What Happens To Ash’s Old Pokémon When He Starts A New Region

There are many strange mysteries in the Pokémon series that can leave fans scratching their heads. One of these questions might come up when watching the Pokémon animated TV show, as Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu leave the previous region behind for new adventures. Every time Ash starts out in a new region, his only Pokémon is Pikachu, and his previous team is seemingly forgotten as he catches new companions to challenge Gym Leaders with.

Ash spends much of his Pokémon journey creating deep, personal connections with his Pokémon. Each new companion he catches often agrees – through an episode of bonding – to join his team. Ash doesn’t catch a large number of Pokémon either, allowing the TV series to focus on building the personalities and struggles of these Pokémon throughout the episodes. Because of this, it can be upsetting to start a new season in a different region to find all the previous, well-loved Pokémon characters suddenly gone.

There have been some notable goodbyes Ash has to make throughout the course of the Pokémon animated series. In the episode “Bye Bye Butterfree” during Indigo League, Ash releases his Butterfree so it can migrate with a female it has fallen in love with. In “Facing The Needs of Many” during Pokémon The Series: XY, Ash parts with his Goodra so it can return to the wetlands to protect its family. In the same episode Ash parts with his Greninja so it can aid Zygrade, AKA “Squishy,” in repairing the damage done to Kalos by Team Flare. However, many of Ash’s Pokémon do not have these special goodbyes.

Ash Uses Professor Oak As His Own Personal Pokémon Storage Box

The Pokémon Ash doesn’t leave behind in previous regions do end up with a special place to call home. All Ash’s previous partners are stored with Professor Oak when Ash embarks on the next leg of his journey. Professor Oak’s lab likely looks awfully crowded with eight generations of Pokémon partners taking up space. While this makes sense and creates room for new companions in the next Pokémon region, it can also be sad for fans of specific Pokémon, as it isn’t common for Ash’s previous partners to make appearances in new regions.

It doesn’t appear there will be cameos from Ash’s previous Pokémon any time soon, as Pokémon Journeys has offered plenty of opportunities for Ash to visit Oak’s lab when he is in the Kanto region. He could even bring his past Pokémon back to Professor Cerise’s lab to live with all of Goh’s many different Pokémon, but hasn’t shown any interest in doing so. Having a chance to revisit previous partners from the rest of the Pokémon series would be a great way for long-time fans of the series to see familiar faces, and potentially give closure to those wondering what might have happened to Pokémon like Charizard and Ash’s many other battle companions.

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