Ash's Corphish

Bill Rogers (AG152-present)

**Ash's Corphish** (Japanese: **サトシのヘイガニ** *Satoshi's Heigani*) was the third Pokémon that Ash caught in the Hoenn region, and his twenty-fifth overall.

## History

### Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire

#### Hoenn

Corphish debuted in *Gone Corphishin'*. Ash and his friends were camping on a Dewford Island beach, and Corphish was attacking them from underneath the sand. Eventually, his identity was revealed and Ash battled him and caught him using his Treecko.

In the next episode, when Corphish met the group's other Pokémon, he struggled to make friends, smacking the others to greet them and eating their food. Corphish later fell ill after eating some seaweed and rope and was carried to the Dewford Town Pokémon Center for treatment. The next morning he had recovered and was able to stop Team Rocket's plan. Corphish had his first Gym battle in *Just One of the Geysers* against Brawly, where he was chosen to battle his Machop. Corphish won the round, though he later fell to Hariyama.

In *Going, Going, Yawn!*, Ash selected Corphish to participate in his Gym battle against Flannery, due to his type advantage over the Lavaridge Gym's Fire Pokémon. Corphish took on Flannery's Magcargo, managing to overcome his opponent's defensive tactics such as Sandstorm and win the round. Later, after Treecko's failed attempt, Corphish was sent out to take on Slugma. However, Corphish had to be recalled after Slugma used Yawn to put him to sleep. Ash then sent him out to battle Flannery's Torkoal, but he was still asleep and took several fiery hits as a result. Corphish woke up more persistent than ever, using Crabhammer to overcome Torkoal's Iron Defense. As Torkoal emerged dizzy from the blows, Corphish finished it off with Bubble Beam, earning Ash the Heat Badge.

In *Go Go Ludicolo!*, Corphish was sent out while Ash was deliberating on his Petalburg Gym strategy. Corphish immediately got angry and jealous of Ash's newly evolved Grovyle, particularly after he failed to retrieve fruit from a tree, as well as failing to break Team Rocket's net with his pincers, both of which Grovyle did easily with Leaf Blade. Later, Corphish got in Grovyle's way in order to volunteer to battle Poncho and his Ludicolo. However, Corphish struggled as his Crabhammer and Bubble Beam attacks were dodged by Ludicolo's dancing skills and defenses. He was then hit by Ludicolo's Focus Punch and eventually defeated by Hyper Beam. Determined to prove himself, Corphish caught up with Poncho and angrily demanded another battle, but he then had to rescue Poncho and Ludicolo from Team Rocket. He single-handedly defeated Seviper and Cacnea, impressing Poncho, who admitted that his earlier win might have just been luck.

In *It's Still Rocket Roll to Me!*, Corphish saved Max and one of the Mossdeep Gym Leaders, Tate, when they were captured aboard a space shuttle that had been hijacked by Team Rocket. Having snuck aboard the shuttle while following the food, he discovered Max and Tate tied up in the cockpit and cut the ropes holding them, allowing Tate to use Solrock to knock Team Rocket out.

In *Once in a Mawile*, Corphish fell in love with a Mawile, but the feeling was not mutual since Mawile was in love with Brock's Lombre. He teamed up with Brock to sing and dance to "Takeshi's Paradise" in order to keep an audience entertained.

In *The Great Eight Fate!*, Ash chose Corphish to replace his Snorunt in the Double Battle in the first round of the Sootopolis Gym battle. He went up against Juan's Sealeo and Seaking along with Pikachu. Corphish's defenses allowed him and Pikachu to endure Sealeo's attacks and defeat it, ending the first round of the battle in Ash's favor. In the next episode, Corphish took on Juan's Luvdisc, managing to overcome its Swift Swim Ability and win. Corphish then went up against Juan's Whiscash, but he was defeated by a Surf and Rock Smash combination.

In the Ever Grande Conference, Corphish was used in several battles. He first teamed up with Torkoal in *From Brags to Riches* to battle Dominick. After Torkoal fainted, Corphish defeated Swalot alone, which he did by using Bubble Beam in Swalot's mouth.

In *A Judgment Brawl*, Ash used Corphish as his fourth Pokémon in his Full Battle against Katie in the Victory Tournament. He went up against her Golduck on the water field, and despite getting confused by Golduck's Confusion, Corphish was more or less able to understand Ash's commands and defeat the Duck Pokémon. Corphish next went up against Katie's Venomoth, though Ash recalled him in favor of Swellow to get the type advantage. He sent him back out later to take on Katie's last Pokémon, Walrein. Although now free from his confusion, Corphish's Bubble Beam wasn't enough to stop Walrein's powerful Body Slam, which knocked Corphish right out on impact.

Ash later used Corphish as his first Pokémon in his Full Battle against Morrison in the Victory Tournament, with Girafarig as his opponent. Morrison was unable to control his emotions due to grief over being forced to battle his close friend Ash, causing him to give Girafarig useless commands, thus allowing Corphish to defeat it easily.

In the next episode, Ash saved the motionless Morrison from being disqualified by convincing him to continue battling, and he reluctantly picked Growlithe. With the type advantage and Morrison continuing to make poor move choices, Corphish made quick work of Growlithe also. Ash further tried to encourage Morrison out of his slump, and he finally got through to him. Morrison then sent out his Swampert and gave it much smarter commands, leading Corphish to tie with it.

In *At the End of the Fray*, Ash used Corphish as his third Pokémon in his Full Battle against Tyson, going up against Hariyama. After a short exchange of moves, Corphish's Crabhammer collides with Hariyama's Focus Punch, with the latter prevailing and knocking Corphish out in one shot.

#### Kanto Battle Frontier

Back at Pallet Town, in *The Right Place and the Right Mime*, Corphish met and soon befriended Ash's other crab-like Pokémon, Kingler.

In *Tactics Theatrics!!*, he teamed up with Swellow to battle Tucker and his Arcanine and Swampert. Tucker took early control of the battle by canceling out Corphish and Swellow's attacks by making full use of Arcanine's superior speed and Swampert's defenses, then going on offense and having his Pokémon use tactful combinations, including a brutal water and fire fusion attack, all of which pushed Corphish and Swellow to their limits. However, Ash was clever enough to come up with strategies to circumvent all of Tucker's combinations, including having Corphish counter Arcanine's Fire Blast with Bubble Beam, creating a huge cloud of steam that allowed him and Swellow to blindside Arcanine and Swampert with powerful finishing moves, thus winning Ash the Tactics Symbol.

In *Talking a Good Game!*, he battled Anabel's Alakazam and lost. In the next episode however, he was able to beat Alakazam in a rematch, only to be beaten by her Metagross shortly thereafter.

Corphish danced with Brock to the same song as they did in *Once in a Mawile*, albeit a new version, in *Strategy Tomorrow - Comedy Tonight!*.

In *Overjoyed!*, in an attempt for Ash to warm up for his rematch against Brandon, Nurse Joy decided to battle Ash with her Chansey. As none of Corphish's attacks did any damage to Chansey, Chansey went on to defeat him with Solar Beam.

Ash left Corphish at Professor Oak's lab when he left for Sinnoh.

### Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

In *An Old Family Blend!*, Corphish was first seen in a fountain alongside Totodile and happily greeted his Trainer. Later, he helped to battle one of Team Rocket's mechas with his Bubble Beam. He also helped put out a fire, along with Totodile and Piplup, that was accidentally started by Cyndaquil. Corphish was not seen participating in the Lily of the Valley Conference.

### Pokémon the Series: Black & White

Corphish was reunited with Ash in *The Dream Continues!*, where he and the rest of Ash's Pokémon posed in a group photo with him.

### Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon

Corphish briefly appeared in *Alola, Kanto!*, where he was seen swimming underwater at a pond near Oak's Laboratory with Totodile.

### Pokémon Journeys: The Series

In *Advice to Goh!*, Corphish reunited with Ash during his visit to Professor Oak's Laboratory with Goh.

Corphish, along with the rest of Ash's Pokémon at the lab, reunited with Ash in *Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit!*. During the visit, he was seen relaxing with Kingler and later watched the battle between Ash and Paul. Before Ash left, he posed with the rest of Ash's Pokémon in a group photo with him.

From *Battling as Hard as Stone!* onwards, Corphish watched Ash's Masters Eight Tournament matches against Steven, Cynthia, and Leon. In *Partners in Time!*, Corphish appeared as a vision to Pikachu during his battle against Leon's Charizard. After Ash won the battle, Corphish joined the rest of Ash's Pokémon at the lab in celebrating their Trainer's victory.

In *Heroes Unite!*, Corphish, along with the rest of the Pokémon at the lab, welcomed Ash back to Pallet Town after his victory over Leon.

In *A Fated Face-Off!*, Corphish was shown to have rejoined Ash's team. Corphish saw a Clauncher that Ash wanted to catch and formed a passionate friendship with him, only for Misty to appear and say she wanted to catch him instead. After trying to catch him through fishing, Ash and Misty decided to have a battle to decide who would catch Clauncher, with Ash using Corphish to battle against Politoed. Despite putting up a tough fight, Corphish was defeated, crying almost inconsolably at his loss, knowing that he couldn't be teammates with his new friend. Meanwhile, Misty caught Clauncher, who still chose to train with Corphish, much to her dismay.

## Personality and characteristics

Corphish is a very brash Pokémon; he will often charge into things without thinking about his actions first, which usually leads him into some kind of trouble. Ash respected Corphish for his power, hence why he initially caught him. However, he struggled to teach Corphish how to handle his own strength, particularly regarding his pincers.

Corphish is prone to jealousy and had a rivalry with Ash's Treecko. In *Go Go Ludicolo!*, after Treecko evolved into Grovyle, Corphish was worried he would not get as much attention as the powerful new Pokémon. He is also an extremely gluttonous Pokémon; in *A Shroomish Skirmish*, Corphish ate all of Torchic's food. When he later got lost with Torchic, Corphish preferred to go on as if nothing had happened rather than swallowing his pride and apologizing.

Despite all of its social flaws, Corphish is a very friendly Pokémon and is very loyal to his Trainer. He is also an effective battler, being able to defeat opponents quite larger in size than himself. His strength lies in his tough exoskeleton, making him durable to most attacks.

Corphish tends to spend time with Ash's Totodile, as shown in *An Old Family Blend!*, where they were found near each other on Lily of the Valley Island; and in *Alola, Kanto!*, when they were seen underwater together.

## Moves used

 A **†** shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.

## Trivia

* Corphish is the only Pokémon that Ash caught in Hoenn that is capable of evolving but has not done so.
	+ Corphish is also Ash's only Pokémon caught in Hoenn with a confirmed gender.
* Corphish is the last of Ash's Pokémon to have a proper onscreen battle during his time as a protagonist.

1. ↑ Confirmed in *"Once in a Mawile", he fell in love with Samantha's Mawile*.