Ash Ketchum’s Pokemon The journey has been a long one, as he visited various regions and worked his way up to participate in the Pokémon League in each of them. To do so, he must obtain eight gym badges per region. This has seen him take on all kinds of gym leaders, specializing in different types and sizes of Pokémon.
In the name of maintaining tension and unpredictability, Ash doesn’t always win outright. Sometimes he loses before he wins a rematch. Regardless, he can see the best and worst of each of his Pokémon as he battles. Some perform better overall, while others seem to save all their best performances for Gym Leader fights.
10 Talonflame has a similar history to Ash’s Hoenn Bird Swellow.
Swellow will often be seen as Ash’s best bird in the anime. However, when it comes to gym battle performances, his Talonflame from his Kalos adventures narrowly outclasses him in overall wins. Since Fletchling is one of Ash’s first Pokémon in the Kalos region, it naturally finds itself involved in many losing battles until Ash manages to complete its team and cover as many type mismatches as possible.
However, as Fletchling, he still scores a victory over Viola’s Surskit in the failed attempt at the Santalune Gym. As Fletchinder, he keeps the momentum going with wins over Korrina’s Machoke, Ramos’ Jumpluff, and Valerie’s Sylveon. He records further victories as his final Talonflame form, in the double battle with Olympia’s Meowstic and in the rematch against Wulfric’s mighty Avalugg.
9 Corphish is somewhat unassuming, but he steps it up in gym battles
Corphish becomes a surprise package for Ash during his Hoenn campaign, as he can act as both comic relief and a reliable fighter. He defeats Brawly’s Machop and then becomes Ash’s MVP against Flannery, defeating Magcargo and waking up in time to take down the powerful Torkoal from him.
In Hoenn Gym’s final battle against Juan, Corphish and Pikachu are the parts of the double battle victory against Seaking and Sealeo. Later, he picks up a singles victory against Luvdisc.
8 Buizel’s overall record may not be the best, but he puts up some impressive displays in gym battles.
Buizel has a complicated trip. He joins Dawn’s team, but realizes they aren’t a match, and instead wants to pursue battles instead of contests. Eventually, he joins Ash’s team in a trade for his Aipom. Despite his fighting spirit and tenacity, Buizel amasses a surprisingly disappointing record in terms of total wins and losses, but the nature of his performances in Gym battles is what deserves credit.
Use a nifty Counter Shield to defeat Fantina’s Gengar and knock out both Crasher Wake’s Quagsire and his own evolved form Floatzel. One of the best battles Pokemon it’s his close tie with Maylene’s mighty Lucario.
7 Charizard has had multiple impressive victories before and after his disobedient stage
Charizard will always be remembered for his initial disobedience and poor relationship with Ash. However, before and after patching things up with his trainer, he puts up a decent record in Gym Battles. As Charmander, he gains victories over Erika’s Weepinbell and Koga’s Golbat. Decisive victories were a rare thing during Ash’s Kanto campaign.
When he evolves into Charizard, he shows his disobedient side but also his potential power when he considers Magmar a worthy opponent. With victory over Blaine’s Magmar under his belt, he proceeds to score impressive victories in Johto over Falkner’s Pidgeot and Clair’s mighty Dragonair.
6 Greninja goes undefeated like Frogadier
Greninja is well known for being part of Ash’s strong and up-and-coming Kalos team, and can also form a bond with Ash that rivals most Mega Evolutions. As Froakie, he manages to gain a victory over Grant’s Onix before falling to his Tyrunt. However, he shows more promise in his later evolution forms.
As Frogadier, it manages to beat the impressive Weepinbell and Gogoat belonging to Grass-type specialist and Coumarine Gym Leader Ramos. He also works with Talonflame to defeat Olympia’s pair of Meowstic before evolving once more. Greninja shows her bond with Ash by defeating Wulfric’s Mega Abomasnow after solving some teething problems. This cements him as a formidable opponent in time for the Lumiose Conference.
5 Cyndaquil is the MVP of Ash’s Johto Gym campaign.
Cyndaquil is without a doubt Ash’s MVP in his Johto campaign, especially in terms of his Gym battle performance. She begins by knocking out Bugsy’s dangerous Scyther, defeating Whitney’s Nidorina, and forcing Clefairy into protection before defeating Morty’s Gastly and Jasmine’s powerful Steelix.
He even gets another win against Pryce’s Dewgong, racking up an impressive overall win count in Johto Gym battles, all without evolving Quilava yet.
4 Turtwig scores an impressive three victories in gym battles before losing his stride when evolving
Torterra will always be remembered for his disappointing performances towards the end of Ash’s Sinnoh campaign. However, it’s often forgotten that Torterra gets some impressive wins like Turtwig and Grotle, albeit more like the former.
Turtwig defeats Roark’s mighty Cranidos in the first losing battle with the Rock-type specialist and also defeats his evolved form Rampardos in the rematch. He then knocked out Gardenia’s Turtwig in Ash’s next Gym challenge. He begins to struggle with the lack of speed by evolving Grotle, but still gets a win over Candice’s Sneasel in the process.
3 Grovyle records some impressive wins against bigger and stronger opponents
While it suffers underwhelming losses like Treecko and Grovyle against Roxanne’s Geodude and Juan’s Luvdisc respectively, Ash’s Hoenn grass-typing makes up for it with some truly impressive wins. As Treecko, he avenges his loss to Brawly’s Makuhita by defeating his massive evolved form Hariyama in the rematch, having previously defeated Machop in the first match. He gets even better as Grovyle.
Grovyle thrives on defying size and type mismatches, and defeats Norman’s Slaking and Winona’s Altaria. He established himself as one of Ash’s main fighters during his Hoenn campaign.
two Chimchar becomes an unstoppable force when given enough love and care
Chimchar is introduced as Paul’s neglected and abused Pokémon, and is eventually released and adopted by Ash. Ash then proceeds to get the best of him. He gives Chimchar the love and support he’s been longing for, and gets good performances out of him.
In three impressive displays, Chimchar knocks out two of Fantina’s Ghost-types, Mismagius and Drifblim, Byron’s Bronzor and Steelix, as well as Candice’s Snover and Abomasnow. This is all before he realizes the full potential of him as his fully evolved Infernape form, and then takes out Luxray and Jolteon from Volkner.
1 Pikachu has been with Ash from the beginning.
Pikachu has simply been used by Ash for so much of his Pokémon journey as to not be considered his best and most important fighter in Gym contests. While the sheer volume of appearances means he’s suffered some notable and embarrassing losses along the way, Ash still owes a lot to his Pikachu for helping him make it to the Pokemon League each campaign.
Notable victories come from the annihilation of Wattson de Mauville’s Pikachu in Hoenn and Nimbasa’s Elesa in Unova, both of whom specialize in Electric-types. Pikachu has also worked hard to earn close victories against Roxie’s Garbodor, Grant’s Tyrunt, and Korrina’s Lucario, among many others.
About the Author
