The First Visit to the Unova Region! Raid Battle at the Ruins!! (1103)

[Lord Starfish]

Seen a lot of people on this thread state how people are salty over Go's captures and need to get over it etc. I think what a lot of you may be missing is the 'salt' isn't a result of the captures themselves, it's the method of the captures... as in the constant throws without damaging e.g. Darmanitan, just completely removes the past 'achievement' feel of a capture, the earning of a Pokemon.

At least the Golurk capture made sense as it was weakened but even that has its issues as Go barely contributed - still, he earned it more than the Darmanitan and a bunch of his previous captures. Just absolutely sick of seeing a quick Pokeball throw being completely successful with no damage on the Pokemon beforehand, where's the skill/achievement in that?

^^^^^^^^^Absolutely this. The Hihidaruma is honestly the only one here that really irked me. He did work for the other two, (and last week he got Yokubarisu with no effort but that's the regional rodent, so I can't say I care) but Hihidaruma was by all accounts a really strong and reliable Pokémon, that in this one episode already pulled weight... and he just got it with zero effort.

 

[Blood Red]

I normally don't have a major problem with Gou's catches, but really? After all the work Ash and Dragonite (and even Pikachu) did, the guy who contributed nothing other than the absolute last minute (with a Pokémon he's had for less than half an hour) gets it? Really?

Honestly, I don't mind Gou getting Golurk; what I mind is him getting a Pokémon someone else defeated for him. This honestly felt like a handout, and it makes Gou's goal look like a bit of a joke. Even early Kanto Ash did more to earn his badges than Gou did to earn this (obviously very powerful) Pokémon.

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

While I did really enjoy this episode, one thing I can't help but notice was all the weird cuts between scenes in this episode. Is it just me or did the next scenes just start without proper transitions and cuts?

 

[FlygontheRavager]

Ok, about the whole “Go didn’t deserve Golurk” thing, I think we should acknowledge the fact that by quickly capturing Golurk like he did, Go probably saved its life, because it was about to fall through the floor and was too crippled to change out of cannon mode. He even apologized for cutting ahead of everyone else, so it’s likely that he knew he was saving Golurk’s life, to.

 

[lolipiece]

It's weird that people keep claiming that Gou "stole" Golurk when he and Ash quite explicitly stated it was first-come first-serve.

They made the rules and Gou followed them.

I normally don't have a major problem with Gou's catches, but really? After all the work Ash and Dragonite (and even Pikachu) did, the guy who contributed nothing other than the absolute last minute (with a Pokémon he's had for less than half an hour) gets it? Really?

Yeah, no. Gou did get hits in with Beedrill. Just because Golurk didn't flinch doesn't mean it wasn't hurt, unless you're also going to ignore the other times it didn't flinch to attacks.

Second, everyone needs to pay closer attention, because then you'd notice that Dragonite only launched three attacks at Golurk (two Dragon Claws and Hurricane). The first Dragon Claw was blocked by Golurk's punching move, and only the second one hit. Then the Hurricane-Overheat combo finished it off.

It was a team effort (Scorbunny gets a "you tried" sticker). Stop putting all the glory on Ash.

Also, who cares how long Gou had Darmanitan? Ash had Dragonite for a month now and he hasn't even used it until this ep. Honestly doesn't feel any different than using a freshly-caught Pokemon.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

Overall, second-best episode of the series, even if Go didn't deserve the golurk get

Now where's the spinoff with Rumani, Femilo, and Shihun?

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

HE (Ash) LITERALLY TOLD PIKACHU THAT ELECTRIC TYPES WOULD NOT WORK ON SANDILE IN THE SAME DAMN EPISODE.

Caps lock for emphasis.

Even Go mentioned Ash's stupid mistake later.

The only way I could try to reason this is that Ash is so used to ordering Thunderbolt as the go-to move that he just gave the order automatically without even thinking "what move should I start with?".

I really think it should become a plot point later. Basically, Ash trying to diversify how he starts his battles with Pikachu but I doubt that will ever happen.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

The only way I could try to reason this is that Ash is so used to ordering Thunderbolt as the go-to move that he just gave the order automatically without even thinking "what move should I start with?".

I really think it should become a plot point later. Basically, Ash trying to diversify how he starts his battles with Pikachu but I doubt that will ever happen.

If this was set in Kalos, we would've made a 5-episode arc about it.

WIIIIIIIIINK

But this is Unova, where stupidity is a disease.

 

[ballinamon]

I think was that Ash didn't hear the Pokedex?

 

[Kazuniya]

HE (Ash) LITERALLY TOLD PIKACHU THAT ELECTRIC TYPES WOULD NOT WORK ON SANDILE IN THE SAME DAMN EPISODE.

Caps lock for emphasis.

Even Go mentioned Ash's stupid mistake later.

The fans' obsession with Ash being hyper competent and flawless is beyond sad.

God forbid Ash forgets the typing of a single Pokemon. There's God knows how many Pokemon in the world, and Ash forgets the typing of a single Pokemon, and all hell breaks loose. Let's be real here: it's not that big of a deal. The very idea that forgetting a small detail somehow makes you stupid by default is nonsensical and quite idiotic.

People forget stuff all the time, but for some reason, people put this ten year old child on such a pedestal that when he dares to act goofy or clumsy or forget stuff, like a normal child would, people lose their shit. It boggles my mind.

 

[FlygontheRavager]

The fans' obsession with Ash being hyper competent and flawless is beyond sad.

God forbid Ash forgets the typing of a single Pokemon. There's God knows how many Pokemon in the world, and Ash forgets the typing of a single Pokemon, and all hell breaks loose. Let's be real here: it's not that big of a deal. The very idea that forgetting a small detail somehow makes you stupid by default is nonsensical and quite idiotic.

People forget stuff all the time, but for some reason, people put this ten year old child on such a pedestal that when he dares to act goofy or clumsy or forget stuff, like a normal child would, people lose their shit. It boggles my mind.

I mean, I definitely think that stuff like Ash forgetting Lucario was half Steel-type in his fight with Kukui is ok, but considering that he just fought a Golurk with Pikachu last season and didn’t tell it to use ONE Electric-type move...yeah, shouldn’t have done it this time.

Then again, I also think that Ash shouldn’t be totally infallible. Anyone who expects that from him is setting themselves up for disappointment.

 

[mehmeh1]

The fans' obsession with Ash being hyper competent and flawless is beyond sad.

God forbid Ash forgets the typing of a single Pokemon. There's God knows how many Pokemon in the world, and Ash forgets the typing of a single Pokemon, and all hell breaks loose. Let's be real here: it's not that big of a deal. The very idea that forgetting a small detail somehow makes you stupid by default is nonsensical and quite idiotic.

People forget stuff all the time, but for some reason, people put this ten year old child on such a pedestal that when he dares to act goofy or clumsy or forget stuff, like a normal child would, people lose their shit. It boggles my mind.

There's a difference between forgetting a detail and what Ash did here:
1) He told pikachu that TB wouldn't work on sandile on the same episode
2) Go'd dex called out Golurk's typing

 

[Kazuniya]

Then again, I also think that Ash shouldn’t be totally infallible. Anyone who expects that from him is setting themselves up for disappointment.

Right. Everyone experiences brainfarts and makes mistakes. Ash isn't a battle machine, he's a child. Perhaps people should accept that fact.

 

[Blue Saturday]

Also, who cares how long Gou had Darmanitan? Ash had Dragonite for a month now and he hasn't even used it until this ep. Honestly doesn't feel any different than using a freshly-caught Pokemon.

Not only that people keep ignoring how Satoshi got a three-stage final stage pseudo Dragon-type with a high-dollar arsenal of moves for free (no drawbacks) meanwhile Gou’s Pokémon weren’t “earned” or are “handouts?” The Pokémon trainer who actually battles and has a goal based around that should be held to a higher level of criticism since it’s his goal to battle so him getting strong captures like that directly plays into his own success. Gou’s captures are inconsequential, he largely doesn’t benefit from their power in a big way. People want nothing more than this series as a string of validation and praise for Satoshi despite this series being billed as a dual-protagonist quest and adventure.

Right. Everyone experiences brainfarts and makes mistakes. Ash isn't a battle machine, he's a child. Perhaps people should accept that fact.

Running in a decade long show who is going to be shown in comedic moments since the show is made for, you know? Elementary schoolers?

 

[mysticalglacia]

This episode was a lot of fun. Unova is my favorite region, and while the BW anime gets a lot hate for being...BW, I’ve always enjoyed it. We finally get to see the Desert Resort, get to know some unique COTD’s (Kiera and the Shiny Hunter are fun), some neat references, as well as get a good raid out of it. On the topic of Go being undeserving of Golurk, I’m split on it. While Ash did most of the heavy lifting, the specifics of raids make it clear that anyone in the party has a clean shot at catching the Pokémon. They agreed on this, so technically it isn’t unfair. But it does truthfully seem unearned, even if Darmanitan did help Dragonite at the end. My verdict is eh; it happened. It’s whatever, it probably wouldn’t have gotten much screentime with Ash either. The only thing that would’ve made the episode better was if a Volcarona appeared in the hidden room.

I hope there’s more Unova episodes in the future

 

[Twilight-Kun]

I think was that Ash didn't hear the Pokedex?

I'm pretty sure the only people who didn't hear Screamydex were the people in Ultra Megalopolis

 

[satopi]

This episode was boring but I did kinda like the battle with everyone giving it their all. Sorry but I prefer Prof Juniper’s daddy and Don George over these weird one shot looney tunes.

Go I swear, you just HAVE to catch all the awesome Pokémon without any effort in every damn episode! I’m starting to think you’ve done dealt with some negotiation between you and the writers. I have never seen this level of laziness put into fruition.

Best scene was seeing Go’s Scyther. Also Ash’s Dragonite is adorable as always but also can lay down a punch!

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

My thoughts on the dub for this episode in a nutshell:

The episode was still good & I still consider it one of my favorite early Journeys episodes, but between the clunky dialogue (needed to match the mouth flaps), and little inconsistencies like Dragonite's cries being taken out when it flew around or the Cofagrigus reusing Pinsir's grunt from episode 7, the dub just felt too off for me.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

My thoughts on the dub for this episode in a nutshell:

The episode was still good & I still consider it one of my favorite early Journeys episodes, but between the clunky dialogue (needed to match the mouth flaps), and little inconsistencies like Dragonite's cries being taken out when it flew around or the Cofagrigus reusing Pinsir's grunt from episode 7, the dub just felt too off for me.

Please tell me Doppio sounded good at least.

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

Please tell me Doppio sounded good at least.

I don't know who or what that is, but I'll say that aside from the chief excavator the VAs still sounded great & matched their characters despite the clunky dialogue. Keira, Goh, & Karabari (or Shade Seeker in the dub) were the standout characters