The Pokemon anime has been on the air for over twenty years, amassing over 1,000 episodes, 15 TV specials, and over twenty movies. In terms of popularity, it’s up there with the games, if not higher. The anime follows the adventures of young trainer Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu, accompanied by a small group of companions, as they explore, battle, and discover new things across various regions in the Pokemon universe.
Ash has had plenty of companions throughout the anime. With each region, old faces move on and pursue their own adventures while fresh new faces join the main cast. Sometimes the newcomers are great, while other times, they don’t measure up to their predecessors.
Updated on January 10, 2023, by Doruk Kaptan: With Ash's decades-long adventure coming to an end, the future of the Pokemon anime is both uncertain and exciting at the same time. It's a bittersweet thing to say farewell to Ash and Pikachu.
However, now that Ash is retiring as a character, it's the perfect time to look back and appreciate the adventures he's embarked on. He has had quite the selection of human companions on top of his trusty Pokemon, after all. While some outshine the others, they're all iconic in their own way.
15 Chloe
Pokemon is a series with tons of deep female characters with drives, struggles, and goals. Unfortunately, Chloe is not one of them. She is a rather distant, uncertain, and ultimately boring character. While she does grow throughout Journeys, she never reaches the heights of the other companions.
The thing that makes Chloe boring is her lack of direction. She herself doesn't know what she wants to achieve, which is hard to root for. Her exploration of that could have been done way better, at least. Fans speculated that her Eevee would evolve into a new form, teasing a new Eeveelution in Scarlet and Violet, but even that didn't come to pass.
14 Verity And Sorrel
While not companions in the sense that they're not from the anime series, but instead from I Choose You!, Verity and Sorrel represent something interesting. Just like the movie reimagines Ash's beginnings as a trainer, Verity and Sorrel reimagine what Ash's original companions could be.
Neither Verity nor Sorrel are as deep as some of the other characters on this list. However, they fit into some of the archetypes, being a competitive new trainer and an aspiring Pokemon Professor who knows stuff. These two represent that no matter the characters, the important thing is friendship and supporting each other. It's beautiful in its own way.
13 Tracey
Unlike most companions on this list, Tracey isn’t a carry-over character from the games adapted into the anime setting. Instead, he was brought over to Johto in order to replace Brock. It wasn’t the smoothest transition, and for the most part, Tracey felt too much like Brock’s replacement rather than his own character.
Tracey shares a lot of similarities with Brock, such as his affinity for strong women and his knowledge of Pokemon. It just feels as though it would’ve been better to keep Brock in the anime instead of creating another character who was all too similar to him. He had a cool quirk in Pokemon-watching and a memorable old Scyther, at least.
12 Goh
Goh is an interesting character. Despite being the last companion in a huge lineup, he stands out. This character, hated by many fans, is a headstrong, overconfident, and somewhat reclusive trainer, which makes him a great foil to Ash. He's also the first main character who actually tries to catch 'em all.
While many fans have negative feelings towards Goh's ease of capturing strong Pokemon and his lack of struggle to be good, he did give us a new approach to adventuring. While it's true that he exists mainly to promote Pokemon Let's Go, he did provide something new to the anime, and that's commendable.
11 Bonnie
Along with her brother Clemont, Bonnie was part of Ash’s group for the XY series. Though it promised to be full of new and interesting adventures, the choice of companions was subpar on the whole, with Bonnie being one of the weaker parts of the cast.
Bonnie is a cheerful character with a knack for befriending Pokemon. She’s very energetic and is always thinking of her brother. While not bad traits, they didn’t culminate in a high-tier character. She could have worked better in a more laid back series, perhaps, such as Sun & Moon or Journeys.
10 Cilan
Introduced in the Best Wishes series, Cilan was a companion who never left that big of a mark on fans. Much like Brock in the original anime, Cilan is introduced as a Gym leader who leaves his post to accompany Ash on his journey.
Cilan is presented as a “Pokemon Connoisseur” in the anime and proves to be very knowledgeable about Pokemon in general. But things never really clicked with him as they did with Brock. His enthusiasm and depth are intriguing for sure, but the writing is to blame for how he never got the spotlight he needed.
9 Iris
Another Best Wishes companion, Iris, was certainly a much more interesting character to watch than Cilan. While she did have her fair share of moments and memorable quirks, she's ultimately remembered as a character who kept bashing Ash and his methods to no end.
Iris is a very outgoing character who’s shown to be incredibly active, with a fondness towards Dragon-type Pokemon. Her most memorable running gag is her lack of direction, which is often used as comic relief by the show’s writers.
8 Max
Another anime-only character, Max, is introduced as May’s brother and is pegged as the know-it-all type of character. Though a little bratty at times, Max really developed into a likeable and interesting character throughout his time as part of the main cast. Mostly thanks to Brock's tutelage, he also adds practical knowledge to his book smarts.
It didn’t take long in the series for Max to grow into a sympathetic young man. His consistent support and pride in May also boosted his likability. Max's biggest role was as a sort of student to Ash, giving our protagonist the first chance to teach and learn at the same time — something which was great to watch.
7 Clemont
Clemont served as Ash’s companion in Kalos along with his sister Bonnie. Though the siblings weren’t bad characters by any means, they didn’t leave all too much of a mark on the show as companions. Clemont, at least, was a little more memorable than his younger sister.
He is shown to be very knowledgeable when it comes to Pokemon and takes great pride in being an inventor. His faulty gadgets were a great running gag, though sadly served as one of his few memorable aspects.
6 The Sun & Moon Gang
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Along with a new art style, the Sun & Moon series introduced fans to a different format that had Ash stay in one place rather than explore the given region as he did in the past. Also different is the dynamic between Ash and his companion in this series.
The Sun & Moon gang feels like a closer-knit unit rather than individual characters. Though they do each possess their own unique characteristics, they’ve got great chemistry and are a ton of fun to watch each episode. With quantity, however, it becomes harder to maintain quality. While cool as a group, the individuals struggle to find enough screen time to develop as characters. If only we got more time to get to know them better.
5 Serena
Serena was first introduced in the XY series, and unlike Bonnie and Clemont, proved to be a fan favorite as well as one of the most memorable companions in the series thus far. This is partly due to her own achievements and partly to her partnership with Ash.
Serena is revealed to be a childhood friend of Ash’s in the anime, a popular trope that surprisingly hadn’t made its way into the show at that point. Serena has had the most character development in the series, matured considerably, and by the end of her run, she had cemented herself as one of the series’ best companions. Her implied kiss with Ash also exploded the fandom, so there's that.
4 May
May is an easy character to like. As is the case with her game counterpart, May is a very kind and optimistic character who is shown to be a little more feminine and cutesy than other female companions. But that doesn’t mean she’s lacking any fire or spunk, as May has proven to be one of the most competitive characters on the show.
She and Max have a great dynamic, as is the case with her and Ash, as well as Brock. May was just a great character who many fans of the anime wish would make a return sooner rather than later. She was also the first new trainer who Ash accompanied, leading an amazing student-and-mentor dynamic as well as lots of room for growth.
3 Dawn
Dawn is similar to Tracey in that she’s very much like another one of Ash’s original companions from the anime. Of course, the comparison everyone makes in Dawn’s case is Misty. Though not overtly the same character, they do share some similarities, such as her bike being destroyed by Pikachu’s Thunderbolt.
Unlike Misty, Dawn never held a grudge. She was a very brave, cheerful, and optimistic character and was easy to root for throughout her stint as a part of the main cast. She felt very close to Ash, trading with him and training together. She was also the only old companion who attended Ash's World Championship match and award ceremony in person, shooting her up this ranking.
2 Misty
Misty is the first female companion the animated series introduced us to, and as a result, she is fondly remembered by many. Misty is shown to be a bit of a tomboy, especially when compared to her sisters. However, she is far from a one-note character.
Her fear of Bug-type Pokemon is one of the most memorable character quirks in the series. She's very strong in battle as well, and from day one pushed Ash to become the trainer he is today. Though she left the original series, she’s been mentioned multiple times and even made reappearances every so often.
1 Brock
Throughout the entirety of the Pokemon anime, one character who has either been featured, mentioned, or modeled after the most has to be Brock. Though shown to be very mature and serving as a mentor a lot of the time, Brock is also depicted as being very passionate when it comes to Pokemon caretaking or gorgeous women.
It’s a running gag throughout the series, with the end result often being either rejection or harsh reprimanding, usually by one of the female companions. It’s all of these amusing and respectable characteristics that make Brock the most memorable companion in the series.