a Flat Character, had too much Ash Character Shilling, and that Showcases were a poor substitution for Contests that made Serena seem like a Satellite Love Interest.
- The Mega Evolution Specials were either a great side series that developed Alain and Mairin into characters in their own rights, irrespective of Ash, or were the reason that Team Flare didn't enter the series for the first 2/3 of it, thus weakening the villain arc.
- XY as a whole is the most self-contained series since the original, with more complete narrative and character resolutions, fewer Call-Backs, and none of Ash’s old companions or Pokémon making guest reappearances. Some fans liked this approach, feeling it allows the series to be more fulfilling as a standalone story. Those against it argue it to be a shallow portrayal of Ash's experience when he doesn't properly allude to his past adventures, especially compared to the more consistent continuity of Advanced Generation and Diamond and Pearl (it's worth pointing out that Word of God admitted the lack of continuity was unintentional). Likely in response, both Sun & Moon and especially Journeys upped the Continuity Nods and guest spots for old characters.
- Ash's initial loss to Viola has become controversial, particularly due to Pikachu losing to her unevolved Water-type Surskit. Some see it as an acceptable loss that serves the story and is made plausible through her use of Sticky Web and Ice Beam while setting up the bookend of Ash struggling against Wulfric using the same strategy. Others feel it clashes with his otherwise skillful XY portrayal and that the plot point makes no sense when he's dealt with many ice battlefields in the past, contradicting the idea that XY builds off of past series when many of its story beats only work within its own self-contained bubble.
- The Ash-Greninja arc as a whole has proven to be very divisive. Fans love it for giving Ash powers to call his own and providing the Character Development that Ash had been lacking since the end of Sinnoh. Detractors meanwhile find the very concept of Ash-Greninja to be out of place for the Pokémon series, finding Ash's struggles to master it a pile of Wangst that sidelines Ash's Kalos captures in favor of turning Greninja into a Spotlight-Stealing Squad. There's also been much dispute over the arc ending with Greninja getting released to protect the Kalos region from the evil vines that sprouted from the aftershocks of Lysandre's plan. Fans of this plot point consider this decision to be an emotionally moving ending for the Ash-Greninja arc that gives Greninja a more dignified ending than getting sent to Professor Oak's laboratory with the rest of the Kalos Team. Other fans hate this choice viewing the plotline of the evil vines as a Diabolus ex Machina done for the sole purpose of preventing Ash from using Greninja's powers anymore, adding to Greninja's Character Shilling, and trying to dump more unnecessary pathos to the ending of XYZ. The fact Ash would not use any reserves in sanctioned battles for the rest of his tenure widens the debate. Supporters of the decision argue that if Ash was never going to use Greninja again it was good to give him a unique sendoff and it allowed Greninja to make a guest appearance in an episode of Journeys. However, detractors argue that Ash never using reserves again just makes the release even more unnecessary and emotionally manipulates the audience into viewing one Pokémon's fate as more significant, when there's no difference between it and the other Kalos captures in the long run.
- The scene where Serena throws snowballs at Ash during his Heroic BSoD after failing once again to master Ash-Greninja. It's either an amazing dramatic scene with genuine character conflict or one that exacerbates the aforementioned Character Shilling and Satellite Love Interest criticisms of the series. Supporters appreciate how it exemplifies Serena's development by providing an Hourglass Plot where Serena helps Ash out of his funk after Serena struggled immensely to make strides on her own, particularly since Serena had been Out of Focus after the Pokemon Showcase finals. Detractors meanwhile argue that the scene regresses Serena's development, giving the impression that she only likes Ash for the idealized positive image he represents, getting upset because the Ash "she knows" easily bounces back from everything. They also criticize the fact that the conflict is resolved simply because Ash returns to his old self, arguing that because of this, she never actually learns to stop idolizing him.
- Possibly the most divisive moment in the anime's entire run comes from Alain defeating Ash in the Kalos League finals after nearly the entire fanbase was certain Ash would win. Those against it felt that after the large build-up of Ash-Greninja's extraordinary power in-story and in promotional materials Ash should have beaten Alain. This camp also argues Alain's subsequent action of allowing Ash to get kidnapped by Team Flare and having a breakdown upon learning Lysandre's full goals would've made far more sense if Alain had lost and let jealousy get the better of him. Some fans went as far as to say Alain’s victory tainted the entire Kalos Saga for them and quit watching the anime. Those in favor of Ash losing point out that Alain was a pretty strong Trainer and that his Charizard, the one to beat Ash-Greninja, had already proven himself more than justified in his win, having gone toe to toe with many other strong opponents before the League (the fights with the Legendaries and the ten consecutive Mega Evolution battles come to mind). This camp feels that Alain ending up with nothing for being an Unwitting Pawn would be Karmic Overkill, and Alain's arc works better by showing he could still obtain victory through legitimate means. Some Take a Third Option and say that they'd have been fine with Alain winning had Ash won one of the prior leagues, rather than this being his sixth loss.
- Related to this, Alain (and by extension the narrative) declaring that Ash was the real winner and better trainer during the aftermath of the Team Flare crisis has caused much division in the fandom. Some fans agree with such a notion since it showed how Alain's hollow pursuit of power allowed him to be manipulated by Lysandre, failed to help Mairin despite being a big part of his motivation, and made him complicit in the disaster caused by Team Flare. These fans also note that such a statement is more keeping with the series’ overall themes. Others, on the other hand, point out that Ash being a better-adjusted person than Alain has nothing to do with their respective ability as trainers, find such reasoning an insulting excuse and a weak attempt at preemptive damage control over the inevitable backlash that was going to follow over Ash losing yet another league. This camp refuses to consider Ash a better trainer than Alain until Ash can defeat him at least once, with some arguing that by Alain's logic, the entire Leauge should be considered delegitimized since the Mega Ring he used to win was a gift from Lysandre.
- In the Japanese version, Serena's final words to Ash before departing translates to her telling Ash that he's her "goal", which is designed as an Ambiguous Syntax that can apply to both Ship Tease and her arc of self-discovery. While many fans love the double meaning of this statement and find it to be highly poignant final words for her, others greatly dislike it, arguing that both interpretations only reinforce her dependence on Ash and make her seem as if she still only wants to impress him above anything else. The fact that this immediately precedes The Big Damn Kiss only adds fuel to the controversy. Notably, the English dub alters the phrasing to be less ambiguous and more dominantly about Serena's own self-improvement, though this has come with its own mild controversy from fans who prefer the original statement.
Sun & Moon
- The radical art style change, shift to a stationary, school-based Slice of Life story, and Ash's more expressive personality are seen as a breath of fresh air to the series to some, while to others it changes the series too much and removes what made Pokémon enjoyable in the first place due to no traveling and a lack of battles that had become the norm and also has an art style that is at direct odds with all of the previous series.
- , In general, the series marks a directional shift away from 'A Pokemon World with People in it', to 'The Real World but with Pokemon'. Fans who like slice-of-life episodes and the show's atmosphere generally like the shift, fans who like adventure and traveling don't like the shift, and it marks a clear and distinct shift in tone that fans are split about in both Sun and Moon and the following series.
- The stationary setting is seen as either a positive, giving Ash the ability to return to a fixed location after his adventures while allowing more recurring characters rather than just characters of the day, or it's a negative since it strips Ash of his wanderlust and removes one of the core components of the games and anime from the series while giving a Compressed Adaptation of all other islands except Melemele.
- The Art Shift is a major point of contention. It's either good because it makes every movement smooth or it's wasted potential by being used for expressions and funny faces instead of the battles with the return to the anime standard 24 Frames per second after Gens IV-VI were animated in 30 FPS being a major downgrade.
- Does Ash's characterization in this show count as Character Rerailment or not? Those in the former camp feel Ash's characterization in XY was an overcorrection to Black & White that turned Ash into a Flat Character. These fans applaud Alola for returning Ash's youthful energy without sacrificing his competence, citing Ash winning the Alola League being the most progress he's made towards his dream since winning the Battle Frontier in Ruby & Sapphire. Detractors, however, feel Ash's characterization in Alola is just as bad, if not worse than Unonva's characterization. This camp cites that Ash is commonly treated as a Butt-Monkey and often shirks his responsibilities, with very little onscreen time dedicated to training. This camp also disregards his Alola victory for various reasons, such as the lack of pre-requisites, or how two of Ash's Pokémon evolved without any input from him.
- The idea that Ash can transform his Electrium-Z into a Pikashunium-Z. It's either an Author's Saving Throw for those who wanted Ash's Pikachu to have his own Bond Phenomenon with Ash or a complete Ass Pull.
- Finally having several mythical Pokémon officially caught by (or at least allocated to) main characters. Some enjoy the taboo finally being broken and rare Pokémon being allowed in as main characters utilized by the protagonists. Others complain it takes away their elusiveness and makes them more generic. Then others are merely split over the execution, particularly with so many given to Trainers all at once, along with some of them barely doing anything afterward despite their status before being unceremoniously released.
- The lack of entry qualifications for the Alola League, which leads to almost every recurring character in the season taking part. Some enjoyed this premise as a formula breaker from the usual arc, with both the league and its build-up development allowing for a proper final hurrah for the Alola cast. Others complained that it diminished the prestige of the tournament, with half of the protagonists feeling shoehorned in due to lacking battle experience or motives (indeed, Mallow and Lillie were eliminated early on), and feel that the lack of as many accomplished battler lessened the impact of Ash's long-awaited victory.
- Ash winning the Alola League. On one hand, people were just glad that after twenty years of failures, Ash finally got a game-based league win under his belt, that Gladion was a well-enough established rival to make the victory meaningful, and that Ash winning the league works because the times spent in Alola have a meaning to him and to themes in the story, especially since he's sad and reluctant in leaving behind what has become a second home to him, a feeling that he never experienced on any other region. Others, however, felt that Ash's victory was too lackluster after twenty years of buildup, that he was far more deserving of it in other leagues (Sinnoh and Kalos being the top choices, especially the latter due to a more evolved team), and that the questionable writing choicesnote leading up to the victory largely dampened the feeling of accomplishment from it. A large factor of the split is how the victory feels in the vacuum of the Sun and Moon series alone compared to it being the culmination of Ash trying to win a League for twenty years.
- As an addendum to this, whether Ash VS Kukui makes up for the lackluster victory or not. While people tend to agree that the battle is at the very least decent, fans are split on it due to its nature as an exhibition match with mostly symbolic value: supporters say that it helps finish the Alola series on a strong note that fits the series' themes of family and fun alongside allowing Ash and Pikachu to prove themselves against Tapu Koko one last time in a suitably climatic fashion, while detractors tend to point out how being an exhibition match meant that Ash's victory in the League was never at stake even if he lost (making its four-episode-long duration feel way too long relative to its importance) and claim that stuff like Tapu Koko forcing itself in the supposed battle of family between Ash and Kukui muddles the aforementioned themes for the sake of closing everything the series had left quickly.
- The introduction of rivals whose rivalry is focused on one specific member of Ash's team: Gladion and Lycanroc for Ash's Lycanroc, The Masked Royal's Incineroar for Ash's Torracat, and Hau's Dartrix/Decidueye for Rowlet. For fans of the concept, it allows more mons to have more focus in a way that previous rivalries lacked (Paul, for example, being personal for Infernape and to a lesser extent Pikachu with Electivire but few mons on either team having a similar dynamic) and giving battles between them additional weight, while to others this needlessly pushes for rivalries between very similar mons creating less interesting battles and some of the rivalries having problematic developments (which mostly applies to Hau's rivalry).
Journeys
- Good for continuing to try new things, fixing many problems people had with Sun and Moon, allowing Ash to catch several highly requested fan favorites (especially a Riolu and Gengar), having interesting character development (particularly with Goh), and the region-hopping premise opening up several possibilities previous regional series couldn't take advantage of, or bad for pulling elements from the divisive Pokémon GO (Goh as a character and the egg redesigns being the most controversial), breaking several staples of the series, Goh's perceived status as a Spotlight-Stealing Squad, several pacing problems including a Prolonged Prologue (with Ash only getting his own goal for the season in "The Climb to Be the Very Best," the thirteenth episode), and the consequent lower attention given to Galar due to having to share screentime with the previous seven mainline regions.
- The surplus of character returns is also very divisive. Many fans praise it for its ambition and for allowing resolutions and/or epilogues to countless beloved characters and storylines, allowing the series to serve as something of a love letter to the anime's history. However, many others criticize it for what is considered a shallow understanding of certain characters, as well as the episodic format and new writing style not allowing for important details to be fully fleshed out. As the anime has been through countless retools and tone shifts over the years, every fan has vastly different ideas of how each character should have been handled.
- Similar to Alola's situation, whether Goh should be allowed to catch Legendaries and Mythicals became debated the moment his goal was established. Some believed it was only natural that his goal would lead him to start targeting Legendaries sooner or later and feel it would show how he grew as a Trainer. Those against it believed that, similar to Alola, Goh having Legendaries and Mythicals would diminish their value and that they wouldn't be used often. Detractors of Goh in particular also felt it would only add to Goh's overexposure in the series. This debate flared up considerably on multiple occasions; when Goh caught Eternatus (but didn't keep it), when he narrowly failed to capture Zapdos, and when he succeeded in catching Suicune.
- JN030 or as it's called in the dub "Betrayed, Bothered, and Beleaguered!". Fans either consider it one of the best or the worst episodes of the franchise. The main point of division is Pikachu's attempt to run away. Was it justified given Ash was starting to spoil Riolu, or was Ash simply giving a baby Pokemon the attention it required and Pikachu was being a spoiled brat? Furthermore, fans are divided on whether Pikachu even running away is in character. Supporters feel it's realistic for Pikachu's loyalty to have limits, while detractors point out that Ash has raised four baby Pokemon previously (Phanpy, Larvitar, Scraggy, and Noibat) and Pikachu had no issues there nor did he ever exhibit jealousy towards spotlight stealers like Infernape or Greninja.
- Does Goh count as a Spotlight-Stealing Squad or not? Defenders of Goh will point out that his goal (to capture all the Pokémon) requires more time to develop than Ash's rank increase, and that Goh's captures do not eat up a ton of screentime. Detractors point out how Goh's goal tends to drive the plots of more episodes than the other characters, and that there are never Ash (or Chloe) moments in episodes that are dedicated to him the same way that he always gets captured or focus on scenes in their episodes. These debates also include if Goh's capture episodes disrupt other plotlines too much, such as Ash's World Coronation Battles, Chloe's development, Ash's rivalries with characters like Bea and Rinto, etc, or if the pacing is fine for those and Goh's episodes benefit the pacing of the series.
- Goh's capture of specific Pokémon species. Either fans consider it a chance to give a wider variety of Pokémon focus, or they consider it a waste because Goh doesn't battle or consistently use them while with Ash they'd at least be guaranteed battles at some point. Some particular flare-up choices include Aerodactyl, Absol, Falinks, and Flygon, all popular mons from their respective debut generations that many consider as potential Ash mons Goh ends up catching instead. Most heated of all are the Galar starters: while Scorbunny was of no controversy, Sobble and especially Grookey going to Goh instead of Ash, which fueled many calls of them being wasted and of Goh stealing more attention from Ash. This complaint is known to be found on both sides of the Pacific. However, others think that the mons' personalities work better with Goh than Ash and generally think the series, in general, is bad with character focus and thus they'd have spotlight issues regardless of who captures them.
- Certain captures are divisive because of how the capture itself worked. Of them none are more divisive than Shedinja, whom Goh captured by being near an evolving Nincada he did not catch. Either this is an acceptable and applicable take on Shedinja's lore, or it is throwing Pokémon at Goh without him doing anything.
- Among fans the argument if Ash should capture more than six Pokémon like in the Unova season. Detractors hold that this would only exacerbate the feeling that Ash's team in general doesn't get enough focus as it is and adding more Pokémon will only worsen the problem. Proponents of this cite how Ash is already rotating his team on research trips as is and the problem of lack of focus wouldn't get any worse, as well as how Ash catching other Pokémon would alleviate concerns about Goh's captures of specific Pokémon.
- Continuing Sun and Moon's mon specific rival trend with Riolu-Lucario with Bea and Rinto with Farfetch'd-Sirfetch'd. On the one hand the battles themselves are generally well liked and the rivalry gave Farfetch'd in particular much-needed focus, and fans do generally appreciate having recurring opponents in the World Coronation Series over the general use of one-off characters new or returning. On the other hand fans find the forced dynamic leads to battles whose push for mirroring leads to very questionable decisions by Ash (with many fans questioning his lack of use of Dragonite and Gengar against Bea where they'd have a greater advantage over her team in particular) to enforce the specific rival trend of mirror matches and that this focus on mirroring makes the battles in general less interesting or surprising than they could have otherwise been.
- Journeys notably is considered a series that trims out a lot of travel time between major story beats compared to previous series, and depending on which fans you ask this is either a matter that greatly increases the pace of the series and trims out needless filler or it makes the world feel a lot smaller than it should be and removes a lot more elements of the series than just Ash wandering in the woods (the most notable of these losses to such fans being training, which many fans consider being shown in deficient numbers compared to most series, even Sun and Moon, especially for the level of competition the World Coronation Series is shown and supposed to represent, as well as interaction between Ash's mons outside of battle, which many critics of this approach consider this to be a series low).
- Project Mew is either a unique concept that tackles many interesting ideas and takes advantage of Goh's social development, or an underwhelming and half-baked subplot that raises way too many questions. Virtually everything about the subplot since its inception has been hotly contested: its late introduction in episode 68, the lack of development for characters other than Goh, the handling of Gary Oak as Goh's rival, the random and disconnected nature of its missions, the heavy use of New Rules as the Plot Demands, the inclusion of Ash tagging along to offer outside help (though this was done away with for the last few missions), and the wildly inconsistent portrayal of Legendary Pokémon. As with most things related to Goh, these factors make it either one of the best or one of the worst companion arcs in the anime.
- The way the Masters Eight Tournament has been handled has come in for criticism. As Ash's Grand Finale competition and the biggest tournament in the entire franchise thus far, to say its reception has been mixed would be quite an understatement.
- The first-round battles in particular are very polarizing. Many find them extraordinarily underwhelming for what are meant to be battles between the world's greatest trainers, often criticized for weak animation, rushed pacing, uncreative strategies, and (other than Cynthia vs. Iris) low emotional stakes, as very little time is dedicated to building character or the relationships between the Masters Eight members. While some argue they're acceptable battles in a vacuum and not worth being upset about, others feel the series should not have went with such an ambitious premise if it couldn't deliver on the execution. Word of God even stated in an interview that the battles not involving Ash were originally meant to be depicted through still frames rather than being full episodes, which only amplifies the detractors' view that they were poorly thought out and blatantly added at the last minute.
- In all previous series, each tournament arc comprised only of the league or league-related episodes, while Journeys - alongside taking multiple weeks with no episodes at all - interrupts the tournament to focus on Chloe and Goh with little relevance to the ongoing battles. This included recap episodes for each member of the main cast, including Ash (which had a rather bizarre placement, being after the first round of battles). While some have waved it off as the production studio experiencing disruption following the COVID-19 Pandemic, others are skeptical that it's doing so badly as to require multiple weeks off and multiple episodes of nothing but recycled animation. This wasn't helped when it was discovered that immediately before the start of the final against Leon was another recap episode.
- While all of Ash's Masters Eight victories are somewhat controversial, his battle with Cynthia sparks the most discourse due to her importance to multiple series and reputation as That One Boss. On one hand, many fans praise it as an intense 3-part battle that shows off Cynthia's tactical battle style, and has Ash finally defeat an opponent that was built up for fifteen years. On the other hand, detractors find it a disappointing, Narm-filled fight due to the subpar animation and several questionable story beats; namely, Cynthia's poorly established retirement subplot, and the attempt to frame Ash's Lucario as Garchomp's Mirror Character simply because both were raised from Eggs. There's also a third camp that feel the battle is passable under normal circumstances, but is simply too disappointing for such an anticipated fight, arguing Cynthia's status makes the missed opportunities too great to ignore when compared to other battles.
- Ash not using any of his reserves in the Masters Eight Tournament, with Ash instead only using his current team. Supporters of the decision feel that since most of Ash’s captures in Journeys spent their time Out of Focus it would be an insult to have them not take center stage in Ash's greatest challenge. These fans also point out it's ultimately Pikachu, Ash's first Pokémon, who secures Ash his victory over Leon, and Pikachu only gains the strength to do so by remembering all of Ash’s captures over the years. Others, however, feel Ash not using any Pokémon from the past six series is an even greater insult to the show's legacy and a major wasted opportunity, considering how little Ash used his reserves past Sinnoh and how Journeys is Ash's final series as the main character. These fans also feel that having Ash only use his current team makes his ultimate victory feel hollow and/or too unbelievable. As having a team that spent most of their own series Out of Focus insinuates Ash only won due to luck and raw power, rather than the strategy and adaptability he’s known for.
- For the first time in the series, Ash never catches any of the starters introduced in this generation, with all of them being caught by Goh. Some fans agree with this decision, as it makes Ash's team less formulaic and more original and unique; other fans, though, opposed it, as starters are often among the most popular Pokemon of each generation and liked that Ash always got to catch at leat one (with some of these such as Charizard, Sceptile, Infernape or Greninja becoming some of Ash's most beloved and memorable Pokemon).
- The final half of the series, Aim to Be a Pokémon Master, is a divisive Grand Finale for many. While some fans enjoyed these episodes for returning back to the show's original roots of traveling after the genre change in Sun & Moon, Misty and Brock returning as traveling companions after 21 and 13 years respectively, and the return of many of Ash's beloved Pokémon (such as Squirtle, Lapras, and Pidgeot). Others found it to be underwhelming and inconsequential finale, disliking how the remaining eleven episodes of Ash's journey were allocated to filler episodes, that the majority of call-backs derived from the Original Series, Ash's status as the Master's Eight Champion not even getting acknowledgment from him or his friends, and the number of plot threads from the series being left unanswered, which many felt unsatisfying from a show that had been running for two and a half decades.
- The revelation that a Pokémon Master is someone who is friends with every Pokémon in the world. Some are satisfied with this explanation and consider it heartwarming as it remains faithful to Ash's character, shows how the journey was equally as important as the goal, and how friendship is a fundamental aspect of the franchise. Others are not satisfied and believe it is an underwhelming explanation that contradicts a lot of Ash's previous explanations on what a Pokémon is (such as stating that challenging leagues and the World Coronation would be a step closer to becoming one) and renders everything he did in the previous seasons as unnecessary. There are also some fans who don't believe that an explanation should have been given in the first place since it ruins the mystique of what a Pokémon Master is in the first place.
Horizons
- This series' entire existence caused one within the fanbase for Pokémon: The Series, largely thanks to its all-new cast. On the one hand, you have the fans claiming They Changed It, Now It Sucks! and hating that they replaced Ash, Pikachu, Team Rocket, and the rest of the original cast (especially with how contentious the finale ended up being); on the other, you have fans who find the new cast a breath of fresh air after twenty-five years of Ash being the main focus and actually addressing many of the writing criticisms levied at Ash's tenure for too strongly adhering to the status quo.
- On that same note, should Ash have been replaced with Liko and Roy? You have fans arguing that him dethroning Leon as the World Coronation Series Monarch was as far as they could take the character without resetting him like he was in Black and White, and replacing him as the lead was the right call before the writers could snatch that victory away from him. Others argue that given how controversial his final episodes were for not giving him, his companions, his Pokémon, or even Team Rocket that much of a proper sendoff, the show should have stuck with Ash to give him that sense of closure, or at least take him in an unexpected direction to help shore up some of his other weaknesses, if not have him working to defend his new title.
- Additionally, there's a divide on how much the old series should be referenced in Horizons. Some fans have been quick to try and connect the two series through any theories they can find, while other fans would prefer it if the two continuities didn't interact at all so that Horizons can stand on its own.
- A point of contention is the fact that Friede constantly hogs the spotlight from Liko and Roy. One camp says it's robbing the duo of well deserved development, while another says, given the amount of Surprisingly Realistic Outcome Horizons has, it makes sense that the more experienced Trainer would do more.
