Power Up
...
Alright, as I've stated before, I think everything to do with Lucario has been a major disappointment and his development has been significantly mishandled. At the onset, Riolu got several episodes of focus and was even showcased to be training onscreen in one of the few examples of such a thing occurring which laid the groundwork for what I thought was easily the Ash mon with most potential.
Unfortunately, what occurred next after Riolu's evolution was a sense of stagnation. No real bonding/development episodes for Lucario as its screen time was significantly reduced and its battle record small, a problem with really most of Ash's Journeys Pokemon. The few times that Lucario has been used its been in filler episodes that haven't really even fleshed out its personality in the same way for example at least Dragonite's personality has been for me and the episodes that Lucario has been used in battles like Ash v Volkner feel off because of this lack of battle and screentime development.
Fortunately, it was clearly telegraphed from the beginning that Ash's Riolu was interested in Mega Evolution through Korrina's Mega Lucario and I was especially interested in that dynamic since I felt that there was ample opportunity for the show to develop Lucario individually and through Ash with Mega Evolution.
Now at this point in time, what exactly are the problems I have with Mega Lucario occurring at this breakneck pace?
There doesn't seem to be any significant development or even any meaningful screen time with Mega Lucario and Ash. It looks like as if as soon as Ash gets ML, the show then precedes to jump straight to the rival match, which is just incomprehensible to me. Now people have pushed back at this before and in this thread as well claiming that there is no need for a retread of the Korrina arc, but this misconstrues what exactly I'm asking for as well as seems to ignore what previous series have done. I don't want a retread of the Korrina arc because Ash's Mega Lucario isn't the same as Korrina's Mega Lucario. They have different personalities and different relationships with their trainers. If I were to write a developmental " arc, " I would maybe incorporate the awe Riolu had for Korrina's Mega Lucario into the storyline. Maybe Lucario is afraid of not being as strong as Korrina's Mega Lucario. Something like that. Take into account Ash's Lucario and structure a Mega Evolution arc around his personality. This isn't some kind of far flung character/Pokemon arc thing that the anime hasn't done before and again, I think the rebuttal that there is no need for something like this doesn't at all make sense. The anime has done this before with some of Ash's best regarded Pokemon time and time again because it's good story writing. They surely should weave Lucario's prior character and plot bits into something coherent. This is Mega Evolution. It should be treated like a big step.
I mentioned this before, but I really get the feeling that people are giving this series a pass for something that it shouldn't be given a pass for because of how badly Journeys has handled Pokemon development/screentime. I definitely don't think people would be as forgiving if something similar happened for Charizard, Infernape, or Ash-Greninja. It's like people have acclimated to the idea that the Pokemon mishandling that Journeys has done is normal with many of the Pokemon that have just started fully evolved or have evolved incredibly quickly. Bringing up things like Nurse Joy and Audino for example that I remember one user here doing is significantly disingenuous as not only was that a COTD, but even still that whole episode if I remember correctly was centered around the development of the two of their bond for ME. Mega Lucario is something that has been foreshadowed early in the series for one of Ash's Pokemon. It's really not analogous and I really think people should take into account how little screentime/development Lucario has had, but even if you think it's okay that something similar doesn't happen, alright, no developmental arc, but I think the even more significant problem is screentime because there doesn't seem to be any training or anything after Ash gets ML. It literally jumps straight into the Bea rival match. A zero experience Mega Lucario already immediately jumping into battle the episode right after it mega evolves? Does this really seem to be believable at all? You don't even need a developmental arc, even just one or two episodes that showcases Ash training with Mega Lucario would go a long way.
In the end, this is my perception of the events that have transpired and the information currently given. It's possible that some of my problems could be rectified in the episode itself, but I honestly sincerely doubt it.
Unfortunately, what occurred next after Riolu's evolution was a sense of stagnation. No real bonding/development episodes for Lucario as its screen time was significantly reduced and its battle record small, a problem with really most of Ash's Journeys Pokemon. The few times that Lucario has been used its been in filler episodes that haven't really even fleshed out its personality in the same way for example at least Dragonite's personality has been for me and the episodes that Lucario has been used in battles like Ash v Volkner feel off because of this lack of battle and screentime development.
Fortunately, it was clearly telegraphed from the beginning that Ash's Riolu was interested in Mega Evolution through Korrina's Mega Lucario and I was especially interested in that dynamic since I felt that there was ample opportunity for the show to develop Lucario individually and through Ash with Mega Evolution.
Now at this point in time, what exactly are the problems I have with Mega Lucario occurring at this breakneck pace?
There doesn't seem to be any significant development or even any meaningful screen time with Mega Lucario and Ash. It looks like as if as soon as Ash gets ML, the show then precedes to jump straight to the rival match, which is just incomprehensible to me. Now people have pushed back at this before and in this thread as well claiming that there is no need for a retread of the Korrina arc, but this misconstrues what exactly I'm asking for as well as seems to ignore what previous series have done. I don't want a retread of the Korrina arc because Ash's Mega Lucario isn't the same as Korrina's Mega Lucario. They have different personalities and different relationships with their trainers. If I were to write a developmental " arc, " I would maybe incorporate the awe Riolu had for Korrina's Mega Lucario into the storyline. Maybe Lucario is afraid of not being as strong as Korrina's Mega Lucario. Something like that. Take into account Ash's Lucario and structure a Mega Evolution arc around his personality. This isn't some kind of far flung character/Pokemon arc thing that the anime hasn't done before and again, I think the rebuttal that there is no need for something like this doesn't at all make sense. The anime has done this before with some of Ash's best regarded Pokemon time and time again because it's good story writing. They surely should weave Lucario's prior character and plot bits into something coherent. This is Mega Evolution. It should be treated like a big step.
I mentioned this before, but I really get the feeling that people are giving this series a pass for something that it shouldn't be given a pass for because of how badly Journeys has handled Pokemon development/screentime. I definitely don't think people would be as forgiving if something similar happened for Charizard, Infernape, or Ash-Greninja. It's like people have acclimated to the idea that the Pokemon mishandling that Journeys has done is normal with many of the Pokemon that have just started fully evolved or have evolved incredibly quickly. Bringing up things like Nurse Joy and Audino for example that I remember one user here doing is significantly disingenuous as not only was that a COTD, but even still that whole episode if I remember correctly was centered around the development of the two of their bond for ME. Mega Lucario is something that has been foreshadowed early in the series for one of Ash's Pokemon. It's really not analogous and I really think people should take into account how little screentime/development Lucario has had, but even if you think it's okay that something similar doesn't happen, alright, no developmental arc, but I think the even more significant problem is screentime because there doesn't seem to be any training or anything after Ash gets ML. It literally jumps straight into the Bea rival match. A zero experience Mega Lucario already immediately jumping into battle the episode right after it mega evolves? Does this really seem to be believable at all? You don't even need a developmental arc, even just one or two episodes that showcases Ash training with Mega Lucario would go a long way.
In the end, this is my perception of the events that have transpired and the information currently given. It's possible that some of my problems could be rectified in the episode itself, but I honestly sincerely doubt it.
I'm not on the forum 24/7 and writing up an essay on a phone is pretty difficult.
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