These moments truly were the best like no-one ever was. Join Ashley as we look over the scenes in the Pokemon anime that drove fans wild
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most shocking moments
00:09from the Pokémon anime and its spinoffs that sparked the most outraged delights, memes
00:15or discussion on the internet when it aired.
00:26Number 10.
00:27Clash of the Charizards Ever since the Fire Lizard debuted in the
00:35anime and caused Ash a lot of havoc, Charizard has been a fan favorite.
00:41So when 2013's Pokémon X and Y came out, and the pseudo-dragon was getting two mega-evolutions,
00:48we were excited.
00:50Then the episode, A League of His Own, was aired, which gave us the Charizard battle
00:55of all time as X took on Y.
00:58Armed with Mega Charizard X, Alain took on Trevor's Mega Charizard Y in the top 64
01:04bout for the Lumiose Conference in Kalos.
01:07After a drawn-out battle with the Behemoth slugging it out, Alain's Charizard overcame
01:12its mega-rival and then took out the rest of Trevor's team to advance in the tournament.
01:22Number 9.
01:26Ash Challenges Mewtwo
01:41Old-school Pokémon fans still remember where they were upon seeing Mewtwo's incredible
01:46aura and playing a role in turning Ash to stone in 1998's Pokémon The First Movie.
01:53While the legendary psychic has popped up every so often in the series and films, the
01:57OG Mewtwo hadn't appeared since the Johto days.
02:01Well, that changed in the Pokémon Journeys episode, Getting More Than You Battled For.
02:06Goh and Ash arrived on an island in search for Mew.
02:09Instead, they discovered Mewtwo, the same one from the films.
02:21During the episode, Goh and Ash teamed up to battle Mewtwo so the former could capture
02:26it.
02:27However, it wiped the floor with the two trainers in majestic fashion, exciting viewers with
02:33this epic return.
02:38Number 8.
02:39Overpowered Tobias
02:49If you played an online battle and faced someone with a team filled with legendaries and mythicals,
02:54you know how annoying this can be.
02:56In the semi-final of the Lily of the Valley Conference for the Sinnoh League, Ash took
03:01on the mysterious Tobias, who had a Darkrai that swept the competition on its own so far.
03:08Ash's team put up a valiant effort, even knocking out Darkrai.
03:12However, Tobias threw out a Latios that won the battle for him, even if it got knocked
03:18out doing so.
03:25The audience was annoyed at the cheap way the writers wanted a ridiculously strong trainer
03:30to stop Ash from going on to win the tournament.
03:33What made it worse is that Tobias hasn't been seen since.
03:47Number 7.
03:48Pikachu's Backstory
03:54Since debuting in the anime's first episode, Pikachu has led the whole franchise as its
04:00mascot.
04:01Yet, in the show, for over two decades, its history before teaming up with Ash has been
04:06a mystery.
04:08Only drops of information here and there.
04:10To welcome the new series, we discovered more of the electric rodent's origin in the episode
04:15Enter Pikachu.
04:17Four years before it became Ash's premier partner, Pikachu was a Pichu in a forest near
04:23Pallet Town.
04:24Exhausted after several run-ins with wild Pokémon, it's adopted by a Kangaskhan.
04:35After some time, Pichu realizes it's time to move on.
04:38As it waves goodbye, it evolves into Pikachu.
04:42Understandably, many fans cried at this wholesome tale.
04:49Number 6.
04:50Lake Rage
04:51In 2016, Pokémon Generations was released online, which featured short animations based
05:02on events from the video games.
05:05One episode in particular, the Lake of Rage, captured the attention of the audience and
05:10brought in the most viewers.
05:12With Lance of the Elite Four infiltrating the Team Rocket Laboratory in Mahogany Town,
05:18we witnessed another Gen 1 favorite being the coolest Pokémon in existence with Dragonite.
05:24Not only did it briefly battle the iconic Shiny Gyarados, but the Dragon-type easily
05:29defeated five Team Rocket Pokémon at the same time and wrecked the lab, all with stunning
05:35animation.
05:41Honestly, Lance wasn't really needed as Dragonite did it all by himself.
05:53Number 5.
05:55Losing the Kalos League
05:56For 19 seasons, Ash had never looked stronger than when he reached the final of the Lumion
06:10Conference in the Kalos League.
06:12Armed with the unique Ash Greninja, it seemed like the Pallet Town homeboy would finally
06:17lift a League trophy.
06:19In the final against Alain's Mega Charizard X, even with a type advantage, Greninja was
06:25the first to fall in the epic, incredibly animated fight.
06:34Fans were split on the decision for Ash to lose.
06:37Some didn't mind, as it showed progression, but they did point out that losing to Alain
06:42meant Ash never beat him, which was disappointing.
06:46Others were livid that they were misled by the episode's promotional material and the
06:51translation of the Japanese title, which also hinted at Ash's win.
07:01Number 4.
07:02The First Kiss
07:06Shipping is a serious topic.
07:08Fans love to debate their matchmaking choices, and Pokémon is one of the best examples.
07:13Whenever Ash has a new companion, the audience goes into a tailspin over the new possible
07:18romance.
07:19But Ash had little love moments beyond that Latias scene.
07:23Well, that was until the climax of the XYZ series.
07:27As Serena was leaving for Hoenn, she suddenly turned up the escalator and, while not shown,
07:33it's heavily implied from the blushing, the foot movement, and the stunned reaction of
07:38the characters that she kissed Ash.
07:48And more shippers, as fans who want Ash and Serena together are called, were delighted.
07:53But poker shippers, fans of Misty and Ash, were probably less enthusiastic.
08:08Number 3.
08:09Ash, The League Champion
08:16After countless battles, capturing Pokémon, befriending many folks, and making way too
08:21many memories for a single lifetime, Ash had finally achieved what he strove to do,
08:26become a League Champion.
08:28To make it even more impressive, he became the Alola region's first winner.
08:33While the Sun and Moon series was divisive for its change in art style, that was all
08:37forgotten about when Ash faced Gladion in the final of the Monalo Conference.
08:42With his Dusk form Lycanroc taking on the Midnight form, Ash out-counted his rival to
08:48win his first Major League trophy.
08:50The only achievement close to this was the much smaller Orange League success.
08:55This Alola news even reached mainstream media, which released articles celebrating the monumental
09:01moment.
09:08Number 2.
09:09Gotcha
09:18Within 3 minutes and 14 seconds, no Pokémon-related music video has captured as much nostalgia
09:24as this.
09:25In 2020, Japanese rock band, Bump of Chicken, had their song, Acacia, turned into a beautiful
09:32animated Pokémon video to celebrate the Crown Tundra DLC for Pokémon Sword and Shield.
09:39Known as Gotcha, it went through the video game's history, highlighting forgotten and
09:44beloved characters and creatures over the entire franchise, alongside a catchy tune.
09:56It was filled with many, many easter eggs to get fans to stare at every frame for secrets.
10:02As of right now, Gotcha has amassed 82 million views on YouTube.
10:07In comparison, Ed Sheeran's Celestial from 2022 has 48 million.
10:13And 2021's Electric from Katy Perry has 52 million.
10:38Number 1.
10:41Charizard, let's go!
10:51Finally, Ash had completed what he'd set out to do since he walked into Professor Oak's
10:56lab with a dream.
10:57He's now a Pokémon Master.
10:59After over 1,200 episodes, during the Ultimate Journey series, Ash entered the Masters 8
11:06tournament, where the top-ranked trainers in the world competed.
11:10Bringing back familiar powerhouses and beloved characters for a delightful trip down memory
11:15lane, Ash goes through the tournament to win it all by defeating Leon in the final.
11:20Charizard is unable to battle, which means the victory goes to Ash!
11:26It's decided!
11:28We now have ourselves a new champion!
11:32Once again, mainstream media celebrated the news as though Ash was an IRL competitor,
11:38delighting fans even more.
11:40It was the perfect send-off for Ash Ketchum.
11:43Soon after, he stepped into anime retirement as the series' main protagonist, allowing
11:48the franchise to evolve once more.
11:51I will journey to gain the wisdom of Pokémon training, and I hereby declare to the Pokémon
11:56of the world, I will be a Pokémon Master!
12:00What's your favorite Pokémon moments?
12:03Let us know in those comments below!