Pokémon: 10 Recurring Anime Characters Who Stopped Showing Up

With the formulaic (yet nostalgic) nature of Pokémon, it’s always a matter of time before Ash loses his newest partner and moves onto greater things.

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Unlike most ten-year-olds, Ash Ketchum has been traveling the world for over two decades. As one might expect from his 24 years of travels, Ash has come across many friends, foes, and Pokémon alike that have come and gone. As audiences have grown up and Ash has traveled across many the regions of the Pokémon world, the core cast has stayed the same.

That said, familiar faces often depart quickly, leaving fans to wonder what their favorite characters are up to. With the formulaic (yet nostalgic) nature of Pokémon, it’s always a matter of time before Ash loses his newest partner and moves onto greater things.

10 Dawn Is Bound To Sinnoh

When Ash ventured to the Sinnoh Region, he became friends with a locale trainer, Dawn. She joined Ash and Brock on their journey and trained a team of her own featuring Sinnoh’s water starter, Piplup. The joyful trainer stuck with Ash for 4 seasons until he left Sinnoh for Unova.

Dawn would reappear in the anime’s adaptation of Generation 5, but has yet to make an appearance since. She and Piplup were last seen on their way to the Johto region. With all of the excitement surrounding the remakes of Generation 4, fans might be eager to see this contest champion again.

9 Jigglypuff Is A Relic Of The Anime’s Earlier Days

Much of the anime’s appeal in the early years stemmed from the predictability of episodes. This gave a coziness to the saga. Jigglypuff was a key part of this formula early on, being featured in almost every episode initially.

As Ash moved on to the Sinnoh region in Diamond & Pearl, audiences seemingly saw the last of Jigglypuff in a one-off episode in Hoenn. However, all hope was not lost when Jigglypuff made a reappearance in the Sun & Moon anime. She has yet to be seen in the current Journeys anime, however.

8 Tracey Was A Brief Brock Replacement

Not much changed throughout Generation 1. The first big change to rock the boat was Brock’s decision to stay with Professor Ivy as Ash and Misty ventured through the Orange Islands. They soon encountered artist, Tracey Sketchit, who was seen mostly drawing Pokémon. Tracey left just as soon as he came when Ash moved on to Johto. Tracey has popped up now and again, but not since the Black & White era.

7 Misty’s Psyduck Is Long Gone

In addition to Jigglypuff, another Pokémon with an equal balance of cute and annoying was Misty’s Psyduck. He was known to pop out of his Pokéball at the most inopportune time, only for Misty to get mad at him. Similar to Jigglypuff, Misty’s duck Pokémon stayed on the show through the end of the Gold & Silver era only to leave afterward. The audience saw many call backs to the original anime in the Sun & Moon era, and one of these was Misty’s Psyduck. While some fans may still be scarred by his ill-timed appearances, Psyduck is surely missed by many.

6 Gary Oak Was Ash’s First Rival, But He Won’t Be His Last

Grandson of the original Pokémon Professor, Professor Oak, and first rival of Ash, Gary was a staple of the early anime. Many fans in the 90’s wanted to beat Gary or be him, with his seemingly impossible number of badges and pension for angsty whispering. As an antagonistic thorn in Ash’s side, Gary just wanted to live up to the Oak legacy. He would go on to pop up through the Diamond & Pearl era, but has not appeared in earnest since.

5 May & Max Took Different Paths From Ash

May and Max are the brother and sister duo companions that Ash met on his journey in the Hoenn region during the Ruby & Sapphire era. This was the first time in the series that Misty left Ash’s side and while that was a huge hurdle for some fans, the unique character roles of having a brother and sister as companions allowed May to not feel like a Misty copy-cat.

Max was more akin to a Professor, taking an interest in Pokémon facts while acting as a great protégé to Brock. The siblings have had guest appearances here and there, most recently appearing in the Black & White era.

4 James’ Victreebel Was Let Go

Fans of the original series saw James raise his Victreebel, who always just wanted to hug him even if that was with its mouth. Similar to other Pokémon in the early seasons, it would pop out of its ball at the wrong time. After three generations of seeing James’ relationship with his grass-type grow, fans were shocked to see the Team Rocket member find a replacement carnivorous plant Pokémon in Carnivine. Fans have not seen Victreebel since.

3 Butch & Cassidy Are Ancient History

Butch and Cassidy were introduced as antagonists for not only Ash and his friends, but Jessie and James in the original anime. The ever so slightly more competent Team Rocket Duo appeared he as rivals for Jessie and James, only to mess up just as much in the Boss’ eyes. They have seemingly fallen off the map since their failed attempt at stealing a Hippopotas in the Diamond & Pearl series.

2 Ash’s Charizard Is Starting To Fade Away

Charizard is by far one of Ash’s most popular Pokémon. The Fire and Flying-type (not dragon) is beloved for his arc – loafing around during battles but eventually growing up and fighting for his trainer. Many 90s kids can still recall that trauma that was induced when Charizard left Ash to train in the Charicific Valley during the Orange Islands saga.

Charizard made a triumphant return during the Black & White anime as Gen 5 (in the games and anime) harkened back to Gen 1. The lizard took a starring role on Ash’s team once again, but was sent back to the PC as Ash moved on to Kalos.

1 Giovanni’s Not The Big Bad He Used To Be

Giovanni – the big bad boss of Team Rocket, creator of the legendary Mewtwo, and main antagonist of the original series – was the perfect villain for the games and the anime. An evil mafia-business man provides the perfect antithesis to a free roaming, animal loving child.

The height of Giovanni’s role as an antagonist is quite possibly his part in creating Mewtwo in the first Pokémon movie. Since the Black & White anime, however, Giovanni has really only popped up to give orders to Jessie and James, not to be a villain in his own right.

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