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Crawl Out of the Sand Tomb, Ash and Goh! (1125)

Lord Starfish

Fond of owls
But did you deal with an outbreak of goldfishes in between that completely hid your depression.
What does this even mean? His depression was over losing repeatedly. He had not yet lost repeatedly last week. At that point he could still feasibly chalk it up to just a one-time fluke. Him continuing to lose in the exact same fashion and getting knocked down to Normal Class was what caused his depression-
 

Icy-Snowflake

Well-Known Member
No matter what others say, I feel this episode was wonderful. And I felt this episode didn't get overshadowed by EP037's preview.
Riolu wasn't scared of tentacles, it was Ash who didn't want his Pokemon to get close to opponents. But Riolu having close-range moves was a big obstacle for that. Ash using Pikachu against Flygon was probably to prevent Riolu losing yet again and him telling Pikachu to use Thunderbolt against Flygon even if it was a Ground type was probably due to same reason. Not his naivete, but his overprotectiveness was the cause for his rank dropping down.
Invisible Sobble wearing Go goggles was hilarious. Raboot finally got his moments to shine in a battle.
From when is Flygon a ground shark? Garchomp sure needs to reclaim it.
Goh was inspired by Ash and Ash got his self confidence back thanks to Goh. We might see more of those "crazy tactics".
I think there'll be offscreen training, maybe some move change and hopefully Farfetch'd gets some training.
 

CupidKirby

Well-Known Member
I feel like I'm the only person who enjoyed the episode more knowing Go was catching Flygon.

Ash has had somewhat similar moments of self doubt after losses in the past but I feel it was most effective here. For anyone who's been in competition before, you can sympathize with how a loss can throw you off your game. Being in a rut really messes with your decision making especially when it has an immediate consequence (his rank dropping).

I liked how Go made use of not only Raboot & Sobble's personal strength but also Ash's unorthodox battle strategy. It reminds me a lot of Ash and Dawn's relationship (my second favorite dynamic) and I love when the characters influence each other. Also good on Go for catching a Pokemon witj a battle

Pretty good episode. 9.5/10

^ This is pretty much how I feel.

The relationship between Goh and Ash reminds me of both Dawn and Ash's companionship as well as Sawyer and Ash's rivalry. Goh started out being inspired by Ash and learning a lot of his attitude towards battling from him. To then perform wonderfully against Flygon here when his friend was in a slump and say that he was just copying Ash was a really heartfelt exchange. I think its effect on cheering Ash up made a lot of sense and had proper build-up based on what we've seen from their friendship already. I'm glad that we got a good battling moment for Goh rather than having it skipped like last time.

My biggest criticism has to be the lack of Farfetch'd here. There is clear favouritism going on when I feel that showing Farfetch'd losing as well would make for a more impactful arc later on. It's a shame that the series is so focused on Riolu that it undermines how Farfetch'd was supposed to have shared in its loss and grown alongside him.

It's interesting for sure. This is the first time that Ash has participated in such a big tournament that involved cut-by-cut monitoring of his battles. You can see him being super fixated on his rank in the actual episode and it being one of the reasons why he was off his game. Unlike losing a gym battle or rival battle, there's that additional mental stress of constantly being compared to the rest of the world at every move you make. I can see anyone in his position being desperate to increase their rank after a devastating loss, only to get more losses. Considering that he is the Alolan Champion and the next episode will take place in Alola, Ash is probably questioning why the heck he is still losing at this point. I hope the series takes this route. It'll explore a side of his character that I feel wouldn't have been possible if he hadn't become Champion in the previous region--

Err I mean, what are the writers smoking making ash stupid again for the sake of having goh be a gary stu horrible episode 0/10
 
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dman_dustin

Well-Known Member
Because no one wants to read an essay.

How is it subjective to say he deserved this flygon when he literally battled hard to obtain it?
Because Ash deserved the focus more and pay attention to my wording I'm speaking from the chronological timeline. I am not talking about Ash getting Flygon at least explicitly which I'll explain.

The focus should've been all about Ash. It should've been Ash battling a Pokemon and he catches it as a reward. No instead they made this entirely about Go catching something.

So in a way Go was selfish. Helping someone to benefit you is selfish. Sure maybe that wasn't the intention of the writer but given the insane Go focus he gets in comparison to Ash, do you think I trust they were trying to kill to birds with one stone, helping Ash anpd catching a Pokemon.

That will always be my issue with Go. He cares about catching more than anything else. He won't stand back and think "maybe my friend needs help perhaps I should concede the capture to Ash to get him out of his funk.

But of course this had to be all about Go and lumping Ash into this mess. When Go should've been alone helping other people and catching Flygon in that way, not to screw Ash over.

What other criteria should be there? Go earned his capture.
And I said that, due to plot, yes Go deserved it because he was the only one who did anything. And the more important point because of plot Go would've caught it even if he didn't deserve it. But then of course what would that mean. It's nonsensical. There is no "doesn't deserve" it.

And yes he deserves this level of focus coz he's a damn CO PROTAGONIST.
No he doesn't. Ash deserves at least equal focus but Ash can't because this is the Go show and because Go's goal is to catch every damn thing, most episodes have to be about a Go.

And I get it Ash isn't marketable, he's not hot in the market, he's not marketing Pokemon Go and "gotta catch em all"

But what is Ash doing? He's battling in the PWC. And we can't get ONE single damn episode of Ash training and bonding with his Pokemon for most of the episodes, instead he's relegated to really only battles.

And I get all you Go fans don't think the battling/training/bonding crap is interesting at all but I don't see how the mass amount of captures is more interesting.

This episode was supposed to be this way to show how ash inspires people, how his strategies can be unique and how he is dealing with a loss and being rusty.
Ash doesn't derserve to be treated like this just to aid someone else's goal at his expense. Go could've got Flygon without highlighting Ash as a failure just to resolve his issue with a "good feel pep talk" when what should've snapped at Ash out of it is actually succeding in battle while getting a verbal slap across the face by his Pokemon, friends, opponents.

But I get it they've done this before, an umpteenth amount of time. What the hell is one more? Of which will be forgotten next series where we'll get another one of these stupid plots.

Gosh you people will never be satisfied

No I'm not happy about Ash failing constantly and creating this stupid plot of Ash being afraid to battle normally just because he lost to a trainer higher ranked than him with a baby Pokemon.

All just to set up a plot to prop up Go.

No I'm not happy that the producers/writers decided that Go's goal was far more important than Ash's goal that they forced Ash to fail just so Go can succeed.

And what does Ash get for all this Go propping?

"Cheer up buddy, there's always next time."

Oh I am.......SO......HAPPY.

But I get it, the show isn't about Ash any more in the context of actually getting treated fairly or hell as an equal.

And all I can do is ultimately accept it, because I had to be stuck in the Go universe.

God my alternate universe self must be super happy about the Ash training/bonding episode with Riolu and Farfetch'd in the universe where Ash's focus was more balanced/equal.

How do I get to living in that universe? Oh I am stuck in this one? Oh well.
 

SerGoldenhandtheJust

Deluded Dreamer
Because no one wants to read an essay.

Because Ash deserved the focus more and pay attention to my wording I'm speaking from the chronological timeline. I am not talking about Ash getting Flygon at least explicitly which I'll explain.

The focus should've been all about Ash. It should've been Ash battling a Pokemon and he catches it as a reward. No instead they made this entirely about Go catching something.

So in a way Go was selfish. Helping someone to benefit you is selfish. Sure maybe that wasn't the intention of the writer but given the insane Go focus he gets in comparison to Ash, do you think I trust they were trying to kill to birds with one stone, helping Ash anpd catching a Pokemon.

That will always be my issue with Go. He cares about catching more than anything else. He won't stand back and think "maybe my friend needs help perhaps I should concede the capture to Ash to get him out of his funk.

But of course this had to be all about Go and lumping Ash into this mess. When Go should've been alone helping other people and catching Flygon in that way, not to screw Ash over.

And I said that, due to plot, yes Go deserved it because he was the only one who did anything. And the more important point because of plot Go would've caught it even if he didn't deserve it. But then of course what would that mean. It's nonsensical. There is no "doesn't deserve" it.

No he doesn't. Ash deserves at least equal focus but Ash can't because this is the Go show and because Go's goal is to catch every damn thing, most episodes have to be about a Go.

And I get it Ash isn't marketable, he's not hot in the market, he's not marketing Pokemon Go and "gotta catch em all"

But what is Ash doing? He's battling in the PWC. And we can't get ONE single damn episode of Ash training and bonding with his Pokemon for most of the episodes, instead he's relegated to really only battles.

And I get all you Go fans don't think the battling/training/bonding crap is interesting at all but I don't see how the mass amount of captures is more interesting.

Ash doesn't derserve to be treated like this just to aid someone else's goal at his expense. Go could've got Flygon without highlighting Ash as a failure just to resolve his issue with a "good feel pep talk" when what should've snapped at Ash out of it is actually succeding in battle while getting a verbal slap across the face by his Pokemon, friends, opponents.

But I get it they've done this before, an umpteenth amount of time. What the hell is one more? Of which will be forgotten next series where we'll get another one of these stupid plots.



No I'm not happy about Ash failing constantly and creating this stupid plot of Ash being afraid to battle normally just because he lost to a trainer higher ranked than him with a baby Pokemon.

All just to set up a plot to prop up Go.

No I'm not happy that the producers/writers decided that Go's goal was far more important than Ash's goal that they forced Ash to fail just so Go can succeed.

And what does Ash get for all this Go propping?

"Cheer up buddy, there's always next time."

Oh I am.......SO......HAPPY.

But I get it, the show isn't about Ash any more in the context of actually getting treated fairly or hell as an equal.

And all I can do is ultimately accept it, because I had to be stuck in the Go universe.

God my alternate universe self must be super happy about the Ash training/bonding episode with Riolu and Farfetch'd in the universe where Ash's focus was more balanced/equal.

How do I get to living in that universe? Oh I am stuck in this one? Oh well.

Nope ash did not deserve the focus more, it was completely justified for Goh to get the capture considering the plot was about ash being down and therefore not being able to battle well so Goh has to step in, and using ash's strategies to beat the obstacle so ash can be inspired again.
That Goh being selfish part that you stated is beyond stupid. How would letting ash catch flygon heal him being down due to his losses? What logic is that? Goh being like hey I beat flygon now you can go catch it would make ash feel more bad since he didn't do **** and got handed a Pokémon by go which he failed to battle. Ash depression was about his losing streak, not about him catching a strong Pokémon, geez. Istg you Goh haters make no sense. Him and ash have gotten equal focus, just because it isn't the way you want it doesn't mean ash is being robbed, talk about entitlement. I'd say stop watching the series or take a break if every ****ing episode is triggering you like this
 

AuraChannelerChris

Easygoing Luxray.
What does this even mean? His depression was over losing repeatedly. He had not yet lost repeatedly last week. At that point he could still feasibly chalk it up to just a one-time fluke. Him continuing to lose in the exact same fashion and getting knocked down to Normal Class was what caused his depression-
Chill, dude.

Pikachu outbreak episode in the middle.
 

dman_dustin

Well-Known Member
Nope ash did not deserve the focus more
yep time to retire Ash with comments likeonlis, since clearly this show has to only be sbout Go.

That Goh being selfish part that you stated is beyond stupid.
He was. this entire episode was just about Go catching Pokemon, that's all it was because Go can not take a backseat and give Ash what he deserves.

But obviously since the vast majority of people here are Go fans why should ever expect anyone to criticize him in any way shape or. Like I'm not surprised by your response. Of course Ash doesn't deserve jack **** he's not Go.

How would letting ash catch flygon heal him being down due to his losses?
Because Ash would succeed where he previously yad failed.

What logic is that? Goh being like hey I beat flygon now you can go catch it would make ash feel more bad since he didn't do **** and got handed a Pokémon by go which he failed to battle.
Gee maybe if people weren't so stupid to cherry pick my comments and push a narrative of a situation of WHICH I WASN'T EVEN TALIKING ABOUT.

How can you and the people who also thought that's what I was talking about be this stupid?

I was talking about an episode where they encounter a strong Pokemon (regardless of what it is), where Go decides to let Ash battle it and potentially catch it. Ash struggles and Ash gets the verbal smack down because he's failing and snaps out of his funk leading to him successfully defeating the Pokemon and catching it because it would be strong (((((and remind him of overcoming adversity....this part is new)))))

But sure, let's twist my words and push a narrative intending to make me look bad all to defend Go in the process. But that's what happens when you cherry pick my comments.

But I'm not going to hold it against those where English isn't their native language, so I definitely apologize for calling you stupid. But if you naturally speak English then the fault is on you.

Ash depression was about his losing streak, not about him catching a strong Pokémon, geez.

I don't have to explain why I don't need to respond to this but I'm going to anyway just to drive the point home.

His depression was about failing at battling. Him defeating a strong wild Pokemon would be him succeeding where he previously failed at WHICH WAS THE ENTIRE POINT.

Him catching it would just be a reward at SUCCEEDING AT HIS GOAL OF BATTLING AND WINNING.

Do you people undetstand now? Probably not, instead I'll I'm going to see is more cherry picking and twisting of my words just so people can say "Go, Go, he deserved the attention more"

I can't even get a reasonable response of "Oh, I see, so the point is for Ash to succeed at battling to overcome his issues with battling by snapping out of it while battling a strong wild Pokemon and after this hypothetical episode, Go gets focus, right?."

Absolutely yes Go would deserve the focus after an Ash episode like that maybe have a plot where Go catches a Bagon and helping it acheive its dream of flying by evolving into a grateful happy Salamence, while also registering all three Pokemon in his Pokedex. Or even a variation of this plot if obviously Ash didn't hypothetically catch Flygon, because of course the Pokemon in question (for Ash) doesn't have to be Flygon, it could've been anything else that was fully evolved and really strong that Ash was going to catch. Hell maybe a Chandelure or something.

That way Go could still get Flygon without the episode throwing Ash under the bus just to give Go a quality capture.
 

AznKei

Dawn & Chloe by ddangbi
I would be surprised to see everyone reactions if the show decides to make Go the Galar League Champion, thanks to the potential he got during his battle against Flygon that could be pushed further beyond if the writers/directors choose to.
 

Kazuniya

read/watch dungeon meshi
I would be surprised to see everyone reactions if the show decides to make Go the Galar League Champion, thanks to the potential he got during his battle against Flygon that could be pushed further beyond if the writers/directors choose to.
I wouldn't go to that extreme, but I would be interested to see Goh develop a more active interest in battling.

It already sounds more interesting than his catching Pokemon goal, which is boring af. (this episode being a rare exception)
 

AuraChannelerChris

Easygoing Luxray.
I would be surprised to see everyone reactions if the show decides to make Go the Galar League Champion, thanks to the potential he got during his battle against Flygon that could be pushed further beyond if the writers/directors choose to.
Given the series' format, it is rather impossible to see Goh even being a participant because he happens to be hanging out with Ash. If he were to be a participant, it would make things so weird, because Ash practically lives with Goh in a lab where all of Goh's stuff is. There's also the disparity that is the PWC format. Ash and Goh would be battling too often against each other...and in this setting, Goh simply ends up being more endearing because of his miracle Critical Captures making it so easy for him to achieve his dreams and show off his progress as a trainer and a character (unlike Ash's silly undefined dream that keep resetting every 140 episodes).

This only worked in Alola with Ash and Kiawe because Kiawe simply never did anything remotely close to issuing serious battles against Ash and had virtually no reason to compete against him (despite stupid Kukui trying to make them rivals by the third episode), being relegated as a sparring partner. Not a single episode was dedicated to them being the focus in a battle. Kiawe was simply the third wheel of the saga; a person with status who is only around to support Ash. We had the best chance at the Alola League, but not only did it come way too late, but Kiawe's fate was sealed when he fought Gladion; someone he hardly had any time with who always screwed Ash.

So to make Goh even a participant would Goh against the established criteria. The best we can hope is an Ash VS. May bout at the end at best, an Ash VS. Kiawe poignant battle at the middle, or...perish the thought, and Ash VS. Serena bout at worst.
 
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Yuugis Black Magician

Namaikina Imouto
This was a really good episode. This episode was written by Tsuchiya Michihiro, the series composer of PriPara (a popular girls series) and a script writer for IDOL M@STER. Both shows deal with children learning to overcome difficulties in everyday life (and their lives as idols) so I thought it was really interesting to see a person with that kind of experience come to Pokemon to write. Tsuchiya also wrote #8, #23 and #28. I really liked seeing Satoshi suffer through trauma because it's something I suffer through, too, so for a kids' series I think it's really nice that they thought that it would be important to show a child--like the main audience--overcome trauma in a small way.

I also thought it was a nice piece of character writing for the distracted, distant Satoshi to order Pikachuu to use 100,000 Volts on a ground/dragon-type. It tells us "Satoshi falls back on his go-to move" and really shows that the staff were thinking about Satoshi as a character.
 

British Soul

Top Hat Regulator
To get the non-serious bits out of the way, there was a neat throwback to XY when Raboot climbed the Draco Meteor like when Pikachu did the same against Grant's Tyrunt. And of course we get our episodic does of "We haven't seen that in a hot minute" with Baltoy this time, who hasn't appeared since DP under Buck's ownership 474 episodes earlier, and let's not forget my episodic google search a town/attack name, though I didn't need to since I figured it was Mauville based on proximity to the desert, on the other hand I did have to do that with Dragon Rush and I forgot that Flygon could even learn it tbph.

On to the serious stuffs regarding the episode:
In all fairness, Ash was unlucky to face off against two Pokemon in a row who fight in a similar style to Grapploct and having Riolu fight in a style it's not familiar with culminated in him getting flustered, losing and dropping back to Normal Class, but those losses made him reevaluate things a little, so it'll be interesting to see this growth unfold in the future. Though I will say those losses kinda got to Ash when he commanded Pikachu to Thunderbolt Flygon. (I swear he has that brainfart like at least once a saga, especially when he's informed like a minute prior that a Ground-type is in the vicinity)
Meanwhile, with regards to the A Plot (which I have less to say than the B Plot weirdly enough), I do like that the premise of the episode revolves around Flygon's Pokedex entry with it luring people into the sandstorm 'n such. I will say Go has been nailing those curveballs, almost as if he's been practicing on the mobile game off-screen or something, though the strats he employed against Flygon with Sobble and Raboot's manoeuvres were on-point.
 

Ryu Taylor

Unwavering beliefs. Richter Taylor is my name now.
I wouldn't be surprised if Riolu ends up developing claustrophobia from being squeezed so much.
 

Dephender

Gizakawayusu
Staff member
Moderator
Istg you Goh haters make no sense. Him and ash have gotten equal focus, just because it isn't the way you want it doesn't mean ash is being robbed, talk about entitlement. I'd say stop watching the series or take a break if every ****ing episode is triggering you like this

How can you and the people who also thought that's what I was talking about be this stupid?

Tone, please. Debating is fine, but you can make your points without bringing up and insulting big groups of people.
 

UnovaMaster

Well-Known Member
If they wanted Go to appear as a really great friend maybe not throw his goal in Ash's face and try to use Ash to primairily benefit him. If they wanted to show that Go was a great friend he'd want Ash to battle and catch Flygon while hoping his Vibrava evolves some day.

Yeah, I'll come to you for all my great friendship advice.

If you think Goh has all the perks, start envisioning yourself in his shoes like you're doing w/Ash.

It's two fictional boys, nobody here is getting cheated like you think you've been in real life.
 
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dman_dustin

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I'll come to you for all my great friendship advice.

If you think Goh has all the perks, start envisioning yourself in his shoes like you're doing w/Ash.

It's two fictional boys, nobody here is getting cheated like you think you've been in real life.

If I was Go my goal of catching everything would be 2nd to helping Ash get out of his funk, and I certainly wouldn't take advantage of my friend just to catch something strong.

As for the fictional stuff. Well why don't we live in the real world? Stop watching anime, stop watching movies, stop watching episode serials.

No?

Well than that "fictional" comment of your is irrelevant. Either we are allowed to have feelings for fictional. (Happy, sad, mad, etc). Or we should just completely stop with obviously fictional stuff altogether and just completely live in the real world.

And since Pokemon isn't real I at the selfish level am not being denied a Pokemon.

At the more realistic level, this is a weekly 22 minute series, obviously there are going to be concerns.
 

SerGoldenhandtheJust

Deluded Dreamer
If I was Go my goal of catching everything would be 2nd to helping Ash get out of his funk, and I certainly wouldn't take advantage of my friend just to catch something strong.

As for the fictional stuff. Well why don't we live in the real world? Stop watching anime, stop watching movies, stop watching episode serials.

No?

Well than that "fictional" comment of your is irrelevant. Either we are allowed to have feelings for fictional. (Happy, sad, mad, etc). Or we should just completely stop with obviously fictional stuff altogether and just completely live in the real world.

And since Pokemon isn't real I at the selfish level am not being denied a Pokemon.

At the more realistic level, this is a weekly 22 minute series, obviously there are going to be concerns.
Goh didnt take an advantage of ash situation to catch a mon, what the hell are you talking about where did you even get that?
 
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