Top 20 Pokémon Anime Battles

Fair warning, this is one of only two entries without Ash Ketchum. Though we’d say it’s worth it when it’s a battle between two Champions! As Johto and Galar’s apex trainers battle it out, we not only get to see Charizard rip and tear in a whole new light thanks to Journey’s increased animation budget, but also see the return of the Red Gyarados! That by itself would normally be enough to land it a spot, but then they go full kaiju by both activating Dynamax, leading to a battle of dragons that would have likely destroyed the whole stadium!

An overlooked martial arts bonanza of a gym battle with plenty going for it. Not only did we see Ash have to compete in yet another double battle, but saw the return of his Snorlax. Sure, type wise the big unit should have been wasted in the opening seconds, yet thanks to an obscene resilience and crazy amount of moves under his gargantuan belt, Snorlax basically took down all of Greta’s Pokemon single handed! Taking untold amounts of punishment before body slamming it right back, all of you wannabe trainers out there had better put respect on Snorlax’s name!

If anything, this whole fight was an apology for how Pikachu got done in by a level five Snivy during the season’s opening episodes. After regaining its strength, the thunder mouse was ready for a rematch during the qualifying rounds of the Unova League, paving the way for a brutal confrontation with Trip’s now fully evolved Serperior. Still not sure how it was able to combine Iron Tail and Electro Ball together but hey, Black & White doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to fights. We’ll take what we can get!

He may appear to be a warm and jolly fella, but this Gym Leader is practically a walking blizzard when it comes to battles. This was mostly due to his Abomisnow, whose innate ability to constantly conjure snowfall not only created problems for Ash’s whole team, but also had a Mega form that rocketed it all the way to final boss material. Maybe that’s why watching Greninja slowly chip away it made for such a great time. Not every day you see a frog ninja punch a yeti into oblivion.

It’s plot armour vs the power of science as Ash takes on the genius Gym Leader. While mostly serving as the resident third wheel all throughout their tour across the Kalos region, Clemont was still skilled enough to put Ash through its paces thanks to the force of its Luxray, even overpowering Pikachu at one point. Luckily for Ash, he happened to have a Psuedo-Legendary in his arsenal courtesy of Goodra, who proved sturdy enough to blast away the competition thanks to its dragon-type moves and…general gooiness?

It may not be the most explosive match out there, but Kanto-purists can’t help but look at this fight with major nostalgia goggles. Why? Well for one it actually made us believe that Bellsprout was a threat, seeing as how it wiped out Bulbasaur and Pikachu like it was nature’s answer to John Wick. Then you’ve got Ash’s rebuttal in the form of Muk, who proves immune to all of Bellsprouts strikes, leading it to casually smothering it to the point of suffocation. Okay, so looking back on it that was kinda messed up. But come on! Look how happy Muk is!

Harkening back to the days where fighting your friends in a Pokemon battle was an emotional ordeal, the Hoenn League saw fit to have Ash and his new comrade Morrison go against one another. However, unlike when he fought Riche, Ash couldn’t care less and is all in on winning. Morrison…takes it less well, so much so that for the first half of the match he struggled to get it together. Thankfully, he eventually snapped out of it, giving us a friendly bout that made for one of the Advanced series’ best.

It was only a matter of time before these two decided to have a rematch, and the results were far better than we could have hoped. Far from the trainers they used to be back in Kanto, Ash once again won the day against his first potential love interest, this time by busting out Pikachu’s Z-Move to bring the thunder. However, the real standout here is Misty. She not only showed she was capable of controlling a Gyarados, but could utilise its Mega-form at will.

Not only was this a great fight in and of itself, but it also served as something of a reunion special for Ash’s classic Kanto team. Taking on the last Frontier Brain for a third and final time, Ash assembles a full team of A-Listers including Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charizard. Normally that would mean the end for your average trainer, but Brandon is a special case, since he not only has a powerful line-up, but also has all three of the Legendary Golems just casually waiting in the wings. Still not sure how Pikachu brought down Regice but hey, least it looked awesome!

This is it. The Championship that Ash actually managed to win. Twenty years of waiting, with the results proving to be far more epic than it had any right to be. This is in large part to Gladion and how his side-story wove together with his chosen team, from the once scorned Silvally all the way to a freakin’ Zoroark! Having the fight conclude between the two versions of a Lycanroc was just the thematic cherry on top! For all that Sun and Moon might have gotten wrong, this battle fully embraced the spirit of the series, only with a crazy amount of polish!

Pokemon Contests were certainly hit and miss as the franchise went on, though we can all agree that May’s championship battle against pretty boy rival Drew was legitimately exhilarating. Blending together beauty and tactics, the way in which each attack is paired with another to create these destructive vistas makes every exchange all the more thrilling to behold. Not sure what’s more impressive, that May won by the skin of her teeth or that her tag team of choice was a Squirtle and a Combusken!

One of the most dynamic, well-animated and hype Championship matches of Ash’s career, the fight against the Master of Mega-Evolutions Alain proved to be so intense we’re not even bothered that he lost in the end despite having such a severe type advantage. Well, maybe just a little. Still, the final showdown between Greninja and Mega Charizard X made it all worth the wait, especially with Greninja unleashing a Burning Water Shuriken during the closing act.

While the Orange League certainly isn’t the best part of the anime, at the very least it gave us a finale we could really sink our teeth into. One of the first examples of a full on six vs six Poke-battle royal, there were plenty of great moments here for fans of the classic series, including seeing Lapris utilised in battle instead of transportation, as well as Ash actually using his Tauros. Of course, this all pales when compared to Drake’s Dragonite, who realistically should have been able to wipe the floor with Pikachu!

If this is what we can expect from the new series, then the Pokemon anime might be in the middle of a second renaissance! In terms of animation quality, the fluidity of the fights, the creative use of moves, it’s all here! Taking on Lt Surge’s replacement, we not only get to see how Ash handles his Gengar in a fight, but also see a second iteration of the Pikachu vs Raichu rivalry! Only here, nothing about it is static, if anything it’s so supercharged that it completely overshadows the original!

Ooh, this guy! This son of a dead anime dad had it coming from the moment Ash entered the Sinnoh Region. With his complete disregard for Pokemon based on their stats being…exactly what all of us do in the games to be honest, but still! Paul had proven himself Ash’s most despicable rival all the same, which was what made his defeat at the Lily of the Valley Conference all the sweeter. All of this was due to the irony that the Infernape that Ash used to bury Paul’s team was the one the latter had long abandoned and viewed as weak.

I mean, purely for the fact that Lucario and its Mega form are here means we have to include it. One of the earliest match ups during Ash’s trek through Kalos also turned out to be one of the most gripping, since it not only gave audiences a taste of its upgraded animation but also just how powerful Mega Evolutions could truly be. While Pikachu once again seals a win with a killer shock to the system against the series’ secondary mascot, it was certainly a hard-fought struggle!

This is the reason everyone wanted to own a Charizard. You don’t see Venusaur casually picking up a Magmar, spinning around so hard it creates the shape of the planet, all before tossing its foe into the heart of an active volcano. Yeah, this penultimate Gym Battle was lit, and by far one of the highlights of the original series. Charizard not only dominated against a foe that packed just as much heat as it did, but proved that if Ash had properly trained it, he could have easily won the Indigo League!

While not exactly a recognised Champion in his own right, the Alola region’s resident laid back Professor still proved himself to be a tour de force of a trainer with the legendary Tapu Koko by his side. Of course, you can always leave it to Ash to dip into his inner chosen one and win the day in style. Guess when it comes to riding the lightning, Pikachu is strong enough to even outdo that of a guardian deity!

This battle is pure spectacle, to the point where it easily overshadowed the Kalos League finale! With Sawyer packing a robust team that could easily hold their own, it took a combination of actual strategy and an onslaught of top tier techniques for Ash to pull out a win. Not that it was an easy victory, since each match-up divulged into a bitter back and forth, all culminating with Greninja trading blows with a rather beastly Mega-Sceptile.

Rivals come and go, but there will ever only be one Gary. While the two had traded insults on frequent occasions, it wasn’t until the Silver Conference that these two kids from Pallet Town got the chance to settle the score. Finally resembling the Blue we know from the games, this six vs six slugfest was the perfect way to cap off Ash and Gary’s ongoing feud. The highlight of course being Charizard’s showdown with his fellow Gen-1 counterpart Blastoise. Smell ya later Gary!