Don't want to be involved in huge debating or something, but i decided to add my 2 cents on this.
A lot of the reasons I'm seeing here for wanting Misty to return are nothing past attachment to the early series/nostalgia.
Depends. Reason why i would like to see Misty back to show is aside from being imo great and interesting character having best chemistry with group making show more interesting when she was around, because i feel she deserves more screentime and opportunity to see some more development on screen.
Because writers never used her as much as they could leaving lot of potential unused and unexplored in her story, which cannot be denied.
And because she never got proper closure with anime not having stable cast, which would gave more identity and continuity to anime.
I think you guys are overestimating the quality of writing Pokemon has :P If she was kept around for these last, what, 600+ episodes, what then? Do you assume you'd be as interested in her as you were when you watched Kanto? She'd have gotten an episode dedicated to herself every 20 episodes if she were lucky, usually involving a similar plot that we've already seen. You can only drag on a certain character's plot for so long - Brock is a prime example. By Diamond&Pearl, he was nothing but a background character who was around just to explain typing and other things for younger viewers. He got his own episode maybe every.. 30-50 episodes (may be inaccurate since I was not heavily into D/P)? They were already worn out with thinking of new things for him since most of it was done throughout Kanto, Johto, and perhaps Hoenn. There just wasn't much they could drag on.
Depends how much potential character has. With Misty it was kinda confirmed by people who work on show how she had that.
She was designed to last for long periods having more stamina than Brock, but lacked well defined story which needed to be expanded on and reworked(something ex head writer was not interested in doing).
Problem with Brock was that his goal of breeder was very passive and you can't do much with something which isnt about battling and entering competitions. Initial issues with breeding aspect is that you cant measure much progress of someone whose carer is about taking care of pokemon and raising them to be in good shape.
They also probably felt how his role of older caretaker and mentor to group being like "older brother"was good enough for Brock character eventually being showed to be mistake making sure to avoid that with Cilan. Judging by Cilan more active involvement kinda proved writers learned on mistakes.
With Misty she always received more than Brock did(even in era where writers were inexperienced the most). With her goal it was showed how it involves battling, training, exploring as well entering tournaments being more active than Brock was warranting more screen time and exposure.
Misty can't be compared with Brock because we all know there is huge difference between their careers and personally. Using Brock as indicator to determine how would other characters be treated is not good way to determine someones position in cast. Otherwise Cilan who is intended to be his replacement wouldn't receive as much focus like its case in BW. Same goes for Iris.
If Misty stayed she would probably be treated same like its case with Iris or Cilan with her goal being better defined, more focus and emphasis being out on development of her pokemon along with possibly receiving some rivals(like current sidekicks did). Since writing improved compared to Johto days, writers realized what they were doing wrong with Misty being required to increase character role to justify further stay if TR was gone instead(according to mr.Shudo blogs) which can be already noticed in writers fixing mistakes after Shudo left increasing her focus in master Quest, and since her goal and story was more active compared to Brock she would more than likely received better treatment in AG compared to Brock.
Likewise we forgot to take in account how if Misty stayed, May would likely not join cast and i highly doubt writers would do same mistake they did in Johto turning it again in filler fest(this was their biggest mistake they did there, instead of focusing more on character stories and their development). Many people say how in that case its possible how Misty would start doing contests.
The popularity of Pokemon fell towards mid-late Johto which pushed them to switch out the main female as a test and frankly, it was quite successful. The pattern continues and will continue; all that's left is for you guys to accept that. Misty reached her point and will likely not return to the show.
Not to mention, according to Takeshi Shudo blogs, reason why Misty got removed was because of weakest role character had in cast, with ex head writer himself admitting how this was his mistake and how he should have don more with Misty by expanding on story. Instead character ended up unexplored in several fields leaving with unfinished story and lot of unused potential.
Sad but true.
After ratings started to drop in Johto they considered to add some change in cast. Decision boiled down to either Misty or Rocket trio(Jessie,James and Meowth). However as mr.Shudo made it clear he favored TR never caring much for Misty in first place, so with no further add it was decided that female part of group gets axe.
While Misty departure caused backlash among fandom with many people complaining about that, writers still took the risk introducing new character in cast(May). At first Misty was probably kept as backup plan in case May fails like Tracey did being considered to be brought back(after all she was kept relevant through hosos and many references in AG), but after May became well received and popular(not sure who is more liked and not interested in finding out), they opted to rather introduce new companions with each new generation to better go in correlation with games and their promotion.
That and as it was already explained in interview with ex pokemon director(Masamitsu Hidaka)on pokeback(back in 2008), how writers rather want to switch up girls to try out new designs and provide new "eye candy"to male audience with each new generation(as sexist as that may sound).
I reckon, only possible way of Misty becoming major character again at this point is if writers decide to reuniting Ash, Misty and Brock when pokemon comes to an end with purpose of things coming to full circle to emphasize better on show going back to its roots if they decide to end it in such way.
Original trio was proven to be successful being extremely popular to this day starting pokemon series becoming iconic and most recognizable group in this show so i wouldn't completely rule out possibility of getting them reunited for last season or something with demand for it being huge among fans.
Especially if another Kanto remakes come out making sense to use Misty and Brock to help promote them having marketing value behind it and justified reason to be used in that case.
As for replacing Iris with Misty and keeping Cilan or something, I just don't think that'd work. Misty's ties to Kanto make it odd for her to be brought back, especially when the anime's main purpose is to advertise the games. It'd also be hard to explain her return and who she is as many kids (target audience) don't remember her. I'll use Dogasu, the webmaster of Dogasu's Backpack (website with comparisons of the Japanese and English episodes, I do recommend checking it out!), as a little sample for this:
If writers decide to bring Misty back though i doubt marketing would represent much of issue though. In order to advertise new games you don't need new characters. Older characters can promote new games through new pokemon just fine as any new character would.
As we get to see with Ash, Brock for all this years, Team Rocket etc older characters can have marketing value too being possible to promote games through them along with new characters being showed through guest appearances like they did with HGSS remakes for example with several game protagonists from main games being ignored.
Nintendo and Game Freak could care less who is going to be in cast as long their main product and source of money(new pokemon)are being properly showcased.
Introducing well liked and popular character back could bear some fruits on table in that sense since writers would add more diversity to main cast by reintroducing to younger generations one type trainer who would stand out from the rest and if there is a wide specter of new water pokemon being introduced along with evos of previous ones(like Corsola, Lapras, Qwillfish etc)water trainer like Misty could be very helpful in their promotion.
Especially if region is filled with water like Orange Islands were. Naturally they could just use new character but no point in introducing someone specializing in one type when they have already someone with who there would be less of trouble to write for since they could just pick up from where they stopped instead of starting from scratch.
That said, i think the most realistic possibility for return is if Game Freak one day touch upon Mistys line from Generation II, where she said that she wanted to travel the world. I could easily see her being a tag partner (like Cheryl and the other characters from DPPt) in some future game.
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Speaking of target audience, true but i don't think small kids not knowing about Misty is representing any problem in case of return. When writers brought back other older characters like Gary, Jessibele, Jasmine or May in DP small kids didn't know about them either but as it can be noticed they didn't had any problems with that.
If they returned it would be enough to explain it in few sentences who she is and why she returned clearing up any possible misunderstanding.
As for those who wants to get more info there are always older series to watch.
Beside thanks to reruns of older seasons on TV stations like Boomerang, pokemon smash or cartoon network, internet, DVds, video games where she is present and older relatives today kids might know already about Misty, May, Brock etc and past sagas.
Otherwise how to explain several Misty fans on forums being only 11 to 14 years old?They obviously didn't watched original series when they were airing first time finding out about her in later sagas.
Granted i know what Dogasu said in his blogs, but im still not sure if one class of kids can be viewed as representative of whole fanbase in Japan reflecting knowledge of others. Another reason why im stating this, is certain contradiction which was provided by Adamant(member in bulbagarden) which stated how ratings of reruns in Japan on TV stations like Pokemon Smash(before it was called Sunday)are notable with most kids knowing about past regions and characters in one or another way.
Not sure what is case with stations in other countries, though.
I'd like to see Misty back, but not for an entire season. Not unless they were going to have a second newer female in there with her as well. Because I saw Misty for a good number of years, then she left and we saw her again in the episodes that were released as 'Pokemon Chronicles'. It just feels like more or less her story is wrapped up. It might still be technically open, but it's as closed as character stories get with the anime. If they brought her back it would seem random, and she'd need some random reason to travel with Ash again.
I agree about idea of having two females in cast at same time. That way we would still get new character while at same time injecting new twist to anime by bringing well liked character like Misty back allowing for some great chemistry and new dynamic. We never had two girls in cast so bringing Misty while at same time adding new girl would give us something never seen before providing intriguing chemistry and interaction.
When you think about it Misty was replaced in such a way that she could return at any point if writers ever decided to do it having already things on which they could just pick upon doing continuation of her story. She definitely has untapped potential to do more, and it would be also interesting to see how she would interact with new characters and work now days as part of group.
Storywise writers could if wanted come up easily with justification to have Misty rejoin cast.
Like traveling with purpose of advancing water master dream by expanding aside from Whirl Cup in creating new water competitions serving as benchmarks through which progress would be measured, giving her rival(like they did with BW sidekicks), developing her pokemon etc.
Or they could have Misty try becoming E4 member tying her quest directly into it(she wanted to become best water trainer and E4 are best one type trainers in world) and introducing tasks or evaluators she would need to pass to determine if said character has potential for such thing giving her some quality development, and with such move writers could make Misty becoming important to Ash story since his goal involves battling E4. Since we could see whole E4 and how they function being better explained influencing Ash journey too.
Potential is definitely there, and Brock easy return after Orange Islands kinda proved how easily ex character can be included again.
Misty story was left unfinished with character never in reality being wrapped up. Her goal of water pokemon master was left unfinished and several things were left unexplored and unanswered about her past, dreams, pokemon and ambitions not being fleshed out enough as character.
We saw her going on journey to become water master at end of Johto being randomly called back to take care of gym out of obligation later on staying out of necessity and because of incompetent sisters(with writers making clear how being gym leader isn't on list of character dreams),with components of her story being left at standstill ending up as plot-holes.
She got some development in hosos like getting over Gyarados fear, earning sisters respect etc.problem is that cameos and chronicles didn't resolved plots of Misty story in any way or provided indication that further progress is being made toward them(like goal of becoming one type master,ambition to learn as much as she can about water types, what motivated her in deciding to become one type trainer etc)never coming to any significant realization how to accomplish her dreams nor getting over flaws which are standing in way of character going forward(something writers did with May or Dawn being given some sense of ending) with things being left at standstill and undefined.
So from story standpoint i say she has reasons for which she could return, providing writers wanted to do so.
