WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 53 of Pokémon Journeys, "Healing the Healer!," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Goh has been a pretty controversial character during his time in Pokémon Journeys, thanks mostly to the general ease with which he captures wild Pokémon. In Episode 53, "Healing the Healer!," his ability to catch Pokémon without battling them reaches peak absurdity when Goh captures a Legendary Pokémon, Suicune. This is the first-ever instance of one of the main characters catching a Legendary Pokémon, yet it's surprisingly meaningless in the grand scale of things.
In the anime, catching a Legendary Pokémon has always been a nigh-impossible feat that automatically makes any trainer who manages it one of the most powerful trainers in the world. While Goh certainly loves collecting Pokémon, he rarely battles anyone other than Team Rocket. Goh's capture of Suicune is neither impressive nor impactful for a number of reasons, not the least of which is how easily he accomplishes this usually remarkable feat.
The Suicune itself doesn't appear to be very strong, considering that it was easily and repeatedly captured in a simple net by a group of criminals and struggled to defeat a mere Weezing. In order to rescue the struggling Suicune, Goh has the (admittedly brilliant) idea of throwing a Poké Ball at it. The idea being that when it inevitably escapes, it will reemerge from the Poké Ball safely outside of the net that it had been trapped in. However, to the shock of everyone, including Goh and Ash, the Poké Ball successfully captures Suicune.
It's pretty anticlimactic that Goh, in essence, caught Suicune by accident. Eventually, Ash and Goh successfully defeat the criminals and Goh gains Suicune's trust by nursing it back to health after it had been poisoned. Admirably, Goh attempts to release Suicune so that it may continue its journey around the world, purifying polluted water. Surprisingly, Suicune refuses to be released and decides to remain Goh's Pokémon.
Now that Goh has a Suicune at his beck and call, he should be one of the most powerful trainers in the world, right? Wrong. Once Goh takes Suicune back to Cerise Laboratory, where he keeps the rest of his Pokémon, Suicune promptly vanishes. Goh explains that Suicune has gone to roam the world, but it will always be with him in spirit. Even though the co-lead of the series has successfully captured a Legendary Pokémon, it's clear that things will be returning to the status quo in the following episode.
There has been no indication that Goh's Suicune will ever return to the series, making it unclear what the point of Suicune "staying his Pokémon" in the first place was. Given that Goh does not partake in Pokémon battling, there's no danger of him being too overpowered thanks to his Suicune. The idea of one of the series regulars possessing a Legendary Pokémon isn't too far-fetched anymore, given Pokémon Journeys' track record of being a wish-fulfillment series. Unfortunately for Goh and his Suicune, Ash's habit of releasing or giving away powerful Pokémon appears to be contagious.
