For me, the anime is one thing and one thing only:

It lets me hear the voices of the Pokémon instead of the digital shrieks from the games.
Yes, the in-game cries are more "realistic" than hearing a wild animal shout its species, but hearing a Pokémon say its name is just a thing I like.

*sees anime discussion* on thing that bothers me is how he always forgets that he got previous leauges' badges. Case in point: In the first few episodes of BW that jerk kid says "I have 2 badges" and Ash responds with "I have 1" it's like YOU HAVE LIKE 40 BADGES!!!!!!!

Speaking of jerk characters, was I the only one who liked Paul? He was pretty far and away the only character in DP that was interesting to watch.

Well you have to admit at least he doesn't rest on his laurels. Ash isn't a guy who talks about past glories much.

Because that would mean there's some kind of character development and lord knows we can't be having any of that. He doesn't talk about "past glories" because he's literally reset every season. Like he's some kind of android that just gets formatted every year or so to free up memory.

Hell, according to the dub of the first BW episode (not sure if it was in the Japanese), he's still 10 :lol

That's been a pretty long year.

Yeah, but if it's to make some up-start shut up then why not rub it in his face?

I disagree. Mainly because I usually watch the Japanese version he does cite incidents from previous seasons and such. He just doesn't dwell on them. Lizardon making a return brings back such memories that most people probably think he doesn't have.

And he is a lot more level headed than he used to be as compared to the Johto/Advanced/DP period.

Damn it. 1 pokemon left on my Unova Dex and it had to be Shuckle...

No, that's true in the Japanese version, too.
Does anyone remember the 6 months mentioned between him getting his 8th badge and the Indigo League? (They literally mention the time frame)

Compared to Advanced and DP?
Nah. He's been like that since the end of Johto. They couldn't have him play up the naive, brash angle for a 4rd straight season in a row (Counting Orange Islands), so when May was introduced as the newbie who made mistakes based on inexperience and anger, Ash was changed to become the calm headed, experienced older brother who can give tips to the newbie.

BW is most certainly not the introduction of this version of Ash.

As for Charizard's return (Bite me, I work with English Pokemon names :lol), I don't think it'll hold any bearing. Unless Charizard's time spent in the Valley is over and he'll officially return to Ash's active roster (As in, he'll be with Oak, not in the Valley where he's not instantly available), then his return will just be a one episode thing, and status quo will return.

Ash brings up past events each in the dub as well, but in a sense Ash is always reset in a certain sense after each series.

My hatred for Shuckle...It burns.

Topical

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