>All these people crying about Shudo being crazy
The man had his issues, but you better believe his vision in the anime and the general open-ground of Gen I made this series a lot more grounded and realistic. Like the monsters you're catching can kill you if you're not careful. Even the games start off with you being stopped because it's dangerous to go in the tall grass without a Pokemon, specifically because they were wild animals, bigger than the average rat and bird respectively.

The first episode of the anime involves Ash almost getting killed by a flock of Spearow. Even Ash's first design shows an uneasy kid trying to prove he's worthy of being a trainer, and at least in Gen I, he gets floored when he actually had to be a trainer instead of doing a good deed for a badge.

This chart sums it up.
>1997: A kid who's going on his first journey, he's tense and uneasy, and he's got something to prove
>2002: Same kid gained experience, teaches a new trainer the ropes and is confident in what he can do. Still a long way to go, but he's getting there
>2006: Even more experience under his belt, he's a seasoned trainer and knows what to expect and is ready to face any challenge that comes his way
>2010: Disregard all of the above, he's back to being inexperienced and don't you dare ask why, also whatever character development the villain squad had was wiped out thanks to a natural disaster
>2013: He's showing more experience and knowledge, even more than 2006? This could be the redemption arc he needs.
>2016: Fuck that, he lost again, ALOLA LOL
>2017: Twenty years wasted on this faggot, member Kanto? I member!
>2018-19: Errm...let's clone him and see if it works. No? Okay, give him a win and put him out his misery
tl;dr 1997 is the GOAT and even he got sanitized before the west even got Episode 1.

>>714592275
YouTube Kids does that for all its videos.

>>57959072
So much cope, Ash got tanner with time unlike Roy