There are many great characters who have been a part of the storylines in the Pokémon game series. From rivals to antagonists, the series has introduced characters who have helped shape the series and progress the storyline as a whole. However, the majority of these characters have also been reduced to cameo appearances or minimal roles in the Pokémon anime, which seems lacking for their importance during the games. They are also often swept under the rug during the course of the game series, only showing up when they are absolutely needed for a key part of the story. Because of this, many of these popular characters have never had a chance to grow, expand, or be a bigger part of the overall story.
One of the primary reasons the main Pokémon games have had a hard time including well-thought-out NPCs is because the gameplay is primarily focused on what the player’s character experiences. Since the player travels alone and only occasionally bumps into characters of interest, it greatly limits the impact other characters can have during gameplay that isn’t plot-essential. This worked well in earlier Pokémon titles, which were limited by graphics and possessed gameplay primarily geared towards an exploration-based RPG experience instead of a complex narrative. This has become more frustrating as NPC storylines become more important in recent Pokémon games, like Sword and Shield.
While the lack of character growth and inclusion in the games is understandable, the real frustrations arise with lacking character development in the Pokémon animated series. Many important characters from the Pokémon games make it into the anime, whether for short cameo appearances as Ash passes through a town or as reoccurring faces throughout the season. However, it isn’t uncommon for these personalities in the Pokémon games to be boiled down to anime stereotypes like air-headedness, or being overly stoic. There are even instances of creepy changes, which can be seen in characters like Brock or Professor Sycamore, who portray a “promiscuous male” stereotype with badly placed pick-up lines directed at female characters, even if the female characters tell them to stop. Many of these traits weren’t present in their original personalities, and damage their appearances in other media like the Pokémon animated series.
Best Pokémon Characters The Anime Missed – Professor Sycamore
Augustine Sycamore is the Pokémon Professor for the Kalos region in Pokémon X and Y. He is an interesting professor due to his involvement with the overarching plot of the X and Y games. He is good friends with Lysandre, who is eventually revealed to be the diabolical leader of the antagonist group Team Flare. Professor Sycamore is included in the Pokémon XY and Z anime, but his character has been overhauled.
While he is still charismatic and his studies focus on the effects of Mega Evolution, he has been turned into a creepy, lecherous older man. His relationship with Lysandre has also been erased, removing the important place Sycamore played as the double-crossed, well-meaning friend who genuinely cared for Lysandre’s goals and ambitions. Sycamore’s inclusion in the animated series could have been much stronger if his original personality and role had been kept, and it is disappointing to see a younger professor with such a likable personality boiled down to uncomfortable tropes.
Best Pokémon Characters The Anime Missed – Rival Wally
Wally is the rival character in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. He is a sickly boy who goes on a Pokémon journey to become stronger, and looks up to the main character as they travel together, regularly facing off in battle, through the Hoenn region. Wally was never included in the Pokémon animated series, despite having such an important role in the story. Instead, he is overshadowed by May, the female rival of Ruby and Sapphire, who becomes the token female companion as Ash travels the Hoenn region. This erases Wall from the story completely.
In Pokémon Twilight Wings, a series of animated shorts set in the Galar region, there is a Character named John who is hospitalized for a weak constitution, whose story is similar to Wally’s, but Wally himself is unlikely to ever be included in any animated series content. This is unfortunate, as his position as the underdog in Ruby and Sapphire makes him a loveable character, and one many players cheer on as he battles against his own personal struggles to do the best he can to become a competent trainer. He is also a diverse character that players with health struggles or disabilities can relate to, and removing him takes away the inclusion he brings to the series.
Best Pokémon Characters The Anime Missed – Gym Leader Piers
Of all the mysterious characters in the Pokémon series, the Dark-type Gym Leader of Spikemuth in Pokémon Sword and Shield is a character many may want to know more about. During the course of the game, Piers seems to be a potential antagonist, even being revealed as the leader of Team Yell, but as the events unfold, it turns out Piers has been a victim to Chairman Rose for a long time. Refusing to include Dynamax in his Gym, his town falls into ruin, and he takes the weight of this burden as his own personal responsibility, so much so that he eventually steps down as Gym Leader, despite being powerful and well-liked.
Piers has yet to make an appearance in Pokémon Journeys, despite his importance in the storyline of Sword and Shield, and is only fleetingly featured in Twilight Wings. This may be disappointing for fans who had hoped to learn more about his backstory, and how Chairman Rose used him as a scapegoat while rising to power.
There are many characters who could be expanded on if they were included in the Pokémon anime. While the Pokémon series has released Pokémon Generations and Twilight Wings, these ten minute shorts don’t often delve deeper into character backstories, but instead provide small appearances in a simple, over-arching storylines. Because of this, many characters who have much to offer the Pokémon animated series may forever remain missing or misrepresented, leaving fans to wonder how their inclusion could have better shaped the overall story.
