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punz4lyfe · 3 years

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Why a Rivalry Between Lucario and Cinderace WOULD NOT Work

So with the latest episode of Pokemon Journeys yesterday, we got a brand new opening animation as well. As per usual anipoke trends, the opening showcased many potential events that we could expect in the near future, like Iris and Gary returning, the gang traveling with Leon, and... Lucario and Cinderace forming some sort of rivalry.

Before we go on, I would just like to point out that not everything we see in anipoke openings should be taken seriously, as there’s been plenty of times an opening animation has showcased a certain event that never came to be, such as Ash catching a Grubbin in one of the Sun and Moon openings. And now using the previous Journeys opening as an example, that one teased events like Riolu and Farfetch’d training with each other alone and Ash and Goh having a full-out battle. Did either of those two came to be? Nope! So with that said, it is possible the same deal will done with this particular event.

However, because of much focus was placed on this upcoming rivalry, as well as taking episode 48 into consideration, it is actually very likely the writers are egging in giving us a Lucario-Cinderace rivalry, despite evidence pointing out how much of a bad idea it will be. And how are the reasons why:

Reason #1: It Would Be Forced

Ever since Lucario hatched as a Riolu, the two have barely, if ever, interacted with each other. For the most point, they mostly just shared comedic group moments (with Pikachu and Sobble, mind you). Have they ever trained with each other? Nope. Showcased any negative and/or competitive emotion? Not even in the slightest. In fact, the first time they ever had a meaningful interaction was in episode 45 where they both evolved, but really the only thing did with each other was fist bump, and then help take down Eternatus with Pikachu and the legendary doggos, so there really isn’t much we can take from there.

The same can be said for episode 46 where they both worked together to fight Mewtwo. They just cooperated with each other without any sort of meaningful interaction with each other.

And then we got episode 48. I’ve already talked about on how and why their whole thing between each other was forced, but in order to break it down for the sake of this blog post, the mostly just got into a bunch of silly shenanigans caused by their own simple mistakes. Y’know, just like Team Rocket with each other and sometimes Ash and his own traveling companions. Did any of them formed some sort of rivalry because of their silly mistakes? No. Then there’s nothing else we can take from this episode as well.

With all that said, Lucario and Cinderace forming a rivalry would just come on out to be extremely given their lack of interaction. And the crazy part is that’s not even scratching the surface, given reason #2.

Reason #2: They Have No Reason To Form a Rivalry

Rivalries shared between Pokemon is an uncommon thing. While they’re never usually given much emphasis compared to trainer rivalries, there’s usually some reason on why they are formed in the first place.

One of the most iconic examples I can think of would be the one between Ash’s Greninja and Sawyer’s Sceptile. In its younger stages, Scepy kept losing to frog boi, despite the two having very similar fighting styles and both gaining super forms later on in their lives. They also both deliberately shared a love for battling and their trainers both aimed for the same goal: conquering the Kalos League, so a rivalry between them was due to come. We also had Ash’s Lycanroc and Incineroar wanting to match and surpass their teachers in Sun and Moon (Gladion’s Lycanroc and Kukui’s Incineroar respectively).

Now looking at Lucario and Cinderace, what reason would they have to form a rivalry? Become the strongest? Then shouldn’t they focus on battling Pikachu or Dragonite then? It’s not like their trainers share the same goal or anything. Ash wants to fight ‘em all while Goh wants to catch ‘em all. Hecks, this point kind of brings up the next reason why a rivalry between these two would be stupid, which is...

Reason #3: Power Balance

It shouldn’t be a secret to anyone that Lucario would absolutely body Cinderace in a one-on-one serious match with their trainers. For one, ever since he was a little baby Riolu, Lucario has always been training. He’s helped his trainer defeat strong opponents to help raise his ranking and heckles, if you look up his battle record, you can find that Lucario is Ash’s second most used Pokemon in Journeys so far.

On the other hand, Cinderace, while he has a bit more experience than the standard Goh-captured mon, still pales in comparison to Lucario’s resume. He hardly ever trains, in fact, he mostly just helps Goh in catching and studying mons, but that’s not enough. And while it’s true Cinderace has been depicted to be on equal footing with Lucario in their fights against Eternatus and Mewtwo, please take in note that they were not fighting each other and both legendaries were capable of bodying the both of them because, well, they’re legendaries.

So there’s really no reason to think they’re equal when Lucario has clearly done more battling than Cinderace. And if you want to bring up that Cinderace has the type advantage, please take in mind who is Lucario’s trainer. Ash flippin’ Ketchum. Y’know, the same guy who has defeated Blaine’s Rhydon with Pikachu, Gary’s Blastoise with Charizard, Clark’s Quilava and Charizard with Grovyle and Glalie, Cilan’s Pansage with Oshawott, and Sawyer’s Sceptile with Greninja. It’s at this point where type advantages literally mean nothing to him. And if you want to bring up instances like Juan’s Luvdisc beating Grovyle or Alain’s Charizard beating Greninja, then let me tell you this: Compare Goh’s skill and experience to the likes of Alain, Juan, etc. and see where that argument takes you now.

I think it’s safe to say that in an actual battle, Cinderace would be screwed. Not only is Lucario a more adept battler, but he has a trainer (who’s basically Goh’s own mentor, mind you) who can completely wipe the floor with Cinderace’s. If you really think about, Ash’s strategic mind could help Lucario pull off crazy stuff like reflecting Cinderace’s Pyro Ball back with the force of his physical moves or just go all Naruto on it with Double Team. Ash has conquered the Orange and Alola leagues and the Kanto Battle Frontier, so imaging Goh having that level of skill would just be laughable considering we’re only halfway to 100 episodes in Journeys.

Final Points

Overall, a rivalry between these two would be stupid because they barely interact, their goals are different, and Lucario has Ash for his trainer. Additionally, I just want to ask this: Why? Why would they need to form a rivalry?

Doesn’t Lucario already have one with Bea’s Grapploct, a Pokemon owned by a trainer with the same goal as his own? That’s honestly much more interesting. And what about Farfetch’d? The two are currently Ash’s only fighting types on his team and Farfetch’d’s debut appearance established that they are about on equal skill and share a love for battling. Shouldn’t the two form a rivalry as well? You could even put in Farfetch’d’s own development, making him jealous that someone younger than him has evolved first, and thus, could now be stronger, motivating him to push himself to evolve as well so he can be back on equal footing. You could also give Lucario a student-teacher thing with Korrina’s Lucario, just like Lycanroc and Incineroar, but let’s not get too redundant considering Lucario has already copied Lycanroc’s hatred for getting dirty.

And if you want to give Cinderace some sort of rival, might I suggest to you Sobble? Just think about it. Out of all of Goh’s large arsenal of mons, these two are his most prominent. Maybe whenever Sobble evolves, he could pick up on Cinderace’s Raboot phase, and that could make Cinderace look back on how moody he was and try to help Drizzle/Inteleon move on from that, albeit, getting into some conflict as well. But those are just my ideas.

And that’s all I have to say over this topic. As you may have figured at this point, I don’t want a rivalry like this be formed due to the reasons given, but it’s likely inevitable at this point, so I’ll certainly review the heck out of it whenever it comes. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to follow if you haven’t already!

#pokemon journeys #anipoke #pokeani #ash ketchum #pikachu #lucario #goh #cinderace #sobble #chloe #leon #eternatus #mewtwo

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