Top 30 Most Epic Pokemon Anime Battles

Following Ash’s iconic victory against Gary in the Johto League Silver Conference, Ash takes on the Hoenn native Harrison. Although there battle has some very notable matchups, including Pikachu versus Kecleon, things really heat up in more ways than one when it comes down to the final two Pokemon, Charizard and Blaziken. The two starter Pokemon throw everything they’ve got against each other, and it even looks like Charizard has won when he hits the seismic toss. Unfortunately for Ash, Blaziken fights through it and miraculously gets back up. The battle reaches its end when the two fire their strongest attacks in a beam struggle, and while it looks like things aren’t over, Charizard eventually succumbs to all the damage he’s taken.

Apart from the finals themselves, this showdown in the Masters Eight Tournament was most notable for the fact that it was the most unpredictable. Both Lance and Diantha are legendary champions in the world of Pokemon who could easily secure the win, although the latter did have the type advantage. Despite this, Lance powered through and gave Diantha a run for her money throughout this battle, making all the genwunners out there proud despite the result, which saw Dragonite fall to Mega Gardevoir.

When you look at a Pokemon lineup like Tyson’s, it’s no surprise that his team gave Ash such a grueling battle, but the Pokemon that sealed his victory surprised us nonetheless. The battle between the two is intense, featuring dynamic moves and clever tactics, ultimately leading Ash to push his limits, especially when it comes to Tyson’s Metagross, which required Swellow, Grovyle and Pikachu to take it down. But the real highlight of this battle is Tyson’s cowboy-themed Meowth, who manages to be the last one standing against Pikachu when they both strike each other with their own Iron Tail.

Ash’s 3-on-3 battle against the Veilstone City Gym Leader is a memorable showdown that showcases some great moments early on with Ash’s Staravia. But the whole reason why this battle is on this list is honestly for Buizel vs. Lucario alone. This clash is a complete and utter endurance test, with both competitors literally tearing the roof off. The battle comes to an explosive conclusion, with both Lucasio’s Force Palm and Buizel’s Aqua Jet causing both of them to be knocked out. Despite being a draw, this battle was so hard fought that Ash still acquired the Gym badge at the end!

When two Pokemon coordinate their moves perfectly in a double battle you’re in for a heck of a tough time, and that’s exactly what Olympia did with her two Meowstics. The feline Pokemon constantly use their psychic abilities to dodge Frogadier and Talonflame’s attacks, all the while combining Helping Hand with a delayed Future Sight to almost put them down. In order to counter this, Ash asks Pikachu to keep track of Future Sight’s timing, allowing his Pokemon to direct the Meowstics attacks right at them. The battle culminates with Ash’s Frogadier launching one of most impressive Water Pulse attacks you’ll ever see.

As his first battle in the Masters Eight Tournament, this showdown was a significant step forward in Ash's journey to becoming World Champion. Facing off against Steven, the cool and collected Hoenn Region Champion, Ash had to dig deep and strategize like never before. Steven took the lead early on, with Aggron taking down Dracovish and Cradily slapping Gengar silly with Power Whip. This left everything down to Pikachu, who struggled big time against Steven’s Mega Metagross. Luckily Pikachu was able to turn things around after Ash passed him his hat and hit the 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt Z-Move. This paved the way to victory and proved to everyone that Ash was a true contender for the title.

After suffering defeat at the hands of the Black Rayquaza, Amethio returns to base and requests training from the second-in-command of the Explorers Hamber. What follows is an absolutely incredible display between Ceruledge and Dusknoir. The two ghost types trade attacks with such beautiful animation that it wouldn’t look out of place in your top tier battle shonen anime. The battle finally comes to an end when Dusknoir Terastallizes and knocks out Ceruledge with a wicked Shadow punch.

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 Regional Championship that Ash finally 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!

This battle of two Pokemon generations was a true clash of styles. We have Iris, the energetic and unpredictable Unova Champion, going head-to-head with Cynthia, the seasoned and strategic Sinnoh Champion. Seeing Iris's powerful dragon-types, such as Dragonite and Haxorus, against Cynthia's diverse and well-trained team, featuring the mighty Garchomp, was a real treat for the viewers. Even when at a disadvantage against Cynthia’s Mega Garchomp, her Haxorus never backed down. Despite her loss, the battle showcased Iris's growth as a trainer and cemented Cynthia's status as a fan-favorite champion.

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! [a]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!

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!

This battle has been one fans had been wanting to see for years, and we finally got it in the Masters Eight Tournament semi finals. Cynthia was without a doubt Ash’s toughest opponent yet, and truly showed off why exactly she’s the champion of the Sinnoh region. In the middle of the battle, Cynthia Gigantamax’s her Togekiss, which surely would have been the end of Ash’s championship hopes had he not Mega Evolved his Lucario. What follows on from this is a brutal fist fight between Garchomp and Lucario, where they both refuse to give up despite the incredible number of strikes. Thankfully, Ash’s Lucario pulls through and wins the battle of attrition, sending him straight to the finals.

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!

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.

Could it be anything else? This was the culmination of Ash's dream to become a Pokemon Master, a battle 25 years in the making. Ash, finally standing at the pinnacle of the Pokemon world, facing off against the undefeated World Champion Leon. This battle had everything: high stakes, emotional moments, strategic masterclasses, and incredible displays of power from both sides. The final clash between Pikachu and Charizard was one for the ages, seeing all of Ash’s Pokemon throughout the years give their support brought tears to all of our eyes. And the fact the original theme song played as Pikachu defeated Charizard cemented this battle as not only the best of the Masters Eight tournament, but the greatest in the series.

Have a soft spot for a certain showdown starring Ash and company? Let us know in the comments!
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