Yes, I do watch the Pokemon TV show. I know a lot of people will scorn that, but it's true. I know that a good chunk of my audience watches it, and I try and cater to my entire audience, and that includes having some articles on things other people might not watch. So, I decided to start some Pokemon articles, mainly about the show, but also about the games and movies.
I decided to start with Ash's best battles. The battles are the best part of the show, as opposed to battles in the game, which are turn-by-turn and can get boring. The battles in the show can be extremely entertaining. Instead of all battles in the show, I decided to focus solely on Ash, seeing as he is the main character. Coincidentally, his battles tend to be the show's best ones. Note, there are SPOILERS ahead, so be careful. If you haven't seen these battles before, I recommend you watch them online.
7. Ash vs. Brandon II (Battle Frontier)
In his quest to beat the Battle Frontier, Ash takes on the Pyramid King, the last Frontier Brain. The two of them have three battles. In the first battle, Ash is possessed by an ancient king and uses Sceptile to take on Brandon's Regirock in a losing effort. In the second match, Ash's Torkoal loses to Brandon's Registeel. In the last match, Ash uses Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu to beat Brandon, who uses Ninjask, Dusclops, Solrock, and Regice. In this entry, we're focusing on the second battle.
Brandon told Ash before hand that he would use Registeel, so Ash got to choose his Pokemon beforehand. At the beginning of the battle, we found out that Pokemon was Torkoal. While expectations weren't high (Ash's Torkoal had a limited moveset), the match was great. The writers really outdid themselves here.
6. Ash vs. Mandi (Indigo League)
This match (the best of the first season) took place in the first round of the Indigo League. It was Ash's first official tournament battle and it was exciting. Mandi was very popular with fans and was convinced that he was going to dominate Ash. Our hero on the other hand, was quite confident.
Ash completely dominated the match, as his Krabby/Kingler took out all three of Mandi's Pokemon. Earlier in the episode, we weren't even sure Krabby was going to put up much of a fight, let alone sweep the battle. While sweeps aren't always exciting, this one was presented masterfully. It seemed like each one of Mandi's Pokemon would succeed, but Krabby/Kingler won out every time. It was an awesome way to kick off Ash's tournament bid.
5. Ash vs. Blaine (Indigo Gym Battle)
In pursuit of his seventh gym badge, Ash traveled to Cinnabar Island, where he took on Blaine. Their first battle (which Ash lost) took place on the gym battlefield. The battle was three-on-three, with Blaine's Magmar, Ninetales, and Rhyhorn defeating Ash's Charizard (who refused to battle), Squirtle, and Pikachu. After Ash and his friends stop the volcano from blowing up, Blaine grants Ash a rematch.
The rematch takes place on the summit of the volcano and is a one-on-one battle between Magmar and Charizard. This is the first time that Charizard and Ash work together and the effect is truly cool. Granted, Charizard refuses to listen to Ash for the rest of the season, but this effort was awesome. This battle was one of the coolest to watch.
4. Ash vs. Brandon III (Battle Frontier)
As I said before, Ash and Brandon had three battles. While the second one was great, the third one was the best of the series. Not only did Ash win, but he did so in a tightly contested four-on-four battle that had some twists.
The match started with Charizard and Dusclops. Charizard was Ash's ace, and everyone was surprised that he was using his strongest Pokemon right from the start. It was even more surprising when Dusclops beat Charizard. In classic Ash fashion though, he came back and won the match.
3. Ash vs. Gary (Johto League)
Eventually, Ash takes on all of his major rivals and wins. Gary was Ash's biggest rival of the first three seasons. They finally clash in a six-on-six battle at the Johto League, with a spot in the next round against the line.
From the start, Gary dominated the battle. At one point, Gary had lost only one Pokemon while Ash only had three left (one of whom had already battled). The final showdown was between Blastoise and Charizard, and it was an epic one. If you don't want to watch the whole match, at least see the showdown between these two.
2. Ash vs. Drake (Orange Island)
At the end of Season 2, Ash takes on Drake, the undefeated champion of the Orange League. While many fans of the show were disappointed with Season 2, but this battle saved the entire season. I recommend you pause and go watch this battle immediately. Otherwise, the rest of this entry will spoil it for you.
Ash had Pikachu, Tauros, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charizard, and Lapras while Drake had Ditto, Gengar, Dragonite, Electabuzz, Venusaur, and Onix. Dragonite was by far Drake's strongest Pokemon, and he took on four of Ash's Pokemon. The final showdown between Dragonite and Pikachu was one of the coolest moments of the entire series.
1. Ash vs. Paul (Lake Verity)
This is the first match between Ash and Paul and definitely the better one out of the two. Their second match was for a spot in the Best Four of the Sinnoh League, the first was nothing more than a grudge match between the two rivals.
If you haven't seen this battle, let me spoil it for you: Ash gets absolutely destroyed. He loses all six of his Pokemon while Paul only loses two. So why was this such a great battle? For one, it was surprising. Ash is the hero of the show, it was shocking to see him lose to badly. Still, the viewers expected Ash to win, even when he only had one Pokemon left. The whole battle was extremely exciting from start to finish. It's definitely the best battle of the entire series.
Like I said before, it's definitely worth your while to watch these battles, or at least highlights of them. Even if you're not a Pokemon fan, they sure are exciting.
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