why is she not in the anime?

[Rafia]

i was wondering if any of you know why the female playable character from fire red/leaf green never appeared in the anime every other girl has
she was also suppose to be in pokemon red and blue but they did not put her in the game

 

[Cybersai]

Because she was from a remake, and she's relatively not important. FR/LG came out when the gang was in the middle of Hoenn, (around the ep May captured Bulbasaur, hence the capture), so there was no point to bring her in.

I also have this feeling that if she did appear, the writers would make her another coordinator. As if it wasn't bad enough that Marina was retconned into a coordinator too.

What started as something new (May), eventually latched onto Dawn and retconned Marina, we don't need to see yet another girl shoehorned into the same role.

 

[Yotsuba]

I also have this feeling that if she did appear, the writers would make her another coordinator. As if it wasn't bad enough that Marina was retconned into a coordinator too.

Is it really fair to blame the writers on that one though? I mean, Marina was a coordinator before they even exsited. To say "hey guys, you can dance and look pretty now in pokemon, but this girl who did that before? Ya, she won't do it"...that's kind of unbelieveable.

Personally I see Blue/Leaf acting more like a regular pokemon trainer (she just comes across that way to me), but you're probably right. With the exception of Pokemon Special, I don't think you'll ever see the "main coordinator" role filled by a male instead. Which I must admit is rather depressing since switching the genders with Ruby and Sapphire was one of my favorite things ever.

 

[dman_dustin]

What started as something new (May), eventually latched onto Dawn and retconned Marina, we don't need to see yet another girl shoehorned into the same role.

You know it would be cool if "Leaf" was Ash's rival. So far Ash only has two rivals. Last time Ash battled three 6 on 6 matches. If Ash were to get Top 4, Ash would battle 4 6 on 6 battles. Which leaves at least one spot open.

But then again there could be less opponents in the Sinnoh League.

 

[Weedle Mchairybug]

Because she was from a remake, and she's relatively not important. FR/LG came out when the gang was in the middle of Hoenn, (around the ep May captured Bulbasaur, hence the capture), so there was no point to bring her in.

You know, if they truly didn't want to focus THAT much on a first-gen remake, they could have just, you know, NOT place the Battle Frontier in Kanto (or heck, just give May a Totodile or Chikorita for the sake of putting the fact that you can acquire Johto starters after completing the Hoenn Dex to good use in the anime instead of just giving her Squirtle.). I mean, was there really a point in placing the Battle Frontier in Kanto (Heck, was there even a point in giving May a squirtle, even?)?

I mean, it's either "Keep May, but place the Battle Frontier in the exact place that it was in the games, and give her Johto starters to further advertize Emerald" or "Replace May with Leaf, keep the Battle Frontier in Kanto, and give Leaf a Squirtle, or heck, any of the Kanto starters.".

Besides, they could also have Leaf compete in Gym Battles (I mean, seeing how Ash isn't going to be challenging Gyms in the BF saga, anyways, it would have been a good way to give a female character a chance to be a Gym Competitor).

I also have this feeling that if she did appear, the writers would make her another coordinator. As if it wasn't bad enough that Marina was retconned into a coordinator too.

Actually, one can say that Marina's goal of being an Idol trainer was very similar to a Pokemon Coordinator, as her description of an Idol Trainer (which, of course, was cut from the dub of "Legend of Thunder") was very similar to a Pokemon Coordinator (knowing how to battle while looking pretty at the same time), so, technically speaking, Idol Trainers and Pokemon Coordinators are the same thing.

 

[Shinx3000]

Basically she was from Kanto in the games and the Kanto arc had been done already and so had Johto so there would be little sense bringing a character into anime that was from a region already shown in anime.

The only real reason that the remakes existed was to be able to trade from and to R/S so you could have all pokemon in the national dex.

 

[Cybersai]

Ignoring Weedle's nonsense...

Is it really fair to blame the writers on that one though? I mean, Marina was a coordinator before they even exsited. To say "hey guys, you can dance and look pretty now in pokemon, but this girl who did that before? Ya, she won't do it"...that's kind of unbelieveable.

It's still rather tacky. Marina only had two cameos anyway in DP, so there was no reason to do it.

 

[Weedle Mchairybug]

Basically she was from Kanto in the games and the Kanto arc had been done already and so had Johto so there would be little sense bringing a character into anime that was from a region already shown in anime.

The only real reason that the remakes existed was to be able to trade from and to R/S so you could have all pokemon in the national dex.

That still doesn't explain why they had to place the Battle Frontier in Kanto instead of just having it in the same place as the Games, or heck, have May capture Squirtle rather than just go with a Totodile/Chikorita.

 

[Luna Tiger]

Because she was from a remake, and she's relatively not important. FR/LG came out when the gang was in the middle of Hoenn, (around the ep May captured Bulbasaur, hence the capture), so there was no point to bring her in.

Except she's existed since Red/Blue. "Relatively not important" is your own diagnosis of her character, and holds no barring to what can and cannot be done with her.

Four trainers did walk away from Pallet Town that morning. It's not much of a stretch to imagine she's one of them, and just because she's a girl doesn't automatically mean the writers would make her a Coordinator. Marina wanted to be an Idol, and as Weedle points out, being a Coordinator will make you an Idol in the ways Marina wanted to

Ash does gyms. He won't have a male equal in his party (because that'll exclude the female presense, if one is delegated to the Brock role), so any and all girls he travels with will eventually become Coordinators...because Ash sure won't. As long as the Leaf character never accompanies Ash, she doesn't have to be a Coordinator.

She could be the Dawn to Ash's Jun though. And that would be funny.

 

[Cybersai]

They couldn't have included her as a rival because Battle Frontier was an exclusive thing that had no league. There was no reason to have a rival in the BF arc because they would have no league to face-off in.

And seeing her character in Sinnoh would be pointless. Most of her design was modeled into Dawn's anyway.

 

[Weedle Mchairybug]

Except she's existed since Red/Blue. "Relatively not important" is your own diagnosis of her character, and holds no barring to what can and cannot be done with her.

Four trainers did walk away from Pallet Town that morning. It's not much of a stretch to imagine she's one of them, and just because she's a girl doesn't automatically mean the writers would make her a Coordinator. Marina wanted to be an Idol, and as Weedle points out, being a Coordinator will make you an Idol in the ways Marina wanted to

Yes, that's a very valid point, but even still, they could have at least given her a special dedicated to her (Hey, they did it for Marina, who says that they can't for Leaf.)

Ash does gyms. He won't have a male equal in his party (because that'll exclude the female presense, if one is delegated to the Brock role), so any and all girls he travels with will eventually become Coordinators...because Ash sure won't. As long as the Leaf character never accompanies Ash, she doesn't have to be a Coordinator.

Umm... Who said anything about wanting a "male equal" in Ash's party?

And if you were referring to that comment as to how Leaf could do Gyms if she were in the BF saga as part of Ash's group, seeing how, in that saga, Ash didn't really face off against Gym Leaders as a main plot-point (remember, the Frontier Brains and Gym Leaders are two entirely different people.), someone would need to do real Gym Leader battles just to make it seem like it was still Pokemon, and plus, none of the Girls, not even Misty, had been a Gym challenger before (or at least, not much of one), it would have been a perfect opportunity to test it.

Most of her design was modeled into Dawn's anyway.

The only REAL similarity between their design is the fact that they both wear a short skirt. I mean, the Hairstyle's not the same or similar (Heck, it's not even the same length), the shoes aren't the same/similar (They don't even have a similar overall length), the hat's not the same, Leaf doesn't wear a scarf, heck, even the eyes aren't the same color (Leaf has Brown Eyes, whileas Dawn has Blue eyes).

 

[Poke_Gal]

The only REAL similarity between their design is the fact that they both wear a short skirt. I mean, the Hairstyle's not the same or similar (Heck, it's not even the same length), the shoes aren't the same/similar (They don't even have a similar overall length), the hat's not the same, Leaf doesn't wear a scarf, heck, even the eyes aren't the same color (Leaf has Brown Eyes, whileas Dawn has Blue eyes).

Wasn't Dawn somehow based on Leaf's design? Not just the skirt, the long socks, the hat with Pokeball design, the some what large bag? Also, Leaf's sprite actually did have blue eyes, but that probably was a glitch.

Maybe if Leaf did appear in the anime at this point, some people would perhaps assume that Leaf is the "knock off" of Dawn (like what happened in the dub of Sailor Moon). To avoid this, the writers or who ever decided not to show her in the anime now, because it is too late.

I have to ask, what could Leaf do in the anime? Seeing as she is the female trainer in the games, and that May, Dawn, and even Marina got treated with respect (if you think an hour special is good enough), it only seems fair to treat Leaf the same, correct? However, at the moment, we already have two female coordinators based on their game counterparts, three if you include Marina, so Leaf being one would seem a bit over done (but not impossible). Making her compete for the Pokemon League might be more practical, but unless she has her own story arc or becomes a minor character, she would some how contradict Ash and his journey. Pokemon breeder is, again either not for her, or would go against Brock and his Pokemon breeding. What else is there? Not a whole lot, that is for sure.

 

[Luna Tiger]

They couldn't have included her as a rival because Battle Frontier was an exclusive thing that had no league. There was no reason to have a rival in the BF arc because they would have no league to face-off in.

And seeing her character in Sinnoh would be pointless. Most of her design was modeled into Dawn's anyway.

...Why does she have to be confined to Kanto? Obviously others aren't. Harrison, Paul, May, Marina, Gary, Lance. Wallace, Ash himself? Why does Leaf have to be? And none of her design was fit into Dawn. That's like saying Marina shouldn't exist because she very vaguely resembles May; your logic fails you.

Putting her in Sinnoh is hardly detracting from anything. You're considering characters for their game-promotional revenue. So why-oh-bloody-why was Brendan fighting against Lucas in the last movie? Obviously we're not in the third gen anymore. By your thinking, his duty should be done and his character retired, because golly, Gen IV the new thing now! Forget all about the previous generations: we're moving forward.

She can be utilized without having her showcase her own generations. Even if all she is is a COTD.

Umm... Who said anything about wanting a "male equal" in Ash's party?

And if you were referring to that comment as to how Leaf could do Gyms if she were in the BF saga as part of Ash's group, seeing how, in that saga, Ash didn't really face off against Gym Leaders as a main plot-point (remember, the Frontier Brains and Gym Leaders are two entirely different people.), someone would need to do real Gym Leader battles just to make it seem like it was still Pokemon, and plus, none of the Girls, not even Misty, had been a Gym challenger before (or at least, not much of one), it would have been a perfect opportunity to test it.

I was never talking about the BF. I was referring to the shows current party character layout: one to do gyms and one to do contests. If Ash does gyms, whoever his "equal" is in the party (a la May and Dawn) will do contests, and only if the writers suddenly become misogynists will his party "equal" will become a boy, so it will ALWAYS be a girl to fill the role of coordinator.

Following that formula, I said as long as Leaf is never that member of the party, her future will not be set-in-stone as a Coordinator. And because she isn't, she has no limitations either. She can be anywhere, doing anything.

 

[Weedle Mchairybug]

...Why does she have to be confined to Kanto? Obviously others aren't. Harrison, Paul, May, Marina, Gary, Lance. Wallace, Ash himself? Why does Leaf have to be? And none of her design was fit into Dawn. That's like saying Marina shouldn't exist because she very vaguely resembles May; your logic fails you.

Putting her in Sinnoh is hardly detracting from anything. You're considering characters for their game-promotional revenue. So why-oh-bloody-why was Brendan fighting against Lucas in the last movie? Obviously we're not in the third gen anymore. By your thinking, his duty should be done and his character retired, because golly, Gen IV the new thing now! Forget all about the previous generations: we're moving forward.

She can be utilized without having her showcase her own generations. Even if all she is is a COTD.

You tooks the words right out of my mouth.

I was never talking about the BF. I was referring to the shows current party character layout: one to do gyms and one to do contests. If Ash does gyms, whoever his "equal" is in the party (a la May and Dawn) will do contests, and only if the writers suddenly become misogynists will his party "equal" will become a boy, so it will ALWAYS be a girl to fill the role of coordinator.

True, but, even still, she could fit well with the Gym arc without stealing Ash's glory during BF, seeing how Ash wasn't challenging Gyms for a league, anyways (Actually, I think that the Battle Frontier Saga was probably the only Pokemon Saga where Gym Battles were not even a focus.).

I mean, Brock is an ex-Gym Leader, and besides which, he doesn't care about Battling, They can't change Mays goal from Coordinating to Gym Challenger after what she went through, and seeing how Ash isn't going to rechallenge the gyms anyways [not to mention that the people he's trying to challenge in that saga aren't gym leaders, anyways.], someone has to do the Gym Arcs if they wanted to do them, so having Leaf do that would be perfect, at least for Battle Frontier.

Sure, they may have to end up replacing her anyways, seeing how the writers now only care for using girls to sell (which, IMO, is pretty sickening and demeaning.), but still... It would at least work for the BF saga.

Following that formula, I said as long as Leaf is never that member of the party, her future will not be set-in-stone as a Coordinator. And because she isn't, she has no limitations either. She can be anywhere, doing anything.

I know. I mean, if Ash were to rechallenge the Gyms, yes, her being a coordinator may end up being somewhat inevitable. However, seeing how Ash didn't really challenge Gyms in the BF arc, had they actually made use of her character, she may have been the first Female protagonist to be a gym-challenger.

 

[Trainer'sInsomnia]

Because she was from a remake, and she's relatively not important.

Uh, the same thing could be argued about Dawn, could it not? I mean what does she really do in the game of any significance? No one but her diehard fans could argue that she's some kind of essential piece to everything.

A few double battles with Galactic Grunts, and playing coatail with the Professor isn't quite cutting it.

So what's she there for? Advertising perhaps, which is the same reason why Leaf could've shown up for BF or something. This is especially so when you consider that they didn't even bring Gary back, who was obviously HUGE in the FRLG, and has much more of a relavence in the game than either of the other 2 characters referenced.

Leaf could have, and actually should have, been included. She had an interesting character, and quality development. Both she and Silver had conflicted characters, between mischievous acts, naive behavior, and "good hearts". I'd have much rather that than see May get away with a Bulbasaur and Squirtle.

And as others have said, a character does not need to be confined to their region alone. Lance, Wallace, etc...

 

[Jesse GS the II]

Uh, the same thing could be argued about Dawn, could it not? I mean what does she really do in the game of any significance? No one but her diehard fans could argue that she's some kind of essential piece to everything.

A few double battles with Galactic Grunts, and playing coatail with the Professor isn't quite cutting it.

Assuming you play as the boy trainer. If you play as the girl trainer, then Hikari is the main character of the game. That seems like reason enough to include her in the cast.

 

[Insanish Danish]

I actually would have very much liked to see her in the anime, even if Dawn was based on her.

They gave Marina a Chronicles special, and they've given Brendan and Lucas cameos. I don't see why they can't give Leaf a cameo as well.

Not saying I expect her to turn up at some point, I just think seeing her in some way would be nice.

 

[Trainer'sInsomnia]

Assuming you play as the boy trainer. If you play as the girl trainer, then Hikari is the main character of the game. That seems like reason enough to include her in the cast.

I was obviously referring to Dawn's character throughout the male's journey...

Because her importance as the main character is NO different from who...?

Leaf. Or was she not a playable, "main" character in FRLG?

 

[Cybersai]

But how is it any different than Brendan and Lucas being excluded?

They excluded the male heroes from the anime twice, so seeing a female excluded doesn't make much of a difference.

And likewise, a remake isn't as important as the main games of a gen. The whole third gen was about R/S/E mainly, FR/LG were remakes, just like if there are GS remakes now this gen is still about D/P/Pl.

 

[Weedle Mchairybug]

Uh, the same thing could be argued about Dawn, could it not? I mean what does she really do in the game of any significance? No one but her diehard fans could argue that she's some kind of essential piece to everything.

A few double battles with Galactic Grunts, and playing coatail with the Professor isn't quite cutting it.

Yeah, and even in the anime, she still doesn't quite cut being a co-star. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure she would have replaced Ash by now, or, heck, actually had 90%, no, 100% of the episodes dedicated to her.

As for the so-called "Accomplishments" that Dawn got in her run in the Anime, big whoop. Misty actually HAD a disobediant pokemon in her party (Psyduck, regardless of it being too dim-witted of being able to follow orders, was still not following orders, which means disobediance.), so technically, Misty was the first main character besides Ash to have a disobediant pokemon.

Heck, May herself actually matched Ash in something (She was also one person to actually see Ho-Oh, a title that used to belong to Ash alone. As a matter of fact, she, not Ash, was the first one to see it in Ho-Oh's only appearance in AG [not counting the Mew-transformed one in the Lucario movie].).

So what's she there for? Advertising perhaps, which is the same reason why Leaf could've shown up for BF or something. This is especially so when you consider that they didn't even bring Gary back, who was obviously HUGE in the FRLG, and has much more of a relavence in the game than either of the other 2 characters referenced.

Very true. Well, Technically, they did kinda bring him back, but by the time they did, the BF, not to mention AG, was just about over.

Leaf could have, and actually should have, been included. She had an interesting character, and quality development. Both she and Silver had conflicted characters, between mischievous acts, naive behavior, and "good hearts". I'd have much rather that than see May get away with a Bulbasaur and Squirtle.

Yeah, I know. Besides, having Leaf replace May would also make it a heck of a lot more easier to understand why they would move the Battle Frontier to Kanto (I mean, even WITH May's Bulbasaur, I don't buy the whole "They were already done with FRLG by the time it came up."). Even IF she was popular (which, considering how they brought Max back, who also was fairly unpopular [Moreso in america, but still...], I doubt that was really the case.), she still didn't need to return.

And as others have said, a character does not need to be confined to their region alone. Lance, Wallace, etc...

Very true, Heck, ASH wasn't confined to Kanto, which, by Scott's logic, his journey would have ended after the OI, just to have Jimmy replace him.

Scott: Actually, this is very different, because unlike Brendan and Lucas, Leaf didn't appear at all, not even as a mere few-second cameo. At least Brandon and Lucas appeared, even if it was just a few-second cameo in a movie intro. Leaf got jack-squat. (Not that I think they can't replace Ash, but they at least appeared.)

As for the remakes being "unimportant", if they were truly that unimportant, please explain to us why they placed the Battle Frontier in Kanto, and gave May a squirtle, of all things? I mean, they could have EASILY placed it in the same location as the games, and gave May a Johto starter, just to advertize the fact that you can get Johto starters when you get the National dex, but they decided to place it in kanto and allowed her to get squirtle, both just so happened to be FR/LG remake adverts.