Pokémon: 10 Things About The Anime That Annoyed Fans Of The Games

Even though the Pokémon anime is inspired by the video game series, there are inconsistencies & changes that annoy true fans of the games.

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First premiering in 1996, the Pokémon games quickly took the world by storm. Combining straightforward JRPG elements with monster collecting, it was an instant success in Japan and a hit when it made its way to the United States. Following up on the success of the games, the anime premiered a year after their release and helped launch the franchise to new heights.

While both the anime and the games have remained immensely popular and have a mutually beneficial relationship, it can be a point of division for fans. The anime often follows different rules than those established in the games, which can be frustrating for fans of the games.

10 Team Rocket Is A Joke

While Jesse, James, and Meowth are beloved characters in the anime, they are very different from the Team Rocket that appeared in the games. The blundering trio is clearly designed to be comedic relief, a stark contrast to the criminal syndicate that appeared in the early games. This trend was made even worse in the recent I Choose You version of the show.

While the anime occasionally demonstrates that most of the organization is more serious than those three, they remain the face of Team Rocket throughout the course of the anime.

9 There’s A Lack Of Items Used During Battle

Like most JRPGs, Pokémon features a large number of useful recovery and battle items. While many of these items appear in the anime, they are consistently underutilized. It can be frustrating for fans to see the anime present a problem that could easily be solved by a common item from the games.

Perhaps the most egregious example of this is the almost complete lack of held items, which are very important to the games. They serve to help differentiate how the same breed of Pokémon can use different tactics, making their absence all the more frustrating.

8 Pokémon Are Able To Learn Any Number Of Moves

Training Pokémon in the anime often seems easier in some regards. One big part of that is that trainers in the anime don’t have to worry about choosing which moves their Pokémon learns. While the games have always had a hard limit of four moves known, Pokémon in the anime seem capable of learning any number of moves.

This is annoying as it seems to remove much of the strategy involved in Pokémon training. It also makes Ash and his friend’s achievements seem less impressive than those accomplished by trainers in the games.

7 Pokémon Can Combine Moves

The Pokémon anime occasionally features Pokémon combining moves to create improvised super combos, particularly during double battles. While some of these moves have been added in newer games, they are few and far between compared to the anime. It’s one of the biggest ways battles differ in the anime.

While most complaints about the anime from game fans center around missing elements, this is one case where the anime has something that feels strangely absent from the games. The big combo attack is just as common in RPG’s as it is in anime, so its relative absence in the games is a bit of a letdown.

6 Pokémon Dodge Attacks That Never Miss

Sometimes the smallest details can create the biggest sense of discontinuity for fans. One such detail is that Pokémon in the anime frequently dodge attacks that never miss in the games. Swift and Aerial Ace, attacks that are defined by their unerring accuracy in the games, have missed in the anime.

While it’s not a major detail, it’s this sort of inconsistency that can really get under the skin of fans. That said, the friendship dodge bonus introduced in the sixth generation helps bridge this gap somewhat.

5 Pokémon Use Moves They Can’t Learn In The Games

In addition to type and stats, Pokémon are mechanically defined largely by the moves they can learn. As such, when fans see a Pokémon using an attack they can’t learn in the game, it always comes as a shock.

Some of these cases can be explained by mistranslation or unclear language, but many are blatant differences. Some of these cases are egregious, while others are fairly intuitive, such as having a Pokémon be able to tackle despite not having access to that move in the games.

4 Moves Don’t Behave The Same Way

Moves in the anime are much more flexible and unpredictable than they are in the games. Whether it’s using Steel Wing to deflect an Electric attack or Focus Punch as a counterattack, it’s clear that moves follow different rules in the anime.

While moves in the games are clear cut and rule-bound, the anime often expands on how they can be used. Fans of the games expect moves to behave in the way that they’re used to, something the anime rarely does.

3 Types Don’t Always Seem To Matter

One of the most important mechanics of the Pokémon games is the interaction between types. While these same types exist in the anime, they are often ignored for plot convenience. One of the most common culprits of this inconsistency is Pikachu’s Electric attacks affecting Pokémon who should be immune, such as Ground-types.

By playing fast and loose with how types interact the anime reduces how important that element is to Pokémon battles. Fans who have spent years memorizing those interactions aren’t likely to easily accept this change.

2 Pokémon Speak With Their Own Names Rather Than Unique Cries

In the anime, most Pokémon communicate by saying their name, or portions of their name. This is a huge difference from the games where each Pokémon had a unique animalistic cry.

Audio limitations in Game Boy consoles made Pokémon cries inherently lo-fi, making the decisions not to use them in the anime understandable. That said, the choice to have Pokémon say their own names seems like a strange alternative. Perhaps if the anime had decided on something a bit closer to the game’s approach to sound design, it would have been less offputting to game fans.

1 Ash Doesn’t Always Win His Badges

While this annoyance comes mostly from the first season, it’s one of the biggest slaps in the face of every fan who earned their badges fair and square. Many of Ash’s badges in Kanto are given out without a legitimate victory. This adds a level of disparity to an already shaky gym system.

This is such a troubling detail for fans of the games because it reflects poorly on Ash as a protagonist. Unlike Ash, players have to defeat all eight gym leaders in a fair Pokémon battle creating the impression that Ash is a subpar trainer compared to the protagonists of the games.

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