Ash vs. Leon: Who Will Win the World Coronation Series in Pokémon Journeys?

If you’re a fan of the Pokémon franchise, you’ll certainly know that Ash’s battles have proven to be unpredictable over the decades. Sure, we always knew he would go far in a tournament, but despite our hopes, his victory was never assured; in fact, the only League he won was the one in Alola, which was significantly easier than all the others and is part of Generation VII. Currently, Ash is fighting in the Master’s Tournament finals against Leon, and in this article, we are going to explore whether Ash could win this one or not.

The main issue here is that we don’t know all of Leon’s Pokémon at this moment. Based on Leon’s reputation, Ash doesn’t stand much chance. Leon’s three known Pokémon can easily take on Ash’s team and it remains to be seen what other Pokémon Leon has on hand for a proper prediction of the clash to be made.

Unlike our other comparisons, we are going to approach this one differently. We are going to present the two Trainers and their Pokémon (the ones used in battle), and then draw a conclusion as to who might come out on top after the battle. This is going to be an analytical article, so we’re not giving you any spoilers here.

Ash and his Pokémon

Ash Ketchum is the main character of the Pokémon anime. He is also the main character of various manga based on anime. He is a Pokémon Trainer from Pallet Town whose goal is to become a Pokémon Master. His starter Pokémon was a Pikachu that he received from Professor Oak after arriving late at his laboratory. On his journeys around the Pokémon world, he’s been accompanied by a multitude of close friends. Ash has caught numerous Pokémon over the years but the ones he used in his battle against Leon are:

Pikachu

Pikachu is seen from the first episode, adopting an execrable character. Not taking a liking to his new Trainer, he constantly ignored him, and when Ash failed to capture a Pidgey, Pikachu laughed at him. However, by the end of the episode, he will end up trusting Ash, who has protected him from an attack by a horde of Spearow and treated him at the Pokémon Center. Since then, they have become inseparable. Pikachu refuses to enter its Poké Ball and evolve into Raichu as we saw in Episode 14 when he rejected Ash’s Lightning Stone.

Over the course of the episodes, he’ll beat a Rock/Ground-type Pokémon with an electric attack, oppose Mewtwo’s domination, and electrify two young members of Team Rocket too many times to count. He is also deeply selfless, extremely dedicated, and a good fighter. He seems undemanding for food but in some episodes, we see that Pikachu strongly appreciates ketchup. We can also see in several episodes that he is an excellent imitator.

Dragonite

Prior to its evolution, Dragonite was a curious Pokémon, having shown immediate interest even in strangers – Ash, Goh, and their Pokémon – stranded on his island. Quickly, Dragonite decided to take care of them, in particular by showing them around the place where it lives and showing them the different corners of the island. Overall, Dragonite was very affectionate and kind.

However, Dragonite was also a bit lonely and isolated from the rest of his fellows. The fact that she wasn’t able to fly in the sky with the other members of its group saddened it greatly. Despite his goodwill, his many attempts, and his relentless training with his comrade Dragonite, Dragonite was unable to obtain results. When Ash decides to train him, Dragonite tries the different techniques offered by the young Trainer but continues to fail, which demoralizes him even more. Despite this, it remains touching that Ash goes to such lengths to help it.

Gengar

Gengar is quite a mischievous Pokémon. He is usually willing to fight anyone who crosses his path. Initially, he wanted revenge for the abandonment of his trainer, and for this reason, Gengar did not trust humans until he was captured by Ash. From then on, he is still quite mischievous, although he is much more giggly and causes jokes for fun and not to do evil.

He has a particular taste for scaring Ren, Professor Cerise’s assistant. On the other hand, it is quite strong and agile in combat, it is also shown as an observant Pokémon and curious about its surroundings. When Ash shows his trust in him, he is shown to be very loyal to him. It has also been seen that he gets annoyed when people talk about him behind his back, especially when they suspect something he did not do.

Lucario

Riolu, like his kind, demonstrates the ability to sense the aura of others. This is how he generated a connection with the aura of Ash and Pikachu when they were both protecting him from an angry Onix. He feels a great passion for fighting since shortly after being born, he goes out in search of confrontations with various Pokémon regardless of the differences in strength they have with him. He is quite proud. At first, he was continually trying to prove that he can stand on his own, such as when Ash offered to carry him after being exhausted from fighting so he can’t walk, or to help him off the stretcher at the Pokémon Center.

In both cases, Riolu shows that he can do it alone. He has also been known to attack Pikachu to show that he doesn’t want help from him. But as time went by, Riolu gradually began to be more affectionate and close to his trainer, as well as getting along better with Pikachu, even worrying about him. He has been shown to be enthusiastic and a bit childish when it comes to showing his interest in battles.

Sirfetch’d

Farfetch’d stands out for being a very competitive and passionate Pokémon for fighting, it can be somewhat brusque and careless when passionate about its training, forgetting its surroundings. He often challenges other Pokémon to fight him. He shows to be occasionally stubborn and hasty when it comes to attacking, when he is like this, he does not obey the orders of his trainer.

He is also very easily teased and forgets his surroundings when he goes into a rage. Farfetch’d doesn’t usually pay much attention to his trainer and is often seen avoiding him. The highest aspiration of this Pokémon is to be a Leek Master.

Dracovish

Dracovish is a very confused Pokémon for having woken up in a world that has gone through so many changes. It tends to get out of control very easily and can become a bit aggressive. Nonetheless, it proves to be a friendly and trustworthy Pokémon. He makes his affection known with his bites, he seems to really like Ash.

It proves to be a very agile Pokémon when running in the depths of the water, but when it comes to swimming, it is not the best because it is quite slow, which often causes its trainer to be confused with it. It also shows that he does not control his body parts perfectly nor is he very good at jumping. It is evident that Dracovish is attracted to everything that staggers and on several occasions, this has led him to abruptly launch himself against other Pokémon.

Leon and his Pokémon

Leon is a recurring character in the Pokémon anime. He is the Champion of the Galar region’s Pokémon League and becomes the strongest Pokémon Trainer in the world after obtaining the title of Monarch in the World Coronation Series. He is Ash’s main rival in Pokémon Journeys: The Series, with defeating Leon serving as his primary goal throughout the series. As for his Pokémon, the known ones used in battle are (Leon has three other Pokémon as well, but they have not been revealed yet):

Dragapult

Dragapult first appears when he faces a Gigantamax Coalossal, which he manages to stop so that it returns to its normal state with the help of Ash’s Pokémon and his partner Charizard. He reappears later during training with Leon, who pulls him out of his Poké Ball as the two Pokémon were training skydiving. Later, Dragapult carries his trainer and Ash on his back across the fields of Galar.

For a while, everyone stops to eat and Dragapult takes the opportunity to play with the Dreepy in the sector. Later, he is used to take on a couple of angry Corviknights and takes advantage of his speed to tire them out. Finally, Leon saves the Pokémon from him and falls on Corviknight. Dragapult is used during the Masters Eight Tournament in the match against Diantha for the semifinals.

It’s the first Pokémon ever sent to the battlefield and although it defeated its opponent’s Hawlucha, it didn’t stand a chance against Tyrantrum. Dragapult is a Pokémon that stands out for its speed and flying ability. He is quite faithful to his trainer and loves spending time with him. Also, enjoy the presence of his pre-evolutions.

Rillaboom

Rillaboom makes his first appearance when he is sent by his trainer to the battlefield to face Alain and his Chesnaught in the opening match of the Masters Eight Tournament quarterfinals. To kick things off, Rillaboom carefully watches his opponent’s nimble moves and withstands a powerful smash. Leon then returns it to his PokéBall to make it Gigantamax, greatly exciting the audience, as Rillaboom has a good time playing his forest drums.

Upon completion, he uses G-Max Drum Solo to break down the defense his opponent had invoked by using Spiky Shield. Later, he generates a Max Airstream to make Chesnaught super effective, but Chesnaught dodges it without much difficulty by using his Gyro Ball. Next, Alain’s Pokémon attacks with a Pin Missile, which is blocked by Rillaboom’s Max Quake.

As he had used up all three of his moves, Rillaboom returns to his usual state and Chesnaught takes the opportunity to hit him with Gyrlo Ball again, but is surprised by Acrobatics, which instantly weakens him. With the win over Chesnaught, Leon gains a 1-0 lead against Alain. However, the boy is not daunted and rushes to send his best Pokémon, Charizard to continue the fight.

Rillaboom, on the other hand, uses a Drum Beating to entangle Charizard among the vines, but the latter manages to destroy them using a Flare Blitz and, in turn, lands a powerful super-effective blow that weakens him, thus managing to tie the match. Rillaboom is remembered during the Coronation World Series news broadcast, where he is recognized as a formidable opponent who is rarely defeated and is honored for easily beating Chesnaught.

He is used again in the semi-final match, where he puts Kalos champion Diantha on the ropes by defeating half a team. However, Diantha momentarily takes charge of the matchup as she brings out Gardevoir as her last resort and with it, manages to dodge Rillaboom’s moves and defeat him, after throwing him to the ground using Psychic.

Charizard

Charizard is a very strong Pokémon and you can see that it has a strong bond of trust with its trainer. He has great combat skills, especially when making direct attacks on his opponents. It can be seen that he is a loyal, protective and responsible Pokémon just like his trainer. Charizard has the special ability to experience the Dynamax/Gigantamax phenomenon to Gigantamax Charizard.

Gigantamax Charizard is stronger than other Dynamax/Dynamax Pokémon thanks to the increased power it gains when Gigamaxing. In his fight against Lance’s Gyarados Dynamax in the final of the Coronation World Series, he manages to turn the fight around after Gigamaxing himself, completely dominating his rival, showing that he perfectly dominates his enormous size in that form. Gigamax Charizard managed to pressure Dynamax Gyarados to such an extent that he ended up defeating him with a surprising move, G-Max Wildfire, thus demonstrating his incredible power.

Ash vs. Leon: Who would win?

We actually have a big problem here, as we don’t know all of Leon’s Pokémon at this point in the story. The three we’ve seen him use were presented, but we doubt that he would end up using Eternatus here, which means that the remaining three are a mystery and that we cannot make a proper prediction here at this moment.

Knowing that Leon is the best trainer in the world and that his first three Pokémon are extremely powerful, there is a possibility that Ash might end up losing his finals match once again, with Leon retaining his title. Still, Journeys is a very loose take on the main chronology, so a miracle might end up happening in the end. Leon’s three Pokémon could defeat Ash’s three other Pokémon, but since each trainer has six Pokémon on hand, we’ll have to wait for the remaining ones to give you a proper prediction here.