Your favorite anime battle

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I once tried creating a thread kinda like this, but it had too specific terms. So let's try this again and be more simple:

What is your favorite anime battle and why?

 

[Nodqfan]

Mine will always be Ash vs Morty because it was one of the few times that Ash had an actual strategy going in with Noctowl as the ace using Foresight to make Morty's Ghost Pokemon vulnerable to being hit and later learning Confusion to help beat Gengar and earn the Fog Badge.

 

[Cinnabar]

I liked most of Ash's grand trials, the ones against Hala and Olivia to be more specific. Another one that I really enjoyed was his league battle against Guzma. Lastly, some of the regular (just for fun) battles against Brock are also nice.

 

[Parissong]

Ash vs. Kukui as the finale match of the Manalo Conference had too much suspense to not be the best battle for me. All bets were off and there was always something explosive happening, both literally and figuratively.

 

[Gabo2oo]

I'm not sure if it applies to the entire Ash vs. Sawyer fight, but I still believe Greninja vs. Mega Sceptile was the peak of battle choreography in this anime.

 

[Sheep]

For me I don't think anything will top Ash's battle against Kukui/Tapu Koko - it was an absolute masterpiece and my favorite episode to date. Ash vs. Clemont for his gym badge was also insaaanely good. I can probably watch those tons of times over!

 

[Neo Blaze]

My favourite battle is Ash vs. Gary. Maybe it isn't the best battle in terms of choreography and what not, but it's the one I like the most. Mainly because it finally showcased what Gary was capable of (after a few glimpses here and there) and it finally revealed what his starter was. It was also a long overdue showdown (strange to think that Pikachu vs. Eevee had been the only Ash vs. Gary battle at that point, IIRC).

Besides that, I absolutely loved that a couple of Ash's lesser used Pokémon got their chance to battle (would have been cool if poor Kingler had been used instead of Bayleef but I'm not complaining). Ash really picked a strong team to take on Gary. I especially love Charizard vs. Blastoise and the Johto Victory Theme playing during it (oh how I miss OS BGM). His victory over Gary was also a very important and defining moment in Ash's journey.

More recently, I had a blast with Ash vs. Kukui. It had some great animation, especially near the end. I just wish that Incineroar could've had an actual battle instead of Torracat evolving after defeating Kukui's Incineroar. And I also wished Kukui had used his own 6th Pokémon (whatever it was may forever be one of the anime's greatest unsolved mysteries lol....). But Pikachu vs Tapu Koko was still very good.

 

[KrspaceT]

I'd probably consider Ash v Paul at the Sinnoh League to be the best, though it has flaws I would prefer addressed (notably it actually shared a flaw with Ash v Gary, that being Charizard and Infernape basically dominating the things, but Infernape has the benefit of being spread out more).

Kukui v Ash is probably Top 5 though, and the best of Alola.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Ash vs Paul felt really rewarding after all the buildup, but I think I like Ash vs Kukui better these days. It was an even longer battle with an even grander climax (and technically had two climaxes) and a ton of buildup.

 

[KenzeyEevee]

Ash vs Olympia. Great animation, great battle

 

[Fan of Jarrus]

Leon vs Lance

Because the King and his Charizard were amazing. Loved Leon saying his speech and his movements before the battle.

 

[Daren]

The battle with Drake in the Orange Islands.
I don't think too many would call it the best in terms of battle quality or the most overall memorable, but I'll explain why it tops my personal list:
*It was the first full six on six in the show proper (unless you count the tiny snips of Richie's) that took up roughly one and a half episodes, dwarfing previous battles in size.
*They do a good job hyping up Drake in only two episodes. He has a Dragonite back when psuedos were rare and meaningful, he'd never been defeated, and some trainers don't even get past Ditto--he's got something that wins matches by throwing his opponent into confusion and it's not even his ace.
*Avoided overcentralizing Ash's party. Pikachu gets two KOs but Dragonite was very clearly a team effort; Bulbasaur is the only one who feels like they went down without doing much (Lapras' screendown was brief but they took down Gengar).
*Ash battles well, using switches to avoid obvious mismatches like keeping a tired Pikachu in against Onix and keeping his team fresh for the juggernaut he knows is coming. Speaking of which...
*Dragonite's portrayal was near perfect. Dragonite has a grand entrance--Drake has a special necklace for the Pokéball, and the annoucner makes clear this 4-1 advantage is no guarantee Drake is done for, and we see shots of the cast watching with trepidation as ominous music plays, and than we see even the mighty Charizard beaten down. Very few Pokémon get such an excellent introduction.
But it didn't just roll through everyone until Pikachu defeats him--Ash's other Pokémon get to go down fighting and do some damage as Dragonite is slowly worn down until Pikachu just barely finishes him with that great head-latch Thunder.
*It was a great conclusion to the Kanto/OI overall arc. Ash had spent a decent chunk of Kanto mostly getting by on heart and luck. By the league he's starting to put thought into it at times (bringing Muk to the grass field) but in the end failing to put in the effort to really win Charizad back over costs him (plus TR's intervention, whcih I think was a misstep for the Richie match). He falls into a depression but manages to pick up and keep going. Then he enters the Orange League, said to be even harder than the Indigo League was, where all the Gyms are non-traditional challenges, but unlike Kanto he's able to win them all first time through, showing his growth and development, until he reaches Pummelo island to face the champion--a champion who has never been defeated.
The ending is brief but excellent, Ash's whole party is out to accept the trophy, and then their prints and a photograph of them and their trainer are entered in the hall of fame to be recorded for years to come--Ash had bounced back from his failure in the Indigo League and showed he was capable of improving and doing better.

In a lot of ways Drake was a bit of a stand-in for Lance/Blue (I think they even used a bit of the final rival theme in the Ditto match) and you can tell they went all in for that battle.

 

[Mew2]

My favorite animé battle is the Ash vs. Kukui battle for all the reasons that others have stated. It was epic, it was action-packed. It had both strategy and power. In addition, it was the confirmation battle for Ash and his Alola League Championship. In my mind, that battle showed that Ash was worthy of being the Alola League Champion, and one of the greatest "status quos" in animé was rocked hard.

 

[Galactic_V]

I believe my opinion might be one of a kind but it's the first battle that comes to mind when I think of my favorite ones: Satoshi vs Yakon.

Don't get me wrong, I don't find it really developed, with plot twists and\or awesome strategy. I just love the music and how it mixes perfectly with the animation (especially during Gantle vs Doryuuzu).

Second place goes to Satoshi vs Shigeru (Lizardon vs Kamex), the music is perfect for that battle.

 

[Emelie]

I think the final battle with Shinji/Paul was the best because it happened in a serious context (the league) and had great emotional build-up. The problem with the DP league was that the final battle with Tobias was so dumb that the contrast became jarring rather than being a cool final battle of one of the more serious seasons.

The final battle with Shigeru/Gary was nice for closure but would probably have been more emotional if there was more of a rivalry between them. He kind of goes missing during the Orange island arc and when he returns they only get a half baked battle that was super late promotion for Pokémon Yellow. After that Gary only shows up in filler episodes just like in the first season. Kind of weird since the final battle in the games felt like such a big deal even though the story was underdeveloped at the time.

Gary's battle with Giovanni was cool foreshadowing but also feels like a wasted plot. Why not give him more screentime and character development by making him show up in the first movie with his Blastoise instead of a random trainer? I think that would have been more impactful. Especially if they would have stuck with the game plot from GSC when he takes over Giovanni's gym. There could even be an ideological conflict here if they wanted to be more ambitious. Make him a little more flawed and then give him development.

If we are just talking about emotions, I think the battles in the first and third movies were great since there was a message behind the plot. Like Mewtwo and the clones trying to prove their worth to Mew (who symbolizes a mother?) in the Japanese dub and Molly trying to be more mature and adult than she actually is because she feels like she has lost control of the situation with her mother being hospitalized and the dad has gone missing and is believed to be dead. Her relpacing the fake Teddiursa with a real one is also nice symbolism since her previous one might have given her power but it was also a delusion/fake happiness.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

Haruka vs Hikari

 

[Almonds]

Ash vs Sawyer. The battle animation was amazing. Ash vs Alain is a very close second.

 

[Johtohfiller]

The battle with Drake in the Orange Islands.
I don't think too many would call it the best in terms of battle quality or the most overall memorable, but I'll explain why it tops my personal list:
*It was the first full six on six in the show proper (unless you count the tiny snips of Richie's) that took up roughly one and a half episodes, dwarfing previous battles in size.
*They do a good job hyping up Drake in only two episodes. He has a Dragonite back when psuedos were rare and meaningful, he'd never been defeated, and some trainers don't even get past Ditto--he's got something that wins matches by throwing his opponent into confusion and it's not even his ace.
*Avoided overcentralizing Ash's party. Pikachu gets two KOs but Dragonite was very clearly a team effort; Bulbasaur is the only one who feels like they went down without doing much (Lapras' screendown was brief but they took down Gengar).
*Ash battles well, using switches to avoid obvious mismatches like keeping a tired Pikachu in against Onix and keeping his team fresh for the juggernaut he knows is coming. Speaking of which...
*Dragonite's portrayal was near perfect. Dragonite has a grand entrance--Drake has a special necklace for the Pokéball, and the annoucner makes clear this 4-1 advantage is no guarantee Drake is done for, and we see shots of the cast watching with trepidation as ominous music plays, and than we see even the mighty Charizard beaten down. Very few Pokémon get such an excellent introduction.
But it didn't just roll through everyone until Pikachu defeats him--Ash's other Pokémon get to go down fighting and do some damage as Dragonite is slowly worn down until Pikachu just barely finishes him with that great head-latch Thunder.
*It was a great conclusion to the Kanto/OI overall arc. Ash had spent a decent chunk of Kanto mostly getting by on heart and luck. By the league he's starting to put thought into it at times (bringing Muk to the grass field) but in the end failing to put in the effort to really win Charizad back over costs him (plus TR's intervention, whcih I think was a misstep for the Richie match). He falls into a depression but manages to pick up and keep going. Then he enters the Orange League, said to be even harder than the Indigo League was, where all the Gyms are non-traditional challenges, but unlike Kanto he's able to win them all first time through, showing his growth and development, until he reaches Pummelo island to face the champion--a champion who has never been defeated.
The ending is brief but excellent, Ash's whole party is out to accept the trophy, and then their prints and a photograph of them and their trainer are entered in the hall of fame to be recorded for years to come--Ash had bounced back from his failure in the Indigo League and showed he was capable of improving and doing better.

In a lot of ways Drake was a bit of a stand-in for Lance/Blue (I think they even used a bit of the final rival theme in the Ditto match) and you can tell they went all in for that battle.

That was a major turning point for the show becoming more action-oriented too. It's not my top battle but it is an important one.