Pokémon took the world by storm in the late ’90s and has been impacting it with an unstoppable train of television shows, games, and numerous movies ever since. Based on the combat card game of the same name, the series Pokémon takes place in fictional Japanese inspired towns and settings where trainers compete to catch and battle with creatures called Pokémon, or pocket monsters in English. Pokémon has shaped an entire generation of kids who are now adults passing their love down to their own children.
Despite a storied past and a bright future, for the sake of these rankings we will be only focusing on the original series that ran from 1997-2002. For a show primarily geared towards children, the series had some pretty high stakes emotional episodes, ones that stung us as kids and still might cause a tear to be shed as adults. Let’s look at the six most emotional episodes of Pokémon.
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6 Holy Matrimony!
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Prior to this episode of the series, the only real backstory we know about Jesse and James of Team Rocket is simply that they work for the organization and have an obsession with capturing Ash’s Pikachu. “Holy Matrimony!” provides us with a truly heartbreaking backstory for James as it is revealed that someone from his past is seeking him out. James finds out his parents have supposedly passed away and that he must marry a woman named Jessibelle, someone who he had been set up to marry since childhood and one of the main reasons James fled from home. It is revealed that his parents have faked their demise as a trick to lure James back home and into marriage with Jessibelle. Marriage is not something James is interested in and the rules and lifestyles of high society are things that James has hated since being a child. Adding this level of humanity to one of the villains of the series was an interesting change of approach and one that provided a good dose of emotion to this episode and the series overall.
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5 Electric Shock Showdown
The bond between Ash and Pikachu is one of the best friendships in television history. That friendship is put to the test in “Electric Shock Showdown” when Ash battles Lt. Surge, a gym leader in Vermilion City. Surge’s top Pokémon is a Raichu, an evolved version of Pikachu, who proceeds to lay waste to Pikachu in their first battle. Realizing Ash’s Pokémon is weaker in this current form, Lt. Surge offers Ash a Thunder Stone that can be used to evolve Pikachu into a Raichu. For Ash, evolving Pikachu would essentially create a brand-new Pokémon, and he would lose the bond held so tight to Pikachu. Ash ultimately chooses not to evolve Pikachu and finds an alternative way of defeating Surge and Raichu. Watching Ash struggle with the possibility of letting go of the past and his best friend is an emotional struggle we can all relate to.
4 Bye Bye Butterfree
As the trio descend upon Saffron City they arrive during a time in which the Butterfree Pokémon have entered mating season. Having a Butterfree himself, Ash lets him lose in an attempt to find his mate. After facing rejection from a number of female Butterfree, most harshly by a pink one that slaps him away, Ash’s Butterfree retreats to the forest shocked and heartbroken. Following a second attempt at wooing this particular Butterfree, Team Rocket appear and attempt to steal all the Butterfree present for the mating season. It is through the determination of Ash’s Butterfree, along with some help from Pikachu, that the captured Pokémon are rescued. This act of bravery is enough for the same pink Butterfree that rejected Ash’s to come around and show affection after the rescue, even apologizing to Ash’s Butterfree through an elaborate dance. Now fully in love with one another, Ash must let Butterfree go to spend time with his new-found muse. This episode touches on rejection and letting go, emotional ups and downs that we all go through in our lives.
3 Charizard’s Burning Ambitions
Another example of the series exploring the theme of letting go of things we love. “Charizard’s Burning Ambitions” follows Ash’s Charizard as he struggles to become the strongest Charizard he can be. This ambition forces Ash to make the ultimate decision to leave Charizard behind, to train and grow with his own kind. Having had Charizard since his first evolution from Charmander, the decision is a tough one that takes an emotional toll on Ash.
2 Pikachu’s Goodbye
Pikachu is the singular most recognizable character in all of Pokémon and the character alone has produced numerous spinoffs, toys, and one of the best video game movie adaptations of all time. Pokémon explores the theme of letting go of the things you love quite a bit throughout the series. ‘Pikachu’s Goodbye’ is perhaps the most emotional use of this theme. Similar to the two previous entries, in this episode the trio discover a field full of Pikachu who are hunted and pokénapped by Team Rocket. After Ash and his Pikachu battle Team Rocket and rescue the other electric Pokémon, Ash sees the happiness his Pikachu is experiencing being with his own kind and makes the difficult decision to let go of Pikachu and let him stay. Pikachu ultimately chooses to stay with Ash and the others, continuing on their path. The duo had come a long way leading up to this episode and the prospect of their journey together ending and Pikachu’s choice to stay was an emotional rollercoaster for fans.
1 The Stray Pokémon
No adult or child should ever have to endure the heartbreaking emotional episode of Pokémon that is “The Stray Pokémon”’. When Ash, Misty, and Brock overhear a trainer bragging about how he abandoned his weak Charmander in the forest, the three venture out to rescue it. After searching, they come across the Charmander, laying in a weakened state on a rock where its trainer had left it with promises of returning to him. With its tail light almost snuffed out and the Charmander on the verge of death, the three take it to the local Poké-Hopsital. After healing up, Charmander leaves the hospital with hopes of returning to the trainer who had abandoned him. Charmander must make the choice between the owner that abandoned him and now wants him back or Ash who helped to save the Pokémon’s life. Charmander ultimately chooses to come with Ash, abandoning the trainer who did the same to him. The story is surely one fans would not be able to emotionally handle for a live-action Pokémon movie.
