Most fans of Pokémon more or less know the story of Ash Ketchum by now. Ash is the anime's protagonist and plucky young Pokémon Trainer who wants to "be the very best, like no one ever was" by becoming a Pokémon Master. Over the course of his long career traveling the world, his battle strategies have had their ups and downs.

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To be fair, Ash has really come into his own as a trainer over the years, but sometimes he's come up with some pretty questionable strategies. Surprisingly, not all of these end in a loss for Ash, but they don't take away that inherently they're just bad strategies for any trainer to use.

10 Metapod vs. Metapod/Hardening Battle

Metapod vs Metapod, Pokemon

This one comes from the early days of Ash's journey as he comes face to face with a bug-catching samurai that challenges him to a battle. After having both of their first Pokémon knocked out (Pidgeotto and Pinsir), the two decide to duke it out with their Metapods. Unfortunately, being immobile cocoons, the only move the Metapods know is "Harden."

Ash and the Samurai order each Metapod to use Harden over and over again, essentially creating a stalemate. What makes this one so bad is his and the samurai's own stubbornness to stick to a plan that clearly doesn't work. Ash doesn't even try switching out Metapod for Pikachu.

9 "Pikachu, Aim for the Horn!"

Blaine's Rhydon ready for battle in the Pokemon anime

Ash is known to come up with some pretty oddball plans of attack in the heat of battle, and one of the more infamous examples was when Pikachu went up against Blaine's Rhydon. Blaine had the advantage since Ground-Types are strong against Electric-Types, but Pikachu defies this and wins by shocking Rhydon's horn like a lightning rod.

It's not clear how Ash came up with this and the reason it works makes little sense, since Rhydon was completely immune to electric attacks before. It just comes off as an out-of-nowhere strategy that ends up being lucky as opposed to smart.

8 He Tried Using Brute Force Against Lorelei

Prima/Lorelei, Pokemon anime

Ash has had a number of moments where he got a swelled head after scoring some wins, only to be schooled by a superior trainer, one such case was when he battled Lorelei (or Prima in the English dub) of the Elite Four on the Orange Islands. While he uses Pikachu against her Cloyster for the type advantage, Ash's strategy is less of a plan and more of just trying to use brute force.

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Unsurprisingly, Ash's reliance on attacking head-on backfires against the Elite Four member's experience, and he loses the match. In the end, Ash's overconfidence is what did him in here.

7 Ash Plays Things a Little Too Safe After Losing to Bea

Ash is Sad, Pokemon Journeys

Rarely, if ever, does Ash ever lose that strong sense of confidence of his, but after he got thoroughly thrashed by Bea in the World Coronation Series, Ash starts to doubt himself and his outside-the-box style strategies. In the battles that followed his first match with Bea, Ash tries playing it safe and having his Pokémon keep their distance from their opponents.

This approach doesn't go so well either and Ash loses one time too many, dropping him from the Great Class back down to the Normal Class. Eventually, Ash regains his confidence, but it's still a strange sight to see Ash battle with too much restraint.

6 The Times He Used Pokémon That Wouldn't Listen to Him

Ash & Charizard

Ash always had a long way to go in order to reach his dreams, and no fact illustrates that better than the many Pokémon that straight up just didn't listen to him, especially during the Kanto journey. At the time, a number of his Pokémon saw him as weak and inexperienced, so they wouldn't obey him.

Pikachu, Primeape, and most notably his Charizard are prime examples of this, though Ash would still try to rely on them anyway despite their rebellious streak. The fact he didn't train Charizard better actually causes him to lose the Indigo League, and showed that he would need to grow more as a trainer if he wanted to win next time.

5 Thunder Armor Was Risky & Nearly Fainted His Swellow

Swellow with Thunder Armor in Pokémon.

Another infamous oddball strategy Ash made up on the fly happened during his Double Battle with Tate and Liza in the Hoenn Region. Sending out Pikachu and Swellow for a battle in the air, things aren't looking too good, so Ash decides to change things up by having both Pikachu and Swellow struck by lightning, giving them "Thunder Armor."

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Despite how bizarre that is, this ends up working and Ash wins the badge. It should be noted, though, that this move was risky and could've KO'd Swellow considering that it is weak to electricity. Ash was very lucky because this move probably had more chance of backfiring than succeeding.

4 He Basically Had No Plan at all Against Lenora

Lenora And Ash In Pokemon

Ash's time in the Unova Region is pretty infamous for making him seem regressed as a character, and sadly his battling style suffered during this too. Despite his experiences, he was utterly beat by the Gym Leader Lenora, because Ash essentially didn't have a plan at all, having his Pokémon attack without thinking first.

Lenora threw Ash off his game pretty quickly and easily by switching around his chosen Pokémon and then knocking both out, leaving the score as 2-0. Even Lenora notes how lackluster Ash's strategy, or lack thereof, was in this battle.

3 That Time He Tried to Fight Mewtwo With His Bare Hands

Ash Punches Mewtwo

After rescuing Pikachu and all the other Pokémon captured in Mewtwo's lab during Pokémon's First Movie, Ash reemerges from the smoke to face the powerful psychic Pokémon. With an army of Pokémon by his side, Ash decides to take matters into his own hands (literally) by charging in to punch Mewtwo.

Obviously, this doesn't work, as Mewtwo easily blocks all of Ash's attacks and then tosses him into the air with telekinesis. Considering Ash saw firsthand how Mewtwo could lay out other strong Pokémon, this was just a bad idea that could've ended with Ash becoming a stain on the wall if not for the intervention of Mew.

2 Any Time He Forgets About Type Advantage

Onix vs Pikachu Pokemon Anime

To be fair, Pokémon battles in the anime work a little differently than they do in the games. However, type advantage does still play a role in those battles and can still be the deciding factor between victory and defeat. Yet time and time again, Ash ignores typing when battling, often sending Pokémon who have a disadvantage when he could've sent out a more suited Pokémon for the job.

Every now and then, Ash and Pokémon can defy typing and prove that there's more to Pokémon matchups than type advantage, but it's still a risky move to ignore it and send out a Pokémon that might not have the best shot at winning.

1 Relying Only on Palpitoad to Win Against Elesa

Ash and his Palpitoad, Pokemon

Another notorious example of Ash's character in the Unova saga and quite possibly one of his very worst-ever strategies across the series was during his battle with the Electric-type Gym Leader, Elesa. This time around, Ash does take type advantage into consideration and uses his Palpitoad, but when it faints, Ash's strategy falls apart.

It's revealed that Ash's plan was to only rely on Palpitoad for the whole match, to the point where he didn't bring any other Pokémon. He had to actually leave the gym to get his other Pokémon and then run back, which probably should've counted as a forfeit right there. It's a flimsy plan and a particularly boneheaded move even for Ash.

NEXT: Pokémon: 10 Biggest Failures of Ash Ketchum's Career, Ranked