There isn’t any trainer in the Pokemon series that can match the legacy of Ash Ketchum, both as a professional battler and as an icon of this world. His battle style is unlike any other trainer in the games or anime, mixing creative strategies with a deep connection to his Pokemon that makes him unmatched against most opponents.
That said, some of his victories are undoubtedly thanks to his Pokemon, many of which are some of the most overpowered members of each game. In each region, he tends to catch at least a few new Pokemon for his collection, but these pickups are undoubtedly the strongest additions he’s made in his career.
8 Galar: Dracovish
This is honestly a tough decision, as Ash’s new Pokemon in the Pokemon Journeys anime are all some of the most powerful he’s ever caught. This includes some Kanto classics like Gengar and Dragonite, but if we were to look solely at new regional exclusives, Dracovish beats out his other new additions by a mile.
This Pokemon is a menace in competitive Pokemon right now, particularly since its physical moveset is so wide and its Strong Jaw ability improves its attack strength even further. In Ash’s team, though, it combines this Dragon and Water-type strength with a lovable chewing persona that makes it a great addition to his globe-trotting team.
7 Alola: Melmetal
Melmetal is about the closest Ash has gotten to owning his very own legendary, as Melmetal is far more powerful and rare than most of his other partners. It also happens to be one of his only Steel-types, meaning its uniqueness already sets it apart from every other region he’s been to.
That said, on its own it’s also just absurdly powerful compared to most of his other Pokemon, many of which in Alola go unevolved. It’s a massive metal monstrosity, and it’s alarming that it hasn’t made a return in the Pokemon Journeys anime to join his other overpowered partners.
6 Kalos: Greninja
Greninja could debatably be Ash’s most powerful partner in general, even without Ash’s personal history with his powerfully evolved Froakie. This Pokemon has all sorts of movesets and strategies involved with it, and Ash himself uses tons of moves of various types on the ninja frog to great success.
However, Greninja succeeds off of its raw power, as its emotional bond to Ash leads it to take on a Battle Bond form and imitate Ash’s outfit colors to gain strength. This gives it enough power to take on legendaries and Mega Evolutions, putting it way ahead of nearly every other Pokemon he’s caught.
5 Unova: Krookodile
Simply put, Ash’s Unova Pokemon were all quite disappointing compared to his other regional teams. He certainly has a powerful trio of starters, and others like Scraggy and Palpitoad are certainly amusing, but few of his teammates in this region ever fully evolved and most just got by through Ash’s battle skills.
The big exception to this is one of Ash’s most powerful Ground-type Pokemon, that being a mighty Krookadile sporting some odd vacation shades. This Pokemon grew from a small and excited fighter to an absolute menace with Dragon, Flying, and even Rock-type moves that could annihilate nearly any opponent put in front of it.
4 Sinnoh: Gible
Gible is likely Ash’s most overpowered Pokemon, particularly due to some strategies that entirely defy the logic of the games. This small Pokemon could do all sorts of things including biting on opponents to stun them, and even using Draco Meteor in unfair and nonsensical ways to hit opponents point-blank.
It isn’t the most logical or understandable power, but it’s certainly greater than anything else he gets in Sinnoh, which tend to battle more fairly with typical game-based strategies. Gible, meanwhile, is the most powerful thanks to the level of spectacle and creativity that can only come from the anime.
3 Hoenn: Sceptile
After oddly catching it in the wild, Ash’s Treecko quickly evolved into one of the most high-achieving Pokemon in Ash’s entire collection. It managed to either win or tie against all sorts of powerful opponents, including May’s type-advantaged Blaziken and Tobias’s powerful Darkrai at the end of his Sinnoh adventures.
What’s most impressive is that Sceptile does this without a wide or unusual range of moves, mostly sticking to melee-based Grass-type attacks and a few odd status moves to raise its speed and agility. Because of this, it’s reasonable to speculate that Sceptile just has an objective degree of strength over a surprising amount of Ash’s other Pokemon.
2 Johto: Heracross
To be blunt, most of Ash’s Johto teammates were sub-par compared to his original Kanto captures, and few of them are really worth noting. Many of them were B-tier in terms of stats, and nearly all of his Johto starters went unevolved and ended up underperforming compared to his Kanto classics.
The same cannot be said for Heracross, one of Ash’s few early Bug-type Pokemon with a ludicrous amount of physical strength. It never shined too much in his Johto adventures, but with his return in the Lily of the Valley Conference we got to see Heracross showcase its power with great moves like Focus Punch and Megahorn for some incredible performances.
1 Kanto: Pikachu
It shouldn’t be a surprise to nearly any Pokemon fan that Pikachu is Ash’s strongest Kanto Pokemon. It’s only gotten more and more powerful since originally receiving it, and while he didn’t catch it in the traditional sense, nothing Ash will ever catch can match Pikachu’s incredible range of moves and compatibility with Ash.
This is especially impressive given how weak Pikachu was in the original Pokemon Red & Blue, and seeing how great it is in the anime has led to all sorts of new moves, items, and buffs to keep it at a similar power level in the games. Pikachu is not a surprising addition to Ash’s strongest Pokemon, but a well-deserved and massively impactful one on the series history.
