The trainer that didn’t

Ash is a Pokemon Trainer. Probably more known than Red or Blue or any trainer from the games or Manga. He is always shown to be a caring trainer, who had no idea what he was doing from the start, but has ‘evolved’ into a trainer who seemingly knows where he is going and what he wants to do. His care for his Pokemon outshines his desire to become a Pokemon Master, he doesn’t force his Pokemon to evolve unless they themselves are willing. And since the first few episodes, his rate of catching Pokemon has decreased a lot. His attention is now focused on the few Pokemon he has and how to best bring out their uniqueness, both on and off the battlefield. But what of his Pokemon? Who are they and why do we care? Take the jump to read into this trainers ability to catch and raise Pokemon.

Ash’s first Pokemon was Pikachu. That adorable electric mouse, who has lost a few pounds over the years might I add. The creators of the show wanted to have Ash’s partner to be a Clefairy from the beginning, but decided it wouldn’t engage with the young audience as much. Thankfully they chose Pikachu, who is much better in my opinion. But none the less, Ash only got to have Pikachu as a partner because he was a lazy boy who slept in on the morning of getting his first Pokemon. Not exactly a great start for him, and since then he was always playing catch up with Gary Oak. It was sheer luck that Professor Oak had the Pikachu for Ash though, as it was very unorthodox to not have one of the three Kanto starters. However Pikachu has since been noted as being ‘special’, with strength higher than that of a Pokemon at it’s level should have. Pikachu has always been at Ash’s side and is probably one of the best examples of his training style.

As for Ash’s other Pokemon, we all know how odd he can be sometimes. His first Pokemon caught in the wild, Caterpie, is only under Ash from episode 3 until episode 21. His care for the Pokemon is so much he wants Butterfree to have a love life rather than staying around. This is not the only time something like this happens, as he also lets his Lapras go live with it’s Mother and his Pidgeot stay with the wild Pidgey and Pidgeotto to defend them from a nasty Fearow. All of this shows the way Ash changed his outlook on his own Pokemon. Rather than going to catch ‘em all, he now cares for the individual Pokemon.

Other times Ash has shown how he would rather have his Pokemon happy, than to have them continue the journey with him, is when he leaves his Pokemon to gain further training from other people. Such examples are his Primape, who never really came back besides one episode. Ash’s Charizard which has made several appearances when Ash is in need of a strong Pokemon. And Ash’s Squirtle, while not being trained by someone, went to train his old Squirtle Squad, re-appearing again in only a couple of episodes.

Although Ash has been in over 750 episodes, he still has only had 68 different Pokemon. He seems to favour water-type Pokemon, having had 8 Water types. Still this doesn’t stand for much towards a trainer that does so well in the Anime and has collected so many badges. It would be close to impossible to do the same on the games. But this all fits into the characters likeness and his battle style to have a team of Pokemon who are close and trusting.

Some people see him as a trainer who is less than competent. Recently in Unova, having arrived from going through 5 Leagues and the Battle Frontier, still lost to Trip when he had only just started his journey. Although Pikachu wasn’t able to use any electric attacks, this was a big let down. Personally I am still a fan of Ash, but this is because of the story between him and his Pikachu. What are your thoughts on this trainer? Leave your comments below, and don’t forget to follow our Twitter and Like our Facebook page.

Categorized under: Pokeditorials
Tagged: ash, Ash Ketchum, pokemon, Trainer

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