Did Ash really have to give up all his Kanto Pokémon in Johto? He barely evolved anything. No wonder the series falls off here.

>>57947141 (OP)
Ash was always a terrible trainer

>>57947144
I wonder if the series would have been better with a competent trainer like Richie

>>57947157
Gary should have got a side story or a filler 2 part episode or something

>>57947141 (OP)
he did in every other region, the real issue is that he barely ever battled and was too much of a retard to evolve anything
>>57947157
Or at least follow a new trainer for every region,

Johto is a bit weird in retrospect. At one point Brock and Misty told Ash that his Charizard was overpowered. Against the newer Johto trainers, Ash was a veteran and the new mons were overshadowed. Unlike later gens he didn't reset his party right away. Instead they gradually boxed Charizard, Snorlax, Squirtle, etc. and rotated them around with the new guys. It's a compromise, I guess.

Some kids hated Gen 3 for switching out the characters, so it's understandable why they may have been hesitant to reset Ash's team completely.

>>57947186
Even at the time, I remember being disappointed that they kept Ash on instead of going with the new protags. What a lost opportunity. They could have even plausibly just kept Pikachu on, since it was their mascot and all that. But to tell good stories you just need to let characters resolve their arcs...