Okay, you've gone too far...

[Adâm1]

I was reading about the first Black and White episode that aired in Japan recently enough, and it turns out that a chap named Shooti (Must have had psychic parents, because now he's a photographer!) Chose a Tustarja from the Professor who then manages to beat Ash's Pikachu, who can't use Electric attacks. This made me irritated. Since when does any self-respecting Pikachu know ONLY Electric moves? In the Anime we've seen evidence of moves such as Slam and Iron tail, and others to boot. In addition to this, any Pokemon which has been to every region so far, beaten Pokemon that are unimaginably powerful compared to it and even done some odd stuff besides would have no trouble with a Pokemon which is brand new. I think this fact therefore makes the anime unrealistic (in terms of Pokemon, obviously), as the Pikachu wouldn't have any trouble with any Pokemon at all, just about. So I think if the anime is to continue, they should introduce a new main character, and leave Ash behind completely, as, at this stage, if he still (STILL) wants to be a Pokemon master, and struggles with even becoming the champion of one region after travelling through three previous ones, then perhaps he should dlow up a bit and start catching, not fighting.

Rant over, what are you guys opinions and why?

 

[Kenshin5]

He did use other moves like Quick Attack and Iron Tail but failed to produce a victory. Yeah its pokemon logic pretty much. Ash Pikachu beat Regice and tied with Paul Elekid, Pikachu tied with Latios and lost to Shooti Tsutarja. Albeit he was dramatically weakened by Zekrom lighting.

 

[ShadowYashi]

Because Word of God says Pikachu need to be watered down at the beginning of every region. Its like tradition. Also an unwritten rule that he must lose to someone at least once in the beginning, even if it is a wet behind the ears starting trainer.

 

[Mew~]

I agree but I guess they sorta just like to make out Ash is starting all over again each region! Why do you think he leaves his other pokemon behind? I don't really think they have Lv's in the show though either!

 

[mervyn797]

I don't really know why, but Pikachu tends to experience a level reset at the start of every region. ._.
And it is not that Pikachu didn't use any non-electric moves at all. He did use moves like Quick Attack and Iron Tail but that did not result in a victory for Pikachu against Tsutaja. Pikachu seemed to be a lot weaker because of Zekrom's thunderbolt.

 

[fenyx4]

I don't really know why, but Pikachu tends to experience a level reset at the start of every region. ._.
And it is not that Pikachu didn't use any non-electric moves at all. He did use moves like Quick Attack and Iron Tail but that did not result in a victory for Pikachu against Tsutaja. Pikachu seemed to be a lot weaker because of Zekrom's thunderbolt.

Hmm...at least they introduced another "Power Limiter" concept via Zekrom's attack, similar to when Team Rocket used an electromagnet on Pikachu in Hoenn Alone! (EP274), which induced a rather crippling fever. Additionally, another Team Rocket mecha absorbed Pikachu's excess electricity in Get the Show on the Road! (EP275/AG001), thus reducing Pikachu's power to normal levels after the electrical discharge (the electric fever thing seemed more plausible IMO as a Power Limiter, since it actually looked quite serious).

But yeah, the "level resets" do tend to get annoying. Even without levels in the anime (which technically do exist in the anime anyway), Pikachu's experience should be a big boost during subsequent battles. Anyway, as long as the writers keep introducing "Power Limiters," I'll run with it (but you'd need a massive Power Limiter to cause Pikachu who has regions worth of experience to lose to Level 5 newly-obtained starter Pokemon...maybe Zekrom's Thunderbolt was so powerful that it managed to do just that and serve as a hint to Zekrom's potential true strength in the process...?).

 

[Ponyta]

As everyone has said, Pikachu gets a reset button every series. I wouldn't look into it too much. In the next few episodes it'll be back to it's normal hacked self XD

 

[PearlShipper4Life]

Well at least they give a good reason this time why Pikachu gets a reset, the last few times he got weak for no reason but this time it was cuz of the legendary Pokemon. I'm glad Ash never gets replaced, he's my favorite of the show. And if they kept the same Pokemon each region people would complain that there tired of seeing the same and want Ash to catch some new ones. The writers just can't win with these things, I like Ash's new Pokemon so far, think there cool.

 

[Vernikova]

There's nothing wrong with catching new Pokémon every new region. The problem is resetting the power of a Pokémon who's traveled multiple regions and having it lose to a new starter Pokémon which is owned by a beginning trainer.

 

[Wings Don't Cry]

Well Pikachu still hadn't healed from an attack from Zekrom, which was probably Cross Thunder or Lightning Strike, both which are Zekrom's signature moves. It seems like he lost for a pretty good reason.

 

[serabeth]

It is somewhat annoying, yeah, but don't look too much into it, really. It was a while ago, so most of you might not remember (I only do because I recently started watching the series from episode 1), but in Ash's second battle in Johto with Casey, Pikachu has a rough time with Chikorita. He doesn't actually lose to it, due to Team Rocket's interruption, but there is an indication that the outcome of the battle isn't clear.

Pikachu seems to go back and forth between being a weakling and completely overpowered. Like how he pretty much single-handedly won Ash his first badge in Hoenn against Roxanne despite a type disadvantage, since his other pokemon were too weak and inexperienced to really do anything at that time. Since the game doesn't use levels, Pikachu being able to stand getting beat on for that long was extremely unrealistic, but he somehow did it.

Ash's other pokemon tend to win, lose, or draw about when I'd expect them to, per their moves and experience, so I wouldn't focus on Pikachu too much if I were you :P.

 

[Kirbychu]

At least they tried to give us an excuse this time. >.>

 

[The Red Chain]

I like Pikachu's power cripples. It would be majorly boring if Pikachu simply won almost all the time, and especially when arriving into a new region. I like the fresh start that it gives, and it helps me personally to get the "new place" feel. If Pikachu completely obliterated the rival on the first battle they ever had, it wouldn't give the rival that challenging feel. A rival is someone who is supposed to challenge your power, not lose to you right off the bat.

But yes, I do like that they gave us a better excuse this time. It seems Zekrom was trying to strike Team Rocket but missed terribly, and struck Pikachu instead. Zekrom judges bad people with it's electricity, so that's where my theory on this came from. It also explains why Zekrom randomly came back and helped Pikachu regain it's electricity back while it was in Araragi's lab.
​

 

[Vernikova]

Well Pikachu still hadn't healed from an attack from Zekrom, which was probably Cross Thunder or Lightning Strike, both which are Zekrom's signature moves. It seems like he lost for a pretty good reason.

It seemed perfectly capable of battling. It should've defeated a beginning trainer and a new Pokémon with just Iron Tail and Quick Attack.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I didn't like how Pikachu was unable to use Thunderbolt and Volt Tackle due to Zekrom's lightning. Ash should've won the battle against Shooti with Pikachu's other moves. But, like some people said, Pikachu winning all battles would be boring.

 

[Vernikova]

I didn't realize winning one battle against a beginning trainer was so bad. Anyway, why do people assume that he would only use Pikachu? He has to train the other Pokémon he catches as well.

 

[Krizor]

Pikachu's power resets aggravate me too.

But what makes this one even more aggravating is the fact that it just tied with a Latios.

How do you tie with a Legendary and then lose to a Starter right after?

 

[mervyn797]

How do you tie with a Legendary and then lose to a Starter right after?

I guess that is because Pokemon is full of uncertainties. Nothing can be taken for granted.
And the concept of "levels" which we have in the games also doesn't seem to be applicable in the Anime. :/

 

[fenyx4]

Pikachu's power resets aggravate me too.

But what makes this one even more aggravating is the fact that it just tied with a Latios.

How do you tie with a Legendary and then lose to a Starter right after?

LOL...that makes the matter even worse! :cer_laugh: :\ Especially since starters are around Level 5 when first obtained and Legendaries are usually Level 50+. But as long as we have a decent Power Limiter excuse (the most recent one being Zekrom's lightning), I'll run with it.

 

[2nd-Thanatos]

It's all because of the absence of Level.

You know, imagine this situation. A Lv 100 Caterpie VS a Lv 1 Charizard.

Anime: Charizard STILL defeat Caterpie. They can't say anything but "this Caterpie is well trained and really fast!" or something like that.

Game: Caterpie owns Charizard. I don't know much about Caterpie's movepool, but I'm almost sure even a Tackle could OHKO Charizard.


Pikachu lost to Tsutaja because of this, because in the Anime they don't care much about levels. Well, this, and because Ash losing to the new rival made him look much more powerful.