Why do people complain about Ash using his pokedex on pokemon he's seen before?

[Flashyspark]

I don't really think about it. When I was younger I just thought that the Dexes have new info on every species of Pokemon everytime Ash gets a new one so Ash would scan a critter to get the latest details even if it's a Pokemon he saw before

 

[Redstar45]

Aka, they want him to be Red, even if that wouldn't make an engaging show at all.

.....nope ! I mean that Red is not that op guys as his Pokemon are super easy to beat in gen 2 5 7 ...so yeah and veteran sure but he barly a character....

 

[Teravolt]

I believe the question is....why are there some characters who don’t have Pokédexes? They’re TRAINERS for existence’s sake!

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I honestly wish that Rotom Dex would occasionally get snarky at Ash for using it on Pokémon it knows he has definitely seen before. Sort of like how the original one was in the first episode.

 

[nickdt]

The main reason i haven't read, is that its obviously because of new anime viewers.

 

[pacman000]

That's correct; he does it to inform new audience members, but I think most people who complain are looking for an in-universe reason.

 

[DynoStretch]

To be fair, there was a lot of times in Kanto/Orange League where Ash would have pulled out the dex on Pokemon he's already seen before and say something like "What is thaaaaat???" One example of this is questioning what a Seadra was during the Indigo League which was understandable since I'm pretty sure that was the first time he's seen one, but after the league when he goes for the first Orange gym badge the leader uses a Seadra and he outright asks what it is again. I also recall for some reason he had a particularly bad time remembering Growlithe.

I only ever saw the english version, so this might just be a mistranslation thing or 4Kids thinking kids have the attention span of a goldfish.

 

[STICKTOPIA]

I think they do this for people who haven’t watched the prior seasons and haven’t seen the Pokémon before.

 

[Applecorp]

To be fair, there was a lot of times in Kanto/Orange League where Ash would have pulled out the dex on Pokemon he's already seen before and say something like "What is thaaaaat???" One example of this is questioning what a Seadra was during the Indigo League which was understandable since I'm pretty sure that was the first time he's seen one, but after the league when he goes for the first Orange gym badge the leader uses a Seadra and he outright asks what it is again. I also recall for some reason he had a particularly bad time remembering Growlithe.

I only ever saw the english version, so this might just be a mistranslation thing or 4Kids thinking kids have the attention span of a goldfish.

IIRC didn't Mandi's Seadra only last like 20 seconds before Kingler knocked it out? Maybe Ash wasn't familiar with it because it was barely on screen at the Indigo league.

 

[Leonhart]

IIRC didn't Mandi's Seadra only last like 20 seconds before Kingler knocked it out? Maybe Ash wasn't familiar with it because it was barely on screen at the Indigo league.

That's actually a good point: if Satoshi's only seen a certain species of Pokemon for a few seconds and didn't have enough time to get to know them, then it makes sense that he'd use his Zukan to get more information on a Pokemon the second time he sees a member of that species.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

That's actually a good point: if Satoshi's only seen a certain species of Pokemon for a few seconds and didn't have enough time to get to know them, then it makes sense that he'd use his Zukan to get more information on a Pokemon the second time he sees a member of that species.

I’m okay with Ash doing that but whenever he uses it on something like a Charmander or Pikachu or any other Pokémon he has caught and used (withthe exception of Tauros) then I have a problem.

 

[lolipiece]

The Pokedex typically gives different info if it's used on the same species more than once, so there's always the possibility of new info, especially since old Pokemon get new Dex entries in later games.

 

[Rune Knight]

He usually recognizes the pokémon before scanning them so I don't see what the big deal is either lol.

 

[SBaby]

When I first saw him do this, I didn't get it either. But nowadays, having played as many Gens as I have, I understand why he does this. The information in the Pokedex is constantly being updated and added to. So things the Dex said before might be different from what they say now. It's actually basic fundamental logic to check and see if new information was added for Pokémon, even if he's already seen them, much like how we're always learning new things about animals in real life.

Mind you, I haven't watched the anime for a long time, but I don't see this as a problem with it.