5. Ash Evolves Pikachu!?£$^&
To everybody's amazement, there was actually a time where Ash seriously considered evolving his Pikachu as it didn't appear strong enough for their most recent challenge. The challenge before him lay in Vermillion City, where he faced Lt. Surge and his Raichu, a Pokemon that Pikachu could not stand up to and got so heavily beaten, that Ash had to consider evolving his Pikachu with a Thunderstone. Fortunately, Ash or more likely the writers saw that Pikachu had more of a value to stay as of the appeal to children globally and decided that it was a necessity for him to be never detracted from an episode and to this day is probably one of the most recognised mascots to have ever been being in the same category as Mickey Mouse.