Poll of the Day > Team Rocket trying to capture Pikachu is arguably the dumbest plotline ever

(+) Yeah! (+)

What were they planning to do once they captured him? If they wanted Pikachu so much why was their method of capturing him limited to sending the same handful of grunts over and over again? Why did they need Pikachu so much when they had a literal talking Pokemon as a part of Team Rocket?

Don't get me wrong though this song is amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpbHVN_rlaM

It's just meaningless busywork to keep them from screwing up whatever Giovanni was actually doing.

For the team rocket breeding program?

I always took it as Jessie and James being notorious fuck ups to the point that Giovanni just let them go off on their hopeless endeavor to stay out of his way. And Jessie/James were obsessed with capturing Ash's Pikachu because they were under the assumption that he was an extraordinary specimen and Giovanni would shower them with accolades if they were to deliver him. I'm pretty sure they even say as much in like the second episode after they got blasted into oblivion. At first they weren't even going to bother with him.

As far as a talking Meowth goes, I never gave him much thought. I thought he was equally as much of a reject in the eyes of Giovanni.

it is weird how no one seems to give a shit that meowth can speak

Were there ever any other Pokemon who could speak human language in the anime aside from God Pokemon?

Questionmarktarius posted...

It's just meaningless busywork to keep them from screwing up whatever Giovanni was actually doing.

In the song I assume thats Giovanni talking. I guess that would not be considered canon though.

I don't watch (or play) Pokemon for the story.

PikachuMaxwell posted...

I don't watch (or play) Pokemon for the story.

I wish we could. The Pokemon IP has so much unrealized potential.

Damn_Underscore posted...

I wish we could. The Pokemon IP has so much unrealized potential.

This, so much! I think it was Black/White where I was really intrigued by the potential that it laid when it questioned the morality of capturing and making Pokemon fight each other, but then it just got swept under the rug and handwaved away.

Edit: Although, Legends: Arceus sort of gets pretty close to good storytelling with certain themes. Particularly, "You can do everything right and still be hated. Just keep being a good person."

It was totally just a Jessie/James/Meowth thing; for a long time their boss wasn't even aware that that Pikachu exists.

Damn_Underscore posted...

I wish we could. The Pokemon IP has so much unrealized potential.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is a good story based game. Then again, I more interested in the creatures themselves as characters than the humans.

Although as Salrite says, it would be interesting if they elaborated the ideas in the Black/White games.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

it is weird how no one seems to give a shit that meowth can speak

They can all speak. They just i am groot language

It is a television show for six year olds meant to advertise toys and video games.

is Ash still 10 years old?

MomSpringfield posted...

is Ash still 10 years old?

Ash has been out of the series for years now

Snoregasm posted...

It is a television show for six year olds meant to advertise toys and video games.

That's no excuse. Even a six year old would have gotten tired of Team Rocket's story after the first season or two.

Speaking as someone who has maybe seen like 20 minutes total of the show, isn't the point supposed to be that Ash's Pikachu is special in some way? Like it's super-charged or something?

I always assumed they wanted to steal it so they could hook it up with some jumper cables and use it to charge up all their electronics. So they could save a ton of money on batteries.

I'd bet there's a level of "Sunk Cost Fallacy" involved in their continued pursuit as well. Also the classic "Every Hero Needs A Villain". They're like Batman's Joker x3.

Damn_Underscore posted...

Don't get me wrong though this song is amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpbHVN_rlaM

this album is so fucking good
what kind of pokemon are you never leaves rotation

Viridian City goes hard

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Speaking as someone who has maybe seen like 20 minutes total of the show, isn't the point supposed to be that Ash's Pikachu is special in some way? Like it's super-charged or something?

I always assumed they wanted to steal it so they could hook it up with some jumper cables and use it to charge up all their electronics. So they could save a ton of money on batteries.

Team Rocket insists it's special but nobody else thinks it is, it's kind of a running joke.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

it is weird how no one seems to give a shit that meowth can speak

I never watched much of the anime but I remember Professor Oak saying something about it when he encountered Team Rocket.

Snoregasm posted...

Team Rocket insists it's special but nobody else thinks it is, it's kind of a running joke.

Its a bit on the strong side by Pikachu standards, but still nothing particularly unusual.

SinisterSlay posted...

They can all speak. They just i am groot language

yeah but meowth is unique in that he can speak pokemon and people language

and it's like, never brought up despite being an extremely rare to the point of it just being him and legendaries that can do it thing

latios and latias being able to shape shift into humans or Mewtwo being able to talk is one thing, it's another thing entirely for just a regular common pokemon to be able to do it

Pretty certain it hit ground types with it electric moves. That's quite special.

Inarguably is the word you're looking for.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

yeah but meowth is unique in that he can speak pokemon and people language

and it's like, never brought up despite being an extremely rare to the point of it just being him and legendaries that can do it thing

latios and latias being able to shape shift into humans or Mewtwo being able to talk is one thing, it's another thing entirely for just a regular common pokemon to be able to do it

There was an episode about him learning English and learning to walk upright, I believe he did it to impress a girl Meowth? But otherwise nobody cares about it.

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

Pretty certain it hit ground types with it electric moves. That's quite special.

Wasn't that when the sprinkler system made them wet?