My my, how time flies. The Japanese version of "Gotta Catch Ya Later" originally aired in November 2002. We're now in 2014, so by next month it'll officially have been 12 full years since Misty left.
As someone who was around when it originally happened, its interesting to look back and realize how wrong so many people were about Misty needing to come back to the show or Misty being some vital part of the anime, which it turns out she wasn't. Misty turned out to be nothing more than a short-lived supporting sidekick character from the beginning of the series. And the anime marched on without her for over 600 episodes now.
So what has happened over these last 12 years? Misty stayed gone permanently in every single generation that followed. Her cameos never continued past Hoenn, so Misty hasn't even appeared in an episode since 2005 when Ash came home from the Hoenn league, which is a decade ago itself. May set the standard for most of the females that followed, as the writers brought in the female lead from the games and gave them a mostly girly personality going forward. And Misty simply never appears again outside of flashbacks or brief scenes in the Japanese openings/endings.
Its so interesting to look back at things in retrospect, such as Misty and Brock and there "status" which turned out to be no more important than any companion that came after them.
