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It has been recently shown that the anime version of the Battle Frontier is, in fact, located in Kanto. Needless to say, the Battle Frontier is located on an island in Hoenn, quite far from Kanto. Many seem to have taken this "shift" for granted, and while I have seen some negative comments regarding it, I feel that a proper discussion should be held on the matter. You may find the length of this post to be excessive, but I ask that you fully read it before replying.
Upon the announcement in December that the next movie would feature Mew, I pondered where the post-Hoenn arc could take place. Clearly, by the time the movie is first aired, Ash will have completed his journey in Hoenn--that is one fact that I could derive even at that early point. Mew's role in the movie was boasted, allegedly representing that all Pokemon legends first started with Mew. This created the impression that Ash's journey could soon come to closure. I theorized that if that were the case, the post-Hoenn arc would take place in Kanto, so as to both represent FireRed/LeafGreen and to tie the loose ends of Ash's storyline (the long overdue disbanding of Team Rocket and the explanation of Ho-oh's role). For the record, I did not at all think that this would signify the end of the anime in general.
In February, a silhouette of a new Pokemon was featured in the CoroCoro magazine. The Pokemon was said to be another main character in the movie, bearing some sort of connection to Mew. Not long after, a full image was shown and its name was revealed to be Lucario. In addition, Regirock, Regice and Registeel were also present in an artwork, and later on in the trailer. It then became apparent to me that the real purpose behind the movie is to showcase Lucario as well as to focus on its relationship with the Regis, not unlike the Lugia movie. Mew was added to the picture for the simple reason that the need to distribute it to the GBA games was a convenient setup to increase the movie's popularity--in recent years promotions were held in conjunction with the movies, distributing Jirachi and Deoxys, respectively. In each of the cases of the Lugia movie and the Latias/Latios movie, the silhouettes of the Pokemon were revealed as soon as the movie was announced (Lugia was known as "Pokemon X"). This time, they evidently felt that they could keep Lucario a secret for longer, as Mew's role is justifiable once one considers that it was overshadowed by Mewtwo in the first movie.
The above explains the misconceptions that arose at the beginning. With the new information on the movie, I was led to believe that the post-Hoenn arc would take place in the Battle Frontier. A piece of information from 4Kids on the upcoming season, also supported this by mentioning the Battle Frontier. After all, the Battle Frontier Brains serve a similar role to the Orange Archipelago Gym Leaders, who were featured in a post-Kanto arc. In light of this, many ideas came to my mind as to how the Battle Frontier could be implemented in the anime, knowing that it would have to undergo some changes. I realized that some changes were simply necessary, but I wished to believe that the changes would be as minimal as possible, only in the required areas. I envisioned the Battle Frontier arc to consist of the following:
* The Battle Frontier would be expanded to an entire archipelago. The archipelago would be similar to the Orange Archipelago, and would include the Battle Tower island (from Ruby/Sapphire; in Emerald this island was expanded to the Battle Frontier island). Additional islands would include islands for each of the remaining Battle Frontier facilities, the island of Rota Town (the location of the Mew and Lucario movie) and Southern Island. The archipelago would thus comprise of two islands from the games, which may be part of the Hoenn map, but reaching them requires boarding on a boat. An archipelago would leave room for travel, which in the anime is necessary for building an arc (even though the Battle Frontier in the game is possibly the largest location among the locations in any game thus far, the facilities are condensed). Southern Island would be ideal for featuring Latias and Latios in the main show, similarly to Lugia in the Whirl Islands (at the very least, Latias and Latios are key characters to the Battle Frontier in the manga).
The first trailer of the Mew movie suggested that the plot took place on an island.
* The Battle Frontier would be changed to a league organization. Challengers would be required to collect six Battle Frontier Symbols. After which, challengers would be referred to the Battle Tower island, where they would compete against the Battle Frontier Champion, Anabel. Winners' accomplishment would be recorded in the Hall of Fame, and they would be given the Gold Shield as a prize (which in Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald is a Secret Base item that one gets through 100 consecutive wins at the Battle Tower). Even in the games, where the Battle Frontier is not a league, Anabel and the Battle Tower are regarded as the ultimate challenge (the only facility which offers Ribbons and Secret Base items; Anabel has the Pokemon with highest IVs when first encountered).
This would be similar to the system used by the Orange Archipelago Champion, Drake.
* Each Battle Frontier facility would concentrate almost solely on challenging the Battle Frontier Brain. This would be for the fact that the Battle Frontier is an organized league in the anime, as opposed to the game, where it is a facility that focuses on different aspects of battling and encourages much effort. As such, the additional challenges in each facility would either be ignored altogether, or be showcased to the minimum (as is the case with normal Gyms in the anime). This would also cancel the Silver Symbols, and so the Battle Frontier Brains would only be challenged once.
* The Battle Frontier Brains would use their Pokemon from the first encounter in the games (when battling for the Silver Symbols). Noland would use Typhlosion, Steelix and Electabuzz, which are ones of the randomly selected Pokemon he uses in the game. An official page would indicate that these are the Pokemon with which the Battle Frontier Brains are associated. For the most part, this solves the problem of the use of Legendary Pokemon in the games, leaving only Anabel's Entei and Brandon's entire team. These Pokemon would have to be replaced.
The above describe what I would have liked to see in the Battle Frontier arc, which I had imagined to be feasible up to a while ago. Again, I knew in advance that as it is in the game, the Battle Frontier cannot be implemented in the anime. Instead, the arc would have to be handled similarly to the Orange Islands arc, and be equivalent to it in many ways. I would say that the way I imagined it to be in the anime, the Battle Frontier is an expansion of the Ruby/Sapphire Battle Tower, only with the new characters from Emerald. Likewise, the Kyogre/Groudon saga and the Sootopolis Gym only had the basic elements from Emerald (the encounter between Kyogre and Groudon; Juan being the Gym Leader), but were essentially closer to the Ruby/Sapphire storyline (Team Aqua was in power, the Orbs replaced Rayquaza; Juan used Wallace's Ruby/Sapphire team). In other words, if this really were the anime version of the Battle Frontier, the changes to the Emerald storyline would at least be consistent with previous cases.
However, by now it appears that the Battle Frontier facilities are to be scattered throughout Kanto. Furthermore, Brandon appears to be the Champion instead of Anabel. These alone reflect that staying remotely close to the game is of low priority in the eyes of the anime writers. One of the obvious problems that come to mind is the presence of the Regis in Kanto, as this should mean that Rota is placed in Kanto. It is worse enough that the Regis' storyline in the game is such that limits their location to sealed chambers, which the movie completely disregards. At least with Deoxys and Mew, they are not limited to a certain location, despite the fact that they pertain to the region of Kanto (hence it is somehow forgivable that Deoxys was spotted in Hoenn, as would it be if Mew appeared there).
I have already explained how it is made very clear in the game that Anabel is higher-ranked than the rest of the Battle Frontier Brains. Changing this in the anime by making Brandon the Champion is not only unfair towards the game, but is also frustrating when one considers how many male champions there have been in the anime. This is a missed opportunity to change the negative impression that may have been created. If to be fair, I can at least see the reason behind the fact that Brandon is the Champion--it is easier for the writers to create a whole new team for him. The battle is almost guaranteed to be 6 vs. 6, in which case they may as well design a new team for the Champion, making Brandon the ultimate choice.
Essentially, the upcoming arc is a mix of Emerald's Battle Frontier and either Gold/Silver/Crystal or FireRed/LeafGreen's Kanto. Claiming that it will follow Gold/Silver/Crystal or FireRed/LeafGreen is an overstatement the writers do not deserve, judging by the fact that even in the last episode the Viridian Gym was not owned by Gary (which would follow Gold/Silver/Crystal), nor did Agatha use Crobat instead of Golbat (which would follow FireRed/LeafGreen). Instead, this arc would appear to be compensating for the fact that Kanto and its characters were only partially featured in the first arc. Sadly, I do not see how this could bring closure to Ash's journey, although it could be that Team Rocket will finally be handled.
The purpose behind this long rant is to provoke thought. In my opinion, viewers of the anime should not overlook the fact that most of the basic elements in the games are ignored one time after another, nor should they take it for granted. This rant happens to be focused on the upcoming Battle Frontier arc, but may have very well been focused on each of the other arcs. The fact that the anime is not true to the games has long been accepted by me, but I wish it could at least follow some consistent logic regarding them.
Upon the announcement in December that the next movie would feature Mew, I pondered where the post-Hoenn arc could take place. Clearly, by the time the movie is first aired, Ash will have completed his journey in Hoenn--that is one fact that I could derive even at that early point. Mew's role in the movie was boasted, allegedly representing that all Pokemon legends first started with Mew. This created the impression that Ash's journey could soon come to closure. I theorized that if that were the case, the post-Hoenn arc would take place in Kanto, so as to both represent FireRed/LeafGreen and to tie the loose ends of Ash's storyline (the long overdue disbanding of Team Rocket and the explanation of Ho-oh's role). For the record, I did not at all think that this would signify the end of the anime in general.
In February, a silhouette of a new Pokemon was featured in the CoroCoro magazine. The Pokemon was said to be another main character in the movie, bearing some sort of connection to Mew. Not long after, a full image was shown and its name was revealed to be Lucario. In addition, Regirock, Regice and Registeel were also present in an artwork, and later on in the trailer. It then became apparent to me that the real purpose behind the movie is to showcase Lucario as well as to focus on its relationship with the Regis, not unlike the Lugia movie. Mew was added to the picture for the simple reason that the need to distribute it to the GBA games was a convenient setup to increase the movie's popularity--in recent years promotions were held in conjunction with the movies, distributing Jirachi and Deoxys, respectively. In each of the cases of the Lugia movie and the Latias/Latios movie, the silhouettes of the Pokemon were revealed as soon as the movie was announced (Lugia was known as "Pokemon X"). This time, they evidently felt that they could keep Lucario a secret for longer, as Mew's role is justifiable once one considers that it was overshadowed by Mewtwo in the first movie.
The above explains the misconceptions that arose at the beginning. With the new information on the movie, I was led to believe that the post-Hoenn arc would take place in the Battle Frontier. A piece of information from 4Kids on the upcoming season, also supported this by mentioning the Battle Frontier. After all, the Battle Frontier Brains serve a similar role to the Orange Archipelago Gym Leaders, who were featured in a post-Kanto arc. In light of this, many ideas came to my mind as to how the Battle Frontier could be implemented in the anime, knowing that it would have to undergo some changes. I realized that some changes were simply necessary, but I wished to believe that the changes would be as minimal as possible, only in the required areas. I envisioned the Battle Frontier arc to consist of the following:
* The Battle Frontier would be expanded to an entire archipelago. The archipelago would be similar to the Orange Archipelago, and would include the Battle Tower island (from Ruby/Sapphire; in Emerald this island was expanded to the Battle Frontier island). Additional islands would include islands for each of the remaining Battle Frontier facilities, the island of Rota Town (the location of the Mew and Lucario movie) and Southern Island. The archipelago would thus comprise of two islands from the games, which may be part of the Hoenn map, but reaching them requires boarding on a boat. An archipelago would leave room for travel, which in the anime is necessary for building an arc (even though the Battle Frontier in the game is possibly the largest location among the locations in any game thus far, the facilities are condensed). Southern Island would be ideal for featuring Latias and Latios in the main show, similarly to Lugia in the Whirl Islands (at the very least, Latias and Latios are key characters to the Battle Frontier in the manga).
The first trailer of the Mew movie suggested that the plot took place on an island.
* The Battle Frontier would be changed to a league organization. Challengers would be required to collect six Battle Frontier Symbols. After which, challengers would be referred to the Battle Tower island, where they would compete against the Battle Frontier Champion, Anabel. Winners' accomplishment would be recorded in the Hall of Fame, and they would be given the Gold Shield as a prize (which in Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald is a Secret Base item that one gets through 100 consecutive wins at the Battle Tower). Even in the games, where the Battle Frontier is not a league, Anabel and the Battle Tower are regarded as the ultimate challenge (the only facility which offers Ribbons and Secret Base items; Anabel has the Pokemon with highest IVs when first encountered).
This would be similar to the system used by the Orange Archipelago Champion, Drake.
* Each Battle Frontier facility would concentrate almost solely on challenging the Battle Frontier Brain. This would be for the fact that the Battle Frontier is an organized league in the anime, as opposed to the game, where it is a facility that focuses on different aspects of battling and encourages much effort. As such, the additional challenges in each facility would either be ignored altogether, or be showcased to the minimum (as is the case with normal Gyms in the anime). This would also cancel the Silver Symbols, and so the Battle Frontier Brains would only be challenged once.
* The Battle Frontier Brains would use their Pokemon from the first encounter in the games (when battling for the Silver Symbols). Noland would use Typhlosion, Steelix and Electabuzz, which are ones of the randomly selected Pokemon he uses in the game. An official page would indicate that these are the Pokemon with which the Battle Frontier Brains are associated. For the most part, this solves the problem of the use of Legendary Pokemon in the games, leaving only Anabel's Entei and Brandon's entire team. These Pokemon would have to be replaced.
The above describe what I would have liked to see in the Battle Frontier arc, which I had imagined to be feasible up to a while ago. Again, I knew in advance that as it is in the game, the Battle Frontier cannot be implemented in the anime. Instead, the arc would have to be handled similarly to the Orange Islands arc, and be equivalent to it in many ways. I would say that the way I imagined it to be in the anime, the Battle Frontier is an expansion of the Ruby/Sapphire Battle Tower, only with the new characters from Emerald. Likewise, the Kyogre/Groudon saga and the Sootopolis Gym only had the basic elements from Emerald (the encounter between Kyogre and Groudon; Juan being the Gym Leader), but were essentially closer to the Ruby/Sapphire storyline (Team Aqua was in power, the Orbs replaced Rayquaza; Juan used Wallace's Ruby/Sapphire team). In other words, if this really were the anime version of the Battle Frontier, the changes to the Emerald storyline would at least be consistent with previous cases.
However, by now it appears that the Battle Frontier facilities are to be scattered throughout Kanto. Furthermore, Brandon appears to be the Champion instead of Anabel. These alone reflect that staying remotely close to the game is of low priority in the eyes of the anime writers. One of the obvious problems that come to mind is the presence of the Regis in Kanto, as this should mean that Rota is placed in Kanto. It is worse enough that the Regis' storyline in the game is such that limits their location to sealed chambers, which the movie completely disregards. At least with Deoxys and Mew, they are not limited to a certain location, despite the fact that they pertain to the region of Kanto (hence it is somehow forgivable that Deoxys was spotted in Hoenn, as would it be if Mew appeared there).
I have already explained how it is made very clear in the game that Anabel is higher-ranked than the rest of the Battle Frontier Brains. Changing this in the anime by making Brandon the Champion is not only unfair towards the game, but is also frustrating when one considers how many male champions there have been in the anime. This is a missed opportunity to change the negative impression that may have been created. If to be fair, I can at least see the reason behind the fact that Brandon is the Champion--it is easier for the writers to create a whole new team for him. The battle is almost guaranteed to be 6 vs. 6, in which case they may as well design a new team for the Champion, making Brandon the ultimate choice.
Essentially, the upcoming arc is a mix of Emerald's Battle Frontier and either Gold/Silver/Crystal or FireRed/LeafGreen's Kanto. Claiming that it will follow Gold/Silver/Crystal or FireRed/LeafGreen is an overstatement the writers do not deserve, judging by the fact that even in the last episode the Viridian Gym was not owned by Gary (which would follow Gold/Silver/Crystal), nor did Agatha use Crobat instead of Golbat (which would follow FireRed/LeafGreen). Instead, this arc would appear to be compensating for the fact that Kanto and its characters were only partially featured in the first arc. Sadly, I do not see how this could bring closure to Ash's journey, although it could be that Team Rocket will finally be handled.
The purpose behind this long rant is to provoke thought. In my opinion, viewers of the anime should not overlook the fact that most of the basic elements in the games are ignored one time after another, nor should they take it for granted. This rant happens to be focused on the upcoming Battle Frontier arc, but may have very well been focused on each of the other arcs. The fact that the anime is not true to the games has long been accepted by me, but I wish it could at least follow some consistent logic regarding them.
maybe next time Ash
