Ash Ketchum’s 25 Strongest Pokemon, Ranked

Highlights

• Ash’s strongest Pokemon, Pikachu, boasts an impressive 89% battle win rate, proving to be his most reliable companion and champion.
• Goodra, with an 88% win rate, stands out as one of Ash’s powerful partners, showcasing its strength with victories like defeating Clemont’s Luxray.
• Greninja, with an 87% win rate, stole the show as Ash-Greninja, pulling off impressive wins like defeating Heidayu’s Bisharp in a defining battle.

On his journey to becoming a Pokemon Master, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town has come a long way, venturing across many different regions of the world and catching tons of powerful Pokemon in the process. Ash has always had a knack for bringing out the true potential of partners. Together, he and his Pokemon have ventured across various lands, faced countless trials, and battled a vast assortment of trainers and Pokemon, to become a Pokemon Master.

Ash’s mission to be the very best finally came to a close when he ranked first in the World Championships, defeating the most powerful trainers from across all regions. Now that his journey is over, it makes perfect sense to look at all of Ash’s strongest Pokemon and determine his most powerful partners, which would make him almost impossible to defeat.

Updated on August 9th, 2024, by Ben Painter: Ash Ketchum may no longer be the main protagonist of the Pokemon anime, but he still holds a special place in fans’ hearts. From his journey starting back in 1999, Ash caught 59 Pokemon, a far cry from catching them all, but that tagline was dropped from the series early on. Ash had a tendency to not fully evolve a lot of his Pokemon, but he proved many times that he did not need to, and they still performed admirably in battle. This update adds five more of Ash Ketchum’s strongest Pokemon to this list.

25 Gible

Battle Win Rate: 50% (2/4)

• Defining moment: Mastering Draco Meteor and defeating Shuckle and then Dusknoir in the Lily of the Valley Conference

This is perhaps the worst example of Ash not evolving his Pokemon, the first of the powerful Dragon-type that he owned. Gible evolved into the pseudo-legendary Pokemon Garchomp, an insanely strong ‘mon and the signature of Sinnoh Champion Cynthia. Ash kept his Gible in its base state, but it did prove to be a powerful, albeit underused, battler.

After many failed attempts, its key moment was mastering the move Draco Meteor, which was used successfully to aid in Ash’s battle against Conway and advance him into the next round. It is a shame that Gible is rarely seen again once Ash departs for Unova and leaves all of his Sinnoh Pokemon behind.

24 Glalie

Battle Win Rate: 50% (3/6)

• Defining moment: Defeating Morrison’s Metang to advance Ash into the next round of the Ever Grande Conference.

Ash did not use a great deal of Ice-type Pokemon, other being Lapras, who was not used much in battle. Glalie was caught by Ash as a Snorunt and, initially, it had no control over its Ice moves. With some help from the Pallet Town trainer, it got over it.

Glalie was a late addition to Ash’s Hoenn team, and it was used by him in the Ever Grande Conference. It played an important part in overcoming Clark’s Quilava and Charizard, and Morrison’s Metang, despite its weakness to Fire and Steel-types. After Hoenn, Glalie was not used at all by Ash in battle. It went out with a bang defeating the strong Metang, and then was forcibly retired from battling.

23 Quilava

Battle Win Rate: 50% (9/18)

• Defining moment: Evolving into Quilava, learning Eruption, and defeating Team Rocket.

Quilava is a rare example of one of Ash’s Pokemon that evolved after the region it was initially caught in. As a Cyndaquil, it was a core member of Ash’s Johto team and took part in many major battles, such as defeating Bugsy’s Scyther in the Azalea Gym and Jasmine’s Steelix in the Olivine Gym.

During Sinnoh’s Lily of the Valley Conference, Cyndaquil was recalled by Ash to help him in the finals. There it evolved into Quilava to defeat Team Rocket, mastering its newly learned Eruption move. Ash then took Quilava into battle against Nando and his powerful Armaldo. The Fire-type defeated that Pokemon but was also knocked out in the battle, resulting in a tie.

22 Dragonite

Battle Win Rate: 50% (4/8)

• Defining moment: Defeating Korrina’s Mega Lucario to win Ash the battle and promote him up to the Great Class.

Ash was never one to go for strong Dragon-type Pokemon when it came to his regional team. What is even stranger is that, except for Goodra, Ash had no other pseudo-legendaries on his team. This is why fans were stoked to see Ash finally catch a Dragonite in Pokemon Journeys. Dragonite joined Ash’s team with a banger episode that saw it evolve from a Dragonair into a Dragonite to save him from falling.

Ash’s Dragonite was a powerhouse, but it did not get to shine as much as it deserved. However, it still played a key role during the World Coronation arc. Ash’s Dragonite had a powerful move set, including Draco Meteor, Hurricane, Dragon Claw, Dragon Dance, and Hyper Beam. It reigned victorious over Goh’s Golurk, Korrina’s Meinshao and Mega Lucario, Iris’s Haxorus, and Leon’s Dragapult.

21 Gengar

Battle Win Rate: 54% (7/14)

• Defining moment: Defeating Leon’s Inteleon in the Masters Tournament.

Ash caught his Gengar in the final series, Pokemon Journeys, and he was a valued member of his team. Despite some losses early on during his time with Ash, Gengar had a change of fortune later on, defeating Paul’s Metagross, Stephen’s Aggron, and Leon’s Inteleon.

The Ghost-type has been a fan favorite for many years, and it was awesome to finally see Ash Ketchum use a Gengar in his team. Gengar has shown its capabilities to Gigantamax, adding some extra bulk to its battles. Dazzling Gleam, Will-O-Wisp, Shadow Ball, and Sludge Bomb are moves that Gengar possesses, and they have shown real effectiveness against opponents.

20 Sceptile

Battle Win Rate: 55% (16/30)

• Defining moment: Defeating Tobias’ Legendary Pokemon, Darkrai, in the Lily of the Valley Conference.

Though Ash owns many strong Grass-types, none compare to his iconic Sceptile when it comes to sheer strength. Starting off as a Treeko and eventually evolving into a Grovyle, this green gecko always had a thirst for battle. As a Grovyle, it defeated Gym Leader Norman’s Slacking with its hidden ability Overgrow. Ash’s Grovyle eventually evolved into a Sceptile and battled the Frontier Brain Spencer’s Shiftree and Claydol in a powerful showdown.

Sceptile had a tough time against Frontier Head Brandon’s Legendary Pokemon Regirock and eventually lost the battle. Sceptile also fought against May’s Blaziken in a contest battle, where both Pokemon awakened their hidden abilities. The match ended in an epic draw as the timer ran out. In the Sinnoh League, Sceptile made its legendary return and went up against Tobias’ Powerful Darkrai, which had previously defeated many of Ash’s best Pokemon. Sceptile eventually won against Darkrai, however, solidifying its status as one of Ash’s strongest Pokemon. It had access to moves like Quick Attack, Leaf Blade, Leaf Storm, and Solar Beam.

19 Dracovish

Battle Win Rate: 56% (5/9)

• Defining moment: Defeating Leon’s Rillaboom In The Masters Eight Tournament.

Ash’s Dracovish was brought to life from a fossil by two quirky scientists, both of whom did not know what Dracovish originally looked like. Thus, by combining parts of different fossils, Ash’s Dracovish was born, having both Water and Dragon typing. Ash eventually formed a strong bond with Dracovish and captured him. Beneath the Pokemon’s goofy exterior lay a powerful monster with immense potential, which became evident when Dracovish pulled off the powerful move Fishious Rend.

Dracovish also had access to other strong moves like Dragon Rush, Water Gun, and Ice Fang. The Pokemon went on to beat lots of powerful trainers and their Pokemon, including Iris’s Dragonite, Clement’s Diggersby, Elite Four Drasna’s Noivern, Champion Cynthia’s Roserade, and Champion Leon’s Rillaboom.

18 Bayleef

Battle Win Rate: 56% (6/11)

• Defining moment: Evolving from Chikorita into Bayleef to protect Ash from Team Rocket.

Bayleef is remembered among Pokemon fans for being very affectionate to Ash, but that wasn’t always the case. She was always jealous of Ash’s other Pokemon, but eventually, she learned to love them, and most definitely Ash.

The Grass-type showed her strength many times in battles with powerful Vine Whips and Body Slams, including against Chuck’s Poliwrath and Machoke in the Cianwood City gym and against Harrison’s Fire-type Houndoom at the Silver Conference. She even won Ash the Extreme Pokemon Race. Although not a battle, she certainly proved her strength in that competition. Bayleef turned out to be a valued team member in the Johto adventures.

17 Pignite

Battle Win Rate: 58% (13/24)

• Defining moment: Defeating Cameron’s Hydreigon and Ferrothorn in the Vertress Conference.

Despite Ash’s large roster of Pokemon in Unova, Pignite got a lot of play, even when it was still a Tepig, taking part in 24 battles and winning 13 of them. The highlight of these battles was defeating the pseudo-legendary Pokemon Hydreigon ,and then Ferrothorn straight after, in the Unova League finals.

Pignite proves itself to be one of Ash’s strongest Pokemon with its mega Fire Pledge, Brick Break and Flamethrower attacks. This pig was a resilient battler, taking a lot of hits and always getting back up to keep going, a trait which a lot of Ash’s Pokemon shared, proving how good of a trainer he is.

16 Squirtle

Battle Win Rate: 58% (7/12)

• Defining moment: Learning Hydro Pump to defeat Rudy’s Starmie in the Orange Islands.

Despite being one of Ash’s first Pokemon, Squirtle was criminally underused, even going as far as saying it no longer is his Pokemon anymore, due to being under the care of Officer Jenny as part of the Squirtle Squad.

He was only used in one Gym Battle in Kanto, against the Fire-type trainer Blaine, a battle which surprisingly, Squirtle lost despite having the type advantage. Squirtle was more used in the Orange Islands and the early Johto campaign, where it was used to successfully defeat Rudy’s Starmie and Drake’s Onix. Squirtle is notable for his out-of-battle exploits, becoming a firefighter and saving many lives. In some ways, Squirtle is the best of all of Ash’s Pokemon.

15 Corphish

Battle Win Rate: 59% (16/29)

• Defining moment: Defeating Flannery’s Magcargo and Torkoal to win Ash the Heat Badge.

A very friendly but brash member of Ash’s team, it has shown to be an effective battler, using its strong exoskeleton as a way of defending itself from a barrage of attacks.

Corphish was used in a lot of battles across Hoenn and the Kanto Battle Frontier and always put in a shift, hitting many with powerful Bubblebeam attacks. In the Victory Tournament, Corphish proved his determination and fought a much stronger opponent in Swampert and tied that match. It proved many times just how strong it can be, despite never evolving into its more powerful form in Crawdaunt.

14 Noctowl

Battle Win Rate: 60% (3/5)

• Defining moment: Defeating Morty’s Haunter & Gengar, despite the unfavorable type matchup to win Ash the Fog Badge.

The only shiny Pokemon that Ash caught on his journeys, Noctowl was mainly used as a scouting Pokemon, much like all of his Flying types throughout his journeys. In the battles that Noctowl was used in, he performed admirably.

Using a very varied move pool, Noctowl made use of Psychic attacks such as Confusion and Extrasensory, Flying type moves like Sky Attack and Air Slash, but also Foresight and Hypnosis to aid in battle. These moves were vital in overcoming Morty’s Ghost types in the Ecruteak Gym. Noctowl was recalled a few times for major battles but with no real success.

13 Scraggy

Battle Win Rate: 61% (4/6)

• Defining moment: Learning Focus Blast to defeat Simisage in the Clubsplosion Tournament

Ash used a lot of Pokemon in Unova, so the Pokemon he used there were largely spread out, hence Scraggy’s low number of major battles. Since it hatched under Ash’s care, it has shown to be a headstrong Pokemon going all out in his battles, hitting powerful moves such as Focus Blast and High Jump Kick which are risky and prone to miss.

Scraggy is shown to take on groups of Pokemon all by himself, best shown in the episode Scraggy-Hatched to be Wild! when he goes for many Galvantula with no help. Ash left Scraggy at Professor Oak’s Lab when he left the Unova region and has never returned to his party. There is certainly a case that Scraggy has a lot of unfinished business as part of Ash’s roster.

12 Swellow

Battle Win Rate: 63% (14/23)

• Defining moment: Combing with Pikachu to create a Thunder armor to defeat Solrock and Lunatone in the Mossdeep Gym.

Swellow was used by Ash a lot throughout his battles in the Hoenn region, he was part of his main core of Pokemon present in a lot of big matches. It has shown to be resilient and determined in its battles, never giving up until it cannot fight anymore, a trait that is shared among many of Ash’s Pokemon.

Despite being weak to Electric-type attacks, it has been shown to handle its weakness very well. Even using it as a weapon, after being shocked by Pikachu’s Thunder, it turned it into a Thunder Armor which was key to defeating Tate and Lisa’s Lunatone and Solrock. Even defeating it with a super-powered Aerial Ace, a Flying-type move that shouldn’t deal much damage to the Mossdeep Gym leader’s Rock Pokemon.

11 Lycanroc

Battle Win Rate: 64% (7/11)

• Defining moment: Defeating Gladion’s own Lycanroc to win Ash the Manolo Conference.

The Rock-type Pokemon was a regular in Ash’s roster in the Alola region, and it showed its real strength on several occasions, striking down opponents with Stone Edge, Accelerock, Counter, and some powerful Z-Moves

Lycanroc got his revenge against Gladion’s Midnight from Lycanroc in the finals of Alola, which in turn won Ash his first-ever Pokemon League Championship. It is a crying shame that Lycanroc was not used anymore, as it remained with Professor Kukui in Alola. Ash could have made use of its red-eye form in his future journeys, but considering his success, he did not really need his wolf.

10 Lucario

Battle Win Rate: 70% (13/20)

• Defining moment: Defeating Cynthia’s Ace Pokemon, Garchomp, in the Pokemon Masters Eight Tournament.

For the longest time, fans wanted Ash to catch a Lucario, and he did so just in time to be crowned the World Champion. Ash’s Lucario hatched from an egg as Riolu and trained hard to become a dependable ace. It developed a strong rivalry and friendship with Ash’s Farfetch’d, which it defeated in their first encounter. As a Riolu, it also fought against the Fighting-type trainer Bea’s Grapploct twice, with little success. It also defeated Chairman Rose’s Copperajah and Ferrothorn by using a powerful Aura Sphere. Ash’s Riolu eventually evolved into Lucario and fought against many of Volkner’s Pokemon in the World Coronation battle, notably winning over his Luxray.

Ash eventually decided to Mega Evolve Lucario and went up against Mega Alakazam. In the Rematch against Bea, Lucario was able to defeat her Grapploct and Gigantamaxed Machamp with its Mega Evolution. Mega Lucario also defeated Champion Cynthia’s Togekiss and Garchomp in the Master’s 8 Tournament. Lastly, Mega Lucario faced and defeated Champion Leon’s Mr. Rime while also weakening his other Pokemon. Lucario had access to moves like Aura Sphere, Bullet Punch, Reversal, and Double Team.

9 Kingler

Battle Win Rate: 71% (5/7)

• Defining moment: Evolving into Kingler and defeating several of Mandi’s Pokemon in the Indigo League.

Kingler is an often-forgotten Pokemon of Ash’s, caught pretty early on in his adventures in Kanto as a Krabby. Ash kept the orange crab in the box up until his battles in the Indigo League, where it evolved into Kingler and put in some serious leg work, defeating an Exeggutor, Seadra, Golbat, and Cloyster.

Kingler may not be used often by Ash, but whenever it has been called upon, it has always done exactly what Ash requires, making it one of Ash’s most reliable companions.

8 Bulbasaur

Battle Win Rate: 71% (21/31)

• Defining moment: Refusing to evolve, but still learning Solar Beam and taking down Team Rocket.

One of Ash’s OG Pokemon, and it has proved many times that it is one of Ash’s strongest Pokemon, it even resisted evolution to remain as a Bulbasaur. It did not need to be an Ivysaur or Venusaur to be as iconic as it is. Out of all of Ash’s Pokemon, Bulbasaur is the leader among those kept at Professor Oak’s Lab in Pallet Town.

It has a very good battle record too, taking part in 31 battles in Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto, and winning 21 of them. After proving its worth as the ambassador at Oak’s, it returns to Ash for the Silver Conference, defeating Jackson’s Shiny Magneton after it defeated Pikachu and Cyndaquil.

7 Charizard

Battle Win Rate: 72% (33/47)

• Defining moment: Arriving to save Ash at the last minute in Spell of the Unown: Entei and helping defeat the Legendary Pokemon.

Ash met Charizard as an abandoned little Charmander on the verge of death, and he saved it from its fate. Though Charmander was a nice little fellow initially, things took a turn for the worse when it evolved into Charmeleon and later Charizard. Thinking that Ash wasn’t worthy, Charizard disregarded and disobeyed Ash for a long time. Eventually, however, Ash gained Charizard’s respect by saving him once again after a battle left him gravely injured. Since then, the two have fought together against many strong foes, including the likes of Blain’s Magmar and Harrison’s Blaziken.

During the Silver League Conference, Charizard defeated Gary’s Scizor, Golem, and Blastoise in an epic showdown, despite being at a type disadvantage. Charizard also had the honor of defeating the Legendary Pokemon, Articuno, owned by the Frontier Brain Nolan. Ash’s Charizard made several returns later on in the series, going up against Iris’ Dragonite during his adventures in the Unova region. Ash’s Charizard has access to a wide variety of moves, including the iconic Seismic Toss, the powerful Overheat, Dragon Tail, and Flamethrower. Charizard is an absolute powerhouse that Ash can always rely on to secure victory.

6 Infernape

Battle Win Rate: 73% (17/24)

• Defining moment: Defeating its rival, Paul’s Electivire, in the Lily of the Valley Conference.

Ash’s Infernape had a tragic backstory, being abandoned by its previous trainer, Paul, as a Chimchar, but this just ended up being the fuel that Infernape needed to become one of Ash’s strongest Pokemon. As a Chimchar, this Pokemon redeemed itself right away after coming under Ash’s wing and helping him win against Gym Leader Fantina’s Mismagius and Drifblim. In Ash’s first six-on-six battle against Paul, Chimchar defeated his Ursaring and evolved into a Monferno and then fought valiantly against Paul’s Electabuzz.

As an Infernape, it clashes with Flint’s Infernape to prepare for his battle against Volkner. Infernape later defeated Volkner’s Jolteon and won against his Luxray with the Blaze ability. In Ash’s Sinnoh League battle against Paul, Infernape made him proud by going up against Paul’s Aggron and Ninjask. Finally, Infernape settled the score with Paul’s Electivire in an epic clash and won the battle, again with the help of its Blaze ability.