They weren't standing in the background 90% of the time.
Misty wasn't even STANDING in the background! Sheesh. And anyways, even if she was, I don't see the difference. Ash, even IF he was only standing in the background 10% of the time, is getting repetitive, as is Team Rocket, and people are labeling them as stale (They're even making threads stating that they should be removed, for Goodness sakes!).
Misty didn't have a definite goal. What is a water Pokemon master? We know from DP being a Pokemon master is something about winning the league and defeating the champion.
No, we DON'T know if that's what they mean by Pokemon Master, since Lance did ALL of that, and he was never even LABELED as a Pokemon Master even ONCE.
Besides, that isn't a requirement in the Anime,
according to Bulbapedia.
She just did stuff anyone else could've done. Brock is known for knowing about Pokemon so he can help the group much more than she can
Ash does stuff that literally anyone could have done as well. Heck, the Gym leader thing was literally something anyone could do. Ash also, arguably, wouldn't have impacted a thing in regards to stopping Team Rocket. I mean, if someone else was there, they could have done it as well.
This is where I lose the will to reply...It's impossible to argue that Misty did more than Ash, the main character of the whole story. Y'know, the star of about 500+ episodes and about all the films. Misty helped out from time to time, just as side-kicks do. But she did not actively try to achieve her goal.
She... Is... NOT a SIDEKICK!! A sidekick acts like a coward most of the time (Look at Luigi from the Mario series, Look at Tails, look at almost every single sidekick in history.).
Besides, you yourself said that the only thing that makes Pokemon what it is is "Pokemon", which implies that you think that even ASH is expendible.
Besides, by the verbal definition, she did. Heck, she even beat Ash at something.
Misty holding Togepi in the background had absolutly nothing to do with anything 99% of the time. Max, May (and Dawn?) looked after the Pokemon because it was the plot in the film. Not May and Max decided to watch Ash battling 99% as they clutched to an inaminate object.
Really? Tell me then, do GYM battles seem to be more or less plot integrated? because, quite frankly, since he doesn't carry his badges, and the whole Primeape thing was mostly ignored, despite being an important piece to the episode, and how Ash "Forgot" what Double battles are despite his defeating Luana in one, i'd say they AREN'T part of the plot.
And anyways, I don't CARE if Manaphy and Shaymin ARE part of the plot, anyways. If Togepi being coddled isn't counted as important, then they don't, either, titular characters or not.
She said she just wanted to travel and probably took the case to convince her family she was going to battle gyms
So? she could just as easily traveled WITHOUT one. I mean, Professor hale, an archaeologist expert, doesn't even have pokemon on him, and Lawrence III does quite a LOT of traveling as well, and he doesn't even have pokemon on him. She could have just as easily done traveling WITHOUT pokemon by her side.
Like you said, Brock did it to look after his family. Different from a 10 year old girl who just wants to travel
And I say again, she can just as easily travel WITHOUT having pokemon. I mean, some Character of the Days/Movie characters don't even NEED a pokemon to travel.
She said it was an excuse to travel. (I'm not sure where this is supposed to be going anymore...)
Me neither.
They were not scored on beauty. Whoever won, won.
Umm. most pokemon contests aren't really scored on beauty (ESPECIALLY in the battling round). The only things they had to worry about were Points (which equal stamina, anyways.) and a Time Limit (which isn't much different from a Gym battle, since they kinda implied that they sometimes do use Time Limits (since they said "no time limit", which, if a time limit didn't exist in the Gyms, it wouldn't even be necessary to mention it.).).
But it is in the anime. Which is what we're talking about...
Even still, if they really felt Contests were that important, why don't they, oh... I don't know, ACTUALLY KEEP the Good Coordinator (like May), instead of replacing her just to do it. I mean, they don't replace Ash in regards to Gym Battles, so why would they replace May (i think it would at least be consistant and fair if they either kept May in the D/P saga for Contests, or removed Ash from the Main Cast to compensate with May leaving.)
Then why would they bring them back?
Same reason why they keep bring Brock back, which is for the heck of it.
TO have a chance at battling the champion
If the Battle Frontier was officially stated to be stronger than the Elite 4, then they are CERTAINLY stronger than the Champion.
Could, but they chose not to.
Not yet, anyways.
Backstories aren't something Pokemon is great at. Parts of Jessie and James's stories pop up now and again and it's probably the same with this. Misty joining the group isn't the same.
Backstory? I was just talking about how Lola didn't appear or get mentioned for 5-9 seasons in the main show (depending on whether "A family that battles together stays together") and yet suddenly became somewhat of a recurring character even though, show-length wise, it would have been impossible. Aside from mentioning Brock's first episode, it barely even had ANYTHING to do with Brock's backstory than the likeliness of a character reappearing.
Then the beauty and battling were completly seperate which loses the complexity of an actual contest.
The way it was worded in regards to the revelation that they had a pokemon battle seemed to imply that they actually WERE co-integrated. (I mean, they said it's both a beauty contest and a pokemon battling spree, how is that NOT a form of co-integration?)
But as I said, if they won the battle, they won it, beauty or not.
The same can be said for May and Dawn's wins/their rival's wins (I didn't see how they were any different than gym battles other than the fact that Points and a time limit were involved, which even then, time limits were moreorless also hinted to be in Gym battles as well, since the mentions of a time limit (if a time limit didn't even exist in Gym battles, then what was the point in even MENTIONING that there wasn't a time limit.). I mean, they barely had anything to do with beauty as a whole (I think the only time beauty was shown in a contest was in the Appeal round. Yes, they also have to hit the opponent without losing points, but that may or may not be considered "Beauty".)
"Contest" and "tornament" can be used interchangably. It is not a contest in the 3rd or 4th gen sense
Prove it. Name me any pre Gen-III gym challenges/Pokemon Leagues that actually referred to themselves as a pokemon contest.
