What are Pokemon that you DON'T want Ash to catch (or wish that he hadn't caught) ?

[Nicolas721]

From the past:

• Kingler: I like the idea of Ash catching unpopular Pokemon, but one that disappears until pulling a DEM at the league? Not much. Muk could be in a similar boat, but, eh, at least it gives us inter series continuity consistently.
• Gible: I understand they wanted to shake up the teams in the final year, but was a Piplup bully their best idea? Grotle, Torterra and Gliscor still had ways to go, like many of the Johto reserves (who could have even promote the games, like our boy Larvitar) and they could have done better.
• Unfezant/Boldore/at least one Unova starter: Yeah, the Unova team as a mess, if you gonna give Ash reserves at least do it with creative types and personalities. I let Palpitoad live because I like it, and because I feel he's memorable in the way that he feels like the Unova team member that sparks the most conversations about how "forgettable" it is lol.
• Goodra: Like the idea, dislike the execution. The fact that Ash still had an space for it at the end of the series shows how unnecessary as to execute its story that way.
• Poipole: It should have been everyone's Pokemon like Cosmog, I don't think that would have undermined its relationship with Pikachu. That way Ash would have room for something less special that could have appeared more.
• Gengar: Nothing personal, but it should have been THE Haunter who came back evolved.
• Lucario: If they are going to pander to the fans, at least pander too to the people who want to know what the f*** happened when Ash used aura powers between 2005 and 2008. Instead we have...this.

From the future:

• Alazakam/Machamp/Tyranitar: I don't want a repeat of Dragonite or Gengar anytime soon, leave Kanto in peace (yes I know Tyranitar is not Kantonian but is almost as old as them). I wouldn't mind Arcanine or Mewtwo though, as the former hasn't had big roles since DP, and Mewtwo could be an interesting story.
• Eevee or eeveelutions: Nope. Just nope. I don't want to see people arguing endlessly about what form it will evolve, how it losing means the species is being poorly showcased, how the producers are favoring one eeveelution over the others, etc.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

Definitely Meltan.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Dragonite and Gengar. I still maintain they should’ve been caught and stayed a Dragonair and Haunter for a long time before evolving.

Lucario. I never really saw the hype and I don’t personally love the species.

 

[GrimmEvil]

For the most part alot of the Unova catches were just strange.

Unova

If they really wanted to make a larger team there were better choices that could have created a diverse team with room for giving the new pokemon unique personalities and fighting styles. Also note I don't necessarily mean just different types also types that Ash as a whole lacks in number.

Oshawott: the fact he was annoying as hell is one factor, Ash actually caught a better water type that they just wasted. Can't think of a particular mon to replace him with but really anyone would have been better than him.

Unfezant: out of all of Ash's bird catches she was useless, had no character and honestly I can't even remember what battles she participated in and their outcomes because she left no impression. Add in her being the standard Flying/Normal didn't help her much. My personal alternative would be Mandibuzz but Archeops would have also worked. They could have also just nixed the flying type altogether.

Pignite: After Infernape this was a huge fail another Fire/Fighting would instantly be compared to Infernape and matching that would be impossible. Also repeating the abandoned pokemon plot would also compare him to Charizard just compounding the problem. Volcarona or Chandelure would have been decent alternatives even though Volcarona overlaps its type with Leavanny at least it would add more bug types to Ash's overall roster.

Maybe Scraggy: this one I am not sure about though Scraggy had his problems most I could say was how he was handled if he had evolved maybe learnt some new moves he would be perfect. However at the same time considering they were trying to heavily emphasize that he was newly hatched and therefore inexperienced and would not be instantly capable of participating in normal battles.

Dracovish: he just feels pointless one tiny part in an episode and then gone until he randomly appeared again at least the rest of Ash's team is abused on screen he was just abandoned. He also just doesn't feel like he fits with Ash and his battle style.

 

[London-Moniton]

Past: Dracovish and (I'm sorry) Kamon. Both have had very underutilized developments so far and I think that they shouldn't have been put on Ash's team, if they are going to turn out like this.

 

[Sai]

In AG I would have swapped out Torkoal for something more interesting. I mean it's quite literally Ash's most forgettable fire type pokemon since it's not a starter and can't evolve. It was also only in 1 Gym battle and only lasted on Ash's team for about 50 episodes with barely any appearances.

 

[Enzo]

I still don't think Torkoal was a good idea. Stupid Pokémon who added nothing to the story and was completely useless in combat. Hard pass.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Other past Pokemon I feel shouldn't have been caught:

• Kingler, Muk, and Primeape. Mainly because hardly anything was ever done with them, especially Primeape. Muk does have its smothering running gag, but I feel that keeping a Pokemon around solely for that reason is still largely a waste.
• 29 of Ash's Tauros. I get that this is an absolutely cliche answer, but still, a whole herd of these things was unnecessary. Just have Ash catch one.
• Gible. I don't dislike him by any means, but I do feel like he was kinda pointless. All that screentime devoted to teaching him Draco Meteor could have instead been used to develop Gliscor and Torterra better.
• Noivern. Again, I don't dislike him, but he was completely redundant typewise with three whole Kalos team members and his only notable feat is putting up a fight against Zapdos. If the only win the writers were willing to give him was against Sawyer's Doublade in an unofficial match, they might as well have never had Ash catch this thing at all.
• Mimey. For all the reasons everyone has already said.

Frequent suggestions (or at least suggestions I've seen other people make) for Ash to capture:

• Any member of the Impidimp line. Mainly just because I actually would rather have Chloe get one of these instead, believe it or not. Watching her playing with the Impidimp trio in the Ponyta episode is the main reason why.
• Golisopod. Golisopod's whole theme is that it looks tough and imposing but is actually a huge coward and disguises said cowardice with the pretense that it's making a tactical retreat, and that's kind of the opposite of Ash's whole personality and fighting style. I do get the appeal of Ash working with something so anathema to his usual personality, but I just don't see it working: if the writers are already adamant that bulky tanks not named Snorlax do poorly under Ash, a giant two-faced coward would likely fare even worse.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I actually really like Ash's Torkoal. Its capture episode worked a lot more for me when I rewatched AG awhile ago to the point where I wish it got more to do. That being said, I wouldn't be against giving Ash something different in its place, but I was generally okay with it.

I definitely don't think he should have caught Noivern though. Having yet another Flying type and another Dragon type shortly after Goodra was released probably wouldn't be that much of an issue, but Noibat just did virtually nothing between learning how to fly and evolving. That's the real problem in my opinion. It didn't get to win any major battles or used in any of the remaining Gym battles. The fact that Ash had an empty slot to make room for Goodra's return on top of Noivern doing pretty much nothing also made it more frustrating.

I also wasn't a fan of Melmetal. Considering how long Ash had two empty slots for his SM, I think that they just waited too long to give it to him. The friendship between Rowlet and Meltan was cute, but it felt like Ash had a pretty minimal connection with Meltan, which felt off for SM in particular given how often Pokemon were out of their Pokeballs. If it was introduced sooner, given time to have some more battles before the Alola League and Ash had more bonding moments with it, maybe it would have been fine. As it is, Melmetal just felt a bit too tacked on for my tastes.

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

I actually really like Ash's Torkoal. Its capture episode worked a lot more for me when I rewatched AG awhile ago to the point where I wish it got more to do. That being said, I wouldn't be against giving Ash something different in its place, but I was generally okay with it.

I definitely don't think he should have caught Noivern though. Having yet another Flying type and another Dragon type shortly after Goodra was released probably wouldn't be that much of an issue, but Noibat just did virtually nothing between learning how to fly and evolving. That's the real problem in my opinion. It didn't get to win any major battles or used in any of the remaining Gym battles. The fact that Ash had an empty slot to make room for Goodra's return on top of Noivern doing pretty much nothing also made it more frustrating.

I also wasn't a fan of Melmetal. Considering how long Ash had two empty slots for his SM, I think that they just waited too long to give it to him. The friendship between Rowlet and Meltan was cute, but it felt like Ash had a pretty minimal connection with Meltan, which felt off for SM in particular given how often Pokemon were out of their Pokeballs. If it was introduced sooner, given time to have some more battles before the Alola League and Ash had more bonding moments with it, maybe it would have been fine. As it is, Melmetal just felt a bit too tacked on for my tastes.

I LOVE TORKOAL!!!!!

 

[nickdt]

Well...

Kanto
Charmander - Brock deserved it more, as he was actually the instigator for the team to rescue it. The disobedience arc could have gone to Bulbasaur instead, which would also have made sense with its backstory.
Krabby - Wasn't necessary with Squirtle already being a thing. Would have been a better fit for Misty.
Magmar - Could have been his fire type replacement. Isn't a starter either, so wouldn't have overshadowed Squirtle and Bulbasaur the way Charizard did.
Scyther - Captured by Ash instead of Tracey.

Johto
Totodile - Would have fit Misty better.
Typhlosion - Remains on the team, but fully evolves to basically serve as the replacement for Charizard
Scizor - Scyther evolved. Forms a rivalry with Brocks Steelix later on.

Hoenn
In terms of Pokemon he got, his team is fine. However, i would have made one extra addition with Lairon.

Sinnoh
Gligar - Wasn't really needed with Torterra and Staraptor a thing.
Gible - Same argument for Torterra
Magmortar - Happens at the league, so it doesn't interfere with Infernape during Sinnoh.

Unova
Snivy - Goes to Cilan instead
Scraggy - While i like it, doesn't really serve a purpose on the team with Krookodile and Pignite (Who gets a disobedience arc)
Palpitoad - Why did Ash get this thing in the first place?

Kalos
Noivern - Why was this a thing? Only there to replace the sent in training Goodra, who joined back later on anyways, making Noiverns purpose on the team even smaller.
Avalugg - Joins late. Ash bonds with a Bergmite owned by Wulfric and is allowed to take it with him. Evolves during the league.

Alola
Poipole - Doesn't really serve a purpose
Mudsdale - Would have given Ash a tank early on, who can also dish out damage. Makes a great rivalry with Ash's Lycanroc

Galar (Think his team is done)
Lucario - Is a shillmon, so would take away screentime from a starter
Gengar - Doesn't get enough screentime as is, so isn't that necessary
Inteleon - His starter this series. Has a great arc and friendship with Sirfetch'd (They are basically involved with eachothers evolutions)
Aggron - His Lairon evolved during Hyper Class battles. Ash bascially has only 5 main members this season (Pikachu, Inteleon, Dragonite, Dracovish and Sirfetch'd, with his sixth slot being used to rotate his older mons in and out). And yes, while i made a case for other type duplicates, i decided to keep Dracovish on the team, since its battle style is so different from Dragonite and Inteleon, that it warrants a stay (Unlike Noivern (Due to Talonflame), Palpitoad (Due to Krookodile) and Krabby (Due to Squirtle).

 

[Camille]

Dracovish, because the concept is just bad.
Palpitoad, because it is ugly and not all that strong, and I was hoping to see Oshawott fully evolve.

 

[FelipePR]

From the past:

• Gible: I understand they wanted to shake up the teams in the final year, but was a Piplup bully their best idea? Grotle, Torterra and Gliscor still had ways to go, like many of the Johto reserves (who could have even promote the games, like our boy Larvitar) and they could have done better.

- Well, Gible is not a bully and never bullied Piplup, although the prickly penguin possibly deserves it. The fact that Gible's Dragon Meteor almost always hits Piplup was a fateful incident that the Pokémon couldn't avoid, as transcribed from Ash's Gible article in Bulbapedia:

Dawn's Piplup dislikes him due to constantly being hit by his failed Draco Meteors, but Gible has no harsh feelings towards Piplup, even refusing to fight Piplup after accidentally hitting him several times with a failed Draco Meteor. After being severely scolded by Dawn's Togekiss, he reveals that he doesn't intend to hurt him, but he simply cannot avoid it, showing that he does care about Piplup.

- As for Larvitar, it was not a Pokémon of Ash who was in the reserve, Ash was never officially its trainer, on the contrary he returned the baby Pokémon to the wild and to its mother. And capturing and training a Larvitar or Gible would be equivalent.

- I agree, however, that capturing Gible was unnecessary, considering Ash team and the anime moment. Despite this, it is certain that many people were excited that Ash had caught his first dragon and semi-legendary Pokémon.

 

[Daren]

The Pokemon was called too many times, and LOST EVERY SINGLE BATTLE.

He didn't get the starring win in any major battles but he KO'd Norman's Slakoth and Tyson's Shiftry, and was seen winning a one on one match with a Scizor.

 

[Gengarzilla]

Lucario and the one who shall not be named are the immediate first picks for Pokémon who I wish Ash never got. Just, ugh, what were they thinking with such obnoxious shillmons? Charizard as a species may get plenty of backlash for its overexposure through the last three generations but at least Ash's Charizard was respectful enough to leave the main cast (again) and not be an active part of that whole trend.

Seriously, I don't want to imagine what they'd have done with this Charizard if he hung around for XY.

 

[Epic Spheal]

Dragonite and Dracovish: Ash already has 3 dragons (4 if you want to count Naganadel as still his), 2 of which are pseudo legends. A lot of this stems from me wanting to see Ash use more of his older mons to give them development or battle redemption. I feel like he could've developed Gible more and maybe have it evolve or given Goodra and Noivern some more wins


Palpitoad and Boldore: It's mainly because Ash's Unova team was already bloated, and as we've seen from OS it's hard to really manage more than six at once

Mimey: someone up-thread said my criticisms of the retcon way better than I can articulate them

 

[Blob]

In AG I would have swapped out Torkoal for something more interesting. I mean it's quite literally Ash's most forgettable fire type pokemon since it's not a starter and can't evolve. It was also only in 1 Gym battle and only lasted on Ash's team for about 50 episodes with barely any appearances.

If he needed a Fire type it should have been a Numel since at least it can evolve.

 

[Ash Ketchum!]

Most of the Unova roster. The only ones I completely wish Ash had kept are Snivy, Oshawott (as much as I despise his character, the species itself is my favorite Unova Starter line, and I also think it's a great fit for Ash, so my ideal version of Oshawott would have been less of a jerk and/or recieved actual development), and Krookodile.

I didn't like how much of an Infernape rehash Pignite was, especially since he came right off the monkey's heels, so I think I would have given him to Cilan instead (albeit he likely would have remained a Tepig) and be used as a cook assistant or something.

Leavanny would have gone to Cilan as well, since I feel he fits Cilan's personality, matches well with the whole Connoisseur thing due to being a happiness-based evolution, and is a Grass-type, so it honestly would have been way better for Cilan than Crustle and Stunfisk.

Palpitoad and Boldore I think should have just stayed COTDs.

Unfezant and Scraggy I'm admittedly on the fence on whether they should have stayed on the team or not: on one hand, Unfezant was pretty terrible in battle, but on the other hand I feel like she would have had more opportunities to shine and become stronger if she was on a less bloated team. Plus, I kinda don't want Ash to lose one of the very few confirmed female Pokemon he has. Scraggy meanwhile was genuinely useful as a sparring partner for Axew and, like Unfezant, likely would have had better growth on a less bloated team. The only real issue I have with it is the type overlap with Krookodile (made all the more weird that Scraggy essentially was treated like a pure Fighting-type), so maybe I would have just had a Mienfoo in its role or something, but I still don't think I really mind Scraggy itself staying.

So... yeah. Basically just trim the excess fat of the Unova team and focus on properly developing and fleshing out the remaining members.

I would've liked to see Ash with a Golett, Durant and maybe a Litwick. And Braviary instead of Unfeazant.

 

[SushiBurrito]

I Wish the non-Advance and XY series were better at dividing up the starters instead of giving them all to Ash (or in the case of DP giving 2 of the 3 to Ash)

For Kanto Ash should have gotten Bulbasaur, Brock should have gotten Charmander and Misty should have gotten Squirtle

For Johto Ash should have gotten Cyndaquil, give Brock Chikarita and Misty Totodile

For Sinnoh just give Ash Chimchar and let Turtwig go to Brock

And Unova just give Ash Oshawatt and Cilan Tepig since Trip has a Snivy

 

[nickdt]

I will say it: Mimey.

Cuz here's the thing about retcons. I believe that a good retcon has to answer two questions to justify it's existence: 1) Does it still makes sense within the universe and doesn't creates any other plot holes? and 2) What exactly do you gain by altering that piece of the universe?

On the first question, we can already see a problem. So, you're telling me that Ash captured a whole ass Pokémon over 20 years and 936 eps ago and he didn't wanted to battle with it once? And this is the thing, you see: it's not that Mimey is a pacifist who refuses to battle. He battles when Ash asks him to and he's no opposed to it.

And even if you argue that Mimey's primary goal is to help Delia, well, firstly, she's not opposed to him battling, it seems, as even Delia herself is not afraid to battle (as Mimey's debut ep and her ordering Litten in SM proved) and even if Mimey never wanted to stop helping Delia out, Ash could still call him up eventually when he wanted to while still letting Mimey be happy with Delia. So really, why hasn't Ash ever used him in anything?

And the second question, which is also a fail. Because, really, what exactly does Mimey being Ash's mon adds to the story that justifies this retcon? Mimey is still not considered part of Ash's team, it doesn't travels with him nor does it battles in the PWC. Like, Mimey barely even appears. So why was this even accepted into canon if it doesn't adds anything new?

This recton was a disaster and shouldn't have been done.

The reason Ash never used it: Mimey would have one shotted everything... Ash wanted to give the others a fair chance at beating him.