Typically when fans tally up win rates of anime characters, they tend to fail to define which battles they’re counting and how. It’s a problem that arises often with popular anime. Did Vegeta technically beat Goku even the battle was already over? Is it a tie if a fight is interrupted? These are details that very rarely get defined, especially with a franchise like Pokémon.
Thankfully, Reddit user SandyJR68 compiled what is easily the best win rate record Ash’s Pokémon have seen. Using only the series’ official battles, the list shakes up the series’ perceived ranking considerably. Pokémon that once did poorly fare much better in official battles. On the other hand, Pokémon that once did well do suffer in turn.
10 Pikachu (60%)
Pikachu’s a rather interesting case when ranked accordingly. In other rankings, Pikachu comes up with a 61% win rate, but he’s not actually in the top ten. Instead, he’s in 11th place right behind Corphis (whose ranking sees no change; official battle or otherwise.) Pikachu’s win rate may be worse, but so is everyone’s on a whole.
It’s not particularly hard to see why Pikachu would fall into the top ten. He’s Ash’s main Pokémon. On one hand, this means Pikachu does lose pretty often, but it also means that Pikachu gets to do the shonen loss to victory redemption that so many characters get to indulge in.
9 Corphish (61%)
As far as battles won go, Corphish is tied for third place alongside Infernape for most victories. Of course, where Pikachu sits at 60 wins, Corphish only boasts 11. That said, 11 isn’t half bad for a Pokémon Ash doesn’t really use after Hoenn. Corphish has admittedly been seen since, but Ash hasn’t used him in a real battle since the Battle Frontier.
Which is a shame considering just how useful a Pokémon Corphish ultimately was for Ash. He played a massive role getting him across Hoenn and in the Battle Tower. That Ash leaves him to the wayside is disappointing, but that’s par for course with him.
8 Scraggy (67%)
Ash’s Scraggy is one of the lucky few Pokémon who get to be in the top ten by sheer virtue of battling. Over the course of the series, Scraggy only participates in three fights and they’re all in Unova. Of those three, Scraggy wins two and then is never used by Ash in an official fight again. It makes sense since Ash likes to rotate his roster, but it’s still strange.
Worse yet, Scraggy is given a bit of fanfare considering Ash initially gets him as an egg. There’s build up to Scraggy hatching, but he’s not a Pokémon with a lot of staying power. Ash’s Scraggy never even evolves.
7 Gible (67%)
Ash’s Gible is another incredibly disappointing Pokémon. He’s like Ash’s Scraggy, but ten times worse since Gible can eventually evolve into the insanely cool Garchomp. Not Ash’s Gible, though. Ash’s Gible has to spend the whole series unevolved. Worse yet, Gible is basically in the exact same shoes as Scraggy.
To make matters even worse, Gible is the first Dragon Type Ash owns in the entire anime. This should have been an opportunity to actually add variety to Ash’s roster, but his time in Sinnoh is, on a whole, spent fairly poorly. Not as bad as his time in Unova, but certainly bad enough.
6 Charizard (68%)
Whether it be in the anime or the movies, Charizard will always find a way to assert his relevance. He may come and go like the wind, but he does come through for Ash more often than not these days. While he doesn’t always win, he’s far more reliable than he was in Kanto where he often refused to fight, costing Ash some major victories.
Even then, though, Charizard is more than competent, and he’s only gotten better since Ash decided to part with him. This ensures that Charizard’s returns are always impactful even if he doesn’t net Ash a major victory in the end.
5 Greninja (73%)
It’s actually surprising that Ash only wins eight official matches with Greninja. Considering how hyped up Greninja is in the anime (to the point where he has his own form,) one would expect him to have won more matches, but Greninja’s win-record is tame. Perfectly respectable, but tame when all is said and done.
Though it makes sense. The Kalos series wanted to treat Greninja as a special Pokémon. For as often as he appeared, he was more or less only reserved for Ash’s bigger battles. In general, though, that tends to be a bad habit Ash has a Pokémon Trainer. Just use your team, kid.
4 Snorlax (73%)
Now, Ash’s Snorlax isn’t nearly as special as Greninja, but he shares the exact same official win record right down to the win-loss split. At 8 and 3, Snorlax was the OG Greninja. Well, not really since there’s no Ash-Snorlax, but it’s really only a matter of time. Snorlax himself just happened to be one of Ash’s more imposing Pokémon during the Orange Islands.
It’s worth noting that Ash’s pre-Johto Pokémon tend to be the ones he uses the most often, mainly due to the series’ unique legacy status, so it’s not unnatural to see Ash bringing back his older heavy hitters. It may not happen often with Snorlax, but it does happen. Notably, he last helped Ash advance during the Sinnoh League.
3 Krookodile (75%)
Krookodile may not have gotten the tournament matches he perhaps deserved during the Unova League, but he was far and away one of Ash’s most useful Pokémon during his time in Unova. If nothing else, Krookodile was his most prolific. It took Ash over 60 episodes to finally catch Krookodile after his introduction. Though that perhaps says something about the anime’s pacing.
Regardless, Krookodile more or less ended up the best Pokémon Ash could rely on for a while, especially during the pre-League events. Ash’s Krookodile hasn’t gotten any meaningful use outside of Unova, but it’s only a matter of time before Ash brings him out to sully his record.
2 Kingler (80%)
Pikachu is Ash’s main Pokémon, Charizard was the anime’s most popular Pokémon, but Kingler was Ash’s real MVP during the early Kanto days. To an extent. He only fought five, but he won four of those matches! If nothing else, Kingler is an incredibly memorable Pokémon if only because he’s one of the first Ash actively seeks out for a match.
It ends up giving Kingler so much more weight as a Pokémon. Even if his actual record isn’t too full, the amount of weight the series gives him is something worth noting. Undoubtedly, Kingler would probably lose if Ash used him again, but it would be nice to see the crustacean again.
1 Infernape (85%)
Sinnoh may be a low point for the anime in terms of quality, but Infernape is genuinely one of Ash’s coolest Pokémon in the series. Ash’s Infernape is particularly interesting due to the fact that Ash’s Sinnoh rival, Paul, originally owned the Chimar that would have become Infernape. It gives Infernape a bit more stake in the context of Ash’s time in Sinnoh.
Infernape proved popular enough where he returned for the Unova League as a rather present Pokémon. He didn’t make an appearance for the Kalos League, but Ash rarely double dips two tournaments in a row. Hopefully, Ash will think to bring out Infernape again before the Alolan series is over and done with.
NEXT: The 10 Best Nintendo DS Games Ever Made (According To Metacritic)
