In thePokémonanime, there are few characters who are as controversial asPokémon Journeys' Goh. But those who hate Goh have really missed what makes him such a great companion to Ash, and how unique their dynamic is compared to some previous companions.
Goh is introduced as an outcast, someone who has few friends and struggles with socialization. However, he bonds rather quickly with Ash, and the two become fast friends. Unlike most companions, Goh is considered a “co-protagonist” with Ash, and there are several episodes which follow Goh exclusively and don’t feature Ash at all, something which rarely happened previously. Goh is known for his desire to catch as many Pokémon as possible, and for catching Pokémon without actually battling them, the way it had been portrayed in the anime for years. As such,Goh became quite disliked by some fans.
Goh’s Most Hated Qualities Aren’t Worth Hating Him Over
Goh’s Differences from Prior Series Don’t Make Him Lesser
When fans who dislike Goh are confronted on what it is they dislike about him, there are a few points that always come up. The first and most common of these is thatfans don’t like how Goh rapidly catches Pokémon, as they feel it makes him seem “overpowered” or more skilled than he has any right to be. This is understandable, to some extent, but it’s holding something against Goh that isn’t really his fault. The writers and creators behind thePokémonanime decided to change up how Pokémon were caught, and because of when it happened, Goh was the primary beneficiary of that.
Secondly, people tend to dislike Goh because he simply has too many Pokémon for them all to get screen time. Again, this is somewhat understandable; previously, Pokémon that were caught by main characters would get some degree of focus and development, but Goh’s Pokémon rarely do. In many ways, Goh is a completely different kind of trainer than Ash, or any of the other companions he had traveled with. Rather than being like a coach for a Pokémon, raising and training it for battle, he’s become more like a caretaker for a large amount of Pokémon.
Finally,Goh gets a lot of hate for “stealing the spotlight.“Since Goh is considered a co-protagonist, he gets a lot more screen time than some previous companions did, and more focus on his personal goals than, say, a character like Brock or Cilan did. Again, this isn’t really Goh’s fault; it’s the nature of theJourneysanime in general, and it’s not as if he completely usurped the show from Ash. Both had their own journeys to go on which were treated as being of equal importance for once.
Goh Doesn’t Deserve the Hate
Goh, as is obvious from his name, was inspired byPokémon Go, hence why he catches Pokémon without battling them, as you do in that game. Some fans hate Goh just for being associated withPokémon Go, which is incredibly unfair to him as a character. If anything, Goh’s depiction is more like how an actual player of the games will behave, catching whatever they see at any opportunity. Most players of even the mainlinePokémongames will have large collections of Pokémon while only actually using a select handful–that’s just the nature of the game, and it’s illogical to hate Goh for it.
The criticisms of Goh’s Pokémon being underdeveloped due to there being so many of them are valid, but again, this has to do with a different way of presenting the story. There are plenty of episodes which are focused on Goh caring for his collection of Pokémon at Professor Cerise’s lab, so many of the Pokémon he catches do get to appear again. And it’s not as if every Pokémon in the past has had equal characterization;many of Brock’s Pokémonsuffer from a lack of characterization, for example, and he only had a few. Even quite a few of Ash’s Pokémon, like Tauros and Kingler, got very little focus.
The fact of the matter is that Goh is a determined young boy with a dream, just like Ash, and he approaches that dream very differently than Ash does by this point in the series. But that’s okay–there’s no reason Goh needs to behave exactly like Ash has.Goh has fantastic character growthover the course ofJourneys, making many friends and learning to think beyond himself. He’s a relatable character for many, and it just goes to show that a love ofPokémoncan be a wonderful bridge to create new friendships–both in the anime and in real life.
