Fans of Pokemon know that the franchise heavily leans on both cute mascot characters as well as more powerful monster designs. The anime, which is for many the most memorable part of the franchise, is written in a way that highlights both the cuter mascot designs as well as the cooler evolved designs during the adventures of its protagonist Ask Ketchum.
A lot of Ash's Pokemon are acquired early on and naturally can't evolve until they've undergone considerable training, but some of the most iconic parts of his roster often remain unevolved even after overcoming considerable trials. In looking at a few different examples of Ash's unevolved Pokemon, there's a lot to be revealed in terms of the series' character design, writing, and worldbuilding, from its earliest episodes to some of the franchise's most recent incarnations and announcements.
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Ash’s Pikachu and Evolution
Pikachu is not only the mascot of the Pokemon franchise, but also probably one of the most recognizable pop culture icons of all time. This is because of the central role of Ash's Pikachu in the anime, and Pikachu has remained continually in its unevolved state over the course of all eight generations of the show. Ash has never evolved Pikachu into its more powerful evolution Raichu, and the reasons for keeping his favorite companion in its iconic unevolved state are specifically addressed as a big plot point in the anime.
The issue of Pikachu’s evolution first shows up the fourteenth episode of the first anime season, ‘Electric Shock Showdown’, where Pikachu is defeated against an evolved Raichu by Lt. Surge, the third gym leader in the Kanto region. The episode establishes that Pikachu has no desire to evolve, and instead Ash trains it harder to defeat the Raichu even in its unevolved state.
The topic of Pikachu’s evolution has also had a resurgence of popularity in Pokemon: Journeys, in which the 35th episode ‘Gotta Catch a What!?’ initially hinted at Pikachu’s evolution before ultimately ending up with a fake-out involving another recently-caught Pikachu. Interestingly, an earlier episode of the Journeys season also showed Pikachu using a Gigantamax evolution, which also would imply by the games’ logic that Ash’s Pikachu is actually incapable of evolving even if it wanted to.
Evolution for Squirtle and Bulbasaur
Back in the initial season of the anime, Pikachu wasn’t Ash’s only Pokemon that didn’t jump right into evolution. Ash eventually had one of each of the lines of Kanto starter Pokemon, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander. Out of the three, both Squirtle and Bulbasaur have remained in their unevolved forms. Ash’s Bulbasaur goes through a similar ordeal to Pikachu in the episode ‘Bulbasaur’s Mysterious Garden’, where Bulbasaur refused to evolve at a festival in which other Bulbasaurs evolved into their subsequent forms of Ivysaurs and Venusaurs. While the other Ivysaurs and Venusaurs initially looked down on Ash’s Bulbasaur’s refusal, its unevolved state allowed it to learn a more powerful move (a big mechanic from the games) that ended up playing a big plot point.
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While Ash’s Squirtle never outright refused an evolution like Pikachu and Bulbasaur, much of its iconic identity can be explicitly tied to its original status as the leader of the ‘Squirtle Squad’, a group of sunglasses-clad outcast Squirtles abandoned by their former trainers. Perhaps its lack of evolution is an act of solidarity with the other Squirtles from this group? Interestingly enough, in 2018 the mobile game Pokemon GO released one of its interesting promotional events in which a sunglasses-clad Squirtle was available for capture. These Squirtles, ironically, could be evolved into their more advanced forms.
Lastly, no discussion of evolution and strength for the Kanto starters would be complete without a mention of Ash’s Charizard, a fully evolved Pokemon that often had a habit of refusing Ash’s orders out of haughtiness soon after its initial evolution into its middle-stage of Charmeleon. Charizard’s stubbornness is echoed in a mechanic in the games where overleveled Pokemon start to disobey the player until certain gyms are defeated. In a roundabout way, perhaps the unevolved status of some of Ash’s Pokemon is a boon to their loyalty and willingness to grow?
Ash’s Pokemon That Did Evolve
In spite of the unevolved nature of some of Ash’s most iconic Pokemon in the original anime, it was by no means a rule that all of them refused to take the leap. Two of Ash’s first catches after getting Pikachu, Caterpie and Pidgeotto, eventually reached their final forms of Butterfree and Pidgeot. In his final team for Kanto, Ash’s three evolved Pokemon; Pidgeot, Butterfree and Charizard eventually went their separate ways on good terms.
In later seasons, Ash also seemed to get more resolute with the idea of letting regional catches mature into their final evolutions. During the Johto region episodes of the third season, Ash caught a Chikorita and a Cyndaquil (regional starter Pokemon in the games) that eventually evolved into their mid-stages of Bayleef and Quilava. The season for the sixth generation of Pokemon, in the Kalos region, seemed particularly intent on a more advanced roster that included several evolved Pokemon like Greninja, Goodra and Noivern.
Interestingly enough, Greninja and Goodra were also eventually released, hearkening back to the original season. Ash’s current team in Pokemon: Master Journeys includes evolutions in the form of a Dragonite originally encountered as a Dragonair, a Sirfetch’d originally caught as a Farfetch’d, and a Ghost-type, Gengar found and befriended in its fully evolved state.
Long after Pokemon had become an international household name in pretty much every way, character designer Atsuko Nishida once recalled that Pikachu’s design was meant to highlight both the creature’s power and appeal as “a cute monster.” With the various creatures used by its protagonist justified in the show’s writing, the Pokemon anime highlights both the cute mascot characters of each generation as well as their more powerful evolutions in a carefully crafted range of styles. In showing off the diverse range of Pokemon designs, the anime highlights the extent of the series’ collectible creatures and character designs for fans to enjoy.
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