Why Did Ash Ketchum Release His Best Pokemon Greninja?

Wondering Why Did Ash Ketchum release his best Pokemon Greninja? 

Ash Ketchum is the protagonist of the Pokemon series which is our all time favorite franchise. Pokemon is the abbreviation for Pocket Monsters and it started off as a video game and later developed into one of the largest franchises known to mankind. 

The Pokemon anime series introduced us to the fantasy world of Pokemon where humans are seeking to acquire Pokemons. 

Ash Ketchum being the protagonist was able to get hold of a wide collection of Pokemon, namely 77 distinct Pokemon. He has caught, trained, traded off, and also released a fair share of Pokemon in his life. 

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One such Pokemon which he released was Greninja which was one of the best Pokemon on Ash’s roster. So why did Ash release Greninja and why’s it the best Pokemon he had? We’ve answered all your questions down below so hang on and keep reading.

Why Did Ash Ketchum Release His Best Pokemon Greninja?

Ash Ketchum released his best Pokemon Greninja in Kalos to assist Zygarde to destroy the possessed roots of Giant Rock since Greninja has the ability to see through the living roots.

An Introduction: Ash Ketchum

Ash Ketchum is the main protagonist of the Pokemon anime and manga series. Ash Ketchum is called Satoshi in Japanese. 

He lives in Pallet Town with his mother and he is quite ambitious about being a renowned Pokemon Master in the future. To learn more about the creatures Ash sets out to seek assistance from Professor Oak who’s a Pokemon researcher in Pallet Town. 

When Ash was supposed to meet Professor Oak he, unfortunately, woke up late and was delayed to the meeting.

However, Professor Oak knew Ash was very keen on his mission and hence handed out the remaining Pokemon to him. The first Pokemon Ash received was Pikachu and Ash was over the moon. 

To Ash’s disappointment, Pikachu was not amicable with him and didn’t make any effort to converse with Ash. They had a bitter relationship right off the bat. Eventually, Ash gained Pikachu’s trust when he saved it from danger by risking his own life. 

This was the beginning of Ash and Pikachu’s loyal and unbreakable relationship and they persisted to be the best of friends throughout the series.

Ash and Pikachu travel countless regions, befriend several people and meet exotic Pokemon they’ve never encountered before. Ash is a brave, loyal, honest, and sincere boy who can be naive and playful at times. 

He has learned different skills and techniques when catching Pokemon which he used to incorporate when allowing the Pokemon to partake in battles. He’s by far one of the talented trainers in the Pokemon series.

Throughout his journey into the Pokemon universe, Ash has caught, traded off, and also released quite a couple of Pokemon. He currently has 77 Pokemon, some of which he has with him and the rest of them are placed in different laboratories. 

Most Pokemon develop an amicable relationship with Ash because he treats every Pokemon equally without any discrimination. This leads them to trust him and develop a friendly bond with him and they allow Ash to catch them. Hence why Ash has a record of catching the most number of Pokemon in the series.

The Pokemon: Greninja

Greninja is a Water/ Dark-type of Pokemon. It is the last evolution stage of the Froakie which was a Water-type Pokemon from the region of Kalos. Greninja was first introduced in the Generation VI series. 

Greninja has the appearance of a frog and has a strong resemblance to Toxicroak. It also has the appearance of a ninja and thus the name Greninja. Greninja’s original Japanese name is Gekkouga. 

Greninja is dark blue in color and it has a very long tongue like a toad which is wrapped around its neck like a pink scarf. Its feet are like a frog and it has a mixture of colors like dark blue, white, and yellow. 

Greninja’s first form was called Froakie which was Level 16 and later evolved into Frogadier. Its final evolution form is called Greninja which evolved from Level 36 Frogadier. 

Evolution of Froakie

   Froakie                                      Frogadier                                   Greninja

Froakie looks like a baby frog in light blue color and has a collection of white, frothy bubbles that covers its neck like a scarf which is referred to as Frubbles. It had very large yellow eyes and it has frubbles on its nose. 

Meanwhile, Frogadier looks like a much grown version of a frog. Its eyes have gotten a bit narrower and the limbs are all grown. It has a mixture of two colors such as dark blue and cyan. 

Besides its appearance, Greninja as Froakie was a tough and arrogant Pokemon who liked to train alone. He never preferred to be with his own kind and would always train by himself. This led the other Froakies to mock and hurt him. Froakie wanted to find a talented trainer so that he could evolve and put his skills to good use. However, most trainers failed to live up to Froakie’s standards and hence he left them. 

When Greninja met Ash, he instantly connected to him and knew he was the ideal trainer for him. He witnessed how Ash was kind to all Pokemon and how brave he was during battles which impressed Greninja. 

Greninja possesses an impressive set of prowess and it possessed a hidden ability which was later revealed to be another form of Greninja which is Ash’s Greninja.

Powers of Greninja

Since Greninja is one of the strongest Pokemon let’s take a look at their strengths and abilities. Greninja possesses powers that are identical to a ninja and it has a large set of prowess. 

It uses the Torrent to unleash any water-type attacks. It also has the ability of hydrokinesis which lets it turn water into any weapon it desires such as knives and stars that are extremely sharp.

It can blow bubbles at its opponents which slows them down. Its iconic attack is the secret ninja attack which allows Greninja to release water swords at its opponents. Greninja’s tongue has the ability to inflict paralysis on its enemies by just licking them. 

Greninja can also copy the exact movements of its opponents and attack them in an instant. It can sneak quickly behind its opponent like a ninja shadow. In addition, Greninja can create several copies of itself to confuse the opponent during battles. 

Greninja’s hidden ability to be able to transform into its trainer’s form is known as the Bond Phenomenon. This ability allows the Greninja to match with their trainers and evolve into a powerful form. Only a few Greninjas were able to do it and Ash’s Greninja was one of them. 

This form lets the Greninja to reach higher levels of power and gain immense speed. It also boosts its Water Shuriken power which can be used during close combats. Ash’s Greninja is the only starter Pokemon that’d likely fall into the legendary Pokemon category due to its incredible stats. 

Relationship Between Ash and Greninja

As we mentioned before, Greninja was a very reserved and lonely Pokemon when it was in its Froakie form. As a result, most of the Froakie Pokemon used to pick on him and harm him badly. 

Froakie liked to train alone and had very high standards as to how its trainer should be. It in fact altered between several trainers as it deemed them to be unworthy. 

He resided in Professor Sycamore’s lab when he turned down several trainers and that’s where he finally met Ash.

Froakie trusted Ash and witnessed how Ash treated him kindly. This led him to grow attached to Ash and they developed a profound bond throughout their journeys. Only with Ash, Froakie was able to evolve into Frogadier and later evolved into Greninja. 

After its evolution, Greninja used the Battle Bond technique to transform into Ash-Greninja, an ability not many Froakies could achieve.

This resulted in Greninja achieving outstanding abilities and making it one of the strongest Pokemon owned by Ash. In addition, it also proves that Greninja and Ash had a deep and understanding relationship which led them to achieve well in battles and in life.

Why Did Ash Ketchum Release Greninja?

Now that we know how deep and loving the relationship was between Ash and Greninja let’s look into why he released a powerful Pokemon like Greninja. To clear things off, Ash didn’t release Greninja due to a misunderstanding caused between them but it was for the best Ash decided to release Greninja. 

Ash released Greninja in the episode “Facing the needs of the many” where they were facing Team Flare during a quest to look for Giant Rock and its roots. It all began with Team Rocket trying to capture Squishy. 

Greninja rescued Squishy with the help of Pikachu, Luxray, and Braixen. Later they faced Team Flare and Squishy ultimately evolved into Zygarde. 

After the battle, Zygarde requested Greninja to stay with them and assist them to destroy the existing roots of the Giant Rock. Ash decided to release Greninja in order to put an end to the Giant Rock. 

As much as it was a heartbreaking and tragic moment to witness Ash release one of his best Pokemon, it was for a better reason admittedly. 

As Pokemon fans, we must understand that Ash’s selflessness and Greninja’s sincerity are crucial for a long-lasting relationship and they still do have a strong bond despite being away from each other. 

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Why Did Ash Ketchum Release His Best Pokemon: FAQs

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