#happy satogou day everyone!! hope you enjoy this post!

[torchiccakes]

Inspiration: Lugia, Ho-Oh, and Satogou

Happy Satogou Day! This year I'm doing a little analysis of Ho-Oh and Lugia, their roles in inspiring trainers, and how that affects Ash and Goh.

How Ho-Oh and Lugia Inspire People

First of all, Lugia has a very hands-on approach to inspiring people. It appears to trainers for a battle, showing them its true power and letting them measure themselves against it to see how strong they are and how much stronger they could strive to be. And Lugia also gives the occasional world tour, to show trainers the beauty of the world and make them want to explore it.

Meanwhile, Ho-Oh is very elusive and distant, to the point that some people aren’t certain it exists. Ho-Oh inspires people by making them curious about the mysteries of the world. It gives trainers something to constantly reach out to, and tests their ability to continually strive for their dreams. Many times, Ho-Oh is shown to appear right before someone is about to give up on their dreams, or to give them a boost at the start of a new journey.

What Inspires Ash and Goh

It’s interesting how Ho-Oh marks the beginning and end of the entirety of Ash's story, while Lugia marks the beginning and end of Goh's story in Journeys. I think it says something about what inspires both Ash and Goh to explore the world.

For Ash, what inspires him on the first day of his journey is seeing Ho-Oh, the mysterious Pokemon that no one really knows anything about. That's when he starts to wonder about what could exist in the world, and it's what gets him to move forward and try to reach the rainbow in the distance, no matter how impossible it may seem. It gets him really pumped up and excited to start on a new adventure.

For Goh, what inspires him at the start of his journey is being shown what currently exists in the world. Lugia demonstrates it's own power and shows him Pokemon in the sky, the sea, and on land. It gives him a more concrete idea of what is out there, which he needs so that he can understand the world and be able to plan his next steps forward. And it also helps him open up more, after seeing more of the world Goh feels ready to make a new friend or share how he's been feeling.

How Ash and Goh Inspire Each Other

Before they met, their goals were hazy and unformed, neither had a solid idea of what they were doing and that prevented them from making progress.

Ash was too stuck in the present; he knew he wanted to be a Pokemon master, but didn't know what his next step was after becoming the Alola champion. And Goh was too stuck in future possibilities; he knew he wanted to catch Mew, but had unrealistic expectations of how that could happen.

Because Ash has a natural understanding of the present world, he's able to give Goh a solid foundation to immerse himself in it and see what's currently possible, kind of like what Lugia does. And because Goh has a natural longing to reach into the future, he helps Ash continue to dream big and think about what could be possible, similar to what Ho-Oh does.

And together, Ash and Goh have everything they need to stay inspired and actually be able to achieve their dreams. They're able to see the present and future clearly enough to form plans that are grounded in reality, while also doing the near impossible.