The Pokemon franchise owes a lot to the starters. Aside from being key parts of the games, they've carried heavy responsibility in terms of popularity and have arguably been the most accessible ways to market the franchise. That proves especially true in the anime, where most of the main characters have starter Pokemon as their aces.
They vary in power, and some of them aren't even fully evolved. Regardless, some of them have not only grown to be fan favorites, but incredibly powerful in the anime universe. Here's a look at the best.
Note: This list will not include Ash's Pikachu, as this list aims to only include Pokemon that are distinctly marketed as starters.
15 May's Blaziken
While it's more specialized to perform in Contests than hold its own in regular battles, May's Blaziken is still plenty strong.
The problem is, it spent most of its screen time as a Combusken, having only had two full on-screen battles in its fully evolved form. Still, with how prominent a coordinator May has grown into, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume Blaziken was a huge reason for that, even though fans haven't seen the fully evolved version at 100% power.
14 Kiawe's Charizard
Spoiler alert: this won't be the last time a Charizard appears on this list. Kiawe mostly uses his Charizard as a Ride Pokemon, but when called upon to battle, it can hold its own and then some.
This showed particularly against Sophocles' Vikavolt, when it overcame the super-effective Electric-type attacks to beat it, even surviving a Z-Move in the process. Charizard is also capable of its own two Z-Moves, being those of its two types: Supersonic Skystrike and Inferno Overdrive.
13 Lana's Primarina
Lana's Primarina is more known for its singing, which is warranted thanks to it helping calm down the Legendary Kyogre, but it's more than competent in battle as well.
It's capable of many different kinds of Water-type attacks, namely Surf, Bubble Beam, Aqua Jet, and its signature Sparkling Aria. Much like Kiawe's Charizard, it's capable of two Z-Moves: Hydro Vortex and Sparkling Aria's upgrade, Oceanic Operetta.
12 Gary's Blastoise
For a Pokemon that's considered to be the ace of the most popular rival in the anime, Blastoise hasn't been on screen much. Of course, that's because there was a lot of spectacle around revealing which starter Gary picked from the Oak Laboratory.
It appeared in Gary's battle against Ash in the Silver Conference, where it defeated Bayleef despite the type matchup, but also lost to Charizard despite the type matchup, which is all kinds of confusing for the purposes of this list.
11 Sawyer's Sceptile
Sawyer's Sceptile wasn't primed to be as strong as it is from the start, but with a Trainer as tactical as Sawyer helping it out, it managed to reach its full potential. The Mega Evolution definitely helps.
What keeps it from ranking higher on this list is one glaring flaw: its track record against Ash's Greninja. Sure, Ash-Greninja is really strong, but it only came to that point in two of Sawyer's battles against Ash. Regardless, Sceptile's record against Greninja is a disappointing one win to four losses despite the type advantage.
10 Paul's Torterra
Paul's first Pokemon and arguably his strongest, Torterra, has the honor of getting praise from Cynthia after a battle with her Garchomp, even though it lost brutally. It also rarely gets a scolding from Paul, which is hard considering his incredibly high standards.
That's no surprise, considering how Torterra has performed in other battles, putting its coordination and bulk to good use. It's a bit baffling, then, that Paul didn't use it in his battle against Ash in the Sinnoh League.
9 Ash's Incineroar
To acknowledge the elephant in the room; yes, it did manage to beat Kukui's Incineroar as a Torracat, but its power as an Incineroar is yet to be seen. Until there's more concrete proof that Ash's Incineroar is indeed stronger than Kukui's, it will have to settle for being the second strongest of its species in Alola.
Still, it currently has the title of being the only Pokemon to beat Kukui's Incineroar, at least from what fans have seen.
8 Kukui's Incineroar
The Incineroar owned by Professor Kukui, then recognized as the Masked Royal, had somewhat of a mythical presence to it, being the catalyst of an unprecedented Undertaker-style winning streak of going one-on-three against three other Pokemon.
It was given more time to shine in the exhibition battle against Ash, where it added to its resume by defeating Ash's lone Mythical Pokemon, Melmetal. It could've easily been considered the strongest Incineroar in all of Alola, if only it managed to withstand Ash's in the exhibition.
7 Ash's Infernape
Paul must have some regrets deep down that he left the Flame Pokemon go, with Ash taking it for himself and promptly turning it into his ace with the right approach to training.
There were times when it was too powerful for its own good, having a hard time controlling its Blaze ability. However, it's since gotten the balance of power and restraint just right, and now rivals Charizard for Ash's best Fire-type Pokemon.
6 Flint's Infernape
Not much was seen from Flint or his Pokemon in the anime. In fact, Infernape was the only Pokemon of his to appear, and is presumably his ace, having been with Flint since he was a child and it was just a Chimchar.
Regardless, he fought in an officially recognized fight against Cynthia's Garchomp in Flint's effort to become the Sinnoh Champion. He also had a battle against Ash before that and completely obliterated most of his team, proving that he's in a different league.
5 Ash's Sceptile
Despite the lack of a Mega Evolution, Ash's Sceptile is better than Sawyer's. That's no knock on Sawyer's though, as it's safe to say that Ash's Sceptile isn't quite like the others.
It has blitzing speed, and a lot of impressive showings under its belt. The main ones are tying against May's Blaziken despite the type disadvantage (in its first and only Contest battle, no less), and defeating Tobias's overpowered Darkrai, being the only one to do so up to this point.
4 Siebold's Blastoise
Another Elite Four member, another powerful starter. While even less is known about Siebold in the anime compared to Flint, what is known is the immense power of the one Pokemon he used on screen: his Blastoise.
Siebold's Blastoise is capable of Mega Evolution, and that, along with said immense power, was showcased in a battle against Alain's Mega Charizard X. The type advantage might have helped, but Blastoise won with relative ease.
3 Ash's Charizard
Ash had a real powerhouse in his hands as his first true ace Pokemon, and after an extended stint of training at Charicific Valley, Ash's Charizard is now more powerful than ever.
It proved that power against Iris's Dragonite, an infamously tough Pokemon to beat, and it was on the verge of winning that battle if it weren't interrupted. Of course, what truly pushed Ash's Charizard to become powerful was respecting its Trainer, who is no longer the little brat that caught it a long time ago.
2 Alain's Charizard
It might be a surprise seeing Alain's Charizard higher than Ash's on this list, but there's more reason to consider Alain's better besides its ability to Mega Evolve. Ash's hasn't had a proper battle in a long time, with the last one it had happening prior to Alain's arc in the anime.
Alain's Charizard has also been more reliable in battling situations, with Ash's being a bit rougher around the edges or, in its early days, too disobedient to be useful. The Mega Evolution is simply a cherry on top.
1 Ash's Greninja
It's hard to decide if Ash-Greninja is actually stronger than Alain's Charizard since it lost that climactic battle and even others before it, but the rarity of the Ash-Greninja form is too hard to ignore.
Regardless, the Ash-Greninja form is strong enough to rival any Mega Evolution. It even has a particular knack for beating opponents that have a type advantage over it, such as Wulfric's Mega Abomasnow and Sawyer's Mega Sceptile, which is ironic considering Ash's troubles with type matchups.