Much like in the games, there's a certain hierarchy of Trainers in the Pokemon anime. There are a bunch of people known and admired for their battling prowess, but who among them are the true top dogs?
These entries showcase the best of the best Trainers in the anime. Not all of them have official titles, but none of them are to be messed around with, whether it's thanks to their Pokemon, certain add-ons like Mega Evolutions, or pure strategic excellence.
Updated January 17, 2023 by Kyle Laurel: After Ash won the Masters Eight Tournament and Goh finished Project Mew, the Pokemon anime as we know it has come to a conclusion. Here's what it's leaving us with in terms of the strongest Trainers in battle and official recognition.
17 Professor Kukui
Once having a stranglehold on the title for the strongest Trainer in Alola, Professor Kukui - then under his alter ego The Masked Royal - is a highly skilled battler. His loss against Ash says otherwise, but it's still established that any Trainer in Alola that wants to become great has to go through him and his mighty Incineroar first.
He hasn't truly shown that battling skill against anyone other than Ash, and he doesn't seem to have participated in the World Coronation Series, so he's going to have to settle for last place here. Still, his status is enough to get him on the list.
16 Gym Leaders
Given their place in the official Trainer hierarchy (relative to Elite Four members and such), Gym Leaders can only be recognized as so strong. That said, there are a ton of Gym Leaders of the world with varying skill levels, and there are certainly a few standouts.
Ash had to fight a few Gym Leaders quite deep into his World Coronation Series run. Kalos's Korrina and Kanto's Lt. Vizquez are notable participants of the Series, and Volkner in particular had a lengthy stint at the Ultra Class. There's no definitive knowledge on the placement of other Gym Leaders, but there's precedent for Gym Leaders to rank pretty high.
15 Alder
Former Champion Alder wouldn't have placed that high on this list even if he'd kept his title. He's shown more signs of weakness than you'd expect from someone of his level.
He actually lost to Ash after he fell asleep mid-battle, and had a harder time against Trip's Serperior than you'd expect. Granted, most of this is a product of his laid-back attitude and not feeling the need to prove himself. Still, with Iris overtaking him as Unova Champion, you wouldn't be blamed for putting his relative strength into question, especially since he had no significant appearances in Journeys to indicate how much has changed.
14 Wallace
Another former Champ, Wallace has since let Steven Stone take over as Hoenn's crown-wearer and made himself more known the world over as a Master Coordinator.
He hasn't been seen in any actual battles save for a cameo in Pokemon Journeys, when he had a battle with Ash. The actual battle wasn't shown much on screen, but it's implied that Ash won. There hasn't been any display of Wallace's skill other than that battle and a few excellently stylish Twisters and Hydro Pumps from his world-famous Milotic.
13 Frontier Brains
To have a whole season of the anime dedicated to the Battle Frontier is certainly impressive. If nothing else, it's a showcase of some of the best Trainers around, due to both the strategies they employ and the Pokemon they bring into battle.
Of course, they vary in strength. Brandon, the strongest of the three, could feasibly be seen as part of the Ultra Class, but the eye-test strength of all the Frontier Brains averages out to its placement here.
12 Tobias
Seriously, where the hell is this guy? There were some flimsy rumors that Tobias would show up during the World Coronation Series, but that never happened, so fans only have his dominant performance at the Lily of the Valley Conference to go off of.
While it was an absolute wipe for everyone else at the competition (except Ash to an extent), none of that came against a truly elite Trainer at the time, so no one knows how he would fare against, say, Cynthia. Plus, it's hard to say how much his victories rely on his skill as a Trainer and how much of it is from his team being so damn overpowered compared to those of the Trainers he faced on-screen.
11 Elite Four Members
The owner of the Battle Frontier, Scott, claims that the Frontier is on the level of at least the Indigo Elite Four. While that seems to be true, it's hard to stack them up against the Elite Fours of other leagues, who are officially above conference winners like Tobias.
While not every region's Elite Four from the games has appeared in the anime, the ones that have appeared are certainly Elite with a capital E. Certain standouts include the aforementioned Flint, who's been in the Masters Eight and once challenged Cynthia for her throne as Sinnoh Champion, and all of Kalos's four, including Drasna, who was last seen ranked 12th in the World Coronation Series.
10 Galar Gym Leaders
While Gym Leaders at large rank relatively low on this list, Galar's are on a completely new level. It's been said they surpass the Elite Fours of most other regions.
That shows in the World Coronation Series. Raihan had a stint in the Masters Eight, and Bea and Marnie were some of the biggest obstacles on Ash's path to the championship. Considering they're the only three to be seen in the World Coronation Series, it's much safer to average them out to this shared place on this list.
9 Paul
Ash's former rival was a somewhat surprising absence from the Masters Eight, since he's been seen as just about on par with Ash at every point in their shared journey. That was proven during his recent (though unsanctioned) three-on-three battle against Ash, who at this point was already in the Masters Eight. Paul pretty much matched Ash every step of the way and even managed to knock out one of his Pokemon.
Much has been said about Paul's strategic excellence, but he also just has a bunch of straight-up really powerful Pokemon under his belt. His experiences battling Ash over the years have also made him a more level-headed Trainer, so much so that he'll be appointed as a new Gym Leader.
8 Alain
Don't let his disappointing run at the Masters Eight fool you; Alain was there for a reason. He's been at least the second-strongest Kalos-native for quite a while, and his victory against XY Ash, arguably the first truly elite version of the series protagonist, proves as much.
Of course, his unceremonious exit from the Masters Eight still leaves a bad taste in many fans' mouths. Given how the rest of the first round of the tournament went, though, receiving the kind of ass-whooping he received means he has to sit at the bottom of the eight.
7 Lance
Lance resembles an elite athlete falling out of his prime. For the earliest seasons of the anime, he was implied to be the strongest Trainer of the land, but as the anime has introduced more characters, he's had more people competing for his spot at the throne.
While he did win the Pokemon World Tournament in Unova, reach the previous Masters Eight Tournament final, and put up a good fight against Leon there, the most recent Masters Eight Tournament saw him take the fall in the first round to a marginally stronger Champion in Diantha.
6 Iris
Exhibit A of people overtaking Lance: Unova's current champion. Alongside Ash, Iris is another new kid on the block, having just as fast a rise to the Masters Eight seemingly right after she took the crown in Unova.
Unfortunately, she ran into Cynthia in the first round, and try as she might, she couldn't get past the more composed and more experienced Champion. Still, she's primed to keep competing and growing, which is a great culmination of all the untapped potential she showed during her first appearances in the series.
5 Steven Stone
After debuting in the anime as a lowly traveler, Steven Stone took Wallace's mantle as Hoenn Champion and has proved his skills to be worthy of that throne since the XY seasons. His shiny Mega Metagross is still up there as one of the strongest Pokemon owned by any Trainer, period.
Unfortunately, he can only go as high as fifth here after running into Ash, who had the power of friendship and a tad bit of plot armor on his side. Still, in any other Tournament where Ash didn't participate, it's hard not to picture him at least putting up a good fight in either the semi-final or final.
4 Diantha
Diantha makes top four on this list as one of the Masters Eight semi-finalists, but her showing in the tournament honestly wasn't that strong. Not many details are known about her victory over Lance, but she got totaled in her semi-final match against Leon, barely taking out two Pokemon.
Her previous appearances in the XY seasons have shown dents in her armor, too, with her Mega Gardevoir almost losing to Ash's Greninja before both he and Ash collapsed. It'd be foolish to doubt the proficiency of a Champion, but she hasn't always been at her best on-screen.
3 Cynthia
Despite the loss in the semi-final, Cynthia showed the world she was still on top of her game. After a convincing victory over Iris, she entered her battle against Ash guns blazing, taking out three of his Pokemon in a flash.
As this list suggests, she might not be the outright best Trainer alive anymore, but she is probably still the most ruthless in battle. She comes at opponents like a tidal wave, thanks to the sheer power of her Pokemon, but she can also keep them guessing with her strategic excellence.
2 Leon
Of course, second place on this list is former World Coronation Series Monarch and loser of the recent final, Leon. Despite ultimately losing to Ash, he most certainly proved his championship pedigree wasn't unwarranted.
He absolutely blazed through his other opponents in the Masters Eight, and gave Ash a really hard time. His team seems to be the most formidable of the bunch still, with massive threats across his whole lineup of Pokemon. All credits to Ketchum, but it shouldn't be forgotten that Leon was one solid hit to Pikachu away from defending his title.
1 Ash Ketchum
He's done it. After a contentious Masters Eight Tournament, Ash Ketchum has faced the strongest Champions the Pokemon world has to offer and won. He's officially recognized as the very best Trainer alive.
He's going out on top, too, as he's on his last ride as the star of the Pokemon anime. It's unclear how long he'll keep his standing at the very top once the cameras stop rolling, but should he continue battling, he's probably going to be a force to be reckoned with at the next few Masters Eight Tournaments.