5 Pokémon Ash Should’ve Kept (& 5 He Should’ve Gotten Rid Of)

Over the years Ash has had countless Pokémon on his team. There were some he should have kept for longer, and some he could have released sooner.

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Over the years in the Pokémon anime, Ash has made a handful of decisions that have been severely questioned by fans, whether these decisions are to do with the Pokémon he chooses to use or the tactics he utilizes. Ash has made conscious decisions to release Pokémon, due to them wanting to leave with a mate or wanting to stay behind and protect others.

However, on the other side, there have been several Pokémon that Ash has used continuously that either should have been released due to them not contributing significantly enough to his efforts, or simply let go in order to protect others.

10 Should Have Kept – Primeape Would Have Added More Fight To The Team At The Pokémon League

Although they got off to a rocky start, Ash and Primeape found an understanding during Primeape’s rampage through to winning the P1 Grand Prix. Primeape picked up three wins on route to winning the entire thing, and never recorded a loss when battling for Ash. The fact that Ash agreed to have him stay behind and train with Anthony never resonated well with fans as it just seemed like a poor decision and a general waste of time.

Primeape had just shown its value, and it could have added a lot to Ash’s overall team. Ash’s embarrassing loss to Ritchie at the Indigo Plateau Conference,for instance, would not have happened with the no-nonsense Primeape in his corner.

9 Should Have Released – Muk Was Little More Than Just Company For Professor Oak

Overall, Ash has been mostly fair with his Pokémon in terms of how often he uses them and how well he treats them. For the most part, Ash has had his core teams in each region, occasionally recalling Pokémon from Professor Oak depending on specific circumstances and type matchups.

However, Ash only ever used his Muk in two important battles, with it beating Jeanette Fisher’s Bellsprout at the Indigo Plateau Conference and losing to Gary’s Scizor at the Silver Conference in Johto. It has been shown with Professor Oak more than it has been with Ash, ultimately getting to showcase its affectionate personality more than its potential battling prowess. Wasted potential is much worse than not utilizing a Pokémon for good reason, meaning that releasing Muk may have been the kindest thing to do.

8 Should Have Kept – A Fully-Trained Lapras Could Have Added So Much More Firepower To Ash’s Teams

Lapras was a huge help to Ash during the Orange Islands arc, helping him and his friends travel around from island to island. Ash knew that it was a means to an end, with them ultimately trying to return Lapras to its family, but if he had been able to use and train Lapras for longer, he could have had a really strong Ice-type on his team.

Given that his only other Ice-type in the entire anime so far has been a powerful Glalie, it raises questions about how much stronger Ash could have been if he had at least taken Lapras with him to Johto.

7 Should Have Released – Torkoal Was Mostly Underwhelming

Ash’s Torkoal is notorious for having a pretty poor win-loss record when it comes to battling. Considering how powerful and useful it can be in the games, this makes it all the more disappointing.

Although a Fire-type is often considered to be vitally important in any multi-type Pokémon team, Ash could have actually managed fine without one in Hoenn. Torkoal did use some powerful moves such as Overheat, Heat Wave, Flamethrower and Body Slam, and along with Iron Defense, this should have made it nearly invincible.

6 Should Have Kept – Aipom Put In Some Terrific Performances For Ash Before Being Traded To Dawn

Despite initial appearances, Aipom actually amassed a much better win-loss record while it belonged to Ash than Buizel managed for him after the trade. The reasoning behind the trade was that Aipom wanted to partake in Pokémon Contests while Dawn’s Buizel was more interested in Ash’s battle training.

The trade made sense in terms of respecting the wishes of the respective Pokémon, but although Dawn gained a great addition to her contest team, Ash had lost a vastly underrated battler.

5 Should Have Released – Hawlucha Could Easily Have Returned To Being A Protector

In a similar vein to Bulbasaur, when Hawlucha was introduced to the Pokémon anime, it was seen as a guardian and protector for the forest that it lived in, keeping the smaller and weaker Pokémon safe. When Ash caught it, it showed its caring nature in bringing up the newly hatched Noibat and struck up and great friendship with it.

Over the years, the Pokémon anime has had Ash release Pokémon in order for them to stay behind somewhere and protect others, and with that in mind, Hawlucha returning to its forest and homeland would have made more sense than some other examples of Pokémon being released.

4 Should Have Kept – Goodra’s Return After Being Released Was Poor Considering Its Previous Reputation

Goodra was undefeated for Ash after two battles when he decided to release it so that it could go and live happily in its homeland. However, they were reunited when it came to Ash participating in the Lumiose Conference, and Goodra joined the team.

It didn’t perform to the standards of the rest of Ash’s Kalos team however, with it being forced into a draw against Sawyer’s Slurpuff and defeated by Alain’s formidable Bisharp. However, Goodra had already shown its promise before the Pokémon League, to the extent that if Ash hadn’t cared so much for his Pokémon, keeping Goodra on his team for extra experience and training may have been more beneficial in the long-term.

3 Should Have Released – Oshawott Failed To Contribute Significantly And Could Have Been Replaced

Considering the fact that Ash finally utilized two fully-evolved starter Pokémon in Sinnoh, with a team that arguably should have won the Lily of the Valley Conference, it looked liked Ash had finally learned his lesson in fully evolving Pokémon that had the most potential.

However, when it came to Unova, Ash would eventually own all three starters, yet only evolved Pignite to its second stage. Snivy often held its own in its original form, but Oshawott would have certainly benefitted from evolving. It often appeared to be there for comic relief and its adorable tendencies, but Ash would arguably have been better off focusing on training his other Water-type on the team, Palpitoad.

2 Should Have Kept – Greninja’s Unique Bond With Ash Deserved More Than It Being Released

In Pokémon X & Y, Ash and Greninja shared a special connection, one which would help them to rival and surpass many Mega-Evolved species in battle. Ash has been known to release some of his Pokémon when they are willing and able to help out with protecting weaker wild Pokémon in potentially dangerous environments, but for him to release Greninja just didn’t feel right.

Ash and Greninja’s friendship indicated that Ash could well have started to bring more than just Pikachu to every new region, but releasing it just felt like a way for the show to maintain the duo of Ash and Pikachu.

1 Should Have Released – Ash Didn’t Need To Keep Thirty Tauros

The fact that Ash caught 30 of this species of Pokémon was funny at the time, as they kept charging in the way of Ash’s Poké Balls that were aimed at other Pokémon. However, instead of releasing all but one, Ash decided to send all of them back to Professor Oak, rarely even using one of them in battle.

Ash should have released all the Tauros that he was never going to use back into the wild, and then focused on training one of them, helping it to become stronger. Instead, he left them all back in Pallet Town and occasionally asked for one to be sent over for him to use.

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