Pokemon: 10 Best Episodes Of The Ash Ketchum Era

2026 will be a significant year for the "Pokemon" franchise, as it will commemorate 30 years since the original releases of "Pokemon" Red & Green versions in Japan. A year later will mark the 30th anniversary of the "Pokemon" anime series, which follows Ash Ketchum, a 10-year-old from Pallet Town who, with his trusty partner Pikachu, sets off to explore the world of Pokemon with the goal of being the very best — like no one ever was. 

While Ash's journey mainly mirrors the release of respective generations of "Pokemon," the television series is much more than a Saturday morning cartoon meant to sell video games and trading cards. Over 1,000 episodes chronicled Ash's journey from a naive Pokemon trainer to a world champion, alongside memorable companions like Brock, Misty, Serena, Tracy, and Iris.

We're rewinding the clock all the way back to 1997 for our list of the 10 best episodes of "Pokemon," from the show's humble beginnings to its ambitious, action-packed conclusion. Whether it's because they're significant in telling the story of Ash and his friends, or because they're simply fun to rewatch over and over again, these episodes will make you nostalgic for the days when you were a Pokemon master-in-the-making yourselves. 

There's no better place to start than, well, the start. "Pokemon – I Choose You!" was the debut episode of the "Pokemon" anime, airing in Japan in April of 1997. Not onl the beginning of not only Ash Ketchum's journey as a Pokemon trainer, but it's also the episode that loosely gets adapted into the 2017 movie remake "Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You!," along with several other significant moments from the first season of the anime.

The episode even opens with an animated recreation of the intro to "Pokemon Red & Green" versions, featuring an intense battle between Gengar and Nidorino in a stadium. Staying up late to watch this televised battle is Ash, who anxiously awaits receiving his starter Pokemon from Professor Oak the next day. In what fans would later learn is typical Ash behavior, the hopeful trainer oversleeps and misses his opportunity to receive a Pokemon from Oak, though the professor makes an exception by giving Ash a rare, volatile electric-type Pokemon known as Pikachu.

While fans may know the anime for its ride-or-die relationship between Ash and Pikachu, their first episode together is a rough start as Pikachu refuses to go inside a Poke Ball, and is badly hurt by a flock of Spearow from whom Ash attempts to defend him. This eventually causes Pikachu to warm up to Ash, and as a sign of their special bond, a Ho-Oh flies across the sky. 

Even the most casual fans of "Pokemon" probably have a core memory of watching "Bye Bye Butterfree" for the first time and sobbing. Aside from Pikachu, who was assigned to him, Caterpie was the first Pokemon Ash successfully caught, debuting at the end of the second episode. It evolved into Metapod in that same episode, then once more into Butterfree in Episode 4. Then, in the 21st episode of the first series, Ash tearfully says goodbye to the fully-evolved Butterfree after he, Misty, and Brock encounter a colony of Butterfree migrating across the sea to mate and lay eggs.

However, the episode's not all goodbyes, as Ash's Butterfree finds its desired mate in a special pink Butterfree (predating the franchise introducing shiny Pokemon in the second generation games) that ignores his affections. Ash and his friends help Butterfree woo its pink counterpart by showcasing its strength, sending Team Rocket blasting off again. 

But what makes "Bye Bye Butterfree" one of the most soul-crushing episodes of the "Pokemon" anime is the ending, in which Ash bids farewell to his Butterfree. Now wearing a handmade scarf from Brock, it flies off into the sunset with the pink campion, while Ash runs off crying. What's even more tear-jerking is the fact that Ash never reunites with Butterfree and its mate until one of his last episodes in the series, which aired a whole 25 years after "Bye Bye Butterfree." 

Ash's first encounter with Charmander is an iconic episode of the "Pokemon" anime, after the poor Charmander was abandoned by its original trainer. Ash ends up recruiting Charmander to his team, evolving it into Charmeleon, but finds it's become disobedient, a problem that only gets worse after Charmeleon evolves into Charizard. While it's undoubtedly Ash's strongest Pokemon at this point in the anime, Charizard's rebellion against Ash proves detrimental to many battles throughout his journey in Kanto.

This conflict comes to a head in the 105th episode of the series, "Charizard Chills," which takes place during Ash's battle with trainer Tad in the Orange Islands arc. Tad poses quite a threat to Ash, but it's ultimately Charizard's disobedience that costs them the battle.

What makes this episode an all-timer is that, at night, Ash comforts an injured Charizard by a campfire, affirming that he's still determined to get better as a trainer and hopefully someday team up with Charizard side-by-side. Charizard, hearing these words, wakes up the next morning ready for a rematch and finally begins listening to Ash's commands. It's a turning point in one of Ash's greatest Pokemon partnerships, and it's made all the more emotional as Charizard reminisces over his journeys with Ash thus far. It's too bad Ash later had to let Charizard be with its own kind at Charicific Valley rather than remain on his team.

When you think of the best TV villains, you might not immediately think about Gary Oak, and that's probably because of his annoying voice and personality. However, Gary and Ash's rivalry comes to a climax in one of the best episodes of the "Pokemon" anime, "Can't Beat the Heat!," the 270th episode in the original series. Competing in the Johto League Silver Conference, Ash and Gary begin their match in the episode prior, with Ash bringing back his trusty Charizard to join his team for the tournament.

Gary nearly makes mince meat of Ash's entire team with his starter Pokemon, a Blastoise, which has a type advantage against his Charizard. Nevertheless, Ash manages to eke out a win, defeating his rival for the first time. What makes this episode so great is how earned this victory feels, and how satisfying it is to see Gary go from being a sore winner to a humble loser promising to cheer Ash on as his journey continues.

The only flaw in this episode is that Ash doesn't send out Pikachu to battle Gary's Blastoise, considering Electric-type Pokemon are super-effective against Water-types. Nevertheless, Ash's win proves how strong he's grown as a trainer throughout the original series.

Even though "Pokemon Advanced" feels like a reset for the anime compared to the original series, it still contains a lot of the charm, particularly in the ways that Ash befriends his new team. This is on display early in the first season of "Pokemon Advanced," in the seventh episode, "Tree's a Crowd." While traveling through Petalburg Woods, Ash stumbles upon a whole tribe of Treecko living in a massive tree.

Ash in particular finds himself interested in one moody Treecko with a twig in its mouth, who is somewhat of an outcast in its community. Unfortunately, Ash's attempts to battle and catch the Grass-type Pokemon gain the attention of Team Rocket, who begin tearing down the forest to capture Treecko and, of course, Pikachu. Ash, Pikachu, and Treecko save the forest, and only then is Treecko ready to be battled and caught.

Ash is successful in recruiting the Treecko to his team, becoming one of Ash's most iconic Pokemon throughout the "Pokemon Advanced" series. He later fully evolves it into a Sceptile, who becomes a mainstay of Ash's team throughout his travels in both Hoenn and Sinnoh. However, "Tree's a Crowd" remains memorable because of how it establishes Treecko's brooding personality.

Leaving Misty behind in the original series left some big shoes to fill, though the addition of May and Max in "Pokemon Advanced" was welcomed by many fans. However, for "Pokemon the Series: Diamond & Pearl," extra care was taken to make Ash's new female companion a stand-out protagonist of her own, so much so that the entire first episode of "Diamond & Pearl" features Dawn, with Ash only arriving in Sinnoh at the very end of the episode.

The beginning of Dawn's journey, as chronicled in the episode "Following a Maiden's Voyage!," mirrors a lot of Ash's first episode, though Dawn manages to actually wake up early enough to receive her starter Pokemon from Professor Rowan. Rowan, much different from Kanto's Professor Oak, has lost two of the three Pokemon, and tasks Dawn to go out and find them in the nearby areas. This is where Dawn first encounters Piplup, who would go on to become her trusty sidekick throughout the anime.

Dawn may not be the best female character in the "Pokemon" anime, but this episode establishes her as a trailblazer in giving Ash's companions their own goals separate from his own, with Dawn's being competing in Pokemon Contests rather than battling. She even encounters a Legendary Pokemon by Lake Verity, paralleling Ash's witnessing of Ho-Oh at the end of the very first episode in the series. 

"Pokemon the Series: Black & White" is fairly controversial among fans of the series, given that Ash is a lot more naive than he should be for someone who's competed in numerous tournaments and journeyed through over four regions. However, "Black & White" also has an incredibly nostalgic arc in which Ash recalls his Charizard from Professor Oak's lab, rejoining his team in Unova for the remainder of his journey. Ash is inspired to do this when he and his companions, Iris, Cilan, and N, stumble upon a Kanto-themed fair in a city on their way to the White Ruins.

Predictably, the presence of Ash's Charizard is enough to make Iris and her Dragonite jealous, prompting a battle between the two companions. Sadly, the battle gets called off by N after Dragonite is hurt, with Iris upset that she had mistaken Charizard for a Dragon-type Pokemon, when in reality it's Fire/Flying-type. (Wait until Iris finds out about Mega Evolution, though!)

Though "The Fires of a Red Hot Reunion!" is a pretty typical episode on the surface, it tugs at the heartstrings enough to be considered one of the anime's best.

"A Showcase Debut!" is the 60th episode of "Pokemon the Series: XY," based on the sixth generation of games, and the first in 3D. Fittingly, the anime got a lot more three-dimensional, too, thanks to the addition of Serena to Ash's roster of companions. Notably, Serena and Ash met long before either of their journeys began, with Ash inspiring Serena to face her fears at a summer camp in Kanto. As they've gotten older, Serena has harbored a crush on Ash, which only intensifies when she joins his travels in the Kalos region with Clemont and Bonnie.

Serena ends up discovering her identity not as a Pokemon trainer, but as a Pokemon Showcase performer, with "A Showcase Debut!" marking her first entry into the fashion-forward competition. However, she suffers a major fashion faux pas when her Fennekin trips over its ribbon, costing Serena a victory in the most embarrassing of ways. 

The next morning, Serena is comforted after the loss by Fennekin and Pancham, and reaffirms her dream to become a Pokemon Performer. To mark the occasion, Serena chops her hair short and changes her outfit, incorporating a ribbon that Ash had gifted to her an episode earlier. The episode is often cited as a huge step up in quality for the "Pokemon" anime, focusing more on a character's internal journey than it usually does. 

"Pokemon the Series: Sun & Moon" throws out the typical "Pokemon" anime formula for something new. Rather than travel throughout a region on a linear journey through challenging gyms, Ash enrolls in a Pokemon School, befriending fellow students (and "Pokemon Sun & Moon" video game NPCs) Lillie, Mallow, Kiawe, Sophocles, and Lana, all under the tutelage of Professor Kukui. This gives the anime a fresh feel and allows it to go off in unexpected directions, as is the case with the Episode 42, "Alola, Kanto!"

As part of one of Kukui's lessons with Samson Oak (cousin of Professor Oak), Ash's class travels to Kanto, where Ash reunites with Brock and Misty, his original traveling companions. The episode is full of nostalgia bait for longtime viewers of the anime, complete with Team Rocket enacting yet another plan to capture everyone's Pokemon.

The episode also incorporates a major mechanic from the seventh generation games and beyond: regional differences between Pokemon. Brock showcases his Kantonian Marowak against Kiawe's Alolan Marowak, which differ in design and type. Given how beloved the mechanic is in the games, it's nice to see it get some proper attention in the anime, especially since the eighth generation's primary mechanic, Dynamaxing, is scarcely showcased in the anime. 

"Partners in Time!" marked a monumental moment for the "Pokemon" anime. Seventeen episodes earlier, the Pokemon World Coronation Series Masters Eight Tournament kicked off, featuring eight of the most powerful trainers from all over the world. Ash Ketchum has not only earned his place on this roster, but he's competing against the likes of Alain, Lance, Iris, Steven, Diantha, Cynthia, and Leon, all of whom had at this point established themselves as allies. 

The entire tournament takes until "Partners in Time!" to conclude, with the climax of Ash's final battle against Leon. It certainly feels like a huge moment for the anime, given that all of Ash's former companions are watching from different parts of the world. After reflecting on his journey, including a vision of his original Kanto League team, Ash pulls out a victory against Leon's Charizard with none other than his Pikachu, winning the tournament and definitively making him the strongest Pokemon trainer in the world.

Ash's winning was a little predictable, given "Pokemon Horizons" was set to replace him with new protagonists, but it was a long-overdue victory in the eyes of the fans, and is still so cathartic to watch. Even experts in competitive Pokemon have declared his team in this championship (Dracovish, Sirfetch'd, Gengar, Pikachu, Lucario, and Dragonite) the most deserving of the title of very best, like no one ever was.