Whats up with Pikachu?

[GothicEmo]

My first post! Woo!

Now that I've got that out my system, I thought I share my thoughts.
After reaching the Pokemon Leage in Kanto, Orange islands, Jotoh, Hoen and beating the battle frontier Satoshi's (Ash's) Pikachu should be lv100. But not only did a battle with an Elikid end with a tie, Pikachu lost to a Magicarp, repeat, A MAGICARP!
Well whats up with that?

 

[Habunake]

Paul has been through as many regions as Ash, so naturally his Elekid could easily rival Pikachu in strength.

And that was THE WORLD'S STRONGEST MAGIKARP!

 

[GothicEmo]

But still, water vs electricity.
Pikachu had the uperhand.

 

[peno]

Paul has been through as many regions as Ash, so naturally his Elekid could easily rival Pikachu in strength.

Actually, we don't know that just as we don't know if he start in Sinnoh. We can just guesed. Or were there any prove I miss?

Anyway, Pokémon Anime is nothing but fairy-tale. And fairy-tales can't make sense, can they? It's all about fun, that's all.

 

[Jnoo]

Spellcheck is your friend

Pikachu had the upperhand.

You should know by now that upperhand doesn't mean shit in the anime.

 

[GothicEmo]

You should know by now that upperhand doesn't mean shit in the anime.

Good point.
But if they keep making it like this then we'll end up having treeco beating Groundon single handedly.

 

[Geoffrey]

After reaching the Pokemon Leage in Kanto, Orange islands, Jotoh, Hoen and beating the battle frontier Satoshi's (Ash's) Pikachu should be lv100. But not only did a battle with an Elikid end with a tie, Pikachu lost to a Magicarp, repeat, A MAGICARP!
Well whats up with that?

Levels are not implemented in the anime. There are some small references, but they are not actually used.

Actually, we don't know that just as we don't know if he start in Sinnoh. We can just guesed. Or were there any prove I miss?

Paul said that he's competed in the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn Leagues. He has also said that that he's from Veilstone City, so one would probably assume he started training in Sinnoh. He hasn't said anything about Elekid (from what I've heard), but he's probably trained it quite a bit as well.

Anyway, Pokémon Anime is nothing but fairy-tale. And fairy-tales can't make sense, can they? It's all about fun, that's all.

Don't forget it's a cartoon too. Anything can happen in a cartoon. It's practically a universal rule.

 

[anonymous920314]

Actually, we don't know that just as we don't know if he start in Sinnoh. We can just guesed. Or were there any prove I miss?

No, he stated in the Sharona episode that he had been through Jouto, Houen and Kanto and that he was from Tobari City . . ? I'm not sure if that's the right one or not.

 

[Nando]

It was in DP003, "When Pokemon Worlds Collide!," that Paul said he was from Veilstone City. However, the line was removed in the dub.

 

[anonymous920314]

Sorry Geoffrey, you posted while I was typing

 

[Geoffrey]

It's alright.

 

[Pikapi]

Hey, if a Magikarp is levelled up enough, its Tackle can do some damage.

And type effectiveness/resistances mean nothing most of the time.

Don't know why he wouldn't just evolve it into a Gyarados though. (I haven't seen the episode in question actually. Did Pikachu simply just get tackled into fainting?)

 

[GothicEmo]

Tackled, tailwhiped, headbutted, splashed.

 

[Pikapi]

... Ah, anime, taking liberties as usual. I guess that explains it then.

 

[Jukain]

I thought Pika ended up in a draw against that Magikarp. Or that is how I interpreted it. Anyway, yeah, the anime does what it wants when it comes to who wins and who doesn't. For two regions now, they've had Ash "reset" his skills in order to get a better challenge and experience from those regions. They have Pika lose to some things just for the balance of things. If Pika won all the time, it would get pretty dull. This is also why TR always has some electricity-proof device to use against it. However, in the instance that Pika fails, it's always so that it can kick butt later. In my view, Pika has reached the limit of how far its power can go, but skill can always be improved upon.

 

[Geodude]

I thought Pika ended up in a draw against that Magikarp. Or that is how I interpreted it.

Interpret nothing, that's what happened.

GothicEmo, did you even watch the episode? They both decided to end the battle, nobody won or lost.

 

[vee2x_paradox]

The anime and video games are different universes.

Levels and stats are not specifically used or mentioned. It's basically like a trained athlete, no matter how many matches he one, and no matter how well trained he is, he still has a chance of losing to that come-back rookie if he messes up at least one move or if he fails to bring out his perfect strategy.

I mean it's been noticed of breaking the 4-moves-only rule in the anime.

If Pikachu was level 100+, it would basically pwn every Pokemon Ash encounters and that would be boring or corny.

 

[Cybersai]

The problem with Pikachu is the writers really put themselves into a hole at the start of a new region.

By the end of Hoenn and Battle Frontier in general, Pikachu was pretty much a powerhouse. Sure, it still lost battles to some "regular" Pokemon but it was definitely a top tier Pokemon. The problem is once a new region starts Pikachu apparently cannot keep up, and loses to friggin wild Pokemon with no experience.

Ash losing in Sinnoh makes sense because he starts with a new/weaker team, but with Pikachu tagging along it just looks odd. The writers make it seem like Pikachu is only a tad stronger than Turtwig/Aipom, whereas in reality Pikachu should be LIGHTYEARS more powerful than those two. The fact that Aipom can battle Pikachu and give it some trouble is what really screws things over.

I suppose it can't be helped, but it is a running problem that's more obvious now in D/P than it was before.

 

[Yamato-san]

For two regions now, they've had Ash "reset" his skills in order to get a better challenge and experience from those regions.

wait... two regions? How did he reset at the beginning of Houen, exactly? In that case, I thought it was pretty justified, actually. It could be argued in the past that Pikachu, while being his main Pokemon, simply couldn't stand up to some of his bigger powerhouses like Lizardon and Kabigon (people might be quick to point out Yuuji's Kairyuu, but they need to be reminded that the thing was weakened by three of Satoshi's previous Pokemon, including Lizardon), and since his Jouto team was so fucking weak, it's not like Pikachu had much catching up to do. Come the beginning of Houen, Pikachu's strength seems perfectly believable: it may be special for its species, but it was by no means a powerhouse. Pikachu got a bit of a boost with the addition of Iron Tail, but with his Houen team becoming as strong as it did, it started to look like one of his weakest Pokemon at the time (it's especially noticeable in the Saiyuu Tournament). It wasn't until Volt Tackle came up that it started looking like a true powerhouse that could manage to keep up with the others. And while I do call bullshit on its win against Regice (one hit after it used Rest?), that's still no reason it should be downgraded to a point that an Iwark's Screech could kill it.

Levels and stats are not specifically used or mentioned. It's basically like a trained athlete, no matter how many matches he one, and no matter how well trained he is, he still has a chance of losing to that come-back rookie if he messes up at least one move or if he fails to bring out his perfect strategy.

you never know with anime, though. The Japanese tend to exaggerate their continent's fighting arts to points where chi can cause galaxy-destroying energy blasts and defensive auras that not even a nuclear bomb could hope to penetrate. Just look at Bleach, for instance. While the series does seem to emphasize one's own skill in swordsmanship among other things, there still seems to be power levels involved. Do you think someone like Don Kan'onji would have even the slightest chance of defeating Aizen? And this is if Aizen was just sitting on his ass, reading a manga and eating a rice cracker, not even trying to defend himself even if Don pulled a knife right up to his throat.

To some extent, this seems to apply to Pokemon, as well. In a recent episode, Shirona's Gablius shrugged off a fucking Frenzy Plant from the experienced Shinji's (supposedly) most powerful Pokemon as if it was nothing. Given, it used its wings to block, but the fact there was no dust or bruises (or whatever Pokemon uses to tone down the cuts and blood usually seen in other anime while still emphasizing damage) on those wings says something.