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

[Hidden Mew]

It probably has something to do with the fact that even if Goh has technically improved, he is still on his first ever journey and is MUCH less experienced than Ash, who had to go through seven regions and over twenty years to finally catch a Legendary/Mythical of his own, so it would feel pretty contrived for someone who is comparatively a novice to suddenly be granted a Legendary by the plot. I'm personally going to withhold judgement until the episode actually comes out, since the advertising has been sending very mixed messages, but I don't think it's fair to fault people for being annoyed at the idea of Goh catching a Legendary.

While I don't blame people for being upset over the idea of Goh capturing Zapdos to a degree, I honestly don't quite understand why people keep bring up Ash capturing Meltan. Sure, he didn't capture a Legendary Pokemon for twenty years, but it wasn't like Ash's larger amount of experience compared to Goh's really contributed to that capture or provided any sense of buildup. Ash caught Meltan primarily because it had become friends with Rowlet. It barely battled, didn't have much of a connection to Ash compare to the rest of his SM team, it's evolution was a quick way for it to become strong for the tail end of the Alola League and it was just there for some extra Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee promotion. Comparing it to Goh potentially capturing Zapdos doesn't really make a lot of sense to me because of why Meltan was caught in the first place and how it was handled.

Personally, I think that this issue is rather moot as it is. I can't see any of the main characters capturing any Legendary Pokemon at this point. It would kind of weaken any tension for future arcs and episodes if Goh can always potentially have a Zapdos in the back pocket. The idea of Goh getting Zapdos doesn't inherently bother me though since the way Goh captures Pokemon doesn't bother me either. I understand the complaints and I can agree with most of them, but I still don't think it ultimately bothers me that much partly because I'm used to capturing Pokemon the same way in the main series titles as well as in Pokemon Go. It still doesn't translate that well into the anime for a few reasons, but then I remember how I capture most of my Pokemon in the games. Plus, I'd want to see if the execution of the potential capture would make it feel more earned, but it's still highly unlikely that Goh is going to get Zapdos.

 

[VetProf]

Personally, I think that this issue is rather moot as it is. I can't see any of the main characters capturing any Legendary Pokemon at this point. It would kind of weaken any tension for future arcs and episodes if Goh can always potentially have a Zapdos in the back pocket.

Characters having strong Pokemon at their disposal doesn't prevent the writers from putting them in contrived situations where they are in danger. See: episode 24.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Characters having strong Pokemon at their disposal doesn't prevent the writers from putting them in contrived situations where they are in danger. See: episode 24.

True, but it would seem even more of a hassle to write around Goh having a Legendary Pokemon like Zapdos around than just a regular strong Pokemon. That's one reason why I don't see it happening.

 

[Gengarzilla]

This series seems to really enjoy lighting the old powder keg. It's already been rubbing me the wrong way with Riolu and Bea, and now there's the possibility of Goh catching a Zapdos? This could be a messy week.

Personally though, I've always considered Zapdos and the other two birds as "lesser" Legendaries. Thanks to power creep and serial escalation throughout the games they're just not comparable to the likes of, say... Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Reshiram, Zekrom, or Kyurem, for some examples. If Goh never gets anything of that level then I could actually let the Zapdos slide.

 

[Greninjaman]

This series seems to really enjoy lighting the old powder keg. It's already been rubbing me the wrong way with Riolu and Bea, and now there's the possibility of Goh catching a Zapdos? This could be a messy week.

Personally though, I've always considered Zapdos and the other two birds as "lesser" Legendaries. Thanks to power creep and serial escalation throughout the games they're just not comparable to the likes of, say... Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Reshiram, Zekrom, or Kyurem, for some examples. If Goh never gets anything of that level then I could actually let the Zapdos slide.

That makes sense. Palkia and Dialga both have important roles within the world/universe of Pokemon, while the three birds don't (other than the three birds from the second movie).

 

[Johtohfiller]

What I'd like to see: TR catches Zapdos and that ties in with Mewtwo later.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

This series seems to really enjoy lighting the old powder keg. It's already been rubbing me the wrong way with Riolu and Bea, and now there's the possibility of Goh catching a Zapdos? This could be a messy week.

Personally though, I've always considered Zapdos and the other two birds as "lesser" Legendaries. Thanks to power creep and serial escalation throughout the games they're just not comparable to the likes of, say... Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Reshiram, Zekrom, or Kyurem, for some examples. If Goh never gets anything of that level then I could actually let the Zapdos slide.

They are lesser, they are in the optional/roaming legendary tier, so it's more fair to compare them to Latias/Latios, lake trio, ect. Unlike box legendaries, there is a precedent for trainers capturing these "lesser legendaries", such as Brandon with his Regi-s and and Tobias's Latios. That said, it should be a sign of an incredibly powerful trainer, which Gou cannot be described as, at least for now.

 

[DarkraiKnight]

This series seems to really enjoy lighting the old powder keg.

Correction: Generation VIII seems to really enjoy lighting the old powder keg.

 

[Greninjaman]

Correction: Generation VIII seems to really enjoy lighting the old powder keg.

How so?

 

[DarkraiKnight]

How so?

Pretty much everything, really.

 

[BigDocFan]

Still no staff list for this episode yet, at least we'll have the VA list sometime tomorrow

 

[Silktree]

I think/hope that this is just a setup for a future episode involving the bird trio. Maybe Go will catch Zapdos eventually, but not now.

 

[Beary]

Still no staff list for this episode yet, at least we'll have the VA list sometime tomorrow

wait how do you know we get the Va list tomorrow ?

 

[BigDocFan]

wait how do you know we get the Va list tomorrow ?

From past experience, the VA lists usually come out 8 days prior to the episode airing and tomorrow is 8 days before this episode airs

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I wish the anime would stop shoving the bird trio, Giovanni, and Mewtwo down our throats again and again. I'd rather the effort go into characters and legendary trios/duos/groups which haven’t had the limelight.

 

[MurotanGekkiLuv]

Maybe Go will catch Zapdos eventually, but not now.

This made me think of Tobias's formal ownership of a Darkrai (a Mythical Pokemon) and a Latios (a Legendary Pokemon), as well as Ash's formal ownership of a Melmetal (another Mythical Pokemon)...

 

[BigDocFan]

Information courtesy of Dephender at Serebii

Spoiler

Top blurb: Satoshi and Go happen across the legendaryPokémon Thunder and have a Raid Battle against it!!
Bottom blurb: Helpers Satoshi and Go never expected show up!

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Bottom blurb: Helpers Satoshi and Go never expected show up!

As in, the helpers that were already spoiled in the preview.

 

[BigDocFan]

Summary and VA lists courtesy of Adamant

The Legendary Pokémon Thunder appears! Satoshi and Go immediately challenge it to a battle, but Thunder proves to be way too much for them... But then, someone appears! It's the Rocket Gang! Who will get Thunder?!

Summary:
It's a nice day, but as Satoshi and the others are enjoying some snowcones at the Sakuragi Laboratories, a huge thunderstorm suddenly draws close. And once they sense the presence of powerful biological energy, they realize it's possible the Legendary Pokémon Thunder might actually be nearby! And as the areas surrounding the Sakuragi Laboratories keep losing power, Go gets a sudden flash of insight. When they head to the place he thought of, they find Thunder there and immediately challenge it to a battle, but Thunder proves to be way too much for the duo. However, they decide to have a Raid Battle against it, working together with some "helpers" they truly didn't expect to be there!!

Voice Cast:
Rica Matsumoto: Satoshi
Daiki Yamashita: Go
Ikue Ohtani: Pikachu
Kana Hanazawa: Koharu
Yuichi Nakamura: Professor Sakuragi
Megumi Hayashibara: Musashi
Shinichiro Miki: Kojiro
Inuko Inuyama: Nyarth
Yuji Ueda: Sonansu
Risa Shimizu: Flygon
Sayaka Senbongi: Messon
Marina Aicholtz: Go's Smartphone Rotom
Kenyu Horiuchi: Narration

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

And as the areas surrounding the Sakuragi Laboratories keep losing power, Go gets a sudden flash of insight. When they head to the place he thought of

Yup. It's the Kanto Power Plant.

Risa Shimizu: Flygon

I suspect Goh will use this after Raboot is defeated.