History YMMV / PokemonJourneysTheSeries

For YMMV tropes relating to Anime/PokemonToBeAPokemonMaster, see [[YMMV/PokemonToBeAPokemonMaster here]].

* SignatureSeriesArc: The Masters Eight Tournament, not just for being the GrandFinale of Ash's goal to be the WorldsGreatestWarrior, but also (for better or worse) embodying much of the controversy behind ''Journeys'' and the World Coronation Series, with no two fans able to agree on the quality of all the matches that ''led up'' to Ash and Leon's final showdown.

* WinBackTheCrowd: One specific fan-group in the franchise in particular. Following the release of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY'', the change in anime direction (art, tone, plot structure, etc) alienated many fans of said series, creating a notably rivalry between fans of it and the subsequent ''Sun and Moon'' series. The return of ''many'' fan-favorite parts of Ash's Kalos journey earned the respect and interest of many disillusioned fans who felt their favorite saga was being ignored with the direction of the previous series. With that said, it's still a matter of a BrokenBase as usual for this anime, as things like Serena's lack of interaction or show of continued romantic interest in Ash, the retconning of Ash-Greninja out of existence, and Alain suffering TheWorfEffect against Leon are contentious among many.

** Because they do not have time to interact, one of the most discussed topics is whether Serena finally managed to get over her crush on Ash, or if she is still in love with him.

** In the same way, Ash's time at the protagonist being over counts as this. While the ending is still very contested as to ''how'' he left the series, the fact he was allowed to leave after 25 years at the peak of his career [[spoiler:as World Coronation Series Monarch]] without that being taken away from him and allowed to journey at whatever adventure he so pleases is nothing short of satisfying.

* EsotericHappyEnding: Team Rocket's final resolution is treated as a happy ending despite the fact it's a cementation of their vicious cycle: [[spoiler:Even though their latest failed attempt nearly disbanded the trio permanently, they reconcile and conclude that pursuing Pikachu, the SignatureMon of the World Coronation Series Monarch, is worth spending the rest of their lives for despite 25 years of being offered better life opportunities outside of that impossible goal (and outside of evil in general). While Ash leaves the series as the World Champion seeking out new adventures to better than before, the Team Rocket trio leave unchanged as people and reduced to mere annoyances that barely get Ash's attention anymore.]]
* FanDislikedExplanation:
** "Legend? Go! Friends? Go!" and "Serving Up the Flute Cup" establish that Delia's housekeeper Mr. Mime was actually one of Ash's Pokémon the entire time was viewed rather poorly by fans. While there are [[AllThereInTheManual some supplementary materials]] listing it as one of his Pokémon dating back to ''Diamond & Pearl'', it was never hinted within the series itself as being under Ash's ownership up to this point and was generally assumed by people unaware of this that "[[InSeriesNickname Mimey]]" either stayed a wild Mr. Mime or was caught by Delia offscreen. With the retroactive knowledge this was Ash's final series as the main character, many people feel Mimey was only established to be one of Ash's Pokémon so the writers could claim Ash has owned at least one Pokémon of every type, without actually committing to giving him a Psychic-type Pokémon or Fairy-type Pokémon.

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks:
** A lot of viewers find it repetitive how Chloe is yet another prominent female character with an Eevee, citing predecessors like May, Serena, and Lana. Many found it a wasted opportunity to not have Yamper as her main Pokemon to distinguish herself and due to already having backstory and chemistry.

* OlderThanTheyThink: In response to criticisms that Ash never dismantled Team Rocket in the final stretch of episodes, Dogasu's Backpack, one of the leading experts in the fan community, [[https://twitter.com/DogasusBackpack/status/1632026930475315200 mentioned]] that Ash never saw the defeat of the entirety of Team Rocket as his endgame as far back as the original series, due to the most frequently encountered members being [[GoldfishPoopGang Jessie, James, and Meowth]]. Thus, Ash and Giovanni have ''always'' never perceived each other as a threat. Had Creator/TakeshiShudo originally ended the anime after one season as he originally planned, Ash would still never have defeated Team Rocket (and their involvement would have presumably ended with Mewtwo destroying their headquarters).

* SignatureSeriesArc: The Masters Eight Tournament, for rather obvious reasons.

** Fans frustrated with Ash's reserve Pokémon being benched throughout ''Journeys'' tend to be especially bitter about episode 68, which directly establishes Infernape had kept training ever since Ash left him behind and was seeking greater challenges. Fans who saw this development as {{foreshadowing}} to Infernape returning for later battles were not impressed to see it go nowhere, with some going as far as to accuse Ash of neglecting his Pokémon's wishes.
** Lucario meets Ash's former Greninja in episode 108... and gets trounced by it in a fight. Because many fans of the series and character had hyped Lucario up as Ash's absolute strongest Pokemon not named Pikachu, detractors had a hey-day when it happened and still bring it up against it long after the series ended.
** [[spoiler: During the long-awaited battle between Ash and Cynthia, fans were hyped to see the face-off between Garchomp and Lucario in their mega-evolved forms...except Cynthia Dynamaxed Togekiss instead. This was treated In-Universe as a legitimate strategic move, but because Togekiss was defeated and Garchomp, unable to Mega-Evolve because of that, was defeated after, detractors say it proves Cynthia wasn't as smart as she looked or accuse her of outright throwing the match in discussions of her since.]]

* AudienceAlienatingEnding: When it was announced that this would be the final chapter in Ash's story, with an eleven-part miniseries titled ''To be a Pokémon Master'' wrapping things up before [[Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries Liko and Roy]] took over, fans were eager to see how Ash would conclude his journey now that [[spoiler:he was the World Coronation Series Champion.]] What came next was a massive disappointment to many on both sides of the Pacific; rather than wrap up any of Ash's story arcs, the series ends with him [[spoiler:deciding to go WalkingTheEarth and befriend every Pokémon he can, while the Team Rocket Trio gets back together and decides to endlessly pursue him even if they don't succeed.]] Besides the fact that Ash's reunion with Brock and Misty, as well as all of his old Pokémon he was finally rotating into his roster, were just {{Filler}} episodes designed to homage the original series with little consequence or CharacterDevelopment, none of the other dangling plot threads (such as Ash's released Pokémon, any potential of him taking up a romantic relationship with Misty or Serena, or his companions own personal goals) were followed though. Worst yet, this blatant StatusQuoIsGod not only failed to ''make'' Ash a Pokémon Master, but [[spoiler:undid Team Rocket's PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure within two episodes]], and barely acknowledged Ash [[spoiler:being the World Monarch, let alone how he would defend his title.]] Needless to say, those were expecting a grand farewell to the iconic protagonist were let down.

** The final episode of ''Journeys'' establishes that [[spoiler: Ash '''still''' isn't a Pokémon Master and Ash won't consider himself one until he's befriended every Pokémon he can]]. Many fans took issue with this feeling it was ludicrous that the anime [[spoiler: wouldn't grant Ash the status of Pokémon Master despite this being his last time as the main character and getting crowned as the '''strongest trainer on the planet'''.]] Other fans took issue with how vague [[spoiler: Ash's definition of a Pokémon Master was. These fans note [[AmbiguousSyntax Ash's word choice]] could mean noting anything from catching one Pokémon of every species (making it identical to Goh), or befriending every single individual Pokémon in the world (which is a physical impossibility given the large quantity and some Pokémon like [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY the Malamar trio]] being unrelentingly evil).]]

** The ''Aim to Be a Pokémon Master'' miniseries is divisive for being less of a GrandFinale and more just an inconsequential homage of the original series, with most episodes simply revolving around the traditional classic formula, and Ash's status as [[spoiler:the Monarch]] having almost nothing to do with the plot. Many fans were underwhelmed that the arc wrapped up practically none of the anime's countless loose threads, whether they be about Ash or anyone else, especially in his very last stretch as the protagonist. It especially didn't help that the series ended more-or-less sticking to the status quo, as Ash [[spoiler:leaves to go on an endless journey with a reunited Team Rocket in close pursuit]], and as other finales for major pop culture franchises like [[Series/StarTrekPicard the crew of The Next Generation]] or [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3 the Guardians of the Galaxy]] got proper sendoffs shortly after the series wrapped in Japan, many were left wondering why Ash never got the same closure.

** In the second-to-last episode of ''Aim To Be A Pokémon Master'', Alto Mare, the painter girl Bianca and the Latias that disguised itself as her, from [[Anime/PokemonHeroes the fifth movie]] appear, making Bianca the first major movie character to appear in an episode of the anime.
** The very last episode had, after ''24 whopping years'', the return of Pidgeot in a very grand BigDamnHeroes fashion, and unlike majority of Ash's released Pokemon, decides to stay with Ash ''permanently''.

* AudienceAlienatingEnding: When it was announced that this would be the final chapter in Ash's story, with an eleven-part miniseries titled ''To be a Pokémon Master'' wrapping things up before [[Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries Liko and Roy]] took over, fans were eager to see how Ash would conclude his journey now that [[spoiler:he was the World Coronation Series Champion.]] What came next was a massive disappointment to many on both sides of the Pacific; rather than wrap up any of Ash's story arcs, the series ends with him [[spoiler:deciding to go WalkingTheEarth and befriend every Pokémon he can, while Team Rocket reforms and decides to endlessly pursue him even if they don't succeed.]] Besides the fact that Ash's reunion with Brock and Misty, as well as all of his old Pokémon he was finally rotating into his roster, were just {{Filler}} episodes designed to homage the original series with little consequence or CharacterDevelopment, none of the other dangling plot threads (such as Ash's released Pokémon, any potential of him taking up a romantic relationship with Misty or Serena, or his companions own personal goals) were followed though. Worst yet, this blatant StatusQuoIsGod not only failed to ''make'' Ash a Pokémon Master, but [[spoiler:undid Team Rocket's PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure within two episodes]], and barely acknowledged Ash [[spoiler:being the World Monarch, let alone how he would defend his title.]] Needless to say, those were expecting a grand farewell to the iconic protagonist were let down.

** On a more minor note, fans of the original series tend to dislike the redesigns to the Vermilion and Celadon Gyms, in particular Celadon's new gym basically looking like a regular building as opposed to the original gym being modeled after Gloom. [[note]]Although, in the latter's case, considering the Gym had gone through a fire, that's at least somewhat justifiable in a redesign.[[/note]] While the new designs were probably meant to fit in with the more "Modern" aesthetic of the Pokémon world in more recent series of the anime, some older fans miss the more exaggerated and cartoonish architecture from the original series, believing it gave the world more visual personality than how its locations are currently depicted. Kanto in general seems to be derived more from ''[=FireRed and LeafGreen=]'' much like "YMMV/PokemonOrigins'', despite the designs and characteristics established in the first season of the anime.

** On a more minor note, fans of the original series tend to dislike the redesigns to the Vermilion and Celadon Gyms, in particular Celadon's new gym basically looking like a regular building as opposed to the original gym being modeled after Gloom. [[note]]Although, in the latter's case, considering the Gym had gone through a fire, that's at least somewhat justifiable in a redesign.[[/note]] While the new designs were probably meant to fit in with the more "Modern" aesthetic of the Pokémon world in more recent series of the anime, some older fans miss the more exaggerated and cartoonish architecture from the original series, believing it gave the world more visual personality than how its locations are currently depicted.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** When images for the special to celebrate the upcoming ''Legends: Arceus'' came out, many people were speculating that Ash, Dawn, and Goh would end up going back in time based on the outfits they were wearing and the ancient Poké Balls. [[spoiler:While inaccurate for that special, that's basically the case for the actual protagonists of the game.]]
** Serena's minimal presence in the series was chalked up by fans as her native region Kalos not being due for another game for a long ways away, as remakes of Gen 5 would need to come out first before the series would presumably revisit Kalos and that could take upwards of another decade with how Pokemon's schedule is, unlike how Dawn's Sinnoh had ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondandPearl Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl]]'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'' and Iris would be in the Gen 5 remakes and Unova was presumed as the setting of the next Legends game, with the Alola characters similarly having minimal screen-time as that revisit would be even further away. A year after ''Journeys'' ended, it was announced that the second Legends game ''would be in Kalos'', not Unova, meaning Serena ended up being arguably more relevant to the franchise at the time than Iris, although the staff of the show were likely not aware of it at the time [[note]] That said, Iris is a regional champion so she'd need to be in the series either way because of the PWC but the way screen-time was allocated, it certainly seems like a wrong guess retroactively[[/note]]

* HilariousInHindsight: When images for the special to celebrate the upcoming ''Legends: Arceus'' came out, many people were speculating that Ash, Dawn, and Goh would end up going back in time based on the outfits they were wearing and the ancient Poké Balls. [[spoiler:While inaccurate for that special, that's basically the case for the actual protagonists of the game.]]

* {{Narm}}: In [=JN122=], Ash and Cynthia bond over raising Lucario and Garchomp respectively from Eggs. Fans consider this a rather hamfisted attempt to build the two up as a {{foil}} for one another, given how common of a occurrence this is among trainers, with there far more significant similarities that could be drawn between the two trainers.

* PanderingToTheBase: In this series, Ash catches a Dragonite, Gengar and a Riolu (all highly-requested Pokémon for him to catch), Ash and Goh travel across all regions, Ash obtains and uses multiple power mechanics (Dynamax, Z-Moves, and Mega Evolutions), Ash ends up recognized as in the same bracket as Champions and one of the eight strongest trainers in the world, and ''many'' old faces are brought back, including some who haven't made appearances in ''over a decade'' Ash even [[spoiler: reobtains one of his released Pokémon, Pidgeot, on a permanent basis at the end of the series]]. Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad is in effect for several of these choices.

* MisBlamed: Episode 111, ''The Homecoming Crown!'', is often blamed for the TroubledProduction of the Masters' Tournament that caused the first round to have shoddy animation and the later rounds to have a lot of delays, due to the episode's movie-like production values that many believe is the best in the series, and many think the resources dedicated to that meant not enough of them could go to the tournament that was expected to be the greatest in the series. However, while it likely did get more time for its production than the average episode, the real reason production almost collapsed afterward was that OLM had to ramp up production of Anime/{{Ninjala}}, and because of a company-wide staff shortage, this left only a skeleton-crew to produce that battle-heavy tournament, and they just were not able to produce the quality expected without taking significantly more time than usual, leading to the contentious first round and the delay of the second and third rounds as a response. That would have happened no matter what was done with episode 111. Perhaps one of the first round battles would have looked better had they spent less time on episode 111, but the production was going to be messed up either way.

* Narm: ** In [=JN122=], Ash and Cynthia bonding over raising Lucario and Garchomp respectively from Eggs. Fans consider this a rather hamfisted attempt to build the two up as a {{foil}} for one another, when there are far more significant similarities that could be drawn.

** The reveal in "Legend? Go! Friends? Go!" and "Serving Up the Flute Cup" that Delia's housekeeper Mr. Mime was actually one of Ash's Pokémon the entire time is viewed as this by some people. While there are [[AllThereInTheManual some supplementary materials]] actually listing it as one of his Pokémon dating back to ''Diamond & Pearl'', it was never hinted during the series itself as being under Ash's ownership up to this point and was generally assumed by people unaware of this that "[[InSeriesNickname Mimey]]" either stayed a wild Mr. Mime or was caught by Delia offscreen.

** In [=JN122=], Ash and Cynthia bonding over raising Lucario and Garchomp respectively from Eggs is usually considered to be a ludicrous parallel between Pokémon that otherwise had nothing to do with each other, often to the point of {{Narm}}, and tends to be an especially sore spot for fans that wanted to see Infernape defeat Garchomp like was foreshadowed throughout ''Diamond and Pearl''.

* MisBlamed: Episode 111, ''The Homecoming Crown!'', is often blamed for the TroubledProduction of the Masters' Tournament that caused the first round to have shoddy animation and the later rounds to have a lot of delays, due to the episode's movie-like production values that many believe is the best in the series. However, while it likely did get more time for its production than the average episode, the real reason production almost collapsed afterward was that OLM had to ramp up production of Anime/{{Ninjala}}, and because of a company-wide staff shortage, this left only a skeleton-crew to produce that battle-heavy tournament, and they just were not able to produce the quality expected without taking significantly more time than usual, leading to the contentious first round and the delay of the second and third rounds as a response. That would have happened no matter what was done with episode 111. Perhaps one of the first round battles would have looked better had they spent less time on episode 111, but the production was going to be messed up either way.