Ash's longest Pokémon winning streak was broken by a surprising trainer

Summary

Ash’s winning streak in Pokémon Journeys ended when Misty defeated him in battle. Misty captured Clauncher, the final Pokémon of the series, after defeating Ash in their match. Despite his loss, Ash remained amiable and continued training with his Clauncher and Corphish.

Ash has had his ups and downs Pokémon anime, and to be fair, Pokémon Journeys mostly “favored” him, as he had an incredible winning streak the likes of which the anime had never seen. This winning streak took Ash to the pinnacle of his Pokémon training and saw him crowned as King of the World Coronation Series, but it was mercilessly broken by one of His best friends: Misty.

In the episode “The Trial of a Budding Master,” Ash has two battles, one for the World Coronation Series, which he wins, and one against a trainer looking to challenge Farfetch’d. Ash equals Gallade. Ash lost to the latter’s trainer, Rinto, who hoped Ash would improve Farfetch’d’s technique and challenge him again. This was Ash’s last loss for a very long time, and Ash finally won a rematch with Rinto as part of the official World Coronation Series in “Beyond Chivalry… With the goal of becoming a Leek Master !”.

Ash’s winning streak will last 87 episodes, through the Masters’ Eight Tournament and beyond… until he meets Misty again.

Misty destroyed Ash’s long winning streak

In the episode “A Fated Face-Off!”, Misty runs into Ash on a beach, and the two compete to catch a Clauncher they spotted nearby. Their challenge initially begins as a fishing competition, with Misty using her secret Pokémon fishing lure while Ash uses a lure based on his old companion Cilan. However, their attempt to hook the Clauncher was unsuccessful, it pulled them into the water rather than being captured. After Team Rocket’s disruption, Ash and Misty decide that they will simply fight to see who has the right to capture Clauncher.

Misty chose her Politoed, while Ash chose Corphish—much to the surprise of Pikachu, who was expecting to participate with a type advantage. Corphish and Politoed dueled, exchanging blows until Corphish missed a crucial opportunity with the Crabhammer, causing it to be knocked out with a Mega Punch from Misty’s Politoed. Misty won their match and caught Clauncher, which would be her last Pokémon catch in the entire series.

Ash was quite pleased about losing, and when Clauncher emerged from the Poké Ball, he began training with it and Corphish, much to Misty’s chagrin. Corphish and Clauncher immediately have a close relationship, which is why Ash wanted to capture it in the first place, so it makes sense that he chose Corphish to fight over Pikachu, even though Pikachu could easily easily defeat Politoed. However, Misty won fairly, so the Pokémon happily chose to go with her.

Ash doesn’t really have any major battles after this episode, other than fighting bad guys like Pokémon Hunters and Team Rocket, so it’ll be a bit of a shame to see Ash’s fighting career come to an end. It just goes to show that even the Monarch of the World Coronation Series isn’t invincible, especially if the circumstances of the battle lead to some tactically incorrect decisions. World champion or not, PokémonKetchum’s Ash is still the old Ash, and if anyone recognizes that, it’s Misty.

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