Ash has been catching Pokemon for quite a while, but that doesn’t mean he’s even close to catching them all. Throughout the years that thePokemonanime has run, there have been a lot of Pokemon that Ash has missed while on his journey to become a Pokemon Master. But, on the latest episode to air in Japan, Ash got the chance to add a long-absent Gen 1 Pokemon to his team: Gengar.
For fans, it’s always a big deal when Ash adds a new member to his team. Many of his additions have gone on to become fan-favorites and staples of his team, such as Greninja and Charizard. That being said, Ash has been on a roll as of late, with this Gengar joining his teamon top of Ash’s new Dragonite.Seeing as his team is rather small this season, Ash’s Gengar is sure to bring a lot to the team.
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Ash and Go first encountered this Gengar misbehaving at the Sakuragi Institute, where its original trainer abandoned it, a few episodes prior. Go failed to catch it during this first encounter and Gengar later fled, but it wasn’t gone for long. In the latest episode ofPokemon, Gengar was again found at the Sakuragi Institute where it was causing chaos. Things played out differently this time around, though. Instead, Gengar found itself being freed from Team Rocket’s clutches by Ash. This act of kindness was enough to endear Ash to Gengar, ultimately leading to Gengar joining Ash’s team.
While the fact that Ash has caught a popular Gen 1 Pokemon has gotten a lot of fans excited, there’s more to it than that. This Gengar will be the first ghost-type Pokemon on Ash’s team since the firstPokemonseries, when he tried and failed to use a Haunter against Sabrina’s Kadabra. And withAsh having a history of not using his best Pokemon, a new Gengar being on what is now a relatively small team gives fans some hope that he’ll actually bring some firepower to battles from now on.
At this point in the season, it seems like Ash’s team is coming into its own. Going by previous series, Ash doesn’t typically catch Pokemon as powerful as Dragonite or Gengar this early on. That being said, the current series ofPokemonseems more apt to explore previous generations, such as whenAsh and Go visit the Johto region.It could be this new willingness to look back onPokemonthat has led to Ash catching such powerful Gen 1 Pokemon. Whatever the reason is, hopefully this trend will continue into the future.
