It's been a rollercoaster ride for Ash Ketchum on his journey to becoming a Pokémon Master. Along the way, he and his various Pokémon teams have claimed triumphant victories but also huge failures, and each time he's had to pick himself up and go again.
Failure has allowed Ash to gain valuable experience. He wouldn't be the same without having lived through his mistakes, and perhaps he wouldn't have gotten as far as he has. His ambition and determination simply won't allow him to stop working toward his goal after a setback. And unfortunately for Ash, sometimes the only way to learn is the hard way.
10 Ash Was Downgraded To 'Normal' After Losing 2 World Coronation Series Matches In A Row
The World Coronation Series is a competition that determines the strongest Pokémon Trainer in the world. There are four classes: Normal, Great, Ultra, and Master. Trainers go up and down in class depending on their ranking, which is determined by how many battles they win or lose. Ash entered the series and got off to a good start, but hit a bump in the road when he lost 2 consecutive matches. The first of the two losses came against a male Trainer whose Octillery defeated Riolu with Octazooka. Ash again chose Riolu to go up against a female Trainer whose Tentacruel outmatched it, sending him down a class from Great to Normal.
9 Ash's Pikachu Lost To A Meowth In The Hoenn League
Ash battled friendly rival Tyson in a match to see who would progress to the final four of the Hoenn League. At the end of a long battle, it all came down to Ash's Pikachu and Tyson's Meowth. Going on stats, one would think that Pikachu was the favorite, even if this Meowth was a lot stronger than the blundering Team Rocket Meowth. However, Tyson was clever in having Meowth use Thunderbolt to nullify Pikachu's Electric attacks. Meowth then copied Pikachu's Iron Tail, and when the dust settled, it was the Scratch Cat Pokémon who remained standing, ending Ash's tournament.
8 In The Unova League, Ash Lost To An Opponent Who Only Used 5 Pokémon
Unova wasn't a particularly good region for Ash. He didn't accomplish anything of note, was made fun of time and again by Iris, and to cap it all off, he lost in the Unova League to Cameron, who mistakenly used 5 Pokémon in a Full Battle instead of 6. Ash got Cameron down to one Pokémon, Riolu, while he had three remaining: Unfezant, Snivy, and Pikachu.
Unfezant was defeated and a weakened Pikachu recalled. With the battle looking over thanks to Snivy's Leaf Storm, Cameron's Riolu evolved into Lucario, who took out Snivy, so Ash was left to send out a weary Pikachu. He put up a good fight but was ultimately defeated, despite Ash's numbers advantage.
7 Ash Lost His First Ever Battle With Bitter Rival Gary
There was nothing riding on this battle for Ash other than pride and a chance to gauge the level of his Pokémon against a competitor at the same stage of his career. In a one-on-one battle, Ash sent out Pikachu while Gary chose Eevee. The two were evenly matched, but when Gary had Eevee use Skull Bash it knocked Pikachu to the floor and he was unable to get up. It was a real blow for Ash to find out he was further back on his journey compared to his bitter rival, and a sign that he needed to get stronger.
6 Ash Only Managed To Beat 2 Of Tobais' Pokémon In His Sinnoh League Loss
Ash faced the mysterious Tobias in the Semi-finals of the Sinnoh League. Tobias's Darkrai was immense, defeating opponents on its own leading up to the battle with Ash, and it took out three of Ash's Pokémon in quick succession. Ash managed to defeat Darkrai using Sceptile but it was defeated by Tobias's Latios, as was Swellow.
Pikachu managed to beat Latios but was unable to continue, and with Ash out of usable Pokémon, Tobias was declared the winner. Going up against a Mythical and then a Legendary Pokémon was never going to be easy, but still, with all the experience he had from his past losses and the shape his team was in, Ash should have at least beaten more than 2 of his opponent's Pokémon.
5 Ash Lost To Ritchie In The Indigo League Because His Pokémon Didn't Respect Him
When Ash entered into battle with his new friend Ritchie in his Pokémon League debut, he hadn't taught Charizard to respect him. When he sent out Charizard, all he did was sit around, and the referee disqualified him, costing Ash the battle. It was too early for him and his Pokémon to enter the Indigo League, but he should have recognized that. He should have known he needed more time to get all his Pokémon on the same page so that they wouldn't embarrass him in battle, as Charizard did.
4 Ash Squandered The Chance To Become The Kalos League Champion
Having reached all the way to the finals of the Kalos League, this was Ash's best chance yet to become a League Champion. He was up against Alain, a powerful Trainer who specialized in Mega-Evolution. The battle came down to Ash-Greninja vs. Mega Charizard X. At the culmination of an attritional battle, both Pokémon used their ultimate moves, Ash-Greninja using Water Shuriken and Mega Charizard X using Blast Burn. Each move hit its intended target, and when the smoke cleared, the two exhausted Pokémon stood staring at each other for a time. Sadly, it was Ash-Greninja who fell first. To get so close to a Pokémon League trophy but lose was a devastating failure for Ash.
3 Ash's Overreliance On Unevolved Pokémon Has Cost Him
Perhaps it's because of what happened with Charizard in the Indigo League that Ash hasn't pushed his Pokémon to evolve. There are advantages to preventing Pokémon from evolving. They learn moves quicker than they would have had they evolved, and generally don't learn many moves after evolving. But the benefits of evolution surely outweigh the advantages. Ash wants to be a Pokémon Master more than anything, but he isn't ruthless. It's ultimately up to the Pokémon whether it wants to evolve or not, but if Ash was more committed to winning, he would have forced Bulbasaur, or Gible, or even Pikachu to evolve.
2 Ash's Failure To Catch A Lot Of Pokémon Narrows His Options
Catching Pokémon isn't a prerequisite for becoming a Pokémon Master, at least in the anime, and it's not Ash's goal to catch every Pokémon. But he surely would have a better chance of progressing quicker toward his goal than he has done if he spent more time catching Pokémon instead of focusing on training up small teams. Catching more Pokémon would have allowed him to select from a larger pool so that he could build more rounded teams to compete in tournaments. Of the Pokémon he does catch, he keeps the majority in storage.
1 Ash Rules With His Heart, Not His Head
Ash's win-loss ratio across the anime isn't actually that bad. It's just when it comes to the big matches in the various tournaments, he's usually defeated. Ash isn't a natural Pokémon Trainer. He's impulsive, often ignores Type advantages and weaknesses, and often has unbalanced teams. What he lacks in tactical skill he makes up for in spirit, but that isn't always enough. He's a plucky underdog whose passion and determination can elevate him close to the level of the most talented Trainers. This accounts for his unconventional methods, which can catch opponents off guard and see him to victory, but it puts him at a disadvantage overall, as Trainers who are natural tacticians don't run hot or cold, they just get the job done. This explains why, when Ash has come up against the best Trainers at tournaments, he's perpetually fallen short.