Monster Summon Genre Study

[monstersummongenre]

Chloe, Goh & Their Friendship: An Analysis

[Tl,dr: Chloe & Goh definitely see each other as friends pre-Ash but Goh, who didn't intially see the need to spend time with people, doesn't realize he hadn't been a very good friend to Chloe, while in Chloe's perspective Ash, Goh's new inseparable best friend, helped Goh be more social and make more friends which she couldn't do, so she feels bad. Therefore Chloe isn't correct when she says Ash is Goh's first friend, she's just caught up in her feelings because she doesn't feel as important as Ash in terms of being Goh's friend.]

Everyone takes Chloe saying Ash is Goh's first friend at full face value. I can't do that. Besides the fact that I'm hyper aware of characters not knowing everything and sometimes being wrong & that to me it doesn't hold the same weight to it's truthfulness as Goh saying it himself or somehow confirming it in that or the following episode, I'm stubborn, bitter, a contrarian to my core, maybe even a fool, I believe her hair is naturally stiff, I can't see that being 100% true. 

See, Chloe is a biased party. And I have reason to believe she was caught up in her own negative feelings and was, in a way, devaluing her relationship with Goh because she felt bad. I did a post when the episode came out but I think it'd make sense if Chloe was hiding her feelings that episode & felt bad on account that Goh was more concerned about betraying his friendship with Ash & not at all about his friendship with her. He didn't even ask her for advice on the matter. Then she didn't, or maybe couldn't, look Ash in the eye as she finished the statement of Ash being Goh's first friend. It's a weird sentiment when the show has told us a few times that Goh & Chloe were friends as (younger) kids.

People are now compiling reasons as to why that statement "is true" instead of why Chloe might have felt that way. So besides the whole “Goh only worried about telling Ash about wanting to go on a journey” thing, let's look into other reasons why Chloe may have felt that way in the moment.

For starters, Ash is Goh's favorite. Chloe is important to him but he clearly favors Ash. Just like how bonding with Abra was important to him but he favors Mew. It's the same thing. Of course one being his primary focus doesn't make the other not important but if you actively have to live with it & without ever really being told how important you are, it's definitely gonna hurt. Especially when the seemingly more valued one is doing exactly what you tried to do.

Ash took the role Chloe once tried to have. See, if we go back to episode 1, we see Chloe proudly bringing her friend Goh to Professor Oak's Pokemon camp. At this camp she not only makes it clear that it was her idea and establishes that they are friends (which he doesn't denounce or even seem like he doesn't agree with), but she also scolds him. She scolds him for taking over & being a know-it-all because that's why he can't make friends. 

Chloe doesn't at all prioritize the fact that Goh is here to learn, or that he's stepping on Professor Oak's toes but rather that Goh won't make friends like that. Which suggests to me that rather than just bringing Goh here to learn about & see Pokemon, she also, possibly, brought him to help expand his social circle. She, maybe, thought he'd be likely to meet more kids excited about Pokemon like him and that he'd make more friends but that's not what happened. Instead, he spent very little time interacting with the other kids, he was uninterested in making friends, and found a new Pokemon to delve into researching. Then he eventually stops talking to people more and more and then stops going to school. Chloe likely wanted to be Goh's gateway into making more friends but that didn't happen. She can't even spend much time with him herself because he's typically focused on Pokemon research which at the time wasn't all that interesting to her. 

I think it's safe to say by the time of the flashback with the teacher she'd somewhat given up on getting him to be social, because she's not even playing with Goh at this point, however it's important to note that she obviously also still cared as she was watching.

Chloe's not an especially nosy person, or at least, the only times she's really spied on situations has been because she cares about the situation to some extent. So her watching the teacher talk to Goh is because she cares about what's going on with him but she doesn't know what else to do when he says he doesn't want to make friends and talks to people even less now. And honestly why would she? She knows less about what’s going on with him than he does and he didn’t even really know at the time. It was a number of things but the point is, Chloe couldn’t get Goh to even want to make friends.

Enter Ash.

Ash doesn't even have to try that hard to catch Goh's interest or earn his want to be friends. Now Goh is talking to people, interacting with people and even acting more like he wants her around at times. Goh is making friends, changing his mind on things and being more open. So of course Chloe's gonna feel less important. She couldn’t lead him down that path, despite likely wanting and trying to.

And someone reading this might be wondering “doesn't that make Ash Goh's first friend then? Does that make Chloe and Goh’s friendship one-sided?” No! It does not!

Chloe throughout all of this has still always been Goh's friend. Even if they've grown a bit estranged by the present timeline.

How can I say this? As already pointed out, Goh doesn't to any capacity try to dispute the idea that he's friends with Chloe in episode one, not even with a hesitant or unsure facial expression. In ep 2, while he could've handled it so much better, he told Chloe beforehand that he'd go to her dad's lab opening, and when he knew he was gonna be late, he also texted her to let her know. If they weren't friends he'd genuinely have no reason or obligation to tell her any of that. Especially since he didn't ask her to bring his homework. It wasn't a "hey I'll be at your dad's, can you bring my homework?" nor a “I’ll be there to get my homework later, I’m gonna have a fateful encounter.” He told her because they're friends, he makes it very clear that he had no interest in receiving that homework. 

And while we're talking about it the way they talk to each other to me doesn't feel like distant acquaintances. It feels like friends. Goh excitedly was ready to tell her about his encounter with Lugia. They're able to get annoyed with each other without seriously upsetting the other because they know how each other are. They're friends. Like sure Chloe is a bit annoyed when Goh runs off to go talk to the Professors but not for long because she knows Goh and that his mind is Pokemon, Pokemon Research & Pokemon.  (Though there is the underlying frustration on the matter of their estranged friendship but I’ll discuss that a bit later.) Even if they don't hang out together or talk all that often, they're still friends.

In episode 3, he invites her to stay & eat breakfast with them so he must have some fondness for her. Goh doesn't really strike me as a one who'd invite someone he doesn't at least have some interest in to eat breakfast with him just to be polite. He doesn't care about people that much. Especially not 3 episodes in. He still hasn’t bonded with a lot of people at that point, Chrysa and Ren hadn’t even been actually introduced at this point.

In episode 15, Camille says that Goh didn't have any friends other than Chloe. There's a lot they don't know about what goes on with Goh, so for them to know that, means one of two things: 1) Chloe & Goh were together enough for them to register that they were friends or 2) because we know Goh does tell his parents about things (as long as it's nothing negative), he told them Chloe was his friend. Either way that reads as they were friends to me. So yea, Chloe was Goh's friend, pre Ash. Thus his first friend.

I don’t really think Horace|Tokio gets the same sort of label because while one could argue that they were indeed friends that day, Goh didn't think they were actually friends until he met him again, post Ash. No one even knew about H|T as Goh tried to(and possibly did until they went back there) suppress the memory. Had things not ended the way they did, or if it still counts regardless, he would be Goh's second friend. But not his first friend as Chloe was first. So... sorry H|T. But hey, you were still an important connection and you're friends now.

So back to why Chloe then says that Ash is Goh's first friend. The fact of the matter is that Goh, albeit unintentionally, was a bad friend to Chloe. Or at least he wasn't a very good one. (I think if they had the skills to properly discuss & come to an agreement on their relationship then Goh wouldn't really come off as a bad friend just someone who needs a lot of alone time or something, but alas they didn't.)

Goh was a bit in his own world. He also saw himself as someone who didn't need other people around to get by so as he grew more and more distant from people in general, he spent less time with Chloe as well because it simply (likely) didn't occur to him that they should be hanging out.

Despite being friends with Chloe, he didn't fully understand why people had friends. So while he values Chloe and while she'll be there for him, he doesn't yet understand what it means to be a good friend. Because as much as Chloe and Goh were friends, they had different interests and values. Goh being beyond interested in Pokemon and Chloe growing to be fairly apathetic towards them (and into gardening). Still they had each other's numbers and hung out but not as much as they could've the older they got, especially with the added fact that he doesn’t go to school and Chloe does, this automatically puts them on different schedules. 

Plus they were six at their peak of frequently hanging out(back when Chloe still had an interest in Pokemon), and six year olds still have a lot to learn, like I wouldn't expect a six year old in general to be able to explain what a good friend is. Goh didn’t think spending time together was all that necessary and so he didn’t spend time with Chloe. I mean he doesn’t even spend that much time with his parents, whom he adores, why would he think he should spend a lot of time with Chloe? Especially when he could be focusing on Pokemon. And I know that it's a little different with his parents because he would like them to be around more and just doesn't say anything because he wants to prove he’s self sufficient and that they have nothing to worry about. But doesn't that seep into his other relationships? Not only that but wanting someone around and not seeing the necessity of it are two things that can be true at the same time. 

And this is the way Goh initially sees friendships/relationships in general. In episode 135, he says that Scorbunny|Cinderace is what made him realize how great having friends could be. He saw the way the Scorbunny was actively taking care of and spending time with the Nickits, how they functioned as a group, and also spent time with Scorbunny himself, and that’s what clicked with him. This is after he met Ash, after their reconfirmation of being friends too, but this suggests that before that he, in part, only really understood the reason he and Ash were doing things together was because they worked together and he was curious about Ash. I’m not saying he didn’t want to be around Ash but just that he didn’t fully attribute spending time with someone all that necessary.

Also in support of this thought, as @/chernikastan pointed out in an analysis they’re working on, in episode 3, Goh doesn’t wait for Ash before heading off to join Professor Cerise, and before that he wasn't really listening to Ash either. Goh is the one who declared that he’d accept Ash as his friend, despite the fact that Ash didn’t actually offer his friendship, and he doesn’t wait for him, or even really listen to him. He immediately leaves to see the Professors once he’s aware that Professor Oak is also there(episode 2), is scrolling through his phone while Ash is talking to him(episode 3), doesn’t wait for him before following Professor Cerise(episode 3), and starts the adventure of episode 3 very adamant on doing things his way which, as we know, in part leads to their first fight. 

While by the end of episode three, Goh does now have a new admiration and respect for Ash and pays more attention to him from there, Goh doesn't really get the whole whoop of spending a lot of time with other people(or maybe is subconsciously rejecting it as a means of self protection but that’s an analysis for another time) until after meeting Scorbunny. And I’m not trying to take away from Ash’s contribution at all because Ash also does show Goh what’s fun about spending time and having fun with friends, it’s just that Goh, himself, said that meeting Scorbunny is when he was like “wow, having friends seems like fun.” Once again this is post establishing a friendship with Ash, he didn’t befriend Ash because he thought it’d be fun to hang out and whatever. He thought he was interesting(ep2), then he admired him(ep3), also from their meeting point they were vaguely enough alike hence them both jumping onto Lugia. It was after meeting Scorbunny that he wanted to make more friends(cough cough hence him very easily deciding to fill the Pokedex rather than Scorbunny just being the exception and Mew being the next Pokemon he planned to catch, and him always saying he made a new friend when he catches a new Pokemon.) 

The overall point here is that Goh not spending time with someone doesn’t mean he doesn’t consider them a friend. Thus, he was friends with Chloe even if he didn’t really hang out with her or make a lot of time for her specifically. In his perspective, there wasn’t a need to. And in Chloe's perspective he only reached out on occasion, and specific types of occasions too. Not frequently, not really to hang out but for Pokemon related occasions. She doesn’t come off as a priority.

So when that weirdo that Yamper shocked all of a sudden is Goh's inseparable best friend, it's easy for her to doubt that he did see her as a friend.

And the thing is Chloe starts off a bit bitter towards them both. To me, it feels like she was using bitterness and snark to hide her sorrow & pain. As in she was keeping herself guarded. But by the time they both decide to go on a journey, Chloe is unguarded and friends with both of them. Liable to get hurt( again.) 

I've for a while felt that Goh & her friendship was estranged from just her perspective. The estrangement is why she's starts off a bit mean & gaurded. However, I don't think Goh has realized fully that he wasn't that great of a friend, as we know from his relationship with Scorbunny|Raboot that he doesn’t always immediately realize when he’s doing something that hurts someone’s feelings. (Also analysis for another time: Goh and Pokemon vs Goh and People, because he might’ve made some bigger strides with bonding with and understanding Pokemon, than with people currently just a hypothesis though.) But unlike with Raboot, he didn't have that big of an indicator that something was wrong, Chloe not spending time with him? They barely hung out these days anyway. Chloe being kinda mean or annoyed? That's kinda a part of their friend dynamic. (I think there might've been a scene where he seemed sorta unsure as she left for school but that didn't mean he figured it out. Unsure is unsure, like how I'm unsure if that was really a scene.) All in all he doesn't know as she didn't say. 

Then on the flipside, as sad as this narrative is, I think Chloe has now just accepted it. It hurt before when he wasn’t all that social, but she's seen his growth. Now, they're closer than they have been in the last year or three, she's seen first hand how he cares about more than just himself, he's shown up for her when she's called him for help and she knows that they're currently definitely friends now. And she's okay with just accepting that she's not Goh's favorite.

So, she’s doesn’t feel like Goh’s favorite and to her they only started hanging out again more after he became friends with Ash, plus Ash being the one who got Goh to socialize more, Goh being worried about betraying Ash’s friendship not really considering Chloe, and Goh actually lashing out and running off because of Ash’s sudden announcement that he’ll be leaving. She draws her own conclusion based on her feelings about these things. She feels lesser than Ash and says that he’s Goh’s first friend.

As someone who’s studied film, I feel that the reasoning behind even including the Abra story was to draw a counterpoint in the episode, as every scene is supposed to reveal important information or move the story along. It shows two important things needed to support my claim that Chloe is wrong in her assessment: 

1) Chloe doesn’t know everything about Goh, thus while she knows a lot and can get a decent read on him, her statements aren’t the end all be all on him. Chloe didn’t know he’d even met an Abra as a small kid, is it so hard to believe she doesn’t actually know who he considers his first friend? 

2) Goh doesn’t talk about and hype up everything important to him. The way he talks about Mew you’d think that it was his first important encounter with a Pokemon but, based on the knowledge he has at the time of meeting each of them, it’s clear that he met Abra first. And meeting Abra is obviously important to him, it’s just something he hasn’t felt the need to mention before. So it’s not outlandish to think that he hasn’t felt the need to discuss his friendship with Chloe.

In conclusion, Goh’s first friend is Chloe, he hasn’t felt a need to clarify that and so Chloe, who doesn’t feel as appreciated, doesn’t realize that their friendship has been mutual the whole time. It would have been nice for them to be able to have a conversation where they arrive on the same page but it probably would take the two on an adventure alone together for a while, as Chloe seems the type to keep her feelings and problems to herself, while Goh just doesn’t seem to have noticed they aren’t on the same page.

[monstersummongenre]

I’ve seen that, at least in the past, some people have been a bit confused by Goh's hair so I thought I'd put what I remember learning about codominance in my 6th grade science class to use! (Even if no one is confused or really cares anymore lol)

Typically, when we discuss genes we go "they got that trait from parent a and this trait from parent b" because typically we mainly discuss dominant traits often shown through the use of Punnett squares or in case you don’t know or remember that term(I didn’t remember it) the capital letter, lowercase letter charts [TT Tt tt] that takes two sets of two letters, each representing a parent’s(or whatever is passing down genes)’s genes, and Punnett Squares find the different combinations of the letters to find how the traits might combine in the offspring. The dominant trait is treated as a capital letter, and the recessive trait as a lowercase letter. So someone with brown hair but with one of their parents having brown hair and the other having blonde, it means brown was the dominant trait. The brown hair gene on a Punnett Square would be represented with a capital B--most likely two capital Bs for the brunette parent---and the blond gene with a lowercase b---two lowercase bs for the blond parent. The offspring, being a brunette but with both parents’ genes, on a Punnett Square would represented but a set that has one capital B and one lowercase b. That’s the base understanding of genetics, when genes combine there’s a dominant trait and a recessive trait, and the dominant trait is the one that shows up in appearance.

Well there's also codominant traits which means that both traits want to come out on top so when the genes combine both are shown. In terms of Punnett Squares, they're two different capital letters. It happens frequently enough in nature. Like when certain white flowers and certain red flower cross pollinate and the flowers that bloom from that are white and red. In a Punnett Square the white flower would be represented by two capital W’s and the red would be two capital Rs. The flowers that are red and white would have a one of each (WR). And like I said, it happens frequently enough in nature.

Now if you look at Goh and his family, 

his dad has black hair, 

his mom has red hair, 

and he has both.

Meaning that his parents' hair colors are both the dominant trait. Though I do gotta say it’s a bit interesting that his black is darker that his dad’s and his red is lighter than his mom’s, it’s almost as if the values got a bit confused in the fight.  Still, they are codominant. 

I know that that red color is fighting for its life but it's still dominant enough that we can see it regularly and that Goh didn't just have a really, really dark red hair color(incomplete dominance). Besides sometimes it's just like that, take these speckled chicken for example:

From further away it’s harder to see that third(fourth if you count the red on it’s head) color, but it’s still there. The traits are still codominant.

And while we’re on the subject, the shape of Goh’ s hair is pretty codominant too.

His bangs swoop to the right, or I guess, his left, like his mom’s, plus they exist enough to do the little hair tuffs by his ears even if it’s a baby version of his mom’s bangs it’s still clearly influenced by it. Then, like his dad, his hair has a part that stands up in the front, and some that curves upwards in the back. I don’t know if that’s a styling choice on Goh’s part or if it just grow’s like that but I thought it was worth mentioning because he genuinely looks like his both his parents.

Anyway, in conclusion, Goh’s hair is both red and black because the color of his parents’ hair are both dominant making them appear as a codominance in Goh’s hair. 

Though, food for thought, how much red hair do you think is under the black layer? Just the few strands we saw in the bedhead shots or per chance more?

[skyecrystal]

Through my tears, this made me smile. Not just because Goh and Kasumi are my favorites, but... The meaning behind this?

Sacha/Satoshi's FIRST companion meeting up with his LAST companion. It comes in full circle and everything is connected...

[monstersummongenre]

We have a lot of feelings about everything going on with Pokemon.

[another-deadsh33p]

old drawing

[monstersummongenre]

I'm not mad about being wrong I always expect to be wrong(I share my theories on the off chance I'm right so I have bragging rights can feel good about it if I am, pretty much never happens) but I do feel thrown that Ash's journey is ending soon. That blindsighted me, I feel thrown.

[colourful-void]

why goh only uses standard pokeballs - headcanon

if i had a dollar for everytime i saw someone complain about goh only using standard pokeballs to catch pokemon i’d had enough to buy my own master ball. (listen, in meta it’s probably beacuase it’s easier to animate.) but if that’s not cutting it, I’d like to introduce you all to my personal headcanon.

No one at pokemart will sell Goh anything other than a pokeball.

He’s never competed in a gym battle!! ever!! and in every game, from what i can find on bulbapedia, you need at least one gym badge to even a great ball, let any other type of ball. if you guys are going to use game logic to say that Goh should use stronger balls, then by the same logic he can’t even buy them.

also guys it’s just way funnier this way. picture goh trying to convince the pokemart cashier to sell him a great ball but since he’s got zero badges, they are not having it. goh getting ash to teach him how to win gym battles so he can finally buy something. goh convincing ash to buy him some stronger pokeballs, or trying to get him to loan him some of his badges so he can finally get a great ball.

that’s my headcanon at least! 

[monstersummongenre]

Why Goh Might Stick Around

So I’ve stated before that I believe that Chloe and Goh are going into the next series as important characters. I say “important characters” to sort of leave the option open of them not travelling with Ash(since it's possible they won't be) but still being prominent, idk if that’ll happen but it’s a possibility. Think the first few episodes of XY, how Serena was on her on journey while Ash and co were on a separate one but more like how sometimes characters get episodes just they'd be in different places and maybe have subplots in each other's episodes but like they'd being doing there own thing. With occasional episodes of them running into each other sometimes. But that’s not the point of this post. Onward to Goh and why I think it's possible for him to stay in the show longer.

Goh wants to go on an adventure. Like how Ash has in several different regions. That’s not unheard of from Ash’s travel companions, them going off on a separate journey. However, there’s not a lot of reason for Goh to pick one of the other eight regions Ash has already explored because Goh has already been to them so many times. If he wants to do an Ash style journey, he’s gonna need to start fresh in a new region, new to him I mean. And as I just said he’s been to all 8 regions, so he’ll need a new one. And isn’t there a brand new region that actively encourages adventure? {psst, it’s Paldea.}

But that’s not all.

The other night, I was telling KK about the episode “Gotta Catch Ya Later”, having looked into it more so I could better refer to it in my Ash & Chloe Friendship post. In the episode, while unsure about where to go next Ash sees Ho-Oh, who was flying towards Hoenn, sparking, or maybe kickstarting, Ash’s adventure to Hoenn. Sorta like a guide of sorts.

Shortly after, in our conversation which side railed to Journeys, KK went “Wait how did I not notice before? Ho-Oh and Lugia are the Gold and Silver legendaries.” Then she went on to basically say that Ho-Oh is to Ash as Lugia is to Goh. Like Ash with Ho-Oh, Goh saw Lugia at the beginning of his journey as a trainer, his trainer debut, sure he hadn’t yet had a partner Pokemon but that was still the start of him being a Pokemon trainer, and while we don’t know how this current battle is going to end, or what it will mean for Goh it, we do know here it has appeared as he’s trying to decide on going on a journey.

I genuinely don’t know if any other companions had seen a Legendary at the start of their journey, and as a (possible) guide for another journey (Lugia is at the very least gonna help Goh smooth over how he’s feeling and possibly lead to them having a proper conversation, I believe,) but it feels very Main Character tm. And with Goh already being a co-protagonist, built to be a pair with Ash, and with the added detail of Lugia and Ho-Oh being a pair, it just feels like maybe Goh’s gonna continue being a main character.

Not only that but Goh seems like a character with lots more potential, I know all characters stories continue after the leave but don’t they typically have a fairly satisfying conclusion? I’m not one to judge a story’s conclusion before it’s actually confirmed concluded and I have seen it all, so I can’t say much for any of the companions’ conclusions. However, I’ve seen people say Goh and Chloe’s stories aren’t sastisfying, or something in that vein, and it doesn’t sound like a “Oh as always, the companions aren’t getting a very satisfying story end”. It sounds like Goh and Chloe aren't getting a very satisfying story end. Once again, I, personally, cannot fully form an opinion on that but might I suggest that maybe it’s not a satisfying end, because maybe it’s not the end? An end of an arc or section maybe but not the end of their stories as important characters.

Something that actually supports this idea that, at least, Goh's story isn't over is while he's learned many things over the course of the show he still hasn't quite learned to not mind gaining support from others, I posted about this yesterday, about Goh needing to be traveling with someone because of what the narrative has been setting up.

As a matter of fact, I think if they wanted to show that he's grown as a person in regards of being able to know that he can depend on people and they were writing him off, his news might've been, "I'm deciding to stay on as a chaser," or "Horace & I are going on a journey" or something that demonstrates he knows it's okay. Because while he's gotten better with receiving help, his wanting to go on an adventure alone, because it's Goh, and his reasoning of it being "too easy" if he goes with Ash instead of alone, shows that he has still not accepted that it's okay to have someone supporting & helping him.

Like if anything he accepts support/help when absolutely necessary or like on an event basis but he hasn't accepted that people can just support him day to day. And it's just like Goh, Project Mew didn't set up a team of five Chasers for nothing, they figured it'd be easier with five people. Nobody wants life to be hard so it's okay to have someone around to make it easier, that doesn't mean you won't grow as a person or stronger or whatever, you and whoever you're with should be supporting each other.

But of course he hasn't learned fully learned that, that kind of lesson is one of rewiring the brain, that mess takes time. He's got it drilled in his head that he needs to be self sufficient, okay on his own, and that he doesn't need anyone else or to bother anyone else. So if they used two series to teach that to him, it really wouldn't be strange.

In conclusion, travelling with Ash or not(though these signs are probably pointing towards travelling with him lol), I don’t think Goh is leaving the show. I think it’s very likely for him to still be an important character going forth into the next generation. He’s still got potential and lessons to learn, he wants an adventure--which Paldea is perfect for, and he’s sorta like Legendary bonded with Ash(for lack of better/concise/understandable wording).

But I guess we’ll know for sure when the next season starts huh? 

[monstersummongenre]

While it makes character sense for Goh to want to go on a journey alone, I’m not sure it fully makes narrative sense for him to actually do so.

His whole journey through the show has been telling him to interact with others and urging him to stop being alone all the time. He literally has spent so much time by himself and his storyline told him “not anymore”. Besides traveling around with Ash, he joined Project Mew and, to my understanding, even when he wasn’t doing missions with Ash, he was doing missions with someone, and learning to better use team work. Literally him joining Project Mew as a Chaser was him joining a team.

Goh has always been fairly self sufficient as a person. He’s had to be. But the show’s been trying to tell him that he doesn’t have to be only him. He should support others and let them rely on him and he should let them do the same for him. It’s been telling him time and time again.

In “Not Too Close for Comfort!”, when he’s trying to to find Drizzile, it was getting dark so Goh told Ash and Chloe they could leave, he was of course going to keep searching. He starts off without them and they join him, showing him they they’re there to help and support him. He didn’t have to continue alone.

In “Looking Out For Number Two!”, Goh tells Ash to wait where he’s still attached to the ship’s oxygen while he goes further down to try and get the Kingdra. And though Goh was able to get started, he struggled alone, but Ash was there to support him.

Goh’s always trying to take things on his own, he wants to be someone who can stand alone and he wants to be someone people can depend on. But the thing is he has to learn to be okay with depending on others too. 

Thus I think that, even if it’s not Ash, Goh should be traveling with someone. 

[monstersummongenre]

                             Misty      Goh

                                      🤝

     Upsetti Spaghetti because “Dang Ash isn’t even really sad or hesitant to separate from me huh? It’s like he doesn’t even care.”

[monstersummongenre]

Ash & Chloe’s Friendship!

I felt the newest episode had a bit of a slight emphasis on Ash & Chloe's relationship in a way so I’m also gonna discuss their friendship, mainly though why I think Chloe is a good friend for Ash to have. (This post will include spoilers for Journey ep 135 Pokemon I’m Glad I Met You)

I realized a couple days ago that Chloe is actually a really good friend for Ash to have. Ash is emotion/instinct/impulse but he doesn't always know how to handle other people's feelings with care. Sometimes he misses other’s feelings completely and Chloe is his friend who tells him what he's missing, openly helps him shift his perspective by laying out the information he needs.

One of the most notable times this happens, Chloe letting Ash know what he missed, the information he doesn’t have, is in the episode Betrayed, Bothered and Beleaguered. In this episode, Pikachu is starting to feel jealous and let out as Ash puts just about all his focus into train Riolu. Ash misses this completely. So when Pikachu gets the attention he’s craving from Delia instead, he decides to go back to Pallet Town, with only Mr. Mime knowing this decision and not being able to inform anyone as he tagged along to ensure Pikachu was okay. 

Now we don’t see this scene on screen as this is a Pikachu-centric episode but after Pikachu leaves, Ash looks around for him. Unable to find him and confused as to why Pikachu would go mia, Ash ends up talking to Chloe, who saw something similar with Yamper literally in the episode before. Chloe had been able to peg Pikachu’s feelings and so tells Ash the why, what was going on, how Pikachu was feeling. This was important for Ash to hear so that in the long run he could course correct.

This isn’t the only time Chloe has filled in information for Ash, nor that Ash had missed someone’s feelings completely.

On Ash’s part, if you go back to one of the earlier seasons, the end of Johto for example, in the episode “Gotta Catch Ya Later”, there’s this scene where Misty gets her bike returned, completely fixed. Ash sees this as a good thing, because well Misty had really wanted her bike fixed, plus her sisters just called saying they need her to watch the gym. However Ash turning to Misty and pointing out that it’s great, now she can get home fast, isn’t at all what she had wanted to hear. She’s upset, he’s confused, she runs off. Ash doesn’t get why she responded that way. In that instance he had Brock who suggests that maybe Misty wanted to keep traveling with them.

In the most recent episode, Journeys episode 135, Ash is in a sort of similar situation. He’s just announced that he and Pikachu will definitely be heading off on a journey. Goh’s upset, Ash is confused, Goh runs off. 

Instead of Brock, Ash has Chloe who, though she wants to go find Goh and make sure he’s okay, is still taking the time to put into words what Goh’s reaction didn’t. She told Ash what he didn’t know, that Goh was considering going on a journey but couldn’t quite decide because of his feelings, because of their friendship.

Not everyone is going to always tell Ash everything, as a matter of fact, I’m not sure how often people actually full-on tell him things, in regards to their feelings and stuff. So when he misses things, he misses them, some things he couldn’t have known or at least couldn’t have known to look for. So I think it’s good for him to have Chloe as a friend because as she’s shown, she will tell him what he doesn’t know.

So yeah, that’s what Chloe does as a friend for Ash. She’s there helping him see the parts of the picture out of his view. 

I don’t fully have it worded out in my head on Ash’s end but I will share what I’m thinking so far.

On the flip side, Ash just gives her some nice help and pleasant attention really. Like I’m sure and I know he could help her in regards to Pokemon but when I think about their interactions, they’re very nice moments, like Ash inviting her to join him and Goh to wherever it was they were heading, or him helping her out with her fossil in that one episode. 

I’m not going to get too into it, but I think Chloe is rather lonely. Goh’s always been off doing his own thing, same for her family, and when she tries to hang out with them they sometimes flake out on her or hold her up. But Ash is like just a friend. And I haven’t quite figured out how to say it, I need to rewatch/watch more episodes with the two of them in them but honestly I think that’s important too. I do know he does sorta flake out on her in the episode she tries Contests Lives by opting to battle instead of heading to the Contest Hall, so maybe that’s part why I haven’t fully figured out what I’m trying to say but I really think that he is a pleasant and good friend for her to have. Maybe he helps her relax.

I’m not quite sure but even in the most recent episode, the emphasis I was referring to before honestly was simply the framing of shots.

They sit and walk next to each other throughout the episode, when theoretically you would expect either of them to be next to Goh, and their were times they were but the times they were interacting was notable.

I hope that if I’m right about Chloe continuing to be an important character in the next series, that they get some more moments of friendship. Maybe Chloe will be one of Ash’s travel companions in the next series while Goh does his own thing lol

[monstersummongenre]

Abra and Mew or Chloe and Ash

What if Chloe is Abra and Ash is Mew?

I know how that sounds but I don’t mean literally, so please bear with me for a moment.

So I think it’s safe to assume that the Abra Goh met, he’d met before Professor Oak’s camp, thus before Mew. And meeting Abra may have been his first important encounter with a Pokemon.

Chasing Abra, Goh saw various different Pokemon in person for the first time. Before that before meeting Abra, Goh didn’t have that much knowledge on Pokemon memorized it seemed, like obviously he was still a fan of Pokemon, and was literally looking at a Pokedex when Abra appeared but my point is this: 

When he met Abra, he didn’t know what it was, next time he saw it not only did he know it’s name but he also was able to state facts about it, when he went to Pokecamp he was rattling off all sorts of facts about Pokemon in general.

Abra to me, sorta reads as like a gateway, and introduction. Not like his introduction-introduction but the push into the right direction. 

When Goh speaks of Abra, he’s obviously glad he’d met it, it’s a bond of sorts that is dear to him even though he hasn’t talked about it really before, it was still important to him. He obviously did lots of research after meeting it, that’s a shift, a behind the scenes one.

Mew however struck a chord in a way no one could have really expected, it became his favorite Pokemon, what he always talks about, and sorta shifted his life completely. Goh’s desire to meet Mew again, in a sense, lead him to the bigger world of Pokemon.

So one could say his interest in Abra led him to a park full of Pokemon while his interest in Mew lead him further into the world of Pokemon. But even though Abra's contribution seems smaller, and he put more obvious and louder focus on Mew, both are important to him.

It's similar with Chloe & Ash.

Through Chloe he's had a person in his corner & also a way to learn even more about Pokemon since Chloe leads to the Pokemon Professors (Cerise and Oak). Chloe is someone he cares about even though it's not always as obvious. She's still an important person in his life and honestly knowing her really has helped shape his social life in a sense. Even if not in the most obvious ways.

Ash, however, became his favorite person. Through knowing Ash, Goh's world was expanded. He's made lots more friends. How much he cares about and appreciates Ash is well known. Everyone knows that Ash is important to him.

But just like with Abra, that doesn't mean Chloe isn't. Even if it's not as obviously stated or really talked about. Chloe is still the gateway/push in the right direction.

In the same vein as earlier one could say his friendship with Chloe led him to a forest full of Pokemon, one happening to be Mew the Pokemon that changed his life(it was her idea to bring him & they wouldn't have been trailling behind the group if she hadn't pulled him aside to scold) or you could say it led him to more information, while his friendship with Ash helped him further explore the bigger world of Pokemon, or you could say it led him to more lived in experiences. And I know I'm talking about these friendships in terms of what they do for Goh, but that's kind of the point. Both have helped him get as far as he is today, there's just more focus in how Ash has rather than how Chloe has, but she still has.

Abra & Chloe are important to Goh even if he more actively puts his energy into Mew & Ash. He just needs to remember to show his appreciation to Chloe more.

(I hope this isn’t too incoherent, just after my post about how Chloe was feeling in episode 135, I was thinking about the episode again and what the Abra might represent and my brain said “Omg Chloe’s the Abra.”, Ash being Mew sorta fell into place because I was already thinking about how it was interesting that he met Abra first but is always talking about Mew so yea. Those are my thoughts on that.)

[monstersummongenre]

Chloe in Ep 135 Pokemon! I’m Glad I Met You

So...

Maybe, maybe, Chloe's projecting a bit in the episode. By this I mean she is sorta putting her feelings about Goh onto his reaction to/feelings about Ash in this episode. So let’s talk about how Chloe reacts in this episode. 

Here’s Chloe’s reaction when first spotting Goh in Cerise Park, she’s genuinely excited and happy to see her good friend Goh, back after being gone for a while:

However this is her reaction hearing him say he was going on a journey. She immediately backs up and ducks down.

She's surprised and instead of approaching she hides, just like how she might be hiding her feelings.

When they actually do discuss his thoughts on going on a journey, she doesn't seem exactly excited to know Goh is planning on leaving. Like I could argue she looks a little strained. 

She just found out Goh is considering leaving on a long term journey and the main reason he hasn’t fully decided yet is because of his friendship with Ash. He didn’t even ask her what she thinks, and didn’t seem to be planning on it either.

Later, she's nearly just as surprised as Goh to hear Ash has already decided to leave, and yes this is mainly because she already knows Goh's feelings and thoughts on the two separating. But still. (Though I also think it could be partially influenced by the thought they are both planning on leaving her behind.)

When Goh rushes off, Chloe actually gets up faster than Cinderace.

But ultimately she decides against going immediately after him, opting to stop and talk to Ash first, to sorta give him an idea of how Goh's feeling. Because she gets it.

She shares what Goh said then draws a conclusion herself. She's likely writing herself off because she doesn't fully feel as important to Goh as he is to her. And it's been like that for her growing up, she's used to it. She gets the pain of your friend making decisions and heading off without taking you in account.

Just earlier that day Goh didn’t say he felt like he was betraying his friendship to Chloe by leaving, he said he felt like he was betraying his friendship to Ash. Literally in episode 2 she's gone out of her way to bring him his homework because she knows he's going to her dad's lab, but instead of checking in with her, he just texts her, after already being late, 'sorry gonna be late, about to have a fateful encounter' not really taking in account her feelings before making a decision, either time. 

Just as it currently seems Ash didn't take Goh’s feelings into account before making his decision.

But more on her writing herself off, when making this decision that she's not Goh's first friend, there is like some bit of hesitance before heading off, I feel like.

We don't see her face, they hide it from us. It’s not done in away that’s awkward or makes you on a normal watch stop and question why we don’t see her face as Chloe’s feelings are not the focus here, but I think it also supports this idea that she's, in a way, hiding. She couldn’t look directly at Ash as she finished that statement because she, as I’m sure all, if not most, of us were, was likely thinking, “What about her?”

As a matter of fact, in a sense she's hidden a couple of times this episode. There obviously was her hiding when Goh was talking about possibly going on a journey, but then this too is sorta hiding, as she’s there but she’s away from them, out of sight. She sees them but they aren’t at all aware she’s even there.

Also, I think it's possible part of her writing herself off is her feeling as though she wasn't like a friend-friend to him.

Like she didn't share his interests or excitements for a good chunk of their lives but when Ash showed up he immediately shared Goh's excitement & interests. They were attached at the hip.

In some ways, that could feel like she wasn't good enough since Goh contacted her but not frequently or anything. While he doesn't separate from Ash at all really.

But in other ways, it could feel like a failure on her end. Like she didn't do enough for him. And while really there’s not much she could’ve done, she still could feel bad about it. That’s all really just speculation though.

Either way we know that Goh’s often doing his own thing. He didn’t typically invite her to hang out with him or anything during their time spent growing up. She was essentially left behind.

Then in the end of the episode she's still left behind by them. Just as they were discussing doing during the episode. She’s used to being sorta left behind and not really taken into account, (even sorta by her family recalling the episode she met Dawn since she went by herself because despite the family having planned a vacation they all made other plans, disregarding their plans with her and her feelings and she had no one to hang out with). And I just imagine it still hurts even if she’s used to it and hiding the fact that she’s hurt.

I don’t know how exactly to conclude this thought but I think there's still potential for her relationship with each of them to grow. Especially with Goh if I’m being honest, as I don’t think they’ve sat down and talked about what happened with their relationship.

[monstersummongenre]

Why There Wasn’t More Galar in Journeys Theory pt 3: SwSh Anime?/Conclusion

Recap:

In parts one and two, I bring up the subject of how fans feel there wasn’t enough Galar in Journeys. In considering possibilities as to why that may be I’ve discussed Ash and the Gym Challenges as well as wanting companions who aren’t tied to one region specifically.

I left off on the idea that with Hop and Gloria the anime would likely have been mostly in Galar and so time to discuss why I think that likely wouldn’t have been ideal to the team writing it.

Isn't This The Sword & Shield Anime?

This Pokémon series, though referred to by some, and seen by several as the Sword & Shield anime, is not the Sword & Shield anime. Not exactly anyway.

This series, in Japan is called Pocket Monsters (2019) and in the US & I think Canada, at the very least, it's called Pokémon Journeys(: the Series). I'm not entirely sure about the other countries but it seems like it might basically be Journeys in other places too.

To my knowledge, at least one of the series titles had the game name as a title(minus Red and Blue). DP, BW, XY, SM are all obvious ones. However while I was searching for Johto & AG episodes on Prime I found "Gold & Silver" & "Ruby & Sapphire". And if you search for "Pokémon Gold & Silver the Series" or "Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire the Series" on your browser's search engine (or at least on Google) you get Wikipedia, Pokémon wiki, or series links with those titles. I tried it with "Pokémon Sword & Shield the Series" and the results were less conclusive. Journeys does come up but not as Bulbapedia, wikia or even tv tropes links. There is one Wikipedia page link but it doesn’t have Sword and Shield in the title or quick view of the page, like with Ruby & Sapphire or Gold & Silver. Then there’s an imdb for the mini series, a link about the game and a link to one of the episodes of Journeys that had “Sword and Shield” in the title. But it doesn’t come up as a name for Journeys.

This is because this series does not claim that name. The first episode doesn't start with Ash arriving in Galar, it starts with young versions of our important characters in Kanto(Pikachu, Ash, Goh and Chloe). We don't see Galar until 4 episodes in, for two episodes. This series is not about Galar, it is not the Sword & Shield anime. It is a Pokémon anime that includes the Galar region and a mini Sword & Shield arc during it. And the distinction is important.

They went to Galar several times in the first season alone, when they went to check out the dynamax phenomenon and met Scorbunny & the Nickits(2 episodes), when they went to see Leon's battle and Ash got a dynamax band(2 episodes), when they go see Leon battle again and Ash catches Farfetch'd & Goh Sobble(2 episodes), the four episode Darkest Day arc. 

That's 14 episodes out of 48(46 if you take out the first two on account of them not being research fellows yet.) (Though we are introduced to Yamper & Bea, both from the Galar region, outside of these episodes.) Even so, that's about a little more than a fourth of season 1. While on one hand that seems fairly small let me remind you this season they are research fellows free to go wherever really and that they have 8 regions to possibly visit. And they spend a fourth of the season in Galar. That's three fourths to the other 7 regions. Without checking the episodes, if you do the math that's 6/8ths for the rest of the regions meaning two might be sharing an eighth or some region's getting the short end of the stick.

But Galar’s the new region shouldn’t they have, and couldn’t they have still spent more time in Galar? Shown more Galar characters and Pokémon? Well, I don’t know how much time was spent in and how many SwSh characters appeared but yea, sure of course there could have been more focus on Galar, there’s always a possibility of more of anything. However, too much time in Galar and it would become the Sword & Shield anime they weren't trying to make. They did still spend a decent amount of time in Galar for it not being their focus.

Besides that, another point towards this not being the Sword & Shield anime, is that it doesn’t just represent the SwSh games. Each of the important three human characters seem to somewhat encompass a different Pokémon game to some extent. I've barely played two of these games but if I'm right then we have Ash, Masters EX, joining a Masters tournament, Goh, Pokémon Go, travelling and catching Pokémon & Chloe, Let's Go Eevee, her partner Pokémon being Eevee(and Ash Let's Go Pikachu his partner being a Pikachu but that's always been the case.)

I don’t have much to say on that but I do think they weren’t entirely trying to tie down this anime with only one of the games and I think the main characters and the time spent in Galar shows that.

Conclusion

So why doesn't Pokémon Journeys take place in Galar or show more of Galar? I believe it's because Ash has done so many Gym Challenges and won a league so the writers didn't want to rehash that storyline with him. I also believe that instead of making a Sword and Shield anime, the team wanted to try something a bit new and added Goh & Chloe as two longer term characters to the main cast to explore other aspects of the world of Pokémon through who are free to continue on as important characters with Ash, past the Journeys anime.

Part 1: Intro & Ash | Part 2: Goh & Chloe

[monstersummongenre]

Why There Wasn’t More Galar in Journeys Theory pt 2: Goh & Chloe

Recap: 

Because of the way the fans aren’t exactly pleased with the anime not being more Galar-centric, I’ve thought a lot about the possibility of why it wasn’t. While the fanbase’s general dislike of the Galar region from the get go of the games’ release is one less certain idea, another thought I had is that it’s in part because of the SwSh/Galar’s region’s love of the Gym Challenge and that they want to do something different where they couldn’t really do as much with Ash having now won a League after challenges several and losing many times before.

Now, I’d like to discuss how the new cast of the season also plays into this decision. 

No, they didn't choose Hop and Gloria(/Victor; the player character for SwSh), which I will get back to as to why I think that is in a minute. Instead, they created two brand new Kanto kids to have importance this season, co-protagonist Goh, and important secondary, Chloe.

Goh

Goh is, as I stated, the co-protagonist of Journeys. He is not really Ash's supporting cast, he is a full blown main character, which sources say is like May and Dawn. They, too, were co-protagonists with Ash.

Now, I haven't watched AG nor DP in a long time, being almost too young to really even remember more than really liking Max & May in AG and dropping off of DP pretty early on only seeing episodes here and there(that I also only somewhat remember) because we had on and off cable. But to my knowledge, and something I think we all can agree on, as co-protagonists, they have their own interests and their own stuff going on. While Ash does the Gym Stuff, they do Contest stuff. May sorta figuring out during the show what she wants and Dawn already knowing when we meet her.

Well, as established, Ash doesn't really have a Gym challenge but he still loves battling, so to give a new co-protagonist something different, well what's something else that can relate to those who play the games? Oh what about something that everyone does: catching!

Ash has never been the greatest at catching Pokémon. By the 13th episode of OS he's caught 7 Pokémon, while Gary has already caught 45. Ash catches lots of Pokémon, but catching isn't his biggest interest. It's not his whole thing. So a co-protagonist who's thing can be catching? Not a problem(in theory).

Of course Goh’s whole thing, as a character, couldn't just be catching, while that can be a contingent point for his goals, there's gotta be a bit more going on with a second lead else what makes him different than a supporting role or a recurring character.

There's so much going on with Goh. He wants to catch them all, as we the players are encouraged to do in the video games, and this stems from his initial want and goal to catch Mew, a legendary, or well I guess Mythical Pokémon, which some players have been given the chance to catch. But that's not all, Goh starts off as an ambitious loner kid with one friend. He's can be judgey and overconfident but also socially awkward and insecure. He's a very multifaceted character with lots of room to grow. And he's offering things different than what Ash brings, as the co-protagonist in a season where they're obviously trying to freshen things up and try new things.

He also differs from Ash in storyline by following his desire to catch Mew to an adventure, he's gone on a couple different adventures before his final one for the series. This series wanted to bring some attention to the adventure aspect of Pokémon and that's neat.

So that's Goh. Now what about his one friend, the important secondary character of the series.

Chloe

Chloe brings something completely different to the table than either Ash or Goh do. Chloe doesn't have a goal.

Ash has his grand goal of becoming a Pokémon Master, with being the strongest trainer in the world being one step on the ladder to get there. He seems to represent having a goal and heading towards it, without it really changing. Things are added to it but his main long term goal doesn’t change. There's so much left unsaid about becoming a Pokémon Master but we know that, at least in Ash's mind, everything he does is bringing him one step closer to it.

Goh had a goal most might describe as unrealistic: catch Mew as his first/partner Pokémon. Of course five episodes in he adjusts that goal and catches Scorbunny as his first/partner Pokémon and in episode 6 he adjusts it again. Thus, Goh seems to represent allowing a goal to change with you. Sometimes, your initial plan/goal isn't going to go the way you planned, sometimes you realize you want something else, sometimes you're gonna have to settle for things that are original-goal-adjacent and that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that. That's just life.

Then there's Chloe. She starts off unsure of what she wants to do. She doesn't battle or have a partner Pokémon and she really doesn’t just want to research Pokémon just because her dad does. She wants the freedom to choose whatever it is she's gonna choose. She in a sense represents taking one's time. She's given the freedom, room and time to explore whatever it she wants to try out. She takes time to (re)develop a fondness for Pokémon and her distant friend Goh. And when she meets Eevee she makes a small short term goal of meeting all the Eevee-lutions. She still doesn’t know what she wants to do. Not everyone knows what they want, and it's important for people to be able to try out different things to sorta find what it is that interests them and that they like doing. And Chloe represents that.

So Chloe & Goh aren't battlers and have a lot of potential and room for growth but that doesn't quite explain why they exist and not in Galar, nor as just as Hop & Gloria. Well let's get into it.

Goh & Chloe vs Hop & Gloria

In the simplest of terms, Goh & Chloe aren't tied down to Galar(or any region) the way Hop & Gloria are. I believe, and I could be super wrong but I’m going down with this belief, that Goh & Chloe are going to continue to be important characters moving onward in the Pokémon anime.

Goh wants to catch and research them all, find understanding with Pokémon through that process(with the addition of bonding and care). He also has seemingly discovered a love for adventure in general.

Chloe is a character who because she doesn't know what she wants can explore all different aspects of the Pokémon world because unlike so many other companions she hasn't quite found her primary calling yet, though she's thus far had a lot of fun trying things out. I know for some people they feel like her story has been pointless and hasn't really gone anywhere but that's not how I see it. 

For starters, the writers have likely taken their time with her story because in real life discovering yourself can take time, it's not something that just happens overnight. They've likely also taken their time with her because, as I'm predicting, she'll be around longer. And now, if what I've heard/picked up is accurate, she might be shifting her gaze from Eevee-lutions to evolution in general. If so that gives her something new to explore and study and see if it leads her down an specific pulls.

Hop & Gloria, as per the game, are, one, game characters for that region and, two, their goals are to take on the Gym Challenge and become the Galar champion. That is a very region specific goal. Plus what makes these game characters different that they should go out of region with Ash? What sets them up to do that?

Sure they could’ve changed Gloria to however they wanted but that doesn't make her less tied to the region. Sure Brock joined Ash for other regions but Brock's goal had always included traveling, if I recall properly, he wanted to see the world.

Goh & Chloe already travel through the regions, they aren't tied to one region as travel companions because their goals and interests take them out of the region with Ash all the time. They already travel a lot so getting them to travel to a different region for the next season/series isn't that hard to justify.

Meanwhile, I'm not sure what they could've done differently with Gloria to allow her the freedom to travel but still a season in with her and Hop would've felt tied to Galar. Hop's goal being Galar-centric, and all, most of, if not all the season would take place there.

But isn't this the Galar season? What's wrong with it taking place in Galar?

Part 1: Intro & Ash | Part 3: SwSh Anime?/Conclusion

[monstersummongenre]

Why There Wasn’t More Galar in Journeys Theory pt 1: Intro & Ash

So, something I've been thinking about a lot is the decision to not make Journeys take place solely in Galar and as it's a point of frustration for some I thought I'd share my thoughts on it. My thoughts consist of three main points, the fanbase, Ash, and Goh & Chloe. Through these points I will discuss why they might not have centered the season in Galar despite it  being the "Sword & Shield" anime (spoiler, it's because it's not).

The Fanbase

Now I don't know how much fan reaction plays a part in the crafting of the seasons but if it plays any part in it, I seem to remember that fans weren't exactly excited about the look of the Galar region when the game came out. If fan reaction does play a part I could see why they might not want to show too much Galar. If people don't even like how it looks, why spend so much time there? 

This point is more of a speculation, and even a bit of a "why are people mad when they didn't like it anyway" kind of point(not fully though because I get the frustration) so I started with it to get it out of the way. I can't actually say whether the fan reaction to the game had any part in this but I did think it was worth mentioning. My next point however I think plays a much bigger role in this decision to just visit Galar sometimes.

Ash

In Pokémon Sword & Shield, one of the biggest components as you go through it is the Gym Challenge. It's literally so big in the Galar region, one has to be endorsed to join it.

And while I'm sure Ash easily could've stumbled into Galar, met Hop & or Leon and get endorsed for the Gym Challenge, why would he want to? Correction, why would the writers want to write that again? 

Ash leaving Alola has won a Championship. He has in the past also won the Orange Island League but I know less about that so I'll do what most others do and ignore that for a moment. Now Ash has spent the previous 22 seasons, doing gym battles, or as I'm assuming in Alola(sorry haven't finished SM yet)  the Island challenges. He's spent series after series challenging Gyms, taking on the regions' leagues and after many losses, has become a champion in a region.

Why would the next season be him taking on another Gym Challenge? He's been there and done that so many times. If they want to do a fresh season, with something new, the Gym Challenge isn't gonna offer much new for Ash. And that being said what else would Ash do in Galar if not the Gym Challenge? There's not much to spend his time on if not the Gym Challenges, sure there's Dynamaxing, the whole thing with Chairman Rose and getting to battle Leon but like? That's a gimmick to learn and a or two climax. There's not much to hold onto with Ash for three whole seasons in Galar.

Of course they could spend some of the time on whoever Ash's new cast would be. Oh wait, even if not in Galar, they did do that.

Part 2: Goh & Chloe | Part 3: SwSh Anime?/Conclusion

[monstersummongenre]

Faves So Far - Pokémon XY

Favorite Two Episodes (out of 20)

1. Episode 4: A Shockingly Cheeky Friendship!

Besides the simplicity of the episode being a plus, Dedenne growing fond of Pikachu was kind of cute. Honestly a little surprised it didn't want Ash to catch it. But then again Clemont's the one who used eletricity to perform necromancy(?) to revitalize it, so it's fair I suppose.

2. Episode 20: Breaking Titles At The Chateau

Nico and Chester were fairly fun to have around even though Serena wasn’t a fan of the way they spoke, though I think she’s just a little bitter they stole her thunder in explaining something to Ash. Regardless, this episode was also nice because it introduced Grant and he was pretty cool from what we saw of him. His introduction on hanging from the walls and ceiling was fun, we liked that.

Favorite Two Recurring Characters

1. Froakie

Froakie is the most interesting character so far. It’s cool that it has a storyline and a bit of an attitude.

2. Bonnie

She is actually kinda funny sometimes. Plus she’s annoying in a way that makes sense, as in only really annoying when she’s supposed to be. She’s probably one of the characters with the most bite this season and we can appreciate that. We also feel she'd thrive better with different characters to play off of.

Favorite Two One Time Characters

1. Espurr from episode 14: Seeking Shelter from the Storm

Espurr was cute. We felt for it when we found out it’s story with the old lady and we’re glad that its considered apart of that lady’s family and welcomed with opened arms. It’s nice that even though it’s lost someone important to it its able to form a bond with someone who also lost that same important person.

2. The old couple from episode 15: An Appetite for Battle

They were honestly the best part of this episode. They were just a goofy little couple in fight. It was nice that the husband was gonna apologize either way, even if his pride had to go and battle her first.