Greetings. Today, I would like to talk about something I have mentioned ad nauseam before: Generation V. Now I, and a sizeable portion of the fans at that, have made it no secret that Generation V as a whole is viewed as being rather lackluster, having concluded the brilliance of Generation IV, which can be ascribed as being something of a Golden Age for Pokémon, at a frightening pace.

But I'm not going to talk about what it did wrong (well, try not to pan it at least), since most fans of Pokémon, including those who enjoyed it, can acknowledge the basics of where it went wrong. Rather, and in a strange twist of irony, I'm going to play devil's advocate and talk about what it did right. Yes, it's quite easy to point out what was bad. The amount of complaints that arose about X and Y after its hype died down are testament to that. But, every Generation has some good in it, and I would like to shift through Generation V to bring it out. Again, much like the first editorial, this will be focused on the Generation as a whole.

Arceus the Critic

What Generation V Did Right

Number 1: Team Rocket, the Plasma Arc and Bianca

The Anime was probably the most disliked aspect of Generation V, and with good reason. Unless you happened to be a Negaishipper, Iris' rather... combative personality became grating quickly, as did her constant berating of Ash. And, regardless of whether or not someone was a Negaishipper, the writers making Ash a dense idiot once again, after having him develop and grow stronger, become more intelligent, and even somewhat mature over the Hoenn, Battle Frontier and Sinnoh animes (essentially throwing away more than half a decade's worth of character development), replacing Pikachu's Volt Tackle with Electro Ball and having him lose to a Snivy in the first episode after having recently bested a Latios, and then having them lose in the Pokémon League to a rookie who didn't even remember how many Pokémon he was supposed to bring, was universally detested. And even ignoring the fact the writers hit the reset button for some unexplained reason (most likely to keep with the theme of Unova being a new start for Pokémon, but that's still not a good reason), there's still the matter of a certain Water Type starter...

Needless to say, Unova's Anime was arguably the weakest out of them all when it came to character.

But I can't really say the same when it came to plot.

One of the things that was pretty contested was Team Rocket's makeover in the first half of the series. After taking credit for eliminating Team Galatic in the Sinnoh Anime, which was such a threat that they were the first team to be arrested en masse at defeat, Giovanni decided to promote his chronically incompetent underlings into special operatives. If the writers hit the reset button with Ash, they at least shifted their developmental focus' to eam Rocket. For the first time in Pokémon history, the Team Rocket Trio went from comic relief to genuine threat. Their plots were cunning, intricate, and successful at multiple parts, their goals were far more serious, and the trio themselves were presented as a force to be reckoned with, even against Team Plasma. Sadly, given the fact that they were no longer the comic relief, which also meant that Wobbuffet was sadly cut from Unova, they had to substitute that with Iris calling Ash a little kid. So, even if the change in Team Rocket turned out to have a significant drawback, their temporary competence and development was a very welcome change that made the Unova anime enjoyable whenever they stepped on the scene.

Then there was the first half of Adventures in Unova: the Plasma Arc. Building off the rather strong Meloetta arc prior, this long overdue introduction of the regional villains was what, for a time, made the Unova anime consistently enjoyable. The introduction of N, who provided a unique dynamic and perspective to Ash's group, Team Plasma, who discarded the rhetoric of BW and embodied their BW2 roles, and Colress, who represented a bit of a unique element as an anti-villain, made the Unova Anime take a turn for the enjoyable. While it's no secret that whenever Pokémon brings in its villainous team for the region, the sudden conflict makes the show all the more enjoyable (as Galactic Battles, arguably the strongest season of the Sinnoh anime, attests to), the first half of the new season was such a stark departure from the quality of the previous that it could be considered to have been a sub-series of its own. Despite the fact that the anime transitioned into the Decalore Arc, which was decent but mainly just filler until X and Y, the Plasma Arc was undeniably enjoyable and well written.

Bianca was the comic relief character that was actually enjoyable. In a season that was devoid of almost any of the humorous moments that Team Rocket was known for, Bianca was used to act as a stand-in. And, somehow, despite Unova being lackluster in character, it worked. Perhaps it's simply silver lining in comparison to the rest of the rather dry anime, this magnificent klutz was always capable of providing humorous, groan-worthy situations in a series that was generally devoid of them, and somehow managed to further her character in the process.

Overall, though the Unova anime measured up poorly against its predecessors, particularly Sinnoh, it still had its good parts; particularly the villains, and, when it put effort to it, the plots.

Number 2: The Soundtracks

While this was touched upon in a previous editorial, I simply feel the need to point it out again: regardless of the quality of the games, Unova's soundtracks were consistently good, particularly the latter tracks in the original Black and White. Route 10 is one of the most memorable route tracks, one of the few to have been chosen as a remix into Super Smash Bros, and some detractors have gone so far as to jokingly comment that it was the best part of the game (though no one can offer an explanation for why it was removed in BW2). As Generation IV marked the shift in Pokémon's interest from mechanics and balance to plot and character, it also put an increased emphasis on music (an emphasis that had carried over from Generation III) due to the clearer and more advanced sound that came with the DS, resulting in some of the most memorable tracks over the course of Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova.

Number 3: Team Plasma

As mentioned before, the villains were another good feature of Generation V. Plasma, in many ways, was a successor to Galactic. Again building off Generation IV's policies when it came to villains, this well-remembered group served not only as the primary antagonists for Unova, but the struggle against them was the actual plot in the first Unova games. Much like Galatic, they disguised their true designs behind a benevolent façade to give them a moral superiority (even from themselves, as was demonstrated), one that even has your character and rivals questioning themselves at times, and were constantly presented as more than just some passing threat that could be easily brushed aside. The fact that Ghestis manipulated events for N to obtain the Legendary Pokémon and later to become Champion, forcing the final showdown not with Alder but with his proxy, and even as his bid to rule Unova failed, he still managed to escape, shows that he was not only irredeemable; but a genuine threat. The fact that he managed to convince so many people to follow him, and retaining (most of) their loyalty even after being defeated and having the veil that was his rhetoric torn down in BW2, is perhaps even more frightening than his machinations to begin with.

Much like Galatic, they were hypocrites as well, but still genuinely believed in what they were doing. They used Pokémon to enforce their goals of liberating them (so they would be unchallengeable), just as Galactic used spirit in its effort to crush it, and believed that it was just. The true head of Team Plasma, who most likely never believed a single word he said (such Machiavellian cynicism is where Ghestis and Cyrus begin to be divided, as even the latter, nihilism and all, believed that his actions were for the best), inspired an idealistic zeal in his followers, and continued to do so even after his true intentions had been exposed in a chillingly heartless manner. Anime Plasma was little better; they were the second team in Pokémon history to be arrested en masse upon defeat, due to the fact that they had proved themselves practically irredeemable over the course of their appearances, and that was the only feasible way to write them off.

Overall, Team Plasma was another good villainous team where the organization as a whole was a threat, and one that served as one of the most memorable villainous teams and one of the better parts of Generation V.

Number 4: The Gym Leaders

Given the fact that Black and White were the first Pokémon games where you could not re-battle the Gym Leaders in any way, shape or form, you may find it odd that I'm listing them as one of the best aspects of the Generation. In light of that, perhaps I should clarify; as mentioned before, Generation IV represented a shift in Pokémon's interests from mechanics and balance to plot and character. During it, Pokémon managed to balance the two, but afterwards in Generation V, the scales tilted heavily in favor of the latter. Now, though improved characterization at the cost of the game itself isn't exactly good, they at least devoted some of it to some of the most underdeveloped characters in Generations prior; the Gym Leaders.

Early Generations did a rather poor job of fleshing out these important characters, with usually one or two per region getting expounded upon, and though Generation IV had done a far better job than prior, it still fell somewhat short. Generation V changed that. Despite not being able to re-battle them, almost every one of the Gym Leaders had fleshed out personalities, roles, backstories even, and some would even help out the player frequently. Finally, in what was a first in Pokémon history, the Gym Leaders were the ones to converge on Team Plasma's base and assist the player, when previously only the rival, Champion, or Looker would do so, which immediately displays their level of dedication and awareness.

Regardless of their inability to be challenged again in the first BW, one must concede that the amount of character and time they put into the Gym Leaders of Unova (albeit they had two games to do so), made them an enjoyable aspect of the region.

Number 5: Pokémon Conquest

This surprise crossover proved, despite the seeming implausibility of it, to be one of the best side games made by Pokémon, to the point of being able to give Explorers of Sky a run for its money. During a time when Pokémon battles had mostly dissolved into a game of rock-paper-scissors with EV's being able to sometimes reverse the flow, Conquest introduced a radical, strategy-oriented departure from that. By restricting each move a Pokémon could know to a single preset move, but increasing the amount of Pokémon that could be used at once to six to compensate, and increasing the relevancy of the battlefield beyond weather (such as actually having the Pokémon maneuver across it and interact with it), Pokémon essentially broke the stagnation that its battles had fallen into and forced players to think strategically and act innovatively. Add in an increased role of the humans themselves, not to mention having other characters beside the Player character utilize Legendary Pokémon, and a bit of management required for your castles and warriors; and this was undeniably the most radical and marked departure from conventional Pokémon, that managed to expand strategy within Pokémon beyond the somewhat simple confines of the Mystery Dungeon games.

Number 6: Black and White 2

And this would be the big one. As a whole, Black and White 2 were very good games. What was done wrong in Black and White was done right here, but these sequels were more than just corrections to the mistakes of their predecessors. Why don't we go over both though?

For starters, the sequels remedied one of the most controversial decisions made by the original Black and White; the exclusion of all prior, pre-Generation V Pokémon, including the likes of Magikarp and Zubat, and the creation of an entirely new set. Some lauded this as a bold step, innovative and exciting, others derided it as a shortsighted mistake, costly and uncreative. Both sides were right: while it did introduce many new Pokémon and moves, the sheer strain of the creation of so many new Pokémon was mostly likely the cause of the incredibly lackluster postgame of Black and White (not to mention the multiple complaints about dull designs), and due to the fact that they failed to bring back any powerful Ice Types, the main balance against the then horribly over powered Dragon Types, it can also be attributed for the creation of the Fairy Type (which could have been prevented had Gamefreak used the opportunity of a clean slate to create an Ice Type pseudo legendary). Black and White 2 managed to appease both sides by retaining all the Unova Pokémon, but bringing back many old fan favorites.

Next was the difficulty. As mentioned in chapters prior, Black and White did a very poor job when it came to pacing. The difficulty was relatively easy throughout the games, only to jump to an inconsolable level in the final battles against N and Ghetsis, with an emphasis on the latter. Black and White 2 did as much as they could to reverse that, even introducing ways for the player to decrease or increase the difficulty (opposing Pokémon's levels), and for the most part maintained a consistent difficulty. Likewise, any plot holes that were left over from Black and White, save where your former character was (it would have been too, being as Hilbert/Hilda was supposed to make an appearance at the PWT, but that was removed last moment), were resolved.

Then there was the postgame. Given the fact that the postgame is easily the most criticizable part of Black and White, not only did Black and White 2 'fix' it, but greatly expounded it. From the more mundane features such as the Join Avenue and Pokestar Studios, to the new locations that either appeared over the two year interim or were brought back from the original Black and White but left inaccessible during the main game, and the various other activities to be enjoyed and trainers to battle, Black and White 2 provided a lively postgame.

There were also the flashbacks. Black and White 2 were the first direct sequels to prior games Pokémon has done since Gold and Silver, and like said games, taking place after two years, naturally many changes had occurred. While, like previously, they could explain or hint to these events and the reasons behind them with dialogue, Pokémon decided to add in short flashbacks; essentially characters relating some pertinent detail that occurred over the two year gap, if you had achieved certain milestones in Black and White. These were not as long or in depth as the special episodes in Explorers of Sky, but did manage to bridge quite a few gaps and offer even more insight into various characters personalities.

Finally, there was arguably the best aspect of BW2: the Pokémon World Tournament. This was the battling facility that, though it failed to provide the same unique challenges and dynamics, made up for the lack of a Battle Frontier. After all, being able to fight every Champion and Gym Leader (and Bianca) from every Generation in existence at the time, complete with updated rosters, sprites, and dynamic quotes, was certainly quite the monumental and enjoyable experience.

Overall, Generation V was not Pokémon's strongest, but it still had good and enjoyable parts that should not be overlooked in light of the fact. In fact; I would actually say it was quite a good generation that has been sadly demonized for its (albeit memorable) slip-ups, such as the Anime, B&W's post-games, or lack thereof, and Gates to Infinity, while many of the things it did right are usually overlooked by its detractors (and even its advocates, more often than not).

"Hey, Arcy!" the Legendary in question turned away from the computer as his name was called out, eyeing the Pink Cat-like Legendary that was floating in the doorway.

"Guess what, Arcy?" Mew commanded excitedly, pulling off a few backflips before continuing.

"You're a rip-off again! KELDEO'S BACK!" she exclaimed with a bit too much enthusiasm for the Alpha Pokémon's tastes, before donning a party hat and pulling out a noisemaker from nowhere, blowing into it loudly and cheering while she raced down the hall. Arceus sighed.