Review JN053: Catch the Legend!? Find the Guardian of Water - Suicune!!

[Queen Cynthia]

I must admit I was expecting myself going on a rampage after that episode and declaring Go my most hated character. Fortunately, Go's decision to release Suicune plus the latter being able to roam the world freely prevented me from getting too emotional.
Still, I can't help but get worked up about Go who, in my eyes, is turning out to be a real threat (yes, a threat) to the Anime's quality. Also, the concept behing his character is arguably one of the worst the writers have come up with for a long time. See, everything Ash has been working for so hard and with so much determination is undermined by a character whose "development" not only seems to be forced but who's also been given literally everything for free and without having to make any effort. Not only is Go clearly stealing the show from Ash, he seems to be undermining all the precious values and principles that the Anime had been trying to convey until Journeys started.

As for the episode itself, there are still a couple of questions that need to be asked:
- Why was Ash taking the back seat once again? In my eyes, it's simply outrageous that Ash's well-deserved role as the main protagonist is slowly but surely taken away from him by that stupid Go who's only been around for 50 episodes.
- Why wasn't Lucario given a chance to do anything relevant? It was called out of his Pokeball, but we never actually saw him battle. Instead he had to hide behind a tree all of a sudden, as if he wasn't able to deal with those crooks by himself. What an insult for such a great Pokemon!
- And now for my major point of criticism: How can a Pokemon like Suicune that's supposed to be a Guardian Deity be injured and captured that easily? If you ask me, it was either a cheap plot device or a totally arbitrary decision by the writers which devalues the majesty and mystery of legendary Pokemon.

Finally, let me comment on some reactions by other users:

Oooooohhh my guy. I don't know about y'all, but I predict that there's gonna be the biggest outrage and internal fight in this fandom's history because of this episode.

That was a pretty good prediction

He stilled showed selfishness since he thought the best way to save Suicune was to capture it instead of thinking of a better plan to free it from the ropes. Like IDK...haveing Cinderace use a move to break the ropes?

You said it! Great quote! This kind of shows to me that all Go is thinking of is catching, catching and even more catching... Any other episode without Go would have solved the problem the way real trainers do by having their Pokemon attack the net or the hunters' machines, for example. But nooo, this is the almighty whiz kid Go we're talking about. Bow down, infidels!

So Pokemon are just another benchmark for him that he can catch willy nilly rather than a new companion? And now this officially includes Legendary Pokemon? Goh was a huge mistake.

Agreed! I'd even say the biggest mistake for the reasons I mentioned above.

Of course everyone is piling on Goh, though, which I guess was to be expected, even though it doesn't really feel fair. This was Suicune's decision, so it's weird that so many people are blaming Goh for actually keeping it.

They're not blaming Go. Instead they're blaming that poor story writing where a newbie is given everything for free, even legendaries. The writers decided to do a world tour? Fine! But if you ask me, it seems they're realizing they'll be running out of time if they don't speed up things ... at the expense of quality, logic and credibility. That's the real dilemma they seem to be in right now.

They could have fought the hunters or broke the ropes around it, but that might have taken too much time and Suicune was clearly too weakened from the poison, along with its reduced stamina from frequently purifying the lake.

It's a legendary Pokemon and a Guardian Deity. You can expect itto have a little bit more stamina, can't you? If its job is to purify water all around the world, it shouldn't be worn out that fast, even if it has to do it a couple of times. And those crooks with their primitive nets and ropes clearly shouldn't pose a threat to a legendary, either. Poor story writing if you ask me so they could give Go another Pokemon effortlessly.

The moment where Goh pushed Ash out of the way of an attack to protect him as well just was heartwarming

You can also interpret it that way: Go was once again trying to steal the show from Ash. In previous episodes it would have been Ash saving the others. So, our boy doesn't need to be protected by Go of all people.


To sum up my review: Go was the reason why, in my eyes, this episode was pretty flawed. The only thing that didn't completely ruin it in the end was the fact that Suicune (a wonderful Pokemon by the way) wasn't forced to spend the rest of his life at Sakuragi Park but can roam freely. At least one thing to be happy about.

 

[WatcherMark]

Ok, first thing first, the capture was absolute bull. I appreciate that Suicine was poisoned and bound and weakened, but Go managing to catch it on the first throw with a regular Poke Ball? Yeah, absolutely not buying that. After seeing Sun and Moon introduce and use different balls, the fact the anime has stepped back and is back to using the plain old regular ones is really disappointing especially for episodes just as this when you would expect stronger ones to be used.

Having said that... I enjoyed the action of this episode, Suicune is one of my favourite Legends which is a plus and I did really appreciate the fact that Go realised that the poachers were all using Poison-types so went and caught himself a Psychic-type. That's the kind of forethought characters don't often show in the anime. As for the ending... Suicine leaving to roam the world while still being Go's Pokemon is the kind of compromise I can live with.

 

[Johtohfiller]

I respect the intention of the writers, but they can certainly execute Goh's goal better. Goh is a very polarizing character. You either love him or hate him. For me, I'm cool with his personality, but I'm not cool with him being as OP as he is. I think he wouldn't be so controversial if he struggled more and have him catch legends later down the line.

Same. I like him as a character but I don't like how they've handled him (though I actually thought this episode was pretty good with some caveats).

Goh wanted to use a Pokémon with a type advantage over the hunters' Poison types.

Could have had Exeggcute use a Psychic move if they were insisting on including type advantage. Or had him bring Cubone along for that matter.

 

[MegaGreninga]

I think Goh will get latios not latias
in the background their were few of them
I think gets lugia too
he will captured entai, raiku, trio lengadry birds, he will get two lake pokemon form Sinnoh not all three, i dont think rayaquza but he will get the other two legends, diaglga and palkia. these guys were shown in background only means somehting i think two more from unova
maybe ash gets the others maybe few of them moslty Latias

Same. I like him as a character but I don't like how they've handled him (though I actually thought this episode was pretty good with some caveats).




Could have had Exeggcute use a Psychic move if they were insisting on including type advantage. Or had him bring Cubone along for that matter.

it was grass and drsagon pokemon too alolha xeggcute

 

[Beatsy Ray]

I think Goh will get latios not latias
in the background their were few of them
I think gets lugia too
he will captured entai, raiku, trio lengadry birds, he will get two lake pokemon form Sinnoh not all three, i dont think rayaquza but he will get the other two legends, diaglga and palkia. these guys were shown in background only means somehting i think two more from unova
maybe ash gets the others maybe few of them moslty Latias


it was grass and drsagon pokemon too alolha xeggcute

Maybe, but I don't think they would just casually spoil every major event in Gou's foreseeable future like that. The Legendaries shown are probably random.

 

[SammyW27]

Though here's something I'm really curious about...

The Opening shows Goh on the ground beat up, then the Legendary Beasts about to go into action. That, coupled with those starry silhouettes of other Legendary Pokemon make me wonder if there will be an arc about Legendaries for the Anniversary...

 

[Hidden Mew]

It's a legendary Pokemon and a Guardian Deity. You can expect itto have a little bit more stamina, can't you? If its job is to purify water all around the world, it shouldn't be worn out that fast, even if it has to do it a couple of times. And those crooks with their primitive nets and ropes clearly shouldn't pose a threat to a legendary, either. Poor story writing if you ask me so they could give Go another Pokemon effortlessly.

I'm pretty sure that it had to purify that water for quite a few times I don't remember if the hunters specifically mentioned how long they were polluting the lake to lure Suicune out, but it was definitely more than a couple of time. I think that using nets and ropes isn't really poor story telling to give Goh another Pokemon, but rather an indication of just how weak Suicune was through the combination of reduced stamina and poison. If it was at full strength, Suicune would have been able to defeat the hunters easily.

You can also interpret it that way: Go was once again trying to steal the show from Ash. In previous episodes it would have been Ash saving the others. So, our boy doesn't need to be protected by Go of all people.

I guess it shouldn't surprise me that people would use that moment to complain about Goh stealing the show from Ash some more. That seems like a needlessly harsh way to view it. Goh wasn't trying to push Ash out of the spotlight. He was trying to save his friend, something Ash has done countless times without being belittled for like that. It shows how much he cares about Ash. Using it to just further complain that he's trying to steal the show from Ash or that he shouldn't be saved by someone like Goh just rubs me the wrong way.

 

[Adelon]

You can also interpret it that way: Go was once again trying to steal the show from Ash. In previous episodes, it would have been Ash saving the others. So, our boy doesn't need to be protected by Goh of all people.

Imagine vilifying a fictional character by willfully reinterpreting him trying to protect somebody he cares about in a selfish light.

I apologize in advance for the bluntness of my response but of all the reasons to hate Goh, this is what you went for?

At least you didn't call him a simp, I guess.

 

[VetProf]

Ok, first thing first, the capture was absolute bull. I appreciate that Suicine was poisoned and bound and weakened, but Go managing to catch it on the first throw with a regular Poke Ball? Yeah, absolutely not buying that. After seeing Sun and Moon introduce and use different balls, the fact the anime has stepped back and is back to using the plain old regular ones is really disappointing especially for episodes just as this when you would expect stronger ones to be used.

They did let Leon use an Ultra Ball to try and catch Eternatus, which is an improvement from the games. But yeah, aside from that, Gou not using anything better than regular Poke Balls is definitely one of the issues that I have with his character.

 

[Kurolegacy]

You know, it’s gonna be interesting to keep this episode in mind in a couple of weeks when Ash battles Wikstrom. Given that he’s Elite 4 and thus a high challenge, the outcome of that could be a good way to gauge whether the writers are spreading the bounty around between Ash and Go or just favoring Go giving him a free pass while Ash still has to go through struggles.

 

[Daren]

You know, it’s gonna be interesting to keep this episode in mind in a couple of weeks when Ash battles Wikstrom. Given that he’s Elite 4 and thus a high challenge, the outcome of that could be a good way to gauge whether the writers are spreading the bounty around between Ash and Go or just favoring Go giving him a free pass while Ash still has to go through struggles.

Similar thoughts have occurred to me. Perhaps it's worth starting a discussion in the general anime/manga thread instead of potentially filling this one with something that could spiral off-topic?

 

[Srebak]

1. I have recently been reminded of that episode from Master Quest where Ash was bad-mouthed by that one guy for simply stating that he met Suicune once which was nothing but the truth and was basically said by Ash in a way that didn’t sound like a lie in the least. Suicune was not allowed to be captured in that episode and yet it was in this episode, that’s just something that I feel needs to be contemplated

2. The problem with this episode for me is that now Goh will always have one up on Ash forever. Goh managed to capture a legendary Pokémon, while Ash has never managed to do anything remotely similar. How is Ash ever going to complete with that, much less outdo it? The closest thing I can think of is the fact that he has, at least, a few legendary Pokémon out there who owe him a solid favor or two, but that’s about it

3. This also reminds me of my problem with giving Ash’s companions Pokémon like Eevee or Dragonite, or abilities like Mega-Evolution, while Ash never gets any of the like. So Misty and Brock can both have Mega-Evolved Pokémon, while Ash will forever be stuck only battling against such things, without ever actually getting one for himself? He wasn’t even allowed to keep a Pokémon that could use Bond-Phenomenon which may very well have been the closest to a mega-evolved Pokémon that he was ever going to get

 

[MurotanGekkiLuv]

...Well at least this is post Melmetal. I cannot imagine what the reaction to this pre Melmetal would have been.

Not to mention that Gladion was revealed to have a Silvally (SM), and that Tobias was shown to have a Latios and a Darkrai in his vault (DP) pre-Melmetal...

 

[Kurolegacy]

Not to mention that Gladion was revealed to have a Silvally (SM), and that Tobias was shown to have a Latios and a Darkrai in his vault (DP) pre-Melmetal...

In Gladion’s case, I don’t think that’s a fair comparison considering that Silvally is literally a man-made Pokémon that was created by the company that his family owns and that he stole it away when he ran away from home. As for Tobias, I’m pretty sure the consensus on him is that he’s not so much a character as a lazy walking roadblock thrown in Ash’s way to maintain the status quo of Ash not being allowed to win a league.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Okay, so I finally got around to watching this episode and I didn't have any problem with how Suicune's capture was handled. At least not in the story, meta-wise I do have a problem with it because now the Goh controversy is never going to end and I'm not looking forward to that. Anyways, Goh did spend the whole episode protecting Suicune, so it choosing to stay with him makes perfect sense. It's really not that different from our player characters bonding with Legendaries that then agree to join our team. The main worry for me regarding Goh getting to keep Suicune was that a Legendary would potentially be a tension-breaker, but since the ending established that Suicune will still be wandering the earth purifying water, thus being something of a wildcard for Goh at best, then I thinks its a fair and reasonable solution to that problem that even creates a compromise. Congrats on catching the Vaporeon Who Died, Was Resurrected, And Is Now On Steroids, Goh.

Also, I want to say some stuff specific to the way Goh and Ash have been handled and why it's rubbing people the wrong way, but that's a topic for General, so I'll be posting that there shortly.

 

[Hidden Mew]

2. The problem with this episode for me is that now Goh will always have one up on Ash forever. Goh managed to capture a legendary Pokémon, while Ash has never managed to do anything remotely similar. How is Ash ever going to complete with that, much less outdo it? The closest thing I can think of is the fact that he has, at least, a few legendary Pokémon out there who owe him a solid favor or two, but that’s about it

Ash still has Melmetal. I know that people debate over Mystical and Legendary Pokemon, but I've never seen Mythical Pokemon as anything but extra special Legendary Pokemon, so I'd say that Melmetal counts as Legendary Pokemon. This also isn't really a competition between Ash and Goh on who can outdo who. It especially doesn't work when Goh's goal would eventually require the writers to deal with Legendary Pokemon. Capturing a Legendary Pokemon may not have been inevitable with that goal in mind exactly, but it was something that they were going to have address at some point.

3. This also reminds me of my problem with giving Ash’s companions Pokémon like Eevee or Dragonite, or abilities like Mega-Evolution, while Ash never gets any of the like. So Misty and Brock can both have Mega-Evolved Pokémon, while Ash will forever be stuck only battling against such things, without ever actually getting one for himself? He wasn’t even allowed to keep a Pokémon that could use Bond-Phenomenon which may very well have been the closest to a mega-evolved Pokémon that he was ever going to get

Well it's still possible that he could get a Mega Lucario. I'm not sure if they'll go down that route, but it's at least possible. Even without having a Mega Pokemon himself, Ash isn't getting just regular Pokemon either. Half of his SM team included seemingly the only Dusk Lycanroc, a Melmetal and Naganadel, so he isn't really short on special Pokemon, even if Naganadel went back to its home world.

 

[MurotanGekkiLuv]

As for Tobias, I’m pretty sure the consensus on him is that he’s not so much a character as a lazy walking roadblock thrown in Ash’s way to maintain the status quo of Ash not being allowed to win a league.

Speaking of Tobias and leagues, I'll mention here that, from the point where Ash battled Tobias in the Sinnoh League, it'd take about another 9 years for Ash to win a game-original league (which was in SM139 IIRC)...

 

[GrookeyFan77]

Wow this thread has 9 pages in 2 days, I cant even catch up to the disscussion!

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Something about him triggers people and I think it stems from more than just him catching pokemon easily.

What are you implying exactly?

This is pretty much the same. Goh caught Suicune easily because it was weak and out of stamina, spent most of the episode bonding with it, then offered it a chance to leave, and Suicune itself decided to stay with him.

There’s a HUGE difference. Ash bonds with the Pokémon BEFORE capturing it, while Suicune was basically trapped in the Pokeball and had to make its choices after that.

Taillow, Palpitoad, Fletchling... Probably others I'm forgetting. Tauros, maybe?

The fact that you have so less examples among SO many of Ash's Pokemon illustrates the point well enough. He battled some of them, which makes it earned so it’s not even valid.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Go managing to catch it on the first throw with a regular Poke Ball?

They did let Leon use an Ultra Ball to try and catch Eternatus, which is an improvement from the games. But yeah, aside from that, Gou not using anything better than regular Poke Balls is definitely one of the issues that I have with his character.

I too hope Goh would start using other Balls, but I think people are overreacting to him catching Suicune in a regular Ball.

1) It was poisoned and weakened.
2) This isn't the first time in the anime we've seen Legendary Pokémon in regular Poké Balls.

Could have had Exeggcute use a Psychic move if they were insisting on including type advantage. Or had him bring Cubone along for that matter.

I think you mean Exeggutor, not Exeggcute. His Alolan Exeggutor is not a Psychic type, so it's very possible it doesn't know any Psychic moves. As for Cubone, he didn't know he was going to be fighting hunters when he left, so he didn't know to bring it along.

There’s a HUGE difference. Ash bonds with the Pokémon BEFORE capturing it, while Suicune was basically trapped in the Pokeball and had to make its choices after that.

When Goh stumbled and Suicune came out, it outright refused to go back in until the hunters were defeated and Goh had actually bonded with it. And after that, Goh basically gave it his permission to get out of the Ball and leave. I'd hardly call that being trapped.