Why did the writers end the original series with a terrible filler episode?

[Cybersai]

The last episode of the original series was, "Hoenn Alone" which was the episode where Ash goes on a boat from Pallet Town to Hoenn. In this episode Ash is by himself, since Misty and Brock left in the previous episode.

This episode really consists of nothing more than Ash running around the port of the town as Pikachu gets separated from the group. The filler plot of this episode is a bunch of wild Haunter are harassing some random Rattata, Pidgey and Oddish in an alley. The rest of the episode follows standard filler plot fair with Ash battling TR and then going back to the boat to Hoenn.

My question is, why did the writers end the first series of Pokemon with such a terrible filler episode? They could have spent either an extra episode at Pallet or used the previous episode where Misty/Brock depart to be the "finale" of the original series. It was honestly as bad as most Johto fillers were, which isn't surprising since it was technically the last ep of the Johto arc too. Even when I was a kid I was wondering why they made such a lackluster transition episode from Johto to Hoenn.

 

[Blazing Charmander]

I think you've more or less said it all in your own post; it was a transition episode that served as a bridge between the Johto and Hoenn arcs. After all the excitement of the Johto League and Misty and Brock departing, the writers probably figured that an episode with little incident would calm things down before AG began. Besides, this episode did set up the sub-plot of Pikachu becoming ill, which essentially led to Ash meeting up with May in Hoenn.

I found the episode to be a nice change of pace at the time, personally.

 

[Cybersai]

I think you've more or less said it all in your own post; it was a transition episode that served as a bridge between the Johto and Hoenn arcs. After all the excitement of the Johto League and Misty and Brock departing, the writers probably figured that an episode with little incident would calm things down before AG began. Besides, this episode did set up the sub-plot of Pikachu becoming ill, which essentially led to Ash meeting up with May in Hoenn.

I found the episode to be a nice change of pace at the time, personally.

They didn't seem to think we need an ep like that at the end of any other series. For example when AG ended the last episode was based on May/Max leaving, Ash battling Gary, leaving behind his older pokemon, and Ash making a stop at Pallet. They didn't make another ep after that showing a useless filler of Ash on a boat from Kanto to Sinnoh.

And secondly, why couldn't they make a GOOD episode to end the original series with? Something like a "last hurrah" for all of Ash's older Pokemon at the time would have been better, especially since we now know Ash's Johto starters virtually never got to do anything for the rest of the series.

 

[Blazing Charmander]

They didn't seem to think we need an ep like that at the end of any other series. For example when AG ended the last episode was based on May/Max leaving, Ash battling Gary, leaving behind his older pokemon, and Ash making a stop at Pallet. They didn't make another ep after that showing a useless filler of Ash on a boat from Kanto to Sinnoh.

And secondly, why couldn't they make a GOOD episode to end the original series with? Something like a "last hurrah" for all of Ash's older Pokemon at the time would have been better, especially since we now know Ash's Johto starters virtually never got to do anything for the rest of the series.

Remember that AG's finale episode came some four years after that for the Johto saga. The writers had probably learned from past mistakes which led to such a good final bow for the AG series (equally so for DP in my opinion). Pallet Town and Gary were wrapped up in Gotta Catch Ya Later, with a brief mention that Ash intended to leave behind his Johto party apart from Pikachu. I admit that I didn't like this approach too much, but only the writers themselves can explain any sinister motives they may have had. The anime has never had flawless plot or character development, after all.

Hoenn Alone certainly wasn't a classic, but if nothing else I have to say I enjoyed the novelty of an episode focusing on Ash travelling to a distant region on his own with Pikachu.

 

[SatoshiKun]

Who knows why the writers do a lot of things. They probably thought it would be good to have a breather episode.

 

[SammyW27]

It was caught in an uncomfortable gray area of being in the middle of two series. Not exactly an OS episode, but not quite an AG one either...

 

[Hidden Mew]

Since this was the first time they had to end a series, I don't think that they knew how to handle it that well. Like others have mentioned, it was a transition episode into the new series and pretty necessary given that it did cause Pikachu to get sick and was the focus of the first AG episode, as well as how Ash met May, so I wouldn't consider it filler. It isn't like people could jump from the episode where Misty and Brock left to the first AG episode and not be confused as to why Pikachu was suddenly sick. The conflict with the Haunter bothering all of the other Pokemon was pretty weak, but I did like how it was Ash being on his own for the first time since he left on his journey in the first episode and it was an interesting approach to handle the last episode of the series.

I don't think it was spectacular by any means, but I don't think that it was that bad. It was generally okay for me. I think that they did learn from this experiment if the finales for AG and DP are any indication since they did have the groups' farewells as the primary focus of those finales and they didn't think it was necessary to have a whole episode to showcase the transition to a new region. They could have done that with the original series too, but since this was the first time Ash was going to a new region by himself, they might have thought that there should be a transition, instead of just jumping right into it.

 

[Cybersai]

My main problem with the ep is why spent it on such boring pokemon like Pidgey, Rattata and Oddish in an alleyway?

Of all the things they could do with Ash traveling by himself, they choose to make a filler about extremely boring Kanto Pokemon that we had seen tons of times by that point? Ugh.

 

[Hidden Mew]

My main problem with the ep is why spent it on such boring pokemon like Pidgey, Rattata and Oddish in an alleyway?

Of all the things they could do with Ash traveling by himself, they choose to make a filler about extremely boring Kanto Pokemon that we had seen tons of times by that point? Ugh.

I still don't really consider this episode filler because of how Pikachu gets sick. I didn't really mind the focus on the Pidgey, Rattata and Oddish. It was boring, but it was a boring B-plot, rather than the main focus of the episode, which I thought was Ash getting Pikachu back.

 

[Satoshi_Pikachu]

I just watched the episode, and to be honest, I can't understand why you think it's so bad. It's not the greatest episode, but it was pretty decent. We got to see a few minutes of Satoshi alone with Pikachu, which doesn't happen often, and a couple of decent attempts at comic relief. Sure, the stupid normal-types were annoying, but I didn't feel as though it was the main focus of the episode. But yes, it could've been infinitely better. Still, I wouldn't rank this episode as one of the worst ones. In fact, I was more annoyed by that Hoenn episode in which Satoshi and Haruka just happened to tie in that last contest.

By the way, in this episode the whole Pikachu getting sick isn't shown until after the credits, which makes me wonder how many Japanese kids turned the TV off when the ending started and were confused later when Pikachu was suddenly sick? XD

 

[PinkIceFox]

Personally I like episodes that give some attention to the common and 'extremely boring' pokemon. I like to think that some pokemon aren't all delegated to be background props.

I haven't seen much of the anime since the first season, only catching bits and pieces after that and getting into Black and White now, but to be honest this doesn't seem like an episode too out of place of any anime. It's a calming decent shift from one major point in the series to the other. The show just put two of its main characters away (seemingly) never to be seen again. Though, as was said earlier, the writers developed more to write better stories for end of series plots I think this sounds like a decent episode for being still earlier in Pokemon's run.

 

[Cybersai]

I just watched the episode, and to be honest, I can't understand why you think it's so bad. It's not the greatest episode, but it was pretty decent. We got to see a few minutes of Satoshi alone with Pikachu, which doesn't happen often, and a couple of decent attempts at comic relief. Sure, the stupid normal-types were annoying, but I didn't feel as though it was the main focus of the episode. But yes, it could've been infinitely better.

I guess my main problem would be that it wasn't just an, "end of a region" type episode, it was the end of the entire original series, what the show started with. They should have instead done something with all of Ash's original Pokemon after the league ended, as a sort of, "Farewell, we're moving on" type of thing.

And honestly, that whole lame filler plot with the wild pokemon just reeked of stuff from the worst fillers of any saga really.

Still, I wouldn't rank this episode as one of the worst ones. In fact, I was more annoyed by that Hoenn episode in which Satoshi and Haruka just happened to tie in that last contest.

Is it because you don't like the idea of Sceptile tying with Blaziken? It was Ash's very first Contest episode, so him not doing as well as he did in the DP Contests made a lot of sense. My main problem with that ep is May doesn't command Blaziken to use any attacks for like the first half of that battle. It was like she was silent just watching what Ash was doing. But in general that entire battle should have been written much better, shame it wasn't.

By the way, in this episode the whole Pikachu getting sick isn't shown until after the credits, which makes me wonder how many Japanese kids turned the TV off when the ending started and where confused later when Pikachu was suddenly sick? XD

Yeah.

 

[Moe]

Well the bottom percentage Rattata have to be somewhere.

Sure Gotta Catch Ya Later is a better episode, and they probably could have ended there, but I certainly much prefer a transition episode like this one than the hard stop between DP and BW. Plus, this is about the only chance there is for an Ash and Pikachu alone episode, which there certainly need to be more of.

I just hope the last episode of BW doesn't have Team Rocket in it.

 

[Satoshi_Pikachu]

I guess my main problem would be that it wasn't just an, "end of a region" type episode, it was the end of the entire original series, what the show started with. They should have instead done something with all of Ash's original Pokemon after the league ended, as a sort of, "Farewell, we're moving on" type of thing.

And honestly, that whole lame filler plot with the wild pokemon just reeked of stuff from the worst fillers of any saga really.

Yeah, that would've been a lot better, especially considering it was the first time Satoshi was going to leave all of his Pokémon except for Pikachu behind.

But I still think it could've been worse. At least we didn't get the Satoshi-helps-a-beginning-or-just-plain-stupid-trainer plot.

Is it because you don't like the idea of Sceptile tying with Blaziken? It was Ash's very first Contest episode, so him not doing as well as he did in the DP Contests made a lot of sense. My main problem with that ep is May doesn't command Blaziken to use any attacks for like the first half of that battle. It was like she was silent just watching what Ash was doing. But in general that entire battle should have been written much better, shame it wasn't.

No, because I think Satoshi shouldn't have made it to the final. Was the contest filled with Coordinators so bad that they couldn't beat a kid who knows close to nothing about contests?

 

[Cybersai]

No, because I think Satoshi shouldn't have made it to the final. Was the contest filled with Coordinators so bad that they couldn't beat a kid who knows close to nothing about contests?

Didn't they actually show all those other coordinators feel like beginning trainers with crappy appeals? I haven't watched it in a long time, but I remember things like Magikarp flopping around on a table or some stuff like that.

That episode had some bad animation too, a Sceptile Vs. Blaziken battle should have been much more epic.

 

[Satoshi_Pikachu]

Didn't they actually show all those other coordinators feel like beginning trainers with crappy appeals? I haven't watched it in a long time, but I remember things like Magikarp flopping around on a table or some stuff like that.

That episode had some bad animation too, a Sceptile Vs. Blaziken battle should have been much more epic.

Two were bad, two were good, and then there's Satoshi and Haruka. I do find it hard to believe that only bad coordinators entered that contest and that said contest had such convenient rules. Dogasu's comparison phrases my problems with the episode perfectly: "If the anime had wanted to pit the two main characters in a Contest together, they could have found a more...believable way to do it."

But the actual Hoenn finale was pretty good, so whatever.

 

[Cybersai]

In terms of all the series finale episodes, the last episode of DP was by far done the best. Not only was it three characters going their separate ways for good this time, but it also gave the promise of Ash finally entering a Champion league.

That scene with Ash watching Flint battling Cynthia on TV, and then imagining himself in Flint's place battling with Infernape against Cynthia was wonderful. It brings tears to my eyes that such promise at the end of DP was completely shattered when BW started and they regressed Ash. What a shame.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

First things first, finale to original series was in reality "Gotta Catch Ya Later" if you ask me since this was episode where original group departed and went their own ways, Gary was wrapped up and it set up Ash journey to Hoenn region.

"Hoenn Alone" was nothing more than simple transition between Johto and Hoenn, bridge between two regions not being supposed that anyone view this as some saga "finale".

Which was interesting enough in sense of having Ash travel alone with no one on his side for first time, being closest as were ever going to get of Ash doing solo journey. There's all there is to it really with writers trying something new for a change giving viewers small bit of Ash relying on himself instead on companion help like he usually does. So in some aspects it was refreshing to see that.

Technically im not sure if "Hoenn Alone " can be even classified as filler given how it set up actually subplot of Pikachu becoming ill due to big magnet, leading up to May meeting in first place.

But with all that left aside, is there any criteria through which we can determine if certain episode was boring or not?

It all depends on personal interpretation and matter of taste anyway.

Remember that AG's finale episode came some four years after that for the Johto saga. The writers had probably learned from past mistakes which led to such a good final bow for the AG series (equally so for DP in my opinion).

If "Gotta Catch Ya Later" counts as finale which it should since this was when Ash, Misty and Brock departed marking end of OS era, i have to say it was far more emotional and memorable than split of Hoenn and Sinnoh group.

Judging by general reactions, it left bigger impact for viewers than end of AG or DP that's for sure.

 

[Robo-Floatzel]

In terms of all the series finale episodes, the last episode of DP was by far done the best. Not only was it three characters going their separate ways for good this time, but it also gave the promise of Ash finally entering a Champion league.

That scene with Ash watching Flint battling Cynthia on TV, and then imagining himself in Flint's place battling with Infernape against Cynthia was wonderful. It brings tears to my eyes that such promise at the end of DP was completely shattered when BW started and they regressed Ash. What a shame.

I know, it's a shame what they did to Ash in BW was essentially stripped him completely of his character and flanderized him back to his Season 1 self, with little to no character development returning at all, and instead focusing on developing the rivals and companions... rather badly...

Given Ash lost that league (like every league), it at least made us wonder what it would be like to see him in one, essentially, in the end, the ending to DP amounted to nothing and essentially gave us empty promises.

First things first, finale to original series was in reality "Gotta Catch Ya Later" if you ask me since this was episode where original group departed and went their own ways, Gary was wrapped up and it set up Ash journey to Hoenn region.

"Hoenn Alone" was nothing more than simple transition between Johto and Hoenn, bridge between two regions not being supposed that anyone view this as some saga "finale".

Which was interesting enough in sense of having Ash travel alone with no one on his side for first time, being closest as were ever going to get of Ash doing solo journey. There's all there is to it really with writers trying something new for a change giving viewers small bit of Ash relying on himself instead on companion help like he usually does. So in some aspects it was refreshing to see that.

Technically im not sure if "Hoenn Alone " can be even classified as filler given how it set up actually subplot of Pikachu becoming ill due to big magnet, leading up to May meeting in first place.

But with all that left aside, is there any criteria through which we can determine if certain episode was boring or not?

It all depends on personal interpretation and matter of taste anyway.

Remember that AG's finale episode came some four years after that for the Johto saga. The writers had probably learned from past mistakes which led to such a good final bow for the AG series (equally so for DP in my opinion).

If "Gotta Catch Ya Later" counts as finale which it should since this was when Ash, Misty and Brock departed marking end of OS era, i have to say it was far more emotional and memorable than split of Hoenn and Sinnoh group.

Judging by general reactions, it left bigger impact for viewers than end of AG or DP that's for sure.

To be honest with you, I agree, this was the closest we ever got to Ash doing a solo journey as opposed to constantly having to rely on two other trainers to accompany him. Tell me, who do most trainers travel with? Most trainers do have company on them, being their Pokemon they don't need another trainer to accompany them. This episode proves that Ash is capable of traveling alone without companions, he just doesn't for some reason.

Unfortunately, I often feel like the anime went in a totally different direction from where it was going before. My biggest problem was they kept bringing Brock back in Hoenn and Sinnoh for virtually no reason, and the chemistry of the later groups were not as strong as they previously were.

The ending of the original series where the original trio broke up was probably the most emotional ending of them all, though DP also had an emotional ending as well, despite giving us an empty promise at the end and then regressing Ash in BW to his season 1 self.

 

[Karamazov]

If you want to talk about Ash regressing, there are threads where you can discuss it, like this thread.