The Pokemon anim🦩e is full of all sorts of characters, most of which are taken directly from the games. Many end up being completely different from their original appearances, with travelling companions like Iris and Dawn being completely unique to their original debut game and most Gym Leaders having far deeper personalities and more diverse battle styles.
At the same time, there are all kinds of trainers from the games who n⭕ever appear in the anime, and have only appeared as challenging opponents and protagonists of the Pokemon games. Given some of the strange original characters, it's almost a surprise that we haven't seen them make an appearance in the anime, as they would surely give Ash a run for his money.
10 Benga (Pokemon Black 2 & White 2) ꦡ ꦆ
With Alder appearing often in Ash's Unova journeys as the friendly and emotion-driven champion, it's almost surprising that his grandson Benga never made an appearance. Unlike Alder, Benga is a remarkably feisty young trainer, acting as the head of the daunting post-game activities of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the Black Tower or White Treehollow.
Benga's team consists of so♉me terrifyingly strong Pokemon, namely Dragon-types like Garchomp or Dragonite alongside a powerful Latias or Latios. His team is headlined by Unova's powerful Volcarona, giving him a team that Ash would absolutely struggle with an a loud personality that would likely give him a good matchup.
9 Darach (Pokemon🦩 Platinum)
Ash is a boy of many talents, but manners isn't entirely one of them. His early adventures showed him being quite immature, and even in the Journeys anime he's quick to fall into tro꧙uble if he sees s⭕omething exciting. As a result, those with formality and poise can often give him quite a struggle.
This is where Castle Valet Darach comes into play, being a Sinnoh Frontier Brain that Ash never managed to encounter. ﷽This Butler is easily the hardest trainer in the Sinnoh Battle Frontier, having some powerful items and strategies to fit his regal Empoleon, Houndoom꧅, and Staraptor. Ash struggled against many of Hoenn's Frontier Brains, and fighting against Darach would likely be a similar challenge.
8 ♌ Zꦦinnia (Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire)
Zinnia from the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Delta Epis༺ode ꧟of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire is in a similar boat to Benga, being a young and ambitious trainer with just♈❀ as much enthusiasm as Ash. However, Zinnia also comes with quite a bit of wisdom and respect for her Dragon-type partners, making her even more threatening to Ash's companions.
This is on top of having a ludicrously powerful team, featuring Dragon-type Pokemon from across the Pokemon world with pushed stats and excellent secondary typings. She's far more than just a Dragon-type expert, she's a friend to Dragon-types of all kinds, making her a great opposition to Ash's general kindness and com♍passion.
7 Lis🧸ia (Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire)
Ash can often struggle in battles against 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon Contest experts. Rivals of May and Dawn can usually beat him thanks to their creative battle styles and unique move choice✤s, and perfectly counter his battle creativity with excellent grace and style.
This makes Lisia, the unique Pokemon Context character from Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the perfect opponent to Ash. Not only is she a capable battler with a menacing Altaria, but her contest skills g💦ive her a great advantage over Ash's vanilla battle style.
6 Karen (Pokemon Gold & Sil⛦ver) 𓂃
It might surprise you to know A♓sh has battled against incredibly few Dark-type experts. The first Dark-type Gym appears in Galar where Ash has yet to do a full Gym Challenge, and otherwise he's met very few others besides Nanu of Alola. This means it would only make sense for him to fight the original Dark-type expert, Karen, from the Johto Elite 💛4.
She ꧒might not have a wide density of Dark-types on her original tea🀅m, but she still has some incredibly high-stat Pokemon with a wide range of damage types, making her challenging in the games and likely an equal challenge for an unprepared Ash.
5 Chase And Elaine (Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu & Letꦚ's 🅷Go Eevee)
The Pokemon Let's Go games take a lot from the first seasons of the anime. Not only does it feature the iconic Jesse, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket, but your special partner of Pikachu or Eevee will give you just as much 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:support and power as Ash's Pikachu through the entire series.
This makes the main characters of the game, Chase and Elaine, excellent silent protagonists to give Ash an equal match, similar to his rival Ritchie from the first few seasons of the anime. There could also be an argument made for the game's rival Trace, but given how weak mo🧔st players think he is, this might not be as fun of a battle.
4 ♔ Wes (Pokemon Colosseum) 🍒
The 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Gamecube spin-offs Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD: Gale🃏 of Darkness are some of the most underrated Pokemon games of all time. They not only brought the unique mechanic of Shadow Pokemon to the series, but also included an incredible Western-style region that is unlike any other Pokemon territory.
It also brought us one of the best protagonists in all of Pokemon, Wes, a motorcycle-riding thief with good intentions. His access to rescued Shadow Pokemon give him a potentially diverse team alongside his Espeon and Umbreon, but his con♕fident bad-boy persona could likely give him a great advantage over Ash's eagerness and immaturity.
3 🐷 Anabel (Pokemon Sun & Moon)
Long-time fans of the Pokemon anime might know that Anabel, the head of Hoenn's Battle Tower, did actually appear in the anime during Ash's adventures. In it, she appeared as a young Psychic-type expert that managed to beat Ash once before losing in a rematch, and seemed toꦕ be especially affectionate towards him.
However, we haven't seen the future🍃 version of Anabel that debuted in Pokemon Sun & Moon, as she's since become a member of the International Police ꦏand a much more serious trainer. This is a unique type of character growth we don't usually see in the anime, and considering how different a trainer she was when Ash beat her originally, she would absolutely be much more challenging for him in this more confident and adamant form.
2 Youngst🐬💖er Joey (Pokemon Gold & Silver)
This recurring common trainer seem like a joke, but in reality, the infamous Youngste൩r Joey may🤡 actually be one of the most ideal rivals to Ash in the history of the games. He's optimistic, confident in his partner Ratatta, and even grows in skill if you have rematches with him in his debut game Pokemon Gold & Silver. Beyond that, he even appears in other games to continue the tradition of an early optimistic trainer who loves his Normal-type partner.
He might not be a great opponent to Ash late in his adventures, but if Youngster Joey was his first opponent in a new region, you'd be sure to see him at least give Ash a suitable challenge 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:given his meme-like status. He's stronger than you'd expect, and seeing him debut in the anime as a proper rival to Ash is hardly the most ridiculꦺou🎃s thing the anime could include.
1 🎃Red (Pokemon Red & Blue) 🍒
The most iconic character from the Pokemon series outside of the anime has to be Red, the main character in Pokemon Red & Blue and the post-game final boss of Pokemon Gold & Silver. Unlike Ash's loud and eccentric personality, Red has always been shown as a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:strong silent master, working closely with his loving Pokemon to become a t♛rue professional.
This makes him the perf✃ect opponent for Ash, and easily one that Ash could not beat through creativity alone. Ash would need all of his skill to beat Red, and given how difficult Red is famous for being in his few fights in later games of the series, it may not even be possible for Ash to conquer this famously dominant trainer.