How Close Pokémon's Ash Actually Got To Catching Them All

With Ash's era of the Pokémon anime over and done, just how many Pokémon did Ash have by the end, and was it even remotely close to catching them all?

Summary

• Ash only caught 57 unique Pokémon, a mere 7% of the total available.
• Including evolutions, Ash owned a more respectable 12% of Pokémon.
• The goal of becoming a Pokémon Master for Ash was about befriending all Pokémon, not catching them all.

Everyone knows Pokémon's long-standing motto, "gotta catch 'em all," but when it comes to the anime, one can't help but wonder, now that Ash's journey is over, just how close the former protagonist actually got to catching them all. Ash caught a lot of Pokémon during his journey, but unfortunately, he never came close to catching every single one.

By the time Ash's era ended, there were over 1,000 Pokémon known to exist. Ash never visited Paldea, however, so it feels unfair to count those against him. Between all the regions Ash actually visited, there were 898 different species of Pokémon that he could've caught.

If one removes the 80 Legendary and Mythical Pokémon (excluding Meltan/Melmetal), which are often portrayed as uncatchable in the anime, that leaves 818 Pokémon that Ash could have potentially caught.

Ash Only Owned 105 Unique Pokémon During His Adventure

In reality, though, Ash only caught 57 unique individual Pokémon over the course of the series, roughly 7% of the Pokémon available to him. Of course, that isn't quite the whole story. If one considers evolutions, then Ash has owned 98 Pokémon throughout the series, a more respectable 12%. There are also some murkier situations to consider, such as the Raticate Ash owned for all of 15 minutes, or the Rotom from his Rotom Pokédex. That still only gets him an extra 7, though, bringing the total to 105. Goh did a better job than Ash, despite being only introduced in Journeys, and he managed to catch 108 Pokémon in just a few years, including Legendary Pokémon, and with evolutions considered, he tops out at 116.

Related

Ash's 10 Rarest Pokémon

Ash Ketchum owned a wide variety of Pokémon by the end of his series, but which Pokémon that he caught were the absolute rarest of all?

Ash's aim was to become a Pokémon Master, a vaguely defined goal that many assumed involved catching as many as possible. That has never been Ash's philosophy, though. From the beginning, he has worked to develop relationships with each of his Pokémon, something he just can't do if he has too many. Actually catching every Pokémon he encountered would get in the way of the series' messages about friendship and trust, as it treats Pokémon as real, living creatures with their own desires and needs. In the series finale, Ash decides that being a Pokémon Master means having the ability to befriend all Pokémon, not catch them all, and that's a goal he's much closer to.

Ahs's Goal Is Actually The Opposite Of "Catching Them All"

In the end, Ash didn't catch every Pokémon, and only barely made it past 10% of all Pokémon. The series wouldn't be what it is, though, without Ash's particular brand of training and bonding with Pokémon, and that just wouldn't be possible if he caught everything in sight. This way, individual Pokémon were allowed to have their own personalities, endearing many species to fans that might not otherwise be so popular. While Ash Ketchum's Pokémon journey didn't end with catching them all, it instead ended in a way more fitting to the themes of the series, and that's probably for the best.

Episodes of Pokémon are streaming on Netflix!

Watch On Netflix

• Pokemon

  Summary:

  Spanning over twenty-five years, Pokemon, known as Pocket Monsters in Japan, is the multimedia franchise created jointly by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures. Conceptualized by Satoshi Tajiri in association with Ken Sugimori and Junichi Masuda, Pokemon is set in fictional worlds where people live together with tamable creatures known as Pokemon. Humans who catch, raise, and battle the creatures are known as Pokemon Trainers. They head out on extensive journeys across their continents to raise their Pokemon with the ultimate goal of competing in tournaments to become the champion. Pokemon spans several massive properties, from a long-running animated series to a successful trading card game, to the medium that started it all, video games. In addition, Pokemon began the "two-game" trend where two versions of a game would release and include different Pokemon/features between the versions, encouraging players to meet up with others and trade so they could "catch 'em all."

  Created by:

  Satoshi Taijiri, Ken Sugimori, Junichi Masuda

  First Film:

  Pokemon: The First Movie

  Latest Film:

  Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle

  First TV Show:

  Pokemon

  First Episode Air Date:

  1997-04-01

  Current Series:

  Pokemon

  Video Game(s):

  Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Pokemon Snap, Pokémon GO

  TV Show(s):

  Pokemon