Ash Ketchum has constantly strived to become the best Pokemon Trainer alive. Of course, as is the case with most champions in any field, the path isn't smooth.
As most Pokemon fans would know, Ash has appeared in several regional League Conferences before his shot at the World Coronation Series. He didn't win 'em all, of course, and he had way better showings in some than others. The anime's writers put their boy wonder through the wringer before he reached this point, so right as he gets his shot at ultimate glory, it's only right to get a retrospective of his prior peaks and valleys.
8 Honorable Mention: Orange League ♓
It's tough to say where the Orange League lies in all of this, because it doesn't seem to be officially sanctioned, there's no knock-out style tournament, and most of the Gym battles are less like conventional battles and more like Alola's Island Trials.
Suffice it to say, Ash's run through the Orange Archipelago is certainly impressive in a vacuum, and in particular, his battle against Supreme Gym Leader Drake could rival most of his other officially-sanctioned battles in terms of difficulty. It's a great bounce-back after that humiliating defeat at the Indigo League, but stacking it up against Ash's other League performances would be too much of an apples-to-oranges situation.
7 Unova - Vertress Conf♉erence
It’s a gigantic understatement to call Ash’s Vertress Conference run a disappointment. It’s no secret Ash was in a slump throughout his time in Unova, and although a Top 8 berth⭕ isn’t his worst in terms of where he finished, the way he went out was just embarrassing.
The Unova League as a whole was an absolute mess, with an anti-climactic final battle between Ash and Trip, Stephan’s Zebstrika running with an entire moveset of Normal-type attacks, and the pièce de résistance: Ash losing to Cameron, who only had five Pokemon. Sure, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Cameron’s Hydreigon was tough, but Ash at that point was too🍎 good a Trainer to be wasting such an egregious advantage 🥀like that.
6 🀅 Kanto - Indigo Plateau Conference 🦋
Ash was technically eliminated earlier at the 💯Indigo Plateau, finishing in the Top 16, and it was arguably more embarrassing than his Unova League. That said, Ash came into his battle against Ritchie out of shape, so to speak, and through no fault of his own.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Team Rocket kidnapped Ash pr♊ior to their match and pursued him relentlessly as h𝐆e rushed back to the stadium. All-in-all, once Ash finally got back to the stadium, his team was toast from battling Team Rocket, with Pidgeotto fully exhausted and Squirtle and Pikachu battling with reduced stamina.
There isn’t really an excuse for the stand-in Charizard’s disobedience, but had Ash gone into that battle without incident, his chances of advancing beyond the Top 16 would've been pretty solid.
5 🉐 Hoenn - Ever Grande Conf♒erence
The Ever Grande Conference was pretty forgettable compared to the other Leag💟ues in the series, with no memorable battles of note once the dust cleared. Ash’s performance there has more or less the same vibe to it, though he d꧂id perform quite solidly with another Top 8 finish.
There’s not much else to say about what happened. Ash defeated a bunch of no-names to advance to the Top 16. There, he defeated Morrison who literally refused to battle him and had two Pokemon easily knocked out until Ash talked sense into him. Then, he lost to Tyson, who had a badass 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Puss-in-Boots Meowth and would end up winning the whole thing.
4 Joht🌊o - Silver Conference
Yet another Top 8 finish, but Ash’s performance at the Silver Conference was arguably better. He faced stronger opponents and showed more flashes of the formidable Traine▨r he would soon become.
His crown jewel for that run was, of course, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:upsetting his rival Gary in his first officially-sanctioned full battle. Gary probably could’ve gone far had he won, but Ash showed the grit and determination necessary to go the 🌊distance and win.
His battle against Harrison came down to the wire as well, showing out even against a team with a few Pokemon completely unfamiliar to him. It would ultimately end in a victory for Harrison, but at that point in his career as a Trainer,🍌 there was absolutely no shame in how Ash wentꦗ out.
3 Sin𝐆noh - Lily Of The Valley Conference
Ash might’ve been the Sinnoh League Champion had he faced fair competition. Of course, we’ll never know, because some dude entered with a Darkrai and a Latios and who knows what else, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:completely wiped the entire st💎adium floor. Knocking out both Darkrai and Latios at least proved 😼Ash was in his own tier below Tobias and above everyone else.
Not to be lost in the shuffle, of course, is Ash’s rival Paul, who also probably could’ve given Darkrai the works had he been the victor of that quarterfinal battle. Ash had several tough opponents, but that𝓡 Top 4 finish proved he was ready for the smoke.
2 🅘 Kalos - Lumiose Conference
A lot of fans claim he should have won this League, but even with a disappointing final result, Ash’s runner-up finish at the Lumiose Conference was everyone's first look at him truly being one of the best Trainers in the Pokemon world.
The series sorta rushed through the tournament, so it’s a mystery wh🍷o Ash faced before the Top 8, but the battles they did show proved exciting enough. After eliminating Astrid, Ash won a thrilling se🔯mifinal bout against Sawyer.
Then, the elephant in the room. The final against Alain was another blow-by-blow affair, though Ash-Greninja ultimately lost the final showdown against 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mega Charizard X. Ash came *this* close t𝓡o finally winning a League, and he did so facing two exceptionally stron𒀰g Trainers in his last two battles.
1 Alola - Manalo Conference 🍌
You could argue none of Ash’s opponents in the Manalo Conference were as strong as Alain, but a championship is a championship. Besides, Ash showed his whole bag of tricks to have the tournament performance of his life, and did so against strong Trainers. He show🅘ed strategic creativity against Hau in the quarterfinals, unshakeable grit in the semifinals against Guzma, and poise to ultimately win the whole thing against Gladion, finally getting him that coveted trophy.
Plus, his team had enough in the tank to fight a bunch of Ultra Beasts right afterwards, then beat Kukui’s whole team of six – 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:including Tapu Koko – in the exhibition match the next day. Ash truly had a champion&rsqu🌟o;s run in Alola.