>>53211935For me it's "How does the event have a lasting effect on the characters?"
Kanto event didn't really do much except power up Giovanni, but he's relevant throughout all the events so okay.
Sinnoh event actually created stakes (Cyrus is about to mass suicide the island by putting them in an infinite nightmare), though it killed its own cliffhanger halfway through by revealing that Dawn already had a solution with Cresselia. But the way it managed to wrap up Cyrus' character arc was really satisfying, how he realizes that there is value in spirit and that perhaps it's worth trying to complete the incomplete spirit rather than outright eliminating it.
Johto is satisfying for Silver as a character overcoming his aversion to teamwork and acknowledging his own weakness. These are things he's done before, but it manages to do it in an ultimate test sort of way by having it be over Giovanni, the reason he had all his hang-ups to begin with. The Johto Sygna Suits are also the best possible choices, and Ethan and Silver teaming up using Lugia and Ho-Oh to try and overcome Giovanni while Kris, Lyra, and all the Johto Gym Leaders hold off the rest of Team Rocket is really cool, and it emphasizes that Silver needed everyone.
Hoenn has good ideas, but the writing isn't interesting and it's disjointed. We have a meteor, we have Rayquaza, we have Deoxys, that works together well enough, and Masters ties it to Steven through his interest in stones. And we have Kyogre and Groudon going nuts because of the meteor, and Courtney and Matt going nuts with them. I think the way it has Maxie and Archie putting everything aside to work together as heroes to stop the destruction is good, but the plots are too separated. It's Brendan and May trying to stop Groudon and Kyogre, yet they feel like they're there just because, they don't serve any themes. Zinnia gets her relevance, but I just can't be assed to care about her. They don't even show a flying to space cutscene.
