Go

""The future already lies in my hands!""

- Go saying this mysterious sentence at the end of the first episode of the new series

Go is one of the main characters appearing in the new Pokémon Sword & Shield anime series. His goal is to catch Mew, while his dream is to catch every Pokémon in every region. He is currently a research assistant at the Sakuragi Institute working alongside Ash.

Appearance
Go is a skinny young boy that has a slightly androgynous appearance. He has messy black hair with two red highlights, slightly tanned skin, and blue eyes. His outfit consists of a red and grey short-sleeved top with a Poké Ball design, black tracksuit pants, red socks, and a pair of grey and black shoes.

Personality
Go has a confident, cool-headed demeanor and a hot competitive streak. He is also independent, has a bit of an ego, and sometimes acts like a know-it-all, which, according to Koharu, causes him to have difficulty making friends. This trait appears when Go becomes upset that his argument with Ash almost ruined their friendship. Despite this, Go deeply cares about Pokémon and gets excited about meeting them, much like Ash does. Because of all this, Go doesn’t want to lose the friends he makes, also as Ash does.

Additionally, despite Go's confident demeanor, he is apparently very easy to fluster and embarrass, as he blushes often but he does it sometimes when he’s impressed about something.

Skills
Go is very intelligent, though he often skips school and doesn't like doing his homework. He is a skilled researcher and uses his Rotom phone to help him gain new information. Much like Brock, Tracey Sketchit, Max, Cilan, and Clemont before him, Go has great knowledge about Pokémon. He can also run reasonably well, though he struggles with climbing and other physical and athletic skills.

Koharu
Go and Koharu have been friends since they were little. The pair even attended Professor Oak's Pokémon summer camp together during their childhood.

In the present day, Go usually hangs out with Koharu and her dad, Professor Sakuragi. Though their friendship has only deepened as time went on, they still butt heads from time to time, as Go often exasperates or annoys Koharu with his antics. Also, Go gets annoyed when Koharu shows her concerns for him but understands that she is just looking out for him.

Professor Sakuragi
Through his friendship with Koharu, Go has known Professor Sakuragi since his childhood. He enjoys spending time at his lab. After helping him with his research, Go accepted Professor Sakuragi's offer to be his assistant along with Ash.

Ash
Go first met Ash when they jumped on Lugia at the same time. During their adventure with the Legendary Pokémon, the two boys found out that they had a lot in common. As a result, Go instantly accepted Ash as his friend.

Their friendship grew even stronger when the two boys began to travel together as assistants for Professor Sakuragi's research institute. Even though Go does sometimes get annoyed with Ash's habits and can be very competitive with him, he has some strong admiration for him. Like May, Dawn, Serena, and Lillie, Go considers Ash a role model of his. He admires how much he cares for Pokémon, his determined attitude, and his strong bond with his Pikachu.

Scorbunny
Go first met Scorbunny when he and Ash went to the Galar region. It and its Nickit friends stole their food, prompting them to give chase. However, after a little while, Go bonded with it, even choosing to lie to the store owner the Nickit stole from by saying that the wild Scorbunny belonged to him. Scorbunny then decided to tail the two boys in the hopes of joining them, as it had taken a liking to Go.

When Scorbunny finally met up with him, Go was surprised but realized that it wanted to be his partner. At first, Go originally wanted to get Mew as his first Pokémon, even refusing the choice of a Kanto Starter when he had the opportunity at Professor Sakuragi's lab. However, Go changed his mind after seeing Scorbunny helping him and his friend with a Gigantamax Snorlax. He decided to make the Rabbit Pokémon his first Pokémon and partner, to which it willingly obliged. After that, Go and Scorbunny not only became true partners but also best friends. Go and Scorbunny high five or fist bump each other whenever something good happens or as a sign of their friendship for each other. They both share personality traits, including the trait of not wishing to lose everyone around them. Although, Go and Scorbunny have butt heads but they don't stay mad for long.

Biography
When he was six years old, Go and his friend Koharu encountered the Mythical Pokémon Mew during a field trip. At the time, they were separated from Professor Oak's group. While at a hilly riverside, they witnessed how a sudden psychic force rescued a young Kangaskhan that almost fell to its doom. Since then, Go made it his goal to capture the mysterious Mew.

At Vermilion City, Go encountered the Legendary Pokémon Lugia and attempted to follow it. During the chase, Go managed to climb onto Lugia's body, where he met Ash. The two boys were able to become friends after getting to know each other during their ride. After returning to the Sakuragi Institute that evening, Go and Ash briefly met up with Koharu. Ash and Go then showed Professor Sakuragi the information on Lugia that they collected and became his assistants.

Go and Ash's first assessment was to investigate the disruptive outbreak of Ivysaur all over Vermilion City. Before investigating, the two boys each received a special smartphone and had two Rotom placed in them as part of their Pokédex. However, during the investigation, Go and Ash had a fallout when the latter saw an Ivysaur in trouble. Arriving at a Gym under construction, Go and Ash followed the Ivysaur, along with their pre-evolved form Bulbasaur. Trying to follow the Seed Pokémon, Go wasn't able to climb well enough to get to his destination effectively. However, Ash, who decided to put his grudge towards him aside, gave him his hand. Thanks to Ash's help, the two boys got on top of the building. Once on top, they discovered that the Ivysaur had gone there to bask in the sun and evolve. However, when Team Rocket showed up to steal them, Go and Ash became shocked. Upon seeing Ash and Pikachu's determination (along with the Ivysaur helping them out), Go became very impressed. After Team Rocket was sent blasting off, Go and Ash witnessed the evolution event, becoming amazed by it. After that, Go and Ash brought their findings to Professor Sakuragi and made up for their argument from before.

Go and Ash's next assessment was to travel to the Galar region to research the Dynamax phenomenon. While they waited for the train to the Wild Area to arrive, Go and Ash decided to eat scones at a store in Wyndon, only to have their food stolen by a wild Scorbunny and its Nickit friends. After Ash battled and defeated Scorbunny, Go bonded with it, even choosing to lie to the store owner by saying the Scorbunny belonged to him when the Nickit stole more of his food. After hearing Scorbunny's backstory from the store owner, Go gave it words of encouragement before he and Ash left. Go and Ash eventually made it to their train, completely unaware that Scorbunny had taken a liking to Go and had began to follow him.

When Go and Ash arrived at the Wild Area, they encountered a sleeping Snorlax and met up with Scorbunny again. Go was surprised but realized that Scorbunny wanted to be his partner, so he sadly told it that he was planning to get Mew as his first Pokémon instead. When the Snorlax underwent Gigantamax, however, Go, Scorbunny, Ash, and Pikachu tried to move it aside, as it was blocking the railroad for an oncoming train. During the mission, Go saw Scorbunny's determination to help him and Ash. After successfully dealing with Snorlax, Go stopped Scorbunny when it turned to leave, as he had changed his mind and wanted it to be his partner. Go then threw a Poké Ball, missing at first, but Scorbunny was able to redirect the ball with a kick, effectively catching itself. Go and Scorbunny were happy to have each other as partners and best friends.

Go began his goal on catching all Pokémon to fill in his index on his phone. Go started catching a bunch of Bug-type Pokémon in the Kanto region, where he got help from Scorbunny, Ash, and Pikachu on successfully catching them. Go then took his Pokémon to Sakuragi Institute, where Sakuragi kept them in storage for him.

Go come with Ash to the Hoenn Battle Frontier, where he had them entered in the Battle Frontier Flute Cup tournament. Despite using type advantage, Go was defeated in the first battle by Houji without managing to land a single hit on his opponent. Frustrated by his loss, Go decided that catching Pokémon was better than battling and ran off to continue filling up his Pokédex. However, Go returned in time to watch the final match between Ash and Houji. Go was pleased that the battle ended in Ash's victory. As they returned home, Go apologized to Ash for his earlier outburst, having come to see battling in a new light from watching the final match and hopes to give battling another try.

Pokémon
Because one of his goals is to catch every Pokémon and complete his Pokédex, Go captures a lot of Pokémon, including multiple of the same evolutionary family. Currently, Go owns 17, 15 different known Pokémon.

Achievements

 * Battle Frontier flute cup tournament: Top 8
 * Ice Flow Race: No winner

Trivia

 * According to an interview with his voice actor, he was designed to be a neutral-looking character by appearance, since he was intentionally created with both masc-and femme-coded physical traits.
 * His character design was originally from Ken Sugimori.
 * He is the first male main character other than Ash to have caught a regional Fire Starter.
 * He is the first character to catch more than two Pokémon in the same episode since Ash caught his 30 Tauros in IL035, as well as the first main character who catches several Pokémon of different species in a single episode.
 * Go's name and quest to catch all Pokémon references Pokémon GO. His clothes slightly resemble the player character's appearance in that game.