Will Goh capture Legendary Pokemon?

[KrspaceT]

...I had just thought of the question while I was scribbling down something on TV tropes. I was specifically jotting down some places Ash and Goh might visit in the series and I put down the Regi Caves of Gen 3 and went 'oh dear'.

Goh very clearly does want to capture Mew, but if he does want to build up to that with more and more captures eventually legendary Pokemon will come up. It makes sense he would eventually capture one, or two....

With Melmetal last series (arguably) has that become possible? Note my Regi thought because the Regis would be easier for this question than 'will Goh capture Dialga' and I'm leaning more on 'Could Goh capture a more common legendary' than one of the one of a kind ones.

 

[Venomaid]

He might but I hope he won't because I feel that legendaries/mythicals should stay rare and not be owned by cast members. And no I don't count things like Lillie taking care of Magearna since she isn't around anymore. Same with Ash's Melmetal which isn't on his team right now.

 

[Hidden Mew]

If he does, I suspect it would be something like one of the Mystical Pokemon since aside from Mew and maybe Celebi, I don't think that the anime usually presents them as being extremely powerful. I think that Goh, or really any main character, getting a Legendary Pokemon would make them potentially too overpowered. Goh isn't a battler, but I think having access to a Legendary Pokemon would potentially make any tension too moot. Ash got Melmetal, but it wasn't particularly strong until it evolved and even then, I think it only had one victory under its belt as a Melmetal. I'm also not sure if they'd want to buildup to Goh catching Mew, especially when I'm not sure if he'll actually do it. Characters usually don't achieve their goals during their run in the main cast after all.

 

[Daren]

I've been wondering about this myself.
I'm currently leaning against, but I won't be surprised if he does--not like they haven't already given him something incredibly strong then just left it at the lab so it doesn't cause problems.

 

[SammyW27]

Arceus, I REALLY hope not.
But with our dumb luck...

 

[Rocket Messiah]

I have to say that lately the word "legendary" has degraded a bit.

I hope not. I dont want any more catches.

AND I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT BANJO MUSIC ANYMORE.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Y3mnj-8lA

 

[Sobble Bubble-O-Seven]

I hope not. Gou doesn't deserve any legendary Pokemon.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I genuinely hope he doesn't. He doesn't deserve a Legendary and it would be an utter slap to the face to see him just throw a Pokeball at a Legendary without having to fight it, and actually catch it.

 

[Kurolegacy]

God I hope not. It’d be a double tap to the reputation of the legendaries to not only be near effortlessly captured by someone who can barely battle but they’d just be wasted on Go being doomed to just be glorified background fixture at Sakuragi Park.

 

[MurotanGekkiLuv]

IDEK whether Goh will ever catch a Legendary/Mythical Pokemon, but if he were to do so, it'd have to be a body size-1 Legendary/Mythical one because Giratina's quite large.

 

[Schemer99]

I think if he catches a Legendary, it'll be towards the end of the series. Personally I think he'll catch Eternatus similar to how it happened in the games, but he'll probably release it later.

 

[Panky..]

I think if he catches a Legendary, it'll be towards the end of the series. Personally I think he'll catch Eternatus similar to how it happened in the games, but he'll probably release it later.

Considering Eternatus already appeared and Goh had no connection to it, this is an outright impossibility. If anything, Ash has a higher chance of catching a god-tier legendary (did everyone forget him sensing Eternatus' presence in this very series, or the various significant run-ins with legendary Pokemon that he's had?) and even those chances are pretty much negligible.

On topic, I don't believe giving any Legendaries or Mythicals to Goh (especially ones that hold a mystical value or are akin to deities of any sorts) is a good narrative point. It pretty much makes his goal of catching Mew feel obsolete, which in itself isn't handled very well already what with the unrelated catching sprees that trivialize and devalue the entire concept of catching.

It fits perfectly with his character arc.

uwotm8? Explain please.

 

[Schemer99]

Considering Eternatus already appeared and Goh had no connection to it, this is an outright impossibility. If anything, Ash has a higher chance of catching a god-tier legendary (did everyone forget him sensing Eternatus' presence in this very series, or the various significant run-ins with legendary Pokemon that he's had?) and even those chances are pretty much negligible.

On topic, I don't believe giving any Legendaries or Mythicals to Goh (especially ones that hold a mystical value or are akin to deities of any sorts) is a good narrative point. It pretty much makes his goal of catching Mew feel obsolete, which in itself isn't handled very well already what with the unrelated catching sprees that trivialize and devalue the entire concept of catching.


uwotm8? Explain please.

I think he'll catch Eternatus in a huge battle with Eternatus alongside Ash, Zacian, and Zamazenta with maybe Hop & Leon. I don't think he'll be the one to fight Eternatus alone, nor do I think that Goh will actually keep Eternatus long-term. I think that'll probably catch Eternatus "to calm it down" and then release some time shortly after. I think that catching Eternatus would be good for Goh's character arc as a Pokemon catcher, and I don't think that it will ruin his whole Mew arc since catching Eternatus will be a concerted team effort, while catching Mew should be something that Goh does on his own.

 

[Schemer99]

That only explains your headcanon, the "What" of it all. Not the "Why".

Because I still see no connection between Goh, Eternatus and how it helps him in any way.

The "why" of it is because a great deal of his character is about catching Pokemon and one of the greatest Pokemon he could feasibly catch within the narrative of the story is Eternatus. I don't think that Goh needs this great "connection" with Eternatus in order to catch it. I also don't think that Ash really has any "connection" with Eternatus like you speak of just because he sensed it. Ash has an incredible aura potential, it's plausible why he sensed Eternatus. Riley could probably do the same thing, but I wouldn't say that he has anymore connection to Eternatus than Ash.

 

[Nicolas721]

I think he's bound to catch at least a small one during the series' endgame to show his development. Maybe he would release it so he wouldn't become an OP trainer. I could see him with one or two of these (including mythicals too): Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Regirock, Regice, Registeel, Lati@s, Heatran, Phione, Manaphy, Victini, Keldeo, Meloetta, Genesect, Diancie, Volcanion, Marshadow, Zeraora, Meltan and Kubfu.

If they want to adapt the Eternatus battle from the games I also see him at least commanding Zamazenta while Ash gets Zacian (both would be released afterwards).

 

[Schemer99]

Even Tobias, who had mid-tier Legendaries was shown to be very overpowered, and they'll never give overpowered Pokemon to a protagonist or a supporting character. Do you really think a non-battler getting what is essentially a deity responsible for Galar's top phenomenon make any sense to you (even if it's released later)? What narrative purpose would something like that even serve? Goh hardly seems like something a legendary would embody.

I feel like there's a miscommunication between us on what it means to "catch" Eternatus. I think you may be under the impression that I would want Goh to actually use Eternatus in some capacity after catching it. As soon as Goh catches Eternatus in my scenario, he should immediately release it in the same way the Ultra Beasts were. I would agree with you that Goh using Eternatus would make no sense at all.

Basically, I echo @Nicolas721 's vision of them adapting the Eternatus battle, with Goh being the one to throw the Poke ball instead of Ash. I think by the time that this'll possibly happen Goh will have tons of battling experience to meaningfully contribute to the capture. I mean we already see in the anime that Goh is now starting to default to battling as soon as his Pokeball fails to capture the first time. I'm pretty sure a few dozen episodes from now he'll be able to size up Pokemon better so that he'll only throw a Pokeball when it truly matters (aside maybe from a few gags here and there).

 

[Silktree]

He could get a Kubfu. That's the very definition of a faux legendary. Literally no one would bat an eye if it were a regular Pokemon.

But I don't want that. The way to prepare for Mew is through difficult Raids, and there are many suitable Pokemon for those.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Honestly, I wasn't even sure if Kubfu was a Legendary Pokemon or not at first. I don't think that the initial trailer for its reveal described it as such and it can evolve, although a couple of other Legendary Pokemon can evolve too. Unless Goh was going to become more battle active, I don't think I could see him with a Kubfu, but it would fit pretty nicely marketing wise and probably cause the least amount of backlash compared to other Legendary Pokemon he could get. Ash would be a better choice for Kubfu though.

 

[GreatLiver]

I have to imagine he gets his hands on a few of them, particularly the ones along the lines Nicolas mentioned. Those with extensively built up lore are probably off the table, but we've been seeing the mythos of lower-tier legendaries effectively neutered for a very long time. The baby Lugia in the Whirl Islands, Nolan with Articuno, everything involving Tobias.

The birds at this point come across as generally powerful species that are rare but not beyond reach and seem like the likeliest contenders in my mind.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

Considering how some Mythicals and Legendaries have been depicted as little stronger than an average pokemon (such as Meloetta matching Krookodile’s power and XYZ’s Zapdos taking visible damage from Hawlucha and Noivern), I wouldn’t put it off the table for Ash or Go capturing a lesser legend, though certainly not the big guns like Groudon or Palkia.

That being said, it’s all about execution. If said capture is properly built up and serves a narrative purpose, I don’t see why it can’t be pulled off. Given how much the writing fluctuates, however... as it is, it won’t do.