>>57906710 (OP)Misty really doesn’t have the charm of the closest comparison I could come up with (and is also involved in waifu wars) as Asuka does. The biggest thing going against her is that if you actually go back and watch the show, she just… doesn’t really do anything. Misty doesn’t get much in the way of dedicated time or effort to improve on becoming a better “water trainer”, and it’s even noticeable how inferior she is to Ash’s battling skills early on in the show even when he’s still a notorious and cocky jobber.
Iris is legitimately a better Misty, but she comes into the series way too late, and Ash has to be noticeably nerfed to justify her snark.
The girlier girls like May, Dawn, and Serena have much more time dedicated to their niches, and it helps that those niches contain a seperate visual appeal than straight up battling.