When it comes to catching Pokémon in both the games and anime, there's only ever been one method that works -- battle, then catch. But with the newest season of the show, Pokémon Journeys, Pokédex completionist Goh seems to change all that, by catching almost every Pokémon he comes across, without a single attack! But how is that possible you may ask? Simple, the boy is favoured... by Mew.
First, some background. Throughout the show, Goh is only shown using the regular red-and-white Poké Ball, with a catch modifier of 1x. As any player of the game will tell you, this means that the Pokémon one wishes to catch needs to be in red health, and if it's a strong Pokémon, preferably with a status condition like sleep or paralysis to increase the chances of catching it. For comparison, the Master Ball, which has a true 100% catch-rate, has a modifier of 255x. Simply put, despite their abundance in the anime, the Poké Ball is the weakest capture device in the games.
So, we'd expect to see Goh participating in battles with his Pokémon regularly, but instead, the boy simply loads up on Poké Balls and starts pitching like a baseball player. In Journeys Episode 6, "Working My Way back to Mew" he catches every single bug-type of the Kanto region, only failing to catch his quarry if he misses or isn't able to hit them with the Poké Ball. Likewise, in Episode 20, "Dreams Are Made of These," the only reason he has trouble catching a Farfetch'd is because the Pokémon keeps using its leek to hit the ball back!
The only notable time Goh has had trouble catching a Pokémon was in Season 23, Episode 9, "A Test in Paradise," where it could be argued the Dewgong he was trying to catch was exceptionally high-leveled (that, and the writers needed a reason that he wouldn't be able to catch the Dratini line later so Ash could catch Dragonite). But up till this point, the anime has generally followed the game's logic when it comes to Poké Ball effectiveness -- so what's up with Goh near-100% catch-rate? How could this be? Well, this is where Mew comes in.
In the first episode of Pokémon Journeys, "Enter Pikachu," Goh is revealed to have met Mew at a young age, even chasing after the mythical Pokémon in no doubt what the playful Mew considered to be a game. Mew is also shown to adore children, readily playing with a young Kangaskhan. So, when that same Kangaskhan is later in danger, causing Goh and Chloe run and try to help (despite not actually being able to do anything), it revealed to Mew their kind hearts. It's later implied that Mew overhears Goh's conversation with Professor Oak about how he wants to catch Mew, the "ultra-awesome" Pokémon.
No doubt, hearing this young boy's bright-eyed enthusiasm and touched by Goh's description of it, Mew decided to bless both Goh and Chloe with different abilities, suited to their natures. To Chloe, the mundane but sweet power of making her beloved by Pokémon, as Mew knows her kind heart would allow any Pokémon in need to come to her for help. To Goh, to help his quest to catch it, Mew gave him the power of an impossibly high catch-rate.
This not only explains Goh's incredible Pokémon-catching abilities but why Lugia was in Kanto during Episode 2, "Legend? Go! Friends? Go!," as Episode 20, "Dreams Are Made of These," reveals the possibility that it wasn't Lugia at all -- but a transformed Mew. Being that it demonstrated knowing the move Psychic to save the baby Kangashkan back in "Enter Pikachu," that means that Mew is already level 100, which would explain why the raid battle in Episode 2 had barely any affect on it.
Furthermore, Ash has met Mew twice previously, once in Mewtwo Strikes Back and again in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, which explains why "Lugia" is so trusting of both Ash and Goh as to let them ride its back, though, knowing Ash better, Mew allowed its telepathy to reach only him. Under the guise of Lugia, Mew's been checking up on Ash and Goh, watching their progress like a guardian angel.
When it comes to Goh's catch-rate, there's really only one probable explanation: obviously, he hasn't just painted over a bunch of Master Balls, and not using Raboot to battle seems to be part of his character arc, so it might be thanks to Mew's blessing that his goal of catching every Pokémon "is in the palm of [his] hand."
