The Treatment Of Ash's Oshawott

[fitzy909]

It needs to evolve as it isn't strong enough and hasn't won any major battles in a long time. It would still be marketable even after evolution. Charizard and plenty of other pokemon were still marketable after evolution and so would dewott

[PokemasterAustin]

I agree. Haven't seen that much of oshawott. It would be nice if he evolved. Ash using samurott, sceptile, and infernape or charizard in battle together would be legendary!

[AhTreyYou]

Oshawott is basically a Pokemon version of Brock, more or less.

I don't get why you hate Brock but stop bashing him.

[Micah Danger]

Oshawott is basically a Pokemon version of Brock, more or less.

I think i get what they are saying.

Oshawott, like brock was, is a MAJOR FLIRT.

Also if you look at the current main characters...Oshawott's personality is almost like a spiritual successor to Brock because both character's are essentially the comedic characters of the bunch.

[MastersOfMonsters]

Ash caught much more Pokémon in a Season shorter than usual. Most of them got very few wins and good development. :/ Poor Palpitoad was used against the Electric Gym, and then gone, until the next gym many many episodes later. And it's still not appeared outside of battle.

Oh well.

[Starsurfer]

I agree, I'm actually quite upset with the way they've treated poor Oshawott. Actually, I feel just about all of Ash's Pokemon in BW could have been handled much better, with the exception of Pikachu and Pignite of course. But the writers' handling of Oshawott is particularly disappointing since he had so much potential to be both a great battler and a fun character. Even if they wanted to keep him in his current form, (Though they could still make the comedic bits work rather easily if he were a Dewott) that's no reason to basically kick him to the curb as far as battles are concerned. Ash has had plenty of basic level Water Pokemon who have excelled in battle. Oshawott should be no different. Instead he's become a permanent comedic bit on the show who constantly gets his behind handed to him, which is really sad considering how he started.

On another note, has anyone else noticed that the writers also seem to be making him less likable even in the role they've forced him to play? I mean, he was funny at first, and still is usually. But lately he's been coming off more and more as a brat or a pain in the neck to the rest of the cast. Am I the only person who feels this way?

[Charmed]

Poor argument. For example Chandelure is at the top of that list yet it gets little to no attention from the anime staff. You're also missing my point, I didn't say Dewott was more marketable than Oshawott but that it looks enough like Oshawott that it can still be marketable with the right effort.

Dewott's lack of merch just means they haven't tried to market Dewott, it doesn't mean it isn't marketable.

The receipts prove that Oshawott was extremely popular even when Black/White had just been released, which is something that cannot be said about Dewott. And as we know already, Oshawott's popularity only skyrocketed when the BW anime started. As for Dewott being just as marketable as Oshawott with the "right effort," that idea is far too reliant on the writers actually giving a darn about the species. So far they don't seem to care for Dewott as much as they care about Oshawott because as I've said in the past, Oshawott is the perfect Pokemon to showcase due to him being small, cute and marketable. He was basically made to sell merchandise, unlike Dewott who was only created as an interim between Oshawott and Samurott. The writers wouldn't evolve Oshawott into Dewott and take a chance that might not pay off.

[matt0044]

The writers wouldn't evolve Oshawott into Dewott and take a chance that might not pay off.

Very true. Of course, that doesn't mean we can't hate it. I, for one, dislike such cowardice when it comes to maintaining the status quo stubbornly when they could do so much more with what they have.

Hell, they don't even explain why Oshawott doesn't evolve in-universe. It's like they forgot about what Everstones are.

[Lion Demon]

Now that I come to think about it: Oshawott is too similar to Piplup. It should evolve sometime soon!

[Charmed]

Hell, they don't even explain why Oshawott doesn't evolve in-universe.

Why would they? I mean they didn't bother explaining why Totodile, Corphish and several of Ash's other Pokemon didn't evolve.

Now that I come to think about it: Oshawott is too similar to Piplup. It should evolve sometime soon!

Uh, Piplup didn't evolve because he was marketable. So if Oshawott is like Piplup, then he won't evolve either. That's the only logical conclusion imo.

[matt0044]

Why would they? I mean they didn't bother explaining why Totodile, Corphish and several of Ash's other Pokemon didn't evolve.

Well, they should instead pretending like they don't ever evolve unless they actually address it. It just bugs the hell out of me how such blatant plot holes are ignored. A butt-for-brains wild monkey would scratch his head at this.

[humilau]

I've read somewhere that one of the many reasons why the writers refused to let Piplup evolve was because they thought Prinplup & Empoleon were ugly. Somehow I feel that it all boils down to the writing team and their own personal opinions and biases, and of course, whether they think they want to retain the cutesy unevolved characters or not. Frankly speaking, the anime ain't got the best writing out there. Not complaining tho, I still watch it.

[matt0044]

And Dewott can't possibly be cute? Heck, if they want to make a plush out of that, what's stopping them? It's not like the Oshawott merch. will go anywhere.

[MattySadler]

Would be nice to see a water starter of Ash's evolving. Cute or not, if you are smart enough with ANY Pokemon and make it 'bad ***' enough, teenage American boys will be all over it.

[remybutton]

At the beginning of the BW anime, I expected Oshawott to become Ash's best, fully evolved starter. Similar to Infernape and Torterra. Unfortunately, money beats everything else so they'll probably keep Oshawott as he is.

[Janovy]

At the beginning of the BW anime, I expected Oshawott to become Ash's best, fully evolved starter. Similar to Infernape and Torterra. Unfortunately, money beats everything else so they'll probably keep Oshawott as he is.

Which is sad because, well, Oshawott sucks. Worst member of Ash's team.

[Kaizer kun]

To me it seems they just don't want the trainers to be successful.
Just look at the treatment of Dragonite....

[pokemonsquared]

He may be the weakest starter since Kanto squirtle but all his screentime makes up for it.

[Doryuzu]

I wouldn't say Oshawott is weak, he's lost for the sake of the plot and there's no way he'd beat a Hydreigon with how little damage Boldore inflicted. I wouldn't read much into it until we get a fair battle for Oshawott, as much as I hate how he's being portrayed.

[SKyLineR32]

He may be the weakest starter since Kanto squirtle but all his screentime makes up for it.

I agree. I would kill to have my favorite Pokemon on a main character's team so it could get more screen time.

[Janovy]

I wouldn't say Oshawott is weak, he's lost for the sake of the plot and there's no way he'd beat a Hydreigon with how little damage Boldore inflicted. I wouldn't read much into it until we get a fair battle for Oshawott, as much as I hate how he's being portrayed.

Well it seems as if he's losing a lot for the sake of the plot. :/

[Doryuzu]

Well it seems as if he's losing a lot for the sake of the plot. :/

Darmanitan:Bianca's dad's Pokemon since childhood, meaningless struggle from the start.

Hydreigon:Fully-evolved Dragon

Pansear:Crappy win for Chili, Oshawott should have blocked that Solar Beam with his scalchop sitting in his hand. He didn't win just to give Chili a win and make him look good, seems weird they just didn't have Pansear knock out Pansage if they wanted to make it look good.

Herdier:Make Cheren look good.

As long as the plot isn't working against him, he's shown to be a good battler. Knocked out Timburr easily, beat Clay's Krokorok, Cilan's Pansage, trained and learned to open his eyes open under water and one-shotted Palpitoad, trained to learn to not use his scalchop or rely on it heavily and beat Stephan's Blitzle.

For example Excadrill, Stunfisk, and Pikachu had no chance from the start against the Kami Trio because Landorus had to solve the problem on its own. When he isn't being used as comedic fodder, like against Herdier or Roggenrola, he's quite strong. He's in need of evolution right now mainly.

[Rovian]

Would be nice to see a water starter of Ash's evolving. Cute or not, if you are smart enough with ANY Pokemon and make it 'bad ***' enough, teenage American boys will be all over it.

Only a water-type starter, or any water-type pokemon?

Well, they should instead pretending like they don't ever evolve unless they actually address it. It just bugs the hell out of me how such blatant plot holes are ignored. A butt-for-brains wild monkey would scratch his head at this.

I think of it as there evolutions not being triggered. In the games, reaching certain levels is what triggered the evolution of some pokemon but since levels are not used in the anime, there must be something else.