Ash's Snivy

Ash's Snivy (Japanese: サトシのツタージャ Satoshi's Tsutarja) was the fourth  that   in the Unova region, and his thirty-sixth overall.

Unova
Appearing in Snivy Plays Hard to Catch!, Snivy was discovered by and  after she stole some cake from them. and speculated that Snivy abandoned her  who she deemed unworthy, as she was clearly demonstrating a high level of competency and skill, evident in her first escape from Ash by infatuating  with Attract then escaping using Leaf Storm. She also snickered at Ash in his first attempt to capture her.

Ash was able to capture Snivy when he won her respect, and was recognized before her eyes as a of not only skill, but of qualities like his unwavering determination and overpowering spirit. Despite his countless defeats with Snivy, especially when the majority of his team (Pikachu,, ) succumbed easily to her Attract, Ash nevertheless followed her all the way throughout from the time they met to the point of her capture. During this journey, Ash showed her two notable acts of sacrifice: the first when he shielded Pikachu from her Vine Whip, and the second when he asked Pikachu to climb onto his head when they were sinking into a muddy swamp. At last, Ash had to perform a show of skill before he could capture her. Luckily for Ash, was also female and was not affected by Attract, allowing him to battle on even grounds. In the battle that ensued, Snivy put up a strong struggle against her captor but was weakened considerably. Despite seemingly being in visibly good condition, she finally let out a small, humble smile that signified the acceptance of her Trainer, before allowing Ash to capture her.

Snivy was sent out twice during Ash's 5-on-5 battle with Trip in A Rival Battle for Club Champ!. In her first match against Trip's Servine, her use of Attract predominantly paved her way to victory after her opponent successfully became infatuated with her. Later on she was called upon to battle Trip's, and Ash, who had no knowledge of his opponent's Ability, , commanded Snivy to use physical attacks which ultimately led to their loss. In Emolga and the New Volt Switch!, Snivy was called out of her Poké Ball by Iris's Emolga's. Since Emolga did not wish to battle anymore, Ash used Snivy in a battle against 's for a short period. Later during lunch, Snivy noticed that Emolga tricked her male teammates into giving their lunch to her and ratted her out to Ash and company. Later, she noticed that Emolga had wandered away, as well as and Oshawott after her, and decided to investigate. Snivy found them being attacked by an angry and stopped it with Vine Whip. Emolga did not wish to fight Simisear, but Snivy forced her to help out. When Snivy was hurt by Simisear, Emolga finally decided to assist her and the two Pokémon worked together to stop it. They also saved Simisear's life by doing a -Leaf Storm combo to destroy a boulder that was about to crush it. Both Snivy and Emolga later temporarily settled their differences and shared an apple to symbolize that.

She battled with Trip's Servine once again in Ash and Trip's Third Battle!. This time around Trip and Servine were prepared for Attract and countered it with. She was then taken out of the match with a single from Servine.

In Cilan Versus Trip, Ash Versus Georgia!, Snivy was used against Georgia's during the second round of the Club Battle Tournament, however, she struggled against the powerful Pokémon, having Attract fail when Pawniard also turned out to be female. However, she managed to defeat Pawniard in the following episode with Leaf Storm.

In Battle For The Underground!, when Pikachu spotted her Poké Ball among those had stolen from the  Pokémon Center, he used  to let her out. Snivy searched through the pile of Poké Balls, looking for the others, letting out to free Pikachu and  from their cages,  to help bust through the door,  at Pikachu's request to burn from the sturdy door, and Tepig and  to propel the train cart away from Team Rocket. She later helped fight off Dr. Zager's helicopter while the other Pokémon tried to work out an escape.

In Dazzling the Nimbasa Gym!, Ash used Snivy in his Gym match against Elesa and her. They were both female, so Attract proved to be ineffective. Despite trying her best, none of Snivy's attacks were working and in the end, Emolga defeated Snivy with a barrage of powerful and  attacks.

In Scraggy and the Demanding Gothita!, Snivy looked happy to see Ash's Scraggy and Iris' Axew getting along happily. In the middle of the night when Katharine's Gothita escaped with Scraggy, and then followed by Axew, Snivy closely followed them all and helped protect them from a wild and angry that Gothita had disturbed. Snivy scolded Gothita and battled Garbodor until Katharine's Deerling calmed it down with. The next day, Snivy had a battle with Gothita, which resulted in a clear victory for Snivy. Snivy then condemned Gothita's loss, making it run away in a fuss with its Trainer close behind.

In Stopping the Rage of Legends! Part 1, Snivy battled and  in an attempt to halt their rampage. She landed a hit on the legendary Pokémon by combining her Leaf Storm with 's, but was eventually defeated by the powerful opponents.

In Battling the King of the Mines!, Snivy was Ash's second Pokémon in his Driftveil Gym battle against Clay, she went up against his, since she was strong against both and , she used her Attract to infatuate Clay's Palpitoad, which worked as he was male, she used her Vine Whip and Leaf Blade attacks to hit Palpitoad, he was then revealed to still be infatuated allowing Snivy to finish off the Vibration Pokémon off with Leaf Storm, this annoyed Clay who thought Ash's strategy wasn't right as it wasn't an upfront assault. In response he used his most powerful Pokémon, his, Snivy used Vine Whip but this was blocked by Excadrill's. Her Leaf Blade, Attract and even her Leaf Storm were countered in the same way, causing Excadrill's Rapid Spin to hit Snivy. The Subterrene Pokémon then used its one-hit knockout move,, which defeated Snivy.

In Evolution by Fire!, Snivy was disgusted at Shamus, Tepig's former Trainer, for his treatment of her friend and volunteered to battle as Tepig's partner with Shamus's and  the next day. That night, she confronted Tepig and slapped him with Vine Whip in an attempt to snap him out of his depression and encouraging him. When she was sent out to battle Shamus's Pokémon, Snivy was more than ready to fight and defend Tepig's honor, while Tepig didn't feel as motivated. While shouting words of encouragement to Tepig, who wouldn't dodge his opponents attacks, Snivy was hit by her opponents' powerful attacks, wearing her down severely. When Shamus ordered a / combination attack, Snivy pushed her friend out the way of the attack, taking a lot of damage and being knocked out. Though she was unable to battle, Snivy insisted that she stay outside of her Poké Ball, and watch the end of the battle. This motivated Tepig to evolve into, learn , and defeat his opponents.

In Beauties Battling for Pride and Prestige!, after Iris, Emolga and Snivy were insulted by the Flower Garden Troupe, a trio of performers who prized beauty in themselves and their Pokémon above all else, Iris forced Ash and Cilan to dress up as women so that they could confront the Troupe in a battle. In the final confrontation with Troupe leader Moira, Iris asked Ash to let her use Snivy against Moira's '', with Snivy's Leaf Storm cleaning off the oil Moira used to protect Cinccinotte from getting dirty.

In Cameron's Secret Weapon!, Snivy was the sixth Pokémon Ash chose to use during his Vertress Conference battle with 🇺🇳, sending her out to face Cameron's Riolu. Riolu started the battle with a, which Snivy was easily able to dodge before attacking the Emanation Pokémon with Leaf Blade. Riolu, however, quickly recovered and used, striking Snivy back with her own attack. Next Riolu used Vacuum Wave again, forcing Snivy to jump out of the way and allowing Riolu to easily grab her in order to use on her. Before Snivy could recover from the hit, Riolu carried on with a, sending the Grass Snake Pokémon flying into the arena wall. Snivy, however, just got mad for getting thrown around, and started a comeback. First she fired a Leaf Storm, forcing Riolu to dodge it and allowing her to grab the Emanation Pokémon with Vine Whip and slam it into the field. Riolu then fired another Vacuum Wave attack, which made a direct hit. But when it tried to repeat the same move, Snivy used Leaf Storm to counter it. The attack overpowered the  move and hit Riolu, causing serious damage. Unfortunately for Snivy and Ash, this resulted that Riolu suddenly evolved into, a much more formidable opponent. When the battle continued in the next episode, Snivy fought bravely against her evolved opponent, hitting it with Leaf Blade and Vine Whip. Despite of this, Lucario hit back with Force Palm, swung Snivy around by her own Vine Whip, and finally finished her off with its newly learned.

In Team Plasma and the Awakening Ceremony!, Snivy was sent out alongside the rest of Ash's team to help Ash and dig up to the surface of the  after they had fallen into a pit. While battling Team Plasma, Snivy dealt massive damage to two controlled with her Leaf Storm attack. However, when Colress turned his mind control machine on them, Snivy was quickly recalled to her Poké Ball along with Ash's other Pokémon.

Decolore Islands
In Team Rocket's Shocking Recruit!, Snivy joined the gang to search for Emolga, who had run off after being unfairly shouted at by Iris for attacking Axew. When they later found Emolga with, Snivy and Emolga began to argue and battle each other. Snivy deflected one of Emolga's attacks which flew off course and disturbed a sleeping. The Loud Noise Pokémon emerged from the bushes and began to attack the gang, allowing Team Rocket and Emolga to escape with Axew. The gang later found out that Emolga had not been in the wrong and had actually been protecting Axew, leaving Snivy a little embarrassed over assuming the worst of her rival. Snivy helped to save the day by hitting and  with a frenzy of Vine Whip attacks and a powerful Leaf Storm before freeing Pikachu with Leaf Blade. After Team Rocket had blasted off, Snivy reluctantly and sharply apologized to Emolga.

Snivy was reunited with the entire Unova team at Professor Oak's Laboratory in The Dream Continues!. She joined the others in a group attack on Team Rocket with her Leaf Storm to send them blasting off for the last time in the. Snivy later posed in a group photo with the rest of Ash's Pokémon. Then, she was left at the lab when Ash set off for the Kalos region.

Personality and characteristics
Snivy is nothing less than a Pokémon shrouded in mystery. It is revealed that she had a previous Trainer whom she left because they did not meet her expectations, but she seems to have found what she had been searching for in Ash. It appears that Snivy was looking for compassion and loyalty from a trainer, as it kept remembering Ash's multiple self-sacrificial actions in which he prioritised his Pokémon's safety above his own. This may be the reason Snivy left her previous trainer, which shows that Snivy has little tolerance for selfishness and only respects those who treat her and her fellow Pokémon with respect. She tends to show no emotion except for when she is battling, even then moving as gracefully as she does outside of battle. Snivy is a fierce competitor and will take each battle that she participates in seriously. She is very mature psychologically, as seen when Ash's newly hatched Scraggy attempted to attack her and she did not utilize her full strength when stopping him. Though Snivy is distant, she still knows all of her Pokémon companions well and watches out for them whenever their Trainers cannot as seen in episodes like Emolga and the New Volt Switch! and Scraggy and the Demanding Gothita!.

Ever since Iris's Emolga joined the team, she and Snivy have gotten into a few disagreements. Snivy did not like how Emolga used her cuteness to get what she wanted as seen in Emolga and the New Volt Switch! and was pretty much the only one able to see through it. As shown in Facing Fear with Eyes Wide Open!, she still holds animosity towards Emolga. In Movie Time! Zorua in "The Legend of the Pokémon Knight"!, Emolga and Snivy were seen fighting again which resulted in them knocking over paint, causing paint to cover their Trainers. Behind her tough exterior, Snivy actually cares deeply about her friends, as seen in Evolution by Fire!, where she comforted Tepig when he was disappointed by his former Trainer and was later seen hugging a newly evolved Pignite along with Ash while laughing, making it one of the few times she ever laughed.

In the movie adaptations
Snivy appeared in ', and appeared again in '.

Trivia

 * Snivy's capture was first revealed in a short preview aired after DP190, featuring all the Unova starters.
 * Snivy's capture was 's last capture of the three Unova starters. To contrast, in the previous four regions, each region's Grass-type starter was the first starter to be caught by Ash (in Hoenn, was the only one).
 * Snivy is the only one of the three Unova starter Pokémon that Ash caught by battling, as the other two simply let him catch them.
 * A constant animation quirk that occurs with Snivy is that she appears to have a third arm and her right foot turns green every time she uses Leaf Blade up close.