YMMV / Pokémon Generations

• Adaptation Displacement: In regards to Giovanni's characterization, many viewers who were familiar with Giovanni's well-received characterization in Pokémon Origins were confused about why Giovanni is still evil after disbanding Team Rocket, with people thinking that he lied to Red about changing his ways. While in the original games he did vow to reform, in the remakes Giovanni never changed his ways, which can be seen during the Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Celebi event. Crosses into Common Knowledge, as some believe that Generations is in the same continuity as Origins, when it's not.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Giratina in Episode 11. Did it make its grand entrance at the Spear Pillar to save Dialga and Palkia from Cyrus's clutches and cast Cyrus to the Distortion World so the tragedy could not be repeated? Or did it come to fulfill Cyrus's wishes of a world of nothingness? Or is it lonely and just wanted company?
• Awesome Ego: "The Challenger"'s portrayal of Blue appears to be a bit more arrogant than any of his other counterparts, and he proves himself worthy of his ego every step of the way.
  • In the same short, the Elite Four are far more arrogant than they seem to be in the games, but it somehow works. After all, there is a reason they're the four best trainers in the region save for the Champion.
• Awesome Music: The series has incredible remixes of music in the games. Special note goes to a rocking rendition of the Team Magma boss fight theme in Episode 7, the terrifying Ominous Latin Chanting choir of the Kyogre fight theme from Episode 8, and an upbeat, jazzy remix of Lysandre's battle theme from Episode 16.
• Base-Breaking Character: Hilbert garnered split opinions over their appearance in Episode 15. Some fans were excited and surprised by their arrival since this was the first time they've ever been animated and this meant that the long-awaited reunion between N and the Black/White protagonist finally occurred. Others were disappointed that they were used instead of Hilda which adds to the series' trend of featuring the male protagonists at the expense of not featuring the female protagonists and fear that this means Hilda will become the most neglected Pokémon protagonist along with Leaf, especially since Hilda, like Leaf, is one of the most popular female protagonists in the series.
• Broken Base:
  • Fans are split on Pikachu's more mouse-like design and voice. Especially the latter.
  • The various Pokémon using more animalistic grunts (as opposed to Pokémon Speak) is a point of contention, especially with the aforementioned Pikachu. Do you like this nod to the classic soundbites? Do you wish they stuck to the Pokémon Speak? Do you see it as a sign that it's superior to the anime? Or do you simply not care?
  • The lack of the female protagonists ^note unless you believe the Trainer in the Magma Suit from Episode 9 was May. While female protagonists usually show up in the main anime (May, Dawn, Lyra, Serena; even Kris had a counterpart in the Raikou special), some female protagonists have never been animated at all (Leaf and Hilda in particular). Some like seeing the male protagonists in action since they're relegated to cameos at best in the main anime, while others don't like how they all are effectively being decanonized and would like to see said female protagonists Adapted Out from the main anime get a second chance to be animated.
• Complete Monster: Episodes 13 through 15 (Generation V): Ghetsis is a cruel, selfish man seeking total world domination, and the driving force behind all the evil acts of Team Plasma. In "The Uprising", Ghetsis has ordered his six chosen Sages to lead an attack on the Unova League, where they attempt to kill the young Iris and all the other Gym Leaders who oppose Team Plasma's effort to take Pokémon away from trainers by force. In "The Frozen World", in order to seize the DNA Splicers, Ghetsis has Sage Zinzolin and his forces launch a terrorist attack on Opelucid City, that's shown to endanger civilian lives and create massive collateral damage as the city gets frozen solid, leaving all in it to suffer. Finally, "The King Returns" sees Ghetsis attempting to freeze all of Unova, using the DNA Splicers to force Reshiram and a controlled Kyurem to fuse, and ordering White Kyurem to directly assault and destroy Ghetsis's own foster son N with an Ice Burn, all to remove any obstacles to his insatiable lust for power.
• Continuity Lockout: Some episodes might be confusing to those who haven't played the respective games. Episode 17 in particularly had this effect, where a lot of people didn't either play the post-game of Pokémon X and Y or skipped the games entirely.
• Creepy Awesome:
  • Agatha's Gengar, as explained in One-Scene Wonder below.
  • Much like in the games, fans generally feel this way about Courtney.
• Creepy Cute: A lot of fans found Courtney endearing and unsettling at the same time.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Though its screen time is very short, Agatha's Gengar made quite the impression due to its shadowy entrance.
  • As with Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, Courtney surprisingly gained a ton of fans due to her Undying Loyalty and and her Yandere-like tendencies. This led to an influx of gifs and fan art of her where she's drawn like Yuno from Future Diary.
  • Brycen due to him being pretty much the only person in the entire franchise to actually charge past all the battling Pokémon and directly attack the Team Plasma grunts with his bare fists.
• Fandom Rivalry: With the one for the regular anime. Main anime fans sees Generations as It's Short, So It Sucks! while Generations fans resent the main anime for butchering the what they love about the games yet being the most well-known adaptation.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Throughout the first episode, Red uses his Pikachu wherever they go. All across the Kanto region down to Kalos. While we only see the battles that Pikachu fought, the implication is that Red formed such a strong bond with his Pikachu similarly to Ash that he brings it with him to new regions and Pikachu gets stronger with each battle.
  • Giratina's first action is to free Dialga and Palkia from Cyrus's control, as if to say "No worries, I got this", before attacking Cyrus for hurting them.
  • After five long years (for us anyway), N and Black/White's player character are finally reunited.
  • AZ's reunion with his Floette after 3000 years at the end of Episode 18.
• It's Short, So It Sucks!: While not a deal-breaker for most, many fans feel like the length is holding the special back, and would have preferred fully-fledged OVAs like Origins, or even it to be a whole anime series. On the other hand, there are just as many fans of Generations who feel that the level of quality exhibited by the shorts is the product of the short run time, allowing the mini-series to succinctly yet effectively cover events from the games instead of stretching out the plot in the manner of the main anime.
• Magnificent Bastard: Giovanni is the leader of the criminal organization Team Rocket, and secretly the Gym Leader of Viridian City. Using the Celadon Game Corner as a front for Team Rocket's illegal Pokémon trade, Giovanni earned the respect of his men to the point where no one was willing to betray him. After a failed attack at Silph Co., Giovanni's actions attracted the attention of Looker from the International Police. Despite tracking him down at the Viridian Gym, Giovanni managed to elude Looker and his men in the time it took for him to give out his final Gym Badge. Taking personal responsibility for Team Rocket's setbacks, Giovanni went into hiding hoping to rebuild his criminal empire to be stronger than ever before. In spite of Looker's efforts, Giovanni managed to remain at large three years after his disappearance and still commanded the respect from the team he once led.
• Memetic Bystander: The random Spheal in Episode 8 (who is seen being helplessly tossed around by the current during Kyogre's rampage and bumps into a Magikarp) appears to be developing its own fanbase.
• Memetic Loser: When it comes to player characters failing to make a cameo in these episodes, Lucas is singled out by fans to be the unluckiest of them all. This is mainly due to the fact he's one of the two male player characters (the other being Nate) to not appear and was already lacking in terms of anime appearances (whereas Nate at least got major spotlight in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2: Introduction Movie). Many fans take this as a sign that Lucas will never escape Dawn's shadow even when Dawn isn't present at all.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • The ending of Episode 8, where Primal Kyogre is seconds away from seemingly devouring Archie and Shelly, has been used for To Be Continued edits due to using a very similar filter and the episode ending on a Cliffhanger while lingering on a shot.
  • Episode 15's ending has been met with fans (or at least, certain types of fans) declaring that Isshushipping (N/Hilbert) is canon.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • In Episode 14, Colress orders Kyurem to freeze all of Opelucid City, with the sad implication that thousands of people were killed in the process.
  • In Episode 15, instead of ordering Kyurem to directly attack the main protagonist and freeze them solid, Ghetsis orders Kyurem to do that to his adopted son, N. Had he not been saved (twice — once by Reshiram Fighting from the Inside and again by Hilbert's Zekrom), N could have been annihilated by his own father.
• Narm:
  • Team Rocket's overconfident swagger ended up making them look more drunk than intimidating. The obvious slowed down sequence and simplistic style used doesn't help either.
  • Cheryl and Chansey eating nothing for an entire minute, while the music, the leering butler, and the camera angles imply something terrible will happen. Unsettling to some. Overly long, anticlimactic, and outright silly to others.
• Older Than They Think:
  • Pikachu's mouse-like design has actually been used in official artwork since the third generation games. Generations simply marks the first time this design has been used outside of promotional artwork.
  • Team Plasma's devastation upon Opelucid City is often seen as an example of Pokémon being Darker and Edgier, and many fans lament that the main anime series isn't like this due to focusing on kids. But in truth, the main anime had already played this kind of scenario with the Team Flare arc climax of the XYZ series that aired months earlier.^note which features a complete devastation of Lumoise City thanks to a Legendary controlled by the villainous team Even Team Plasma attacking a city isn't new as it was originally going to be featured in a BW two-parter until the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami happened.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • Agatha's Gengar. Uniquely, it enters the battlefield as a shadow pooling out from her staff, becoming a menacing red-eyed silhouette before showing its true form.
  • Fans of the Johto installments cheered when they saw Ethan animated in Episode 4, though his face is hidden.
  • Hilbert finally appears in animation in Episode 15, and it was worth the wait.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
  • Probopass's brief appearance showed it as a much more badass and neat fighter than the generally disliked evolution is normally shown as, impressing many fans who'd normally not give the thing the time of day.
  • Lysandre, while not that disliked by the fandom, was still seen as a disappointing villain in some circles due to his lack of screen time and characterization. Episode 16 shows much more of Lysandre's Villain with Good Publicity status and fits in the multiple facets he has: the generous philanthropist, the brilliant inventor, and the scheming extremist.
• Tear Jerker:
  • The climax of the confrontation between N and Ghetsis in Episode 15. It's very accurate to what happened in the respective games, with N desperately trying to make his father understand the errors of his ways, only for the latter's sanity to devolve further with each second, screaming curses at his son that culminate in him ordering Kyurem to attack N. Everything is underscored by a new rendition of "An Unwavering Heart," which fits the scene perfectly for one of the highest emotional points of these shorts.
  • Episode 17 in general.
  • Episode 18 as well, given that it follows one of the most tear-jerking moments from the games.
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley: The art style struts the line between that of more cartoony and more realistic anime, so this is not uncommon. A specific example would be Cheryl's Chansey in Episode 10, especially when the camera zooms into its face. Since it's more of a Cartoon Creature that isn't directly based off of any real world animals or anything of the sort, its sounds and appearance can come across as a little jarring. Though, considering the overall tone of the episode, this was likely intentional.
• Unexpected Character:
  • With the first two Hoenn episodes focusing on Team Magma and Aqua, most expected the third episode to be based on the Delta Episode, likely from Zinnia's perspective. Few foresaw Gabby & Ty getting the limelight.
  • For very good reason, absolutely no one was expecting Hilbert to show up in "The King Returns".
  • Emma and Mimi's appearance in episode 17 is this to many people due to Continuity Lockout.
• Visual Effects of Awesome:
  • The battle animations in the first, third, fourth, and seventh shorts are nothing short of incredible.
  • "The Reawakening" has intriguing visuals regarding the legend of the burned tower.
  • "The Cavern" has animation that can only be described as masterful. Hundreds of Pokémon are animated fluidly and weather effects like heavy rain and tornadoes are drawn exquisitely. The whole thing is as awe-inspiring as it is terrifying.
  • Mega Rayquaza and Deoxys' epic battle in Episode 9 is gorgeously animated, perfectly capturing the magnitude of these two legendary mons going at it. It blows anything from their first animated adaptation out of the water.
  • The battle between Haxorus and Team Plasma's Pokémon, in an episode that's already one of the best drawn and animated of the series.
• The Woobie:
  • Silver in "The Legacy." It couldn't have been easy having Giovanni as a father, and Silver's dialogue implies that it wasn't.
  • Cheryl in "The Old Chateau," given her innocent personality combined with the sheer amount of Nightmare Fuel she went through in the episode. It doesn't help it's ominously left hanging what happens to her in the end. By the same measure, her Chansey also qualifies.
  • Emma in Episode 17, despite being the one doing the violent dog-kicking. Mimi, too.
  • AZ in Episode 18, the biggest one of them all. The fact that it's shown that when he was presented with Floette's casket, he held onto it and collapsed on top of it while sobbing just makes his backstory all that much more depressing.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?:
  • The show is made to be much more for teenagers and adults than the actual games but because it's a show about Pokémon, it sounds completely kid-friendly. This reaches the breaking point in Episode 10, which is notably more disturbing than previous episodes and quite possibly one of the creepiest things in the entire franchise. Longtime and more attentive fans will note that these darker elements have always been present in the franchise, though they were mostly relegated to Dex entries, character backstories, and certain locales like Lavender Town. Generations instead places many of these aspects out in the open for the first time, which may take viewers by surprise.
  • Then there's Episode 17, where a Pokémon gets kicked quite violently. Unlike the games and anime, it's nowhere near as cartoony, especially considering who is doing the kicking. The episode later features panning shots of Essentia's curves and assets, whereas previous episodes didn't linger nearly as long on the similar features of other female characters like Lorelei and Shelly.

---