For twenty-five years, the face of thePokémonanime was Ash Ketchum, a young boy from Pallet Town. At ten years old, he embarked on a quest to travel through the Pokémon world and become a Pokémon Master. He finally achieved this goal by defeating Leon, the number one Pokémon Trainer in the world, thus retiring from the series on a high note. The sequel series,Pokémon Horizons: The Series, follows two new characters in the Paldea Region.
Ash collected a fair number of Pokémon on his travels and liked to swap his teams around when he entered a new region. Each of them has had fun personalities and impressive moments in battle, but one always managed to stand out.This list will discuss the best Pokémon that Ash had in each region, based on their proficiency in battle, their narrative arc, and how prominent they were throughout their time in the series.
Kanto Region
Due to sleeping in on his first day as a trainer, Ash wasn’t able to pick one of the usualstarter Pokémon, so Professor Oak gave him a Pikachu. The two had a rocky relationship at first, but Ash won Pikachu’s respect when he placed himself between Pikachu and a flock of angry Spearow. After Pikachu electrocuted the flock, the two worked together to hone their skills and become one of the mosticonic animated duos.
Pikachu has many phenomenal moments, but the journey through Kanto sees the biggest growth between him and Ash. Like his trainer, Pikachu can be headstrong and eager to prove himself, which led to some hard losses that saw the two grow closer as they picked themselves up. Their bond grew so powerful that Ash was willing to respect his friend’s wish not to evolve into Raichu to get stronger and, at one point, considered releasing Pikachu because he thought he’d be happier with his kind.Pikachu is easily Ash’s most iconic Pokémon, and while he remains the show’s star in every season, he gets the most meaningful growth during the early days ofPokémon.
2Charizard
Orange Islands
In one ofPokémon’s most heartbreaking episodes, Ash encountered a Charmander abandoned by his trainer and added it to his team. Unfortunately, when he evolved into a Charmeleon and later Charizard, he disobeyed Ash’s commands and only chose to fight those he deemed worthy. The worst example came from the Indigo League, where Charizard refused to battle against Ritchie’s Pikachu, Sparky, resulting in Ash’s disqualification.
Things changed during Ash’s trip through the Orange Islands when Charizard was defeated in battle by Tad’s Poliwrath and was unable to return to his Pokéball. Ash stayed with him all through the night and nursed him back to health, earning Charizard’s respect. They not only defeated Tad’s Poliwrath in a rematch, but Charizard also fought with Pikachu in a successful double battle to earn Ash his final badge in the Orange League, defeated Champion Drake’s Electabuzz, and weakened his Dragonite for Pikachu to defeat. Later seasons wouldsee Charizard grow even stronger, but none of that would have happened withouthis character growth in the Orange League.
Johto Region
Ash’s attempt to catch a wild Chikorita proves disastrous when she makes fools of hisBulbasaur and Charizard. She is then captured by Team Rocket, but not only does Ash come to save her, but he also keeps her warm during a snowstorm, which convinces her to join his team.She develops an intense crush on Ashand becomes one of his best battlers in Johto, leading to her evolving into a Bayleef.
Bayleef starts with a mean jealous streak that leads her to clash with Pikachu for Ash’s affection, and she often falls into a deep depression when Ash fails to recognize her feelings. Over time, they learn how to properly communicate and respect each other’s boundaries, which only strengthens their teamwork in battle. She also proves to beone of Ash’s most tactical Pokémon, taking advantage of her opponent’s overconfidence to trip them up with her Vine Whip.
Hoenn Region
While training for his rematch with Dewford Gym Leader Brawly,Ash and his companionswere harassed by a territorial Corphish who attacked them from underneath the sand. Impressed by his strength, Ash battled Corphish with Pikachu and Treecko before capturing him. However, Corphish proved more of a handful than Ash realized, thanks to hisbrash personality and lack of social skills.
Corphish easily hadthe most personality out of Ash’s Hoenn team members, which made up for a rather inconsistent battle history. He had a tendency to act without thinking, which saw him eating other Pokémon food, accidentally hurting others with his pincers, and getting himself into trouble, which provided a good source of comic relief. One of his funniest running gags was dancing with Brock whenever he performed the song “Takeshi’s Paradise.”
Battle Frontier
After failing to save his home tree from dying, a wild Treecko joined Ash’s journey through the Hoenn region. The young trainer taught Treecko to use the Grass-type move Bullet Seed and helped him evolve into Grovile, though it wasn’t enough to secure Ash a win in the Hoenn League. Grovile had a few more bumps during the Battle Frontier but finally evolved into Sceptile in a failed attempt to win the heart of a Meganium.
After numerous losses in Hoenn and the early Battle Frontier, Sceptile’s evolution led to amajor development in his character and battle prowess. Meganium’s rejection shattered his pride, causing the normally calm and collected Forest Pokémon to lose the ability to use his attacking moves, which further caused him tospiral into self-loathing and shame. Fortunately, Ash inspired Sceptile by risking his life to save his friend, and Sceptile went on to win Ash the Spirit Symbol, face off against the Legendary Pokémon Deoxys, and tie with May’s Blaziken in a Pokémon Contest.
6Infernape
Sinnoh Region
When Ash first met Chimchar, he was owned by Paul. One of thebestPokémonanime-only characters, Paul used harsh training methods to try and get Chimchar to control the raw power unleashed through his Blaze ability. When Chimchart failed to progress, Paul released him, but Ash offered the Chimp Pokémon the chance to join his team instead. Chimchar agreed and was able to evolve into Monferno and Infernape.
Infernape was the first of Ash’s Pokémon originally owned by one of his rivals, which added a lot to his story in Sinnoh. He grew from a little Chimchar scarred by Paul’s aggressive training style to a powerful fighter who learned how to channel the power of Blaze to overcome any foe. His final battle with Paul’s Electavire in the Sinnoh League is the highlight of his growth, as not only did he win the battle for Ash, but he proved to Paul and himself that he wasn’t a failure.Infernape might be Ash’s most inspiring Pokémon, and he remains one of the young trainer’s all-time best partners.
7Krookodile
Unova Region
Ash and his friends were annoyed when a gang of wild Sandile ruined their stay at a hot spring, but it turned out that they were trying to warn everyone that the geyser would soon erupt. Once the crisis was over, the shade-wearing lead Sandile followed Ash and challenged him and Pikachu, but despite his Ground-typing and evolving into a Krokorok, he always lost. Still, his moxie impressed Ash enough to let him join the team, and he evolved into a Krookodile during a battle with Iris' Dragonite.
Ash’s Unova team is regarded as one of his worst, but Krookodile stood out thanks to being fully evolved and an incredible powerhouse. So long as his trusty shades weren’t knocked off, his fighting spirit allowed him to square off against much stronger opponents, and his diverse attacks gave him ways to cover his weaknesses. Sadly, alack of screen time prevented Krookodile from developing a memorable personalitylike Ash’s Oshawott or Snivy, but his impressive victories in Unova’s back half and his time as a wild Pokémon solidified him asone of Ash’s best final catches in any region.
Kalos Region
In Lumiose City, in the Kalos region, a wild Froakie was kicked out of his pond due to his obsession to grow stronger and was convinced by Professor Sycamore that the best way to do that was to pair with a human trainer. Froakie was highly selective and went through many trainers until he met Ash and helped to stop Team Rocket. Not only was he able to evolve into Froagadier and the fan favorite Greninja, but he and Ash unlockeda unique form called Ash-Greninjathat proved just as powerful as Mega Evolution.
Greninja is the Pokémon who best matches Ash’s personalitybesides Pikachu. The two have unwavering loyalty to their friends, a strong belief in doing what is right, and constantly push themselves to surpass their limits. This made it all the more tragic when, at the end of Ash’s adventures in Kalos, he released Greninja to help protect the Kalos region from the lingering effects of Team Flare’s evil plan.
9Incineroar
Alola Region
A young Litten living on the streets of Hau’oli City is taken in by an elderly Stoutland, who teaches him how to use Fire-type attacks before his health begins to decline. Litten stole food for him and had several meetings with Ash but didn’t officially join his team untilStoutland tragically passed away. Litten then found a rival in the Incineroar owned by the Masked Royal, which fueled his evolution into Torracat, and finally Incineroar when they faced for the last time after Ash became Alola’s first champion.
Incineroar broke the mold from Ash’s other Fire-type startersby focusing on grief rather than abuse, making his story far more universal. While at first distrusting of others and quick to anger, he was able to slowly lower his barriers through his friendship with Ash and often fought fiercely to protect his new teammates. The final battle against his rival Incineroar thus serves as a great culmination of his personal growth, and the fact that it ended in a tie shows thatthere’s always room to keep improving.
Galar Region
While in Vermillion City, Ash is drawn to a Pokémon egg from Sinnoh that came to the Pokémon Center. His presence causes the egg to hatch into a Riolu, who takes off into the wilderness to fight. Ash is able to track him down and convince Riolu to stay with him. The baby Pokémon quickly establishes himself as a dedicated fighter, and when Chairman Rose unleashes the Darkest Day, he evolves into a Lucario,one of Sinnoh’s most iconic Pokémon, to stand alongside Ash in battle.
Fans wanted Ash to have a Lucario for years, and the writers did a good job delivering on his character by showing the progression from a headstrong Riolu who jumped at any challenge to a composed and seasoned fighter.Lucario develops several fun relationships, including a rivalry with Pikachu for Ash’s affection and a humorous friendship with Goh’s Cinderace, whose cheerful personality contrasts Lucario’s stoicism. Of course,his bond with Ash is the strongestand allows the two to unlock the power of Mega Evolution.
