Preview JN040: VS Thunder! A Legendary Raid Battle!!

[Lightning Flame Blast]

I have to say, if this gang of UnExPeCtEd helpers (that I’m convinced are either TRio or some random CotDs from another episode) have some extra pokemon on them, I can see the group beating Zapdos. Assuming Goh brings some of his powerhouses like Flygon and Golurk and that Ash uses Dragonite or Gengar instead of that damned Aura Scraggy, it’s gonna be a gang effort.

Remember that Hawlucha was able to knock a Zapdos out of the sky with an ineffective move and Noivern incapacitated it, so this one might be near that power level.

I still don’t want it to be caught. Way too soon.

 

[DarkraiKnight]

Go, on the other hand, has not even so much as had a Pokémon he wanted flee. He’s never experienced any kind of roadblock when it comes to his goal.

Well, let‘s see here...

> Episode 10: Wasted all of his Poké Balls of Dewgong and thus couldn’t catch a Dragonite (or a Dratini/Dragonair)
> Episode 14: Had to help battle Golurk
> Episode 20: Had a tough time of catching Farfetch’d
> Episode 27: Failed to catch Galarian Farfetch’d
> Episode 28: Failed to catch Silicobra
> Episode 29: Failed to catch Fearow
> Episode 35: Did most of the battling against Flygon

Now, this isn’t to say that Goh hasn’t had too easy of a time, but he has faced challenges and he has failed. Now, go on and tell me why 50% or all of these don’t count. I know that’s where this is headed.

 

[Islander Princess]

I really shouldn't complain because they actually haven't done too many of them, and I'm well aware they're going to be used in the anime because they're prevalent, but I just don't like raid battles. That honestly bummed me out way more than the prospect of Goh catching Zapdos, lol. I'll hold out any judgment on that potential development until I actually see if it happens and how it's handled.

The "unexpected helpers" line has me intrigued, but my guess is it ultimately won't be anybody special. I'd love to be proven wrong, though!

 

[Eclipsical]

I really shouldn't complain because they actually haven't done too many of them, and I'm well aware they're going to be used in the anime because they're prevalent, but I just don't like raid battles. That honestly bummed me out way more than the prospect of Goh catching Zapdos, lol. I'll hold out any judgment on that potential development until I actually see if it happens and how it's handled.

The "unexpected helpers" line has me intrigued, but my guess is it ultimately won't be anybody special. I'd love to be proven wrong, though!

I’m genuinely interested, why don’t you like raid battles?

 

[nickdt]

Newbie's don't defeat Dojo masters. If Go was where he was in the Battle Frontier episode he would have lost. And it's not like Go is defeating Zapdos by himself. He will have help.

We don't know if Goh won or not. Maybe he lost but the Dojo Master felt sorry for him.

 

[Eclipsical]

We don't know if Goh won or not. Maybe he lost but the Dojo Master felt sorry for him.

Ash said “I guess you’re the only one who won today”, or something along those lines when Goh was shown to have Hitmonchan. Goh definitely won fair and square in this instance.

 

[Johtohfiller]

If Go does catch Zapdos the only way I won't be disappointed is if they make a point that he couldn't have done it on his own.

I'm in favor of Ash and Go teaming up with the TRio. This is too random an episode for bringing back long-absent characters IMO. Maybe Surge could work (and he catches it?).

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Journeys has done many unexpected things, so catching a Zapdos seems perfectly possible. Whether it will be caught, or who will catch it if it is caught, are whole other questions, though.

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

It’s been a long time since I watched these episodes but, when Ash’s Noibat and Fletchinder evolved in Noivern and Talonflame, did they put up a good fight against Moltres and Zapdos?

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

It’s been a long time since I watched these episodes but, when Ash’s Noibat and Fletchinder evolved in Noivern and Talonflame, did they put up a good fight against Moltres and Zapdos?

Talonflame got defeated easily, but Noivern actually managed to do some damage.

 

[Deitylight]

We don't know if Goh won or not. Maybe he lost but the Dojo Master felt sorry for him.

Gou could literally only get the Hitmonchan if he won the battle against the Dojo Master. Why would he give him Hitmonchan when he clearly said in the episode that he could only get that or Hitmonlee if he won? This is reaching new levels of nonsense to deny him progression in terms of being a trainer when its clear as day in the show what happened.

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

Talonflame got defeated easily, but Noivern actually managed to do some damage.

Before I say anything, yes, doing damage does not mean it’s necessarily would have been defeated or captured, and second, legendaries in the anime are known to be extremely mediocre, then ridiculously powerful (compare the first movie Mewtwo to the Genesect Mewtwo or the Johto series’ Lugia to this one).

So, I understand judging a legendary isn’t easy, but if Noivern (Who was a strong Pokemon, don’t get me wrong) could do damage, then surely Pikachu and three other Pokemon can do it as well.

 

[Silktree]

I am not happy about this type of episode happening so soon, but:

Considering that we don’t know what level that the Dojo Master is on due to everything about his battles being offscreen, yes a newbie could potentially beat him.

He's called a Master for a reason, and Bea traveled a long way to battle him. That said, the more relevant experience Go has is catching Flygon by himself.

Again, beating him and taking on a legendary Pokémon are 2 completely different monsters.

Go won't be alone. We don't know that Zapdos will be caught in the traditional way, either. It might not be caught at all in this episode.

And alone or not, it’s a legendary Pokémon. The last time we saw a group of people even trying to do a raid battle against a legendary, they couldn’t even scratch it.

That was Lugia and it didn't even want to fight, so it got away as soon as possible. Ash did battle Zapdos in XY using a barely evolved Pokemon (and two Pokemon at a disadvantage), and while the battle was interrupted, it didn't seem like a lost cause. Let's face it: Legendaries have very malleable power levels, as do all Pokemon.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Well, let‘s see here...

> Episode 10: Wasted all of his Poké Balls of Dewgong and thus couldn’t catch a Dragonite (or a Dratini/Dragonair)
> Episode 14: Had to help battle Golurk
> Episode 20: Had a tough time of catching Farfetch’d
> Episode 27: Failed to catch Galarian Farfetch’d
> Episode 28: Failed to catch Silicobra
> Episode 29: Failed to catch Fearow
> Episode 35: Did most of the battling against Flygon

Now, this isn’t to say that Goh hasn’t had too easy of a time, but he has faced challenges and he has failed. Now, go on and tell me why 50% or all of these don’t count. I know that’s where this is headed.

Episode 10: Ash offered him a pokeball which he then declined stating Ash might need it.
Episode 14: In way way was this a failure in which he had to learn from?
Episode 20: The plot literally had the same Farfetch’d come back multiple times until it literally gave it to him
Episode 27: He failed to capture it due to the fact that he doesn’t train his Pokémon. Hell it didn’t even get away, Ash caught it. By that logic, he failed with Gengar
Episode 28: That entire scenario wasn’t even about the capture, it was about him realizing that he wasn’t considering Sobble’s feelings. He didn’t even care about Silicobra when Sobble was the one troubled
Episode 29: That entire thing was played for laughs, not as anything of a failure
Episode 35: as with episode 14, what does that have to do with a failure or setback that he has to learn from?

The majority of what you mentioned were either irrelevant to the point of him having to learn from failure, a blip in the episode that had nothing to do with Go growing from failure or both. The closest thing to him having a genuine reaction at missing out on was G Farfetch’d and even then, not only did any disappointment vanish by next episode but the only takeaway he received was the prospect of being more sensitive to the Pokémon’s wants. Tell how any of these things compare to the the other past characters’ failures in which they not only had to look at why they failed but grew both as people and trainers with said growth from their failures being expressed in their next attempt at their respective goals.

 

[Black&White]

Like I said if Ash can catch a Mythical Go can catch a Legendary

After Zapdos I'm looking forward to Go catching Articuno and Moltres. After then he can focus on catching other Legendary trios like the beasts.

 

[nickdt]

Ash said “I guess you’re the only one who won today”, or something along those lines when Goh was shown to have Hitmonchan. Goh definitely won fair and square in this instance.

If we didn't see it, it didn't happen.

Show, don't tell, since we can take that line 2 ways - He won because he got to choose a Pokemon, not because he actually won a battle.

The problem with Goh winning against the Karate Master, is that it makes Ash loss seem even worse, since then Grapploct isn't as strong as they want us to believe it is and then all of Riolu's progress has been pointless as well.

 

[Sobble Bubble-O-Seven]

Gou should not be allowed to catch a legendary this early in the series.

Also, my money is on Team Rocket being the unexpected duo to help.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

Like I said if Ash can catch a Mythical Go can catch a Legendary

Vastly different circumstances.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Like I said if Ash can catch a Mythical Go can catch a Legendary

After Zapdos I'm looking forward to Go catching Articuno and Moltres. After then he can focus on catching other Legendary trios like the beasts.

How does that even begin to compare? Ash is a trainer with 7 regions worth of experience spanning 23 years. Go is a rookie who is has less than a year our time and is still learning the basics of actually connecting to his Pokémon. In what world is there a remote equivalence there?

 

[Eclipsical]

If we didn't see it, it didn't happen.

Show, don't tell, since we can take that line 2 ways - He won because he got to choose a Pokemon, not because he actually won a battle.

Considering they very specifically said that he needed to battle in order to earn the choice of Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan, we can easily assume he won considering he didn’t leave empty handed. It directly parallels the games. The dojo isn’t going to just bend the rules because they feel bad. You battle and win or you get nothing.

Yes, show don’t tell, but it doesn’t mean that an event didn’t happen at all. It may be hard to believe, but it still happened nonetheless.

Go is a rookie who is has less than a year our time and is still learning the basics of actually connecting to his Pokémon.

Regardless of catching legendaries or not, I think Goh is passed “the basics of actually connecting to his Pokémon”. The only Pokémon he had issues with were Raboot and Sobble, and he reconciled with both of them. All of his other Pokémon are perfectly happy with their relationship with him.