Pokemon: Why Ash Released One of His Strongest Pokemon

gamerant.com:

The Pokemon anime has seen Ash go through a number of different adventures with various companions and Pokemon by his side. Though he might not have the championships to show for it, Ash has always assembled a solid group of Pokemon around him in his journey to become a Pokemon Master. The young trainer from Pallet Town has encountered and befriended some incredible Poekmon, giving him a great roster to work with.

But more than any trainer in the series, Ash seems to put the well-being of his Pokemon above all. This has led to him having to make some difficult decisions in the past and release some of his loyal companions, making for some tearful goodbyes. Many of these came as a major shock to anime viewers at the time, but none were as surprising as Ash releasing arguably the strongest Pokemon he’d ever trained; Greninja.

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Ash has surprisingly released some of his best Pokemon over the years. From Butterfree, to Lapras, and Goodra, Ash has had to make some tough calls in the hopes of acting in his Pokemon’s best interests. As surprising as these releases have been, most fans were completely caught off-guard by Greninja’s exit, even when considering Ash’s history of reluctantly letting his Pokemon go.

Ash caught Greninja as a Froakie, making it the first Pokemon he caught in the Kalos region.

The little Water-type proved to have a very unique personality right from the beginning, as it was depicted as being incredibly stubborn and picky when it came to choosing a trainer. Froakie had already rejected a handful of trainers prior to meeting Ash, and only decided to stick with him due to both sharing similar personalities. The strong bond shared between the two led to