A Sudden Question About The Pseudo-Legendaries

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The Booty Warrior

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Does it seem to anyone that certain Pseudo-Legendaries get better glorification than others in the anime?

Dragonite is the first one out of my head. The first one we see goes up against rockets and missles, I believe, at Bill's Lighthouse. Then Drake's Dragonite at the League. It took three of Ash's Pokèmon to wear it out, Tauros, Charizard, and Squirtle, I think, before Pikachu could knock it out. Not to mention the one in the Dragon Valley, who went on a madman's rampage and took a long time to calm down after enduring attack after attack after attack, while still shooting several Hyper Beams in a row. I thought you have to recharge after firing just ONE.

Next up is Salamence. The main one I'm thinking of is J's Salamence. I think, from the most recent Japanese episode with J, it was able to go up against Regigigas and hold its own for awhile. I don't recall too many Salamence's, though, but they have all appeared to be amazingly powerful.

And of course, there's Garchomp now. Even though there haven't been that many appearances of a Garchomp, there's Cynthia's, which knocked four of Paul's Pokèmon clean out cold without really getting properly injured.

Tyranitar and Metagross don't seem to have gotten as many moments where they seemed near indestructible, except for that guy who had a dark Tyranitar from Pokèmon Forever, but that one was artificially more powerful than a normal one, so I don't think that one counts. There was a Pokèmon Poacher who had a Pupitar evolving into a Tyranitar, but I don't remember it being overly strong. And Larvitar's mother was shown to have scars on her body. Isn't a Tyranitar's skin supposed to be near indestructible to man-made weaponry?

As for poor Metagross, I don't recall any real shining moments, except for Tyson's, I believe, who was weakened by two of Ash's Pokèmon before Pikachu took it out. However, several non-legendary Pokèmon have achieved that feat before, or I'm mistaken and Ash recalled those two Pokèmon before sending in Pikachu. And Anabel's Metagross actually had to recharge after firing a Hyper Beam at Tauros.

Does anyone seem to feel the same?
 
Metagross was used by Tyson in the league and Anabel in Battle Frontier. There was also a Metagross in the tag battle arc that Ash/Paul beat. They were all showcased to be fairly tough, so I don't know what you mean.

Tyranitar was also used by the poacher in the ep Arbok/Weezing were released, and nearly killed TR.

I do hope Tyranitar gets another appearance eventually, its one of my favorite Pokemon.
 
Scott85 said:
Metagross was used by Tyson in the league and Anabel in Battle Frontier. There was also a Metagross in the tag battle arc that Ash/Paul beat. They were all showcased to be fairly tough, so I don't know what you mean.
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The one in DP117 was known as being weak, but very aggressive. Aside from that one I can't recall a Metagross looking weak.
 
I almost forgot about Lance's Dragonite.

He uses it in the Red Gyarados eps back in Johto and again in the Groudon/Kyorge eps.

Too bad Lance never really got the same amount of promotion Cynthia gets now though...
 
Yes, pseudo-legendaries are often treated to be much more powerful than any other type of pokemon in the anime (except for legendaries). It would often take 2-3 pokemon just to take 1 of them down.
 
i think dragonite salamence and garchomp get more glorifcation because they're dragons, and because they have a sort of mysticism about them, dragonite especially, because it was the only dragon in the first gen
 
Scott85 said:
Metagross was used by Tyson in the league and Anabel in Battle Frontier. There was also a Metagross in the tag battle arc that Ash/Paul beat. They were all showcased to be fairly tough, so I don't know what you mean.

Tyranitar was also used by the poacher in the ep Arbok/Weezing were released, and nearly killed TR.

I do hope Tyranitar gets another appearance eventually, its one of my favorite Pokemon.
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While it's true that those Metagross were strong opponents, compare them to the examples I provided, especially the one about the Dragonite that went nuts and attempted to beligerently bludgeon Dragonair and Charizard into pieces. It took both of them combining their attacks on Dragonite for quite awhile and Pikachu repeatedly Thundering it until it fell into the lake before that guy calmed down. Even then, he hardly looked injured.

One of my concerns about the battle with the Zangoose and Metagross, though it could be passed off as something else, the whole time Chimchar was waiting for Paul to tell it something until Ash told it to use Flamethrower, that Metagross, still in the middle of its Bullet Punch, was still all the way back there and got smashed. Not to mention Anabel's Metagross drew with Tauros after being hit with Normal attacks, of all types.

Thanks for bringing up that Tyranitar again, though. I nearly forgot about the failed triple Fury Swipes assault. Tyranitar doesn't seem to have had as bad a showcasing as Metagross to me, probably because it seems a bit dragon-like.
 
I think there was another Tyranitar in the Riolu/Pokehunter J episode, but it was mostly in the background in that ep.

Hopefully Ash battles against a Tyranitar when he gets to the Sinnoh league.
 
Indeed, Tyranitar should be next on the list of strong opponents Ash gets to battle.

But you see my point now?
 
I have said for a long time that Paul should get a Tyranitar.
 
That actually brings to mind a thought: What if Paul happpens to follow Ash and co. to Johto, if they go there, and catches the baby Larvitar Ash was entrusted and attempts to train it until it evolves?
 
PokeFamily said:
That actually brings to mind a thought: What if Paul happpens to follow Ash and co. to Johto, if they go there, and catches the baby Larvitar Ash was entrusted and attempts to train it until it evolves?
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Larvitar's mother would probably murder Paul before he'd get a chance to even train it.
 
It's just a departure from game mechanics. The show needs more of those, so I support it. All pseudo-legendary Pokémon are approximately equally strong in the games, but at the same time, a Pikachu, no matter how well trained, could never be as strong as Ash's. They just make them as strong as they think would work for them.
 
If Ash beats Paul in the league, he may not even be in the next arc.
 
I think Draginite was definetly over glorified the first time at the lighthouse. A legendary Pokemon, that no one has ever seen before, the biggest Pokemon off all, the only one of its kind (I think that was said), and isn't even phased by being blasted at all?
 
Pikachufanboy said:
I think Draginite was definetly over glorified the first time at the lighthouse. A legendary Pokemon, that no one has ever seen before, the biggest Pokemon off all, the only one of its kind (I think that was said), and isn't even phased by being blasted at all?
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Yes, and may I also mention that it was many times bigger than any other Dragonite in the anime?
 
They could probably handwave that by saying it's the only giant Dragonite in the world. That would cover all the bases.
 
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