Top 10 Shocking Deaths in the Pokémon Anime

Top 10 Shocking Deaths in the Pokémon Anime

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Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we are counting down our picks for the Top 10 Shocking Deaths in the Pokémon Anime. For this list, we’re going over the Pokémon anime and movies and highlighting the times that people and pocket monsters actually died. Keep in mind, we’re including resurrections as well! Got a Poke-death that still haunts you? Let us know in the comments!

#10: J & Her Whole Team

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To give this Hunter some credit, she’s far better at her job that Team Rocket, but then again, they aren’t snatching up Pokémon to sell on the black market. She might have made it big if she hadn’t made it her mission to snag herself some legendaries! Obsessed with capturing the Lake Guardians, L earned the wrath of the adorable gods when she was hit by two Future Sight attacks at once. The results of which send her, her Pokémon and the rest of her crew to the bottom of a whirlpool and never to be seen again! Poachers get poached.

The leader of Team Flare may have more swag than most evil corporate heads, not to mention some fierce Mega Evolutions in his squad, but not even he was going to be able to withstand tangoing with something like Zygarde. So convinced that his perfect plan of conformity would work, the man not only lost his sanity but also his life when Zygarde revealed its final form, sending him to an alternative dimension. Not sure about you but any subspace made entirely of green cascading energy does not seem like something you can come back from.

#8: Pikachu & Many Others

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In what universe does it seem like a good idea to screw around with Yveltal. The beast was literally born to be a destroyer. Don’t get us wrong, it’s one of the coolest legendaries out there, but you don’t just strut up to something like this without a Master Ball in tow. Alas, Pikachu and a whole lot of others got in its way, and as such got hit by an Oblivion Wing. Yveltal not only turns Pikachu to stone but every other side character in the movie, and it would have remained that way if Xerneas hadn’t showed up to fix everything.

#7: Ash Ketchum

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So, remember when a Marshadow controlled a mob of Pokemon just so it could beat Ash’s ass to death and send him to the afterlife? Well, according to this reboot movie, that’s how Ash’s first day as a trainer went down! Seriously, the little git cut him down like he was a Catapie. Thankfully, Ho-oh, who art in heaven, decided not to render the 90s anime completely irrelevant, and brought him back to the land of a living in an admittedly touching reunion scene. Further proof that Ash is Poke-Jesus.

Of course, that’s not even the saddest death that I Choose You flung our way. They took one of the most beloved characters from the Diamond and Pearl generation…and froze it to death! A childhood friend of Sorrel, we see that during a snowstorm, Luxray ventured out and found his master dying of cold. So naturally it used its body to keep him warm and alive until the blizzard ended, but in doing so gave up its own life. That is Giratina levels of messed up right there!

#5: Ash Ketchum & Pikachu

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Ah yes, the first of many. While exploring an abandoned house, both Ash and Pikachu meet an unfortunate demise due to a chandelier falling on them. It's only thanks to the naughty antics of Gastly, Haunter and Gengar that they’re able to have an out of body experience and go on an ectoplasmic joyride. As you can tell, death here is treated with all the seriousness of a lick attack. If anything, you should feel sorry for Misty and Brock, since Ash decides that now that he’s a phantom, he might as well mess with them!

He wanted to recreate the galaxy into one that he could rule. In some twisted way, Cyrus actually got what he always wanted. Atop Spear Pillar, the mad commander of Team Galactic doesn’t hesitate to leap into a portal to what appears to be an alternative cosmos. By himself. No space suit or anything. Just hopped right on into the vacuum of space. It’s not like he can come back anyway, since Dialga and Palkia made sure to close that shit up real quick. Guess he’s the next universe’s problem now.

#3: Ash Ketchum & Friends

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Boy, will you please stay on the mortal coil at least five minutes?! After the Tree of Beginnings is sabotaged, it unleashes the deadliest surge of antibodies ever – consuming everything around it into a blobby hell. This tree really doesn’t like humans, and without Mew to control it, Ash, Brock, May, Max, Jessie, James and all the other side characters get swallowed up by it. If not for Mew putting things back to normal, the cast would have remained tree sap.

In terms of realism and how it speaks to a younger audience, the death of this doggo is a clear standout. While watching Litten’s close friend succumb to his old age is genuinely upsetting, the fact it pushes a message of acceptance makes it one of the franchise’s highpoints. As much as you love your pets, they aren’t always going to be around. Still doesn’t make it any easier to watch the big fella pass away though.

#1: Ash Ketchum

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No matter how many times this kid from Pallet Town gets his soul torn out of his body, nothing will ever top the time he became a martyr by standing in the way of Mew and Mewtwo’s attack. While you would have thought that taking two psychic blasts from two legendaries would turn him into his namesake, for some reason Ash gets turned to stone. Any other person, this would be the end, but thankfully Ash has the tears of Pokémon to bring him back from the beyond! So, he can cheat death but can’t age past ten?!