Who can forget the first appearance of Misty in the original Pokémon anime? First appearing in 1997, she came in with a bang, yelling at Ash for wrecking her bicycle and following him out of sheer, stubborn willpower. She vowed that she would continue to follow Ash until he got her a new one, and throughout the arc of the series, she never let him forget that he owed her. With a temper to match her hair, Misty projects an aura of unbeatable confidence.

One of the leaders of Cerulean Gym (alongside her sisters, and often alternating with them), you might think that she’s an unstoppable, water Pokémon-wielding machine. Though she won plenty of battles (and some shiny awards), the road to becoming a Pokémon master is a long one. Misty stumbled along the way more than a few times, losing not only her cool, but some pretty important battles as well. Luckily, with Ash and Brock by her side throughout most of the episodes she’s appeared in, Misty has managed to bounce back, reclaiming her place as one of the top water Pokémon trainers in all the land. That being said, when Misty lost, she lost hard, sometimes letting her own confidence trip her up. Here are just a few of the times she got absolutely destroyed in battle, taken from throughout the anime series.

20 She Didn't Just Knock Out Her Own Pokémon

When some Pokémon Princess Dolls are on the line, Misty is quick to jump into a competition to win the set. Facing off against Team Rocket’s Jessie in Princess vs Princess, Misty has to beg Ash and Brock to borrow their Pokémon to make up a four-strong team to win the day. Understandably reluctant, the guys loan her some pretty heavy hitters: Ash’s Pikachu and Bulbasaur, and Brock’s Vulpix.

Things start off well for Misty, and you’d think that with her team the road to the top would be simple, but Jessie has a trick up her sleeve.

Unleashing her newly-caught Lickitung, Jessie makes short work of Misty’s borrowed Pokémon. How embarrassing! Though Misty did ultimately manage to win this battle, it wasn’t before she was utterly humiliated by having Ash and Brock’s loaned Pokémon easily knocked out and defeated, making her own trainer skills come into question.

To top it all off, Misty thinks she’s going to send out Staryu. Surprise! Psyduck comes out instead. Luckily, he’s handier than he looks in a battle, helping Misty win in a tight fight to secure her beloved dolls. If Staryu had come out like Misty originally intended, she probably would have lost the battle completely Life pro tip: Maybe don’t lend your Pokémon to Misty.

19 That Time Misty Couldn't Catch An Oddish

Like any trainer, Misty can’t resist trying to catch a Pokémon when it appears. Though she likes to talk a big game about sticking to water types, when an Oddish appears, something about its cute appearance made her want to get her hands on it, and she’s quick to whip out a Poké Ball to at least give it an attempt.

Sending out Starmie, it looks like Misty is about to add her first grass Pokémon to her team. Oddish is down for the count and the ball is midair when a Bulbasaur intervenes, whipping away any hope of capture. As if taking away her dignity, the Bulbasaur also then single-handedly defeats Misty’s beloved Starmie, making short work of it. It’s up to Ash to try and save the day, sending out his Butterfree with some Sleep Powder.

Ultimately, neither Ash nor Misty manage to actually catch the Oddish in that moment, as both Oddish and Bulbasaur escape back into the underbrush. Wild Pokémon often pack a much bigger punch than their appearance would suggest, as both Misty and Ash learn during their adventure. You win some and you lose some; at least this time Misty didn’t lose out to Ash!

18 Sometimes Psyduck Was More Trouble Than He Was Worth

Misty is always quick to lend a helping hand to people she meets along her travels, so when a Nurse Joy says she needs help delivering some medicine, Misty and Ash are quick to agree. Nothing is ever that simple, though; to get to the next town, they have to cross a bridge guarded by some fierce bikers who don’t feel like letting just anyone go.

Ash faces off against gang leader Chopper, just narrowly managing to send his Golem back to his Poké Ball. Eager to jump in, Misty prepares to face off against the other gang leader, Tyra. Once again, Misty thinks that she’s sending out Starmie, a powerhouse guaranteed to get the job done.

Instead, Psyduck pops out, and in a move that will prove fateful, Misty decides to let the strange little Pokémon battle.

Much to Misty’s embarrassment, Psyduck doesn’t have a powerful attack up his sleeve this time around. He only performs Tail Whip, wiggling his little behind back and forth and sending the whole biker gang into fits of laughter. It’s only when Team Rocket intervenes that the humiliation ends, but it’s one battle that Misty isn’t going to forget any time soon.

17 Losing The Battle On Purpose

Everyone wants a piece of Togepi, and it’s easy to see why. Even when it was just an egg, Misty, Ash, and Brock were fighting over who would get to keep it. Once it hatched to reveal a totally new Pokémon, one none of them had seen before, the fight was on, with even Team Rocket getting in on the action.

As with most important decisions in the Pokémon universe, the squad decides the best way to make a choice is with a Pokémon battle. Misty wants to rely on her faithful Staryu, but sends out Psyduck instead. As often happens, this doesn’t go well for her. By now, Ash knows Psyduck’s moves, and carefully uses his Bulbasaur to make the poor duck Pokémon even more useless than normal. Running back to his Poké Ball, Misty is knocked out of the tournament entirely, leaving the other competitors. Ash emerges the victor; Togepi is rightfully his.

So how did Misty end up with Togepi if she lost the fight? Togepi decides that it likes Misty the best, and no one once to make it unhappy or tear it away from the person it clearly imprinted on.

16 Arbok Destroys Misty's Team

Team Rocket has caused plenty of chaos throughout the series, appearing again and again just to make the gang’s life difficult.

When Misty returns home to Cerulean City to strengthen her Pokémon, she doesn’t count on Rocket’s appearance. She thinks she’s just swimming in an underwater ballet performance (a scheme cooked up by her sisters to bring people to the gym). Instead, Rocket takes over as the ballet’s antagonists, challenging Misty to an underwater battle.

By now, Team Rocket’s Arbok has managed to get pretty beefy. Even with Ash throwing in his water Pokémon, the snake Pokémon manages to beat them on their home turf, the victor of the underwater battle.

He knocks out Starmie, Squirtle, Seaking, and Horsea, making things look grim.

It’s only when the gym’s Seel jumps in, evolving into Dewgong mid-battle, that the tides turn and Team Rocket loses, blasting off again with some help from Pikachu. For a trainer who supposedly specializes in water Pokémon, the loss in her own gym is especially embarrassing. Sometimes it seems like Misty just can’t catch a break; she comes home to make her own Pokémon stronger, and in the process seems to discover some of their weaknesses.

15 Fireproof

Misty is just plain unlucky. She doesn’t even have to directly be in a battle to get completely wrecked by Pokémon, as she unfortunately learns in episode 103.

Things seem to be going well for Misty that day; she meets a young gym leader, Rudy, who is immediately struck by Misty’s personality and looks and spends a copious amount of time flirting with her. It’s Ash who really manages to mess things up for her, challenging Rudy to a battle to win the Trovita Island badge.

Determined not to let things be too simple, Rudy tells Ash he has a task to do first: he has to hit a series of targets in order from the back of Rudy’s boat. Things look to be going well at first; one target is down. Then Ash decides to switch Pokémon and it all goes terribly wrong.

Charizard is simply too big and too powerful for the task at hand. Instead of hitting the target, he sends out a blaze of fire that manages to hit Misty squarely. Luckily, Misty is apparently pretty flameproof she’s smoldering and angry, but not injured. Still, getting hit by fire is on no one’s fun list.

14 Outsmarted By Totodile

The Johto region has plenty of brand new Pokémon for the trio to find and examine. While fishing, Misty, Ash, and Brock manage to spot something they’ve never seen before: a frisky Totodile dancing on a rock in the middle of the water. Upon realizing that this is something new, both Ash and Misty resolve to capture it, and the chaos truly begins.

Misty’s knowledge of fishing lures is first rate, but no lure is foolproof.

Eager to catch the Totodile before Ash can, she throws it out, only to have the mischievous Pokémon spit it right back out. Ash then uses Pikachu to deliver a stunning shock, giving his own attempt and getting into an argument with Misty over who should really catch their new find.

When Misty throws out her next Poké Ball, Totodile decides it has had enough, and blasts both the thrown Poké Balls and the trainers into the grass with a powerful Water Gun. By the time everyone manages to get back up, the Totodile has vanished completely into the thick grass, having managed to outsmart three human trainers easily. It looks like the end of their quest to catch it; but is it really over?

13 A Friendly Battle

It turns out that Totodile hasn’t managed to wander too far away, and Misty and Ash quickly manage to track it down. They both decide to use Lure Balls, knowing that they work especially well on water type Pokémon. Throwing their balls out at the same time, they see Totodile jump straight into the balls; but which one? When they get to the grass, it’s not clear who actually managed to catch the Pokémon and the only fair way to find out is to battle it out in a three vs. three battle.

The first round is an easy victory for Misty. She uses Togepi as a secret weapon against Pikachu. As her only non-water type, Togepi isn’t weak to Pikachu, and causes the yellow Pokémon to flee.

Ash is a canny trainer, and sends out a grass type Pokémon next. Though Misty’s Staryu gives it a good effort, Chikorita wins, leaving one match left to determine the victor.

It’s all down to Bulbasaur versus Poliwag. Despite Poliwag evolving mid-battle, it’s just not strong enough to go against type weakness, and a blast from Bulbasaur’s Solar Beam sends it flying. The score is two versus one, and Misty loses.

12 When Her Best Isn't Enough

It’s the semi-finals of the Whirlpool Cup, a tournament especially between water-type Pokémon and the people who specialize in them. Misty has just managed to defeat Ash; a great victory, considering she’s managed to lose other battles against him. She’s in her element, so close to winning the whole thing. And then she sees the competition.

Trinity is an extremely accomplished water-type trainer. As soon as Misty realizes who she’s up against, she hesitates. Can she even beat Trinity, a trainer she respects enormously?

The fight starts off grim, with Trinity sending out a Gyarados who is able to defeat Misty’s Poliwhirl easily and putting a significant dent into Corsola’s HP. Though Corsola manages to hold its ground reasonably well, Trinity’s next Pokémon is Chinchou: a hybrid water/electric type.

From there on out, things grow even worse. Though Chinchou’s first couple of attacks aren’t successful, it only takes one successful Confuse Ray to make Corsola unable to attack. While Corsola is out for the count, a single water gun removes it from battle entirely and Misty is out of the tournament. Luckily, Misty isn’t too upset by this, congratulating Trinity and wishing her luck for the next round.

11 Poliwrath Puts Misty In Her Place

Poliwrath is the evolved form of Poliwhirl. That makes Misty’s next decision baffling; when she sees a trainer fighting another using Poliwrath, she wants to step forward and challenge them. Maybe it’s because Ash also wants a fight, and Misty is always eager to prove she’s just as good a trainer as Ash.

Whatever the reason, they both get what they want: a battle against the Poliwrath.

Sending out her Poliwhirl, Misty should realize that she’s up against something she can’t defeat. Instead, she sends out Water Gun as the first move, hitting Poliwrath’s own Water Gun and making no headway. Poliwhirl tries to use Bubble, but Poliwrath is able to avoid it easily, landing a nasty Double Slap on the smaller Pokémon. From there on out, it’s easy for Poliwrath to win, only needing a single Submission to send Misty reeling from the battle.

Misty should know better than to send out the weaker form of a Pokémon against its evolved counterpoint, but she makes a bad choice. Given that she claims to be an expert on water-types, this is all baffling, and definitely counts as one of the worst decisions she makes in the series.

10 Checking Her Ego

Coastline Gym is a small, private gym run by Dorian. When Misty and her friends encounter him, Dorian says he’s actually met Misty’s sisters before, and he one day hopes his gym will be as good as Cerulean Gym. He then says he knows nothing about Misty, except that he’s heard that she’s kind of a loser, and her pride immediately causes her to get angry. Arguing with Dorian over who really loves water Pokémon the most, Misty challenges him to a battle to prove that she’s a good Trainer.

In a three vs. three battle, things don’t go so well for Misty. Dorian wins the first round, his Qwilfish defeating Misty’s Goldeen fairly easily. Corsola manages to even the score, defeating Dorian’s Mantine and causing the other Trainer to admit that Misty is actually fairly powerful.

They’re on track for the last round when disaster strikes. About to send out one of her Pokémon, Misty is instead sucked up by one of Team Rocket’s many machines, putting the battle on hold. Though Dorian and Misty manage to reconvene afterward, they decide to call the whole thing a draw. Dorian rightfully points out that if Misty had used her Psyduck, she would have won easily.

9 A 3-On-1 Battle Almost Results In Disaster

When Misty receives a call from her sisters telling her to come home to watch the gym, she’s devastated. She thought she would travel with Ash and Brock forever, and realizing that her days of doing so are over, she ends up wandering around town in a daze.

The Invincible Pokémon Brothers, a traveling trio, find Misty and are quick to mock her for having no friends. Understandably, Misty gets angry and challenges them to a battle, which the brothers take up with a gusto.

Facing off against the first brother, Kim, Misty ends her Politoed up against his Hitmonchan. It’s an easy battle for her; a single Water Gun knocks the other Pokémon to the ground. It should have been an easy victory, but an annoyed Misty mocks the brothers, mixing up their names. Goaded into action, the other two brothers send out their Pokémon and when Misty remarks that it’s cheating to send three against one, they don’t respond. Her Politoed is surrounded and things are looking grim; it’s a battle Misty would lose, if it weren’t for her friends appearing at the last moment, eager to fight a final battle together.

Were it not for Ash and Brock showing up, Misty surely would have seen her beloved Pokémon knocked to the ground, facing humiliation at the hands of the brothers.

8 Losing The Battle To Keep A Friend (Again)

An invitation for Togepi trainers to gather for a special event sees Misty reuniting with Brock and Ash after time away. Eager to see her friends, Misty’s guard is lowered and she walks right into Team Rocket’s trap, with Togepi being led onto a blimp to be stolen away.

Stowing along for the ride, Misty finds herself face to face with a Colonel Hansen, an unknown man who demands Togepi. Using his Shednija, he unleashes its Solar Beam to show that he has the upper hand and with no other options, Misty runs, trying to think of another way to save Togepi.

Shednija is close behind, and Misty sends out her Corsola. A bug-type Pokémon, Misty is afraid of Shednjia, but determined to protect her Togepi. Unfortunately, Corsola can do little against Hansen’s Pokémon, who attacks Misty herself hard enough to make her drop Togepi. Togepi vanishes out of sight and Misty loses both Pokémon and the battle.

Depending on the kindness of strangers, Misty does eventually get her Togepi back, but not before she technically loses the battle for it a second time. When it comes to battling for her Pokémon, Misty often comes up as the loser.

7 Running From The Fight

Misty’s fear of all bug-type Pokémon pops up in the series again and again. She always cringes away from them, and in some instances, even chooses to run. While separated from her friends during one fateful adventure, Misty comes across three Beedrill. Despite the fact that Misty has Pokémon on her, and thus should be fully capable of battling her surprise intruders, she chooses instead to run. This decision proves to be especially disastrous when Misty, along with her friend Max, actually runs off a cliff, still so much in fear of the Beedrill that she can’t even watch where she’s going.

What seems like a potentially fatal fall is luckily cushioned by some soft moss. Landing safely, Misty and Max are able to find some shelter and wait some time before heading out again.

While not technically a battle, this still counts as a defeat. Misty had the option to work with Max to fight the Beedrill, but she lets fear get the better of her. It’s a bad situation, and one she actively made worse, showing that it doesn’t always take a battle to completely destroy Misty.

6 Misty Just Can't Beat Ash

Now comfortable in her role as a gym leader, Misty is happy for a visit from Ash and some Alolan trainers, who in turn are happy for a chance to learn from a gym leader. Everyone is excited after witnessing a practice battle, and feeding off that energy, Ash challenges Misty to a battle. She’s in her home gym, and should be fully capable of winning, so she accepts his challenge, ready to show the students a real fight.

Gyarados does extraordinary work for Misty, even mega evolving using his keystone into Mega Gyarados. He seems to be unbeatable, but Ash has a trick up his sleeve: Pikachu, his closest friend and the Pokémon he’s had the longest. Using a series of tricky moves in battle, Ash is able to break Pikachu out of Gyarados’ hold and reveals his ultimate strategy: the Z-Move Gigavolt Havoc.

This electric type move is powerful enough to knock Gyarados out completely, despite all of Gyarados’ strength and his own mega form.

Though Ash wins the battle, Misty can’t resist sassing him, adding that he may be a better trainer now but he’s still childish. Even in defeat, she has to have the last word!

5 Sometimes Cheaters Prosper

Throughout every run of the Pokémon series, Misty remains the same. When she first returns to the Cerulean Gym, she finds an angry Gyarados that no one can control. It should belong to her, as the gym leader, but she’s afraid of it, unable to calm it down. It’s then that the Invincible Pokémon Brothers make their appearance.

Suggesting that because she can’t control the Pokémon, she’s unfit as a gym leader, they challenge Misty to a battle to determine who the real Gym Leader should be. The battle quickly turns into a spectator fight, with people flocking in to see if Cerulean Gym is about to receive a change in leadership.

When Misty’s Staryu faces off against the first brother, Kim’s, Hitmonchan, the battle screeches to a halt. It looks like Hitmonchan is drowning, and Staryu tries to help out the struggling Pokémon, only to be punched and knocked out. Though the brothers have technically won round one, Nurse Joy declares the move illegal.

Not content with cheating just once, the brothers all send out Tentacruels at once, despite the agreed upon battles being one-on-one. It’s too much for Misty’s Pokémon to keep up with, and she technically loses again, saved only because the brothers clearly cheated.

4 A Good Gym Leader Loses Sometimes

Sometimes a good Gym Leader has to lose. That’s how they award badges and help the net generation of trainers make their way out into the world. With her grasp on Cerulean Gym firm, Misty was able to give out a few badges in her time, though it meant losing battles.

When facing Sakura, a young girl she had befriended earlier, Misty is actually taken aback by how good her Pokémon are. The other trainer has even taught her Espeon to swim; something Misty hasn’t managed to do with her own Psyduck, despite Psyduck being a water type.

Espeon proves to be a powerful foe, showing Misty how much her friend has grown as a trainer. Though Misty’s Corsola is a formidable opponent in its own right, it just can’t stand against the more powerful Pokémon, and Misty loses the battle. She presents the badge to Sakura with no hard feelings; after all, a gym leader who never gave out badges wouldn’t be much of a gym leader at all. Misty proves that sometimes losing a battle is okay, and to always keep your head up high. She is really a good sport!

3 A New Battle Type Of Pokémon Beats Misty

When Misty is invited to the mysterious Dr. Yung’s lab, she eagerly takes up the offer. He has Mirage Pokémon to show them, something previously unseen by any of the visiting Trainers. These hologram Pokémon can take quite a bit of damage as well as dole out their own, a fact unknown to Misty. They can be destroyed if they’re hit hard enough, but again, how could Misty know?

When Dr. Yung invites Misty to battle, she accepts, wanting to see what he has up his sleeve. Although Misty uses her Staryu, channeling its most powerful attacks, she seemingly can’t make a dent in Dr. Yung’s mirage Aggron. The Aggron also reveals another secret of the mirage system. The Pokémon can use any attack. Aggron’s Bullet Seed is a grass-type attack, and it takes down Staryu easily.

Dr. Yung wipes the floor with Misty’s Staryu, but even Ash isn’t really sure what to do. Had the battle continued, it’s likely that Ash would have also lost, so while Misty definitively had her butt handed to her, the loss isn’t entirely her fault. When faced with an entirely new class of Pokémon, she doesn’t know what to do.

2 What Happens When Misty Leaves Her Pokémon At Home?

Sometimes Misty wanders out into the world without the protection of Pokémon. This proves to be a mistake in “Luvdisc is a Many Splendored Thing!”

When Butch and Cassidy of Team Rocket drop in, always eager to steal Pokémon, Misty doesn’t put up a fight. The two manage to capture one of the Luvdisc’s that Cerulean Gym was going to use to put on a show, and Misty plunges after them, forgetting her Pokémon in her haste to chase Team Rocket down.

It isn’t difficult for Team Rocket to catch Misty. She and her friends have no way to escape the trap they’ve found themselves in. There are bars blocking the way out, and without Pokémon to battle, they don’t stand a chance against the forces, even if it’s just two other Trainers.

Instead of fighting, they must all rely on the Luvdisc to first Water Gun them out of the trap, and later to help lead everyone down the river to escape. The power of the two Luvdisc’s manages to save the way, but the situation would have been made so much more easy if only Misty had brought her Pokémon team with her.

1 Ash Wins Misty's Gym Badge On A Technicality

When she first met Ash, Misty didn’t reveal her status as one of the leaders of Cerulean Gym. It’s only when Ash wants to go win the badge that she steps up to the plate. Her sisters were willing to let Ash win without having to battle, but Misty’s pride wouldn’t stand for that. She challenges Ash herself, and a battle ensues. Ash’s Pikachu has other ideas, however, and refuses to battle Misty, afraid of hurting both her and her Pokémon.

In a fight between Ash’s Butterfree and Misty’s Staryu, Staryu easily wins the battle. Starmie battling Pidgeotto proves to be a more difficult battle for Misty; though Starmie manages to avoid the bird Pokémon’s first attack by jumping into the water, a powerful Gust sends Starmie slamming into the wall. Ash is about to score the final hit when Team Rocket steps in.

Though the score was still only one on each side, when all the chaos is over Misty’s sisters step forward to give Ash the badge, telling Misty that if Ash had used Pikachu, he would have beat her. Though angry, Misty says they’re right, and loses to Ash on a technicality, based on a Pokémon he didn’t battle with.