The lack of battle screentime for Misty/Brock

[Cybersai]

How do you feel about the lack of battle screentime for Misty/Brock, (and Tracey, if you want to count the short time he was there)?

Most of Misty's Kanto battles were constantly interrupted by Psyduck popping out. Nearly every time she tried to battle, Psyduck would come out for the usual routine. As the series progressed, Misty was often excluded from battle episodes, only battling in eps about water Pokemon or quick TR blast-offs. Misty was only ever in two tournaments in her entire run, the Princess festival and the Whirl Cup, and in the first she used Ash/Brock's Pokemon instead of her own. Her Pokemon team was never focused on that much, with a lot of her Pokemon being unusable in battle (Togepi and Psyduck), disregarded early on (Starmie and Horsea), or unusable outside of water (like Goldeen). It honestly seems as if the writers purposely didn't give her Pokemon to battle with.

For Brock, you could say he is a support character, but he was still a former Gym leader. Every time Brock actually does battle, people really like it, which blows my mind that the writers hardly have him battle more often. Everytime Brock battles, it feels like its been so long since the last time Brock was in a serious trainer battle.

Tracey was only a main character for 32 episodes, so logically we didn't see much active battling from him.

How do you feel about the lack of battle screentime for them? I can't include Max since he had no Pokemon.

 

[Geodude]

I agree, I think they really should have been in battles more often.

Heh, of course Brock's battles would be likeable. Given the fact that he is a former Gym Leader and frequent Combat Commentator, depicting him as a poor battler would simply be out of character. He can at least hold his own in most occasions, but usually simply prefers not to battle.

(Just as a friendly warning, people, don't turn this into yet another Kanto/Johto vs Hoenn/Sinnoh debate, let's keep this discussion strictly on the topic and covering the time period in question.)

 

[Grave-E]

You know, thinking about it....I really don't care. Strictly talking original series here, none of their pokemon, or even their potential evolutions, were exactly thrilling anyway. I don't feel like I'm missing out when I try to imagine the fighting prowess of Geodude and Goldeen...or hell, Golem and Seaking, for that matter.

 

[V Faction]

Lack of battle time? Well, if we're talking back in the day here, I doubt I cared very much. More than half the battles were against Team Rocket as it was and Ash became an expert at handling those. Everything else in-between was just a gimmick fight that I doubt held much interest in the minds of your average fan (myself included).

A Staryu Water Gun here, an Onix escort there...

Maybe nowadays getting Brock in on the action is more of a blessing because he has such awesome Pokemon. I hate how they have to brush up against the fine line of seemingly making Brock a good fighter but not so much that he surpasses Ash (or even Dawn). He can't perform to the best of his ability in an official fight.

 

[Ampharos King]

Misty had plenty of battle screentime in the original series.
In many episodes, especially during the Johto arc, she would often team up with Ash to fight against Team Rocket. She also had a fair amount of episodes dedicated to her personally, namely the Whirl Cup arc, the Seaking contest, and the Johto Water Gym episode.
If there's any downturn to this, some of Misty's pokemon hadn't received as much development as others. I'm talking to you, Goldeen.
As a result of Ash and Misty usually being the ones who take on Team Rocket in 2-on-2 battles, Brock and his pokemon lack battle screentime. When we see Brock in these episodes, it is usually his lovesick personality or his extraordinary breeding skills that shine. Then again, Brock wishes not to be a trainer or a gym leader but a breeder.

 

[Cybersai]

In many episodes, especially during the Johto arc, she would often team up with Ash to fight against Team Rocket.

Team Rocket blast-off's are hardly anything to write home about, especially in terms of battle screentime. Honestly, who cares who blasts off TR? Sometimes it's Ash, the filler character, or another main character.

 

[Ampharos King]

Her Pokemon team was never focused on that much, with a lot of her Pokemon being unusable in battle (Togepi and Psyduck), disregarded early on (Starmie and Horsea), or unusable outside of water (like Goldeen).

Togepi: Wasn't intended for battle at all, mostly used for comic relief and plot development (especially when it got separated from the group).
Psyduck: You can say that it's incompetent, but "unusable in battle" is a overstatement. Psyduck has proven itself capable on multiple occasions, especially with its psychic powers. Even if it only really defeated one opponent (Ash's Kingler), Psyduck was given a lot of focus/personality.

It honestly seems as if the writers purposely didn't give her Pokemon to battle with.

Staryu, Poliwhirl, Corsola, and Gyarados (briefly) would like to have a word with you.

 

[Cybersai]

Staryu, Poliwhirl, Corsola, and Gyarados (briefly) would like to have a word with you.

RE: Psyduck, its battles were intended for comic relief, but it was not viewed as a serious battler. Misty never intended to win with Psyduck all those times, she was always angry about it coming out.

I agree with the three you listed though. Poliwhirl was a great battler. What major battles was Staryu in though? I can only think of a handful like the match against Ash and the one against Marina in the Golduck ep.

 

[Hellion]

I sorta miss it... I liked Misty in the very beginning of Kanto... She fought against TR in the second episode, against Ash in the 7th... and left with him to become a water pokemon master... Ok, I liked that, she had a goal, great, but then the writers did nothing with that goal except having her use water pokemon... but really during her time on the show (250+ episodes) she's been in like 4-5 serious battles... and only the whirl cup and the battle against Marina really had anything to do with water pokemon... With Misty, it's not just the lack of battle I disliked, it's how her entire storyline, her entire reason of going on a journey with Ash was neve touched upon by the writers... By the end of Kanto, Ash wasn't the beginning unexperienced trainer he once was so her role as coach was really reduced... In the Orange Islands and Johto, she was just useless... She served no purpose to the show... Should she have battle more... YEEEEEEEES, cause then she would actually earn her place on the main cast... (I like Misty as a character, I'm not a Misty hater, I just wish she was doing something on the show besides being in a serious battle once a year...)

As for Brock... His Johto and Kanto pokemon bored the heck out of me (except for Onix and VULPIX!) so I really didn't miss him not battling all that much... His Hoenn pokemon had potential, but not really missing them not being battlers (didn't marsthomp do a contest ?)... Now Coragunk needs more battles and more spotlight... he's hilarious, powerful and all-aroun amazing

So, in short, Misty needed to battle more cause by Johto, she was pretty much useless and boring... and Brock needs to use coragunk more

 

[hhhhdmt]

I do think Misty should have been given more battles though she did have some good ones,and some good pokemon like Corsola, Staryu, and especially Politoed. Though her Psyduck should have evolved. Plus she NEVER got a water type starter. May got one, Dawn did as well but not Misty.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

I think reasons for this were pretty obvious.
Reason why Misty didnt battled much:
-writers were still new in this show not knowing how to handle some things properly,not just in her case but Ashs,Brocks aswell.
-formula of this show was different being more oriented toward Ash,not focusing much on other characters.

Case and point:Taking into account writers improvement(which is undeniable)her and story would be handled better in these days,with her goal and some other things being explored more.

In Brocks case same as above with another problem:
-nature of his goal is more about taking care of pokemon and keeping them in top shape(thats wha breeders do),not having much connection with participating and battling.Even character himself never showed much interest in battles,with writers finding problems with giving him more to do,since hes not a battling type.

Team Rocket blast-off's are hardly anything to write home about, especially in terms of battle screentime.

However you cant deny that some of TR blastoffs were pretty epic.

What major battles was Staryu in though? I can only think of a handful like the match against Ash and the one against Marina in the Golduck ep.

And battle against Mollys Mantine in 3rd movie?

In the Orange Islands and Johto, she was just useless... She served no purpose to the show...

Not really,in OI she had two subplots with gym leaders,get a chance to know her idol Lorelai aswell beginning rivarly with some characters like Marina.

During Johto,true she didnt received enough but she still had some noticeable achievements.Like getting among top8 in Whirl Cup(good result considering it was her first try),winning Seaking catching contest,battling against Dorian in underwater gym,winning Alto Mare race from 5th movie if counts etc.

Aside from battling she did other worthy to mention things like risking her life saving Marill,helping nurse Joy to overcome her fear from water types,gave to Ash moral support encouraging him on his journey,taking care along with Ash about sick Brock,forming some rivarl with other characters like that boy with Flareon from "Some Like it Hot",Sakura etc.

Comnpared to May or Dawn she received less in battling,however she still battled more getting more screentime and interactions with others than Brock,Tracey or Max ever did.

So, in short, Misty needed to battle more cause by Johto, she was pretty much useless and boring...

In terms of personality she was fine in Johto still being funny,witty and interesting.Difference was showeing her temper less often,but that was only part of what makes her amusing character.

However in terms of screentime and battling,writers didnt focus enough on her never breaking new ground with her goal aside from Whirl Cup and few other occasions.

In reality noone was treated good during Johto.Ash didnt had rivals(Gary popping out once in a blue moon doesnt count),his Johto team was handled poorly,Misty didnt received enough screntime,Brock was treated even worse(receiving smallest amount of spotlight not interacting much with others),GS ball was left ignored etc.

Writers were still unexperienced back than not knowing how to handle some things properly which with time they improved as past 7 years showed.Comparing Sinnoh to Johto,its noticeable how style of writing has improved in these segments.

It was mistake from them in my opinion to replace this great character with so many unused potential and what she could have offer to this show,with writers never giving her closure leaving her story unfinished on many levels(like goal of becoming water master,which cant be achieved at gym,not knowing enough about her bakstory and family etc).

 

[Weedle Mchairybug]

I think reasons for this were pretty obvious.
Reason why Misty didnt battled much:
-writers were still new in this show not knowing how to handle some things properly,not just in her case but Ashs,Brocks aswell.
-formula of this show was different being more oriented toward Ash,not focusing much on other characters.

Well, it focused on Misty more than enough, so I wouldn't really say it was more oriented towards Ash, especially seeing how Johto wasn't really oriented towards him much, either. I once tried to do an analysis on, between Misty and Ash, who got the most focus, and I did it by pure mathematics and stuff within the show, and the results were in Misty's favor. It was a really close match, so it definitely wasn't due to bias at all (otherwise, I would have had Misty outranking Ash by 275 episodes to 1). I originally intended to do the same for May and Dawn, but I ended up having to put those plans on hold after Kenji-girl ripped me down on what I did.

Case and point:Taking into account writers improvement(which is undeniable)her and story would be handled better in these days,with her goal and some other things being explored more.

I agree with that sentiment.

In Brocks case same as above with another problem:
-nature of his goal is more about taking care of pokemon and keeping them in top shape(thats wha breeders do),not having much connection with participating and battling.Even character himself never showed much interest in battles,with writers finding problems with giving him more to do,since hes not a battling type.

I really don't care about whether he does much battling or not, since I already know that he can't do that much anyways due to his wanting to be a breeder. However, I do care if they DON'T focus on even his supposed goal, as it makes his even wanting to be a breeder seem like nothing more than an excuse to join that is immediately thrown out once he does.

However you cant deny that some of TR blastoffs were pretty epic.

Yeah, and even if they weren't, then by the same token, Ash himself never really did that much battling either (He'd need to have had a battle against a random trainer other than JJM nearly every single episode before he could even come close to having done a lot of battling.).

Not really,in OI she had two subplots with gym leaders,get a chance to know her idol Lorelai aswell beginning rivarly with some characters like Marina.

Don't forget the fairly important role she played in Movie 2 (Honestly, if it weren't for her, the world most certainly would have ended. I don't even need to be a fan of Misty to figure it out.).

During Johto,true she didnt received enough but she still had some noticeable achievements.Like getting among top8 in Whirl Cup(good result considering it was her first try),winning Seaking catching contest,battling against Dorian in underwater gym,winning Alto Mare race from 5th movie if counts etc.

Aside from battling she did other worthy to mention things like risking her life saving Marill,helping nurse Joy to overcome her fear from water types,gave to Ash moral support encouraging him on his journey,taking care along with Ash about sick Brock,forming some rivarl with other characters like that boy with Flareon from "Some Like it Hot",Sakura etc.

We also had her helping Ash and CO. navigate through the mysterious forest in regards to Hoot-Hoot (And trust me, if it weren't for her, they DEFINITELY would not have gotten out of the forest at all, as it was explicitly stated that their Hoot-Hoot guide only responds and obeys cute girls.), and she did play a pretty major role in the Heracross episode (arguably, if it wasn't for her encouragement towards Heracross, I doubt that Heracross would have joined Ash's group, or stopped Team Rocket, for that matter.)

Comnpared to May or Dawn she received less in battling,however she still battled more getting more screentime and interactions with others than Brock,Tracey or Max ever did.

Well, technically it was implied in DP and even AG that Contests are not the same thing as battles, so that would arguably Misty more of a battler compared to May and Dawn (In AG, Brock and Scott were talking after May's loss about how her trying to emulate Ash's style won't get her anywhere in terms of contest battles, and it was repeatedly stated by Zoey and a few other characters that contests and battles are not the same thing.).

In terms of personality she was fine in Johto still being funny,witty and interesting.Difference was showeing her temper less often,but that was only part of what makes her amusing character.

Yeah, and besides, she'd need to do a complete personality switch and act the exact opposite of her character in nearly every single way to even come close to having her personality being ruined (in other words, she'd have to act EXACTLY like the Anime version of Sonsaku Hakufu in order to come close, and if you've watched or even researched the series she's in, you'd definitely know what I'm talking about: Being airheaded, basically posing in skimpy outfits [if even that] without any shame, and in fact is enjoying acting like that, and sometimes even making her body very apparent if you know what I mean [all of these qualities equate to that of a bimbo/bimbette.].).

However in terms of screentime and battling,writers didnt focus enough on her never breaking new ground with her goal aside from Whirl Cup and few other occasions.

I really didn't see how she didn't have enough of that. Heck, from what I saw, she nearly had as much as Ash did.

In reality noone was treated good during Johto.Ash didnt had rivals(Gary popping out once in a blue moon doesnt count),his Johto team was handled poorly,Misty didnt received enough screntime,Brock was treated even worse(receiving smallest amount of spotlight not interacting much with others),GS ball was left ignored etc.

Not to mention that, if you really think about it, Ash really didn't get much battling either. It was more than Brock, yes, but if we play Scott85's game and discount Team Rocket Battles, then Ash was just as unfocused in battle by the audience as Misty and Brock were. He got more than Brock, I'll give you that, though.

Writers were still unexperienced back than not knowing how to handle some things properly which with time they improved as past 7 years showed.Comparing Sinnoh to Johto,its noticeable how style of writing has improved in these segments.

Yep, I agree. And it was definitely better than Hoenn's battles, I'll give you that (as apparently, the Hoenn Gym Leaders were portrayed in a similar manner to Team Rocket in Episode 3, and you know how they were like.)

It was mistake from them in my opinion to replace this great character with so many unused potential and what she could have offer to this show,with writers never giving her closure leaving her story unfinished on many levels(like goal of becoming water master,which cant be achieved at gym,not knowing enough about her bakstory and family etc).

Yeah, I agree. It was also a big mistake to keep Brock on the show as well, especially seeing how Pewter Gym's issues were actually worse than Cerulean Gyms (I'm not kidding. Compare how Brock's gym was like, how Misty's Gym was like in both Hosos, and the description of how Gyms are to be shut down, there is no doubt that Pewter Gym got the worst of it, and I'm surprised that the PIA didn't even shut it down, since it failed enough of those tests to warrent it to be shut down without even needing a zero-tolerance policy.)

 

[Falconwing]

For once I agree with you...

Misty didn't get as many battles as I wish she had, but Brock has gotten his fare share over the years.

No one cares about Tracy.

Oh well, this problem got solved.

 

[Ashfangirl22]

Yah, I've noticed Brock's lack of time and battling. Even when he's still on screen, he still in the background while May and Dawn get the most time. Max didn't really do any thing either. Tracey did more than this kid. Misty meh, she got good time from Kanto to Johto. Its just now that she's not on screen, neither is May, could you include her as well? I mean, she doesn't even get specials for crying out loud >>