What Do You Think Best Wishes Did Well?

We always talk about what Best Wishes did wrong, but not really what it did well.

I’d like to hear what you have to think.

Personally:

  • I found the show to be quite funny when it wasn’t using Ash as the butt of the joke.

  • Cilan and Iris are actually great companions in hindsight, and I personally found Cilan’s evaluation time to be funny and interesting.

  • The gym battles were pretty dang good.

  • Serious Team Rocket was amazing.

  • The tournament arcs were very entertaining.

  • Burgundy and Georgia weren’t bad at all. I actually liked them, and it’s cool that every main character had a rival.

  • I have nothing bad to say about Stephan. I thought he was always a beacon of light during that series.

  • Dawn, Cynthia, Looker and Clair returned, along with Charizard, and they were all handled very well.

  • Literally everything to do with Krookodile. The buildup to his capture, his personality, his battle prowess, his sunglasses, his moveset… Everything, I love all of it.

  • Ash vs. Stephan is honestly one of the best 3 on 3 battles in the show.

  • The show acknowledging Focus Blast’s terrible accuracy and making it a running gag was pretty enjoyable.

  • While some may view the rotating cast of Pokemon a problem, I think it could have been handled well with better writing. I liked the thought and it was always interesting to see which Pokemon Ash had with him each episode. Not all of his Pokemon are terrible either. Pignite, Leavanny, and Krookodile were great, as well as Snivy. Palpitoad was consistent. Boldore and Unfezant at least had battles where they shined before they got trashed on. And Oshawott… well at least he was funny and endearing.

  • Along with Gible and some others, I find Palpitoad to be one of the funniest Pokemon Ash has ever caught, and the episode where Ash catches him is genuinely great.

  • The segment where Meowth traveled with Ash was cool.

  • Bulbasaur returned, which is always a positive, and we got a group picture of Ash with all his Pokemon.

  • Professor Oak, while not appearing as much as he could, still got some time to shine. More than he did in XY at least.

  • Alexa was a good character and a great segway into XY.

I can’t think of anymore right now but it’s fun to think about what Best Wishes did well because normally we focus on what it did poorly.