Do you think Goh's Grookey is the worst starter a main character has ever had in the anime?

[Vulcanos]

It still amazes me how they gave it an episode with Eevee to teach it to be responsible only for none of that to actually stick. What was even the point?

Again, I think the whole idea was the staff thinks Goh needs a critter on his shoulder much like Ash has Pikachu for marketing or presentation purposes. When we argue about things, sometimes we forget the main target audience of the series; children, specifically Japanese children.

The difference is that Pikachu was and always will be the lynchpin to Ash's battles so there is more to it than "it looks cute", while Grookey might as well be a malignant growth. Grookey doesn't do anything. It doesn't help (it has been far more of a hinderance, actually) in episodes. Ironically, it once again represents Goh's status as a trainer, where Goh's inability to develop or grow as a is reflected by the monkey, where it just stands there, causing problems when it does get involved because it either doesn't understand things or is unable to remember any lessons learned along the way.

Had Grookey followed a natural development (which is funny cause it's not like the other two starters from Galar had a great time in the anime), we probably would have seen the Pokemon start out as exactly like the malcontent he is, but every couple of episodes, a lesson would be taught about manners or just being a good person to others. I mean, this thing was a TR gacha, after all; one assumes those were just mass caught and randomly chucked into the machine. Then it probably would have gotten a chance at battle, where the fact it was originally meant for the gacha means it would fall on its face and we would feel bad, but by the end of the episode, through training and confidence, he could win. But given the slapdash progression this series has had, we didn't get it. And it's unlikely Grookey will be anything more than just the thing that sits on someone's shoulder.

 

[Weddingbells]

What's worse is that grookey could have had a genuinely interesting backstory with originally being TR Mon and then slowly growing a relationship with Goh, then one way or another, goh ends up capturing it.
Would of been interesting considering while TR treat other pokemon like something to just capture and give to Giovanni, they treat there own with care. Would of been genuinely interesting for them to decide for goh to have it.

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

Do you guys think the reason why they doubled down on Grookey's more annoying traits is because it's literally the only Small Cutesy Marketable Mascot left on the Main Cast (besides Pikachu and Eevee)?

All the others either evolved or disappeared.

Grookey, Pikachu and Eevee are the only ones left.

But out of all of them only Grookey represents the current Generation (until November anyways)

It's like the writers realized "Shit! There's no one left!" And started pushing Grookey down our throats so much to appeal to the small children watching

Sure there's Yamper but it's not really a Main character

 

[PrettySylveon]

Not when James’ Morpeko exists…

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

Not when James’ Morpeko exists…

Morpeko isn't a Starter

 

[Nichole the Otter]

Grookey has to be the worst main character starter in the entire anime's history. It really reflects all the bad writing decisions of Journeys as a whole, and has made me look on the Galar starters as a whole in a very bad light, especially when two suffered rushed, undeserving evolutions and the third is portrayed as annoying and a "walking mascot shoulder warmer to get little kiddies to watch" marketing tool.

I can only imagine how bad the writers will treat the Gen 9 starters, and that really terrifies a lot of the fans when you consider how more better received they are than the Galar starters so far.

 

[Broseph08]

I never cared for the Grookey line in the games but even I'm kind of shocked at how poor it comes off. I'm really hoping Leon has a Rillaboom in the final battle to give the line some redemption in the show. A good showing there would help a bit in making up for how annoying Goh's Grookey is

 

[Vulcanos]

Morpeko isn't a Starter

And it's not like Team Rocket matters anymore in the anime.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

And it's not like Team Rocket matters anymore in the anime.

They've been relevant for what 8 episodes? Either the writers don't know what to do with Team Rocket or they're just trying to slowly phase them out and hope that nobody will notice them come Gen IX.

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

Just to remind you all

https://twitter.com/blade346/status/1526229463243055107?t=YKS4Npi-QsjkSKazoDKQQA&s=19

That reminds me, Grookey has STILL not had a single fucking attempt at a Battle in the series and its been around for 51 episodes so far


FOR FUCKS SAKES even SOBBLE helped take a stand against Goh's Flygon

What the hell is stopping the writers from doing literally ANYTHING with Grookey?

 

[Kurolegacy]

Just to remind you all

https://twitter.com/blade346/status/1526229463243055107?t=YKS4Npi-QsjkSKazoDKQQA&s=19

That reminds me, Grookey has STILL not had a single fucking attempt at a Battle in the series and its been around for 51 episodes so far


FOR FUCKS SAKES even SOBBLE helped take a stand against Goh's Flygon

What the hell is stopping the writers from doing literally ANYTHING with Grookey?

Really just goes to show how Grookey has just 2 modes in this series, nuisance and prop. What a waste of a Pokémon. I honestly feel bad for Grookey fans.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

And people still think Chespin is the worst companion mon out there. He's a lot more endearing and useful than Grookey ever has been.

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

Really just goes to show how Grookey has just 2 modes in this series, nuisance and prop.

Don't forget crybaby lol

I swear this thing cries more than Sobble ever did lol

Say what you will about Sobble's rushed evolutions but at least they didn't go out of their way make it an unlikable character.

Despite lacking in confidence, he at least tried to muster up courage to help out with some battles (Flygon, Buneary/Minncino, etc), and he tried to make himself better when he met Inteleon (it wasn't handled well by the writers but I'm talking about from an in-universe standpoint here) all by himself with little to no help from Goh, and he even stopped crying after a while



Grookey meanwhile, is a fucking nuisance. He doesn't do shit, he either sitting on his ass or cause problems for everyone else while this little shit gets off scot free from his actions

He learned fuck all from meeting Thwacky considering he hasn't changed a bit

 

[Handy Man]

And people still think Chespin is the worst companion mon out there. He's a lot more endearing and useful than Grookey ever has been.

I started my rewatch of XY in the past week, I’m up to episode 38 right now. Chespin battled Team Rocket in its debut episode, as well as in a few other episodes, and its had interactions with the rest of the group’s Pokémon quite a few times. For example, it used Vine Whip to help Ash and friends climb a cliff in Miette’s debut episode. Serena hasn’t even caught Pancham yet, who was Chespin’s most interacted with Pokémon throughout XY. That’s way more than what Grookie has done in over 50 episodes.

 

[Sobble Bubble-O-Seven]

Just to remind you all

https://twitter.com/blade346/status/1526229463243055107?t=YKS4Npi-QsjkSKazoDKQQA&s=19

That reminds me, Grookey has STILL not had a single fucking attempt at a Battle in the series and its been around for 51 episodes so far


FOR FUCKS SAKES even SOBBLE helped take a stand against Goh's Flygon

What the hell is stopping the writers from doing literally ANYTHING with Grookey?

After reading this comment, I'd love to see people who don't mind Goh's Grookey try to defend it. Spoiler alert, you can't.

 

[Emelie]

I just wonder why they decided to give all three starters to Go, a character whose goal is to catch Pokemon (usually in a really simple way to promote Pokémon Go) rather than battle.

Why does the anime hate Galar so much? First they decide that the region isn't good enough to deserve its own series and then Ash doesn't get any starters even though he did in every other series?

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I just wonder why they decided to give all three starters to Go, a character whose goal is to catch Pokemon (usually in a really simple way to promote Pokémon Go) rather than battle.

Why does the anime hate Galar so much? First they decide that the region isn't good enough to deserve its own series and then Ash doesn't get any starters even though he did in every other series?

Not giving Ash a single Galarian starter just felt wrong.

 

[PokeMasterLA]

Has Grookey even battled at all?? I haven't have a chance to watch every single episode (I've skipped a few), so maybe I might've missed it.

But from I recall, I don't remember seeing that monkey be involved in any sort of Pokemon battle (official or unofficial battle). Is it that hard for the writers to have Goh use Grookey to battle for once instead of Cinderace??

 

[Handy Man]

Has Grookey even battled at all?? I haven't have a chance to watch every single episode (I've skipped a few), so maybe I might've missed it.

But from I recall, I don't remember seeing that monkey be involved in any sort of Pokemon battle (official or unofficial battle). Is it that hard for the writers to have Goh use Grookey to battle for once instead of Cinderace??

Never. It randomly used Branch Poke in the Flareon and Jolteon episode, but it was for a performance instead of a battle.

 

[Adelon]

Never. It randomly used Branch Poke in the Flareon and Jolteon episode, but it was for a performance instead of a battle.

It also tried to attack Mr. Mime, but it had a monkey made of it (hehehe) because it ran into the clown puppet thing's invisible walls.