Ash Ketchum has been on an epic journey through the Pokémon universe. During his journey, Ash meets many rare creatures, from Pokémon gods to visitors from other universes. Even though he has encountered so many extraordinary creatures, Ash only catches a “moderate” number.
Ash has always had a respectful approach towards Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, he almost never tries to catch them. Of course, the case of the legendary Pokémon Meltan is an exception, and it’s just one of many rare and exclusive Pokémon that Ash has encountered.
Many people would think that Melmetal (a unique rare Pokémon), the evolution of Meltan, is the rarest creature that Ash can catch. In fact, the rarest Pokémon Ash ever caught was in the Johto region, where the audience witnessed Ash catch a Shiny Noctowl.
In the episode titled “Fowl Play!”, Ash and his companions came across a rare mutant Noctowl. When Ash encountered this particular Noctowl, it was being captured by another trainer. Unfortunately, this owl was too smart and defeated the other, then fell into Ash’s hands. After a heated battle with Pikachu, Noctowl agreed to be captured by Ash and became Ash’s rarest Pokémon.
Shiny Pokémon has always been very rare, appearing at a rate of 1:8000. Therefore, they rarely appear in anime. The Shiny mechanic was introduced in the Johto arc, which is the newest addition to the Pokémon Gold and Silver video games, so it made sense to include this innovative mechanic in the anime, especially in a way that highlights Turn on Ash’s team. Ash’s Shiny Noctowl has a much smaller appearance than normal Noctowls, adding to its uniqueness.
In addition to this special Noctowl, Ash also caught a number of other rare Pokémon. For example, Ash found Meltan in Alola, a phantasmagoric that evolved into Melmetal as mentioned above. But this Pokémon didn’t stay with Ash for long. Other Pokémon that can be mentioned are Poipole and Lycanroc in Dusk form, which also makes the rare list without being classified as legendary or Mythical. Ash even had the chance to command Latias in battle, but he never actually captured a legendary.
Interestingly, although Ash never caught the legendary, his companions did. For example, Goh captured Suicune.
When Ash’s journey ended, even though he never caught a legendary, Ash came into possession of even rarer Pokémon, Noctowl Shiny being perhaps the rarest of them all. This serves as a reminder that true rarity can come from where we least expect it.