When it first aired in Japan on the 1st of April, 1997, no one knew that we’d have over 1200 episodes 26 years later. Back then, we only had Pokémon Red and Blue or Green depending on where you lived, 150 Pokémon, and the desire to catch them all.
With the end of Ash Ketchum’s story on the horizon, it’s time to look back, before we look forward, and reminisce about where it all began: the Kanto Region, and the best of the episodes that started it all.
10 Ash Catches a Pokémon
The 3rd episode of the anime, Ash catches a Pokémon for the very first time. The Pokémon in question is a Caterpie, and Misty is not a fan. She’s scared of bugs and hates them verbally as a result, which causes a rift between her and Ash.
Caterpie, meanwhile, wants nothing more than to be Misty’s friend too. But her harsh words hurt it deeply, and we are treated to a moving scene where Pikachu gives Caterpie under the moonlight. More importantly, we also get a scene where Ash follows Caterpie around while wrapped up in his sleeping bag.
9 The School of Hard Knocks
The School of Hard Knocks does a great job of not only expanding upon concepts introduced in the games but also of including the games themselves in the anime universe. The idea of a school dedicated to Pokémon has been present since the Red, Blue, and Yellow games and served as a way for players to learn the fundamentals of the game.
The plot of the episode revolves around the pressures of school and how hard it can be to pass tests. It also discusses the pros and cons of book learning versus learning from experience, and how both are important. Most of all, the episode tackles how it can be difficult to figure out when you’re being bullied.
8 Charmander – The Stray Pokémon
Animal abuse is a hard topic to tackle in any medium, and it can be hard to think about anyone mistreating their Pokémon since even the most well-known villains Jessie and James of Team Rocket treat their Pokémon with love and respect. For the most part, anyway.
Charmander – The Stray Pokémon sees Ash and his friends befriending and rescuing a Charmander who’s been abandoned by its trainer for being a weakling. Even though Charmander was abandoned, it’s still loyal to its original trainer. It isn’t until Charmander comes face to face with its original trainer that it’s able to accept what has happened and choose to be Ash’s Pokémon instead.
7 Electric Shock Showdown
Electric Shock Showdown shows Ash going after his third gym badge, the Thunder Badge from Viridian City. When he faces Lt. Surge, Ash and Pikachu lose to the opposing Raichu who overwhelms them with electric power.
The Viridian City nurse joy offers Ash a Thunderstone so that Pikachu can evolve, but when Ash offers the stone Pikachu refuses it with an impassioned speech that Meowth helpfully translates for the audience. The episode ends up being a powerful message about believing in yourself and your own talents despite intimidating competition.
6 Tentacool & Tentacruel
Episodes that center on Misty are few and far between and are often hit or miss. Tentacool and Tentacruel is a solid hit, however, with Misty not only befriending a new Pokémon, Horsea, but utilizing her specialized knowledge of, and love for, water Pokémon to avert disaster.
The driving force of the conflict is a rich woman who is in the process of building a resort off the coast that has destroyed the habitat of many Tentacool and their giant Tentacruel protector. Eventually, the Tentacruel ransacks the city, but Misty’s impassioned pleas sway both it and the townspeople who fear it.
5 The Ultimate Test
While this episode isn’t the most stand out when it comes to stakes, character development, or cinematic battles, The Ultimate Test introduces an original concept with The Pokémon League Entrance Exam. A comprehensive test that is an alternate method for getting League qualification.
The episode doesn’t show it, but the existence of the test allows disabled trainers, trainers who are single parents, and any number of trainers who could not otherwise qualify through the gym challenge, a chance to take on the Pokémon League.
4 Snow Way Out
Snow Way Out is a Winter Special that was aired out of sequence in the US, so it becomes a sort of flashback adventure since at this point in the anime Charmander had already evolved. In this episode, Ash and his friends, as well as Team Rocket, are trapped in a snowstorm on a mountainside.
While the episode is a classic Pokémon anime setup, the payoff is incredibly heartwarming. After Pikachu slides down a cliff face and Ash follows after him, Ash and his team of Pokémon are stranded. They find a cave to wait out the storm, and Ash shows remarkable forethought in barricading the opening with snow to trap what little heat there is. He even recalls all his Pokémon, save Pikachu who refuses, into their Pokeballs to keep them safe. Eventually, all his Pokémon leave their balls to keep Ash safe with their combined body heat.
3 Go West Young Meowth
In a nice bit of continuity, Go West Young Meowth follows up on the movie that Ash and his friends’ Pokémon participated in the previous episode. The group is invited to see the premier of the movie in Hollywood, so they all go, and Team Rocket follows them.
The episode centers on Meowth, and we learn his entire backstory. It is truly a touching tale, with a resolution in the present as MEowth comes face to face with his old love and his old enemies which resolved in a strengthened bond between Meowth, Jessie, and James.
2 Friends to the End
At the end of the Indigo League story arc, Ash is bitter about his defeat in the semi-finals, which we saw in the previous episode. His emotional state here, even after he was a gracious loser when we last saw him, touches on how important feeling our emotions in private when we can’t express them to our friends without hurting them.
In the end, Ash is able to address his feelings and support his friend Richie, who ends up losing in his next match. Together, they talk about how it feels to lose and their different perspectives on it, and how much fun Pokémon battling is even when you lose. And after all, they still get to be part of the ending festivities.
1 Pikachu Re-Volts!
While the episode Pikachu Re-Volts! isn’t technically set in the Kanto region, and it isn’t set in any other region seen in the games either. It takes place in The Orange Isles, a location only ever seen in this season of the anime that takes place between the end of the Kanto seasons and the beginning of the Johto seasons.
In this episode, Pikachu and the rest of the Pokémon on the island turn against their trainers due to a scheme of the more competent Team Rocket members Butch and Cassidy. Our heroes save the day through their bonds with their Pokémon, but the episode is special because it references the originally intended route the anime was supposed to go: a Pokémon revolution led by Pikachu and Meowth. If the stories are to be believed, anyway.
