Over the 26 years that the Pokémon anime series has been on the air Ash has captured and used a ton of different Pokémon, but one Reddit user has pointed out a since-forgotten original addition to his team.
In the Kanto season of the Pokémon anime, Ash captures a Krabby with the help of a stick. After catching this Pokémon he immediately sends it to stay with Professor Oak.
As the Redditor points out, this is where Krabby remained throughout most of the season until Ash is taking on the Elite 4. During this major battle, Ash randomly chooses to use Krabby, which has no experience in battle.
Surprisingly during this fight, Krabby evolves and takes out four members of the enemy team, an extremely impressive feat Despite this accomplishment, Ash would only use the Pokémon a few more times in the last 25 years of the show.
Fans on Reddit aren’t just looking for justice for Kingler, they’re also noting all of the times that Ash has acted similarly giving the same treatment to other Pokémon including his Muk and Tauros.
Some fans suggested that perhaps he is catching these Pokémon simply to troll Professor Oak, and given his decision making this could be a likely explanation.
Here’s a look at what fans had to say about Ash’s treatment of his Pokémon over the years.
While we will never understand why Ash chooses to use the Pokémon that he does, we could see the fabled MVP Kingler appear again at some point while the series is still on the air.