Actually, back in Kanto, it got around 15 at the very least, 17 at most. In fact, the highest rated episode of Kanto, the Ponyta episode, actually topped off at a 17.9 or something like that. THAT'S decent ratings, not a 4. A rating of 4 is actually extremely poor. And for the record, it's not even on the top 10 anymore, and hasn't been for quite some time. And also, the Simpsons and NCIS have been getting ratings in the 20s, and those actually stream their episodes online (heck, you can even watch them on their channels' websites). It needs to be within the 10s to get remotely decent ratings. 9-6 would qualify as average, while 4 and below are actually poor ratings. And BTW, Irregular Hunter Z, a guy who actually is from Japan and actually follows the ratings constantly, noted that Pokémon was doing horribly in that thread I showed you.
And actually, Anime News Network stated twice that it was on TVAsahi, NOT TVTokyo, and that was from a few months ago. Heck, I've even got the sources, both of which Poke245 posted:
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http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-02-03/japan-animation-tv-ranking-january-19-25/.83985
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http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-03-17/japan-animation-tv-ranking-march-2-8/.86006
And as you can see with both Poke245 and Irregular Hunter Z's ratings postings, the Pokémon Anime is actually tanking. And based on the former's statements, even online it's doing horribly (for starters, Pokemon XY has about 163 votes and ranks 7th on most watched cartoons online. Likewise, both Naruto and One Piece actually outrank Pokemon in terms of ratings by a landslide (490 and 466, respectively, meaning it's not even a close race).
And if ratings truly were meaningless, then shows such as Heroes or West Wing would not have been cancelled due to low ratings, not to mention GCB (which actually couldn't even get past a single season before it got axed largely due to poor reception and ratings), Maureen (which only lasted two seasons), or even 30 Rock (which is probably one of the few shows that actually lasted long despite having horrible ratings, which is mostly due to the network trying to push an agenda). For a Japanese example, the Love Hina anime would not have been cancelled due to a loss of revenue or loss of ratings (and in fact, that particular example was particularly infamous for literally cutting the anime short just as it was about to start a new season). After all, since ratings are meaningless, they shouldn't be cancelled due to low ratings. In fact, we wouldn't even HAVE ratings at all. Heck, Detective Conan even now is getting ratings in the 10s, close to Johto's ratings, and that's had two more years of existence than Pokemon had for the anime overall, starting in 1996. Besides, Pokemon has aired at the same time and day since the events of the Porygon Seizure Incident, yet even in AG, where the Pike Queen Lucy episode had the lowest rated episode in AG and at the time the lowest rated episode ever, probably the closest Pokemon has to a dud show, never went this low in ratings, while Pokémon's consistently gotten a 3, maybe a 5 if they're really lucky.
Except he also indicated that removing Misty may have been a turn for the worse alongside some other factors for the show, especially when he complained about AG's quality, as well as to a lesser extent Johto's quality as well, largely because the executives are trying to make it more kiddified and more of an advertising vehicle. Oh, and for the record, DBZ Fan also noted that Misty's removal was indeed detrimental for the show ultimately, and even noted that he said this as well. Even if I didn't care for Misty or the OS series at all, heck, even if I flat out hated them, I still would say it.
Okay, AG had the gym leaders losing very easily to rookie Pokémon, similar to Jessie, James, and Meowth from Episode 3 when they lost against a Caterpie who was completely inexperienced, barely even alive, and was even at the opposing end of a type advantage (being bug type, while Ekans and Koffing were poison types). The only exceptions I can truly think of for the Hoenn gym leaders are Roxanne (since she was beaten by Pikachu, who is a confirmed veteran), and Brawley (since he actually beat Ash the first time around). DP was slightly better, in the sense that Roarke, Gardenia, and Maylene managed to beat Ash the first time around or at the very least tie with him, although ultimately, they still ended up having Ash beat them first time around later on with his rookie Pokémon. And based on what Lizardo stated, the BW Gym Leaders fared even worse than AG. Kalos is probably the only region other than the original series to actually HAVE the Gym Leaders treated as actually being competent. Half of them (one of whom is one of Ash's current traveling partners) so far have been demonstrated to be very competent and skilled, two of them even beating Ash the first time around, and even the other half managed to demonstrate their skills elsewhere (not to mention in the case of Grant had a perfectly justifiable reason for losing the first time around, since he limited himself while allowing Ash free access to his Pokémon). When seasoned pros such as Gym Leaders lose to rookie Pokémon, it reflects very badly on them. Heck, Jessie James and Meowth's loss against Caterpie in episode 3 is pretty much what gave them a reputation both among fans and in-universe as being horrible and pathetic trainers.
I don't care if it made it boring, at least it would be realistic. And besides, Ash ended up stomping through every gym leader in Hoenn with his rookies, which is even worse. And yes, I know that Pikachu had its power fluctuated in the OS. It lost to an Eevee, after all right after beating a Dragonite. However, at least the OS didn't resort to level resets, and in fact Ash actually managed to beat Falkner very easily with Charizard and Pikachu. I don't like it when veteran Pokémon are treated like trash, and having power fluctuate does qualify as trash. If you're going to actually have Pokémon be veterans, the least you can do is keep it consistent even if it's boring.
It's not an exaggeration at all. Look, Caterpie ended up wounded from an earlier battle with Pidgeotto (largely due to Ash's stupidity). It also ended up near-dead as a result, Ekans and Koffing managed to take down Pidgeotto earlier, AND they were definitely a lot more experienced than Caterpie was, since it was implied they were familiar enough with their Pokémon (and if Island of the Giant Pokémon is anything to go by, they had them for at least a year, if not more, and I'm going by Japanese dub, not the English dub, which indicated they had them for at most a year). Oh, and JJM were dangerous enough in their debut episode to actually have Ash try to flee, not to mention have their own wanted poster right in front of the police station. Meowth likely was even more experienced than them, and actually was fresher than Ekans and Koffing, and certainly far more fresh than Caterpie. They got KO'd easily, just as Pikachu did with Ursaring (who 100 episodes or not, still hasn't even entered a league yet and thus is still very much a rookie), and got injured beforehand with the guts ability being activated, and Pikachu being a veteran compared to it.
EDIT: While Lizardo is indeed correct in that I haven't watched much of DP, I have followed up on it via summaries, Bulbapedia articles, and places such as Dogasu. And BTW, just because I haven't watched DP much doesn't mean that I don't have a clue about anything that went on. The mere fact that I was able to mention who Pikachu lost to in the Paul battle shows I did know something about it. Honestly, if they really had to have Pikachu lose, they should have had him lose to Torterra, the one Pokémon actually close to his experience level, NOT to a rookie (and yes, Ursaring is a rookie as it hadn't even fought in a league yet).
