Favorite series?
What is yalls favorite and least favorite Pokemon series? There's the Original/Orange Islands, The Johto Journeys, Advanced, Diamond and Pearl, Black and White, XY/XYZ, Sun and Moon, Journeys, and Pokemon Horizons. My favorite is by FARRRR is XY and DP, (I actually can't choose). The worst is probably Black and White for me, its cool and all, but Ash does act like he knows no knowledge about Pokemon at all.
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XY is peak quality.
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I remember doing this back when Gen 7 was just getting started and I don't think my rankings have changed much since then. Do note I am not including Gen 9 in this calculation due to a) not watching it yet(been meaning to… lol) and b) I typically withhold judgment until the series is finished(ex: Paldea is over and another region or Gen 10 is introduced is when I'll render judgment). Anyways… I'll try and keep this as brief as possible.
1a) Pokémon XY/XYZ: Many consider this peak Pokémon and I can't argue against them. Very rarely does a region get two rivals for the main character but in this case, it worked and one of them was even given their own episodes to lay the backdrop to the Team Flare arc. You add on the backstory with Serena and Ash, Amourshipping and a solid team of six Pokémon(including two Dragons) and everyone thought he would win it all, get the girl and end the series to start anew given that year 20 was on the horizon. Yet they didn't and I don't need to delve into why because I'd just be spewing expletives that don't need to be said here. What I will say though is that the Anime series did Kalos better than the Games and that is saying a lot. I feel this is the perfect analogy for this series since Trevor, Tierno and Shauna are quite tolerable and ok in the Anime. Games… not so much.
1b) Pokémon Diamond&Pearl: Although I started with Pokémon Yellow, I think Diamond&Pearl holds a solid 2nd place and its due in large part to the undisputed Queen of Pokémon in Cynthia. Best Champion in the franchise hands down and one of the best regional Pokégirls in Dawn to watch within the Anime and play as in-game. Her manga counterpart in Platinum wasn't half bad either. Anyways, Ash's rival Paul was truly the first rival to give him real trouble. I mean Gary/Blue was infamous, but he never even really considered Ash a rival or even battled him until after the Orange Islands(where Pikachu lost to Eevee… bringing up Pokémon Yellow vibes…). Then he doesn't really battle him again until the Silver Conference whereupon we get the battle we always wanted as fans. Paul, on the other hand, battled Ash from the get-go and beat his butt so badly multiple times that Ash questioned his methods. That's what a true rival should do is to push you to your limits. Add on Chimchar/Monferno/Infernape, Team Galactic and Barry being Barry and it rounds out to be one of the best series to date. Diamond Dandruff(aka Dee Dee) also approves.
3) Pokémon Advanced: Game reviewers are infamous for the too much water meme but Pokémon Advanced or the Hoenn region was really solid when it aired. I didn't like May at first given that she was replacing a fan favorite in Misty, but I grew to like her, and she gave the first true Female protagonist a solid foundation from which future Female leads would build upon. Her younger brother Max was an annoying third wheel, but I generally dismissed him in light of Brock's shenanigans. Team Aqua and Magma had their moments but otherwise the series was Ash collecting Gym badges while May introduced us viewers to Pokémon Coordinators, a combination of "Talent Shows"(in a sense) and Pokémon Battling with a twist since the goal isn't necessarily to KO your opponent but to dazzle the judges as you do it. Also, if you're a fan of May's VA(and why she hasn't returned since D&P), then she's obligated to be in the top 3. Oh and one more thing: I include Battle Frontier in this, hence why it's so high.
4) Pokemon Black&White: As bad as this region was from an Anime perspective given the series that just concluded prior to it, it stayed relatively true to the age-old formula of travel around, catch lots of Pokémon, battle Gym's, enter league, etc. The reason I have Unova so high after years of reflection(seriously it was my Black Sheep pick but I've since awarded it to someone else) is that Team Rocket was for a brief moment, a certifiable bad-ass/competent group. They weren't foolishly going after Pikachu for the upteenth time but actually doing other things and being rather strategic about it. Team Plasma was also a pretty solid antagonist group and I just adore the region's Gym Leaders… Elesa probably being my favorite(Black2&White2 did her justice). They even gave Roxie some well-deserved spotlight as the Anime's 8th Gym Leader. While I'm not high on Trip, he did have a really high bar to meet given what Paul did in D&P so in that respect he does deserve a pass. The biggest reason as to why I just hated this region for so long was the Unova League and Ash losing to a guy with 5 Pokémon and not just 5 but in the manner in which he lost made things that much worse. That and Cilan's eccentric behavior just rubbed me the wrong way. Despite that, Unova deserves to be up here.
5) Pokémon Johto League: One can argue that this is when Pokémon finally started to actually get interesting. Whole new region to explore, Gary finally giving Ash a butt-kicking prior to the region starting off and new Gym Leaders to challenge and defeat. Yet despite all that, it struggled to push the plot along because this series was filled with tons of Pokémon of the Day episodes and other filler that many people honestly could care less about. The only thing that made things tolerable was Ritchie and going after Silver(aka baby Lugia) to rescue it from Team Rocket. Lance also kicking Team Rocket butt along with the shiny Gyarados was a nice touch too. The Gym Battle with Clair was arguably the most memorable of them all considering it was referenced again in Unova(albeit in a filler episode). The cherry on top for Johto's placement was the Silver Conference battle with Gary. Outside of that, I don't think it would be placed as high on anyone's list.
6) Pokémon Alola region: I considered the Gen 7 Anime as one of the worst ones considering they broke the age-old group travel formula while simultaneously suggesting Ash has to attend "School" despite Generation 1 basically saying he doesn't have to. Considering what Ash had just accomplished in X&Y, this was like a major WTF moment when I saw it for the first time. To add further insult to injury, all the major characters were not portraying their roles as they would be in the games. Namely Kiawe, Mallow, Lana and Sophocles were not Trial Captains with Lana battling a Totem Pokémon as opposed to Ash. I did like the PTSD issue with Lillie and the whole Ultra Beast backstory behind it but once that was finished and Lusamine saved(she wasn't even "insane" ffs), the series just went downhill for me. Yeah the Kahuna battles were solid, as was the Alolan League but we all knew that Ash was going to win. Yet I would argue that his Kalos team was stronger than his Alolan one but he wins using the regional Z-Crystal gimmick. Oh and they did Guzma dirty by not showing him at all until eons into the series. Like seriously… major disrespect.
7) Pokemon Indigo League/Orange Islands: I'm lumping these two together given that its still technically Generation 1. Yet you have to admit that this region was really, really bad after you take off the rose-tinted glasses. Just how many Gym Battles did Ash truly win? Three, maybe four tops? That's part of the problem. If you're going to introduce Gym Battles, then you might want to make sure that your Protagonist, you know, actually earns them? There are some real gems in the original series though. Duplica and the Imitation Mansion episode with Ditto was one of the best. Also, the first episode with Vulpix <3 and Bye Bye Butterfree is a true tearjerker(never to be seen until Ash's final Episode… like the %*&YF). Orange Islands brought in the most disliked and forgettable character in Tracy. To this day I still don't know why they brought him in to replace Brock…. smh. The Orange Island Gym battles were something else though and the 6v6 fight at the end was the first real fight that felt like you were watching Pokémon Stadium.
8) Pokemon Journeys(Galar): This region deserves last place and I don't care what you say. They shafted Chloe big time and the most disgraceful thing they could do is simply ignore the Galar region in pretty much its entirety. Outside of Leon, Sonia and a few Gym Leader appearances(due to the World Tournament, NOT Ash challenging the Gyms), Galar got no screen time after the Eternatus arc. No Milo, Nessa, Kabu(Gen 9 don't count), Gordie, or Melony. Even the episode with Marnie was shortchanging her. Probably missing a character or two but man was this series bad. The World Tournament and previous characters returning was its only redeeming grace but even with that, this series rightfully deserves the last place and Black Sheep title(will probably remain there too).
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Xy is amazing
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