As the original protagonists of the Pokemon series, Ash Ketchum and Pokemon Trainer Red often get confused for and compared to each other. But when it’s time for battle, which of them puts the other to shame?
While most video game adaptations follow the plot and characters of the game they’re based on, Pokemon’s anime is a famous exception. Instead of starring the player character from the original Red/Blue/Green games(later referred to as Red), the anime created a completely original character; Ash Ketchum. While the two share similarities like their partner Pikachu and their general fashion sense, their battle capabilities set them staunchly apart.
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How Good Is Ash?
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One advantage that Ash has over Red is his much longer story. Ash has been the Pokemon anime’s protagonist for its entire run, and in that time has had a lot of opportunity to grow as a character and a trainer. In his first journey through Kanto, Ash wasn’t the best trainer. He got many of his gym badges largely through pity and gumption instead of actually winning Pokemon battles. In those days, most people would’ve easily agreed that Ash was inferior to Red. However, Ash isn’t the same trainer he was back then.
Over the years, Ash has seen much growth, from steadily increasing his placements in the various Pokemon Leagues, to putting together some impressive Pokemon teams. His main strategy is to understand and adapt to his partner’s personalities, instead of restricting them to his preferred fighting style. This has led to a strong bond between him and his Pokemon, and their trust has led to some genuinely ingenious strategies over the years. For instance, in his run through Sinnoh, Ash developed the “counter shield” maneuver, which allowed him to give offensive moves like Thunderbolt and Aqua Jet defensive utility.
This bond with his Pokemon is Ash’s greatest strength, and often makes up for what he lacks in traditional combat knowledge. His Pokemon can often surpass their limits out of loyalty, getting him out of situations he would’ve otherwise lost. When paired with some of his strongest partners like Greninja, Infernape and Sceptile, Ash can become a more than difficult opponent to beat.
How Good Is Red?
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While Ash may have had more time to grow, Red has the reputation of being a prodigy from the start. While all of Pokemon’s video game protagonists are talented trainers who help stop big villainous plans and become the very best of their region’s trainers, Red retains a level of clout for being the first. This means he’s appeared several times over the years as a battleable NPC, giving us some insight into how strong he is in the game’s canon.
Unlike Ash, Red’s Pokemon team stays pretty standard throughout the years, with big hitters like Lapras, Snorlax and the Kanto starters helping to make him a tricky opponent to take out. All his appearances either have him as a powerful opponent in facilities like the battle tree or Pokemon World Tournament, or as an extremely high leveled trainer. Most famously, in Gold/Silver and their remakes, Red is the true final boss of the game, waiting at the top of Mount Silver for players to try their teams against him. As many players will remember, even bringing legendary Pokemon might not win you the fight if you don’t prepare properly.
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Sadly, these appearances and his original game are all we have to judge Red by. It also doesn’t help that the Pokemon games are much more restrictive than the anime, in terms of what actions a trainer and their Pokemon can take. Even in Red’s one anime appearance in Pokemon Origins, he wasn’t able to break the battle system quite like Ash has.
Who Is The Better Trainer?
The most difficult aspect of this comparison is the dichotomy between the Pokemongames and anime. While they mostly function on the same system, the anime allows for much more flexibility in battle. A type disadvantage in the games for example, often means dying to one strong attack. In the anime however, Ash and other characters have been able to win despite type disadvantages and a lack of coverage moves. At times, the anime allows for the rules to be broken entirely, such as when Ash was able to beat an Onix with an electric type move, despite Onix being immune to electric attacks.
Taking this into account, it’s fair to say that Red still manages to come out on top. Within Red’s world, he is one of the strongest trainers around, and has been using mostly the same team for years, so we can assume he is far more experienced with them than he would be with an ever-changing team. In Ash’s world however, while he’s become a great trainer and a champion, he still isn’t considered a Pokemon master, and was far from a prodigy. A battle between the two would certainly be close, but there’s no reason to think Red couldn’t excel in the anime’s system too. And while Ash has many strong Pokemon, he’s released many of his strongest, and many of them are out of practice, while Red’s team is regularly in combat and barely changing. So all things considered, Red is the safe bet.
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