Your opinion of on-screen training?

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Sweet Veil

Bright Days
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Thoughts on-screen training?



My opinion:

Onscreen training, I'm so glad the immense amounts of of time wasted on onscreen training is gone. I pretty much just accept that it happens off screen. It would be ridiculous to say Ash, Iris and Cilan don't train much, for the most part you just don't see it. We should be getting onscreen training at a small amount of times and know it's happening by references in the form of blink-and-you-miss-it cut scenes. Especially if there's little to no payoff for said training at the end. Training is something that should be assumed to be happening off-screen. It isn't interesting and is hardly relevant to the plot.

DP was way too focused showing off training and it was boring and got really boring quick, fast and in a hurry, we don't need to see it to that much. It's a surefire given that any trainer who has a shred of skill trains their Pokemon we don't need whole episodes of it. Shaving off a load of it in BW was the best option. It's happening, we're just not wasting episodes seeing it. I'm fairly certain TP(s)TB want the audience to assume Ash is doing the majority of his training off-screen in BW. We get quick scenes of Ash, Iris, and Cilan training often, unlike in OS, but more like AG-style. That's all we really need to see, we can easily surmise it's happening off-screen in any case.
 
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I'd rather have some on-screen training (in moderation) than all this deus ex machine bullshit that makes up most of BW...
 
I feel pretty much the opposite. I want to see more on-screen training. I actually liked that in DP, we saw them train as it helped to give the Pokemon more development/screentime, showcased how Ash and Dawn were improving throughout the series and it made most of their victories more believable. Having it all happen off-screen, or assuming that it does, doesn't really work for me. BW certainly could have used more training episodes just so that maybe all of those last minute evolution victories in Ash's Gym battles would actually be the result of hard training and not just a cheap way for Ash to win at the last moment. Besides that, the on-screen evidence doesn't make me think that they are training off-screen. Ash's underdeveloped Unova team and especially Iris' Axew do not give me the impression that they are frequently trained off-screen.

I'd probably be happy with the amount of training episodes we got in DP, but having it in more moderation could work too. I would certainly be better than seeing little to no training in my opinion.
 
I really don't think there's an assumption of off-screen training in BW. Whenever a Pokemon learns a new and powerful move, there's never an indication that it's anything but something completely new and unexpected - and it does come off looking like a cheap deus ex machina. I think he few examples when they did show this onscreen such as Mijumaru's Aqua Jet were actually quite effective so I don't see why it isn't used more.

The fact that we got an insight into the Pokemon through on-screen training in DP was one of the things I enjoyed the most about it - we got to see how the Pokemon were being honed and specialized and it made the characters seem much more strategic - and which is more satisfying to a viewer: watching Pokemon put their training to hard work to succeed in battle or winning by pulling a move out of nowhere? On-screen training is definitely something I want to see more of.
 
I totally agree that DP was overkill with training. It made me want to pull my hair out at times, especially as we had to watch Ash AND Dawn train..
Training episodes can be fun though and they do go a long way to developing the story and characters more naturally. It's about finding the balance I guess. BW isn't great with training episodes but then agin, BW isn't great with most things, that's why I like it. It's sloppy and the plot is never too heavy. It feels like a kids show again.
 
Guys there is a fucking happy medium here. Personally I didn't like the on screen training because I feel like pokemon should train almost exclusively through battles. But BW had very little casual battles in the later half of the badge quest it was all tournaments which lead to Deus ex moments. Quite frankly the new move learning off screen works fucking fine. I just wish their would be more evidence to Ash battling people all the time because I'm not getting that impression.
 
I prefer on-screen training from time to time. It actually shows how the pokemon is getting stronger and the process of learning a new attack. Also, there's a lot of bonding between the trainer and the pokemon during the training, so it's nice to see how they build up trust and friendship while they do their best to get stronger.
 
It's nice to see some from time to time, such as right at the beginning of an ep before the plot kicks in, and that would be mostly for the Pokes to hone the skills they already have. Training that takes up half an ep should be used sparingly, and only if it's for something either very complicated or very important. That said, I liked the training montage for Chili's Pansear. Too bad they didn't play "Gonna Fly Now," but the run up the steps had me and my sister ROTFLOL.
 
If it doesn't lead to anything, like what would have happened had it existed in BW then it would be for the better that we get less MIju/Snivy/scraggy screen filler. If it actually has a use and pays off like it did in DP then I'm all for it.
 
I'd like it mostly off screen. A couple of filler scenes being based around training rather than Axew getting lost is fine. But I really like it when Ash enters an important battle and then reveals that he's taught his Pokémon a new move. It's the kind of stuff you see in battle shounen mangas, and I love it.

That's for the actual training though. I'd still like to see Ash recognise issues that need work even if we don't see him doing target practise for 5 episodes before a tournament.
 
I like it. Like others have said, it gives a sense of progression, and not seeing any training definitely does not. It makes me feel better when a pokemon gets a win, since you've seen some work go in to it, instead of wins feeling cheap and coming out of no where. I also enjoy the eps where a pokemon is working on a new move, hasn't quite got it right. Makes for good development.
 
You mean in excess (like in DP)? Pure garbage and a waste of time, and if I wanted to train so badly, I would just play the games. It was so freaking boring to watch the same tired old ice chandelier thing or spinning around crap OVER and OVER again. Sheesh. -_-

To be fair, I think it's DEFINITELY needed, but to the extent of how it was in DP? NO. Some episodes centered around training and around getting to see the Pokemon is the best mix of things. Going too far on one end (Johto- Pokemon Showcasing) or the other (Sinnoh- Training Episodes) is ridiculously frustrating for one to sit through, IMO.
 
I really like training for the most part, especially when we get to see Ash's Pokemon fight against each other. I guess I'm alone in thinking that DP didn't really go too overboard with training. I felt that a lot of it was very purposeful and we got to see a lot of development. They were constantly experimenting and trying new techniques while in training, sometimes ones that they didn't use in real battles or contests.

In BW, even though they really should show more training, I feel like the kind of training they do show is very pointless because they never try new strategies. They just launch a few attacks at each other and dodge, same that they do in every battle. I think part of the reason it's so dull for me is the excessive stock animation. It makes every move exactly the same, so every battle and every training sequence appears identical. It almost makes me not want any training at all if they're going to be so lazy with it. But I do agree with most people that if they didn't show any, it would seem too convenient when a Pokemon randomly learns a new move or evolves in battle.
 
I think we should see more on-screen training so we actually see the Pokémon grow and develop as opposed to randomly using new moves in a battle. I personally didn't find DP training episodes boring nor do I think there were too many and I think we should continue to have on-screen training. Maybe not full episodes dedicated to it but maybe every once in a while have all of the Pokémon do some training together.
 
Wyvernphlare said:
Guys there is a fucking happy medium here. Personally I didn't like the on screen training because I feel like pokemon should train almost exclusively through battles. But BW had very little casual battles in the later half of the badge quest it was all tournaments which lead to Deus ex moments. Quite frankly the new move learning off screen works fucking fine. I just wish their would be more evidence to Ash battling people all the time because I'm not getting that impression.
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I agree completely on the training through battles thing and the moves thing, it has more surprise factor in a way.

EmotionalTensionPKMN said:
You mean in excess (like in DP)? Pure garbage and a waste of time, and if I wanted to train so badly, I would just play the games. It was so freaking boring to watch the same tired old ice chandelier thing or spinning around crap OVER and OVER again. Sheesh. -_-

To be fair, I think it's DEFINITELY needed, but to the extent of how it was in DP? NO. Some episodes centered around training and around getting to see the Pokemon is the best mix of things. Going too far on one end (Johto- Pokemon Showcasing) or the other (Sinnoh- Training Episodes) is ridiculously frustrating for one to sit through, IMO.
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Yeah, pretty much. There can be a good medium to how it's handled *cough*AG*cough* and I feel like on-screen training should mainly be regulated by battles than actual scenes of Ash doing the same thing over and over again. Like that terribly bland Draco Meteor training, it was extremely tedious and the gag wasn't even funny. It was literally Ash just ordering Draco Meteor every time with no change of difference and later on Gible just gets it right against Conway. Not that there's anything bad about it but honestly, it just felt like garbage. Same thing to that Ice Chandelier training and episode, it just felt bland to see Dawn basically forcing a bunch of kids to watch her train all day. Even the Cyndaquil/Mamoswine/Kirlia/Leafeon episode I feel was mainly brought down by the fact it's entirely centralized around Dawn forming a an appeal.

Pokemon is pretty much the only show that does this type of thing regularly, DBZ Kai, Digimon, One Piece, et cetera. We barely get any moments exclusively centralized around training for regular amounts of time. AG does its training the best, imo, because while we do get it it's not in huge excess. Ash remembered Bullet Seed from seeing Shiftry use it, he didn't spend the whole episodes ordering Bullet Seed over and over. He had a battle against Natasha's Grovyle and Slugma and after the loss and a small comedic scene Treecko has the move down. There was no need to spend more than one episode teaching Treecko a decently powered Grass-type move. Even Swellow and Snorunt's moves weren't focused on in such an immense amount and played around with for so long as Draco Meteor. I don't think there was one episode where May spent the majority of her time teaching a Pokemon something new. Skitty learned to juggle and use Blizzard correctly in small moments, it wasn't nearly a cession to watch as a DP training episode. But that's just my opinion. my unpopular opinion :p
 
It's not just neccesary, but critical, and I dare say that Advanced did it the best; with a sense of progression and payoff while making it *entertaining*. While training is almost solely done *in-game* by battling, the anime is meant to be a transposition of the games into "reality", which in this case opens the door to other options such as the Johto/Advanced training episodes or what we've seen with A.J., Aaron, and Stephan's exercise scenes.

To paraphrase a long-held belief of mine, the anime parallels the games, but are not limited in the exact same way as them.
 
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