With the end of Ash’s era in the Pokémon anime, it begs the question of how many Pokémon he had at the end and if he came even remotely close to catching them all. TOsh only captured 57 unique Pokémon, just 7% of the total available. Including evolutions, he owned 12% of the Pokémon. His goal of becoming a Pokémon Master focused on befriending all the Pokémon, not catching them all.
Despite of iconic Pokémon motto, “catch them all”, the reality is that Ash at the end of his trip was not close at all. With over 1,000 Pokémon known at the end of his era, and excluding those from Paldea, which he never visited, there were 898 species in the regions he explored.
Ash only captured 57 unique Pokémon throughout the series, representing only 7% of the available Pokémon. Although there are ambiguous situations, such as the Raticate he possessed for 15 minutes or the Rotom from his Rotom Pokédex, which adds an additional 7, reaching a total of 105.
Goh, Introduced in Journeys, he surpassed Ash by capturing 108 Pokémon in a few years, including legendary Pokémon. And if we consider evolutions, reached a total of 116.
The objective of Ash Becoming a Pokémon Master did not mean capturing as many as possible, but develop relationships with your Pokémon. In the final episode, Ash decides that being a Pokémon Master means having the ability to befriend all Pokémon, not catch them all, moving closer to this goal.
Although Ash did not capture all of the Pokémon, his focus on his relationship with his Pokémon contributed to the success of the series. Her journey ended in a way more in line with the themes of the series, highlighting thefriendship and connection with Pokémon.
