In the fictional world of Pokémon—full of battles and danger around every corner—it’s a little surprising there aren’t more deaths. The Pokémon and their trainers are regularly shocked with lightning bolts, burnt with fire blasts, and frozen with ice beams, but they somehow survive those calamities.
When a Pokémon does die in the anime, the significance carries even more weight. Many of the Pokémon were only introduced in that episode or movie, yet their loss is felt not only by the human characters but by other Pokémon and the viewers watching.
Here are the saddest Pokémon deaths in the anime.
Entei
Mourning the presumed death of her father, Molly Hale inadvertently summons a swarm of Unown to protect the little girl. While looking at a picture of Entei in the storybook her father used to read to her, Molly wishes for her father. The Unown bring Entei to life to care for her in place of her “papa.”
After getting caught up in the fantasy world the Unown created for her, lives are in danger. As Entei is about to kill Ash’s Charizard, Molly tells him to stop. The regular crew of Ash, Misty and Brock helped the girl realize that she couldn’t live in a fantasy. The Unown’s psychic power is out of control, so Entei bids farewell to Molly before sacrificing himself to save her.
Celebi
In Pokémon 4Ever, Ash and friends encounter a Celebi, known as the Voice of the Forest, who has transported itself and some human friends forward in time while trying to escape from a hunter. The gang ends up coming face-to-face with the Iron Masked Marauder, an elite member of Team Rocket, who says he was tasked to capture Celebi for Giovanni. He ends up catching the Pokémon with a dark ball, but reveals his true intentions are to use the creature’s abilities to usurp Giovanni as the leader of Team Rocket.
The dark ball transforms Celebi into an evil and more powerful version of itself. It ends up gathering branches from the forest to create a giant creature—with himself closed inside—and proceeds to destroy the forest. As Celebi uses all its energy to control the monster it created, it’s draining the life out of the Pokémon, until he’s nothing more but a shriveled, dying creature.
The death is crushing as Celebi is seen as something that is good and pure. Thankfully, as Ash and friends mourn the loss, a portal opens up, and Celebi throughout time arrive through a portal in the sky and revive the dead Pokémon.
Lucario (and Aaron)
While attending a festival in honor of the Legend of Sir Aaron, an ancient hero who averted a war, Ash ends up winning the tournament and is given Sir Aaron’s staff. The staff contained Lucario, who Sir Aaron sealed inside for protection in Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.
While trying to save Pikachu, Ash and Lucario go into the Tree of Beginning, which tries to consume them. Mew reasons with the tree, which ends up sending the tree into shock, killing it and Mew. Lucario ends up sacrificing himself to save Mew and the tree, just as Sir Aaron had previously done. Lucario and Sir Aaron reunite in the afterlife, capping off an emotional journey.
Snubbull
In a crushing story in Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us, Harriet shares how her Pokémon, Snubbull, gave its life while trying to retrieve a key from a burning windmill, which also burned Harriet in the process. Even after 50 years, Harriet blames herself and refuses to bond with another Pokémon.
Luxray
In Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You, Ash Ketchum begins his journey in a reboot or possibly alternate timeline for the young Pokémon trainer. The story is similar to season one of Pokémon, but instead of meeting Misty and Brock, Ash meets Sorrel and Verity.
Sorrel is a young trainer who wants to be a Pokémon professor one day. While camping out in the woods with Ash and Verity, he shares the story of his childhood friend and protector Luxray. After the little boy went outside by himself and got lost in the snow, Luxray found him and shielded his body from the snow. When Sorrel woke the next morning, he discovered Luxray dead, having frozen to death while protecting him. It is considered one of the saddest Pokémon deaths of all time.
Marowak
One of the most heartbreaking moments in Pokémon is in the Pokémon Origins miniseries. Cubone is seen inside a Pokémon orphanage, huddled in a corner and fearful of humans. Through a series of flashbacks, viewers find out his origin story.
After Cubone was attacked by some rogue members of Team Rocket, his mom, Marowak, shows up and tells him to run away. Cubone watches in horror as Team Rocket kills her. A ghost Pokémon appears inside the orphanage, and Cubone breaks out of his kennel and races toward it, embracing it as it transforms into the ghost of his mom. After saying goodbye, Marowak finds peace and begins floating toward Heaven. Try to watch that with dry eyes.
Stoutland
That’s why Litten is a Scamp is the seventh episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon. The episode shares the story about the unlikely friendship between a Stoutland (a dog) and a Litten (a kitten). While foraging for food one day, Litten stole Ash’s lunchbox. Ash hunted him down and found him living with Stoutland under an underpass.
Old and deteriorating, Stoutland’s life is paralleled with a nearby tree losing its leaves. One night, while cuddled up with Stoutland, Litten has a dream that Stoutland is getting further and further away until he suddenly disappears. Litten awakens to find Stoutland gone just as the last leaf on the tree falls. The devastated little kitten stands in the rain, crying out for its best friend.