Mega Evolution was one of Pokemon's most interesting features and one that bled into the anime. The same few Pokemon that can Mega Evolve in the games can also do so in the anime, through the same methods of using a Mega Stone.
Naturally, that means some Pokemon will have access to extra strength when needed, and some trainers have taken advantage of that phenomenon in battle. Some of the anime universe's strongest trainers have some equally strong Mega Evolutions to flaunt, and these are the best of the best.
Updated March 15, 2023, by Kyle Laurel: Despite the phenomenon no longer being accessible in the newest games, Pokemon Journeys continued to add to the lore of Mega Evolution by introducing more Trainers with Mega Evolution. With the anime having concluded, here's a final look at its 20 best Mega-Evolved Pokemon.
Only Pokemon with Trainers will be considered, so no Mega Rayquaza or Mewtwo X/Y.
20 Lisia's Mega Altaria
Lisia of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire fame made her first anime appearance in Pokemon Journeys as Hoenn's top Contest performer, and she has since been a regular Contest virtuoso alongside May and Serena. In her anime debut Contest in Lilycove City, she tied for first place with Serena with the help of her Mega Altaria, nicknamed Ali, and its beautiful Mist and Draco Meteor combo.
That said, Ali has to settle for last place here because it has purely been used for Contests, at least on-screen. That's all well and good for Lisia's purposes, but an attested Contest repertoire does not a strong Pokemon make.
19 Ilima's Mega Kangaskhan
One of the games' most overpowered Mega Evolutions translated to the anime for the most part. Ilima, Alola's Normal-type Trial captain, brought a Mega Kangaskhan to the Manalo Conference, using it as a trump card against Guzma.
While Ilima ultimately lost to the Team Skull Boss, Mega Kangaskhan put up quite a fight against Guzma's Scizor, showing off its unique Parental Bond ability. Unfortunately, while its moveset of Power-Up Punch, Rock Slide, and Low Kick helped put Scizor in a tight spot, Guzma found a way to use the mother's protectiveness over the child against them. Thus, Ilima became the first victim to Guzma's path to the Manalo League semifinal.
18 Misty's Mega Gyarados
Misty and Brock's demonstration to Ash's Alola friends at the Cerulean Gym came with some showing-off of their new Mega Evolutions. Misty in particular found a Mega Stone for her Gyarados, and everyone in the building witnessed its power in all its glory in a battle against Ash's Pikachu.
While it ultimately lost to the Electric-type, Gyarados canceled out the type advantage by finding unique ways to deal with Pikachu, such as bringing rain with Rain Dance, Hurricane-ing away a Thunderbolt, and getting Pikachu stuck in a Hurricane and Hydro Pump vortex. It even has Crunch, taking advantage of the Dark-typing it gains upon Mega Evolving.
17 Brock's Mega Steelix
Brock's Mega Steelix had a slightly better outing than the aforementioned Gyarados during Ash and his Alolan friends' tour of the Cerulean City Gym. In its first appearance since the Diamond and Pearl anime, the Pewter native's ace showed all its chops in a battle against Kiawe's Turtonator.
As the Alolan gang's introduction to Mega Evolution, Mega Steelix showcased its power on the defensive end despite its weakness to Fire-type moves. It withstood Turtonator's Inferno Overdrive without fainting, being the first in the anime to not faint from a Z-Move. Its offensive bag was nice too, with old favorites Bind and Dig working in tandem with its newer moves Gyro Ball and Stone Edge.
16 Astrid's Mega Absol
Kalos League quarterfinalist Astrid was one of the XY anime's more overlooked characters. She was a proficient Trainer in her own right, in large part thanks to her Absol capable of Mega Evolution.
Astrid's ace was one of the few Pokemon to put up an OK fight against Alain's Mega Charizard, and had a 1-1 record against Ash's Hawlucha, beating it in a prior match before losing to it in the Kalos League. It has a type-versatile set of moves, with Dark Pulse, Psycho Cut, Shadow Claw, and Megahorn all part of its arsenal, as well as the quickness to dodge oncoming attacks with ease.
15 Sawyer's Mega Sceptile
One of the biggest thorns on Ash's side during the Kalos leg of his journey was Sawyer, a green-haired, wide-eyed boy from Hoenn who owned a very strong Sceptile. Said Grass-type starter didn't necessarily start off as a particularly strong Pokemon, but by bonding with its trainer, it got stronger.
While Sceptile wasn't successful in pushing Sawyer to the Kalos League final -- particularly with Ash-Greninja in the way -- it gave Ash's squad a tough time in pretty much every battle it's appeared in. It was a spitting allegory of Sawyer's progress as a Trainer; both were excellent, but still had some work to do to truly overtake their idols.
14 Wulfric's Mega Abomasnow
Wulfric was one of Ash's biggest obstacles in the XY anime, and a big part of that was his Abomasnow, capable of Mega Evolution. While it didn't Mega Evolve during Ash's first go against the Ice-type Gym Leader, its Snow Warning ability proved to be a problem. It managed to even beat Ash's Talonflame, a Pokemon with a massive type advantage against it.
That said, Mega Evolution is more of a trump card for Wulfric's Abomasnow, as it tries to get the job done without Mega Evolving as much as possible. Still, with or without it, Abomasnow carries huge attack power; its Ice Punch is strong stuff.
13 Remo's Mega Garchomp
Another oft-overlooked character of the XY anime was Remo, Kalos League semifinalist and owner of a Mega Garchomp, nicknamed Garchoo. He's not the only one of his kind in Kalos, but he makes a solid case for being the best pseudo-Legendary at the Lumiose Conference.
He was another Mega to run into Alain's Mega Charizard X, doing so at said semifinal match and once before that. While he lost both times, he wasn't a pushover for Charizard to just plow through. Had it not been for Alain, Garchoo could have led Remo's team to win the entire tournament, or at least put up a good fight against Ash.
12 Professor Sycamore's Mega Garchomp
Aside from Professor Kukui, Kalos's Sycamore deserves recognition as probably the best battler among all the professors, at least in the anime, even if he doesn't participate in official battles. Case in point, him owning a Mega Garchomp.
Perhaps that's a perk of being one of the best in his field in a region radiating Mega energy, but Professor Rowan's former protégé has used this absolute weapon in key situations. Chief of which was helping out in damaging the Giant Rock during the climax of the Team Flare arc, where it proved itself as one of the strongest Pokemon on that side of the conflict.
11 Wikstrom's Mega Scizor
The other members of the Elite Four also have exceptionally strong aces that can also Mega Evolve. While it'd be safe to expect Wikstrom's ace, Mega Scizor, to be on their level, there hasn't been enough evidence to prove it. It only has one appearance, and in it, it got one-shotted by a Pokemon it has a type advantage against - Diantha's Mega Gardevoir.
That said, it wouldn't be a stretch to expect Mega Scizor to be on its game any other time; Diantha is a Champion, after all. Unless Wikstrom is some fraud that doesn't deserve his Elite Four status, there's a spot here reserved for Mega Scizor.
10 Korrina's Mega Lucario
A surprising presence in Pokemon Journeys, Korrina's Mega Lucario is a different beast. In stark contrast to the game counterpart that is essentially given to the player, it took some time for Lucario to master the art of Mega Evolution, but it's now one of the best Pokemon out there for it.
In its battles with Ash, Mega Lucario took valiant efforts from Ash's best Pokemon to defeat it, from Pikachu in their Gym battle to Dragonite in their ranked battle for the World Coronation Series. It's unfortunate it never got a chance to battle Ash's Mega Lucario, but it played its part as someone Ash's looked up while it was still a Riolu.
9 Drasna's Mega Altaria
The only Kalos Elite Four member to have officially battled Ash, Drasna was one of his biggest obstacles on his path to the Masters Eight. She is comfortably in the Ultra Class, thanks in large part to her dastardly Mega Altaria. The Dragon/Fairy-type has an intimidating personality and the skill to back it up, as shown in that two-on-two battle against Ash.
However, it's arguably not Drasna's ace. It didn't cleanly knock out any of Ash's Pokemon, and Drasna started and finished that battle off with her Noivern, who showed more tangible efforts of strength, and is more known to be the Dragon-type specialist's ace throughout the series' history.
8 Malva's Mega Houndoom
With Alain's Mega Charizard X being one of the strongest Pokemon in all of Kalos, how it performed against certain other Pokemon shaped a bulk of this list. For instance, Malva's Mega Houndoom was one of the Pokemon that put up a pretty good fight against it during his gauntlet challenge by Lysandre.
Granted, that was after fighting nine other trainers with no healing, but still. Malva and Houndoom were picked as the final leg of the gauntlet for a reason, and as mentioned, being the ace of an Elite Four member is no joke. The Mega is kind of a bonus considering Malva's status, but it at least gives Houndoom access to the Flash Fire ability.
7 Siebold's Mega Blastoise
While Siebold's Mega Blastoise didn't have the bananas winning streak that Alain's Charizard had, the former beat the latter in the one time they battled. Granted, that may be due to type advantage, but the eye test shows a Pokemon capable of beating opponents on that level in any given battle.
Either way, Mega Blastoise certainly has the tools to beat someone as powerful as Alain's Charizard. It, as all Blastoise do, gains the Mega Launcher ability upon Mega Evolution, and has the arsenal to back it up. It's got Dragon Pulse to put the ability to use, as well as Hydro Pump for excellent STAB damage.
6 Alain's Mega Charizard X
As a Pokemon owned by a Champion in the Masters Eight, Alain's Charizard inherently deserves one of the top spots here. It also has its unbelievable record throughout the XY anime as further proof of its excellence, beating the Mega Evolved aces of Elite Four members as aforementioned.
That said, it had the weakest showing in the Masters Eight Tournament among Pokemon that Mega Evolved, failing to push its Trainer past the first round. It scored a few nice knockouts against some of Leon's Pokemon, but it got obliterated by Leon's far superior Gigantamax Charizard. Despite its prior dominance against other Kalos natives, it couldn't hold a candle to the ace of one of the world's top two Trainers.
5 Diantha's Mega Gardevoir
The same can mostly be said for the ace of the other Kalos native in the Masters Eight, Diantha's Mega Gardevoir, though it certainly had a better showing at the tournament. It outclassed Lance and his Hydreigon and Dynamaxed Dragonite, but didn't quite show the same dominance in its bout against Leon, knocking out Rillaboom but losing to G-Max Charizard in similarly lopsided fashion.
Still, it also showed its incredible strength throughout the XY anime; it was another one of the key Pokemon trying to stop the Giant Rock during Team Flare's siege into Lumiose City. It has massive sheer power, a huge bag of tricks as a battler, and unmatched coordination; it can gracefully dodge attacks and counter with its own.
4 Steven's Mega Metagross
Steven Stone's shiny Mega Metagross is yet another to have appeared in the Masters Eight with a prior record of dominance in the XY seasons. It withstood a powerful Blast Burn from Alain's Charizard and hit back just as hard, and arguably played the biggest role in stopping Team Flare down the stretch of that arc.
It didn't quite match that immaculate strength in the Masters Eight, but it still proved to be a tough matchup for Ash in his first battle of the tournament. It had the upper hand against Pikachu for a while thanks to its ability to predict Pikachu's moves, though it ultimately lost thanks to a combination of 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt and Iron Tail.
3 Lysandre's Mega Gyarados
More fans should be talking about Lysandre's Mega Gyarados as an absolute behemoth in the anime. Other than the fact that it's shiny, it's just really, really powerful.
It had minimal appearances throughout the anime, but in its most notable appearance, it took Charizard and both Ash's Pikachu and Greninja for it to finally fall in the climactic Team Flare battle. Prior to that, it wiped out a bunch of Ash's other Pokemon by itself. The one thing keeping it from the top spot is that it hasn't participated in an officially sanctioned on-screen battle.
2 Ash's Mega Lucario
Despite the all-around strength of Ash Ketchum's Journeys squad (sans Pikachu), Lucario has unquestionably been his ace, in large part thanks to its ability to Mega Evolve. It had many moments of triumph against some of the strongest Trainer-owned Pokemon across the Pokemon world, including Bea's G-Max Machamp, Raihan's G-Max Duraludon, and Cynthia's Garchomp.
It can't quite claim the top spot, though, as it defeated said Garchomp with the caveat that she wasn't Mega Evolved. It's also shown to be relatively inconsistent at times, bowing out unexpectedly early in Ash's final battle against Leon. Still, it has a case for the top spot, and it's at the very least a sure numero dos among all Mega Evolved Pokemon in the anime.
1 Cynthia's Mega Garchomp
Cynthia's Garchomp has been hailed one of, if not the most powerful Trainer-owned Pokemon in the world throughout her time in the anime, and she spent around 90 percent of that time without Mega Evolution.
Perhaps that stipulation makes her top spot here debatable, but with how close she came to defeating Ash's Mega Lucario without Mega Evolving (thanks to Cynthia's questionable decision to Dynamax Togekiss in that semifinal), it can be argued that that extra boost from Mega Evolution would have pushed her over the edge and brought Cynthia to the Masters Eight final. That and her previous stretches of utter dominance in the series make her a deserving winner here.