Why did some sagas wait till the last minute to debut all the new pokemon?

[Cybersai]

People are noticing that in BW, they're going through the new Pokemon debuts rather quickly. Its almost like Kanto where 2-3 or more new pokemon would debut in the same episode.

I remember when watching Johto it took forever to see some pokemon debut in the anime. Anyone remember how we didn't see Slugma all the way till the actual Johto league? Or how Flaaffy never even appeared in an episode besides the 3rd movie?

The Hoenn Pokemon debuts happened quicker, but again some pokemon like Tropius didn't even appear in an episode until the league itself.

In Sinnoh, we had to wait till the tail-end for Gallade to appear in an episode, same thing with Leafeon.

Anyone else wonder why they did this? You would think they'd advertise all the new pokemon quickly like Kanto and BW did, not wait until a generation is ending just to put a pokemon in an episode.

 

[Adamant]

Kanto? They were still debuting new Pokemon far into the Orange islands, and several gen 1 pokemon had to wait until mid-Jouto for their dues. The same will happen with BW. We're just seeing a lot early on because there's a lot of Pokemon to debut, that's all.

As for why they do this... really? You have to ask why they debut new things bit by bit instead of just pushing it all at you at once? Seriously, now?

 

[Kyuuketsuki]

I think it's just to prolong the series.

More Pokémon to debut = more filler.

Debut you them all too quickly = Filler ends quickly.

Then it gets boring. So they hold some back to debut them when we get tired of seeing battles/filler episodes with old Pokémon.

 

[GreatLiver]

Yeah, we're just getting a lot now because they're all new. We're still going to have a few pokemon that'll likely not debut for a long time, the tail end dex pokemon. Every other generation was cluttered with older pokemon too, whereas that doesn't happen here. Johto debuts, pretty much like Ash's team, was overshadowed by Kanto pokemon. Here they can debut a pokemon and have it sorta just be a side thing and not the central focus of an episode. I'm sure we won't be seeing some pokemon til late, but unlike some other generations this doesn't have new evolutions which is what tended up being debuted late in DP.

 

[Cybersai]

As for why they do this... really? You have to ask why they debut new things bit by bit instead of just pushing it all at you at once? Seriously, now?

You think its a good idea to wait till a generation is ending, when the games have been out for 4 full years, to finally put a Pokemon in an episode? Togekiss being a good example of this.

By the time said Pokemon debuts, its already an, "old" pokemon who was introduced over 3 years ago.

 

[Adamant]

You think its a good idea to wait till a generation is ending, when the games have been out for 4 full years, to finally put a Pokemon in an episode?

Uh, yeah? Spreading your shit out throughout the series instead of wasting it all at the beginning is generally how you keep interest in your brand.
"We'll be presenting more than one hundred new products bit by bit over the next few years" is a far better marketing strategy than "here are one hundred new things. Now, we'll stall for a couple years before selling you on the next set of hundred".

EDIT: Or hell, remember how people are able to predict new cast member Pokemon long in advance through toy solicitations? Why are they able to do that? Because new Pokemon debut on the cast, there's usually some toys of it released. Why? Because the sudden focus on this specific Pokemon makes it stand out in people's eyes, and they become more willing to buy its products. By spreading out the debuts of the different Pokemon, they're constantly giving people something new to focus on, and thus constantly bringing their attention to new specific Pokemon they might want to buy toy representations of.

It's the same reason why, say, Super Sentai spreads out the debuts of the new robots and stuff throughout the year instead of giving the team the biggest and best robot a couple months in and then killing time until the next series comes along with different robots.

 

[Cybersai]

Uh, yeah? Spreading your shit out throughout the series instead of wasting it all at the beginning is generally how you keep interest in your brand.
"We'll be presenting more than one hundred new products bit by bit over the next few years" is a far better marketing strategy than "here are one hundred new things. Now, we'll stall for a couple years before selling you on the next set of hundred".

Yet are people really that excited to see a Pokemon that has already existed by that point for 3 years? When Togekiss debuted at the end of DP, my reaction was, "About time we saw this Pokemon," not, "Oh look its Togekiss, I'm so excited!"

Probably didn't help matters that people were always speculating how Togekiss would debut in the anime, because of you-know-who owning its previous stage.

 

[Joshawott]

Can you go a thread without mentioning Johto? >>

The series will debut Pokémon over time so that they can stretch the series out for as long as they can until the developers release the next games that have to be advertised. Besides, Ash is still new to the Unova region; everything will be new to him at the moment. However, we're already getting Deerling and Patrat randomly in scenes all over the place; eventually, as Ash sees more Pokémon, he'll see less new ones. Simple.

Also, there's the fact that unlike the Johto, Hoenn or Sinnoh Pokédexes, the Unova Dex is only new Pokémon, so obviously more Pokémon will have to be shown, whereas in the past, older Pokémon would be there instead.

 

[Adamant]

Yet are people really that excited to see a Pokemon that has already existed by that point for 3 years? When Togekiss debuted at the end of DP, my reaction was, "About time we saw this Pokemon," not, "Oh look its Togekiss, I'm so excited!"

Whether they get excited or not isn't the point, but whether they become more likely to go buy Togekiss toys or not.
And yes, they do. If they didn't, product placement wouldn't exist.

 

[Piplup]

As already said above, obviously they'll want to continue debuting new Poké though the series and not debut them all in the series' first half and then just repeat them all again and again... the same will probably happen to BW too - it seems we get more than the usual because they only feature the new ones, so they can't rely on older Poké like they did until now...

BUT - I do agree that sometimes it's ridiculous: I didn't like how Johto ended without featuring Flaaffy, Togetic and Typhlosion in a regular ep (Flaaffy only appeared as a not real one in Movie 3, Typhlosion only appeared in Chronicles - both finally got proper appearances in AG eps) with Togetic I can understand that they wanted to keep it for Misty's surprise appearance in AG so that's forgiveable (and I didn't even mentioned Porygon2 but sadly Pory line are probably doomed to never appear at all)
Not only that, but others that did appear, appeared so late and for such a small role that it was EXTREMELY ridiculous: Croconaw in the Larvitar/Tyranitar ep and Quilava in the League eps... wtf??? why feature these two THAT late and only for such a small role?! compared to how we got introduced to the Kanto, Hoenn or Sinnoh middle starter forms, that seems crazy... (and similary to how AG fixed Flaaffy and Typhlosion's problem, DP fixed the Croconaw and Quilava problem, so at least these Poké got something eventually)

What I'll never get over is how there are two Burmy forms and two Unown forms that never appeared at all, not even for a second in the background... nothing... that doesn't make any sense at all to me and I can't forgive them for that - to me a new forms is about as important as a new Pokémon and they should all debut in the anime (especially when all other Poké with different forms got to showcase all their forms)

 

[Cybersai]

The showcasing of the starters in Johto was done terribly. To not see Quilava or Croconaw in episodes till the END of Johto was absurd.

And Typlosion didn't even get an episode simply because they probably counted its appearance in the Raikou special as its debut.

 

[Sanic Hegehog]

Can you go a thread without mentioning Johto? >>

It's very hard to not mention Johto in these type of threads, considering its arguably the most flawed of the arcs. Not saying it's horrible, but you can't just cover it with tinfoil and move on; it doesn't work like that at all.

 

[TeddiUrsa]

Or how Flaaffy never even appeared in an episode besides the 3rd movie?

I will never forgive you for ignoring or forgetting about the giant Whiscash episode of AG....NEVER!!

Well, I really like the debut galore. I always hated how early in some sagas ( especially Johto) the writers would show of the same 10 Pokémon that already had their debuts over and over again in group/background shots.

The lack of old Pokémon pretty much forces the higher debut rate though. In Johto, AG and DP the writers could at least use some old Pokés for variety at least. This isn't the case anymore so we need more new Pokémon before things get repetitive.

It helps that ( at least to me) this Gen is one of the best new Pokémon-wise.

 

[Miar]

It does help to remember that they add new 'Mons only once every 4 years or so. And Johto has many more episodes than it does then-new Pokémon.

For Black and White, this most likely isn't going to be the case. Yes, they have to have every 'Mon at some point or another. But this time there are only new Pokémon in Unova.

 

[Adamant]

Well, I really like the debut galore. I always hated how early in some sagas ( especially Johto) the writers would show of the same 10 Pokémon that already had their debuts over and over again in group/background shots.

Why? They're in the background. That's no way to debut something new. Way the hell too many gen 1 Pokemon got their debuts in quick half-second scenes like that, thank god they realized the error of their ways.

 

[TeddiUrsa]

Why? They're in the background. That's no way to debut something new. Way the hell too many gen 1 Pokemon got their debuts in quick half-second scenes like that, thank god they realized the error of their ways.

It kinda kills my suspension of disbelieve ( yeah, even in a show like Pokémon ^^" ). After a few weeks I was just sick of the random Wooper, Hoothoot or Spinarak. The "one new Pokémon per episode" formula was one of the reasons why Johto got so repetitive in the first place to me anyway. When AG started the writers tried to include old Pokémon that didn't do too much back in the Original Series ( and they had a larger pool of old Pokémon to use to begin with) so I didn't mind the debut rate in AG that much.
But I never said that new Pokémon should debut in short background scenes. The way BW handles debuts is pretty good and keeps me happy.

 

[Cybersai]

Why? They're in the background. That's no way to debut something new. Way the hell too many gen 1 Pokemon got their debuts in quick half-second scenes like that, thank god they realized the error of their ways.

And seeing only 1 new pokemon per episode, and having fillers about old Kanto pokemon, was a good thing in Johto? We just went from one extreme to the other.

It wasn't until AG started that the Pokemon debuts started to be handled better, I'm pretty sure every Hoenn Pokemon (other than the legendaries), got an appearance in an ep before the Battle Frontier saga started.

 

[Piplup]

I will never forgive you for ignoring or forgetting about the giant Whiscash episode of AG....NEVER!!

I think Scott meant Johto-wise, not generally XD as I said, AG fixed this for Flaaffy and Typhlosion, while DP fixed it for Quilava and Croconaw

I'm pretty sure every Hoenn Pokemon (other than the legendaries), got an appearance in an ep before the Battle Frontier saga started.

Barboach only got background appearances... the first time Barboach was truly "introduced" to us (which to me means: its name is said while it appears on screen) was in that Twinleaf Festival arc when TRio fished one
(and yes I know it was supposed to get an ep, but it didn't air eventually so it doesn't count)

 

[The Puppetmaster]

I think the main reason past sagas waited so long to debut some Pokémon is because there was no need to rush. Furthermore, unlike in BW, previous sagas (barring Kanto) have had the luxury of using Pokémon that debuted in sagas preceding them as background. Since Pokémon from other regions don't live in Unova, the writers have had to shell out Pokémon more frequently so that the audience doesn't have to see the same Pokémon here and there in every episode (which was a gripe for the first month or so of BW).

Also, I'm thinking this saga's going to be shorter than previous ones (possibly the length of Hoenn), and my guess is that there's going to be a filler saga that takes place about a year before the next generation. I think the writers are trying to cram all BW Pokémon debuts into this main saga so they can focus on other important issues in the filler saga; this in turn would cut down on the amount of filler episodes used primarily to debut certain 'mons in said filler saga.

Connecting this to the original topic, what I'm trying to say is that for sagas that didn't have filler sagas tacked to the end of them (Johto and Sinnoh), I don't think there was any rush to get debuts out of the way, so the writers took their time with them. For sagas that did have filler sagas tacked onto the end of them (Kanto and Hoenn), there were still episodes in those filler sagas (Orange Islands and Battle Frontier) that were used mainly to debut Pokémon, which made those certain episodes boring since the stereotypical "Ash and co. meet CotD, CotD has problem, Ash and co. solve problem" storyline was used. In BW, if there is indeed going to be a filler saga tacked onto the end of this main saga, I think the writers want to get done with Pokémon debuts so they won't need to include these boring types of episodes within the filler saga.

 

[Piplup]

For sagas that did have filler sagas tacked onto the end of them (Kanto and Hoenn), there were still episodes in those filler sagas (Orange Islands and Battle Frontier) that were used mainly to debut Pokémon

Maybe Orange still debuted some gen 1 Poké, but I'm pretty sure that other than some legendaries, Hoenn DID feature all gen 3 Poké... who debuted in BF other than few legendaries like Regi trio and some gen 4 previews like Bonsly?