Alongside the video games and the trading card game, thePokemonanime was essential for the franchise’s success during the late 90s and early 2000s. It allowed fans to see their favorite creatures come to life in a colorful world full of interesting characters, humor, and heart.
Though Ash Ketchum was the show’s star for over 1,000 episodes andnumerous movies, he wouldn’t have gone far without the help of a few friends, including Misty. This Water-type Pokemon trainer goes from bitter to sweet as you get to know her more, and these episodes are excellent highlights of what Misty brought to the original Indigo League anime.
10Pokemon, I Choose You (Episode #1)
Misty is one of the few characters to debut alongside Ash Ketchum and Professor Oak in the first episode of the anime. Though her appearance is brief, you quickly learn about her personality after Ash steals her bike in order to escape a flock of Spearow.
This small incident bonds Misty to Ash for most of his adventures through Kanto and Johto. Despite the friendship that clearly grows between the two during that time, she always reminds Ash that he owes her a new bike whenever she gets a chance. You also see her fishing before Ash arrives, foreshadowingher preference for Water-type Pokemon.
9Ash Catches A Pokemon (Episode #3)
After Misty forces herself into Ash’s party to annoy him about her bike, the two spend more time butting heads than actually getting along. As Ash excitedly catches his first Pokemon - a Caterpie - in Viridian Forest, Misty shows the opposite behavior with her absolute disgust and disdain toward Bug-type Pokemon.
You finally get to witness a softer side of Misty later in the episode, when Team Rocket arrives and takes out all of Ash’s Pokemon, except for Caterpie. The little bug manages to send Team Rocket blasting off again, and Misty tries to overcome her fear of bugs by attempting to become its friend before it evolves into the less-cute Metapod.
8Tentacool And Tentacruel (Episode #19)
If Michael Bay directed an episode of the Indigo League, it would’ve probably looked like Tentacool and Tentacruel. When Ash, Brock, and Misty arrive at Porta Vista, they also find themselves stuck in the middle of a war between Water-type Pokemon and the humans trying to take over their ocean.
Misty acts as the voice of the Pokemon, and is incredibly passionate about preserving their ecosystem from greedy people. With some help from her friends and their Pokemon, Misty is the real hero of this episode and even adds a Horsea to her team once everything has been resolved.
7Hypno’s Naptime (Episode #27)
Hypno’s Naptime might not be a Misty-centric episode, but it is an important one for her.The Water-type trainertypically uses Pokemon like Goldeen and Staryu to help her out, but she begrudgingly adds another member to her party, the mostly useless Psyduck, who loves to annoy her by popping out of its Poke Ball when it’s not supposed to.
Despite Misty taking a bit of a back seat for most of the episode, it’s still a memorable one for her for a couple of reasons. The introduction to Psyduck is the main one, but don’t forget that she also gets hypnotized into thinking she is a Seel, and runs off into the woods to slap her hands together with other kids who also think they are Pokemon.
6Beauty And The Beach (Episode #18)
If Beauty and the Beach doesn’t sound too familiar, it’s because it is considered to be one of the “lost” episodes from the original series. It only aired twice before being completely removed from syndication and isn’t available on any of the physical DVD sets. It’s a fun episode that is unfortunately tainted by a cross-dressing James with comically large breasts.
This episode takes place right before Tentacool and Tentacruel and takes place in Porta Vista. To help the group pay back a fisherman whose boat they damaged, Misty decides to enter a beauty contest to earn them the money they need. Of course, things go awry, and Misty is forced to compete against Jesse and James for the title. If you can find it online, it’s worth watching for some great Misty content.
5Friends To The End (Episode #82)
Misty plays a small, but important role in both the premiere and the finale of the Indigo League. At first, she “loans” Ash her bike to help him and Pikachu escape Spearow, and when Ash hits rock bottom after losing to Ritchie in the Pokemon League, she offers him the support he needs to pick himself back up again.
These bookend moments really highlight the friendship that’s grown between the two during the season. She was initially only there to bug him about her broken bike, but when her friend faces defeat, she is the only one to try and help while Professor Oak, Brock, and Ash’s Mom sit in another room.
4The Water Flowers Of Cerulean City (Episode #7)
If you play Pokemon Red and Blue before hopping into the anime, you’ll know more about Misty than Ash does during the first seven episodes. It’s well-known by most people that she is actually the Gym Leader of Cerulean City, but she keeps this information hidden from Ash to prevent him from bothering her even further.
Once Ash arrives at the Gym, he finds Misty’s three older sisters there, but they are more interested in focusing on their underwater performances than battling other trainers. Right before they hand Ash the badge, Misty steps in to make him work for it in an epic battle over a giant pool.
3Who Gets To Keep Togepi? (Episode #50)
Aside from Psyduck, the other Pokemon most often associated with Misty is Togepi. After discovering its egg in “Attack of the Prehistoric Pokemon”, Togepi hatches four episodes later and everyone from Brock to Meowth competes in a friendly competition to see who gets to keep it.
After carrying the unhatched egg from the start, Misty enters the competition with the best argument about why she should keep Togepi. It turns out that the Johto Pokemon feels the same way about her since Misty was the first face Togepi saw after it was born, and it imprinted her as its mother.
2Princess Vs. Princess (Episode #52)
Both Misty and Jessie grew up watching the Queen of the Princess Festival and shared a dream of one day participating in the event to fight for the title. When they both register for the show and have a chance to make their wishes come true, the two go head-to-head as Ash, Brock, James, and Meowth watch from the sidelines.
Princess vs. Princess puts the other characters on the back burner as you learn more about Misty and Jessie’s childhood, including flashbacks to both of them watching the festival with wide-eyed wonder. It shouldn’t be a surprise, but Misty ends up defeating Jessie in battle, earning her the title of Queen of the Princesses and her dream set of Pokemon dolls.
1The Misty Mermaid (Episode #61)
Fifty-four episodes after Misty faced Ash as the Cerulean City Gym Leader, the group finds themselves back in her hometown at just the right time. Her sisters need her to step in as the lead character for their underwater performance, and after some hesitation, Misty finally agrees to be the star of the show.
The Misty Mermaid is not only an opportunity for Misty to take the spotlight, but it also highlights how much she has grown since she was last home. When the show begins in front of hundreds of spectators, it’s clear that her self-confidence is higher than ever before, and she even makes the selfless decision to leave Staryu and Horsea behind to keep them safe from troubled waters.
