As the protagonist of the anime Pokémon For over 25 years, Ash Ketchum has commanded a huge cast of Pokémon. Some become mainstays of the series from the very beginning and receive tons of publicity. However, there are others that are ignored by the writers in favor of others.
From Pokemon that left too soon to those that just didn’t show up much, many of Ash’s Pokemon are unable to bring out their true abilities for the sake of story or battle. All of Ash’s Pokémon have the potential to be great, but more than one was robbed of the chance to prove it.
10 Heracross is used as a triumph card
Despite being the first Pokémon Ash caught in Johto, Heracross didn’t last long in Ash’s main team. His brute strength was evident from the start, but after a while he was transferred to Professor Oak’s lab and stayed there.
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Heracross tends to come back when Ash needs it for difficult battles, such as during the Johto League, Battle Frontier, and Sinnoh League. Although he’s made a solid name for himself overall, it’s hard to ignore the heights he could have reached as a pillar of Ash’s team…
9 Palpitoad Was Largely Ignored 
Not counting released Pokémon and unofficial catches, Palpitoad holds the record for Ash’s Pokémon with the least screen time. Appeared in less than ten episodes of White and Black and has only returned for a handful of brief cameos.
Despite being vastly underused, Palpitoad has a lot more going for it than meets the eye. His Water/Ground type is very useful in combat, and he has some surprisingly powerful and varied moves, such as Hydraulic Pump, Mud Shot, and Mud Wave. With more attention, he could have become a formidable threat.
8 Kingler Never Leaves Oak’s Lab 
The original Kanto season did not include many of Ash’s Pokémon, aside from the Kanto starters. Krabby was the first Pokémon that Ash sent to Professor Oak after catching his original team, and since he never added it to his team, appearances of him are incredibly rare.
Despite his almost complete lack of development, he showed great potential in his few appearances. Above all, he won Ash’s first battle in the Pokémon League by himself after evolving into Kingler. One of Ash’s first captures deserved a lot more time to shine.
7 Muk Is Always On The Lookout 
Muk is, at the same time, one of Ash’s most recurring and least used Pokémon. Almost every series has continued the gag of Muk choking everyone he comes across, but he has added little to the series other than this.
Muk has only been used in two battles, both from the original series. In his favor it must be said that on both occasions he performed well. He was responsible for Ash’s victory against Jeanette in the round four match and was able to block blows from Gary’s powerful Blastoise, so it’s likely he could do a lot more if Ash had made proper use of it in the future. .
6 Leavanny is an underrated threat 
Leavanny is one of the many Unova Pokémon that have been left behind due to the rotation of Ash’s team. It’s a pity, because whenever it has appeared it has given the stature.
Leavanny is a graceful and powerful fighter, putting in several excellent performances against Burgh, Roxie, and Stephan. He makes great use of his flexible Rope Throw attack, was able to maximize his dodge speed with special training, and can activate his Swarm ability to power up his Bug-type moves in a pinch.
5 Glalie was left on the bench after a great performance in the league 
Although he was captured quite late in Ash’s trip to Hoenn, Glalie proved to be a surprising powerhouse during the Hoenn League. He took down several powerful opponents against all odds, even overcoming type disadvantages against the likes of Charizard and Metang.
Strangely, Glalie stayed in Professor Oak’s lab after the league and has never fought since. She had all the potential to be a massive breakout star for Ash, especially in Battle Frontier, and yet she was cut just as she was gaining some serious momentum.
4 Goodra Couldn’t Keep Up After His Launch 
Goodra’s biggest claim is his status as Ash’s first fully evolved pseudo-legendary. Once a weak and timid Goomy, Ash quickly elevated him into his ultimate form and used his great power to win his Gym battle against Clemont. Unfortunately, it seems that this gift did not last long.
Goodra’s initial time on Ash’s roster was distractingly short, being released just 15 episodes after her capture. She returned to compete in the Kalos League, but was victorious during the tournament. Had it not been released, she could have matched her other Kalos Pokémon.
3 Naganadel Evolved Without Ash 
During Sun and moon, a young Poipole took a special interest in Pikachu and stayed on his team for a while before being released. This would be Ash’s only official capture of the Ultra Beasts, a division of mysterious alien Pokémon very similar to the Legendaries in power.
Unfortunately, Ash only fought Poipole once before releasing him, and by the time he returned, he had already evolved into Naganadel off-screen. Naganadel puts in a great performance in the battle against Professor Kukui, but it shows how much potential he missed by not using Ash anymore.
2 Primeape Came And Gone Ridiculously Quick 
Simply put, Primeape has as short a legacy as an Ash Pokemon can have. Aside from flashbacks, he only appears twice in the entire series: in the episode of his capture and in the episode of his release. In her very brief stay on Ash’s team, she joined him and won a special tournament for Fighting-type Pokémon.
One of Ash’s opponents was so impressed that he offered to train Primeape for him, but unlike many similar situations, Primeape has never returned to Ash since. Clearly she would have served Ash incredibly well if she had stayed with him, but this just didn’t happen.
1 Butterfree needed more time before leaving 
Butterfree marks a bunch of iconic milestones in Ash’s early days: his first capture, his first evolution, and of course, his first release. The infamous episode “Bye Bye Butterfree” is remembered to this day as one of the series’ first emotional journeys.
However, as significant as his release is for Ash, Butterfree was released before he could really break out as a character. For such an important milestone in Ash’s history, he barely has accomplishments to his name and deserved so much more than the series gave him before letting him go.
