Does ash eat pokemon?

[Charlotte]

Let me explain.

People in pokemon eat hot dogs, hamburgers, fish etc. Are they eating animals, or pokemon?

There are no animals as far as I can tell, but you don't see ash sacrificing a miltank for his dinner either.

Which is he eating?

 

[BlazeMaster]

Yes, that's where Kingler went.

 

[Karamazov]

We've seen real animals in early episodes in the anime, like the fish in Cerulean Gym. I wouldn't be surprised if people in this world ate those fish as a substitute for Pokemon, since most Pokemon are more intelligent than regular animals. But I like to think Ash and co eat a synthetic or tofu substitute for such meals.

Although, according to an in-game book in Canalave City, people would eat Pokemon and put their bones in the river, so they could be reborn. Whether or not that story applies to the world of the anime, or even if the story is actually true, isn't explained.

 

[GhostLucario]

Maybe I'm being biased here, but I like to think they are all vegetarians. Hamburguers, hot-dogs and everything else is made of tofu, gluten and whatnot. It'd be too cruel if they were really eating Miltanks, Mareeps, Magikarps, etc.

 

[Hurricane Kishore]

Hey , Pokemon can eat Pokemon there !
So Ash might eat cooked Pokemon meat like in Hamburger .
In Orange League , I remember he wanting to eat Hamburger.
Furthermore , In Jotho Nurse Joy brought a ''Ham'' to eat which was Stolen by some Houndour.
So , If someone like Nurse Joy eat Ham then Why can't Ash eat Pokemon.

 

[Midorikawa]

Ash mentions Tauros Burgers early in the series so it's possible, but there are also real animals so they probably eat those more often.

 

[mwetwe]

Adding onto the above comment, A fantasy in Ash's mind showed a cooked Magikarp when ash was hungry in the early series, so Im guessing yes they do

 

[Musashi]

Ash mentions Tauros Burgers early in the series so it's possible, but there are also real animals so they probably eat those more often.

Was that in the Japanese version too though? 4Kids could've just been making a joke.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Adding onto the above comment, A fantasy in Ash's mind showed a cooked Magikarp when ash was hungry in the early series, so Im guessing yes they do

He and other characters were starving at the time and it was played for more comedy relief than anything else, so I'm not sure if that's a sign that he would normally eat Pokemon if he wasn't in a desperate position.

Anyway, I can't really see them eating Pokemon in the anime. Considering how much focus there is with becoming friends with Pokemon, particularly with Ash, I can't see them actually eating another Pokemon. I could see them eating real animals, as some were shown in the early seasons, and with some of the Pokemon identifications, such as mouse or monkey, they would probably be around. They just wouldn't get focus since they're not Pokemon. Eating tofu would make more sense than eating Pokemon too. The idea of trainers eating Pokemon always sounded too strange and creepy for me.

 

[garrison-san]

Didn't that Kanto episode claim that Farfetch'd was mega rare because it was hunted to near-extinction for its meat?

After that episode, I've always found the whole concept of Farfetch'd to be a bit macabre. I used to think that a duck who used a leek as a weapon was delightfully random, until I put it together that he's basically carrying around an ingredient he can be cooked in a soup with.

Oh, and actual animals haven't been seen in the anime since early Kanto. So they're a moot point, IMO.

 

[Moe]

Just about all the examples are in the original series though. While there's a few mentions of hamburgers since, Brock usually just made generic stew (which was potato coloured) and Cilan is reduced to putting potato salad in bread. I can't remember much since AG where it's actually obviously meat - so it's probably something that has been deliberately written out or at least undermentioned to avoid the issue.

Drinking Miltank milk is common and there are a few others like Snover and Torterra who have edible growths, so perhaps some other Pokemon produce other edible things.

My other theory is that people in each region eat the Pokemon from other regions - so that ham in the original series would have just been a Tepig that found its way to Kanto. The Pokedex then just being a list of each region's protected species.

 

[Midorikawa]

Ash mentions Tauros Burgers early in the series so it's possible, but there are also real animals so they probably eat those more often.

Was that in the Japanese version too though? 4Kids could've just been making a joke.

I'm not sure but am looking for the episode where he mentions it. Anyways as has been stated, Brock and Ash imagined a cooked magikarp and meowth tried to eat one. Jessie and James tried to eat togepis egg as well if I remember correctly. There were hamburgers and hot dogs in Destiny Deoxys.

 

[garrison-san]

Magikarp was kind of an anomaly. The circumstances were very desperate, and Magikarp did have the misfortune of being the only creature on board the raft whom no one had any kind of emotional attachment to (as well as the good fortune of being completely inedible).

Anyway, I tend to agree with Moe. The issue may be somewhat more purposefully side-stepped now, but in earlier episodes I don't believe you were supposed to make the connection (unless it's explicitly brought up, as with poor ill-fated Farfetch'd).

 

[Pain Split]

Humans and animals eat other animals as food. Hamburgers are beef, sushi is fish, calamari is squid. The list goes on. One important detail to take into account however is stuff like salads. There are tons of Pokémon based on plants and even a Pokémon based on a cherry (Cherubi), but there are also actual plants all throughout the world. Thousands of normal trees, berry plants, mossy rocks, etc. In that case, you can't really tell if your salad is Bellsprout or a normal plant.

 

[Midorikawa]

I just found out that in the battling eevee brothers James is holding a lobster to eat. So they definitely have some real animals that they eat

 

[Dogasu]

We see the same thing with the pokemon based on carnivorous animals, too. We only ever see them eating Berries; we never see pokemon hunting other pokemon for food.

 

[Adil]

Spoiler

Itadakimasu!

 

[garrison-san]

I just found out that in the battling eevee brothers James is holding a lobster to eat. So they definitely have some real animals that they eat

Kanto tended to play a bit looser with that detail, though. Real animal sightings/references were more rampant then, partly because they were still figuring out the rules of the Pokemon world, and also because they had a much more limited variety of pokemon to fill the relevant niches.

Anyway, here's Farfetch'd's original pokedex entry:

"Farfetch'd, a Wild Duck Pokémon. Farfetch'd makes a delicious meal, especially when cooked with leek. Because of this, Farfetch'd is nearly extinct."

I find it grim that Dexter actually emphasises that Farfetch'd is "delicious". It makes it sound like a recommendation. For an endangered species too!

 

[Midorikawa]

I just found out that in the battling eevee brothers James is holding a lobster to eat. So they definitely have some real animals that they eat

Kanto tended to play a bit looser with that detail, though. Real animal sightings/references were more rampant then, partly because they were still figuring out the rules of the Pokemon world, and also because they had a much more limited variety of pokemon to fill the relevant niches.

Anyway, here's Farfetch'd's original pokedex entry:

"Farfetch'd, a Wild Duck Pokémon. Farfetch'd makes a delicious meal, especially when cooked with leek. Because of this, Farfetch'd is nearly extinct."

I find it grim that Dexter actually emphasises that Farfetch'd is "delicious". It makes it sound like a recommendation. For an endangered species too!

The fact that it's original series is beside the point. They didn't have to show that. In the Cerulean Gym there are real fish. Why not use Magikarp, Goldeen, or Seaking instead. It's shown that they have multiple of the Goldeen family. There were plenty that could be placed instead.
@Dogasu; Pidgeotto tried to eat Caterpie, Meowth tried to eat a Magikarp. Also several pokedex entries talk about pokemon eating other pokemon.

 

[garrison-san]

The fact that it's original series is beside the point. They didn't have to show that. In the Cerulean Gym there are real fish. Why not use Magikarp, Goldeen, or Seaking instead. It's shown that they have multiple of the Goldeen family. There were plenty that could be placed instead.

They probably used a lobster to emphasise "delicacy", given that Team Rocket were attempting to live the high life at the time. I doubt that common pokes like Magikarp or Goldeen would fit that niche.