Pokémon anime

We'll see what happens during and after this series - he'll either disappear into the past or, like Gen 1 in general, he'll keep appearing in cameos and movies and such before they throw their hands up and just reinstate him. Ratings have been on the decline for the anime for years and looking at the past week's ratings Horizons isn't doing much to reverse that trend, so it's probably up to positive fan reaction and/or merch sales as to if or if not new protagonists will be the norm or Ash comes back.

The closest comparison I can think of is when Misty originally left after Johto, and when AG was new and airing for the first time people didn't believe the show could go on without the original trio or Misty. It might seem like a minor footnote in the animes history now, but at the time it happened Misty leaving was the biggest change of the show at the time. Of course as AG went on it proved the writers made the right decision, May became popular quickly enough and then this paved the way for all the female leads who came after.

Ash being gone is weird and people are uncertain if the anime can be successful without him, but any older fan should remember people said the same thing about Misty or the original trio 20 years ago back in 2002/2003, and well, here we are.

There’s no guarantee Liko and Roy will only be around for Gen VIIII’s run. With the Rising Volt Tacklers being a team of researchers and being able to travel around the world on their airship looking for new discoveries, depending on how their characters develop throughout Horizons, I could see Liko and Roy sticking around for a few runs.

Actually, I'd say there kinda is. The fact that they use the Paldea starters is a near-guarantee they're gone after this gen. Which is really how it should be going forward.

It's why I never had any doubt Goh would be gone by Gen 9. Even though he's not actually from Galar, his identity is functionally tied to Gen 8.

As for Ash, I feel like it's just inevitable he'll return eventually. Hopefully not as the main character, but the hype of seeing him again just seems like way too good of a marketing stunt to pass up. I can't help but suspect that the all-regions gimmick of Horizons was at least partially done to keep that door open.

I don’t think the Paldea starters by themselves will guarantee Liko and Roy only sticking around for Gen XIIII, but we’ll see sooner or later.

I though his idenity was more tied to Poke GO then Galar.

In some ways, he was definitely tied to Pokémon GO. His name was a pun on "go", and the anime used a bunch of game mechanics originally only found in that game, along with him owning all the Gen VIII starters. While he did largely rotate his team, the anime's Strictly Formula nature regarding the starters ensured he was always seen with them on hand.

3 years is enough for protagonists. Nobody needs to be stretched out like Ash was for 26 years, or Team Rocket, or even Brock for 13 years. That kind of stuff will never happen again because Pokemon debuted as a huge fad in 1997 and the characters became iconic in mainstream media. Same kinda reason even though Misty was gone for 20 years she's still probably the most recognizable pokemon girl to the general public.

Media in general is a lot different now in 2023 than it was in 1997, there's more distractions for kids, youtube, online streaming, etc. Back in the 90's all kids tended to watch the same shows more or less because there wasn't that many options to watch back then. Same reason Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers were huge fads prior to Pokemon, and then stuff like Dragon Ball Z, Harry Potter, etc....everyone was exposed to the same things over and over.

I think Goh was meant to be a mix of both if his design is anything to go by.

You say that with so much certainty, yet Liko taking up Ash’s role as the main protagonist is new territory for the anime, so there’s no telling what will happen. She could only be around until Gen X rolls around, or she could remain as the main protagonist for at least 10 years at most, so there’s no guarantee Liko will only be around for 3 years.

I’m pretty sure there being more distractions now has little to do with how long a character sticks around on a show. Besides, there were plenty of options on what to watch back in the 90s, such as Batman TAS and Animaniacs.

Does make me wonder, I bet Liko and Roy will probably eventually catch Pokemon other than the Paldea starters at some point, though it may take some time before they do so.

Of course, starting off with a Sprigatito does mean Liko is more extensively tied to Gen IX, by comparison to Ash just going with a relatively rare-ish Pokemon (Pikachu was actually quite rare to catch, and still is in many games, which makes its mascot role very ironic) for his first that doesn't have to be tied to one generation like with the traditional starters.

Ummm that's a given. The Starters cant just solo the entire show that would be unrealistic.

I doubt I'm the first or only person to bring this up, but why is Liko attending school in Kanto when there's an academy in her home country?

The doylist reason is obvious (for it is the same reason why say, Alolan variants were all of Kanto mons), plus there is the matter of the academy's name and clothing aesthetics changing based on the version. the Watsonian reason is prolly because she's (currently) underqualified for it given it is a preppy school that seems to have a long and stroied past.

Odds are that its possible that she'll wind up attending the Academy at some point if Nemona is gonna have an anime role.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Jun 7th 2023 at 7:26:07 AM

Given that it's been established that, except for Roy, the rest of the main cast were hired as her bodyguards the in universe reason is probably to protect her from the antagonist.

Edited by Chariot on Jun 7th 2023 at 10:35:24 AM

Why do they keep calling it a Black Rayquaza instead of Shiny?

Because it sounds cooler.

I THINK Shiny is actually a fanspeak term and not official. (The closest is 'shining.')

Shiny has since been adopted as an official term by now though.

Edited by MacronNotes on Jun 10th 2023 at 6:09:19 AM

In a Watsonian point of view, they call it the Black Rayquaza, because that is what it is, a black Rayquaza. Even if in-universe Pokemon of different colors are called shiny, you would need to know that it's shiny is black. If you go around like Roy does, asking information about Rayquaza it would be better to refer to it in simple terms (it's black color), instead of a technical term (shiny Rayquaza). Being slightly silly, imagine asking for the shiny Rayquaza, and they point you to, I don't know, a casino with a Rayquaza neon sign. That wouldn't really happen if you ask about the black Rayquaza.

Edited by Shadow-Whisperer on Jun 10th 2023 at 5:06:55 AM

"Black Rayquaza" sounds reasonable due to the Uniqueness Value of things. The fact that there even is a Shiny Rayquaza is enough of a noteworthy thing. Like how the Lake of Rage Gyarados is commonly called "Red Gyarados".

By that reasoning you can run into various contrivances in either case.

Thing is Lance’s was supposed to be a unique variant rather than simply a shiny, and Lysadre’s is also a Red Gyarados in the anime.

Edited by Cross on Jun 11th 2023 at 11:06:44 AM

Indeed; the anime said Lance’s Red Gyarados was red because Team Rocket forcefully evolved it from a regular Magikarp, making it retain its scale colour, even though shiny Magikarp is gold.

Sometimes, I guess the Shiny coloration happens randomly or is triggered under stressful circumstances.

There hasn’t been anything to suggest that happens outside the specific instance with Gyarados though. Something to keep in mind is that anime has shown differently colored Pokémon that are not shiny.

Also, while I not sure how canon it is but didn’t a black Rayquaza show up in one of the movies?

Wonder if making Shiny Gyarados a different color compared to the Lake of Rage one would have been fitting. It'd make for an unique Pokemon, at least.