Top 10 Pokemon Anime Gym Battles

Ash's first fight with Lieutenant Surge sends Pikachu to the hospital, but Ash still won't use a thunder stone to even the odds. Though Pikachu initially seems outgunned by Raichu in their rematch, he turns the tables with some quick dodging. As Surge sees that Raichu can't keep up, he tries to finish things with a massive thunderbolt, which surprisingly leads to Pikachu using his tail to ground himself against the attack. Pikachu uses his speed advantage as an unevolved Pokémon, and finishes off the drained Raichu.

With May and Max's father Norman facing off against Ash, there was already a lot of tension in the Petalburg Gym. Slakoth's dodges and blizzard render Pikachu useless, so Ash switches to Torkoal to overpower him with heat. Norman's Vigoroth wipes out Torkoal in one attack, and even proves to be a perfect match for Pikachu. As Slaking blocks all of the attacks from Ash's Grovyle, Ash switches to acrobatics to gain an advantage. All the swapping forced each player to adapt their strategies repeatedly, which transformed Norman's gym into a rare chess match-like showdown.

You’d think Ash’s Cyndaquil would make this battle in the bug gym a cakewalk, unfortunately for him the Pokemon is initially too tired to use fire moves. Spinarak continuously dodges all of Chikorita's attacks by swinging on webs, so Chikorita tricks it with Sweet Smell. Chikorita and Pikachu can't damage Metapod however, much less hit him, so Pikachu instead evades, and then grabs onto the bug for an unavoidable thunderbolt. When Scyther's ninja-like moves prove too much, Cyndaquil uses the bug's own spin attack to surround it in fire. Cyndaquil's last-minute return kept viewers on their toes for a fight full of reversals.

Grant's Onyx can't outmaneuver the speedy Froakie, so he sends a terrifying barrage of rocks at him. Rather than dodge the move, Froakie jumps off the boulders like a Super Saiyan to land a close-range water move. Tyrunt forces Froakie to start bouncing around again, but his Draco Meteor move is too hard to avoid. Despite all his confusing copies, Ash's Fletchling still loses to Tyrunt's rock-type advantage. With Pikachu deflecting boulders back at Tyrunt, Ash scores a win through innovative fighting technique. By using animation to create visually stunning interpretations of moves and counters, Grant's fight has you floored with every attack.

Ash's Staravia starts with advantage on Machoke, with the bird-type using a Quick Attack and Brave Bird combo to win. Maylene's Meditite outplays its opponents using detect and confusion until it's too burnt out to continue. Lucario takes out Staravia in one punch however and then uses extrasensory moves to defeat Chimchar mid-Dig. Afterwards Buizel avoids and begins to adapt to Lucarios attacks, all before learning Water Pulse mid-fight. With complex choreography and fiery clashes, this battle turned fighting-types into high-speed brawlers.

In his attempt to beat Olympia in a double battle at the Anistair Gym, Ash has to use brains just as much as brawn. Olympia's two Meowstics use their psychic abilities to fly and block attacks, while they continuously home in on Frogadier and Talonflame. Just as Ash's duo show-off their teamwork and protect each other, the Meowstics hit them with the time-delayed Future Sight. With Pikachu keeping count, Talonflame is able to throw the Meowstics into the path of their own move. This battle all comes to an end in the most ridiculous Pokemon light display you’ve ever seen courtesy of Ash’s Frogadier.

Volkner's Pokémon offer Ash an even matchup, which sees both trainers employing unusual combos to gain an edge. Ash's Torterra gets some early hits on Electivire, but it's decimated when the electric Pokémon pulls out fire-punch and ice-punch. Pikachu's electric moves are absorbed too, and it only wins by paralyzing Electivire with static. After Infernape Mach-Punches his way through dozens of Shadow Balls, he finds his match in Luxray's Thunder Fang attack. Infernape is sent into a horrific, fiery rage and burns out Luxray to finish the fight. Attacks are repeatedly used as a defense here which creates a suspenseful back-and-forth at Volkner's gym battle.

Bunnelby blocks Pikachu's attacks from the get-go at the Lumiose Gym, and even catches Iron Tail in its ears like a sword. While Ash scores some early knockouts, Clement's Luxray supercharges itself with Electric Terrain to wipe out Pikachu and Hawlucha in seconds. Though Goodra comes out paralyzed, it resets the fight with Rain Dance and cures itself. After Luxray pummels Goodra viciously, Ash reveals he was using Bide and obliterates Luxray in a flash of light. The fight is full of breathtaking pauses that look and sound stunning. It's all the unpredictable abilities however that leave us guessing in Ash's fight with Clemont.

After forfeiting his first Gym Battle against Blaine and stopping the Volcano from destruction, Ash is offered a rematch at the peak of the Volcano. With an intense rivalry formed between the two, Charizard is more than happy to face off against Blaines Magmar. After a series of Fire attacks, things really heat up when they wrestle each other into the lava. Though Ash thinks his dragon is finished, it flies out to victory with its iconic Seismic Toss. All the nail-biting close-calls made this gym worthy of its two-episode arc.

With it’s amazing animation, this physical showdown against Korrina stands out amongst the rest. Mienfoo goes into a full kung-fu match against Hawlucha, and Machoke delivers kicks to Talonflame you can really feel. Lucario turns things around when he Mega Evolves, sending Hawklucha flying with an Aura Sphere. Despite the odds, Pikachu retaliates from attacks with thunderbolts and hits back Aura Spheres with its tail. And when Iron Tail and Bone Rush collide in midair, Pikachu has to deliver a colossal shock just to defeat Lucario.