I've heard people say that gohs character is inconsistent through his episodes. Do you think that's the case?
I do think Goh's character arc could've used some additional episodes so that his growth would've felt more natural, though. As an example, let's look at a problem Goh faced during the Project Mew story arc:
Goh initially declines to try for PM because he doesn't like being a part of a team. This happens in episode 68, but it's not the focus of an episode until episode 102. Goh's behavior in the raid battle is consistent with his earlier attitude, and the episode ends with Goh realizing that working with others is something he still has to get better at. Episode 110 tries to tackle that and show that Goh took Gary's words to heart, but it's only one episode, and it pairs Goh with someone that he gets along with and likes as opposed to someone that he doesn't know and butts heads with.
Had Goh and another "Gary-like" character realized that it was in their best interests to work together in episode 110, it would've made his behavior toward Gary in episode 113 feel more earned and consistent. The way the anime handled it still works, just on a less effective level.
What would've been even better is if there had been another PM trial mission that also dealt with teamwork and cooperation, and further explored Goh's feelings and difficulties working effectively within a group. It would've greatly strengthened the narrative as well as his character growth.
The inconsistency argument has some traction because Goh's development has been, at times, rushed. That doesn't make his character inconsistent, but it does make the changes in his character and the advancement toward his goal feel less substantive. Essentially, we saw Goh jump from one big stepping stone to the next, but we didn't see him cross all the smaller stepping stones along the way. The smaller stepping stones help add context and depth in storytelling, and contribute to a character's development.
I know it sometimes gets brought up that Goh's shyness and discomfort around strangers feels random and entirely dependent on the plot, with episode 37 being the big episode people like to point to, but context is important. Ash is taking Goh to what is essentially his second home, where his surrogate family lives, and he has a large group of close friends.
Of course Goh is going to be nervous meeting not only so many new people, but people that are very important in Ash's life. Taking shipping out of the picture, Goh still sees Ash as his best friend, one of his few friends, and just from a realistic standpoint, Goh is obviously going to care about what Ash's extended family and close friends think of him. That's a lot of pressure given his childhood background. This side of Goh's character is consistent, even if it is underdeveloped and was just later abandoned all together.
The last point I'm going to address is how Goh has gone from a newbie trainer to one that can catch legendaries. Goh didn't battle and defeat Suicune. The hunters repeatedly polluted the lake, forcing Suicune to drain some of its energy in order to purify it, and then the hunters attacked it with multiple Pokémon, hurting and poisoning it. Whether it was Goh or Ash that tossed the Pokéball, the result would've been the same. Suicune had been sufficiently weakened to be captured.
Goh also didn't battle and weaken Eternatus on his own. Leon and Ash inflicted damage, and of course, they all had a little help from another two legendary Pokémon, Zacian and Zamazenta. After the combined efforts of everyone involved, anyone could've captured Eternatus. Just like with Suicune, these captures didn't happen because Goh had gone from a rookie trainer to someone on Leon's or even Ash's level; the context matters, and I think that's something that detractors tend to disregard or overlook, for various reasons.
By the time episode 113 rolled around, Goh had made progress as a trainer to take on a legendary on his own. He's helped Ash with his training on at least two occasions (episode 30 & 60), he records Ash's battles (he pulls up Ash's match against Iris in episode 88), he's learned from Ash's battles (episode 36), and he's battled on multiple occasions, on his own and alongside Ash. He's going to get better over time as he battles and watches Ash's. Goh and Gary both weakened their respective catches more or less equally in episode 113, so if Gary earned his Regidrago capture, then Goh earned his Regieleki capture as well.
One or two episodes that specifically centered around Goh's battle training would've helped make his progression more clear and served as good development for Goh and his Pokémon, but the absence of such episodes doesn't make his growth inconsistent.
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