Top 10 Dumbest Decisions in the Pokemon Anime
Top 10 Dumbest Decisions in the Pokemon Anime
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Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Dumbest Decisions in the Pokemon Anime. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most ill-advised and dimwitted choices from the lengthy franchise’s anime adaptation. What do you think are the most head-scratching moments in the Pokemon franchise? Get the conversation going in those comments below!
#10: Ash Forgets Type Matchups
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“Fiery Surprises!” The Pallet-Town-prodigy has never been the brightest Voltorb in the bunch, but one instance in his exhibition against Professor Kukui proved particularly egregious. After over a thousand episodes, Seven Pokemon Leagues, and more battles than anyone could count, Ash forgets that poison attacks are ineffective against steel types. He may have partnered with the all-powerful Ultra Beast Nagandel, but all the legendaries in the Pokedex won’t help if you can’t remember basic type coverage. Even worse, this is a mere handful of episodes after Ash finally achieved his dream of becoming Pokemon League Champion. For the winner of a regional league to not brush up on rudimentary Pokemon resistances is not just embarrassing for Ash, but the whole of the Alolan region.
#9: Evolving Pikachu Too Soon
“Electric Shock Showdown” It’s one thing for a new trainer to make a few blunders raising their Pokemon, but it’s another matter entirely when it comes from a gym leader. At first, Lt. Surge is a formidable foe for Ash and Pikachu, but they quickly realize his Raichu has a fatal flaw - a lack of speed. Surge’s shortsighted path to power led him to evolve his Pikachu before it learned any agility-based moves like quick attack. Raichu's thunderbolt may shock like no other, but by exposing it to a Thunder Stone so early, the gym leader’s ace is left with a clear and easily exploitable weakness. No matter how you slice it, when your Pokemon loses to their prior evolution, you know you’ve done something wrong.
#8: Breaking into Celadon City Gym With Team Rocket
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“Pokemon Scent-sation!” It’s hard to think of any way, shape, or form in which this was a good idea. Ash’s quest to be the very best like no one ever was hits a bit of a snag when he’s kicked out of the Celadon City Gym for insulting the leader’s perfume. Instead of apologizing, Ash teams up with the ineffectively evil Team Rocket, and they devise a bizarre cross-dressing scheme to sneak back in. Naturally, things go awry, and Team Rocket’s meddling leads to a fire that endangers every Pokemon in the gym. Just what did Ash hope to accomplish by teaming up with the known criminals? For all the trouble his stubborn plan caused, he could have just said sorry.
#7: James Buys a Magikarp
“Battle Aboard the St. Anne” Team Rocket has always been more comedic relief characters than imposing adversaries, but they were still members of a villainous crime syndicate. But that doesn’t stop James, a grown man who should 100% know better, from being scammed into spending both his and Jessie’s salaries on an unremarkable Magikarp. If that weren’t bad enough, he seemingly forgot that given the proper treatment, it can evolve into one of the Kanto regions strongest water types. The sea-serpent Pokemon would certainly have been helpful when the St. Anne sank - if only James hadn’t made it an enemy just as it became threatening. Even amongst a track record as dismal as Team Rocket’s, this ranks as one of the most embarrassing gaffes they’ve ever committed.
#6: Ash Trades Butterfree
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“Battle Aboard the St. Anne” Caterpie was the very first Pokemon Ash truly caught, and he nurtured it to evolve into a Metapod and then finally a Butterfree. But that lengthy relationship doesn’t stop the hyperactive trainer from agreeing to trade the butterfly Pokemon away the very first chance he gets. Aboard the St. Anne, Ash challenges a wealthy gentleman to a fight, but when Butterfree is about to secure the win, the man withdraws and suggests a trade with his Raticate. For a trainer that preaches true bonds with his Pokemon, that Ash would trade one of his oldest companions, who is also stronger than the Raticate he’d receive, is nonsensical. Thankfully, Ash changed his mind quickly, but this lapse of judgement is still too deplorable to ignore.
#5: Falling for Team Rocket's Schemes
Various 10 years old or not, even a child would catch on to these cheap costumes eventually. Like clockwork, Team Rocket always interrupts Ash’s adventures with a new scheme to capture Pikachu, but even though it’s routine at this point, the passionate Pokemon-master-to-be falls for their laughable disguises. Every. Single. Time. It seems all it takes is a fake mustache or a new blazer for Ash to not recognize the foes that chased him across eight regions. If Jessie and James’ hair weren’t so noticeable, or if their disguises were the slightest bit convincing, we might buy it. But after hundreds, if not thousands of interactions with Team Rocket, there’s simply no excuse for why Ash can’t spot them and their flimsy outfits a mile away.
#4: Metapod vs. Metapod
“Challenge of the Samurai” While Ash’s lack of knowledge has gotten him into trouble before, it’s somehow even worse when he knows how to win, but simply refuses to do so. To prove his Metapod is a worthy addition to the team, he insists on exclusively using it against a cocky samurai, also with a Metapod. Really, calling this a fight at all is generous when the two Pokemon only know the non-damaging move “Harden.” Ash literally has Pikachu right there, and if he simply switched, it’d be an automatic win - but he refuses to do so out of pure pettiness. Thankfully, a pack of Beedrill interrupts the battle, else it might still be going on to this very day.
#3: Using Charizard Against Ritchie
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“Friend and Foe Alike” Ash’s goal is simple: to be a Pokemon Master. His first crack at the title came in the Indigo League, but after Team Rocket’s meddling left him scrambling for battle-ready partners, he resorted to his disobedient Charizard. Despite the fact that this Pokemon has never followed Ash’s orders before, he decided to use it in the most important match of his life thus far - and naturally, the Pokemon still refused to listen, costing Ash the entire league. It was clearly a mistake to use Charizard at all, but the worse error is that Ash never bothered to earn his Pokemon’s respect before entering the regional tournament. After all, you can’t call yourself a Pokemon Master if you haven’t proved your worth to your partners first.
#2: Ash Brings One Pokemon to a Gym Battle
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“Dazzling the Nimbasa Gym!” By the time Ash made it to the Unova Region, you’d think he, above anybody else, would understand that gym leaders shouldn’t be taken lightly. But despite his experience earning over thirty badges, he decides he’s going to beat the Nimbasa City gym leader Elesa with a single Pokemon. While his recently caught Palpitoad is immune to electric attacks, to assume a gym leader doesn’t have a workaround such an obvious strategy is just plain foolish. Ash’s flippant choice to underestimate Elesa isn’t just offensive, it’s also incredibly undeserved given the several gym leader’s he’s lost to. Even if Palpitoad had been able to solo the gym, not bringing any backup reeks of an overconfidence one should never have against such a formidable opponent.
#1: Releasing Several Good Pokemon
Various No matter your feelings on Ash, it’s undeniable he’s assembled an impressive collection of partners over the course of his journey. But this bench of relief Pokemon would be much deeper if he didn’t constantly release them back to the wild. While it makes sense some of his Pokemon would have their own goals, the fact Ash frees them entirely instead of loaning them out is simply ridiculous. Not only does it leave Ash significantly weaker, but it also ends some excellent trainer-Pokemon relationships on an unsatisfying note. Ash has made many mistakes over the years, but if he’d stopped saying permanent goodbyes to his best Pokemon, it might not have taken him seven tries to finally win a regional league.
