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

[Fan of Jarrus]

Who did the animation?

 

[Kurolegacy]

Finally we’ve been given a Go based episode where he not only fails to capture what he’s trying to but that he isn’t given a consolation capture simply so he doesn’t walk away empty handed.

 

[Panky..]

What I am bothered by is how the scenario has been molded to give Goh an advantage, just another example of writer's pet-tism(?). Zapdos, in this very episode itself (much less the ones from M02 and XY110) is shown to be a really powerful adversary but suddenly near the end, it becomes very weak/nerfed for no reason. It barely took any damage from any of the opponent's Pokemons for most of the episode. While Raboot learning Blaze Kick and hitting Zapdos with it is cool, it shouldn't have been enough to completely ground Zapdos to the point a regular Pokeball went to three pings. Remember, this is the same Raboot that was one-shotted by Aerodactyl just two episodes ago, and this is the same Goh who never trains his Pokemon. It's not realistically believable that he was able to bring it down that easily.

 

[Konja7]

No need to apologize. I was in the process of updating my above comment so you can check it again, since I addressed the points you made in that one. Including the one about whether it applies to just this Zapdos or all Legendaries.

If they decide to abandon what they showcased with Zapdos today, down the line in this series, then it would definitely be unforgivable. They've already been doing a lot of that "forget important plot points or development" already.

However, although this particular Zapdos (and other legendarios) is vital for its local enviroment, that doesn't mean every legendary pokemon is vital for the environment.

In fact, you could say that cases like Tobias or Brandom "proves" than there would be legendarios that aren't vital for the enviroment they live.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Who did the animation?

We don't actually know yet. The time slot change is messing with things. From what I understand, the staff list should be out tomorrow.

 

[Emmy]

So... I guess Gou's going to have to give up on his "gotta catch 'em all" streak now.

Or will he?

 

[Fan of Jarrus]

It will be hard for Goh to catch Eternatus when Leon risked his life to.

 

[DarkraiKnight]

Tobias and Brandon aren't good examples. Tobias was a contrived plot device used to knock Ash out of a League because he was too strong back then. The entire scenario was poorly devised. Brandon is an archaeologist and a researcher whose job revolves around legendaries in a way, and not in a superficial way that 'catch everything because Mew somehow' is. He also happens to be a very skilled/experienced trainer, possibly even Champion level.

True, but what do either of those factors have to do with your claim?

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

Whilst I’m glad Go didn’t catch Zapdos (who isn’t), I honestly thought Raboot was going to evolve here when I saw it get hit originally by Zapdos.

The real thing I want to know is...how the hell did Ash beat TR with just Pikachu in that scenario?

 

[Silktree]

However, although this particular Zapdos (and other legendarios) is vital for its local enviroment, that doesn't mean every legendary pokemon is vital for the environment.

In fact, you could say that cases like Tobias or Brandom "proves" than there would be legendarios that aren't vital for the enviroment they live.

I don't know how anyone could think that the Regis or Darkrai are "vital for the environment." Most legendaries aren't.

 

[UxieLover1994]

However, although this particular Zapdos (and other legendarios) is vital for its local enviroment, that doesn't mean every legendary pokemon is vital for the environment.

In fact, you could say that cases like Tobias or Brandom "proves" than there would be legendarios that aren't vital for the enviroment they live.

If we go by the logic of Pokémon GO, this episode shows how difficult it is to catch Legendary Pokémon via raids. For me, it takes an average of 3-5 raids to net myself a Legendary Pokémon (or the rare Mythical like Darkrai and Genesect). If the "do not catch" applies to all Legendary (and possibly Mythical) Pokemon as opposed to only this Zapdos, the idea of Goh catching all Pokémon will be more unspeakable, even with the forced exclusion of the Porygon line and Kadabra.

The real thing I want to know is...how the hell did Ash beat TR with just Pikachu in that scenario?

It's Pikachu, you know. One episode has him as powerful as a Legendary Pokémon, and the next would have him weaker than a Scatterbug.

I don't know how anyone could think that the Regis or Darkrai are "vital for the environment." Most legendaries aren't.

Certain types of Legendary Pokémon would be vital. For example, Xerneas and Yveltal represent life and death. But I don't see Latias and Latios as being "vital"

 

[Konja7]

Tobias and Brandon aren't good examples. Tobias was a contrived plot device used to knock Ash out of a League because he was too strong back then. The entire scenario was poorly devised. Brandon is an archaeologist and a researcher whose job revolves around legendaries in a way, and not in a superficial way that 'catch everything because Mew somehow' is. He also happens to be a very skilled/experienced trainer, possibly even Champion level.

I'm not saying this to imply Goh should catch a Legendary or not.

The claim is that Legendary are vital for the environment, but Tobias and Brandom's cases show this isn't true.

This is important for this series because Goh's goal is still catch Mew (and every Pokemon). So, they likely consider this Zapdos a particular case.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

Tobias and Brandon aren't good examples. Tobias was a contrived plot device used to knock Ash out of a League because he was too strong back then. The entire scenario was poorly devised. Brandon is an archaeologist and a researcher whose job revolves around legendaries in a way, and not in a superficial way that 'catch everything because Mew somehow' is. He also happens to be a very skilled/experienced trainer, possibly even Champion level.

To be fair, I think the concept of some legendaries being vital to the ecosystem is pretty contrived on it's own. It's been wildly inconsistent over the years, and it seems like they just tend to play that card as an excuse to prevent the main characters from getting them, or as cheap conflict in the films.

It bugs me that the reason for Gou not catching Zapdos is that it would be immoral, when the real reason should be that his entire party gets wiped out and he realizes his own weakness and that he needs to work harder to achieve his goal. All of Ash's league losses have been learning experiences for him that result in him vowing to get stronger, never have his losses been excused as something beyond his control (except Tobias really). I personally don't like all the "Gary-stu" criticism of the character, but in this case it seems to ring true. (I haven't seen the episode yet so I'm basing this on everyone's descriptions)

 

[Konja7]

And again, Tobias is the worst possible example to bring up, whereas I've already said my piece about Brandon above.

His goal to getting Mew needs serious tweaking because as it stands, it's badly handled.

Maybe you don't like Tobias example, but he is still an example.

The main point is the anime has treated some Legendaries as vital for their local environment, but not every Legendary has been shown that way in the anime (not even in the same species).

For example: Lugia in the second movie seems extremely important, but Lugia in OG seems just a uncommon Pokemon.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

I don't believe the ecosystem vitality is contrived, it makes a lot of sense especially if the legendaries are more prominent (like the Weather and Creation trios). Even if it's just an 'excuse' to not give one to main protagonist, it's still a valid one that should hold. This is the anime, not the games, and the games themselves made them look weak/pathetic with the catching aspect. Like seriously, it's very hard to imagine someone using literal gods and commanding them left and right.

It makes more sense for some Pokemon than others, Palkia and Dialga obviously should not be captured by anyone. As for Zapdos, it was shown to be vital to the ecosystem in one instance (M02), but I didn't really get that impression of it in any future appearances. In this episode, I believe that it was counterproductive to fall back on that excuse as it negates potential development for Gou involving training his Pokemon and putting in the hard work to realize his dream. However, if the message of this episode is that he will never truely be able to capture "every" Pokemon, than I guess that's a valid lesson that he was going to have to learn at some point. If it's neither than what a waste.

Also, thanks for the summary.

 

[UxieLover1994]

Remember M18? Every moment in that film would make no sense in either the main anime series or prior movies. For example, the climax had a vortex show up because of "too many Legendary Pokémon". Many other times in the series, we had moments of five or more Legendary and Mythical Pokémon show up (for example, the conclusion of the Team Plasma Arc) and no "vortex of doom" happened in those times. A better writer would've explained said vortex as something related to disruptions involving Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina being taken out of their dimensions involuntarily, or simply not had the vortex at all.

M02 went out of the way to explain why capturing the Legendary Birds was a bad idea. But that was in 2000, and we've had other versions of the Legendary Birds show up. And then we've got the Galar forms showing up one day. How are they going to be "vital"?

We've since had multiple versions of many Legendary and Mythical Pokémon show up. For example, dozens of Celebi in M04 and another in M13. And then there's Lugia, the Beast trio, Heatran, and even Mewtwo.

 

[Sobble Bubble-O-Seven]

Goh didn't catch Zapdos?

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Whilst I’m glad Go didn’t catch Zapdos (who isn’t), I honestly thought Raboot was going to evolve here when I saw it get hit originally by Zapdos.

We've seen Raboot on a screenshot apparently taken from JN042, so I knew it wasn't going to evolve here. But the new move was a pleasant surprise.

 

[Black&White]

Even though Go failed Raboot DID knock Zapdos to the ground. He will definitely do well in the PWC. And catch a Legendary in the future

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Even though Go failed Raboot DID knock Zapdos to the ground. He will definitely do well in the PWC. And catch a Legendary in the future

He will not participate. That's not his goal.