How many pokemon did Ash catch?

Question

Ash is fairly well known for his catch phrase "Gotta catch em all".

But recalling the series, it feels as if he did not even manage to catch a quarter of them.

So how many did he manage to catch?

Answer 1

Let's count? I am including pokemon such as Charmander, Chimchar, etc, which joined Ash of their own will without a battle as "CAUGHT". List of Ash's Pokemon:

Kanto and Orange Islands

• Pikachu - Given. Not caught.
• Caterpie - Caught. Released as a Butterfree.
• Pidgeotto - Caught. Left in the wild as a Pidgeot
• Bulbasaur - Caught.
• Charmander - Caught. Joined Ash of his own will. Left to train. Rejoined and with Oak now.
• Squirtle - Caught. Released back to the Squirtle Squad.
• Krabby- Caught. With Prof. Oak as a Kingler
• Raticate - Traded for Butterfree. Got back
• Haunter - Joined Ash for fun. Left for Sabrina.
• Primeape - Caught. Left for Fighting trainer.
• Muk - Caught in the power plant.
• Tauros - Caught in Safari Zone.
• Lapras - Caught. Released with family.
• Snorlax - Caught on Orange Island.

Johto

• Heracross - Caught.
• Chikorita - Caught. With Oak as a Bayleef
• Cyndaquil - Caught. With Oak as a Quilava
• Totodile - Caught
• Shiny Noctowl - Caught
• Beedrill - Caught in Bug Catching Contest. Released to Casey.
• Phanpy - Hatched.. With Oak as a Donphan
• Larvitar - Hatched. Released

Hoenn and Battle Frontier

• Tailow - Caught. With Oak as a Swellow
• Treecko - Caught. With Oak as Sceptile
• Corphish - Caught
• Torkoal - Caught
• Snorunt - Caught. With Oak as a Glalie
• Aipom - Caught. Traded to Dawn

Sinnoh

• Starly - Caught. With Oak as a Staraptor
• Turtwig - Caught. With Oak as a Torterra
• Chimchar - Caught. With Oak as an Infernape. Left Paul to join Ash, like Charmander
• Buizel - Traded. From Dawn
• Gligar - Caught. With Oak as a Gliscor
• Gible - Caught

Unova

• Pidove - Caught. With Oak as a Unfezant
• Sewaddle - Caught. With Oak as a Leavanny
• Roggenrola - Caught. With Oak as a Boldore
• Palpitoad - Caught. With Oak
• Scraggy- Hatched. With Oak
• Oshawott - Given by Juniper. With Oak
• Tepig - Another fire starter left by a trainer. Caught. With Oak as a Pignite.
• Snivy - Caught! With Oak
• Krokorok - Caught. With Oak as a Krookodile

Kalos

• Froakie - Caught. Released. With Squishy and Z2
• Fletchling - Caught. With Oak as a Talonflame
• Goomy - Caught. Left in the Wetlands
• Noibat - Hatched. With Oak as a Noivern
• Hawlucha - Caught. With Oak

Alola

• Rowlet - Caught! Ash has caught his first pokemon in Alola.
• Rockruff - Caught! In Alola as Lycanroc
• Litten - Caught! in Alola as Incineroar.
• Poipole - Caught! In ultra space. Came back as Naganadel for Pokémon league
• Meltan. Caught! In Alola as Melmetal.

Galar

• Dragonite - Caught! With Ash in various regions.
• Gengar - Caught! With Ash in various regions
• Riolu - Hatched! Given to Ash by Nurse Joy.
• Farfetch’d - Caught! With Ash in various regions:

Tl;Dr Ash has got 57 unique pokemon species. He got 2 (Pikachu, Oshawott), Traded for 2 (Raticate, Buizel), hatched 5 (Larvitar, Phanpy, Scraggy, Noibat, and Riolu). Also, Haunter just traveled with him so not counted as catching. Thus Ash has CAUGHT [57-(2+2+5+1) = ]47 unique species.

Edit: As requested by OP removed a quote referencing the number of pokemon dexed by Ash. Dexed pokemon are a larger set of pokemon, which include hatched, evolved, and owned in any other way (Gift/Trade, etc.).

Also, couldn't resist.

Answer 2

According to Bulbapedia, Ash has owned a total of 80 different species of Pokemon, although he currently owns 68 (including 30 Tauros) thanks to evolution, trading, and other changes of ownership.