I'm not sure if this is a hot take or not but this arc is not only my third favourite arc in adventures but is also better to me that the original johto arc. Sure it is alot shorter but I would prefer that if we get tightly put together satisfying adventures like this. The stakes were high during this arc of course to be expected when the main pokemon of the arc is arceus. However unlike other arcs that tackle legendery pokemon this arc doesn't become absurd and too out there as it continues. It has a grounded set of goals for our heroes and allows them all to grow in a more meaningful way than the FRLG arc could offer. I almost feel bad putting this 19 chapter adventure over the comparably way longer original Johto arc but though the original way have some stand out moments it is held back far too often by its own sometimes clunky plot. This arc really made me remember why I love the Johto cast so much. There isn't a dull moment with these characters and thus through the short arc length I was never bored. Gold's character arc isn't quite as center stage as Red's and honestly that is only a good thing to me. Red's arc felt forced and at the cost of other possibly more interesting characters. Here all the trio get equal time to shine. They all make a tangible impact on the story and play off each other like we remember. The structure of the plot is also really well done. I know I keep comparing it to FRLG but it's kind of hard not to. In FRLG for example the lead up to the main conflict felt really stale. The fight between Blue and Red was fun at first but by the end just felt like an excuse to have a cool fight at the start of the arc. The build up to the sevii islands felt forced and unnatural and the characters felt like they were just being pulled by the story without any mind of their own. HGSS on the other hand starts off great with a fun competition to reasstablish Gold. It is brief and fun but before even that gets stale the story switches over to Silver and Chris. The creator knows not to put too much emphasis on only one character and that decision helps every character feel importance. The admins of team rocket all of distinct abilities and while they aren't too amazing as characters they make sure there is always something going on without the arc feeling too clutered. Arceus is presented well and the old villains coming back at the end was awesome to see. Giovanni once again taking over team rocket is kind of lame to me. I'll see what comes out of it but so far it just seems like they have no idea what to do with Giovanni if he isn't the villain of an arc. After fighting team rocket for many arcs I just feel like its time to move on but oh well that decision barely effects this arc. Overall a great return to form. If I were to give any points out of its favour I would say team rocket weren't used as great as they could be. That includes the admins, team rocket and old rocket members but I wouldn't say it really made much of a dent in my enjoyment over this incredibly fun arc!
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