In the Pokémon anime, Ash has captured and trained a broad range of Pokémon over the years, frequently transforming unskilled starters into some of the most powerful fighters in the series. Over the course of 24 seasons, he has managed to compile a large team with standout fighters, including Pikachu, Lucario, Infernape, and Greninja. Unfortunately, many of Ash’s Pokémon are far less strong than his most reliable aces.
Despite capturing a lot of powerful Pokémon, thanks to his “catch them all” mentality, Ash’s overall win-loss record has been repeatedly hindered by a few recurrent underperformers. These Pokémon didn’t have a significant influence on Ash’s battle history, either because of their lackluster performance in battles, lack of enthusiasm for fighting, or his own inadequacies as a trainer. As such, these weaker Pokémon frequently faded into the background, hardly showing up in crucial battles. Even when given the chance, they would struggle against opponents who were comparatively weak, leaving fans to speculate about what may have been with improved growth.
10) bulls
In a now-banned episode of the original Kanto series, Ash captures 30 Tauros. Ash would later employ one of these Tauros in his major battles, but the other twenty-nine were never used. This means Ash has a herd of twenty-nine Tauros that remain at Professor Oak’s lab, most of which have little to no battle experience due to rarely being used in his journeys.
But even for the one Tauros that Ash did use, its only standout moment came in Ash’s match against Drake, the Orange League Champion, where it succeeded in defeating Drake’s Venusaur before dropping to his Dragonite. Its third and last recorded battle ended in downfall as well, when it was quickly crushed by Gary’s Nidoqueen during the Silver Conference.
9) dreamy
Snivy has one of the worst battle records of any of Ash’s Pokémon, despite the fact that many of her opponents weren’t particularly powerful. After her debut, Snivy didn’t really pick up any new skills. She had no significant victories after defeating Clay’s Palpitoad, and after Tepig evolved, things worsened. She faced remarkable defeats to Cameron’s Lucario, Clay’s Excadrill, and Elesa’s Emolga.
Because of Ash’s extensive Unova team, Snivy never received the attention and time she required, in contrast to Bulbasaur or Rowlet, other first-stage Grass-types that thrived under Ash’s training. Snivy’s primary flaw was its continuous dependence on the gimmick move, Attract. As a result, she had limited offensive strategy when it came to female opponents who couldn’t be affected by the move.
8) Lapras
Ash first met Lapras on Tangelo Island, where it was being mistreated by a group of boys. Although he stepped in to protect it, Lapras was hesitant to trust people because of its past abuse. Ash slowly earned its trust, and Lapras soon joined his team. While it mostly assisted as transportation across the Orange Islands, Lapras occasionally participated in some of the challenges, but very rarely in open battles.
Lapras’ poor record is mostly due to its short time with Ash and its young age when he caught it. During its stay on his team, it didn’t get a single clear victory, with its best moment being a double knock-out against Drake’s Gengar. This lack of success may also be linked to its limited move pool, as it was mainly shown using just Ice Beam and Water Gun in battles.
7) Totodile
Despite being endearing and entertaining to watch, Ash’s Totodile’s fighting abilities are lacking. In a Johto team that was already quite average, Totodile didn’t particularly stand out, managing just one noteworthy victory during its time with Ash. That one highlight, beating Harrison’s Sneasel, was remarkable, but it happened in a match Ash lost.
Other than his remarkable win against Sneasel, Totodile won one insignificant Pokémon battle, indicating Ash’s lack of experience as a trainer in the Johto era. It failed to achieve more because of its low win rate and lackluster move choices. With just Scratch, Bite, Water Gun, Headbutt, Scary Face, and Slash as its moveset, it’s easy to see why Totodile struggled to win the majority of its matches.
6) Oshawott
Ash’s Unova squad is both his biggest and weakest. Many of its members lack the training necessary to evolve, which leads to subpar effectiveness in battle. And even if it’s not the worst example of this issue, Oshawott is Ash’s least successful Water-type Starter.
Oshawott’s inability to master its own moveset is its biggest flaw. For example, it may try Aqua Jet with its eyes closed or lose concentration when it isn’t attached to the shell on its chest. Some of its most notable defeats include losses to Trip’s Tranquill, Lenora’s Watchog, Chili’s Fire-type Pansear, and even Cameron’s Hydreigon. It never evolved, staying in its weaker first stage the entire time. Worse, its lack of true type variety and its constrained and predictable moveset only made it less effective in battle.
5) Palpitoad
Palpitoad ranks as the weakest Pokémon in the complete series and stands out as the least powerful member of Ash’s squad. This Pokémon, in its initial stage, is on a team with a stronger Water-type, hardly ever trains, and doesn’t even win most of the fights it does take part in. There’s also its somewhat unpleasant temperament. Palpitoad is seen in the anime as frequently frowning, angry, and even a little hostile toward companions and for this reason, many fans consider it to be one of Ash’s most forgettable Pokémon.
Despite its diverse move pool, Palpitoad was rarely used in battles and didn’t stick out on Ash’s team. The only time Ash used Palpitoad as his main tactic was in his gym battle against Elesa, the gym leader of Nimbasa City. For this battle, he relied on Palpitoad and entered the battle without bringing a second Pokémon. And when Palpitoad fainted, he had to hurry to the Pokémon Center in the middle of the battle to obtain more members.
4) Unfezant
In every Pokémon series, Ash captures and completely develops a new regional bird. Compared to Ash’s other regional Flying-type Pokémon, such as Swellow, Staraptor, and Talonflame, Unfezant frequently scores lower in terms of audience reaction and accomplishments. It is because Unfezant was not like other flying-type Pokémon that were relatively remarkable in battles.
The only significant victory Ash’s Unfezant ever had was the one over Skyla’s Swanna. Despite spending more time with Ash than any other Pokémon of his Unova team, she gets defeated in every other battle in which she takes part. Unfezant’s most embarrassing defeat came against Cameron’s Flying-type, unevolved Riolu, whom Unfezant should have had every edge against.
3) Boldore
Boldore stood out among Ash’s weaker Unova Pokémon as having a significant amount of unrealized potential. During the Gym battle against Clay’s Excadrill, it excelled as Ash’s first Rock-type and showed potential to eventually evolve into the formidable Gigalith. But like many of Ash’s other Unova Pokémon, Boldore’s evolution was unfortunately halted, leaving it underdeveloped and far from its full potent. ial.
Much like the other members of Ash’s Unova team, Boldore didn’t see much battle time. Aside from its victory over Clay’s Excadrill, its wins were negligible, and it suffered far more losses than triumphs. It could have been a second superpower next to Krookodile with the proper development, but it fell into obscurity instead
2) Butterfree
Several fans cried in front of their TVs in episode 21 of the Kanto series when Ash released his Butterfree so it could be with the pink Butterfree it had fallen in love with. It was one of the anime’s first heartbreaking farewells. However, Ash’s time with Butterfree was also quite difficult as the bug type Pokémon would be defeated in most of their fights.
As a Caterpie, the bug could only defeat Team Rocket. It then had to undergo extreme hardness in order to defeat an opponent, Pinsir, as a Metapod. An approach that probably would not have been effective in a genuine Pokémon battle. By the time it evolved, Butterfree had lost almost all of its Pokémon battles. It also lost to Misty in the gym battle, tied with a trainer’s Raticate, and was wiped out by the enormous Tentacruel.
1) Pidgeot
One of Ash’s most notable Pokémon is Pidgeot, who remained by his side as a loyal Flying-type companion for the bulk of his Kanto adventure. It evolved while protecting a group of Pidgey from a fierce Fearow. Before evolving, it fought bravely and was badly injured by Fearow’s attacks, showing that it had hidden potential. Everything had Pidgeot set up to be remembered as one of Ash’s best from that era. But in reality, it never claimed a single victory in battle.
Its battle history features a loss to Team Rocket in its first battle, defeats against a Pinsir, and Koga’s Venomoth, and only managing to inflict damage on Viridian Gym’s Rhydon. Its move set was not particularly versatile, including attacks like Double-Edge, Whirlwind, Quick Attack, and Gust, providing minimal advantage. All in all, despite its memorable backstory, this Pokémon completely failed to reach its full potential. The lack of any noteworthy wins solidifying its status as one of Ash’s worst Pokémon.
Which one of these Pokémon do you think are Ash’s worst? Do you agree with this list? Let us know in the comments below! We would love to hear from you
