History FranchiseOriginalSin / Pokemon

This is best seen in [[WolverinePublicity Charizard]]. The creature already boasted great popularity with the fanbase, both in the games and in the anime, as Ash's Charizard is seen as one of his most memorable and iconic best mons right after Pikachu, even guest starring in the third film, ''[[Anime/Pokemon3 Spell of the Unown]]'', despite having [[PutOnABus left his team]] at that point. An early warning sign took place in [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver the Gen II games]] and their remakes, where Lance used one on his team despite it not otherwise not featuring any starter Pokemon, and another warning sign during the Battle Frontier arc, where a Charizard was one of two Pokemon (along with an Aggron) loaned to [[TerribleTrio the Team Rocket Trio]]. The former was accepted because Lance's Charizard still fit his theme of using dragon-like Pokemon even if they weren't all Dragon types, wasn't even his strongest Pokemon (that role belonged to one of his three Dragonite), and it still appears alongside the other two fully-evolved Kanto starters during the battle with Red. For the latter, it only appeared in a single episode, with the loaned Pokemon being taken away at the end due to being meant for Butch and Cassidy. Both instances used Charizard in moderation, not getting too much attention at the time, which only got worse as the franchise continued. Its bigger moments of scene-stealing truly started with Charizard returning to Ash's team in the Unova seasons of the anime, which was fine back then thanks to Ash's Charizard having been gone for ''years'' before making his reappearance, his last appearance before his return being Hoenn's Battle Frontier arc. Although Ash, by this point, typically never brought back members of his previous teams, people were just happy to see him again. Then the games got in on the fun, as Gen VI gave Charizard two Mega Evolutions, making it the only Pokémon in the series other than the Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo to gain such a status. People immediately started claiming favoritism. Back in the anime, the ''X and Y'' series would give Ash's new rival Alain's a signature Pokémon in the form of a very powerful Mega Evolving Charizard [[spoiler:whose victory over [[EnsembleDarkhorse Ash-Greninja]] in the Kalos League likely contributed to the Charizard burnout.]] The ''Sun and Moon'' anime would then have another Charizard as Kiawe's air transport throughout those seasons of the series.[[note]]In fairness, [[DeadArtistsAreBetter one thing this Charizard has going for it]] is that it was also one of the last roles that Creator/UnshoIshizuka voiced prior to his death.[[/note]] Charizard's role as a Ride Pokémon (serving as a replacement for Fly), which served as the basis for adapting Kiawe's Charizard, actually wasn't disliked in the games (everyone was too busy being happy that [[ScrappyMechanic HMs were finally gone after twenty years]]), and Charizard wasn't even in the Alolan Pokédex (making it the only Ride Pokemon to have this distinction), but ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' (and by extension the ''Journeys'' anime) was considered the breaking point by having a Charizard as Champion Leon's signature Pokémon, being among the Mons to get a Gigantamax form, and being the ''only returning starter line'' players could legitimately[[note]]The other 2 Kanto starter lines and the Alola starter lines all had code for them in the games but were unobtainable until ''Pokémon HOME'' launched, allowing migration[[/note]] obtain at launch, leading many to feel that Charizard was getting too much attention at the expense of both its fellow Kanto starters and other starter Pokémon as a whole. ''Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries'' would subsequently feature a Charizard belonging to Rising Volt Tacklers leader Friede, but although it would have a somewhat prominent role as one of Friede's primary battlers and was one of the first Pokemon seen using the Terastal phenomenon, it is treated as just another member of his team and not given CharacterShilling like Leon's Charizard was.

* As far as regional birds go, Ash's Unfezant isn't the most popular due to her being highly underutilized and not having much personality, in addition to being subjected to TheWorfEffect more often than not. The same could be said of Ash's Pidgeot, who really didn't show much personality or win many battles during its tenure under Ash's care. But aside from FirstInstallmentWins, Pidgeot did manage to put at least a few wins under its belt, it was used in far more Gym Battles than Unfezant, and it was one of the few Pokémon that Ash released to take care of its own kind [[spoiler:(though Ash would finally get it to rejoin his team for good in his last episode as the protagonist)]]. Even his Johto regional bird, Noctowl, wasn't utilized too often and got overshadowed[[note]]Ash's only finished gym match to feature Noctowl was against Morty the Ghost gym leader, since Noctowl had Foresight to make the Ghost types easier to attack, as although Ash attempted to use it to battle Clair as well, the match was interrupted by Team Rocket, and he chose to use Snorlax and Charizard instead when he tried the match again[[/note]], but it did win Ash a few matches and it was his only "Shiny" Pokémon--even in its debut episode did it display a far broader personality, despite it not being followed up with afterwards. Unfezant got much more flack because after those two birds came Swellow and Staraptor, who were given more screen time and more personality to boot, and consequently became some of the more memorable mons Ash used on his teams. Since Unfezant couldn't live up to either one of them, in terms of capability or personality, it wound up falling flat in fans' eyes, and although Ash adding Charizard back to his team after the Unova League was an early warning sign of its WolverinePublicity starting to become an issue, Unfezant was the Pokemon that Ash sent to Professor Oak in order to fit Charizard on his team, suggesting even the writers had come to agree with the fans about its unpopularity.

* The Rocket Prize Master, which served the purpose of temporarily giving the Team Rocket Trio very strong Pokemon that only existed as powerful enemies to be defeated now that [[spoiler:Ash was the Alola Champion and would have a much easier time defeating other Pokemon the trio could catch]], had its roots in the Battle Frontier arc when Jessie and James were mistakenly given a Charizard and an Aggron meant for Butch and Cassidy. Both of them solely existed as enemies that Ash and Brock had to defeat, just like all the Pokemon from the Rocket Prize Master, but as they left at the end of the same episode they were introduced in, Charizard and Aggron didn't overshadow the other Pokemon that the trio owned for long. By contrast, the Rocket Prize Master was used in several episodes, and with an entire catalog of Pokemon that wouldn't reappear after the episode they appeared in[[note]]With the exception of a Chewtle that was acquired and added to the Rocket Prize Master[[/note]], fans lamented that the now generic loaned Pokemon were being used in place of the trio actually catching new Pokemon who could properly be developed as characters like the ones they owned in previous series (and the one they ''did'' catch, Morpeko, quickly becoming TheScrappy among Team Rocket's Pokemon). The ''Aim To Be A Pokemon Master'' series of episodes would address this by [[spoiler:finally allowing the Team Rocket Trio to add back all their previous Pokemon to their team instead]].

* One of Goh's biggest criticisms is how he caught Pokemon by simply throwing Poke Balls at them, without weakening them first via combat. The thing is, Pokemon being caught without battles is something the anime had done from its very beginning, to the point that it was the rule rather than the exception: of the first six Pokemon Ash caught, only ''two'' were caught after being weakened in battle (Pidgeotto and Bulbasaur, and Bulbasaur had already agreed to join Ash and only requested the battle as one final test). However, of the other four Pokemon, two of them (Caterpie and Krabby) were noted to be weak enough that they could be caught without a battle to soften them up, and the other two (Charmander and Squirtle) agreed to join Ash after he befriended them, and indeed, both Ash and his traveling companions would go on to catch most of their Pokemon by befriending them rather than by fighting them. Goh, however, caught many Pokemon without neither fighting ''nor'' befriending them, which, while justified as Goh living up to his name as being a way to have the anime promote ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' (where these types of catches were commonplace), many fans found much less acceptable.

** Another point that ties to the previous two is that not only do Liko and Roy rarely win, but they also need to be saved by Friede pretty regularly and sometimes they aren't even allowed to fight on the basis that the enemy is too much for them, which feeds into the general feeling of them looking weak and incompetent while Friede is lionized. As mentioned above, Ash also tended to lose pretty often back then; however, most of Ash's serious battles were either against Gym Leaders or rivals, so losing only meant either a bruised ego and/or failing to advance in his badge quest. Liko and Roy, on the other hand, tend to get involved in more high stakes battles against (non-comedic) villains or dangerous Pokemon (including Legendaries), meaning that losing would have more serious consequences than in Ash's case, so they ''have'' to be saved by someone or kept away from battles they have little chance to win. In fact, the first time the two go toe-to-toe with a pair of the Explorer's most dangerous admins, the two of them [[spoiler:get bested very handily by the bad guys, and would have lost right then and there had Sidian not needed to take a phone call.]]

* One thing that ''BDSP'' faced criticism for is simply handing you a [[OlympusMons Mew and/or Jirachi]] for having save data for other Generation 8 games on the Switch, which was another case of "hand-holding" that the modern games are often criticized for. However, a few other past games have allowed other Legendaries to be [[DiscOneNuke Disc-One Nukes]], including the Generation I games with the Bird trio, the Gen II games with the roaming Legendaries, and ''ORAS'' giving you one of the Eon duo as a midgame event. What separated these examples was that they still took some ''effort'' to get - you had to go out of your way to catch the Birds, which made them more a case of rewarding exploration in already open-ended games, and the Roaming Legendaries were [[ScrappyMechanic such a pain in the ass to catch]] that no sane player would get one early without insane luck. In ''ORAS,'' you had a scripted Team Magma fight before meeting the Legendary, and it would take a bit of work to add to your team since it joined in the midgame and was slightly under leveled. The ''BDSP'' Mythicals were so powerful, joined so early, and were so easy to add to teams by comparison that all sense of actually earning such power is lost. That you needed to buy other Pokémon games to get the Pokémon also left a sour taste in fans' mouths after the several [[RevenueEnhancingDevices unsavory business decisions]] Game Freak and TCP had been making around that time.

Generation VII

** Game Freak is often accused simplifying later games for newer players by increasing the amount of forced tutorials and hand-holding. As early back as [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Gen II]], the player will be asked a yes/no question about basic mechanics and [[ButThouMust be forced to sit through a lengthy tutorial/explanation even if they answer "No"]], or be stopped by various characters so they can explain things that most players would have no problem figuring out on their own. However, a lot of fans only started taking issue with the tutorials and hand-holding when they reached their peak in [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Gen]] [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon VII]], which has characters stop the player on nearly every route and city (like Lillie stopping you to explain how to jump off ledges, a process that only requires you to walk toward a ledge and watch the game make you jump automatically) and never letting them be alone for too long.

* A common criticism of modern Pokémon designs is the amount of Pokémon added that seemed to be specifically made with the UsefulNotes/FurryFandom in mind, often derided as 'Furbaitmon' (Pokemon like Gardevoir, Lucario, Lopunny, Zoroark, Braixen, Incineroar, Salazzle, Meowscarada, and the like). However, even as early as ''Gen 1'', certain Pokémon can have attributes that could be considered 'Furbait-y' (Nidoqueen has prominent chest lumps obviously supposed to bring to mind breasts, Machoke is basically ALittleBitBeastly body builder, and Hitmonchan is a human boxer with a funny head). The difference is there were still enough monstrous designs and monster-design elements to those aforementioned Pokémon that they felt alien enough to still fit into the overall designs of the Pokémon at the time. Later on, however, more and more Pokémon started to be introduced that gravitated towards more humanoid designs, including design elements commonly liked in the UsefulNotes/FurryFandom, to the point it became a meme that (until Skeledirge) there are no quadruped starters anymore, and eventually hitting what people considered to be it's zenith with Salazzle, a curvy, ''LoveableSexManiac'' Pokémon that uses pheromones to ''MindControl'' Pokémon into a ''reverse harem''.

** Game Freak is often accused simplifying later games for newer players by increasing the amount of forced tutorials and hand-holding. As early back as [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Gen II]], the player will be asked a yes/no question about basic mechanics and [[ButThouMust be forced to sit through a length tutorial/explanation even if they answer "No"]], or be stopped by various characters so they can explain things that most players would have no problem figuring out on their own. However, a lot of fans only started taking issue with the tutorials and hand-holding when they reached their peak in [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Gen]] [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon VII]], which has characters stop the player on nearly every route and city (like Lillie stopping you to explain how to jump off ledges, a process that only requires you to walk toward a ledge and watch the game make you jump automatically) and never letting them be alone for too long.

** Relating to the point about Game Freak simplifying the games for newer players is the increase of forced tutorials and hand-holding. There are many instances in [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Gen IV]] and [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Gen]] [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 V]] where the player will be asked a yes/no question about basic mechanics and even if they answer "no", [[ButThouMust they'll have to sit through a lengthy tutorial/explanation anyway]], or instances where the player will be stopped by various characters so they can explain things that most players would have no problem figuring out on their own. However, a lot of fans only started taking issue with the tutorials and hand-holding when they reached their peak in [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Gen]] [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon VII]], which has characters stop the player on nearly every route and city (like Lillie stopping you to explain how to jump off ledges, a process that only requires you to walk toward a ledge and watch the game make you jump automatically) and never letting them be alone for too long.

This is best seen in [[WolverinePublicity Charizard]]. The creature already boasted great popularity with the fanbase, both in the games and in the anime, as Ash's Charizard is seen as one of his most memorable and iconic best mons right after Pikachu, even guest starring in the third film, ''[[Anime/Pokemon3 Spell of the Unown]]'', despite having [[PutOnABus left his team]] at that point. An early warning sign took place in [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver the Gen II games]] and their remakes, where Lance used one on his team despite it not otherwise not featuring any starter Pokemon, and another warning sign during the Battle Frontier arc, where a Charizard was one of two Pokemon (along with an Aggron) loaned to [[TerribleTrio the Team Rocket Trio]]. The former was accepted because Lance's Charizard still fit his theme of using dragon-like Pokemon even if they weren't all Dragon types, wasn't even his strongest Pokemon (that role belonged to one of his three Dragonite), and it still appears alongside the other two fully-evolved Kanto starters during the battle with Red. For the latter, it only appeared in a single episode, with the loaned Pokemon being taken away at the end due to being meant for Butch and Cassidy. Both instances used Charizard in moderation, not getting too much attention at the time, which only got worse as the franchise continued. Its bigger moments of scene-stealing truly started with Charizard returning to Ash's team in the Unova seasons of the anime, which was fine back then thanks to Ash's Charizard having been gone for ''years'' before making his reappearance, his last appearance before his return being Hoenn's Battle Frontier arc. Although Ash, by this point, typically never brought back members of his previous teams, people were just happy to see him again. Then the games got in on the fun, as Gen VI gave Charizard two Mega Evolutions, making it the only Pokémon in the series other than the Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo to gain such a status. People immediately started claiming favoritism. Back in the anime, the ''X and Y'' series would give Ash's new rival Alain's a signature Pokémon in the form of a very powerful Mega Evolving Charizard [[spoiler:whose victory over [[EnsembleDarkhorse Ash-Greninja]] in the Kalos League likely contributed to the Charizard burnout.]] The ''Sun and Moon'' anime would then have another Charizard as Kiawe's air transport throughout those seasons of the series.[[note]]In fairness, [[DeadArtistsAreBetter one thing this Charizard has going for it]] is that it was also one of the last roles that Creator/UnshoIshizuka voiced prior to his death.[[/note]] Charizard's role as a Ride Pokémon (serving as a replacement for Fly), which served as the basis for adapting Kiawe's Charizard, actually wasn't disliked in the games (everyone was too busy being happy that [[ScrappyMechanic HMs were finally gone after twenty years]]), and Charizard wasn't even in the Alolan Pokédex (making it the only Ride Pokemon to have this distinction), but ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' (and by extension the ''Journeys'' anime) was considered the breaking point by having a Charizard as Champion Leon's signature Pokémon, being among the Mons to get a Gigantamax form, and being the ''only returning starter line'' players could legitimately[[note]]The other 2 Kanto starter lines and the Alola starter lines all had code for them in the games but were unobtainable until ''Pokémon HOME'' launched, allowing migration[[/note]] obtain at launch, leading many to feel that Charizard was getting too much attention at the expense of both its fellow Kanto starters and other starter Pokémon as a whole. ''Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries'' would subsequently feature a Charizard belonging to Rising Volt Tacklers leader Friede, but although it would have a somewhat prominent role as one of Friede's primary battlers and was one of the first Pokemon seen using the Terastal phenomenon, it is not given CharacterShilling like Leon's Charizard was.

This is best seen in [[WolverinePublicity Charizard]]. The creature already boasted great popularity with the fanbase, both in the games and in the anime, as Ash's Charizard is seen as one of his most memorable and iconic best mons right after Pikachu, even guest starring in the third film, ''[[Anime/Pokemon3 Spell of the Unown]]'', despite having [[PutOnABus left his team]] at that point. An early warning sign took place in [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver the Gen II games]], where Lance used one on his team as the Champion despite his team otherwise not featuring any starter Pokemon, and another warning sign during the Battle Frontier arc, where a Charizard was one of two Pokemon (along with an Aggron) loaned to [[TerribleTrio the Team Rocket Trio]]. The former was accepted because Lance's Charizard still fit his theme of using dragon-like Pokemon even if they weren't all Dragon types, and it still appears alongside the other two Kanto starters during the post-game battle with Red. For the latter, it only appeared in a single episode, with the loaned Pokemon being taken away at the end due to actually being meant for Butch and Cassidy. Both instances used Charizard in moderation, not getting too much attention at the time, which only got worse as the franchise continued. Its bigger moments of scene-stealing truly started with Charizard returning to Ash's team in the Unova seasons of the anime, which was fine back then thanks to Ash's Charizard having been gone for ''years'' before making his reappearance, his last appearance prior to his return being Hoenn's Battle Frontier arc. Although Ash by this point never brought back members of his previous teams, people were just happy to see him again. Then the games got in on the fun, as Gen VI gave Charizard two Mega Evolutions, making it the only Pokémon in the series other than the Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo to gain such a status. People immediately stated claiming favoritism. Back in the anime, the ''X and Y'' series would give Ash's new rival Alain's a signature Pokémon in the form of a very powerful Mega Evolving Charizard [[spoiler:whose victory over [[EnsembleDarkhorse Ash-Greninja]] in the Kalos League likely contributed to the Charizard burnout.]] The ''Sun and Moon'' anime would then have another Charizard as Kiawe's air transport throughout those seasons of the series.[[note]]In fairness, [[DeadArtistsAreBetter one thing this Charizard has going for it]] is that it was also one of the last roles that Creator/UnshoIshizuka voiced prior to his death.[[/note]] Charizard's role as a Ride Pokémon (serving as a replacement for Fly), which served as the basis for adapting Kiawe's Charizard, actually wasn't disliked in the games (everyone was too busy being happy that [[ScrappyMechanic HMs were finally gone after twenty years]]), and Charizard wasn't even in the Alolan Pokédex (making it the only Ride Pokemon to have this distinction), but ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' was considered the breaking point by having a Charizard as Champion Leon's signature Pokémon, being among the Mons to get a Gigantamax form, and being the ''only returning starter line'' players could legitimately[[note]]The other 2 Kanto starter lines and the Alola starter lines all had code for them in the games but were unobtainable until ''Pokémon HOME'' launched, allowing migration[[/note]] obtain at launch, leading many to feel that Charizard was getting too much attention at the expense of both its fellow Kanto starters and other starter Pokémon as a whole. ''Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries'' would subsequently feature a Charizard belonging to Rising Volt Tacklers leader Friede, but although it would have a somewhat prominent role as one of Friede's primary battlers and was one of the first Pokemon seen using the Terastal phenomenon, it is not given CharacterShilling like Leon's Charizard was.

This is best seen in [[WolverinePublicity Charizard]]. The creature already boasted great popularity with the fanbase, both in the games and in the anime, as Ash's Charizard is seen as one of his most memorable and iconic best mons right after Pikachu, even guest starring in the third film, ''[[Anime/Pokemon3 Spell of the Unown]]'', despite having [[PutOnABus left his team]] at that point. An early warning sign took place in [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver the Gen II games]], where Lance used one on his team as the Champion despite his team otherwise not featuring any starter Pokemon, and another warning sign during the Battle Frontier arc, where a Charizard was one of two Pokemon (along with an Aggron) loaned to [[TerribleTrio the Team Rocket Trio]]. The former was accepted because Lance's Charizard still fit his theme of using dragon-like Pokemon even if they weren't all Dragon types, it wasn't even his ace unlike with Leon's later use of it (that role went to the strongest of his three Dragonite), and it still appears alongside the other two Kanto starters during the post-game battle with Red. For the latter, it only appeared in a single episode, with the loaned Pokemon being taken away at the end due to actually being meant for Butch and Cassidy. Both instances used Charizard in moderation, not getting too much attention at the time, which only got worse as the franchise continued. Its bigger moments of scene-stealing truly started with Charizard returning to Ash's team in the Unova seasons of the anime, which was fine back then thanks to Ash's Charizard having been gone for ''years'' before making his reappearance, his last appearance prior to his return being Hoenn's Battle Frontier arc. Although Ash by this point never brought back members of his previous teams, people were just happy to see him again. Then the games got in on the fun, as Gen VI gave Charizard two Mega Evolutions, making it the only Pokémon in the series other than the Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo to gain such a status. People immediately stated claiming favoritism. Back in the anime, the ''X and Y'' series would give Ash's new rival Alain's a signature Pokémon in the form of a very powerful Mega Evolving Charizard [[spoiler:whose victory over [[EnsembleDarkhorse Ash-Greninja]] in the Kalos League likely contributed to the Charizard burnout.]] The ''Sun and Moon'' anime would then have another Charizard as Kiawe's air transport throughout those seasons of the series.[[note]]In fairness, [[DeadArtistsAreBetter one thing this Charizard has going for it]] is that it was also one of the last roles that Creator/UnshoIshizuka voiced prior to his death.[[/note]] Charizard's role as a Ride Pokémon (serving as a replacement for Fly), which served as the basis for adapting Kiawe's Charizard, actually wasn't disliked in the games (everyone was too busy being happy that [[ScrappyMechanic HMs were finally gone after twenty years]]), and Charizard wasn't even in the Alolan Pokédex (making it the only Ride Pokemon to have this distinction), but ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' was considered the breaking point by having a Charizard as Champion Leon's signature Pokémon, being among the Mons to get a Gigantamax form, and being the ''only returning starter line'' players could legitimately[[note]]The other 2 Kanto starter lines and the Alola starter lines all had code for them in the games but were unobtainable until ''Pokémon HOME'' launched, allowing migration[[/note]] obtain at launch, leading many to feel that Charizard was getting too much attention at the expense of both its fellow Kanto starters and other starter Pokémon as a whole. ''Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries'' would subsequently feature a Charizard belonging to Rising Volt Tacklers leader Friede, but although it would have a somewhat prominent role as one of Friede's primary battlers and was one of the first Pokemon seen using the Terastal phenomenon, it is not given CharacterShilling like Leon's Charizard was.

This is best seen in [[WolverinePublicity Charizard]]. The creature already boasted great popularity with the fanbase, both in the games and in the anime, as Ash's Charizard is seen as one of his most memorable and iconic best mons right after Pikachu, even guest starring in the third film, ''[[Anime/Pokemon3 Spell of the Unown]]'', despite having [[PutOnABus left his team]] at that point. An early warning sign took place in [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver the Gen II games]], where Lance used one on his team as the Champion despite his team otherwise not featuring any starter Pokemon, and another warning sign during the Battle Frontier arc, where a Charizard was one of two Pokemon (along with an Aggron) loaned to [[TerribleTrio the Team Rocket Trio]]. The former was accepted because Lance's Charizard still fit his theme of using dragon-like Pokemon even if they weren't all Dragon types, it wasn't even his ace unlike with Leon's later use of it (that role went to the strongest of his three Dragonite), and it still appears alongside the other two Kanto starters during the post-game battle with Red. For the latter, it only appeared in a single episode, with the loaned Pokemon being taken away at the end due to actually being meant for Butch and Cassidy. Both instances used Charizard in moderation, not getting too much attention at the time, which only got worse as the franchise continued. Its bigger moments of scene-stealing truly started with Charizard returning to Ash's team in the Unova seasons of the anime, which was fine back then thanks to Ash's Charizard having been gone for ''years'' before making his reappearance, his last appearance prior to his return being Hoenn's Battle Frontier arc. Although Ash by this point never brought back members of his previous teams, people were just happy to see him again. Then the games got in on the fun, as Gen VI gave Charizard two Mega Evolutions, making it the only Pokémon in the series other than the Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo to gain such a status. People immediately stated claiming favoritism. Back in the anime, the ''X and Y'' series would give Ash's new rival Alain's a signature Pokémon in the form of a very powerful Mega Evolving Charizard [[spoiler:whose victory over [[EnsembleDarkhorse Ash-Greninja]] in the Kalos League likely contributed to the Charizard burnout.]] The ''Sun and Moon'' anime would then have another Charizard as Kiawe's air transport throughout those seasons of the series.[[note]]In fairness, [[DeadArtistsAreBetter one thing this Charizard has going for it]] is that it was also one of the last roles that Creator/UnshoIshizuka voiced prior to his death.[[/note]] Charizard's role as a Ride Pokémon (serving as a replacement for Fly), which served as the basis for adapting Kiawe's Charizard, actually wasn't disliked in the games (everyone was too busy being happy that [[ScrappyMechanic HMs were finally gone after twenty years]]), and Charizard wasn't even in the Alolan Pokédex (making it the only Ride Pokemon to have this distinction), but ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' was considered the breaking point by having a Charizard as Champion Leon's signature Pokémon, being among the Mons to get a Gigantamax form, and being the ''only returning starter line'' players could legitimately[[note]]The other 2 Kanto starter lines and the Alola starter lines all had code for them in the games but were unobtainable until ''Pokémon HOME'' launched, allowing migration[[/note]] obtain at launch, leading many to feel that Charizard was getting too much attention at the expense of both its fellow Kanto starters and other starter Pokémon as a whole. ''Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries'' would subsequently feature a Charizard belonging to Rising Volt Tacklers leader Friede, but although it would have a somewhat prominent role as one of Friede's primary battlers and was the first Pokemon seen using the Terastal phenomenon, it is not given CharacterShilling like Leon's Charizard was.

This is best seen in [[WolverinePublicity Charizard]]. The creature already boasted great popularity with the fanbase, both in the games and in the anime, as Ash's Charizard is seen as one of his most memorable and iconic best mons right after Pikachu, even guest starring in the third film, '[['Anime/Pokemon3 Spell of the Unown]]'', despite having [[PutOnABus left his team]] at that point. An early warning sign took place in [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver the Gen II games]], where Lance used one on his team as the Champion despite his team otherwise not featuring any starter Pokemon, and another warning sign during the Battle Frontier arc, where a Charizard was one of two Pokemon (along with an Aggron) loaned to [[TerribleTrio the Team Rocket Trio]]. The former was accepted because Lance's Charizard still fit his theme of using dragon-like Pokemon even if they weren't all Dragon types, it wasn't even his ace unlike with Leon's later use of it (that role went to the strongest of his three Dragonite), and it still appears alongside the other two Kanto starters during the post-game battle with Red. For the latter, it only appeared in a single episode, with the loaned Pokemon being taken away at the end due to actually being meant for Butch and Cassidy. Both instances used Charizard in moderation, not getting too much attention at the time, which only got worse as the franchise continued. Its bigger moments of scene-stealing truly started with Charizard returning to Ash's team in the Unova seasons of the anime, which was fine back then thanks to Ash's Charizard having been gone for ''years'' before making his reappearance, his last appearance prior to his return being Hoenn's Battle Frontier arc. Although Ash by this point never brought back members of his previous teams, people were just happy to see him again. Then the games got in on the fun, as Gen VI gave Charizard two Mega Evolutions, making it the only Pokémon in the series other than the Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo to gain such a status. People immediately stated claiming favoritism. Back in the anime, the ''X and Y'' series would give Ash's new rival Alain's a signature Pokémon in the form of a very powerful Mega Evolving Charizard [[spoiler:whose victory over [[EnsembleDarkhorse Ash-Greninja]] in the Kalos League likely contributed to the Charizard burnout.]] The ''Sun and Moon'' anime would then have another Charizard as Kiawe's air transport throughout those seasons of the series.[[note]]In fairness, [[DeadArtistsAreBetter one thing this Charizard has going for it]] is that it was also one of the last roles that Creator/UnshoIshizuka voiced prior to his death.[[/note]] Charizard's role as a Ride Pokémon (serving as a replacement for Fly), which served as the basis for adapting Kiawe's Charizard, actually wasn't disliked in the games (everyone was too busy being happy that [[ScrappyMechanic HMs were finally gone after twenty years]]), and Charizard wasn't even in the Alolan Pokédex (making it the only Ride Pokemon to have this distinction), but ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' was considered the breaking point by having a Charizard as Champion Leon's signature Pokémon, being among the Mons to get a Gigantamax form, and being the ''only returning starter line'' players could legitimately[[note]]The other 2 Kanto starter lines and the Alola starter lines all had code for them in the games but were unobtainable until ''Pokémon HOME'' launched, allowing migration[[/note]] obtain at launch, leading many to feel that Charizard was getting too much attention at the expense of both its fellow Kanto starters and other starter Pokémon as a whole. ''Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries'' would subsequently feature a Charizard belonging to Rising Volt Tacklers leader Friede, but although it would have a somewhat prominent role as one of Friede's primary battlers and was the first Pokemon seen using the Terastal phenomenon, it is not given CharacterShilling like Leon's Charizard was.

This is best seen in [[WolverinePublicity Charizard]]. The creature already boasted great popularity with the fanbase, both in the games and in the anime, as Ash's Charizard is seen as one of his most memorable and iconic best mons right after Pikachu, even guest starring in the third film, ''Anime/SpellOfTheUnown'', despite having [[PutOnABus left his team]] at that point. An early warning sign took place in [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver the Gen II games]], where Lance used one on his team as the Champion despite his team otherwise not featuring any starter Pokemon, and another warning sign during the Battle Frontier arc, where a Charizard was one of two Pokemon (along with an Aggron) loaned to [[TerribleTrio the Team Rocket Trio]]. The former was accepted because Lance's Charizard still fit his theme of using dragon-like Pokemon even if they weren't all Dragon types, it wasn't even his ace unlike with Leon's later use of it (that role went to the strongest of his three Dragonite), and it still appears alongside the other two Kanto starters during the post-game battle with Red. For the latter, it only appeared in a single episode, with the loaned Pokemon being taken away at the end due to actually being meant for Butch and Cassidy. Both instances used Charizard in moderation, not getting too much attention at the time, which only got worse as the franchise continued. Its bigger moments of scene-stealing truly started with Charizard returning to Ash's team in the Unova seasons of the anime, which was fine back then thanks to Ash's Charizard having been gone for ''years'' before making his reappearance, his last appearance prior to his return being Hoenn's Battle Frontier arc. Although Ash by this point never brought back members of his previous teams, people were just happy to see him again. Then the games got in on the fun, as Gen VI gave Charizard two Mega Evolutions, making it the only Pokémon in the series other than the Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo to gain such a status. People immediately stated claiming favoritism. Back in the anime, the ''X and Y'' series would give Ash's new rival Alain's a signature Pokémon in the form of a very powerful Mega Evolving Charizard [[spoiler:whose victory over [[EnsembleDarkhorse Ash-Greninja]] in the Kalos League likely contributed to the Charizard burnout.]] The ''Sun and Moon'' anime would then have another Charizard as Kiawe's air transport throughout those seasons of the series.[[note]]In fairness, [[DeadArtistsAreBetter one thing this Charizard has going for it]] is that it was also one of the last roles that Creator/UnshoIshizuka voiced prior to his death.[[/note]] Charizard's role as a Ride Pokémon (serving as a replacement for Fly), which served as the basis for adapting Kiawe's Charizard, actually wasn't disliked in the games (everyone was too busy being happy that [[ScrappyMechanic HMs were finally gone after twenty years]]), and Charizard wasn't even in the Alolan Pokédex (making it the only Ride Pokemon to have this distinction), but ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' was considered the breaking point by having a Charizard as Champion Leon's signature Pokémon, being among the Mons to get a Gigantamax form, and being the ''only returning starter line'' players could legitimately[[note]]The other 2 Kanto starter lines and the Alola starter lines all had code for them in the games but were unobtainable until ''Pokémon HOME'' launched, allowing migration[[/note]] obtain at launch, leading many to feel that Charizard was getting too much attention at the expense of both its fellow Kanto starters and other starter Pokémon as a whole. ''Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries'' would subsequently feature a Charizard belonging to Rising Volt Tacklers leader Friede, but although it would have a somewhat prominent role as one of Friede's primary battlers and was the first Pokemon seen using the Terastal phenomenon, it is not given CharacterShilling like Leon's Charizard was.

This is best seen in [[WolverinePublicity Charizard]]. The creature already boasted great popularity with the fanbase, both in the games and in the anime, as Ash's Charizard is seen as one of his most memorable and iconic best mons right after Pikachu. An early warning sign took place during the Battle Frontier arc, where a Charizard was one of two Pokemon (along with an Aggron) loaned to [[TerribleTrio the Team Rocket Trio]], but as it was only a single episode (with the loaned Pokemon being taken away due to actually being meant for Butch and Cassidy), this was more tolerated than later instances of the dragon-like Pokemon getting greater attention over several episodes in later series. It truly started with Charizard returning to Ash's team in the Unova seasons of the anime, which was fine back then thanks to Ash's Charizard having been gone for ''years'' before making his reappearance, his last appearance prior to his return being Hoenn's Battle Frontier arc. People were just happy to see him again. Then the games got in on the fun, as Gen VI gave Charizard two Mega Evolutions, making it the only Pokémon in the series other than the Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo to gain such a status. People immediately stated claiming favoritism. Back in the anime, the ''X and Y'' series would give Ash's new rival Alain's a signature Pokémon in the form of a very powerful Mega Evolving Charizard [[spoiler:whose victory over [[EnsembleDarkhorse Ash-Greninja]] in the Kalos League likely contributed to the Charizard burnout.]] The ''Sun and Moon'' anime would then have another Charizard as Kiawe's air transport throughout those seasons of the series.[[note]]In fairness, [[DeadArtistsAreBetter one thing this Charizard has going for it]] is that it was also one of the last roles that Creator/UnshoIshizuka voiced prior to his death.[[/note]] Charizard's role as a Ride Pokémon actually wasn't disliked in the games (everyone was too busy being happy that [[ScrappyMechanic HMs were finally gone after twenty years]]), and Charizard wound up the sole Ride Pokémon not in the Alolan Pokédex, but ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' was considered the breaking point by having a Charizard as Champion Leon's signature Pokémon, being among the Mons to get a Gigantamax form, and being the ''only returning starter line'' players could legitimately[[note]]The other 2 Kanto starter lines and the Alola starter lines all had code for them in the games, but were unobtainable until ''Pokémon HOME'' launched, allowing migration.[[/note]] obtain at launch, being in the Galarian Pokédex this time around, leading many to feel that Charizard was getting too much attention at the expense of both its fellow Kanto starters and starter Pokémon as a whole. ''Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries'' would subsequently feature a Charizard belonging to Rising Volt Tacklers leader Friede, but although it would have a somewhat prominent role as one of Friede's primary battlers, and even made use of the Terastal phenomenon, it is not given CharacterShilling like Leon's Charizard.

* Another major issue facing ''Black and White'' was the seeming unwillingness for some of Ash's Pokémon to evolve fully[[note]]Specifically Oshawott, Snivy, and Scraggy, Tepig and Roggenrola only evolving to their first stage, and Palpitoad staying as it was when it was first caught.[[/note]], holding back his full potential from being able to win battles. This issue itself could be traced back to the original series, as some of Ash's Pokémon either refused (Pikachu, Bulbasaur), only bothered to do so once (Bayleef, Donphan after one series, and Quliava after two other series), or never bothered at all without giving a reason why (Squirtle, Totodile). Back then, it was at least acceptable in Kanto because the series gave an explicit reason behind Pikachu's refusal [[note]]That he wanted to get stronger all on his own without evolving into Raichu.[[/note]], and implied the reason why Bulbasaur didn't[[note]]It had been a common fan theory that seeing the once loyal Charmander evolve into the feisty and ill-tempered Charmeleon, and later the even worse Charizard, scared Bulbasaur into not wanting to evolve. The series implies because of this, he and Squirtle took a pact not to do so and avoid becoming loose cannons like their former friend did.[[/note]], but it nonetheless made it clear that evolution is the ''Pokémon's'' choice and not just the trainers, and established that not evolving his team did have some benefits[[note]]Chiefly that it made them more nimble and able to access more powerful moves early, even if they lacked the extra strength and durability of their evolved forms.[[/note]]. Even then, it at least had the majority of Ash's team either evolve[[note]]Caterpie, Pidgeotto, Charmander, and Krabby[[/note]], be caught fully evolved[[note]]Muk, Snorlax (retroactively after Munchlax was added), and his Shiny Noctowl[[/note]], or be unable to evolve at all[[note]]Tauros, Lapras, and Heracross[[/note]]. However, as Ash's teams diversified in later series, the bulk of them did fully evolve where possible, including his Hoenn[[note]]Taillow, Treeko, Snorunt, and Aipom (albeit after it was traded away)[[/note]] and Sinnoh[[note]]Starly, Turtwig, Chimcar, and Gligar[[/note]] teams, with the only exceptions being for RuleOfFunny (Corphish and Gible), and an implied reason it disliked its evolution (Buizel). Because of these new evolutions, it gave Ash access to more powerful teams with even more powerful moves, following up on his growth as a trainer. But once he hit Unova and TookALevelInDumbass, the inability or unwillingness to evolve all of his team beyond their pre-evolution or first stage[[note]]The sole exceptions being Pidove, Sewaddle, and Krokorok[[/note]] only served to make Ash seemingly handicap himself further. Eventually, the writers got the hint, and all of his Kalos, Alolan, and ''Journeys'' mons that could evolve all the way did, with the sole exception being his Rowlet by justifying that he wanted to stay as he was to keep sleeping in Ash's backpack.

* The Pokémon games during [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY the]] [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon 3DS]] [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon era]] were roundly criticized for villain team plots stealing the spotlight from the player's quest ToBeAMaster; said villain plots being referred to as "[[PlotTumor intrusive distractions]]". But the villain plots were "[[BrokenBridge distractions]]" all the way back in ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue''. Team Rocket's role in the game was A: blocking the way to Bill, B: keeping the item needed to wake Snorlax under lock and key, and C: closing off Sabrina's Gym. The ''only'' [[ContinuityNod connection]] that the 8th Gym had to the villain plot was Giovanni trying to ''rebuild'' Team Rocket through the Gym; aside from that reference, the encounter was just another Gym battle.\\

* Another major issue facing ''Black and White'' was the seeming unwillingness for some of Ash's Pokémon to evolve fully[[note]]Specifically Oshawott, Snivy, and Scraggy, Tepig and Roggenrola only evolving to their first stage, and Palpitoad staying as it was when it was first caught.[[/note]], holding back his full potential from being able to win battles. This issue itself could be traced back to the original series, as some of Ash's Pokémon either refused (Pikachu, Bulbasaur), only bothered to do so once (Bayleef, Donphan after one series, and Quliava after two other series), or never bothered at all without giving a reason why (Squirtle, Totodile). Back then, it was at least acceptable in Kanto because the series gave an explicit reason behind Pikachu's refusal [[note]]That he wanted to get stronger all on his own without evolving into Raichu.[[/note]], and implied the reason why Bulbasaur didn't[[note]]It had been a common fan theory that seeing the once loyal Charmander evolve into the feisty and ill-tempered Charmeleon, and later the even worse Charizard, scared Bulbasaur into not wanting to evolve. The series implies because of this, he and Squirtle took a pact not to do so and avoid becoming loose cannons like their former friend did.[[/note]], but it nonetheless made it clear that evolution is the ''Pokémon's'' choice and not just the trainers, and established that not evolving his team did have some benefits[[note]]Chiefly that it made them more nimble and able to access more powerful moves early, even if they lacked the extra strength and durability of their evolved forms.[[/note]]. Even then, it at least had the majority of Ash's team either evolve[[note]]Caterpie, Pidgeotto, Charmander, and Krabby[[/note]], be caught fully evolved[[note]]Muk, Snorlax (retroactively after Munchlax was added), and his Shiny Noctowl[[/note]], or be unable to evolve at all[[note]]Tauros, Lapras, and Heracross[[/note]]. However, as Ash's teams diversified in later series, the bulk of them did fully evolve where possible, including his Hoenn[[note]]Tailow, Treeko, Snorunt, and Aipom (albeit after it was traded away)[[/note]] and Sinnoh[[note]]Starly, Turtwig, Chimcar, and Gligar[[/note]] teams, with the only exceptions being for RuleOfFunny (Corphish and Gible), and an implied reason it disliked its evolution (Buizel). Because of these new evolutions, it gave Ash access to more powerful teams with even more powerful moves, following up on his growth as a trainer. But once he hit Unova and TookALevelInDumbass, the inability or unwillingness to evolve all of his team beyond their pre-evolution or first stage[[note]]The sole exceptions being Pidove, Sewaddle, and Krokorok[[/note]] only served to make Ash seemingly handicap himself further. Eventually, the writers got the hint, and all of his Kalos, Alolan, and ''Journeys'' mons that could evolve all the way did, with the sole exception being his Rowlett by justifying that he wanted to stay as he was to keep sleeping in Ash's backpack.

* One of Goh's biggest criticisms is how he caught Pokemon by simply throwing pokeballs at them, without weaking them first via combat. The thing is, Pokemon being caught without battles is something the anime had done from its very beginning, to the point that it was the rule rather than the exception: of the first six Pokemon Ash caught, only ''two'' were caught after being weakened in battle (Pidgeotto and Bulbasaur, and Bulbasaur had already agreed to join Ash and only requested the battle as one final test). However, of the other four Pokemon, two of them (Caterpie and Krabby) were noted to be weak enough that they could be caught without a battle to soften them up, and the other two (Charmander and Squirtle) agreed to join Ash after he befriended them, and indeed, both Ash and his traveling companions would go on to catch most of their Pokemon by befriending them rather than by fighting them. Goh, however, caught many Pokemon without neither fighting ''nor'' befriending them, which many fans found much less acceptable.

*** Speaking of the BrokenAesop and InformedWrongness issue, Ash's loss at the Indigo Plateau being blamed entirely on him despite the fact that almost all the circumstances weren't his fault was a frequent issue that happened during prior episodes of the series, such as "Challenge of the Samurai"[[note]]Where Ash was supposed to be taught a lesson in accepting responsibility, despite the titular samurai causing more problems for Ash and then blaming the results of them on him[[/note]], "Pokémon Scent-sation!"[[note]]Where Ash is denied permission to challenge Erika's gym because he insulted her perfume, even though Ash had a legal right to challenge the gym and the assistants who banned him were going over their bosses' head[[note]], and anytime Brock and Misty tried claiming Ash only got their badges out of pity[[note]]Ignoring the fact that Ash got the Boulder Badge because he chose to forfeit instead of winning a match by cheating, which impressed Brock into giving it to him, and it was Misty's sisters that gave Ash the badge for saving their gym from Team Rocket, making Misty come off as a SoreLoser[[/note]]. While those episodes had such infamous moments that led to a great mockery from fans, they were largely minor flaws that only cropped up a few times during the show and didn't have too strong an impact (aside from Ash's Metapod evolving into Butterfree, Ash getting his fourth badge, and Misty and Brock's criticisms of Ash's behavior largely focusing on his big ego and lack of training) on Ash's journey. When it came time for the league, this attempt to blame Ash solely for everything that happened came off as insincere to fans, since it was trying to blame Ash for everything that he ''didn't'' do that episode.

** While Ash scored more victories than Liko and Roy did, it still wasn't much (in the first 25 episodes of his series, Ash only won three battles against other trainers with no strings attached: against Giselle, Surge, and a nameless trainer at the start of Episode 8). However, some of the few wins Ash got still became iconic (like his rematch against Surge) while Liko and Roy don't have anything like that, and his better performance in later years makes it easier to watch the early defeats knowing it gets better for him, while we have yet to have that for the new ''Horizons'' protagonists.