The COMPLETE Guide To Ash’s Pokemon Journey (Part 1)

for fans of Pokemon even more so the anime 2023  is a Bittersweet year Ash Ketchum is one of the   most iconic characters in fictional media having  a signature look that only has changed slightly   since the late 90s and after these past  couple decades his journey throughout the   world of Pokemon is set to come to an end by  the end of this year when originally hearing   that announcement I felt two things one a sense  of closure that never felt like it was a reality   that would happen and two this emotional sense  of nostalgia that has driven me to re-experience   Ash's Journey from his Beginnings in Pallet Town  to becoming world champion to his final goodbye   throughout the next several months looking through  over 25 Seasons 1200 episodes and two dozen movies   we will be going on this journey with Ash to cope  with the ending of a character that has been there   nearly my whole life as much as the character has  meant to me as a child I have had the pleasure of   calling Sarah natacheni the current voice actor  of Ash for over 16 years a friend in more recent   years and it has just been such a joy to  see the legacy of the character do so many   things he was trying to achieve back when I  was a kid and now get to this well-deserved   Finish Line whether or not you're a massive  fan of Pokemon at one point I feel like Ash   Ketchum and his adventures in the Pokemon world  has meant something to you today we're going to   gear up and begin our journey right where  it all started with a boy from Pallet Town   who was eager to get his first ever Pokemon  welcome to the complete guide to Ash's Journey thank you yeah before we get into it we have to look at  where it all began where in Japan Pokemon was   becoming quite popular with the original games  red and green coming out in 1996. the success of   the games led to the card game becoming a reality  later that year in this spiral of pokemania within   Japan alone was starting to Boom from there having  manga adaptations and several other media vessels   all stemming from just the games It ultimately led  up to the anime being based on the concept of the   video game coming out on April 1st 1997 in Japan  but it was anything but a joke the show would   follow Satoshi on his journey to become a Pokemon  Master it wouldn't be long until the Pokemon   bubble in Japan was ready to expand and rather  than this natural growth of the franchise we saw   in Japan the plan for the North American Market  was to hit with a double whammy right away and   changing how unsuspecting future fans would grow  to love the Pokemon property first on September   7th 1998 the anime would premiere on on television  introducing kids to the character of Ash Ketchum   with the first video games red and blue releasing  a few weeks later on September 28th where now you   can be like Ash with a video game it was a smart  tactic to pull off and this isn't even including   the fact that just a handful of months later  on January 9 1999 the trading card game would   also come out this was a triple threat attack on  all fronts full-on pokemania had hit and had hit   hard but what they LED with in the states here was  the anime where the show would be in the hands and   mercy of four kids entertainment who would handle  producing the English dubbing at this moment in   time four kids was Infamous for the edits it  would make before episodes were cleared for   broadcast or even not allowing certain episodes to  be dubbed at all leaving them as not included in   the Run of episodes shown here in the states the  censorship overall can be tackled more in detail   later on but we have arrived at the show being a  full-on reality a 10 year old boy from Pallet Town   begins his journey to become Pokemon Master along  with his first ever Pokemon Pikachu what a journey   he will have it's 11 o'clock and you should be  asleep Pokemon will return in a moment on Kids WB   back to an all-new Pokemon on Kids WB you ever find yourself sitting back and thinking  who is Ash well that's the million dollar question   maybe throughout our 1200 plus episodes of the  show we'll be able to answer that he's a complex   character that we see change over time from era  to era but for where he is now at the beginning   of the series Ash is very much a kid with little  knowledge of the Pokemon world regardless of how   much he likes to think he does he's not super  responsible he can be kind of rude sometimes   and his determination can blind him from his  shortcomings but by golly does the kid have heart   I feel why we the viewers got attached to him as a  character was because he was kind of a goofball he   had all the makings of a main character we would  want to root for but he was nowhere near perfect   in fact he loses and fails quite often making  it known that it is okay to do so but to never   give up you could see yourself in Ash believe in  his journey and root for him along the way while   I do believe Ash grows in character throughout  the Indigo League it's easier to look all the   way towards the end within the sword and shield  Journeys Series where he does feel a lot different   while he's still someone to root for and a lot  of the original themes are still there with him   a lot more of those childish nature moments he had  that drip feeds into the attitude in the original   series really aren't there as much I think a lot  of what makes Ash so special throughout the show   are his connections to the other companions  he has along with him on his journey with it   constantly being changed after the Johto series  but in the beginning we have an unforgettable   cast here which yes I include Pikachu in  I will separately speak on Ash's Pokemon   later but Pikachu is Pikachu man I mean come on  it's a little icon here so let's start with him   thank you well I will have more to say about  Pikachu as the video goes on his relationship   with Ash in the beginning of the Pokemon anime  is so important from the very start having   this antagonistic nature towards Ash and being  extremely standoffish only really caring about   himself of course this Dynamic starts changing  once they protect each other from the Spiros in   the first episode and this bonding relationship  between the two starts building out from there   Pikachu also has this goofy nature and tougher  attitude most of the time but this adapts to a   more precious and caring personality towards the  group he travels with and the other Pokemon who   joined the team along the way we can only sit here  and speculate Pikachu's past why he is the way   he is why the lightning bolt on the Pokeball  he came from May indicate a Saturn pass of a   previous trainer based on the ball decoration  well not quite we actually do have an answer   to this but it's way later on in something we're  gonna tackle many parts later but for now we can   see where he started here in this series and where  he goes throughout the show in general why did Ash   get Pikachu would not any other starter from the  Kanto region well because he was late to pick up   a starter Pokemon and they were all gone but the  real answer was that this yellow mouse was perfect   to sell the franchise to the viewer base that  attracted everyone originally it was this pink   ball of terrifying power Imagine The Adventures  of Ash and Clefairy for 25 years yeah I just   can't see it sure it's fun in the manga but how  well is that going to translate when the show is   very much not like the manga but that all comes  down to the personality which Pikachu is full of   and why he deserves to be counted as a traveling  companion next let's talk about Misty arguably the   most iconic redhead in media oh you think you have  a better answer than that that you're writing in   the comments right now well you're probably wrong  how about that Misty is the perfect person to keep   Ash in line when his eyes are too big for his  stomach by that I mean his Ambitions overtaking   his better judgment she's pretty complex as a  character having a deep-rooted backstory with   Cerulean City has specific reasons for joining Ash  on his journey and where their relationship ends   up by the end of their Journey together as well  as when she makes some cameos way later on in   more recent series with her having her own goals  in mind that she discovers for herself she along   with Brock who we will get to in a second really  are the backbone supporting Ash throughout his   highs and his lows and navigating his journey  to be the best like no one ever was mixing her   well-deserved annoyance with her support for him  while he battles being in the gym leader circuit   with the heavy pressure from her sisters forcing  her to be so hard on herself we see her start   building this confidence in herself it's something  that you can also root for and it adds something   for the audience watching it gives them another  character to find themselves in and for Brock a   gym leader circuit person out of responsibility  and necessity that much rather would care for   Pokemon working towards his goal of being a great  Pokemon breeder after leaving the gym World behind   him and meeting Ash and seeing his good-natured  Spirit on a path that he wanted to be a part   of Brock while having his uh more interesting  moments overly being into every girl that he ever   meets and Performing the song Two Perfect Girls  referring to his love love for both Officer Jenny   and Nurse Joy song slaps though I can't lie he's  still a really caring person giving a lot of his   time on the journey to being the cook for both Ash  and Misty as well as all of the Pokemon on their   Journey he knows how to help take care of Pokemon  when there isn't a Pokemon Center around serving   as the team medic just knowing his stuff when it  comes to Pokemon care in general this is our main   group for the journey later on I would like to dig  into important characters we see throughout the   series from Team Rocket to Tracy to Professor Oak  but for the preliminary characters that we mainly   focus on that's a solid introduction to them  before we start our real journey together ah sweater ah the start has something ever been so scary and  daunting yet so exciting and fun well we start   things off with a vision of the Pokemon League and  a young 10 year old Ash Ketchum is gearing up for   his big day tomorrow of seeing Professor Oak and  choosing his starter Pokemon for his journey to   begin at 10 years old trainers are able to get  a starter Pokemon and go off alone on their own   Journey too well do whatever I guess most of them  go up against the Pokemon League some find other   purposes in life outside of just battling though  but Ash here wants to be the best but thanks to   Ash accidentally destroying his alarm clock  the following morning he wakes up late to be   at Professor Oak's lab to choose his starter upon  arriving half awake and still in his pajamas he   sees Gary Oak his ultimate rival for the series  and the grandson to the professor the attitude   Gary serves Ash drives him to be the best that he  can be especially against Gary down the road when   speaking to Professor Oak he learns that all  of the starter Pokemon aside from one special   option had been taken this is where we first meet  Pikachu and Ash tries his best to enjoy the choice   he's making while Pikachu wants nothing to do with  him and kind of reluctantly ends up going with him   Pikachu also isn't a fan of being in his pokeball  causing problems from being outside of it like   shocking everyone including Ash's overprotective  yet oddly easy to push him out of the house mother   making the hole leaving in celebration on the  journey pretty awkward these first moments   along with Ash and Pikachu are very crucial with  Pikachu being completely standoffish and Ash being   determined to become his friend rather than just a  trainer Ash without the help of Pikachu just tries   to capture Pokemon right off the bat but has many  issues not understanding that he needs to weaken   the Pokemon first for a better chance Pikachu  just mocks him for this but Ash attempts to throw   a rock at a group of Pidgey but the rock hits a  Spiro who was in the middle and they aren't as   chill as the average Pidgey so in retaliation for  literally getting hit with a rock Spiro swoops in   and starts attacking them Pikachu gets attacked as  well for just being associated Ash tries to help   Pikachu but Pikachu is just defending himself at  this point once the Spiro calls in for backup the   two runaways they constantly get pecked by these  birds while Ash's main concern is Pikachu's safety   rather than his own carrying him away once he is  badly attacked Ash then comes across a girl who   we get introduced to his Misti shortly as she is  fishing as Ash gets lectured about what a Pokemon   Center is and what way to go to get Pikachu  there as he then steals her bike for a faster   getaway and she stands there pissed the sky starts  darkening a storm starts up as the Spiro swarm   closer knocking Ash and Pikachu from the bike and  right into the mud Ash does what he can to protect   Pikachu offering him to get in his ball for safety  and just asking Pikachu to trust him as he stands   up blocking the sparrow from attacking Pikachu  any further but as they swoop in for an attack on   ash Pikachu uses the last bit of strength he has  to jump in front of Ash and hits them all with a   blast of electricity defeating him the two of them  later awake as the skies clear face to face on the   ground weakened but in relieved States as above  them a mysterious gold silhouette what did Pokemon   flies above at the time when this came out we had  no idea who this was it wasn't in the 151 that   we knew and it had to be in the more to see part  of the song as this Gen 2 Pokemon plays a bigger   Factor connecting to this moment here way later  on in Ash's Journey Ash's Pokedex makes no note   of what this Pokemon is as it's not registered in  Oak's Pokedex database but side note the Pokedex   itself is an underrated sassy character all on  its own but I just love how this episode ends   with Ash escorting Pikachu to Viridian City for  the Pokemon Center but it's what the narrator says   that puts it best to describe the journey after  this initial opening this is just the beginning   of the Amazing Adventures of Ash and Pikachu  their journey is destined to be packed with   non-stop action millions of laughs heart-pounding  perils and endless excitement together they'll   encounter fantastic friends evil enemies and meet  creatures beyond their wildest imagination and as   their story unfolds we'll unlock the magic and  mystery of a most wondrous place the incredible   world of Pokemon and if that's not an introduction  I don't know what is once they're in Viridian City   Ash meets a lot of familiar faces that we'll get  to know from here on out from right off the bat   running into Officer Jenny who just has an endless  amount of identical cousins in the police force   while on the lookout for some Pokemon poachers and  mistaking Ash for possibly being one she notices   that he is a trainer and his Pikachu is in major  need of help as she whips the motorcycle right   into the Pokemon Center and helping get Pikachu  over to Nurse Joy who just like Jenny essentially   has a never-ending look-alike family that are all  nurses while waiting for Pikachu to be treated Ash   takes a moment to call back home and Report into  Professor Oak about the mysterious golden Pokemon   where the professor doesn't fully believe him  but it's okay one day we'll have those answers   oh and Misty comes back and now she's angry at  Ash for not only stealing her bike but getting   it completely trashed Misty calms down after Ash  explains it was for the well-being of Pikachu and   now she worries about Pikachu more so than her  ruined bike but here is where we meet the true   antagonists for the entire series Team Rocket  but Morse specifically Jesse James and Meowth   who can talk that's right their scheme here is  to break in and steal all the Pokemon from the   Pokemon Center but as tensions are high and  the power cuts out a bunch of other Pikachu   help keep the power on as we hear the mention  of the next city we travel to Pewter City which   Nurse Joy wants to get all of these Pokemon here  to safety over there Ash's Pikachu is starting to   wake up but isn't fully recovered yet so all the  other Pikachu gather around him to charge him up   and give him the strength to unleash another  huge thundershock which ends up causing an   explosion thanks to Team Rocket's coughing  gas after seeing this Team Rocket pulls back   and makes a new plan that they now have their  eyes set on Ash's Pikachu for how powerful it   truly is and it will totally impress their boss  Giovanni but they aren't going to get away that   easily their Meowth balloon gets damaged and the  team gets sent blasting off for the first time So   eventually they will be saying we're blasting off  again a solid catchphrase this is where the world   starts opening for ash we meet some new people get  introduced to the villains and by the end Ash now   has as Misty as a tag along on his adventure  for the main reason of his broke butt one day   paying her back for the Rune bike but regardless  this Sparks the beginning of a great friendship   between the two even if things are still pretty  at odds constantly between them but not long into   their traveling Ash and Misty are startled by a  Caterpie in the woods where Misty has a phobia   of bug Pokemon and Ash is finally ready to catch  something and luckily he does end up catching the   Caterpie as his first Pokemon outside of Pikachu  and on top of that apparently he's going catching   crazy ending up with a captured Pidgeotto the  evolution of Pidgey which he couldn't capture   in episode 1 but in doing so he indirectly uses  caterpillar's bait this will come back to play in   a second clearly from the carelessness and lack  of knowledge and battle strategy Misty begins   really showing signs of her knowledge and While  She lays into Ash about this it's really giving   him some important lessons to learn to be a better  trainer overall Team Rocket returns to make their   plans very clear to Ash about wanting to steal his  Pikachu and thus Begins the repetitive Clashing   of Team Rocket and Ash and Pikachu where the the  setups only get more ridiculous from here to try   and somehow capture the Pikachu and technically  Ash does have his first real Pokemon battle here   despite Team Rocket double teaming him which is  against the league rules but he refuses to break   them himself stopping Misty from joining in on  the fight but scratch all that he tries to fist   fight them at one point I'm not sure that's in the  rule book there but regardless his last attempt is   to send out Caterpie into the battle and this  little scrapper starts taking out Ekans and   coughing like it was light work Team Rocket ends  up leaving and Caterpie is celebrated but as Misty   overcomes her fear of bug Pokemon to give Caterpie  some congratulatory head Pats Caterpie does this   yeah understandable but the silk spray turns into  a cocoon for him as he evolves into a Metapod and   now as Ash continues through the routes and  trying to capture more Pokemon this odd boy   dressed as a samurai challenges Ash to a battle  at first Ash's Pidgeotto loses to the other kid's   pincer but when Ash tosses out his new Metapod its  hardened ability takes out one of the pincers the   pincers geez that's some manga-esque violence  Vibes right there then the classic Metapod V   Metapod match happens between the two constantly  having them use Harden as nothing really happens   here because of that a funny moment for the series  overall but the determination from Ash to win in   a winless stalemate shows how it can quickly  turn into stubbornness but later on a Beedrill   swarm swoops in where the samurai kid recalls his  Metapod to save it while Ash sits there trying to   get the beedrill's data into his Pokedex because  of this the Beedrill ends up taking Ash's Metapod   causing him to freak out I mean they just stole  his fairly new Pokemon and Ash didn't act in a way   to take care of his Pokemon first before trying  to learn about this new Pokemon the kid lays in   into Ash about this and as the Night Comes Ash is  hurt with the thought of Metapod being alone out   there in danger so the next morning he goes out  looking for him putting himself in danger for the   sake of getting Metapod out of a Kakuna Nest but  once Ash goes in to rescue him Team Rocket messes   things up and sets off the B drill and now ash  makes his move to recall Metapod back into his   ball but Metapod is pretty sour towards Ash thanks  to how Ash was pushing him so hard in battle and   how he could just let him be taken like this and  maybe some resentment for being used as bait when   he was a Caterpie it makes Ash realize how he put  the battle and the excitement of new Pokemon over   the health and Assurance of his own Pokemon but  in the most dramatic and worrisome moment after   Ash sincerely apologizes to Metapod and Promises a  lot better and more responsible care Ash's Metapod   jumps in to protect him from a Beedrill attack  ending up with a major slash into metapod's body   but it starts to Glow ending up evolving once more  already into a Butterfree who uses sleep powder   to put the attacking Beedrill in Team Rocket to  sleep the samurai kid shows respect to Ash for   how he handled this situation though now reaching  Pewter City it's time for ash to face his first   challenge as he learns about the Pokemon League  Championship and the fact that he needs to earn   eight badges throughout Kanto from the various gym  leaders and it just so happens that here in Pewter   City there is a gym for him to battle against his  first gym leader in hopes of winning a boulder   badge his first of eight Ash is clearly unprepared  for this as the training we've seen so far is well   practically nothing like sure one of his Pokemon  evolved twice but that really doesn't mean much   here the gym leader is Brock and Ash jumps in  gung-ho into the battle with his Pikachu vs   brox Onyx who easily takes out a non-experienced  Pikachu who isn't ready for a battle like this   yet Ash defeated in spirit leaves the gym but  spends time with this mysterious person named   Flint that we originally meet on our way into  Pewter City this guy shows Ash the other side of   Brock telling him about his father abandoning him  to go off to be a Pokemon trainer and his mother   abandoning the kids as well leaving Brock here  to take care of his law large amount of siblings   something he does take pride in while he has to  hold up the City gym and battle trainers by day   Ash still faces Brock the next day after some  intense training and to everyone's surprise   Pikachu under Ash's commands is not doing so bad  but even though Pikachu uses a new Thunderbolt   attack that does end up hurting Onyx a bit Onyx  still has the upper hand with Pikachu on the verge   of being knocked out from the tight grip wrapped  around him but thanks to the sprinklers going off   in the gym it ends up making Onyx a lot weaker and  opening up a prime time to strike for Pikachu but   all of Brock's siblings try to convince Ash not  to persuading him by saying that winning under   these circumstances is not really winning if the  sprinklers weren't on you wouldn't have had the   chance to make this move Ash even though he isn't  the most knowledgeable about anything it seems for   some reason is dead set on following the rules and  being fair and square with his battles if he does   win he wants it to be from his merits and skill  over outside conditions or Hell ash leaves the   gym having a heart-to-heart with Pikachu about  maybe pushing him a bit too hard in training   training but before they can all walk away for  the day Brock comes running up to them he ends   up handing Ash a boulder badge anyway which Ash  refuses to take it first but Brock tells him that   his kindness to Pokemon is what made him earn this  which one makes sense for Brock's character as we   will see throughout the show where he cares more  about Pokemon's well-being over winning battles   but for ash this starts a pattern with how Ash  earns a lot of these badges in the Kanto region   we can point this out as they come but he earns a  lot of the badges by not even winning the battles   so I guess he just accepts taking the badge and  all those merits we just discussed are thrown out   the window nice Brock however opens up about his  passions in being a Pokemon breeder caring for and   nurturing Pokemon rather than running the gym  but the mysterious Flint guy reveals the whole   time that he was Brock's runaway father and that  he never returned to his family due to the shame   of feeling like a failure but always watch from  afar making sure things were okay he wants to be   back in his life and help take care of the family  which Brock quickly starts breaking down just how   much there truly is to do for him as he can now  shed led the responsibilities of running the gym   and take time away from playing parent for all  of his siblings and go forward with Ash and Misty   to pursue more of his calling helping Pokemon  not too long after this we shift from a brock   Centric episode to a misty Centric episode where  the trio arrived in Cerulean City where Ash is   extremely excited to go and get his second badge  from the gym there the Cascade badge Misty not   as excited to be there and starts acting pretty  weird towards it all in general splits from the   group as well as Brock goes and does Brock things  Ash attempts to head to the gym on his own meeting   three synchronized swimming sisters Lily Daisy  and violet and apparently they all are the gym   leader they seem pretty well trained but tell Ash  that they are too tired to battle and literally   just offer him the badge for free I mean come on  what are the chances here Ash two for two without   doing anything well almost Misty shows up after  listening in on all of this and calls out Ash to   battle her as we find out that Misty is also a gym  leader for this gym and those other girls are her   older sisters she definitely feels this pressure  of perfection from them being separated by age   height and experience but she doesn't want Ash  to just get another badge without a proper battle   like the last one as well but before this battle  can finish Team Rocket like usual interrupts   things and ends up vacuuming up all the water  Pokemon from the gym but Pikachu and Ash jump   in to stop them having Pikachu Thunderbolt them  out of the area and reverse the vacuum to release   back all of the Pokemon and then one of the older  sisters just gives Ash a badge anyway even though   he didn't win a battle once again now the sisters  go tell an angry Misty that she would have lost   due to the type advantage anyway and have a moment  with her about her coming back this great trainer   they know she'll become by continuing her journey  with Ash giving her another reason outside of the   bike payback to stay with him sometime later on  their way to Vermilion City they come across an   Oddish as Misty wants to actually catch it and  it's easily defeated by her starmy but as she   goes in to capture it her Pokeball is smacked  aside from a Bulbasaur Vine as it steps in to   defend the Oddish attacking and defeating Misty  Starmie and after Ash sends in his Butterfree   to help Bulbasaur and Oddish Escape back into the  woods so the group now just continues along until   they're on a rope bridge that breaks as they're  Crossing it and Brock Falls all the way down   into the water below as Ash helps pull Misty and  Pikachu to safety after holding onto the bridge   as they now find a way to get to the water safely  to look for Brock Misty falls into a pit trap and   then after Ash helps her out of that Misty ends up  snagging a rope on the ground that pulls them all   up into a net what a weird case of bad luck here  almost like it was all on purpose hmm but not long   after that Brock shows back up and helps them out  and introduces them to a girl named Melanie who   ended up helping him out of the river we learn all  about this hidden village a place that separates   itself from Outsiders to help injured and hurt  Pokemon as well as those abandoned by their   trainers which is a subject we'll be touching  on here with these next few episodes of Pokemon   Melanie takes care of the Pokemon for as long  as they are there for and makes the medicine   she uses for healing them herself as she also  said all of the traps up herself as a form of   protection for the hidden Village after this we  get a good moment of learning to care for Pokemon   equally showing such a caring and loving side to  sharing the world with them outside of the more   widespread and popular ways of battling with them  of course Team Rocket who is always following them   gets in the way and tries to take some Pokemon  but Ash and Bulbasaur end up fighting back to   protect all of the Pokemon there and after easily  doing so Melanie makes note that Ash and Bulbasaur   would make a great team so why not have Ash take  Bulbasaur with him Bulbasaur ends up wanting to   go with him but on one condition Ash Battles him  for it where Pikachu steps in and wins the battle   allowing Ash to capture Bulbasaur and add one  of the three starters he originally missed the   opportunity to get from Professor Oak at the  start of the series now shortly after this we   get one of the most emotional episodes of Pokemon  as we come across the next starter Ash missed out   on Charmander where the group run into him  just hanging out on a rock but he refuses   to be caught by Ash or even battle Pikachu as  it is waiting for someone to return to get him   so upon believing that this is someone else's  Pokemon they can continue along the Route and   end up spending the night at a Pokemon Center  Lodge as the weather starts getting pretty bad   outside Brock's Nature has him worrying about that  Charmander and hoping that the trainer actually   did come back for him in time but they end up  overhearing from this person named Damien that   the Charmander was his and it was so weak that  he told it to just stay there and wait for him   and he had no plans to come back and get him Brock  here jumps in to tell Damian off about how awful   of a Pokemon trainer and overall person that he  is with Ash and Misty behind him backing him up   Damien though really doesn't care and just ends  up leaving as now the three of them rush back to   go and help that poor Charmander when they find  him he is trying to cover his flame on his tail   from the rain so it doesn't go out as well as he  gets attacked by Spiro where now after Ash throws   a rock at them like in the first episode Pikachu  is ready to take them all out to get them away   from Charmander ash makes sure that he protects  charmander's flame as they now hightail it back   to the Pokemon Center to get it some proper care  Nurse Joy is there to help of course but scolds   them about letting Charmander get like this but  the situation diffuses once they explained that   it was them saving the Charmander and it was  the other trainer Damien's after a while of   everyone worrying about the outcome in the waiting  room Nurse Joy tells them that Charmander is all   good and will be feeling better by the morning  which relieves them all but in the morning the   Charmander has escaped and returned back to the  forest to go find the rock to wait for Damien   to return because of how loyal his nature is  after the trio leave the Pokemon Center and get   into another scuffle with Team Rocket who now has  rubber suits to not get hurt by Pikachu's attacks   they are able to actually capture him away from  Ash but that same Charmander comes around to stop   them and speak with Meowth telling him that they  need to let Pikachu go and when they don't all   that pent-up anger that Charmander has after being  told he's weak and not strong enough by Damien he   lets out a powerful flamethrower that takes out  Team Rocket and sets Pikachu free from their   captivity Damien actually catches a glimpse of  this while he's just standing there in the woods   for some reason and while Ash thinks Charmander  and offers him a choice to come with them Damien   interrupts them now being impressed at all the  power that Charmander actually had and is now   now back for him after all this time he claims  that this was a method of training seeing the   other side of how Pokemon can be looked at and  treated in this world Charmander ends up rejecting   going back with Damian as he tries to force him  to get back in a ball but Pikachu stands alongside   Charmander to fend off against Damian scaring him  away leaving Brock to have Ash offer Charmander to   go with him as he excitedly jumps into a Pokeball  now this Charmander and how it grows throughout   the series is very interesting as well having  had its loyalty broken once and finding it hard   to trust again now that Ash has two of the three  starters better make it all three right continuing   on the road they fall into a pit a running Trope  that we will see for the series and you'll hear   me say it a lot and a group of Squirtle all  wearing some fun sunglasses purein laughing   at them after they climb out Ash tries to battle  them as the other Squirtle protects the leader of   the group this is broken up once Officer Jenny  shoes them away and explains to The Gang That   these Squirtles are the Squirtle Squad and they  are going around pulling pranks on people for the   heck of it as they have all come together after  being a abandoned by their trainers which the past   two episodes and this episode have all had a focus  on clearly not too long into a trainer's Journey   they're just getting rid of them like they aren't  a companion it's heartbreaking stuff the pranks   continue to get out of hand however and Ash really  wants to battle them and after a series of events   that go in no one's favor aside from the Squirtles  they end up tied up in Pikachu trapped in a cage   but why would they do this well Meowth from Team  Rocket convinced these Squirtles who already don't   trust humans that they need to separate the humans  from Pikachu and capture him obviously this is for   meow to present Pikachu back to Team Rocket once  they catch up with them but the Squirtles don't   know that Meowth has a verbal battle here with Ash  as the squirrels here are just keeping guard but   Ash is able to convince the Squirtles to help him  out with Pikachu as he is injured pretty bad and   needs some medicine the Squirtle see that there  is some care from the humans here towards their   Pokemon allowing Ash to leave and run to town  to get some but upon making it to the shop the   door is slammed in his face by his rival Gary  who doesn't even notice him or even say a word   this apparently knocks him out for the entire rest  of the night though when he wakes Jesse and James   are literally robbing the same shop he was going  to getting supplies that will be all used at the   demise of the Squirtle Squad as they were heading  there to meet up with Meowth who was just standing   by with Pikachu Ash runs into the shop quickly  after trying to get some potion but everyone   pulls the strap out on him thinking that they were  getting robbed again but Jenny comes in just in   time to Defuse The Situation man he's 10. y'all  need to chill Ash shows back up as the Squirtles   just realize that they aren't such bad humans  after all and that they themselves are only just   pranksters and not evil at least not like these  guys where they start throwing explosives to get   back at the squirrels for pranking them earlier  as well and so that they can steal Pikachu in the   chaos Ash jumps in to save the leader Squirtle  from getting hurt causing the Squirtle to be   in tears over the love he was just shown now  helping him get up and go after Team Rocket to   take them out Pikachu is returned and the squirrel  Squad ends up helping put out the fires from the   explosions making them Town heroes and not just  these annoying pranksters becoming the firefighter   leaders for them the leader Squirtle follows Ash  and friends as he takes off his glasses and runs   into Ash's arms excited to join the team and  just like that three for three Ash now has all   the Pokemon that he could have had a chance to  pick between at the start all with backstories   relating to bad trainers giving up on them but  Ash not it's emotional and truly a nice way to   build up Ash's team and how we see him grow along  his journey wow they're pretty dumb aren't they as the journey continues Ash and Company have some  interesting encounters Ash though finds himself   trying to capture a smaller and sized crabby as  we will learn here more about Pokemon sizes but   after he catches him the Pokeball disappears from  his hand as Ash has reached his max party limit   of six Pokemon with him at once so Krabby gets  sent back to Professor Oak's lab and from here   on out we sometimes cut back to any of the Pokemon  over at the lab with Oak as they just annoy him in   their excitement to say hi to Ash more about the  sizes of Pokemon Oak informs Ash that Gary also   caught a crabby but it was a lot bigger in size  they later run into Bill who was stuck in a Kabuto   costume for a while who when freed alludes to  the mysteries of the Pokemon world exploring more   than the known at the time more than 151 Pokemon  species because this is only one region and it's   the first season so the so far in total of over  a thousand aren't known technically yet he spends   his time studying researching and also trying to  find out more about the supposed largest Pokemon   ever that no one has seen as he brings them to the  top of the lighthouse looking into the sea shortly   after now this giant Pokemon does appear in this  silhouette glowing-eyed form towering as large as   the lighthouse stands high this encounter doesn't  last long as Team Rocket is there and James says   so size does matter as then they fire rockets at  it ruining this beautiful moment of trust between   this mysterious beast and Bill I mean clearly  it's a gigantic Dragonite and outside of it   being out of the normal size it should usually  be this could be retconned in the form of the   dynamaxing abilities of the gala region but then  that logic breaks again since he would be really   far away from that area where that would even be  possible so who knows but sizes in Pokemon are   cool and never really matter all that much but  they are brought up from time to time oh and a   Dragonite Cloud at the end that's nice once Ash  and everyone made it to Vermilion City where Ash   has another shot at a gym badge battling against  tenant surge the gym leader Ash is ready to prove   that he can do it on his own without some other  circumstances he will win this badge by beating   Serge but things don't go well when Serge's  Raichu the evolution of Pikachu which Pikachu   is intimidated by the strength of him is ready  to battle Pikachu is ready to give it his all   as well especially since surge has done nothing  but mock Ash for his baby Pokemon and not having   the stronger evolved Pokemon Pikachu is losing  pretty badly but has a warrior Spirit refusing   to listen to Ash to stop fighting in return it's  too late though as Raichu hits Pikachu with a big   Thunderbolt attack knocking him out of the battle  while after healing up Ash is happy that Pikachu   is okay but Pikachu himself is not physically  he's fine but his mind is clouded at the loss   of this battle as Raichu represents a picture of  what he could be if he evolved Ash is offered a   Thunderstone that Nurse Joy happened to have and  to evolve a Pikachu into a Raichu it isn't about   experience it's about using this Stone this  was such an important moment right here this   was the equivalent to a season finale of a reality  show and you're wondering if Pikachu is going to   accept the stone or deny it you really had to  be there this is the big decision there is no   coming back from this once Pikachu evolves that's  it Ash contemplates the stone and knowing that he   could now have the power that surge has if Pikachu  were to evolve but he knows it's not his decision   that he can make this would be a forced Evolution  and he leaves it up to Pikachu to decide we then   have this powerful moment of Pikachu letting out  his emotions smacking the stone away and feeling   that he could be stronger for himself without  this Stone he doesn't want to change all he   wants to do is defeat Raichu and do it as himself  he wants to do it for not only him but for all of   the Pikachu out there who feel inferior to their  evolution counterpart we know this because Meowth   is explaining to Team Rocket what Pikachu is  going through and as a quick aside Team Rocket   here just kind of spies on Pikachu for the most  part and ends up rooting for him the whole time   from the sidelines as they have faith that he  will be stronger than this Raichu and worth   all the time that they spent trying to capture  him so part good spirit part bad reasons Brock   has some ideas for a strategy to work out with  Ash and Pikachu as the determined team show back   up to face surge again this time using Speed  and Agility to work around raichu's powerful   attacks when Serge got his Pikachu he immediately  evolved it into a Raichu without the chance of   Pikachu learning speed-based attacks and defenses  resulting in a more even match-up between the two   but when Raichu goes in for a powerful finishing  attack that literally starts destroying the gym   Pikachu is shown to be unharmed from it with  his Tails stuck in the ground to save him from   the full effects of the attack now when Raichu  is exhausted and weakened Ash has Pikachu hit   him with a quick attack dodging raichu's take down  causing Pikachu to knock him out with them winning   the gym battle fair and square Ash is awarded his  well-earned Thunder badge and Raichu shows respect   to Pikachu for an incredible battle this moment  really put Ash and Pikachu to the test and in   the end helped strengthen their Bond as a great  Duo it also showed more complex characteristics   of Team Rocket as they didn't do anything wrong  here in fact they rooted for their enemies to do   good so that's neat now we get some of the most  infamous moments in the first series of Pokemon   the Saint Anne Arc where Ash and Company are  given access to go aboard the luxury Cruise   liner from a disguised Team Rocket as there  was a Pokemon trainer party happening aboard   Team Rocket's plans here is to get all of these  Pokemon on board this contained area at Sea and   steal all of their Pokemon to please Giovanni who  we see here is this menacing figure in a darkened   room with his Persian meows Evolution as he hopes  that they don't mess this up while on board Ash is   having a great time seeing all the other trainers  battle being fixated on this one trainer strong   Raticate challenging that trainer to a battle  and sending out Butterfree before Ash can win   though the trainer pulls back his Raticate and  says it's a draw offering to trade their Pokemon   as he really liked Ash's Butterfree and Ash  accepts to the trade without thinking just so   he can get a chance at that Raticate and moments  later the trade is official and the ownership of   the Pokemon has changed but after do doing so Ash  starts having some second thoughts about the trade   feeling like he just said goodbye to a friend  without saying goodbye and without a care the   memories he's had along the way so far with this  Butterfree from when he first captured him as a   Caterpie being the first Pokemon he ever caught  really gets to him as Team Rocket kicks off their   plans and all the trainers in their Pokemon start  fighting back now has Ash wanting to help when   seeing a bunch of these Butterfree are teaming  up he gets excited tossing out his Butterfree   quickly realizing that it is now eradicate and  his Butterfree is gone this does it for him and he   wants the trade to be reversed so as this battle  on the Saint Anne goes on the ship drifts into a   major incoming storm resulting in large waves  crashing into the ship and the tension of the   passengers to get uneasy Ash during this finds  the man he traded with and has him agree to do a   trade back and just in the nick of time as right  after the waves get more intense as the captain   abandoned ship into a Lifeboat and the rest of  the passengers are left to freak out and run to   the remaining lifeboats before the ship tips over  Misty and Brock go grab from this trade station   as they then try and make their way to safety but  then the crash of another wave causes Ash to drop   his butterfree's pokeball and so he goes after it  it's now clear that there are no other passengers   on board except for our main Trio and Team Rocket  themselves another wave hits the ship causing   it to fully flip upside down and begin to sink  and this is where the episode itself would cut   off which is like horrifying as a kid luckily the  next episode starts us with Officer Jenny giving   a speech about all of them being presumed dead  tossing some flowers into the ocean and playing   some sad trumpets as they salute none of this made  me feel better but thanks for the trauma Under the   Sea however the ship is positioned atop of this  rock structure barely balancing the ship from   falling further into a darkness-filled trench  both groups are main crew and Team Rocket make   their way through the areas that they still can  within the ship and at one point are forced to   work together because that's the only way that any  of them will hopefully make it out of their alive   their last resort here is to have Charmander melt  a hole into the ship for all of them to escape by   holding onto a water Pokemon that can bring  them to safety Ash has Squirtle Misty has   Goldeen and Brock would use Misty Starmie but  Team Rocket doesn't have any water Pokemon so   they think they are stuck down there but James  remembers that he does have this Magikarp that   he was tricked into owning earlier but we cut  away from them and visit the surface Ash Misty   and Brock make it to some floating debris and  see no sign of Team Rocket surfacing but in   the meantime they have Ash's Pidgeotto search  for any sign of land in what direction to head   towards but he also spots Team Rocket now on the  surface passed out on the Magikarp and once the   kids see Team Rocket here they think that they're  actually dead and say their Tidings getting ready   to push them out to sea to their watery Graves  but they wake up right as this was happening so   it's all good I guess now spending the next day at  Sea with all of them starving and ornery from it   all James gets fed up with Magikarp feeling like  he's nothing but useless in an annoyance since   he was given him he ends up kicking him into  the ocean where now he returns after a massive   glow to reveal that he evolved into a Gyarados a  fearsome water Beast who remembers the kick and   in Revenge finds some other Gyarados friends and  they perform their dragon rage attack causing a   cyclone and water tornadoes to form as they all  get blasted off and later find themselves now on   a mysterious island and Ash's Pikachu Squirtle  Charmander and Bulbasaur are missing Jesse and   James survive as well without Meowth as he is  separate from them along with their signature   Pokemon Pikachu and Ash's other Pokemon run into  Meowth coughing in Atkins as they now have to work   together to find their trainers we also get  to look at how an already abandoned Pokemon   sees this as Bulbasaur seems very nonchalant in  how he claims their trainers have abandoned them   but Pikachu shuts that narrative down real quick  after the heart pounding Stakes of the last couple   episodes this separated from each other episode is  pretty fun as we start seeing these giant Pokemon   roaming the land with all of these different  parties here running into them resulting in a   full-on destruction of these what turns out to be  mechanical Giants as it's revealed that this whole   island is Pokemon land an amusement park full  of giant Pokemon that funny enough is owned by   Giovanni so Team Rocket couldn't capture all those  Pokemon helped sink a ship and on top of all of   that destroyed an expensive looking amusement park  Island so I'm sure things are going well there I   think it's about here that I started to realize  how smooth this adventure feels in Pokemon we move   from location to location as things naturally  progress from there after all these traumatic   events they now are at this Resort where ash sees  his mom Professor Oak and even Gary but this is   more of a beach filler episode that still has its  charm and seriously though the filler moments that   aren't important to the story and the journey  all that much at least have a real nice level   of entertainment value to keep you invested in  the original series specifically like we get a   whole story of these angry tentacle and Tentacruel  that are mad over the building of a hotel built   upon a coral reef that is literally coming out  of the ocean we see size come back into play as   a giant Tentacool goes on a giant Rampage through  a city disgusted at humans and not understanding   how Pokemon could fight by their side this is  full-on monster movie level destruction here   taking out building after building also from some  of the filler have you seen the combination Pizza   Hut Taco Bell mashup known as Venus toys well I  have sometimes fillers however aren't just fully   fillers some major events can be misinterpreted  as fillers like before we reach our next city for   a gym battle we have bye bye Butterfree another  Contender for saddest Pokemon episode the crews   stumble across these Butterfree celebrating their  um finding of a mate ritual as Ash tries to help   Butterfree see if there is a partner for him  amongst the other Butterfree with them all   having something unique about them to attract  a mate or at least gauge some interest so when   Ash's Butterfree comes back sad with no bites  especially after being rejected by this pink   Butterfree who isn't a shiny this is what a  Shiny Butterfree would look like this is just   a unique pink one maybe one day some generation of  Pokemon will actually make this a regional variant   that for some reason just happened to be here in  Kanto at this time I mean they accidentally made   a lowland executor decades before they actually  turned it into a real Pokemon so to spice the   things up for Butterfree here and give him some  more confidants Brock adds this nice little scarf   around his neck you know he's the ladies man but  even before Butterfree gets to go show this off   Team Rocket comes in and starts trapping all the  Butterfree so when Ash's Butterfree can help free   them all he does it and comes through helping all  of them escape and leaving him exhausted he still   protects the pink Butterfree who stayed behind to  see if he was okay this begins some real flirting   between them as in the end Butterfree has to make  a choice stay with Ash or go on this migration   path with the rest of the Butterfree and his new  pink Butterfree partner Ash emotionally gives a   tear filled goodbye to Butterfree as they fly  away into the drowning colors of the sunset as   Ash looks back on their time together as his first  Pokemon that he ever caught on his journey and how   he's learned so much from how the relationship  has gone from their ups and their downs to even   trading him for all of about 10 minutes but he  wishes Butterfree the best life from here and   hey maybe one day decades later I don't know  we'll see that Butterfree return We Now make   it to Saffron City where things start getting  spooky for a while as the next gym leader is   Sabrina where Ash has a chance to win the marsh  badge here we deal with psychics and psychic and   Ghost Pokemon as when we get to meet Sabrina we  meet this weird possessed little girl who makes   a deal based on the battle regarding if Ash loses  that him and his friends have to play with her   in the context of being trapped and most likely  possessed after Ash quickly agrees because he just   wants to battle and not give it any real thought  we meet the real Sabrina who stoically seems to   not be all there but somehow is in deep control of  everything she floats to the battle arena holding   the little girl who is sending out the pokeballs  for her Abra is her Pokemon whose abilities are   pretty powerful and even more so when it awakes  and evolves right into a cadaver at the start   of the battle and sends any attack that Pikachu  has right back at him then using telekinesis to   control Pikachu hurting him pretty badly to the  point Ash has to call the match to stop and he   forfeits because of this the little girl teleports  them to a creepy empty suburb per their deal of   being trapped to play with her and upon further  inspection they all find out that they are now   stuck inside of a dollhouse where a giant Sabrina  and a giant little girl Tower over them eventually   they end up being saved from a random man they  met before heading into the gym rescuing them   from this torture before getting squashed this  man gives Ash a Stern warning about never being   able to beat her and how she's dangerous which  Ash doesn't believe in this old telekinetic man   pantses him okay after Ash's stubbornness he gets  pointed in the direction of Lavender Town to catch   a ghost type Pokemon to combat Sabrina's psychic  type Pokemon as they head off this mysterious old   man remarks that maybe this kid is the one who can  help save Sabrina but what does that mean I guess   we'll find out shortly when Ash goes to Lavender  Town and faces some ghost Pokemon head-on like   ghastly Haunter and Gengar uh him and Pikachu die  literally they are crushed by these ghosts pulling   pranks on them and their Spirits are literally  yanked out of their bodies and then they go and   pull some pranks with the ghosts on their friends  and through the power of not fully being dead they   get to go back into their bodies and be humans  instead of being ghosts and before they head   head back to face Sabrina Haunter ends up joining  Ash's team or maybe not just kind of goes along   with him as he didn't really capture Haunter here  but regardless of them all referring to him doing   so in The Following episode but all of this was  useless as when the battle is ready to start   Haunter just disappears and now none of Ash's  Pokemon want to battle making Ash disqualified   and Sabrina angry turning Misty and Brock into  literal dolls and the telekinetic Man shows up to   save him once more and he sits down and explains  to Ash why Sabrina is the way she is now whereas a   kid her use of telekinesis tore her family apart  and over time ripping her in two one being a   young girl with no one to play with and the older  version that we see of her who enjoys battling and   taking down trainers and that the little girl that  she has there with her now is the representation   of the real her before all of the telekinesis  stuff happened oh and this old man is Sabrina's   father and only tries to help her victims without  getting in the way and hurting his daughter so   in the end with no Haunter Ash has to fight once  more with Pikachu but in the middle of the battle   Haunter shows back up laughing in Sabrina's face  at first Haunter is just making some faces but   eventually he just pulls out an explosive and now  everyone's dead okay just kidding Sabrina however   does crack a smile that leads to full-on laughter  confusing Ash and making her father fill with joy   also we see how non-perceptive ashes by still  not realizing that this man is Sabrina's father   but in the end Sabrina makes a major breakthrough  finding some joy in her heart after all that has   happened where that little girl representation now  disappears and Sabrina seems to be okay and since   the Kadabra is psychically linked with Sabrina  and is laughing he is unable to battle and Ash   is declared the Victor by default giving him the  marsh badge and even Ash questions if he deserves   this one but he did reunite fully Sabrina's  parents with her and I guess haunters stays   behind with Sabrina to bring her Joy he's not  a fighter he's a prankster really on their way   to the next gym battle Ash has to now deal with  some monkey business or should I say some manky   business as he fails and try and catch one and  after a fun game of hey who stole my hat Ash   ends up capturing a new Pokemon for his team yep  that's right he caught up primate because Mankey   actually evolved into primeape here now arriving  in Celadon City a great scent fills the air and   Brock's attention heads to a window looking into  some women in a perfume store and when Misty is   interested in the scent as well Ash disrespects  perfume as a whole and thinks that it is a waste   of money in front of all the employees that work  there so they get mad and he gets kicked out so   now he just decides to make his way over to the  local gym since he can't be in that store but   when he gets there he's not being let in and he is  stamped with a red X because the word has spread   of his rudeness in the perfume store it travels  faster than the scent itself so Ash now has to   take cues from Team Rocket and disguises himself  to get close to the gym leader Erica as she tells   the tale of how she meant gloom and had the idea  of becoming a gym leader once his cover is blown   he calls her out and challenges her to a battle  which she surprisingly says yes the battle goes   on to where Pikachu is stepping into the fight  but Team Rocket also does what they do best and   they ruin the the battle with some explosions  causing a large fire because well this is a   grass type gym and Ash jumps into the action  to save Erica's Gloom who becomes trapped by   the fire and is scared releasing its scent where  ash just ignores it holding his breath to scoop   Gloom up making it outside with no major injuries  as Ash is awarded the rainbow badge again another   badge that he did not earn because he did not  win any battle sure don't get me wrong he did an   incredible thing here that's wonderful but this  is almost like cheating to get into the Pokemon   League anyway rant aside we get to see how Ash can  unintentionally but partially intentionally be a   jerk but like I said at the start the kid still  has heart from here the group continues on their   Adventures towards the next gym in fuchsia City  Misty ends up capturing a Psyduck for the rest of   their Journeys as psyduck's constant confusion  has always been a nice break and some tension   as well as Brock ends up getting a Vulpix after  they all come across this Pokemon breeder named   Susie that of course Brock wants to learn some  pointers from for his work towards being a great   breeder Ash gets his primeape into a Pokemon  fighting tournament called the P1 Grand Prix   where we see the toughest of the tough Pokemon  duke it out like Prime Time boxing and primeape   ends up winning the whole thing earning him the  belt and a passion for this and Ash shows him how   proud of him he is and even supports him further  when Anthony the trainer of the Hitmonchan here   offers to train primate further to become a real  P1 fighting champion and Ash allows him to stay   behind to do so the little tough guy even gets  emotional I'm so happy for him but as one Pokemon   goes another one comes in as Ash becomes the proud  trainer of a muck that he just immediately sends   back to Professor Oak for him to deal with he's  a hugger even Jesse and James have their main   two Pokemon Ekans and koffing evolve into Arbok  and wheezing so good for them and Ash continues   on to face the fuchsia City Gym Leader Koga and  despite some Interruption from Team Rocket the   regular battle continues on for Ash's Charmander  to score the winning blow against koga's Golbat   winning him the soul badge which is nice to see  Ash truly earn this one rather than just being   given it for something other than battling then  they all get into a little fun race Ash's ponytail   that he's riding evolves into a Rapidash and then  because of this ash wins this little race that's   just main character energy right there and with  how many losses that he has in his career going   forward it's nice to see him win something now at  least we Face a bike gang which isn't as scary as   it sounds once you see that it's just bicycles we  even meet a ditto that can't even ditto well but   it's okay I'm still proud of him but now this  one for sure is the hardest Contender yet for   saddest most emotional episode of the series with  Pikachu's goodbye yeah get the tissues ready while   on one of their rests on the routes between cities  Pikachu spots another Pikachu and chases after it   as the rest of the group follows Pikachu they all  stop when they run into a whole large group of   Pikachu hanging out together as a giant family in  the woods this gets Pikachu excited to meet some   friends but they are all mostly scared because  he's an outsider Pikachu as well as the humans   are there with him the smaller size Pikachu which  totally would have just been a Pichu if Pichu were   invented at this moment but this little Pikachu  comes and greets this Outsider Pikachu as now they   accept him as one of of them Ash however sadly  scares them away when he was just trying to get   in close and join in on the fun with his Pikachu  later on Brock makes note that these Pikachu   aren't used to humans so while they are more open  to Pikachu they are less familiar with Ash and the   others in general Pikachu starts getting more  entangled with the other Pikachu once the small   one falls into the river and without hesitation  our Pikachu jumps in to save him and then the rest   of the Pikachu follows suit to save both of them  as one close family before they all fall down a   giant waterfall and because of this they parade  around Pikachu as a savior and even give him an   apple as a thanks for rescuing the little one Ash  though really wants to spend time with Pikachu and   starts getting kind of jealous of him having such  a good time without him but Brock holds him back   from going and doing that and just letting Pikachu  be a Pikachu with other Pikachu Ash and the group   here see how happy Pikachu is and as night falls  and all the Pikachu singing fills the silence Ash   struggles to be in High Spirits no longer eating  or sleeping using this time to think has given   him perspective on his wants versus Pikachu's  happiness as he thinks that Pikachu should be   here with these other Pikachu that are just like  him that feel like they need him here they want   him here but now we hear Pikachu screams as Team  Rocket shows up to steal all of the Pikachu they   can because this many is way better than just one  you know but even the net that James traps Ash and   the others in while they hoist away the Pikachu  as they just get out of it and Pikachu chews to   the electric proof net allowing all of the other  Pikachu to jump out of that net and onto the other   that Ash Misty and Brock are holding up to catch  them safely as Ash's Pikachu goes up to pop Team   Rocket's balloon sending them blasting off Pikachu  jumps down into Ash's arms and they share this   touching moment as Pikachu then also runs over  to the other Pikachu who all starts celebrating   together Ash feels like this is the end of this  journey together he's sad but understanding as we   hear remarks about how well he has trained Pikachu  from Misty and Brock Ash starts leaving without   Pikachu and when he tries to Pikachu comes up to  him and Ash explains that he will be happier here   in the forest with Pikachu who need him as Ash  yells goodbye and runs away way crying alone on   the path with the memories of his adventures with  Pikachu along their Journey so far from foes to   friends as we hear this emotional song Play Over  the moment called the time has come as a kid heck   as an adult man this just puts all the feels out  here for you we see how much this hurts Ash but   he wants Pikachu to be happy but in the end when  you think All Is Lost Atop The Hill Pikachu Rises   with the sun ready to be with Ash on his journey  Forward Forever as we do get a Pikachu goodbye   as he's saying it to the forest pikas our journey  is far far from over much like this video sorry I   figured I'd break the tension there it was getting  a little too onion Cuttery in here this episode   is also important as it is attached to a massive  and very famous incident in Japan to an episode   that was banned and unaired from broadcast in the  States this we will touch on later oh I'm sorry am   I doing that whole uh thing again where I say that  I can't talk about it now but we'll talk about it   later oh well just making a note about it now  but I will bring it up later moving on so still   on the road after helping wake a sleeping Snorlax  Ash's Charmander evolves into a charmeleon as well   as develops a sassy attitude as to not listen to  Ash likely built up from his loyalty being broken   with Damien this is something Ash will continue  to struggle with here as a trainer going forward   with Charmeleon and Beyond this into a Charizard  soon that same loyal Charmander he once started   out is now a Pokemon that demands you to earn his  loyalty and respect he doesn't just give it out   the group also finally runs into Jigglypuff who  becomes this running gag that follows the group   around and due to the singing power of Jigglypuff  that is meant to put others to sleep she ends up   still getting mad about this and puffs up to  switch her not microphone microphone that she   steals from Ash that's really a marker and makes  fun little Doodles all over everyone's faces as   revenge for dissing her music and that shortly  after for Charmeleon evolving well that happens   soon after as Charmeleon evolves into a Charizard  there was no growth in between both moments so the   Disobedience Charizard shows is still there  in full force Ash didn't get to have these   uh middle years if you want to call them that  really working with Charmeleon here to bring him   back but regardless they all found a mysterious  egg that they are all in the care of now and I'm   sure we'll bring that up again real soon this is  a quick non-sequitur I had an old video where I   mentioned this next episode before but the episode  is holy matrimony and I think it may be one of the   weirdest if not the weirdest episode of Pokemon  focusing on James from Team Rocket and his past   at home him running away from this Jezebel person  who looks a lot like Jesse and that his parents   are trying to force him to marry here they also  pretend that they are dead at one point which is   pretty messed up to do his parents towards James  and oh James's family is Rich but he'd rather give   up this life to be the person he wants to be and  to spend time with Jesse and Meowth but not his   childhood growlith growli as he asked him to  look after his parents I implore you to seek   this episode out if you want to see some weirdness  I'm leaving a lot of the story out here but watch   it for yourselves I just had to mention as we  pass it in the timeline oh and that egg is is   now ready to hatch as we meet a brand new Pokemon  not from Generation 1 named Togepi as now Brock   Ash and Misty fight over who gets to take care  of Togepi and despite Ash winning togapi chooses   Misty since she was the first thing that the baby  saw and Togepi imprinted on to Misty as a mother   figure we later meet Todd the main character from  Pokemon Snap that you play as and in the sequel   makes an appearance as a side character now more  grown up he hangs out with the group for a little   while and we even meet some other team rocket  members Butch and Cassidy from here though to make   their way to the next gym they have to travel to  Cinnabar Island in order for ash to face the gym   leader Blaine once the battle is underway we get  to see how Charizard isn't really listening to Ash   it's Charizard vs ride on but before anything he  just leaves the area and goes to nap disqualifying   Charizard from the match leaving Ash more  vulnerable in battle having to rely on Pikachu   to clean things up when Pikachu battles all the  way up to Blaine's Magmar nothing seems to be   working in his favor anymore as Pikachu is trapped  between a fiery grave below him and a fiery attack   coming his way Ash forfeits the match in order  to save Pikachu from the dangerous situation   showing some real growth in Ash's trainer profile  as they now start spending some time in this area   to heal up and relax prepare themselves for the  next Battle of course Team Rocket messes things   up and nearly causes the whole volcano to erupt  so Magmar and a bunch of the other Pokemon chime   in to help and of course Charizard at first  doesn't want to help when Ash asks him to but   on his own decides to help after starting to form  this determination to take down Magmar after this   feeling like he could be a worthy opponent for  battle once the lava flow is under control and   the eruption is stopped ash makes a comment about  Blaine just giving him a badge for all the help   here which makes sense since that's how he really  got a few of the other ones but Blaine actually   makes him battle for it so good on you Blaine  always like this dude Charizard though does want   a battle now but not for ash for himself showing  off how powerful he is now hitting Magmar with a   seismic toss and winning the battle earning Ash  his seventh badge the volcano badge meaning he   only needs one more bad to be able to enter the  Indigo League after a few more stops along the way   they eventually find themselves in Viridian  City where Gary ends up going for the badge   before Ash he faces off against this cloaked in  darkness gym leader who ends up taking out Gary   with his new in-testing Pokemon weapon that the  Pokedex can't even understand what it is through   some circumstances we find out that Giovanni  the leader of Team Rocket is this gym leader   and puts Jesse and James in charge of the gym  battling responsibilities as he has to go deal   with something and heads down to this hidden area  to worry about this mystery armored Pokemon so   when Ash gets to go inside he finds Gary who warns  him about the gym leader being too powerful but   Jesse and James make an appearance and surprise to  everyone is now that they must face them to earn   the final badge the Earth Badge Ash's battle  here has even higher Stakes risen thanks to   the platforms that they're on emitting this pain  that the Pokemon feels onto the trainer but both   sides are set up for this causing a technically  fair fight except for Meowth who wants to set up   these explosions planted under the column for ash  but before he can use his remote control to set   it off Gary jumps in and tackles him making  sure Ash isn't tampered with further in this   battle but it's okay in the end Ash defeats Team  Rocket where Gary actually is nice to Ash for once   giving him the respect he finally deserves at  least from Gary because he actually was doing   something before even Gary did and Gary admits  that hey you're actually a pretty good trainer   Ash but whatever Gary already showed Ash at the  start of the episode before he even challenged   this gym that he had 10 badges he didn't even need  this extra badge you only need eight he had some   from some other gym somewhere great good job Gary  not long after that mysterious armored Pokemon   breaks out of his containment and flies away hey  maybe that ties into the first movie somehow Gary   and Ash have a battle together although they can't  finish it because of Team Rocket's Interruption so   once they deal with Team Rocket Gary declares to  Ash that after the league ends that they can have   a real battle both having a newfound respect for  one another while keeping up that rival spirit in   good spirits there is also this really beautiful  episode that focuses on Meowth and how he learned   to speak and understand a human language as we  get to see his life before Team Rocket and how   then he later became a member of the group but now  it is time the moment that Ash has worked so hard   for kind of to get to as they all arrive at the  Indigo Plateau for the Indigo Plateau conference   Ash gets to participate in running in the torch  filled with some Moltres Flames that when they   light in the arena will stay burned the entire  tournament thus now leading us to round one of   the tournament where ash speaks with Professor  Oak who suggests that he swapped some of his   Pokemon around between his party and what's at  Oak's storage PC of a lab which is nice maybe   he'll get a chance to work with and bond with  the other Pokemon he just caught along the way   in Ash's first match he faces Mandy where Krabby  is ready for his first battle with an exeggutor   where things aren't looking too good for Krabby  in comparison at the moment but somehow in the end   this smaller incised Krabby defeats the executor  and ends up finally getting a bit bigger and more   formidable by evolving right then and there into a  Kingler Kingler then has his next challenge facing   off against Mandy's second Pokemon Sidra which  he has a much easier time taking care of and she   is now down to her final Pokemon a Golbat which  makes the match a lot tougher for Kingler but   rather than swapping Pokemon Ash is confident in  his new Kingler truly giving him the confidence   to shine in his debut battle Kingler ends  up scoring a nice shot with a Hyper Beam   and wins his first match for Ash Ketchum in the  Indigo League I think this is where the younger   me actually found such a strong light for this  Pokemon and its design but that's not the end   of the tournament just a match so as Ash advances  forward his next opponent is I don't know we just   cut directly into his third match with good old  Pete peebleman who is he I don't know that either   but I do know that he has some strong Pokemon  with both an Arcanine and a Cloister Kingler   proves to be a wild Powerhouse for ash here as  he even takes out that Cloister leaving Arcanine   to start tearing up some crab and this ain't no  imitation Ash noticing that Kingler is struggling   decides it's time for him to rest and decides  to send out Pikachu who has quite the experience   training with Ash on this journey being ready to  fight and actually defeating the Arcanine becoming   the winner of the third round as he heads on to  the next Gary has also made it to the fourth round   continuing that rivalry but now with Ash being a  lot closer in all of the skill that Gary claims   to have because here I don't see it he ends up  losing now being eliminated from the tournament   Ash though is just about to start his battle with  Jeanette Fisher who has a grass and Bug team which   kinda seems like a no-brainer with who Ash should  send out yup that's right Bulbasaur wait Bulbasaur   why I'd like to think that the risk of getting  Charizard out there you know kind of pronto   regardless if he listens or not would probably  be pretty easy here but fine Bulbasaur manages   to take out the first Pokemon which is a b drill  and after some smart maneuvering Bulbasaur also   takes down the second Pokemon which is her Scyther  leaving a bell sprout as her final Pokemon fit for   battle but this thing is in its own world here  its own little planet being able to easily take   out Bulbasaur as well as Pikachu right after he  steps in this little thing's a lot more powerful   than you think word is now match point with both  trainers down to their last Pokemon Ash's final   Pokemon is his good old hug and pal muck who  gets to show off that they are both a lover and   a fighter his sheer mass is able to overpower the  little Bellsprout defeating it and granting Ash   the winner of his fourth round and just proving  to us that hey technically he got further than   Gary did and now we get a little break before the  fifth round which if ash makes it past will become   full battles for all of the trainers unlocking  the ability to use all six Pokemon instead of   only choosing three here we get to meet Richie  in this little intermission a smaller character   that we end up seeing here and there in other  series him and Ash hit it off really well as   they are extremely similar in so many ways from  their Spirit to their Pikachus where here he is   named Sparky and just this one little detail I  like about Richie is that all of his Pokeballs   have some decorations on them after a run-in with  the rocket crew the two work together to save the   day building their quickly assembled bonding to a  nice wholesome friendship honestly I always felt   like this character is a rejected design for  ash as a didn't give off enough main character   energy and this was just the team's way to kind  of include him in the series here but after all   of this and the unlock or luck depending on how  you look at it Ash randomly pulls Richie's name   as his next opponent for the fifth round it's  bittersweet but there is no going easy now Ash   has to face his greatest challenge yet a new  mirror-like version of himself now with both   the trainers on the Indigo Plateau battle arena  as Ash was almost disqualified for not making   it there on time thanks to another attempt from  Team Rocket Richie didn't let the ref call the   match instead he helped out buy some time for  ash to get there as they both made a promise to   one another about having an all-out battle and he  intended to stick to that the battle starts and   we see matchups from some familiar Pokemon Ash's  Squirtle starts to fight Richie's Butterfree who   ends up taking down Squirtle pretty quickly with  minimal effort showing off just how strong his   Pokemon truly are Pikachu however jumps in to take  out the Butterfree but Richie sends out Zippo who   has a way better communication skill set with  Richie over Ash and his child Charizards and is   able to take down Pikachu and having no other  option left Ash now has to send out the mirror   of obedience the disobedient Charizard and after  acting like he can care less about everything and   embarrassing Ash as a trainer in front of everyone  he is pushed to battle by Zippo and now as things   look like they're gonna start ramping up it goes  down to one Pokemon left for each as Richie calls   back Zippo treating it as a knockout and sending  in his Pikachu Sparky and Charizard is way too   strong for this Pikachu making his dominance  clear as we've seen throughout his limited time in   battle he is looking for a strong opponent someone  he deems worthy to fight him and this extra level   of Disobedience here just embarrasses Ash more as  Charizard's just laying down and not fighting Ash   does his best to beg him to stop this behavior and  actually care about what he's doing but sadly this   only resulted in Charizard being disqualified  for essentially forfeiting Richie is declared   the winner of the battle and is able to move on to  the next round where ash after his whole journey   loses which I think is extremely important here  this whole time that we we've seen him on this   journey he's dealt with a lot of struggles some  he's overcome and some he's yet to tame plus   majority of the gyms he didn't really beat he was  just given the badge in some other arbitrary way   so the lack of experience should push him to  go further get better and never stop working   to become the best like no one ever was he still  has a lot to learn and understand about battling   and becoming a great trainer congratulating his  friend Richie and is placed in finishing in the   top 16 for the Indigo League in the end it does  seem that Ash has learned a lot about Pokemon   about himself but he falls into a slump about this  and how good of a trainer he truly is or isn't and   all of his friends try their best but they really  can't pull him out of this self-wallowing Richie   ends up losing his next battle placing him in the  top eight showing that he still has a long way to   go as well just like ash these two Bond and share  another moment that helps keep up their motivation   to follow their past forward and Ash learns that  he shouldn't be sad about this but rather happy   to have learned so much so he can do better next  time for tradition Team Rocket attacks one more   time and are defeated by the two once more but  now during the closing ceremonies Ash still ends   up receiving a patch anyway because of course  he does but all of the competitors do who took   part in the league tournament and that night is  enjoyed by fireworks celebrating the end of the   conference once morning comes Ash and Richie  have been hanging together all night reminding   each other of the promise that they made when  hanging out after they both lost and that is   to become a Pokemon Master no matter what both  part ways as Ash heads back to Pallet Town with   all of his friends and family as more Adventures  wait for them right around the corner wow these   initial 80 episodes by themselves are incredible  such Rich character development story progression   and fun action on its own it's a great work of  art but yet it is only the beginning of a much   larger story and before this larger story  even happens we have some islands that need   to be visited so as we get ready to sail out we  still have a few things that we need to go over as you've probably noticed if you're a big fan  and majorly familiar with the anime that when   it came to smaller less consequential episodes  throughout our journey I either very Loosely   reference some events whether small or in some  cases important just for us to flow with what   follows Ash's Journey more specifically as the  series that I'm making here is all about him and   we're using the Pokemon anime as our launch  pad to move through these story beats to dig   into but I want to emphasize to what I lightly  mentioned earlier and that's when it comes to   filler and Pokemon and for right now I mean just  this series it truly is great there are so many   amazing episodes that don't serve much of an  overall purpose or only serve to Aid inside   characters or secondary characters I tried to  mention a few episodes in reference here or there   that I just love or would recommend on their own  merits but let me bring up just a few more moments   real quick that are worthy of noting right now  so something that will be involved in what I get   to right after this is the episode snow way out  and it's not that it's a particularly standout   episode of the show or something that has great  importance to anything going forward well aside   from Ash and the relationship with his Pokemon  specifically from the events of this episode   Ash gets caught in a dangerous snowstorm where to  survive he finds himself in a snow cave that his   Pokemon and him work together to build as now he  is suffering on the brink of frostbite Charmander   pushes the power of his flame tail to keep the  place lit and warm but over time Charmander   begins losing strength and his flame starts to  go out Ash would rather have himself freeze than   have Charmander suffer offering him to go back  in his ball but he refuses and he keeps trying   to push it but Ash overrules him here calling him  back and doing the same for the other Pokemon and   when it comes to Pikachu he forcefully refuses  to go in he instead forces his warmth onto Ash   which starts getting you all emotional even at its  worst Ash worries that even in the pokeballs are   the Pokemon worm taking off his jacket to place  his pokeballs inside this debate between Pikachu   and Ash about going back into his ball continues  until all the other Pokemon come out on their own   volition and join Pikachu in Sharing warmth  with Ash breaking him down to tears over the   love and care his Pokemon are showing him a true  masterful connection is made here between trainer   and Pokemon something that means so much to him  in what feels like all of their final moments by   the time morning comes things are okay of course  but it truly shows how Ash put his Pokemon before   himself and how they put their love and trustfully  into him and risked their well-being for his I   feel like this one was worth mentioning regardless  of when it released technically finally coming out   after the series was finished and don't worry I go  into why that happened shortly so when the series   was going on we didn't get this moment where it  would have been placed properly and it's such a   beautiful response to Ash's character and his  growth another episode that I want to briefly   mention that I think is a fun step aside is the P  Kahuna where we get to meet a surfer named Victor   who has a special connection to the Sea along  with some striking-eyed Pikachu named puka so   we get some surfing Pikachu moments in the anime  immediate inspirational surfer trying to conquer   a mass massive wave along with his Pika buddy  it's notable because I just like it as well as   a chancy operation if not only for the fact that  it has Cubone in it and I think that's pretty darn   cool okay well there's other cubones that we see  in the anime during this era but this one gets   treated for an injury and I feel so bad for the  little guy okay but now let's take a moment to   recognize the missing episodes in general for the  series as a few were completely banned from airing   in the States first there was episode 18 Beauty  and the beach you know the beach filler episode   which for being such an early on episode would not  be dubbed and released in the states all the way   until June 24th 2000 while there isn't much here  aside from connecting part of the traveling it   was banned temporarily for some flotation devices  that James from Team Rocket happened to have but   it ended up causing uh quite the stir here when  they finally released this now edited version of   the episode it was promoted as the special Lost  episode and upon an eventual rerun the return   of the Lost episode and honestly the episode is  nothing that special the legend of Dratini would   be next which is kind of annoyingly banned for  some Pokemon continuity reasons for ash but it   was banned for the portrayal of a revolver being  held at Point Blank Range to Ash's face which Ash   is used to getting guns pointed at him we saw it  here in the squirrel Squad already happened but   specifically this episode shows the use of these  weapons towards various characters making the   situation now a bit different and thanks to this  band we never got the explanation of Ash suddenly   having 30 Tauros is caught hanging out now with  Professor Oak this episode shows off the Safari   Zone and Ash catching a ridiculous number of them  with all of his Safari balls there is a Dratini in   this episode you know per the name and later Ash  rides a Dragonair so yeah there's a lot going on   in this episode here electric Soldier Porygon is  definitely the most well-known band episode and   of course it has to do with one of my more favored  Pokemon Porygon this episode was banned for what   it inadvertently caused thanks to the gang being  in cyberspace with the computer program Pokemon   Porygon where Pikachu's attacks collide with some  missiles resulting in these rapid flashing segment   chance of red and blue that would send more than  half a thousand Japanese kids who were watching   to hospitals stemming from photosensitivity  triggering epileptic seizures this resulted in   a lot of changes across the board for Pokemon and  broadcast standards at the time one this episode   is completely never allowed to be aired anywhere  and Pokemon started taking massive accountability   for it a special hour-long program called anime  Pocket Monsters problem inspection report would   come to air eventually that really dug into the  whole situation the show was Now put on Hiatus   for four months resulting in the release of the  real episodes of 39 and 40 to not come out in that   order in Japan causing the full-on cancellation of  the special New Year's hour-long clip show called   it's New Year's Eve Pocket Monsters Encore like  flat out in general this was canceled there's also   a speculation that it was repurposed for another  thing like this later on but that's all we know   these now missing episodes would eventually come  to the states later as well but would not Premiere   until after episode 80 which concluded the main  story in the Indigo League Arc these episodes were   holiday hijinks and snow way out which we just  mentioned a moment ago regarding Filler episodes   Pokemon would also go through the rest of the  Pokemon episodes both before and after this point   to dim the lighting to ensure that this can never  happen again also as a result Porygon and the rest   of his Evo line were pushed aside from Pokemon for  the most part but Porygon was not the Pokemon who   caused the issue here in fact it was Pikachu who  triggered the lighting effect and therein lies the   problem you can't have the lovable mascot the  face of Pokemon be the problem leaving Porygon   as the Fall Guy for something it never really did  this led to decades worth of discussions fighting   back to not blame Porygon for all of this all  the way up to one of the social media hosts   controlling the Pokemon Twitter who makes fun and  interactive tweets to put out the following tweet   on September 20th 2020. Porygon did nothing wrong  meant to play into the support of Porygon without   directly blaming Pikachu because in all fairness  we all love Pikachu as well we just want Porygon   to not be neglected in the anime now now while  this was meant to be a harmless tweet it was also   in a weird category of controversy on its own  where the uh so and so did nothing wrong thing   references a certain historical person which in  two directions hit two whole other sides of the   internet the Tweet was deleted and now Porygon  once again was left to hold the bag of blame in   the public eye and there's one more note that  I want to make about all this Porygon stuff   and that is us going back to when the Hiatus  was over and the next episode would be the new   episode 39 Pikachu's goodbye where in Japan it  was preceded by Miyuki yatama who spoke directly   to Young audiences of Pokemon while surrounded by  the happiest looking set full of Pokemon plushes   and balloons where she explained in detail the  incident that took place understanding what to do   going forward and assuring fans and families that  Pokemon is okay and safe to watch going forward   without worry of this happening again followed  by a sincere thank you along with a Showcase of   fan art that would be sent to encourage Pokemon  to start the Pokemon anime once more from all   the kids around Japan and allegedly the famous  goodbye Pikachu episode that is so significant   for showcasing how sad it would be to say goodbye  to Pikachu but Pikachu loves us and would never   leave us might have been made and put together  in response to all of this specifically to be   the first episode that comes back after the break  so take that information however you want all I'm   saying is where's the goodbye Porygon episode oh  wait they literally just said goodbye to Porygon   but I digress speaking of the holiday hijinks  episode I just mentioned that's had its own fair   share of problems too originally it did air like I  made note of albeit later on and was called out by   the author Carol Boston Weatherford who in the  start of the new Millennia not long after this   episode came out made note that the character  of jinx heavily represented in extremely messed   up racial depiction of African Americans this  would cause Pokemon to completely rework jinx   as a character across all the different types  of media altering the skin color of the Pokemon   to purple and now for this episode specifically  this means a few things the original unaltered   version would find its way onto a VHS and DVD  release before this as well as being available   for viewing through Cartoon Network video  the episode would be taken completely out   of syndication though never to be officially  shown again not on TV not on the Pokemon TV   video service not on the official Pokemon website  removed from the reprinting of the DVD and not   included in the Indigo League complete collection  as well as not being a part of the full series on   Netflix the English version was completely being  hidden over a decade later it would appear through   some Cartoon Network and Boomerang services but  done so in a way where Pokemon makes no claim to   the episode as a whole the re-edited Japanese  version would end up eventually on places like   Amazon Prime video and Netflix but Hulu would have  the unedited original at this point I don't know   what version is what where it was what is real  what is a guest based on past reporting but in   general this episode has had a long history of  being in the public eye but not being in the   public eye but overall these were the original  banned episodes within the first 80 episodes   of the show well technically 82 but yeah now if  you expect me to get into all the censorship of   four kids you'd be right but also wrong look  there are like a million videos online going   over what four kids has done to so many shows dubs  and Pokemon had its own fair share of changes from   the original Japanese release so I'll just lightly  and quickly and oh boy do I mean quickly touch on   them most famously the references to Japanese  culture were changed even the most ridiculous   things it had me as a kid believing that these  onigiri Were Somehow jelly donuts how was I as   a kid this stupid to not understand the concept of  a Japanese rice ball or a triangle honestly that's   all I wanted to say the rest is the usual Affair  of things thanks for coming to my teddy Ursa talk   thank you so throughout Ash's journey in the  initial season of the series he caught quite   the amount of interesting and varied Pokemon we  have some harsh Beginnings rough relationships   and sad stories but also some incredible triumphs  strong bonds and wholesome moments I feel every   so often that in this series of videos that we  should take the time to reflect on Ash and his   Pokemon specifically for the seasons we speak  about with Pikachu which was really just given   to him rather than being caught we start off  with them pretty much at odds where Pikachu had   this attitude towards Ash and Ash not being that  knowledgeable about anything he was doing in a lot   of ways he still doesn't but he used his biggest  strength throughout the season to really bond with   Pikachu to where they are the best of friends now  and that's his heart sure Ash isn't perfect but no   one's asking that of him he will make mistakes  stumble and have weaker moments but his Spirit   isn't infectious and his stubbornness has a  charm to it and through that his good-natured   soul Pikachu opened up to Ash as they believe in  each other to always do the best that they can   for one another and for themselves with Caterpie  we got to see Ash deal with real growth here the   most I feel from it being his first Pokemon that  he caught and had to start learning real lessons   about properly caring for your Pokemon and the  greater the love and trust you share with them the   greater the trainer you are in a way we see Ash  grow and hatch from his own metaphorical cocoon   along with his Caterpie to Metapod to Butterfree  in terms of understanding this in a basic sense   we did hit this moment where he traded Butterfree  away but immediately traded for him back learning   more about himself and how he views Pokemon in  general and ultimately letting Butterfree make   his own choice for happiness in the end Pidgeotto  is not the most notable Pokemon from this league   of Ash's Journey aside from coming in clutch  and being a strong Pokemon Pidgeotto will be   mentioned later in this video Bulbasaur is a  headstrong Pokemon that isn't afraid to puff   up his chest and stand in front for battle unless  you're Sabrina but we see how Bulbasaur starts to   grow a nice trainer Pokemon relationship with Ash  in their techniques and skills Bulbasaur was the   one who stepped up to the plate after having no  one to help take care of these other Pokemon in   that hidden village where he was taking care of  Oddish having a lot of the traits that make Ash   so great as well and for why they paired up in the  first place the Charmander to Charizard pipeline   was pretty tough on ash here Charmander having  this loyalty breaking entrance from his previous   trainer to feeling thankful to Ash for wanting  him and believing in him but this broken loyalty   festers as Charmander revolves up the chain and  Charizard proves to be his greatest challenge   to conquer in the series and Beyond really testing  his strength from earning true respect and loyalty   as Charizard needs to find his own strength to  believe in himself and not just from someone   telling him what to do and we just got to see the  starting of this all happening towards the end of   the series Squirtle is also a lot like ash in a  way of learning to be a leader coming from less   than mature and responsible Roots Squirtle goes  from this prankster who leads by example to his   other fellow Squirtle but helps lead them to find  real and important purpose in life at least at   this point from the Squirtle Squad episode and  Squirtle now goes to find his own identity that   calls to him and find what true honor and strength  can be and I just love how we can really see Ash   and so many of his Pokemon at this point crabby  was Ash's first Pokemon that went over his max   party limit of six being sent back to Professor  Oak's lab but Ash would call on Krabby for the   Indigo League showing that you should never judge  a book by its cover as we mentioned size here   again with Pokemon and you see the reasons of why  you should always look out for the little guy when   Krabby becomes Kingler as we see the pride that  Kingler has on its own ability come out and Ash   supporting this being kind of this representation  of how Gary looks at him how he's always compared   to Gary primape is Ash's real first test with  disobedience and how to control the temperament   of a temperamental Pokemon and while Ash's Journey  wasn't the passion primate finds with him rather   being this Sports prize fighter we have Ash  believe in him as a Pokemon understanding   that this is where primate needs to be to achieve  his own goals in life letting him stay back and   be in the sport and train to become the best  and knowing that this was the right decision   for primeape regardless of what Ash would want as  he understands what primeape wants it's a deeper   connection muck for Ash is is understanding the  beauty in all of Pokemon regardless if they are   literal sludge or toxins or Garbage Pokemon are  full of complex thought emotions and actions   and all muck wants to do is show love and I think  that's beautiful now Tauros we only briefly looked   at here as the episode that Ash catches one or 30  was a band episode and it was through the use of   safari balls to catch this many as they now just  reside at Professor Oak's Place hanging out on   the ranch so at least for now there's not much to  really dig into aside from them not existing at   one point and then somehow all being there as we  learn that Ash caught them unbeknownst to many of   us at the time this originally came out because  the episode was banned we didn't know as far as   where we are currently at that is every Pokemon  that Ash officially caught that were a part of   his journey so Pokemon like raticade who is really  only there for part of an episode in Haunter who   he really never caught and ended up staying with  Sabrina this is everyone and I think a lot of   them represent the best and worst parts of Ash's  Journey thus far being allegorical to him as a   person and trainer split into different parts  as much as he helps them grow as Pokemon they   help him grow as a great trainer all developing  their own bonds as well as a group Bond I feel   it's a nice temp check to view parts of Ash's  Journey Through the Pokemon he has through his   journey we will learn more as they come and check  back on others as they play larger roles down the   line but now I think we need to talk about an  historical event for the world of Pokemon an   event so big it not only pays off a mystery to  the Pokemon world unlike the GS ball that we'll   speak about soon but it adds a lot of substance  to what it means to be a great trainer and the   relationship humans have to Pokemon giving us  one of the most thrilling experiences in the   late 90s and mostly an annoying time for adults  who didn't want to be there but were dragged to   the theater anyway to make their kids happy  let's take a look at Pokemon the first movie also known as Mewtwo Strikes Back we would  be introduced to the Pokemon all Pokemon   are formed from and the man-made creation of  the perfect Pokemon built off the DNA of said   original Pokemon advertised as Mewtwo versus Mew  number 150 and number more to see I mean 151 which   did it ever bother anyone else that Mewtwo comes  before Mew on the official Pokedex order just me   please tell me I'm not alone anyway the entrance  of Mewtwo in this film is the direct connection   to this Ultra powerful Pokemon Giovanni was using  to battle Gary and that had ended up escaping its   lab containment now I know we're talking about  the movie after the official season is over but   for me I feel it makes things feel a bit more  clean in discussion but in reality the length   of time between the episode where Mewtwo escapes  which was an episode that premiered on September   30th 1999 and the movie was only about five weeks  with the movie coming out November 6 1999. it was   a very quick answer to the mystery but if we want  to be more technical we really knew that Mewtwo   was coming as the first time we would see this  armored version was on September 25th 1999 in   the anime but the first trailer for the Pokemon  movie itself would Premiere the month before that   in August of 1999 in front of both Mystery Men  and underrated movie and the Iron Giant which is   a masterpiece this trailer fully shows us Mewtwo  and another trailer that would come out shows us   this really awesome title of Mewtwo striking us  back for something so I think it was really smart   to build the excitement of Mewtwo through both  just movie promotion and within the episodes that   led up to the film's release as the movie serves  as a side quest in the main journey and not the   major story ending event just something that can  kind of happen off to the side with our characters   but not interfere with the journey going forward  in the show in which the first series breaks at   episode 80 that came out on November 27 1999. all  of this was pretty close to each other here we get   Ash Misty and Brock having one of their famous  resting moments enjoying some time to relax on   their journey and eat some some good food but Ash  gets challenged to a battle as the opening credits   roll we see a new Pokemon known as Don fan that  had not been introduced yet and I love how Pokemon   sprinkles the shows sometimes with next generation  Pokemon but shortly after this Ash gets invited by   a special delivery Dragonite to visit New Island  with some of the toughest trainers around making   their way to this dangerous place and braving a  terrible storm once the trainers who made it are   inside this crazy looking Castle The Entity  that brought them all together is none other   than Mewtwo surprise surprise I really love how  Pokemon handles the character of Mewtwo how we   explore why he is doing what he is doing and the  values that he carries so heavily before we see   Mewtwo's plan Team Rocket who made their way into  the castle find this old machine in the bowels of   the structure that makes a clone of Meowth Mewtwo  then sends out these eye looking Pokeballs that   allows him to capture everyone else's Pokemon  to send them down to the machines as well to   begin cloning revealing his plans to let the world  suffer and get destroyed from a massive storm and   having all of these these cloned Pokemon stay with  him on the island Ash puts up the biggest fight   here especially when it comes to Pikachu being  taken but Ash does everything he can to follow it   once Pikachu is captured fully and brought down to  the machine he is however able to free his Pikachu   after literally fighting with the machine that  is grabbing him but all the Clones had already   been made releasing them as they all go and  join Mewtwo above Ash however gets his hands   on the original Pokemon's pokeballs down there now  entering Mewtwo's arena with all of the original   Pokemon in one of the coolest entrances I've ever  seen and straight up tries to punch Mewtwo because   that was going to work and gets set flying Sky  High but saved by none other than Mew who had been   spying out of curiosity the whole time Mewtwo  here snaps over the side of Mew and is ready   to fight it as the clone Pokemon in the original  Pokemon engage in battle with their counterparts   where after a bit the battles are getting out of  hand both clone and non-clone Pokemon struggle to   continue the fight trading blow for a blow not  truly understanding why they must fight why is   this mindless fighting happening Meowth ends up  having a more intellectual conversation with his   clone about how much people do have in common  with each other despite being so different as   they all share this planet Mew and Mewtwo's battle  gets more intense as Ash refuses to see this go on   running out to the middle of the stadium right in  between these two major energy blasts coming from   both of them as they clash with one another and  now in a heart-pounding silence bringing moment   the dust settles and Ash is revealed to have been  turned into stone where nada's Soul was okay all   of the humans Pokemon and clone Pokemon begin to  cry as Pikachu rushes to Ash's side pleading for   his best friend to be okay using all of his  strength with Thunderbolt to somehow bring   him back to life but no matter how much it it  just doesn't work he refuses to give up as his   tears are flowing and all the tears of the other  Pokemon find their way to the middle of the Arena   covering Ash in this form being able to cure  his Stone ailment and bring Ash back to life   this was the moment that truly broke Mewtwo  why I do the Pokemon care for these humans so   much when humans in his whole life only use them  for their bidding and for battle what makes you   real or Alive would a clone be its own separate  entity having dealt with being this clone living   in the shadow of muse DNA forced to be this one  thing when you would still have free will and   learn about controlling your life his hatred  of Mew stemmed from being compared and built   from you all that he had endured was because  of someone's drive to make Mew but he must be   better and stronger in every way is what it all  seemed like but learning that it doesn't matter   if you're the original Pokemon or the clone  of it that makes you no less real and alive   to be your own being you have values regardless  the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant   and it's what one does with life that determines  one's Destiny Mewtwo sets off to find a place for   him and these clones to go live freely and how  they choose wiping the minds of everyone with   everything reset to before the island there is a  lot to be said here about the treatment of Pokemon   on in general and how they are viewed being under  the ownership of a trainer and used to fight in   battles we've seen great examples and bad examples  of this throughout the series and Ash here is able   to explain his relationship to his Pokemon not  by saying it out loud or having to figure out   a gesture to express it he just full-on jumps  into danger immediately giving it all he's got   to save his Pokemon and everyone else is in the  process his actions were instinctual expressing   the power of this being greater than being  explained we have a detailed and emotionally   charged look at battling where this wouldn't be  in the sense of fun and competition but under the   guise of just violence Mewtwo literally became the  thing he hated the Creator having his Creations be   pushed to fight until they win or die trying  this isn't fair to them what happened to him   there is a further dive into Mewtwo's past with  the extended uncut story of Mewtwo's Origins where   a young clone Mewtwo deals with the dead daughter  of Dr Fuji who he was trying to clone in a way to   bring her back to life but it wouldn't work for  her and if it did then this clone would not be   her it would just be someone that looks like her  because as we see with these clones they are their   own beings they are not who they came from it's a  pretty deep movie as far as children's animation   goes and it still gives you everything to keep  you entertained from the well animated action to   the large selection of Pokemon scene to the most  emotional moment of the 90s for any kid ever we're   all still crying about it Ash here is willing to  put himself in danger to save every Pokemon from   being hurt themselves all Pokemon not just his or  the other not clone Pokemon but the clone Pokemon   as well which means Mewtwo as well his way of  showing his care and passion towards Pokemon has   grown larger each day holding on to a promise he  gave to Pikachu all the way in the beginning and   to Metapod when he was careless with him I think  this movie is fantastic and gave us kids lots to   think about and some free Pokemon cards too heck  yeah foreign to Pokemon's expanding growth one of   the many Avenues it took was trying out other  forms of media who remembers the live musical   experience known as Pokemon live for five months  from September 2000 to January 2001 Pokemon live   was a traveling musical stage event that had  all of our favorite people and Pokemon from the   cartoon now as real people or people in costumes  yeah some of this is really funny looking but my   God was this the can't miss event of the early  2000s the story was completely original turning   into its complete own continuity away from  the show so Ash here isn't going to be in   any relation to the ash that we know and love  so we don't really have to spend time here to   understand him as a character within the musical  but since it did feature Ash I guess it deserves   a mention I mean this musical had everything the  Pokemon fan could want no matter what side of the   community you're in it had its own brand new  Pokemon introduced that isn't a real Pokemon   outside of this and it's called Mecca Mewtwo yeah  look at this thing are you freaking kidding me   and y'all are still angry that ice cream became a  Pokemon this is literally a thing that the Power   Ranger should be fighting but I digress if you  went and saw the show you were given this giant   promotional Pokemon card that looks like it's  from a generic card game that isn't Pokemon all   for legal reasons you know of not pretending that  this was a real Pokemon card created directly by   the Pokemon company this thing was literally  10 feet tall and probably not as heavy as   the card lists I have a feeling this Goliath  prop moving around weighing just south of 5   000 pounds would be just a little bit very pretty  much dangerous this kind of feels like a sequel   to the Pokemon movie with Giovanni wanting this  ultimate powered up Pokemon based on Mew as he   can't leave his work unfinished as Mewtwo escaped  but that's why we have the other sequel to that   taking place during the Johto Arc that Pokemon  only recognizes as a special and not as a movie   which I feel sad that it's not it's just like when  Pluto was stripped of its title of being a planet   yeah just that's just cruel Mewtwo then comes in  and ends up fighting this this thing and defeating   it as other trainers were challenged to defeat it  with the hopes of winning a special Diamond badge   which of course brings in the Ash and Friends  component to try and face it plus the Mewtwo from   the movie who learns to love ends up defeating it  through friendship and showing it love resulting   in Mecca Mewtwo grabbing Giovanni to show him  love just give him a nice big old hug or to   choke him and you self-destruct so yeah great show  Giovanni's Dead the music slaps the costumes are   awesome oh and they tease the shipping of Ash and  Misty more so than the show ever did see I told   you that there was something for everyone here  the tour would expand from here to presentations   of it all over the world and places like Belgium  and Portugal so let me know if you ever had the   chance to see this show live I just find it all so  fascinating we were all supposed to have forever   access to this performance through a televised  event and home video release but that never   happened because of financial situations from  lack of major success with the shows in general   four kids came up with this idea and honestly  can we all agree that it was good enough to   forgive them for all the censorship of every show  they've ever done no okay I understand nowadays   this is remembered as a thing that happened we've  heard stories of the production as well as actors   themselves being mad at the children for pointing  these special purchased Pokemon Light sticks at   them during the show and what I remember the  most from more recent years was this video from   a channel called frictography whereas the urban  explore a random abandoned theater in Canada of   all places finding a bunch of Left Behind props  from the shows that had been there for what seems   like nearly two decades as this video was posted  on September 4th 2018. this was such a cool and   random Discovery if you are interested in seeing  the musical for yourself there are a couple of   uploads on YouTube that have an untouched filmed  version from Chris Mitchell the production stage   manager from the show and a 20th anniversary  restored version posted by Benjamin Delbert   shout out to both of y'all but now it's time  for us to get back together for our journey to   continue as we now travel to the orange Islands  to finish up leg 1 of our journey with Ash yes back in Pallet Town everyone celebrates Ash's  placement in the Indigo League and it's just a   nice neighborhood get together that's it until  Team Rocket stops by in attempts once again to   steal Pikachu so Ash sends Pidgeotto after them  but he gets hurt by Arbok in doing so while they   end up getting Pikachu back thanks to Charizard  showing off Ash wants to make sure Pidgeotto is   okay and while he's being healed we see a nice  little bonding moment together between them where   their relationship seems fairly trustworthy  we get to note some differences here from the   Pokemon where Pidgeotto and Charizard respond to  Ash completely opposite of one another Professor   Oak however has a special task for Ash and his  friends come in where he asks them to head over to   the orange archipelago and visit another professor  professor Ivy who has this mysterious Pokeball and   has a new smaller Adventure this really seems what  Ash would need right now Gary as well had already   left on a new adventure but the they both still  have a deal for a battle with one another since   the Indigo League has come to an end so we shall  be seeing him soon I'm sure just like in the first   episode of Pokemon the first episode of the orange  islands has Spiro come around where now an angry   Fiero the evolved form of Spiro Is specifically  after Ash in remembrance of what Ash did to him   yup that's the same Spiro he hit with the rock  all the way back then as now it has evolved into   a pharaoh and just wants its Sweet Sweet Revenge  he's been waiting all this time to strike getting   more powerful so the Pharaoh grabs Ash and Pikachu  and as they get taken Pikachu shocks him which   releases them from his grip as they fall into  the trees where they find a little Pidgey and   Pidgeotto family so as Pharaoh attacks Ash sends  his Pidgeotto out to help the little guys away   from this danger but Pidgeotto stands up for them  and against the Pharaoh leading him to be hit hard   and falling all the way down to the ground here  he ends up badly hurt but the safety of the other   Pidgey and pidgeottos is his primary concern  cry flying out as loud as he can glowing and   evolving into Pidgeot and now he tries to take on  Pharaoh once more Ash also tried to catch fearow   but that didn't come close to working Pidgeot  gets the upper hand and together with the flock   of Pidgey and Pidgeotto by his side they run the  Pharaoh and Spiro out of the area and now Pidgeot   feels a sense of responsibility in caring for  the group of his own evil line Pokemon where ash   understands this similar to his primate that this  is the calling that Pidgeot needs Taking Flight   with them all following behind as he will now lead  and protect them from any more attacks like that   again it's a fitting end for Pidgeot finally  having an episode to truly shine on a deeper   level with Ash and offer a fulfilled purpose to  Loyal Pokemon's Journey the group end up taking   a blimp ride over to Valencia Island which they  crash into but they managed to get out fine and   go meet Professor Ivy to acquire the odd Pokeball  the GS ball aka the biggest nothing Burger in all   of the Pokemon Mysteries we've ever had or so we  believe believed based on this item's perceived   relevance and importance that the show gave it  clearly representing the gold and silver look   for the second generation of Pokemon the story of  the GS ball would carry from the orange Islands   to the next stretch of our journey next time the  Johto series but this is a big responsibility for   ash he must protect it and be responsible with  it and we'll Circle back to this in part two of   this video series also this episode serves as a  temporary goodbye for Brock who finds a sense of   his calling staying behind with Professor ivy for  strictly Pokemon care related reasons of course   nothing else they say their goodbyes and head back  to see Professor Oak with the GS ball and somehow   they end up back on another blimp put to sleep  by Jigglypuff and left in a cage from Team Rocket   with no pilot how did this happen yeah they crash  land once more and when they wake up they're just   somehow okay and they find themselves in a forest  with nothing around for miles on their journey to   find anything they come across a Lapras stuck on  the beach where Ash and Misty jump in to confront   these random guys who are messing with it for we  also learn about the orange League where it's a   mix of challenges and battles from 4 gym leaders  and one supreme gym leader yes his drip is worth   more than your whole life there are four badges  to earn and a final trophy to win for making your   way through this is all somewhat similar to what  would come to the video game side of things as   well as the anime for Generation 7 with the alolo  region this episode shows the Great Lengths Ash   would go to help a Pokemon that wasn't even  his and it's quite a lot of action but Lapras   ends up trusting and respecting Ash and now Ash  adds Lapras to his team and now they don't have   to take any more blimps because it can just give  the team rides between the islands that's so nice   we meet Tracy a Pokemon Watcher that observes  Pokemon in their natural habitat for research   and he's a good artist but he joins Ash and Misty  to travel as he wants to come back with them to   meet Professor Oak Ash also makes a decision here  be responsible and bring the GS ball back to Oak   right away or compete in the orange League of  course he chooses the league Professor Oak says   it's fine so you can't really be mad right well  this Arc begins quickly as ash makes his way to   meekin Island to compete in competition with the  gym leader here [ __ ] where the competition they   have starts with a water gun accuracy test Ash  sends out his Squirtle assist he sends out her   Seadra this results in a draw thanks to Ash's  Squirtle keeping up with her Sidra so well and   now for the second competition it's time for  a race Lapras versus Blastoise giving Lapras   a chance to shine for ash already it's a neck and  neck race as they essentially surf these Pokemon   until we see Lapras has an ice beam attack and  clearly since they are falling behind Ash has   Lapras use it as a path forward since Lapras  goes faster on the ice because of this massive   speed boost they are able to catch up and win the  race he earns the coral eye badge and successfully   cements his entry into the orange League down the  road on these Island Adventures Ash finds himself   on Naval Island to face off against Dany where  the challenge here is started before it starts   where the challengers would have to climb up  the mountain without Pokemon helping them as   Dany would also be their are climbing the mountain  with them eventually making their way to the top   after a stressful climb the official challenge is  set for three rounds of activities where you have   to at least win two of them first is to see who  can freeze a hot water geyser the fastest Danny's   Nido Queen takes the round by beating Lapras to  it next is carving an ice sled using three of your   Pokemon Ash with the help of Pikachu Charizard and  Bulbasaur which Charizard reluctantly helping Edge   out the win over Dany and having their sled made  first and now the fun part round three is a race   to the bottom finishing at the beaches down below  with this ice sled as we see the terrain change   from the snowy area to rough rocks and Ash is  somehow flies through the air in the last moments   to beat Dany and earn his second badge the C Ruby  badge and then after on another Island he catches   a Snorlax after not being able to catch the last  one that he saw back in Kanto so that's cool he   also tried to catch a Scyther but failed and Tracy  caught it instead hooray on Mandarin Island Ash   meets Prima a Kanto Elite Four member that Ash  confidently challenges to a battle because of   course he does early we see Ash challenge people  out of the eagerness to beat them right then and   there minus the hard work and training to really  challenge these Advanced trainers this evolves   into more of a respecting the art and the fun  of battling as a way to truly connect with your   Pokemon instead of always worrying about going  for the throne before you're supposed to be there   Primo really lays into him about his ignorance  of not knowing really what to do putting him   down only to cause him to be more Angry for the  battle the battle is a one-to-one fight between   her Cloister and Pikachu Cloister ends up taking  out Pikachu pretty easily though reminding Ash   that it's his Pokemon that earned these Badges  and that with his skill he will someday be a   master Ash spends some time this episode worrying  if what she is saying to him was all to trick him   with reverse psychology but in the end there was  a lot of Truth to what she said but what she meant   was to push him further and to keep following  the path and trusting the process rather than   skipping all that in between now they head off  to the next challenge with a friendly thank you   and goodbye to Prima Ash and the crew are now  on trevita island and meet Rudy the gym leader   he makes Ash complete a Target hitting challenge  before having a regular three-round gym battle   with matching types to each round on top of this  very scary Arena as Pikachu faces off against   Electabuzz and loses to it Bulbasaur is up next  and faces executor putting it to sleep and then   saving it before it falls so that's nice and for  the final round Ash has Squirtle face off against   Starmie and the strength that he needs comes from  Ash pushing him and believing in him to still win   which he does in spectacular fashion winning Ash  the spike shell badge as they now move on to the   fourth gym leader we do take a moment though  to look into Charizard and how his relationship   with Ash is at a boiling point Ash can barely get  Charizard under control to at least work with him   for any battle or just in a friendly way outside  of battle we start to see the fixing of this   with a confident Charizard losing a battle with a  polyrth learning that he isn't as big and tough as   as he thought the effects from this battle leave  Charizard weak and Ash still goes out of his way   to do whatever he can to comfort his Pokemon which  starts breaking Charizard down to become more   relaxed Ash tells Charizard that he wants to get  better as a trainer and hopes that this journey   in doing so includes Charizard wanting him to be  there side by side instead of at odds he hears   what Ash is saying and just really lets it sit  in looking back through his journey with Ash thus   far the next day Team Rocket serves as a vessel  for Ash and Charizard to learn to work together   resulting in them having a better relationship  for the most part and will actually work with him   when it comes to battles in general I love that we  finally took some time to address these issues and   begin repairing their relationship as Charizard  begins opening up his trust and loyalty to Ash   but still not a hundred percent just yet Ash is  now on kumquat Island and he meets Luana the gym   leader so he can earn his fourth and final badge  from the league we get to see right away Charizard   thrown into learning how to work with others  when this challenge requires a double battle   a 2v2 brawl where Pikachu and Charizard face off  against a Marowak and Alakazam there is this issue   currently between Pikachu and Charizard over some  petty and small things that ruins their battle   flow and they end up mixing shots at each other  in the battle only fueling this but in order to   win they need to put their differences aside and  be in sync and I'm not talking boy bands they have   to use their moves together to have the other  Pokemon Collide their shots winning the battle   and granting Ash the Jade star badge Pikachu and  Charizard are Ash's strongest Pokemon and despite   having some issues sometimes can pull through and  work together it's not just how Charizard can work   with Ash going forward it's how Charizard can work  within a team space among any of the Pokemon that   Ash has at any time now on pomelo Island it's time  for the end of the orange league as we meet Drake   the Supreme Gym Leader and Ash's toughest obstacle  yet who offers a really strong battle with some   high level and highly experienced Pokemon this  is a full six on six battle everything shown here   Will be a testament to Ash's training abilities  as well as his battle strategies on the Fly where   we first see ditto vs Pikachu where this ditto  unlike the ditto we saw a long while back has no   issues becoming a Pikachu himself and replicating  the full moveset Pikachu's resilience however in   fighting Nets him the win over the ditto where  Pikachu now gets switched out for Ash's Squirtle   to Aid in this matchup Squirtle has trained  hard for this and has the discipline to focus   and execute great attack strategies so this little  guy is able to knock down this towering beast but   now is where things heat up Drake starts getting  more serious about this all sending out a Gengar   with Ash not having any Pokemon on him that can  combat this typing Ash pulls a risky move tossing   out a Toros hoping for some beginner's luck but  that was a bad plan so he recalls him before he   gets defeated and instead sends out Lapras who  goes toe-to-toe with Gengar in a blast that   shrouds the arena with us unaware of the result  we see in this battle that Ash can be stubborn   from advice during it where Misty throughout  the series always tries to offer some friendly   advice and most times just gets blown off by Ash  just going and doing whatever he thinks he should   do which can work in his favor sometimes but not  every time now When the Smoke Clears on the arena   it appears that they both were defeated and they  have to send out new Pokemon Drake brings out his   Venusaur and Ash tosses Tauros back out clearly  we saw Lapras end up doing well to hold their own   from this nice Bond built with Ash but Toro's here  really has nothing to go off of but I guess that   beginner's luck sure is something because in the  most shocking twist Tauros clutches the victory   leaving only two Pokemon left for ash to defeat  Ash swaps Pokemon to send out Bulbasaur to face   off against Electabuzz resulting in Bulbasaur not  being able to have a sharp enough defense and ends   up taking the loss with Ash's next Resort giving  us Charizard's entrance where he makes light work   of Electabuzz we also hear the announcer reference  Ash's Charizard as his only fully evolved Pokemon   which plays into the Evo shaming we saw back  with Pikachu versus Raichu as it seems to be   a commonplace thing within the Pokemon world  now for the final Pokemon we see Dragonite a   formidable opponent for an exciting conclusion the  two engage in an intense battle trading blows and   making sure to really give it their all ending in  both using their dragon range attack against one   another or Dragonite is severely stunned by it and  Charizard sadly gets knocked out turning the tides   back from Ash's favor so far in the battle Ash's  only strategy here now is to believe in using his   remaining Pokemon in a way where they all work  together to wear down Dragonite since no other   Pokemon is strong enough or well rested enough  from their previous fights Squirtle jumps back   in doing a great job at bringing Dragonite to a  more weakened State despite losing as well Tauros   comes back and does whatever he can do until he's  fully defeated or Pikachu is the only option left   it's all down to this Pikachu's high levels  of training with Ash and the bond that they   have AIDS and Pikachu's heightened agility to  last long enough to fully wear about Dragonite   but also himself as he can barely hold himself  up but before Pikachu would collapse Dragonite   collapses resulting in Ash winning the league  earning a trophy and entered into the orange   League Hall of Fame while this was a smaller  in size tournament it still was a nice small   Redemption for his journey to see how far he has  come how much he has learned and how the bond with   his Pokemon is truly beautiful on his way home he  ends up saying goodbye to one of his newer friends   Lapras as Lapras ends up finding its lost family  it's this nice emotional moment where Ash wants   Lapras to be happy and back with the rest of the  other Lapras and Lapras is grateful to Ash there   are a lot stronger thanks to his training and care  and now goes on with the other Lapras as we wave   goodbye to another incredible Pokemon but more  so an incredible friend who helped them get from   Island to island in the end of this orange Island  Journey Ash and Company return home to Pallet Town   where we find Brock awaiting their arrival they  also bring the GS ball to Professor Oak as well   as Tracy he can go and finally meet him Team  Rocket eventually comes in to stir things up   having now taken the GS ball into their possession  but of course this is all short-lived when a Neato   King helps take out Team Rocket all thanks to  Gary making his return now with them defeated   Gary looks to Ash as Ash is supportive of Gary's  training to have such a powerful Pokemon and the   two finally prepare for their battle they have  been waiting to have it'll be a one-on-one battle   one win takes it Pikachu is ready as Gary sends  out an Eevee and if you've ever wondered why and   where Evie became the unofficial second mascot of  Pokemon it was this moment when Ash's rival had   one or just the sheer popularity of the Pokemon  over the years in general but regardless both of   them give it their all but in the end Gary's Evie  was just too powerful for Pikachu giving Gary the   win and Ash left to ponder over this loss Gary  does however tell him that he gave him a great   fight and Ash promises that next time he will win  as Gary leaves on to another adventure back now   with Professor Oak he just can't Crack the Case  with this GS ball with Tracy helping where he can   the professor makes note that Gary went off to the  Johto region to compete in the Johto league where   ash learns all about this other region and yet  again Gary has the upper hand of getting a head   start besides Ash's want to go there oh gives  him the GS ball back and asks him to bring it   to Kurt a designer of special Pokeballs that we  will be introduced to later on the journey may   have had a lengthy Road thus far but this was  just Ash's official start and welcome to the   rest of the wide Pokemon world he has given a new  Pokedex Tracy stays with Professor Oak as a lab   assistant following his dreams like ash taught  him and our original Trio of Ash Misty and Brock   set off towards new bark town as they make way to  the Johto region the incredible world of Pokemon thank you so I want to talk about another  character we meet here on our journey Tracy   he really isn't like the others once he joins them  for their travels in the orange Islands as he is   self-discovering the person that he wants to be  starting off as this field Pokemon Watcher being   great at sketching What Pokemon do in the wild  for research two becoming the long-working lab   assistant of Professor Oak who he greatly looks up  to he's a genuinely nice person who socially has   this nervousness to be more outgoing which Ash  helps him by Leading by example to follow your   dreams having Tracy end up working as a partner  of Professor Oak having to constantly communicate   more in his job instead of being someone used  to being silent and hiding out of sight he even   catches a few Pokemon all on his own but what  was really cool is he had the Pokemon Merrell   which was a Gen 2 Pokemon but shown off earlier  than the technical release I also feel that Gary   is important to finally bring up here as well as  when we first meet him all the way at the start of   the series he is this antagonistic mean-spirited  person who only exists to rub his accomplishments   in Ash's face but as this series would go on where  we would start to build this development between   the two ending in mutual respect rather than this  hatred that they would have ever since the Mewtwo   battle that defeated Gary and Ash stepping  up to defeat Team Rocket at that gym Gary   finally saw Ash in a different light not only  as this incredible trainer with a lot of heart   but someone he would enjoy having in his life as a  constant test of strength both with roots from The   Little Old Pallet Town he is an incredible trainer  himself always working on how he can train to be   better with a lot of that happening off screen but  the egotistical cheerleader Squad having cool car   driving person he started out being his character  now is a lot more focused and humbled as he leaves   for his path in the Johto region now there are  some fun episodes that I would like to take note   of here ones that I find really cool and think  deserve to be mentioned from the orange Islands   the crystal Onyx episode where we see such a cool  version of Onyx that can actually kind of happen   if we mix the uh terrestrializing from Pokemon  scarlet and violet but there's just this really   cool vibe that the orange island has in general  I think it's such a fun smaller and scoped season   that offers a lot of character growth and amazing  visuals and some incredibly cool Pokemon like all   the new Regional variants that aren't classified  as such with stuff like the Onyx we just mentioned   the island that had all these pink Pokemon but  that was more so from the fruit that they were   eating so I guess technically they're not variants  at all but I just think they're really cool   because they're all pink to even showing off a  new Butterfree that does not exist outside of the   anime or this area I guess the real challenges Ash  faces in the orange islands are his own trainer   skills and how he hones in more aspects with all  of his Pokemon aside from just battling let's take   a look really quickly at the new Pokemon that  entered his life on this part of the journey Lapras was the first Pokemon Ash captures in the  orange islands and while they are only together   for a short amount of time Lapras proves to  be this trustworthy and loyal companion that   Ash really connects with from helping it from some  people trying to hurt it to training it for use in   the challenges and battles as well as ultimately  finding the rest of its family and saying goodbye   after their sea travel and time together I feel  outside of Pikachu and other Pokemon we see way   later on in the series that Lapras had a deeper  connection with Ash more so than most of his   Pokemon and it happened faster too mainly due to  how much Ash has grown Snorlax is just a kind of   cod and not really a major player in the rest of  this Arc so we can kind of revisit Snorlax another   time where there is more substance but someone  who did get some more substance was Pidgeotto who   right off the start has a finale exit from Ash's  team by evolving into a Pidgeot protecting a flock   of his Evo line and being the definition of a  good-spirited Pokemon that resembles Ash in a lot   of ways going on to be this leader and protector  as Ash accepts that this is why what he must do   and this gives a push for the arc with Charizard  who is the exact opposite he's constantly   disobeying Ash and being a general nuisance until  a moment of defeat that really gives Charizard the   Slowdown to understand Ash build this trust with  Ash rather than him giving it out like before he   became closed up but now understands that Ash  is trying to be there for him even if he messes   everything up for ash we get to see the start of  his come around story to not only be strong for   himself but strong for ash as well the trainer  that has cared for him since he was a Charmander   and was ditched and left to die but after all of  this time we learned that Ash was the chosen one   regardless if he's ever felt like the Frozen one  yeah that's right during his journey in the orange   Islands the second Pokemon movie featuring more  Pokemon from the second generation took place   foreign the rumors are true Ash Ketchum is the  chosen one as he was traveling in the orange   Islands we get yet another movie that sidesteps  the main plot of the show for something that won't   really affect the show when we return releasing  on July 21st 2000 Pokemon the Movie 2000 the power   of one would release in theaters and as opposed  to my dad who took me to see the first Pokemon   movie my mother took me to see this one and also  this one is my favorite of all the Pokemon movies   Ash here is at Center Stage to a more important  degree than usual when upon arriving to a new   island as weather around the globe is starting  to act up and cause Pokemon to act up we meet   new characters like Melody who during this annual  Legend Festival regales everyone with the tale   of the chosen one sent to help Lugia restore the  balance as the harmony of fire ice and lightning   are being disturbed whereas alone we shall fall  lest the Earth shall turn to Ash oh there's an ash   right there and he is claimed to be the chosen  one from the story to help Lugia by gathering   the three glass orbs from each of these three  different islands that represent the legendary   bird Trio and bring them to a shrine and play  the tune that replicates Lugia's cry that'll save   the day and end the festival but it's not just a  Festival this year it's like really happening this   one Pokemon collector is literally collecting  the legendary birds which causes the world to   plunge into weather-based chaos Lugia is a new  generation 2 Pokemon specifically one of the two   main new legendaries from there and this movie  sparked my love for him and collecting a lot of   the rare Collectibles pertaining to Lugia but I am  nothing like this guy I would never take it this   far this Pokemon collector named Lawrence III acts  as the main villain of the film looking to capture   all three of the legendary birds in order to  summon fourth Lugia opting to risk the balance of   the entire world and having it fall apart just so  that he can capture and collect Lugia Ash tries to   collect all three of the orbs but this situation  with Lawrence is so bad that even Team Rocket ends   up becoming the good guys helping Ash as the  fate of the world depends on the actions taken   How Can you steal Pikachu if there's no world  to take Pikachu in we also have Slowking here   as a generation 2 Pokemon which would be a new  Evolution option for Slowpoke and uh this one   can talk and speak about the prophecy I love  him Lawrence here becomes this representation   of what being your average collector who enjoys  the hobby but can lose sight of why you enjoyed   it in the first place as it turns to Greed and  all about money or having the best biggest and   rarest things can be he is reminded of why he  loved the Hobby in the end while holding all   that he had left which was an ancient Mew card  which I feel so many people today can look back   upon that specific card and feel the origins  of the hobby somewhat in it you know just for   you with how some Pokemon collectors are today  on social media focusing more towards the money   aspect of everything this movie character feels  more true now than anything you can easily lose   sight of why you enjoy something for plenty of  ulterior motives on the hero side we legit get   to root for ash as this important figure to saving  the world the first movie feels a lot smaller and   personable while this expands the entertainment  to the big budget action adventure that builds   Ash's responsibility and maturity it pulls more  on Team Rocket to have this deeper complexity   in an even greater way and for the shippers out  there Misty starts confronting some feelings she   may have towards Ash as the prophecy is unfolding  millions of Pokemon have made a migration to be   there at the orange Islands waiting at the ready  as when Ash connects with Lugia he explains that   they all came here in the off chance they needed  to be called upon for help and it may not seem   like their fight but this is their world too and  it became their fight to stand by the chosen one   and Lugia Lugia does emphasize though that the one  who can really make a difference right now is Ash   as he ends up at the right place at the right time  to be living out this experience and showing that   just one person no matter how big or how small  can make a difference Ash made that difference   selflessly and with the help of his friends  and Pokemon making their differences helping   him with different parts of his journey Pokemon  2000 is so freaking good and for all of these   reasons I think it just holds up as my favorite I  like ash as a hero troped Up character here sure   it's a little cheesy it's a little predictable  but I said it from the start and I'll say it   again it's the heart that he has that always  makes the journey just that much more special now we all know all the other Media or  franchise avenues that the show would   head in but specifically for ash we would see  him also be portrayed in action figure form as   well as in some video game media like Pokemon  Puzzle league for the Nintendo 64. as far as   video games like that go if you have another  hour to kill I have a brand new video over on   my gaming channel Jordan Fringe gaming that is  a full-on deep dive into the weirdest Pokemon   spin-off video games and there is a lot to  cover sorry to plug but if you want to keep   the Pokemon train going you know check that  out Ash would also have a completely other   counterpart within the Pokemon manga series  The Electric tale of Pikachu where it follows   the similar journey of Ash but deals with the  character being tweaked and attitude a bit and   connections to others being slightly altered  and plus it has different Pokemon that he   catches trains and bonds with throughout the  series I personally really like the way it's   done in this medium is this own separate little  extra thing and no I don't have a book or Manga   channel to surprise you with another massive  video talking about the manga in detail but I   could you know that I could I don't currently but  I might I also might not sound off in the comments what Pokemon was able to accomplish in the  beginning here was something Beyond extraordinary   from this rise of pokemania in the U.S and across  the world from all avenues the games the trading   cards and of course the anime it's been there for  me my entire life I've been able to watch it grow   and unfold into the biggest franchise of all time  but what truly started it all in the US was the   anime releasing as its first piece of Pokemon  media while I have seen the first two seasons   here of Pokemon over and over again the most out  of any other season in the show it never fails to   feel like home I can go back to these feelings  of sitting right in front of my bulky tube TV   watching Ash and Friends make their way through  the Kanto region in the orange Islands I can   remember going to see the first movie in theaters  the second movie in theaters there is a reason   why Pokemon has stayed with me my entire life from  the video game side to the card game side and more   it really helped build that attachment because of  the TV show because of experiencing Ash's Journey   the excitement he has capturing Pokemon on wanting  to be the champion how in the beginning the mascot   of the show Pikachu was a jerk and we see how he  finally warms up to Ash while some aspects of the   original series feel a bit dated it truly is this  90s vibe that only can be felt by watching it the   animation may be stiffer the dialogue may be a  bit lacking but like I've said what it did have   was heart being able to capture the imagination of  young and older fans into a world that feels like   it is living and breathing from where it started  to where it is today is a sight to behold this   is only just the start of our journey together  though we still have many and many seasons and   many generations left to go until we reach the end  of Ash's Legacy so if you enjoyed this video stick   around as we shall soon be moving on to the Johto  region with the second generation of Pokemon and   perhaps my personal favorite generation thanks  so much for watching like And subscribe later thank you

Channel: Jordan Fringe

Views: 858,088

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Id: twZkRynDENw

Length: 127min 46sec (7666 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 27 2023