Ash's Tauros

**Ash's 30 Tauros** (Japanese: **サトシの３０匹のケンタロス** *Satoshi's 30 Kentauros*) are a group of Pokémon that Ash caught during his travels in the Kanto region. Collectively, they are the eleventh overall species of Pokémon obtained by Ash in the Kanto region.

## History

### **Pokémon the Series: The Beginning**

#### Kanto

Ash spent some time in the Safari Zone in the banned episode EP035. He was attempting to catch as many Pokémon as possible, though all he ended up with were thirty Tauros, since they always ran in front of his Safari Balls whenever he tried to make a catch. At the end of Ash's adventures in the Safari Zone, all thirty Tauros were sent to Professor Oak's Laboratory. This episode has not been aired outside of Japan, Greater China, and South Korea due to the firearms being a plot point. The dub merely mentioned in *Showdown at the Po-ké Corral* that Ash caught the Tauros in the Safari Zone without the captures ever being depicted.

#### Orange Islands

Ash began using Tauros when he needed a replacement for Snorlax in his battle for the Winner's Cup of the Orange League in *Hello, Pummelo!* and *Enter The Dragonite*. He sent the now-sleeping Snorlax to Professor Oak's for one of his Tauros to see if the "beginner's luck" strategy he had used in the Indigo Plateau Conference with Kingler and Muk would work again. Tauros seemed shocked but very pleased when Ash chose him.

Ash initially sent Tauros out to face against Drake's Gengar, but as he got hit by Gengar's Confuse Ray, Ash chose to recall him. Tauros was later sent out again to face Drake's Venusaur. Although the sandy field used for this portion of the match made Tauros' Fissure attack ineffective, he was able to survive Venusaur's Solar Beam and eventually defeat it. As Tauros was getting tired out, Ash then recalled him again. He was later sent out one last time to face Drake's Dragonite after it had defeated Ash's Charizard and Squirtle. Although Tauros too was eventually defeated, he still managed to tire Dragonite out enough for Pikachu to finish it off afterward and win Ash the championship.

In *A Tent Situation*, Tauros was reunited with the herd when Ash and his friends returned to Pallet Town.

### **Pokémon the Series: Gold and Silver**

#### Johto

In *A Farfetch'd Tale*, Tauros crowded into Ash's screen with Kingler, Muk, and Snorlax to wish him luck for his next Gym battle with Whitney.

Tauros was used again in early Johto during the Pokémon Swap Meet, in *Tricks of the Trade*. Ash exchanged Heracross for Tauros so he could compete in a Tauros battling competition. Ash then sprinted into the stadium to challenge Fernando, the undefeated champion with ten straight wins. Ash's Tauros locked horns with Fernando's own Tauros, and managed to overpower his opponent with a Take Down before tossing him into the arena wall, winning Ash the tournament. Ash then received multiple trade offers from other Trainers, though he explained that he wasn't there to trade and sent Tauros back to Professor Oak in *The Fire-ing Squad!*.

Ash later used a Tauros in the Silver Conference, in *The Ties That Bind*. He fought Gary's Nidoqueen, managing to push through the rocks thrown by Rock Smash and charge with a Horn Attack. Nidoqueen blocked Tauros by catching his horns and then launched a close range Hyper Beam, easily knocking Tauros out of the match.

### **Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire** and **Pokémon Chronicles**

In *Showdown at the Oak Corral*, the Tauros herd made a cameo appearance, telling the other Pokémon about Cassidy and Butch.

In *Journey to the Starting Line!*, a string of events caused by Kingler caused the Tauros to stampede through Professor Oak's lab and allowed a group of starter Pokémon to escape.

On Ash's return from Hoenn in *The Right Place and the Right Mime*, the Tauros were seen running towards him with his other Pokémon. However, they were so pleased to see him that they got carried away and stampeded off with Ash on their backs, and Ash had to be retrieved by his Bayleef before he could be reunited with his other Pokémon.

Ash used Tauros in his battle against Anabel in *Talking a Good Game!*, first against her Alakazam. He went on an offensive charge, but was easily defeated by a combination of Focus Punch and Psybeam.

After training the next day—and being so spooked by a Beedrill's Twineedle that he managed to hurl Ash, Anabel, Pikachu, and Corphish flying into a lake—he was used in the rematch in *Second Time's the Charm!*. Tauros took on Anabel's Metagross, matching brute force with brute force. The matchup eventually led to a collision of Take Down and Meteor Mash, which took out both Pokémon.

### Pokémon the Series: Black & White

The Tauros were reunited with Ash in *The Dream Continues!* after his travels through Unova and the Decolore Islands. They greeted him by trampling him, much to the surprise of Alexa. Later on, they and the rest of Ash's Pokémon posed in a group photo with him.

### Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon

The Tauros reappeared in *Alola, Kanto!* during Ash and his classmates' visit to Oak's laboratory. Excited to see him again, they ran into Ash and knocked him into the air.

### Pokémon Journeys: The Series

In *Advice to Goh!*, the Tauros reunited with Ash during his visit to Professor Oak's Laboratory with Goh, knocking him into the air out of excitement.

The Tauros, along with the rest of Ash's Pokémon at the lab, reunited with Ash in *Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit!*. During the visit, one of them posed with the rest of Ash's Pokémon in a group photo with him.

In *Battling as Hard as Stone!*, one of the Tauros watched Ash's Masters Eight Tournament match against Steven.

In *A Flood of Torrential Gains!*, one of the Tauros watched Ash's match against Leon. In *Partners in Time!*, the Tauros appeared as a vision to Pikachu during his battle against Leon's Charizard. After Ash won the battle, multiple Tauros joined the rest of Ash's Pokémon at the lab in celebrating their Trainer's victory.

In *The Rainbow and the Pokémon Master!*, one of the Tauros assisted Ash in looking for a missing Charmander around Oak's lab, but to no avail. Two of them were later seen playing with Ash during his time in Pallet Town.

## Personality and characteristics

The Tauros' main characteristic is stampeding. Luckily, Professor Oak's Laboratory includes large open plains, making it a perfect place for the Tauros to freely roam around. They have proved useful at the laboratory, stampeding to wake up Ash's Snorlax in times of crisis. However, their stampeding has caused mishaps. The first time Ash returned to Pallet Town in *Showdown at the Po-ké Corral*, they stampeded through a fence and sent Team Rocket blasting off. Later, they stampeded through the lab, leaving a mess and a large hole in the wall.

Due to the large number of Tauros, it is impossible to determine the personalities of each and every one. However, the Tauros seem to share a very enthusiastic personality and a love of exercise. In terms of battle, despite their limited moveset, they are all extremely strong, capable of throwing large opponents like Metagross or Venusaur into the air from a standing position, using only their large horns and strong neck muscles. It has been shown multiple times that they get very excited when they see Ash, as they often catch him up in their stampedes when he returns home.

## 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

* The Tauros are Ash's only:
	+ Pokémon to have used a one-hit knockout move.
	+ Gender-specific Pokémon.
	+ Non-temporary Pokémon he has caught more than one of.
* The Tauros are Ash's first Pokémon to not be part of an evolutionary line.
* Ash's Tauros are the only Pokémon belonging to a main character to have been caught in an internationally banned episode.
* It has never been revealed whether Ash uses the same Tauros whenever one of them is transferred to him or if Professor Oak simply sends him a random one each time.
* The Tauros are the first Pokémon in the anime to have been caught in a Poké Ball variant. However, despite the Tauros all being captured in green Safari Balls, they all have regular Poké Balls when Ash calls them into battle.
* Brock caught a Tauros at the same time that Ash caught his first Tauros. Because of this, some believe that Brock actually owned a Tauros, and the writers simply forgot about him in subsequent episodes. However, the Tauros was caught by Brock in one of Ash's Safari Balls, therefore making him one of the thirty owned by Ash.
* In *Tricks of the Trade*, Ash was offered a Rhyhorn in exchange for his Tauros after winning the Rock and Tumble One-on-One Tauros Competition. Despite having tried to catch a Rhyhorn in the Safari Zone, only to end up catching another Tauros (along with having multiple Tauros), Ash chooses to keep his Tauros.
* Starting in *Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit!*, the Tauros appear to be darker in color, resembling their model in Pokémon HOME.
* In Pokémon Red, Blue, FireRed, and LeafGreen, Tauros' encounter rate is 1% or 4%, depending on the area, whereas in Pokémon Yellow, which was influenced by the anime, the encounter rate at the Safari Zone was raised to 10%, possibly as a reference to Ash's Tauros.

## Gallery

Ash's Tauros using FissureAsh's Tauros using Take DownAsh's Tauros using Horn AttackAsh's Tauros using Double Team
## References

1. ↑ Tauros is a male exclusive Pokémon species.

## Related articles

For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Tauros.