PanicAttack

I personally think that Misty shouldn't come back to the anime as a regular character. I've seen and heard all the arguments as to why she should come back and quite simply, they're bogus.

Misty is a very clichéd character.

The idea of "the clichéd anime girl" is a ridiculous one since there are a wide number of so-called clichés relating to female characters and characters in Japanese animation. For a start, tomboys. Misty is a lot less feminine than May or Dawn, I'll admit that. That would be an argument for her being a tomboy, which is a character stereotype.

In her early days at least, Misty was also a tsundere (derived from the Japanese tsuntsun which means aloof or cranky, and deredere which means lovestruck). Basically, that means that she would switch between being bitchy and being kinda sweet. This description fits Misty pretty effectively, especially in regards to her treatment of Ash. She acted horrified to the state he had let Pikachu get into when they first met and angrily pursued him in order to get him to pay her back for her ruined bike (tsuntsun). However she also acted as a mentor to him and offered him usage of her Pokémon on occasion (deredere).

Tsunderes are a very common character type in Japanese media and can almost certainly be considered "cliché". Some mainstream examples:

• Rukia from Bleach
• Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Lina from Slayers
• Kagami from Lucky Star
• Naru from Love Hina
• Mai and Natsuki from My-HiME
• Kallen from Code Geass
• Temari from Naruto
• Jessie from Pokémon
• Akane from Ranma 1/2
• Winry from Full Metal Alchemist
• Suiseiseki from Rozen Maiden
• Tetra from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
• Midna from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Meryl from Metal Gear Solid/MGS The Twin Snakes/MGS 4

Furthermore, look at how Misty dressed. In Kanto, Orange and Johto she wore a yellow sleeveless t-shirt which showed off a small portion of her midriff, red suspenders, denim hotpants and red sneakers. That's not much at all when you think about it, especially since she rarely wore much more and would semi-often wear less (albeit they roughly balance out if you don't count times she goes barefoot but retains her top, suspenders and shorts). Outfits that cover very little of the body are fairly common on girls in anime. Bear in mind that with this combination of clothes, her arms are completely uncovered and her legs are only covered at the very top and around her feet. Early on in the series she went barefoot for occasional scenes anyway, thus leaving more skin exposed.

Misty wasn't that good as a member of the twerps.

In fact, early on she was quite the opposite - a negative influence. She shouted, complained and generally treated Ash like dirt. She gradually became nicer but mostly that was due to the fact she spent a lot of time cooing over Togepi.

Misty isn't really that good as a role model either.

Like I said before, Misty dressed stupidly and, in the early days, was horrible to Ash. She was even physically violent. As you should know, anyone who whacks people with a mallet over very minor things can't really be a good role model.

Most importantly: She has already accomplished her main goal.

Misty's goal was to become a master with Water-type Pokémon. She's a Gym Leader, which is one of the most prestigious titles you can have (short of Elite Four or Champion). By contrast, Ash, Brock, May and Dawn all have their own goals which they haven't achieved yet.

Ash isn't one of the greatest trainers ever like he's aiming to be. While he's completed the Orange Crew and Kanto Battle Frontier challenges, the best he's done in a Pokémon League is reach the quarter-finals. Considering that Leagues are held annually, that means that each year, at least 31 other people are equally skilled or better for that year (8 times the at least four leagues minus one - Ash). Add on the fact that there have been multiple leagues, then it begins to become apparent - Ash is above average in capacity, but not exceptional. The same logic can be applied to May and the Hoenn and Kanto Grand Festivals. The best she's done is reach the semi-finals, but in a much smaller competition. Added to that, she's not won any related challenges, unlike Ash.

Brock is in a different position to Ash, May and Dawn since Pokémon breeding isn't competitive, so he can be there indefinitely, since he's continuously improving. It's just difficult to show that progress.

No comment on Dawn since she's not competed in a Grand Festival tournament yet (although she did with the related Wallace Cup and Hearthome Collection).

Counting Misty's additional achievements works in her favour too. She was Queen of the Princess Day Festival (which will be shortened to Princessfest for the rest of this), champion of the Alto Mare canal race and she won a Seaking catching competition. Whether or not Princessfest counts since she borrowed Bulbasaur, Pikachu and Vulpix counts is arguable, however. On the other hand, it was her
Psyduck which got her the eventual win.

Flame/troll/report/worship me if you want. Preferably the fourth one. =D