Do you think the writers handle Ash's travel companions well?

[Cybersai]

I've been talking about this a lot on another forum and it seems like a lot of people have mixed opinions on the way the writers handle Ash's friends in terms of character progress. Some characters are pushed to the side too often and are barely focused on, and others only got a tiny bit of character development in their run.

Now aside from the obvious, "I wish they did more with *insert character here*" do you think the writers used Ash's travel companions to their full potential? Did these characters even go through enough character development in their run? Were their Pokemon teams used well?

Does anyone else sometimes wish the show wasn't so focused on Gyms/Contests that the other characters could get better spotlight too?

 

[Piplup]

Only the heroes (Ash/May/Dawn) got enough focus and development
But the sidekicks (Misty/Brock/Tracey/Max) are totally neglected... how many episodes Max and Brock got in AG? about 5 each in an almost 200 episodes series?

That's one of the reasons I think Dawn should stay- this time they got it right with an equal heroine... now instead of replace a character with identical character again for no reason at all they should try to fix their problem with sidekicks and introduce a sidekick that actually do things (obviously the sidekicks shouldn't get as much focus as the heroes but they can still do things and not just stuck there doing nothing)

I think Brock is a little better now in DP
Croagunk is sometimes treated as the third mascot for DP with Pikachu/Piplup so at least Brock has a "main" Pokémon that he actually uses sometimes (unlike how poor Mudkip was locked in its ball) and also Croagunk got a rival - Saturn's Toxicroak
Brock also battle a lot more compared to AG- the Nuzleaf episode, the tag battles tournament, Dawn/Yumomi VS Ash/Brock
He got what a lot will agree is his best team now
So I think this is a proof the writers did improve with the handling of sidekicks (though Brock still only has like 3 episodes in all the 69 aired episodes) but they still didn't make it
I think they also won't be able to do it with Brock - he's simply boring now
If they keep improving with Brock than hopefully they'll learn how to handle a sidekick and give us a new sidekick after DP

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Satoshi, Haruka and Hikari have all been handled really well, for the most part.

Satoshi was kind of in an odd place in AG since he didn't have a real rival for pretty much the entire saga (Masamune could have worked but he showed up far too late to be anything more than AG's Hiroshi), but he still got plenty of great moments.

Kasumi was a great character to start with, but Jouto killed her. She had no real purpose by that point, and her personality was almost completely killed.

Kenji was okay. He wasn't around for very long, but he was unique. I wouldn't have minded him going to Jouto instead of Takeshi, because...

Takeshi has probably gotten trashed more than any other character. He was great originally, but he really should have never come back. He basically devolved into a one-note joke in Jouto whose only role aside from going gaga over girls was to occasionally referee battles. He continued like this in AG, and again in Diamond and Pearl. He's been a little better in DP, but I still think the time is long since passed for him to hang it up.

Masato never really got much focus, but that's understandable. I would like to see what the writers could do with him now that he's actually able to train Pokemon.

 

[Piplup]

now that he's actually able to train Pokemon.

No he can't
He's at home now since May decided to travel alone

 

[Duckgon Z]

I mean that the next time we see him, he may be able to train Pokemon, since he may be 10 by then. And that would indicate time and aging... but that's a whole other disscussion.

Yeah, I think Ash's buddies have been handled alright. Misty was great, but fizzled in Johto, but in those AG episodes she was a lot better. Brock is...Brock. Croagunk still doesn't make up for Johto and his horrible slack in AG. This time, I really want him to go so that the 5th Gen rival/hero travels with Ash.

Tracey didn't get much besides a Venonat, and motherly Marill, and that old dude Syther. We don't really know much about him, but I hope that one day we get something on him. Max is one of my favorite characters, but without Pokemon, he didn't really do much but cockblock. Hope he comes back with a Pokemon...but that's another discussion.

Now Dawn, I can deal with. She's about 50/50 with Ash, and that's more understandable. The only thing I really don't like about her is Piplup. That thing seems so forced I just want to smash it. Yes, we get you're a mascot, but your trying way too hard. Her rivals are boring though. Kenny is ok, but Nando needed to stay a COTD, because besides his Latain accent in the dub, he's just so boring. And then there's Zoey, who needs to GTFO. So far, she's done nothing but hinder Dawn, besides cheering her up after the Solonace contest. We get she hates Gyms, but why. Unlike Paul, we have no clues. Unless she was molested by Candice or something.

May was pretty good too. She had that beginner's luck bullshit after her first contest, but she was still an interesting character.

 

[impactkhtennis_thewind]

i like all the characters and i hate seeing them go....
yea Brock and Misty were great in the beginning....and Misty was prolly at her best during the Orange Islands (thats coming from a pokeshipper)
but yea, after them, along with Max were not focused well anymore. although i have to disagree with whoever said Misty's personality was killed. (sry, i'm too lazy to see who it was)

But one thing that Scott mentioned that i dont think anyone has talked about was that....yes i strongly believe the anime should be more than just gym battles and contests. I didnt hate it, but i was a bit annoyed when during the beginning of each filler episode the narrator goes, "Ash is on his way to (some city) to earn (some badge)....but suddenly......" As a major fan of Misty, whom i believed is the only character who was not only focused on pokemon themselves and actually wished that Ash would give more attention to his friends, I think that if the anime was more than gym battles and contests, all the characters would be better developed and we would see more friendships, and other social events that would make the Pokemon anime more life-like and in a sense educational or reality TV like (not that i like reality TV lol)
i wish they could fix these problems about characters not filling their potential roles by having more cameo's or just bring them back permanently.
what's more....i've always wondered what would happen to the anime, if the creators of Pokemon finish making new generations??? I would love to see a grown-up Ash and friends....and definitely more character bondings.

 

[Cybersai]

I've always felt the biggest problems with Ash's travel companions is many of them don't feel like they ever accomplish anything.

Sure, Tracey got to meet Oak, and Max got to watch Ash and his sister do lots of battles, but all in all he didn't really learn or change that much from his initial appearance. We do agree Max will probably be a very good trainer, but the sad thing is the writers probably won't ever let us see that.

And then there's Misty and Brock. Character wise, we watch Misty mature and control her temper, and capture lots of water Pokemon, but in the end, she just winds up back where she started. In the beginning of the series she tried to get away from the Gym, yet in the end she just winds up back there. Sure, she's the leader now, but a lot of that feels forced, mainly because her sisters suck as battlers and she's the only one there as a competent battler.

Then Brock...is still the same Brock now as he was in Season 1. He's had his memorable and funny moments, contributed to the show quite a bit, but his character hasn't really gone anywhere. It feels like he's mostly there for whatever comic relief he still provides rather than seriously developing the character. It seems like the writers don't intend to take his character any further, and just acknowledge that he's only there to fill out a third slot and that's all there is to it.

Its almost a little disappointing, because we're following some of these characters for years and a lot of them have completed their run already and most likely won't ever be main characters again. I get that this is Ash's show and all, but man, its really getting hard to look forward to the future of some of these characters because we know they're not going to get anywhere.

 

[Trevenant]

Just a comment. This isn't really meant as an excuse, but I feel one of the major issues regarding Kasumi and Takeshi was the fact that they were never intended to be long term characters. Remember that Pocket Monsters was originally intended to be a year and a half long anime at most. As we all know, Takeshi and Kasumi were handled relatively well during that run - I'd argue they were handled better than Satoshi even, given the dubious circumstances surrounding many of his 'gym badges'. Regardless, Kasumi and Takeshi both have goals that just don't make something that's entertaining in the long run. There's just not a whole lot for them to do onscreen, and that's why they were never handled-well - the writers didn't have any idea of what to really do with them, considering they were mostly matured characters.

Since then, I think they've done a much better job with Haruka, Hikari, and even Masato. As much as I adore Takeshi, I think it'd be best to see him depart from the show next saga.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

No he can't
He's at home now since May decided to travel alone

But they said that he would be able to start training Pokemon soon in the last episode of AG.

Given Masato's passion for Pokemon, I find it very hard to believe that he wouldn't start on his own journey as soon as he was able to.

I've always felt the biggest problems with Ash's travel companions is many of them don't feel like they ever accomplish anything.

Sure, Tracey got to meet Oak, and Max got to watch Ash and his sister do lots of battles, but all in all he didn't really learn or change that much from his initial appearance. We do agree Max will probably be a very good trainer, but the sad thing is the writers probably won't ever let us see that.

Kenji never really got to accomplish much, but that probably had as much to do with the forced return of Takeshi as anything.

As for Masato, it's possible we'll see his skills as a trainer. He could even return in a future region and battle Satoshi at the League.

 

[danh19]

until bw I felt the writers were generally getting better and better with ash's companions giving them more to do as well as more focus