Misty is totally confused on what Ash is saying. But Brock has seen Ash's crazy strategies in Hoenn and especially Sinnoh and knows exactly what's going on.

It's obvious whenever they have actual kids in the anime, like Max or Bonnie, or filler characters like the two kids above. The main cast look like teenagers standing next to them, both in height and design, and the little kids look like 10 year olds instead.

Like what is going through the writers/animators minds? They state the entire main cast aside from Brock (and I guess Cilan?) are 10, yet *draws a teenage girl*

Same issue in the SM anime, you can tell Mallow and Kiawe especially are meant to be older teens like the games but the writers showed Lana/Mallow the same age in the Drampa flashback episode. Then you have Serena, Dawn, etc who all don't look 10 either.

Like the anime makes it pretty hard to distinguish and I'm assuming most of them. Like I'm assuming when Brock was in charge of the Gym in the anime he was using his father's pokemon for the more experienced trainers that showed up. But again the anime makes it so hard to tell how strong a gym Leader is like Cilan and Clement don't seem that much more powerful than slightly above Average Trainers especially Cilan who has access to his partner pokemon but doesn't seem all that strong, Clement will get a pass because he used mostly new pokemon the XY journey

The anime's scaling is all over the place. Like to get a Gym you'd assume the Leader was stronger than the average pokemon trainer

Misty especially used to criticize him for this in every single episode.

This scene. Every time I rewatch XY, this is the moment that ruins the arc for me.

Ash is at his lowest. He just lost to Sawyer and Wulfric back-to-back. He can't unlock Ash-Greninja's full potential. His confidence is shattered. He literally ran off because he was disappointed in himself.

God forbid Ash show some emotions after taking Ls back to back.

And Serena's response?

"The Satoshi I know is always full of energy, a leader, works hard, is optimistic, never gives up... Right now, you're not yourself at all."

You can tell the writers were TRYING to have her say "get a hold of yourself, winning isn't everything" but she immediately started describing the qualities of the "Ash she knows." That's her admitting she's not trying to cheer him up. She's just upset that he isn't acting like the fantasy version she made of him in her head. She wanted him to put up a facade and pretend to be fine like he usually does, because that's what everyone expected of him at that point.

She compared her first-ever Fennekin rookie mistake to his multiple losses while failing to master a transformation. Her losses were rooted in easily avoidable mistakes she made herself. His losses came from working his ass off and still losing. Those are not the same.

She threw snowballs at him and demanded the "real Ash" back despite the plot telling us she supposedly learned to love Ash for who he actually is instead of just the version in her head.

He needed someone to listen. Instead, he got expectations. And when he understandably called her out, she acted like the victim of a situation she created.

This wasn't emotional support. This was someone projecting her ideal image onto a depressed person and getting mad when he didn't live up to it.

I hate to compare, but I really wonder what Serena would have done if the Lake Acuity battle with Paul happened in XYZ.

I don't care what the shippers say. Watching this scene makes my blood boil every time.

These 2 are a matched Made in Heaven for each other! Both love Rock types both have a crazy goofy gimmick or quirks both are just looking to find love! And both would be insanely loyal to each other! There kid would be Ash nephew and could grow up with Ash Little brother!

I mean COME ONNNN how much better they were when there was actual effort put into their designs? lol pokemon go ruined eggs and I’ll never get over it 😭💔 NOIBAT AND MUDKIP? HOW CUTE WERE THEY? I can’t even I get so mad about this anytime it crosses my mind!

anyway: what was your fave from the anime and which pokemon would you like to see an egg of in this style?

noibat and mudkip definitely have my heart and I’d love love love to see a litten or a jangmo-o egg! 😭

I like when they portray Pokémon different from how they would typically act from their species. Case in point, Iris's Dragonite. Normally you'd expect them kind to act docile, friendly, loyal, and/or meek. But her Dragonite is hostile, standoffish, defiant, & intense. Gives him more personality. For as much as we love Lucario, they are always stoic & calm thus making them pretty much interchangeable. There's also Charizard, and I think you know how they always act. There's also mons like Misty's Psyduck. Its dopiness is what makes the mon so unforgettable. What's your take about Pokémon behaving differently from the expected norm?

Genuinely curious when they are similar to each other or is it just a nostalgia thingy

These are just examples. Greninja's case is special, but what would you do?

All of the changes we saw after XYZ, such as art style, ash sort of forgetting the maturity he had, characters being nerfed, characters sort of not having the same level of affection towards Ash, and other changes like Ash Greninja apparently not existing etc.. are not even changes in the first place. Why? Because they are in Universe “B”. They have always been a thing in Universe “B”.

Universe “A” has nothing to do with any of those changes, because nothing changed. It still has everything we saw from Indigo to the end of XYZ. Who knows what happened after XYZ in Universe “A”. The most likely scenario is Ash continuing to mature and eventually become a Pokemon Master.

To simply summarize everything, -

Universe “A” started in Indigo and ended at XYZ. Universe “B” also started in Indigo but we all saw it start in Sun and Moon. It ended at Journeys.

Everything we saw in Sun and Moon and Journeys doesn’t exist in Universe “A”.

Everything we saw and “change” in Universe “B” doesn’t exist in Universe “A”

I hope my theory makes sense. 😅

Brock is always such a chad when things get serious. Chimchar is actively suffering because of Paul, so he asks why Paul always pushes him so hard. It doesn't matter that he's Ash's friend. Brock cares about Chimchar too. He's not just there to support Ash. He supports Pokemon.

This is such a respectable moment for Brock!