Everyone knows PokémonAsh’s age-old motto, “must catch them all”, but when it comes to anime, one can’t help but wonder, now that Ash’s journey has come to an end, the former protagonist is actually close to being caught. To what extent .
By the time Ash’s era ended, more than 1,000 Pokémon were known to exist. However, Ash has never visited Paldea, so it’s not fair to count those against him. Between all the areas that Ash has actually visited, there are 898 different species of Pokémon that he can catch. If one discards 80 Legendary and Mythical Pokémon (excluding Meltan/Melmetal), which are often depicted as uncatchable in the anime, there are 818 Pokémon left that Ash can catch.
Ash never catches them all, but he has no intention of catching them
In reality, however, Ash has only caught 57 individual Pokémon over the course of the series – only about 7% of the Pokémon available to him. Of course, that’s not the whole story either. Taking evolution into account, Ash has owned 98 Pokémon over the course of the series, a more respectable 12%, but still far from all. There are also some more mysterious situations to consider, such as Raticate Ash in possession for all 15 minutes or Rotom from his Rotom Pokédex. However, that still only gives him 7 more points, bringing his total to 105. Goh has done better than Ash, despite being only introduced in Journeys, and he has caught 108 Pokémon in just a few years. , including Legendary Pokémon, and with evolutions considered, he comes out on top at 116th.
Ash’s goal is to become a Pokémon Master, a vaguely defined goal that many assume involves catching as much as possible. However, that was never Ash’s philosophy. From the start, he worked to develop a relationship with each of his Pokémon, something he couldn’t do with too many. In fact, catching every Pokémon he encounters would hinder the series’ message of friendship and trust, as it sees Pokémon as real beings, living with their own desires and needs. At the end of the series, Ash decides that becoming a Pokémon Master means having the ability to befriend all of the Pokémon rather than catching them all, and that’s a goal he’s getting much closer to.
Ahs’ goal is actually the opposite of “catch them all”.
In the end, Ash didn’t catch every Pokémon and only managed to get past 10% of the total number of Pokémon. However, the series wouldn’t be the same without Ash’s special brand of training and bonding with Pokémon, and that wouldn’t have been possible had he caught everything in sight. This way, individual Pokémon are allowed to have personalities of their own, making for many fan-favorite species that may not be so common. While Ash Ketchum’s Pokémon the journey doesn’t end with catching them all, rather, it ends in a way that better fits the theme of the series and that’s probably for the best.