When it comes to long-running anime series, one that many point the finger at when wondering which has been going on the longest is that of the Pokémon series. This anime has been going on for decades and somehow never loses relevance despite making a few missteps along the way when it comes to writing.
One of those missteps is the fact that the anime constantly strays so far away from the stories and perks of the video games that it is adapted for. Honestly, the anime could learn a lot from the games under the Pokémon umbrella.
10 Focus On More Main Characters
One common piece of criticism that the anime always gets is that it only focuses on the trainer that everyone either loves or hates, Ash Ketchum— the Pikachu "master."
That criticism brings the first issue with the anime when compared to the Pokémon video games: The series really needs to branch off from Ash and focus on more trainer main characters. It would be a lot better to see Ash every now and then when he meets others on a crossroads.
9 Include More Villains
Speaking of characters that overstay their welcome, each Pokémon video game features a new group of villains with new goals instead of the classic everyone is so used to.
Introducing more villains could be exactly what the anime needs to get some fire. Everyone knows there are a few episodes and films that do this, but a whole series would be great.
8 Move On From Team Rocket
Moving on to new villains includes getting Team Rocket out of the picture for once. Jessie, James, and Meowth are very charming, but they've been at the same schtick for years.
If a new group of villains with new goals would show up it would probably be a great breath of fresh air for the classic pocket monster catching series to keep things more interesting.
7 Introduce More Sidekick Pokemon
When Pokémon Yellow introduced the idea of a single Pokémon buddy staying outside of their Poké Ball to follow by the trainer's side, everyone was ecstatic.
However, when games like Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver introduced picking any Pokémon to follow outside their ball, the anime didn't follow, simply sticking with Pikachu.
6 Switch Main Characters With Every New Series
Not only should the series focus on other main characters but like the Pokémon games, the series should be switching main trainer characters to follow for every new series.
Once again, the series is a bit stale due to Ash, with some series being better than others thanks to side cast members. It would do wonders to switch up for every region like the games.
5 Focus More On The Synergy Between Pokemon
One aspect of many Pokémon games that is a huge focus when it comes to the hardest battles is to have actual synergy and a game plan for your monsters.
While that has been shown from time to time, it's mostly only a thing when it comes to the big bosses of each arc in the anime instead of being a constant focus and something Ash trains in.
4 Show More Growth Of The Pokemon
Another thing that isn't really shown much in the anime is the actual growth and learning process of the Pokémon that are always being trained.
One of the highlights of the game is the constant leveling up and progression from bad to great of these Pokémon, and it is disappointing that only some of Ash's Pokémon get growth arcs in the anime.
3 More Evolutions
Branching off of the growth of the Pokémon needing to be shown more, one other thing that the anime is in dire need of is to actually show Pokémon evolve into new forms.
One of the main draws of Pokémon is to have these monsters train to reach new heights and finally become stronger monsters. This is barely shown off in the actual anime.
2 Better Enemy Goals
When it comes to the main enemies of the Pokémon anime series— Team Rocket— theie goals haven't changed in years: Find Ash, attempt to steal Pikachu, fail, rinse, repeat.
While this is charming from time to time, it tends to get cookie cutter and simply prevents fans from seeing more interesting goals and plots like the ones in the games.
1 Higher Stakes
The villains of the games also present the protagonists, and the entire world for that matter, with greater threat levels due to the wild and more out of this world extent of their goals.
This gives the characters of the games much higher stakes when it comes to stopping whoever must be stopped. Sadly this is yet another area where the classic Team Rocket kind of holds the show back instead of pushing it forward.