Ash Ketchum, the protagonist of the Pokémon series, goes through having many Pokémon on his team. Even though he kept Pikachu by his side the entire time, the rest of his team tends to switch out depending on which region he's going to, which Pokémon he wants to use for specific battles, and some even permanently leave his team to join other trainers and causes.
However, there are some Pokémon on Ash's team that were better off elsewhere. Whether it means being used on other trainers' teams, being too useless during battles for Ash to use efficiently in the long run, or just bonding better with other trainers in general, there is no doubt that these Pokémon were better off not being by Ash's side.
10 Aipom Was Traded For Buizel & Grew More With Dawn Than With Ash
In Diamond & Pearl, Ash catches an Aipom while traveling through the Sinnoh Region. However, Ash later trades Aipom for Dawn's Buizel, and the trade pays off. Dawn gaining Aipom was much better for the monkey Pokémon overall, as it was more talented and interested in Contests than in traditional battling. Therefore, it was a win-win situation, as Aipom could participate in more Contests with Dawn while Ash focused on winning Gym battles. Aipom even evolved into Ambipom with Dawn's training.
9 Beedrill Would Not Propser By Staying With Ash In The Series
Ash caught Beedrill in the episode "The Bug Stops Here" as part of a contest. Since he won the contest, he was also allowed to keep it. However, longtime viewers are aware that Ash rarely uses Bug-type Pokémon in general. Additionally, with Casey's love of black-and-yellow striped Pokémon, it was a dead giveaway that Ash would give it to her so she could take care of it instead. Had Beedrill stayed with Ash, it was unlikely that it would be used in battle often due to its many weaknesses anyway.
8 Alolan Vulpix Was Better Off With Its Rightful Trainer
During the episode "The Ol' Raise and Switch!" Professor Kukui made everyone switch their Pokémon with somebody else. As a result, Ash temporarily gained Lillie's Ice-type Alolan Vulpix, nicknamed "Snowy." The partnership had initial problems, as Snowy didn't warm up to Ash at all in the beginning.
However, after some encouragement and help from Ash's Litten, Snowy soon warmed up to him and was used in a battle against Ash's own Pikachu, who was under Lillie's command at the time. In the end, both Lillie and Ash's original Pokémon were better off with their original trainers. They were also relieved that the two Pokémon were returned to their original trainers by the end of this episode.
7 Ash's Tauros Barely Pulled Off Any Victories While Sticking With Him
Ash caught thirty Tauros while in the Safari Zone, but the one he did use in matches barely brought any victories. Tauros was knocked out during its time in the Orange League and never won any matches by itself. It did win one match later on during the Johto League, but that was it. It was speculated that this is likely because it was brought in as a replacement for Snorlax last-minute, so Ash didn't have much time to train Tauros before the events of the Orange League. Either way, it didn't gain many victories with Ash and is better off staying at Oak's lab.
6 Torterra's Increasing Size Slowed It Down & Made It Less Useful In Battle
Ash initially won many battles with Torterra when it was its pre-evolution, Turtwig. However, as it later evolved into Grotle and later Torterra, it began to win fewer battles despite all the training it went through with Ash.
This unfortunately could be due to Torterra becoming so large in size and also becoming incredibly heavy as a result. This lowered its overall speed, and so it couldn't hit opponents as quickly as it once did as a Turtwig.
5 Raticate Was Better Off With The Gentleman Than Ash
During the episode "Battle Aboard The St. Anne," Ash trades his Bug-type Butterfree for a Normal-type Raticate from The Gentleman. However, Ash quickly realized that he was better off keeping Butterfree and the Gentleman agrees, resulting in both trainers trading their original Pokémon back to each other. Even if Raticate was presented as fairly strong in this episode under the Gentleman's guidance, it probably wouldn't do much good if it stayed with Ash. Trading Raticate to get Butterfree back was the right call.
4 Muk's Stench Was Not Appreciated
Muk was only used in two of Ash's battles before he sent him to Professor Oak due to how smelly it was. Additionally, Muk only won one of those two battles. Considering that Ash already didn't like the Pokémon due to its unbearable smell and that it had already lost one of its two battles, there's no wonder that Ash decided to ship him away as soon as he could. Even if Muk won more battles, Muk's stench would have been too much for Ash and his friends to bear traveling with for long.
3 Lapras Is More Useful For Travel Than Battle
If Ash needed a ride across the ocean waters, Lapras was certainly dependable in that area. The same could not be said in actual battles, however. Lapras only participated in two battles in the series, and both times it was knocked out (though one of them was a mutual KO against Drake's Gengar).
Considering how little Lapras was used for battle in the anime, it was better off traveling the seas with another trainer who would use it for battles more than Ash ever did.
2 Totodile Lost Most Of Its Battles
Ash's Totodile, though absolutely adorable, barely won any of its battles. Even though it was powerful enough to beat a Charizard and send Team Rocket on one of their blast-offs, it lost all of the other battles it was involved in despite the training and time it went through with Ash. It might be adored for its personality in the anime, but it's arguably one of the weakest Pokémon Ash had on his team.
1 Heracross Did Not Get Along With Any Of Ash's Other Pokémon
Heracross, despite being a powerhouse in most of the battles by Ash's side, never really got along with Ash's other Pokémon. Additionally, this Bug-type Pokémon would constantly be distracted by the scent of honey and other sap-like food. Considering its lack of a bond with the rest of Ash's team, as well as only winning three out of its five battles, it is better off joining another trainer's team.
0 Comments