"Invulnerabillty" Traits

[Darien Shields]

I was watching Pokemon Advance the other day (which I don't do often, because Sky shows it at 7:10am), and Ash was fighting Brolly, I think, anyway, the 'second' gym leader (although I think Ash was doing the gyms out of order.) So anyway, Brolly's Machop had this trait called "Endurance" which (from what I saw of the episode) meant the Invulnerabillity Trait, that means it can't take any damage whatsoever... So I check Pokemon Forever, and Machop doesn't even have a trait called Endurance, it has "Guts" (1.5 Attack Power when induced with a status ailment.)

And I read an episode synopsis where Ash fights a Bagon (the unevolved dragon type) that has Rock Head (No critical hits), but in the anime it meant that it was nigh-on impossible to beat. Even Ash's Pikachu, which was easilly level 70, if not 100, couldn't kill the thing, and remember, it didn't have enough EXP to evolve.

So what's the deal here? Why are so many pokemon just being impossible to kill? Err, Beat.

[Animelee]

For the "Endurance" thing, it was probably another dub error. Either that, or they meant that he actually has good endurance, and not "Endurance" (a trait).

Rock Head actually means that it doesn't get recoil from moves like Edge-Tackle/Double-Edge. Pikachu couldn't beat it because it was Electric VS Dragon, and Dragon has a resistance, so even if Pikachu is about twenty levels stronger, the resistance helps balance things out. I'm betting Pikachu is around Level 50 or so, actually...

[Chris 2.1]

Pokemon Advance is repeated on Sky1 Mix at 10.30AM ;)

Anywho, Brawly's Machop had a physical trait, which was that it was good at enduring attacks. This didn't have anything to do with its Ability, Guts, which does, as you said, increase its attack when under a status condition. Brawly simply trained his fighting Pokemon to be able to endure attacks that much easier.

[mr_pikachu]

I was watching Pokemon Advance the other day (which I don't do often, because Sky shows it at 7:10am), and Ash was fighting Brolly, I think, anyway, the 'second' gym leader (although I think Ash was doing the gyms out of order.)

Actually, Ash was battling in the generally accepted order. Most RS players (if not all) tackle Roxanne's Gym first (which Ash did). The next Gym on the road for both the games and the series was Brawly's Gym. Ash battled there before moving on. And I'm not even sure if it's possible to skip Brawly's Gym until later. The same goes with Roxanne's Gym (so as to get to Brawly first). Long story short, it was the right order. Maybe you just missed the first Gym battle. *shrugs*

[AKA Pokemon Fan]

I was watching Pokemon Advance the other day (which I don't do often, because Sky shows it at 7:10am), and Ash was fighting Brolly, I think, anyway, the 'second' gym leader (although I think Ash was doing the gyms out of order.) So anyway, Brolly's Machop had this trait called "Endurance" which (from what I saw of the episode) meant the Invulnerabillity Trait, that means it can't take any damage whatsoever... So I check Pokemon Forever, and Machop doesn't even have a trait called Endurance, it has "Guts" (1.5 Attack Power when induced with a status ailment.)
I believe you misunderstood. It was no dub error. When they referred to endurance, that is all they meant, they didn't say anything about it being a special ability.

Brawly had a fighting strategy that involved his Pokemon weathering attacks until their guard was down and they were tired out, then knocking them out with a single display of force. To help with this, not only did his Pokemon have a lot of stamina, but they were skilled at rolling or leaping in the direction a given physical attack was sending them. Ever hear of the saying "roll with the punches?" The damage from impacting with something comes mainly from the object being hit being relatively motionless when struck. The more it is able to move with the impact, the less damage it will take. In some ways it is dodging while seemingly taking a hit. Basically the physical attacks only push the opponent around, and as long as the foe can maintain its footing and roll out of the fall without hitting the ground hard, the attack will do next to no damage.

However, the technique hardly makes them invulnerable. All that rolling with the punches uses up a lot of energy. Eventually the fighter cannot keep it up. Also, if the opponent recognizes this strategy, they can change the nature of their attacks to counter it, attack from another direction, attack too quickly for a reaction, use a energy attack and such. However, since Ash's fighters in the first match, Taillow and Treeko, knew no energy attacks, this was not an option, and it didn't help matters that Ash believed Brawly was a poor trainer and refused to change his strategy even when he was losing.

Later on we see a variation of this type of innovative fighting, when Ash has Treeko attacks Hariyama's legs in order to weaken its Arm Thrust. Without its legs being able to strongly support it, Hariyama had no leverage, nothing to brace itself again and thus its Arm Thrust lost a lot of power.


And I read an episode synopsis where Ash fights a Bagon (the unevolved dragon type) that has Rock Head (No critical hits), but in the anime it meant that it was nigh-on impossible to beat. Even Ash's Pikachu, which was easilly level 70, if not 100, couldn't kill the thing, and remember, it didn't have enough EXP to evolve.
Having not seen the episode first-hand, I can't comment too much except to agree that being an Electric type put Pikachu at an immediate disadvantage. Also, thanks to its armor plated head, Bagons in the anime are even more resistant to physical attacks than most first level dragons.

Did Pikachu lose that battle? I thought it was interrupted?

Also, levels don't exist in the anime the same way they do in the games. There are several types of levels, they don't hinder a Pokemon's abilities as much as they do in the games, and usually strategy and technique and skill are more important in a battle than calculating levels. And given the whole other dimensions of power possessed by Pokemon like those of the Elite Four, I doubt Pikachu has reached near the end of its potential. Pokemon in the anime can always become stronger, the only limits are really in their trainers, as the strength of the Pokemon and trainer are closely linked.