system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Pokemon Anime] Does Ash still have Pikachu's pokeball?
gpt
Yes.  There is an episode where Pikachu gets taken by some flying thing. Ash tries to return it to its ball with the return beam thing but misses.

There's also other things like he needs to hold onto the pokeball to ensure Pikachu stays "his" and registers in the computer system which allows him only 6 pokemon.