Ash's sixth Poke'mon?

[SygmaXE]

After Ash released his Butterfree, Ash continued his Kanto Poke'mon adventure with only five Poke'mon: Pikachu, Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasuar, and Pidgeotto.

Why didn't Ash ever catch a sixth Poke'mon? What, did the writers orget he had one more slot left? I think a Rhyhorn would have been tres cool on his team.

[rebellee1187]

actually, he caught primape but never used it... bummer.
He then caught Muk, but it smelled so bad he sent it to Oak.
He caught aload of tauros in the banned safari zone episode, but didnt keep it on him.
Why they didn't fill it is beyond me, but maybe they had a reason...

[Hanada Tattsu]

I think the writers considered keeping Ash with an empty slot so that he would always have a free space available. Let's say he wants to battle with his stored Krabby (even though he never did, it's just an example) he would have room for that Krabby and he doesn't have to deposit one of his Pokemon to Oak's Lab.

[BenRG]

I think that Hanada Tattsu is probably right. Ash kept the sixth slot open so that he could catch a new Pokémon and put it straight into battle (which, given the continual threat of Jessie, James and Meowth trying to steal his Pokémon, is sound tactics).

However, I wouldn't be surprised if the Powers That Be intended to give Ash another Pokémon, mabye the Mr. Mime that ended up with Delia as housekeeper. Alternately, they may have originally intended Ash to have one of the legendary Pokémon, maybe Mew, towards the climax of the show (which might have originally been the Kanto League). When they decided to extend the show beyond the end of the League, they dropped the idea. The empty slot for that Pokémon remained, even though they had decided not to pursue this plot.

The final possibility is that Ash never, ever stopped believing that Butterfree or Primeape might come back.

[T M Pikachu]

Wow I wonder what would have happened if the authors had planned another plot. I wonder what Pokemon Ash could have gotten. I still like that, that sixth Pokemon should have been a Eevee, a Ditto, or some psychic type. Why won't the writers give Ash a psychic type? They didn't give him a ground type till the end of the fifth season then took it away.

[Hanada Tattsu]

Originally posted by T M Pikachu
Wow I wonder what would have happened if the authors had planned another plot. I wonder what Pokemon Ash could have gotten. I still like that, that sixth Pokemon should have been a Eevee, a Ditto, or some psychic type. Why won't the writers give Ash a psychic type? They didn't give him a ground type till the end of the fifth season then took it away.

Even the Phanpy he gets at the end of the Jouto League was only used about five times, if not less. They should have given Phanpy a little more time in the spotlight. It should have evolved into a Donphan.

Spoiler Alert

As of the looks of the sixth intro, as of yet Ash only has Pikachu, Treecko, and Taillow. The three open spots may be vacant because if Ash is battling someone, he might want to withdraw some of his stored Pokemon at Oak's lab. So those might just be his temporary spot.

However, this is higly impossible, because NOJ stated that they want to get away from the old Kanto and Jouto stuff, and only have the heroes cartch Houen stuff. So far, haven't you noticed that the producers have quietly been throwing away the Kanto and Jouto stuff?

First, Ash deposits all his Pokemon to Oak except Pikachu. Then, Misty leaves, followed by Brock, who later returns with only his Forretress, who is the newest one he caught. Then Jessie and James leave Arbok and Weezing, leaving them with only Meowth and Wobuffet.

So the Pokemon left are mostly trademark ones, such as Pikachu, Meowth, and Wobuffet. I think Brock's Forretress will hit the road soon, as it is clear by the looks of the intro that Brock will get Lotad and Mudkip.

[Purasuru]

Spoiler Alert
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I happen to like Ash only having 3 Pokemon. In my opnion, it gives them great opportunity to have some nice character development and personalities. I'm hoping Ash sticks with the 3 for a long time so we can see even more personality! Even though I don't like how Subame at first was a smart thief, then he just became Ash's third "look around for me will ya?" flying Pokemon. I hope he gets more of a personality soon like Treecko and Pikachu.