Explaining Battling and Experience in the Pokémon Anime

[Rune Knight]

Hello friends.

I've been to meaning to share my thoughts on this subject for a while. Since I'm posting it, it likely means that finally got around to do it. Keep in mind that this is purely based on speculation, and should not be taken as factual. It's just a result of being bored out of my mind.

A lot of people often complain about how Ash's Pikachu should be "Level 100" by now and pretty much capable of one shotting anything without any effort.

I have come to explain why this is not the case and provide justifiable reasons beyond the idea that levels don't exist in the anime. I'm aware the levels were actually mentioned a few times during the course of the series, but I believe that we should not take this to heart and also consider the idea that it has been retconned since.

So first, we should consider battling as a type of sport; like soccer, like football, etc. In order to get better at it, a trainer and their pokémon must practice and train constantly, and if they stop for a while they are prone to become rusty and forget some of their skills. However, they can pick them right back up if they get back into it.

Physiologically, each pokémon is limited to a certain level of strength. Similar to humans, pokémon cannot keep getting stronger forever. The cap for each pokémon depends on the species. For example, the average Pikachu does not have the capacity to be as strong as the average Tyranitar, no matter how much they train. Just like a human compared to a Gorilla. This is often referred to as base stat in the games.

However in the world of Pokémon, this doesn't mean that a Pikachu can never beat a Tyranitar in a battle with the right training and strategy.

Ash's Pikachu is special and often labelled as the world's strongest Pikachu, and it's been hinted at many times that this is due to the special bond that it holds with Ash and because it has a lot of battle experience compared to the average Pikachu. However, this does not come without its faults.

The most particular example that people often criticize is when Pikachu managed to defeat a Latios towards the latter end of the Sinnoh League, but lost to a Rookie trainer with a Snivy 3 episodes later.

My desire is not to attempt to side with writers and attempt to justify this in any way, however I would like to be objective by offering a broader perspective in the scenario. So without further due, here is a list of likely reasons that explain why Pikachu lost to Snivy in the way that it did, some of them you may have heard before.

Spoiler: Reasons Why Pikachu Lost to Snivy

1. Ash and Pikachu had not battled in a while, which rendered them a little rustier in the sport than usual.
2. Pikachu's electricity was disabled, severely cutting its overall battle strength and limiting its move-sets.
3. Although Trip was a rookie at the time, he had a lot of prior knowledge and possibly some experience to pokémon battles, making him a strong and competent trainer from the start.
4. Trip's Snivy was already very strong compared to the average Snivy, especially a starter.
5. Snivy used moves that Ash was not familiar with, therefore he could not strategize around them at the time.
6. Beginner's luck.

TLDR, the way to look at battling in the anime should be treated in the same light as looking at a sport and instead of seeing it through video game mechanics. There's a limit to how good and how strong a Pokémon can become depending on the species, but they can all be good at battling if they practice. With the right trainer and strategy, even a messily Pikachu or Rattata can defeat a Legendary.

And one last time, THIS IS JUST A THEORY.

 

[AJ97]

1) Trip was a rookie who presumably had next to no battle experience. So your first point wouldn't hold.

2) Fair point. But weakened enough to lose against a Rookie trainer? Pikachu has been in worser situations before and still got out of it.

3) Trip was never classified as a Prodigy. Even if he had prior knowledge, it was never indicated that he was much experienced or smarter than Ash.

4) Not true. Ash's Snivy defeats servine another time they battled.

5) Trip didn't use any unique strategy/ move to come out on top. It was a generic power based battle.

6) Lol

Occam's Razor. The simples explanation is usually the right one. It was just bad writing.


Also, with regard to your point about how a max-trained Pikachu can never be as strong as a Tyranitar. I Sort of get your thinking. Every pokemon has a certain genetic capability and can only max its capacity.
So I'm assuming the reason the genetic limit you refer to here can sort of be compared to a Pokemon's Base stats? If Yes, taking this into consideration, I would like to throw a question back to you.

Let's take Lance and Leon. They both are the two strongest trainers in the world. Even though Lance used his Gyarados against Leon's Charizard, I think you would agree that Lance's Dragonite should also be weaker than Leon's Charizard. Since Dragonite hear also has superior base stats to Charizard, according to your theory, a Max Trainer Dragonite would always be stronger than the Charizard. So based on this, would it really make sense to assume that the second strongest trainer is still far from training Dragonite to its true potential such that another trainer has managed to train a Charizard to a level above that? I mean obviously, your argument would still hold as we could assume this fact is true. But at least to me, it feels like too much of a stretch to believe that the Second Strongest Trainer in the world is still far from training his Dragonite to its true potential.

 

[Rune Knight]

Occam's Razor. The simples explanation is usually the right one. It was just bad writing.


Also, with regard to your point about how a max-trained Pikachu can never be as strong as a Tyranitar. I Sort of get your thinking. Every pokemon has a certain genetic capability and can only max its capacity.
So I'm assuming the reason the genetic limit you refer to here can sort of be compared to a Pokemon's Base stats? If Yes, taking this into consideration, I would like to throw a question back to you.

Let's take Lance and Leon. They both are the two strongest trainers in the world. Even though Lance used his Gyarados against Leon's Charizard, I think you would agree that Lance's Dragonite should also be weaker than Leon's Charizard. Since Dragonite hear also has superior base stats to Charizard, according to your theory, a Max Trainer Dragonite would always be stronger than the Charizard. So based on this, would it really make sense to assume that the second strongest trainer is still far from training Dragonite to its true potential such that another trainer has managed to train a Charizard to a level above that? I mean obviously, your argument would still hold as we could assume this fact is true. But at least to me, it feels like too much of a stretch to believe that the Second Strongest Trainer in the world is still far from training his Dragonite to its true potential.

From an outside-universe perspective, I agree that it was likely just a result of bad writing attempting to reset Ash to rookie-trainer status. It's best to keep in mind that battles however extend well beyond just raw power alone. Snivy itself is a fast and cunning pokémon.

The base stat was just an example of how it is portrayed in the games. You are right, Dragonite should be stronger than Charizard just from raw power alone, and it's likely that Lance's Dragonite which is arguably his ace pokémon is in fact trained to near if not its max potential.

However, like I said, raw power alone isn't enough to rely on when trying to win a battle. It's likely that even if Lance chose to use Dragonite against Leon's Charizard he would still lose due to Leon's trainer skills. I think that the reason he chose Gyarados was due to the type advantage, but that's up for debate.

Another factor regarding Leon's Charizard is its ability to gigantamax, which most other Charizards can't do. Dragonite, as far as we know cannot gigantamax, and would only be able to dynamax which isn't as powerful.

I think that the fact that Ash's Pikachu can gigantamax gives it a fighting chance against Leon.

 

[Ragnarok4]

raw power alone isn't enough to rely on when trying to win a battle.

An example of why iris lost to Ash

 

[AJ97]

From an outside-universe perspective, I agree that it was likely just a result of bad writing attempting to reset Ash to rookie-trainer status. It's best to keep in mind that battles however extend well beyond just raw power alone. Snivy itself is a fast and cunning pokémon.

The base stat was just an example of how it is portrayed in the games. You are right, Dragonite should be stronger than Charizard just from raw power alone, and it's likely that Lance's Dragonite which is arguably his ace pokémon is in fact trained to near if not its max potential.

However, like I said, raw power alone isn't enough to rely on when trying to win a battle. It's likely that even if Lance chose to use Dragonite against Leon's Charizard he would still lose due to Leon's trainer skills. I think that the reason he chose Gyarados was due to the type advantage, but that's up for debate.

Another factor regarding Leon's Charizard is its ability to gigantamax, which most other Charizards can't do. Dragonite, as far as we know cannot gigantamax, and would only be able to dynamax which isn't as powerful.

I think that the fact that Ash's Pikachu can gigantamax gives it a fighting chance against Leon.

The Strategy excuse is simply overused.
In the Orange Island Championship match, Drake's Dragonite was much stronger than the entirety of Ash's team. Hence, he knew that he would need help from his entire team to win. A similar approach was used against Whitney's Milktank.
At the same time, we've also seen a Veteran Trainer Paul, use Strategy combined with experienced Pokemon against Cynthia and it did nothing because of the difference in strength. Cynthia didn't have to resort to any strategy simply because of the difference in power. If Cynthia was battling Flint or someone strong enough to push her, then she would probably do the same.

For "Strategy to work" there must be a reasonable rationale reason for the same. Like for example, if Trip used Endevour and quick attack, that would be reasonable. There was no strategy in that battle period. Plus, a newbie trainer shouldn't be able to out strategies + Out power a veteran trainer's most experienced Pokemon. This would be just making over-the-top assumptions for Trip.

An example of why iris lost to Ash

Iris against lost to Ash because of bad writing period. It's a lot easy to simply justify ridiculousness but a Pokemon that has never battled before, should NOT be able to defeat a Regional Champion's Pokemon. Whatever strategy it may be, They made Iris is a champion because of the games. She should've been a gym leader.

 

[Rune Knight]

The Strategy excuse is simply overused.
In the Orange Island Championship match, Drake's Dragonite was much stronger than the entirety of Ash's team. Hence, he knew that he would need help from his entire team to win. A similar approach was used against Whitney's Milktank.
At the same time, we've also seen a Veteran Trainer Paul, use Strategy combined with experienced Pokemon against Cynthia and it did nothing because of the difference in strength. Cynthia didn't have to resort to any strategy simply because of the difference in power. If Cynthia was battling Flint or someone strong enough to push her, then she would probably do the same.

For "Strategy to work" there must be a reasonable rationale reason for the same. Like for example, if Trip used Endevour and quick attack, that would be reasonable. There was no strategy in that battle period. Plus, a newbie trainer shouldn't be able to out strategies + Out power a veteran trainer's most experienced Pokemon. This would be just making over-the-top assumptions for Trip.



Iris against lost to Ash because of bad writing period. It's a lot easy to simply justify ridiculousness but a Pokemon that has never battled before, should NOT be able to defeat a Regional Champion's Pokemon. Whatever strategy it may be, They made Iris is a champion because of the games. She should've been a gym leader.

Sadly I'm not too familiar with the examples that you mentioned because I haven't watched those episodes. But based on what you said, then yes there is a difference in power levels with experienced and non experienced pokemon.

However, I think we can relate it to real life, where a person can be good at a sport like soccer, train their bodies to peak human conditions, but still not be on the same level as someone who's on an international competitive scale such as in Fifa. Whereas I consider Paul as an advanced trainer within the top 5%, Cynthia who's on an international stage is likely on the top .1% if not less.

TLDR: The difference in skill and strength is large when comparing an advanced and skilled Trainer to an elite like Cynthia.

Now for Trip's case, I know that it's debatable and I do agree that it was a result of poor writing and an excuse to reset Ash. In universe, I think that the major reason why Pikachu lost was because of a loss in strength and Ash's inability to come up with a good strategy at the time.

The loss in strength likely came from the fact that Ash and Pikachu had not battled in a while between the time of DP and BW, as when a person doesn't practice a sport they become rusty at it. As well as the fact that Pikachu lost its electricity.

I do think that Trip had prior knowledge to how battles worked even though he had never battled before as it was stated that he always aspired to be a trainer, and I also think that he was a lot smarter than Ash and was quick to adapt.

The writers simply threw in too many curveballs to force Ash to lose, so overall once again it was a result of poor writing but in-universe I think that there are ways to somewhat justify it, not enough to satisfy but enough to get away with it, or at least I think.

 

[Lucario At Service]

Isn't that why, the Writers used the ridiculous plot of "Zekrom's electricity resetting Pikachu's power".
Aka., because Pikachu was hit by Zekrom, it got a long term debuff.

 

[Rune Knight]

Isn't that why, the Writers used the ridiculous plot of "Zekrom's electricity resetting Pikachu's power".
Aka., because Pikachu was hit by Zekrom, it got a long term debuff.

I don't that Zekrom permanently de-buffed Pikachu, just temporarily enough to have Ash lose against Trip.

I think that the reason why Pikachu was so weak in BW compared to how he was at the end of DP is because they stopped training in between, and because Ash didn't train him much during BW.

However, as the series progresses he does end up regaining his strength, which carries over to XY, SM, and Journeys.

 

[Pteranodonte]

This again? After 20+ years people still have to understand that a Pokémon is strong when the plot needs it to be strong or weak when the plot needs it to be weak? A newly hatched Ferroseed can OHKO a champion's Hetran with Bullet Seed if the writers want that to happen.

 

[Rune Knight]

This again? After 20+ years people still have to understand that a Pokémon is strong when the plot needs it to be strong or weak when the plot needs it to be weak? A newly hatched Ferroseed can OHKO a champion's Hetran with Bullet Seed if the writers want that to happen.

We'll, the purpose of this thread is mainly to justify it from an in-universe perspective and not from a behind the scene's thing.

There are many examples in films and movies that don't make sense and people will often argue those but it always comes from an "audience" look and trying to apply real-life elements to the situation.

Why is Ash still 10? Why did an Electric Type lose against a Water Type? Etc etc.

We ignore the idea that perhaps the pokemon anime world while similar is also different to that our own.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Power and experience correlate to how much the writers secretly dislike their own OC. Adding popularity is a second factor.

 

[Almighty Zard]

From an outside-universe perspective, I agree that it was likely just a result of bad writing attempting to reset Ash to rookie-trainer status. It's best to keep in mind that battles however extend well beyond just raw power alone. Snivy itself is a fast and cunning pokémon.

There were alot of things unova did that was hard to understand, I still feel personally that Pikachu was "reset" due to the fact that in the first BW games, older gen pokemon couldn't be used until post game, and that since Ash had just come out of such an intense league Pikachu probably would've steamrolled the first couple of gyms if they didn't do what they did.

But I also feel they went too far as Pikachu really didn't start regaining momentum until Ash's battle with Burgh, and not until the regions end did it feel like it was back up to full strength.

Another factor regarding Leon's Charizard is its ability to gigantamax, which most other Charizards can't do. Dragonite, as far as we know cannot gigantamax, and would only be able to dynamax which isn't as powerful.

I seem to recall Goh's Raboot only using Dynamax against a G-max garbodor and came out victorious.

the only advantage gigantamaxing gives as apposed to dynamaxing is the ability to use a unique move and nothing more, and both really only increase the pokemon's endurance factor (health) unlike where Mega evolution gave stat increases across everything, and allow them to use moves that essentially Z style moves up to three times instead of a one shot.

I think that the fact that Ash's Pikachu can gigantamax gives it a fighting chance against Leon.

I honestly don't think Pikachu can win in a fight like that, ever since the beginning of the show Pikachu has always been more about speed and evasion, while there have been times when Pikachu's shown to have endurance (like against Flints Infernape, and Trip's Serperior) those cases are rare (and questionable) and it is extremely limited more often than not, and strong enough moves can easily knock Pikachu out.

Doesn't help when gigantamaxed Pikachu gets big and chunky as well, which it clearly is not used to.

I honestly think that the only way Pikachu can take Leon's Charizard down is in a normal battle with no gimmicks, otherwise you might as well have it try using it's Exclusive Z-move since that would give it a better shot of taking down G-max charizard than going G-max itself.

 

[ShadowForce720]

There were alot of things unova did that was hard to understand, I still feel personally that Pikachu was "reset" due to the fact that in the first BW games, older gen pokemon couldn't be used until post game, and that since Ash had just come out of such an intense league Pikachu probably would've steamrolled the first couple of gyms if they didn't do what they did.

But I also feel they went too far as Pikachu really didn't start regaining momentum until Ash's battle with Burgh, and not until the regions end did it feel like it was back up to full strength.



I seem to recall Goh's Raboot only using Dynamax against a G-max garbodor and came out victorious.

the only advantage gigantamaxing gives as apposed to dynamaxing is the ability to use a unique move and nothing more, and both really only increase the pokemon's endurance factor (health) unlike where Mega evolution gave stat increases across everything, and allow them to use moves that essentially Z style moves up to three times instead of a one shot.



I honestly don't think Pikachu can win in a fight like that, ever since the beginning of the show Pikachu has always been more about speed and evasion, while there have been times when Pikachu's shown to have endurance (like against Flints Infernape, and Trip's Serperior) those cases are rare (and questionable) and it is extremely limited more often than not, and strong enough moves can easily knock Pikachu out.

Doesn't help when gigantamaxed Pikachu gets big and chunky as well, which it clearly is not used to.

I honestly think that the only way Pikachu can take Leon's Charizard down is in a normal battle with no gimmicks, otherwise you might as well have it try using it's Exclusive Z-move since that would give it a better shot of taking down G-max charizard than going G-max itself.

Well I think what Ash’s Pikachu needs is more experienced with Gigantamaxing so that it can get used to it. Also one thing to do to make it easier on Pikachu would be if it’s move set was structured in a way to allow it to be more effective when it Gigantamaxs.

What I mean is, while it true that Thunderbolt, Electro Web, Iron Tail, and Quick Attack is a pretty good move set for Pikachu normally.

However they don’t exactly transfer to Gigantamaxing well. Now when it comes to it’s signature G-Max move that can actually be improved and be made more efficient. However when it comes to Max Steelspike looking at how Pikachu is using it, I’m not really seeing any way for that to be more efficient.

There is also the question of if it can perform Max Strike effectively. As much as some people may like Iron Tail, and Quick Attack and consider them iconic for Ash’s Pikachu. If they plan on Ash’s Gigantamax Pikachu and doing good and possibly winning against Leon’s Gigantamax Charizard they may need to overhaul Pikachu’s move set and build it in a way that allows it to be effective with and without Gigantamax.

 

[Almighty Zard]

Well I think what Ash’s Pikachu needs is more experienced with Gigantamaxing so that it can get used to it. Also one thing to do to make it easier on Pikachu would be if it’s move set was structured in a way to allow it to be more effective when it Gigantamaxs.

Agreed on that one especially since Pikachu's only gone 2 twice and the first time wasn't official.

That's also something else to think about, they sure don't seem as keen on showcasing this new gimmick as much as they did the others in the anime...

What I mean is, while it true that Thunderbolt, Electro Web, Iron Tail, and Quick Attack is a pretty good move set for Pikachu normally.

I do kind of wish they would swap iron tail for brick break, but that's just me.

However they don’t exactly transfer to Gigantamaxing well. Now when it comes to it’s signature G-Max move that can actually be improved and be made more efficient. However when it comes to Max Steelspike looking at how Pikachu is using it, I’m not really seeing any way for that to be more efficient.

that's basically the whole problem, Pikachu is built better for normal combat, this new gimmick may give it some new "moves" but it gets crippled more than helped by it, because it gets big and chunky which goes against how it's mostly fought up till now.

There is also the question of if it can perform Max Strike effectively. As much as some people may like Iron Tail, and Quick Attack and consider them iconic for Ash’s Pikachu. If they plan on Ash’s Gigantamax Pikachu and doing good and possibly winning against Leon’s Gigantamax Charizard they may need to overhaul Pikachu’s move set and build it in a way that allows it to be effective with and without Gigantamax.

the only other move besides electrical based ones that Pikachu could learn as a counter measure is for some reason Surf, but even then i dunno if that would be enough, Lance's Gyarados an actual water type used that move and still lost

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

I seem to recall Goh's Raboot only using Dynamax against a G-max garbodor and came out victorious.

That was the plot trying to ensure Goh would win...and advancing a late-plot story too early weakening every major enemy for him and Ash to be on even ground. We all saw the Ember spam that took out Milotic, right.

 

[Almighty Zard]

That was the plot trying to ensure Goh would win...and advancing a late-plot story too early weakening every major enemy for him and Ash to be on even ground. We all saw the Ember spam that took out Milotic, right.

all g-maxing does is give the pokemon a different design and a special move, other than that it really doesn't have much superiority to standard dynamax pokemon in terms of stats.

really don't get why people can't just enjoy the show, but no now it's "plot this, plot that!" now.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

really don't get why people can't just enjoy the show, but no now it's "plot this, plot that!"

We all are praying for another Thunder Armor.

 

[Rune Knight]

There were alot of things unova did that was hard to understand, I still feel personally that Pikachu was "reset" due to the fact that in the first BW games, older gen pokemon couldn't be used until post game, and that since Ash had just come out of such an intense league Pikachu probably would've steamrolled the first couple of gyms if they didn't do what they did.

But I also feel they went too far as Pikachu really didn't start regaining momentum until Ash's battle with Burgh, and not until the regions end did it feel like it was back up to full strength.



I seem to recall Goh's Raboot only using Dynamax against a G-max garbodor and came out victorious.

the only advantage gigantamaxing gives as apposed to dynamaxing is the ability to use a unique move and nothing more, and both really only increase the pokemon's endurance factor (health) unlike where Mega evolution gave stat increases across everything, and allow them to use moves that essentially Z style moves up to three times instead of a one shot.



I honestly don't think Pikachu can win in a fight like that, ever since the beginning of the show Pikachu has always been more about speed and evasion, while there have been times when Pikachu's shown to have endurance (like against Flints Infernape, and Trip's Serperior) those cases are rare (and questionable) and it is extremely limited more often than not, and strong enough moves can easily knock Pikachu out.

Doesn't help when gigantamaxed Pikachu gets big and chunky as well, which it clearly is not used to.

I honestly think that the only way Pikachu can take Leon's Charizard down is in a normal battle with no gimmicks, otherwise you might as well have it try using it's Exclusive Z-move since that would give it a better shot of taking down G-max charizard than going G-max itself.

If Pikachu had kept it strength, the Unova league gyms would possess almost no challenge at all. Mainly BW started off as a sort of reboot to the franchise so they had find ways to nerf him even though it was very forced. However, it still possessed a lot of strength compared to other rookie-pokemon and moves that are not unlockable till later down its line such as Iron Tail and Volt Tackle, so the fact that it had battle experience was present but not mentioned directly.

There's kind of no way of getting around it now other than having Ash use other pokemon like he does in Journeys which imo has at least done an excellent job in not maintaining Pikachu's strength.

I don't think that a Dynamaxed pokemon is guaranteed to lose against a Gygantamaxed one, it's just that the latter has more options available. I don't know much about the gimmick but I don't think the writers gave Pikachu the ability to gigantamax without at least some purpose besides marketing. I think that it will play a role in giving Ash some sort of edge against Leon's Charizard, it just has to learn to use it better is all.

Pikachu also has a type advantage over Charizard, I know that the anime ignores that a lot but I do recall mentioning it during their first battle.

 

[AJ97]

Sadly I'm not too familiar with the examples that you mentioned because I haven't watched those episodes. But based on what you said, then yes there is a difference in power levels with experienced and non experienced pokemon.

However, I think we can relate it to real life, where a person can be good at a sport like soccer, train their bodies to peak human conditions, but still not be on the same level as someone who's on an international competitive scale such as in Fifa. Whereas I consider Paul as an advanced trainer within the top 5%, Cynthia who's on an international stage is likely on the top .1% if not less.

TLDR: The difference in skill and strength is large when comparing an advanced and skilled Trainer to an elite like Cynthia.

Now for Trip's case, I know that it's debatable and I do agree that it was a result of poor writing and an excuse to reset Ash. In universe, I think that the major reason why Pikachu lost was because of a loss in strength and Ash's inability to come up with a good strategy at the time.

The loss in strength likely came from the fact that Ash and Pikachu had not battled in a while between the time of DP and BW, as when a person doesn't practice a sport they become rusty at it. As well as the fact that Pikachu lost its electricity.

I do think that Trip had prior knowledge to how battles worked even though he had never battled before as it was stated that he always aspired to be a trainer, and I also think that he was a lot smarter than Ash and was quick to adapt.

The writers simply threw in too many curveballs to force Ash to lose, so overall once again it was a result of poor writing but in-universe I think that there are ways to somewhat justify it, not enough to satisfy but enough to get away with it, or at least I think.

Firstly, your sports analogy wouldn’t extend to Pokemon Trainers. One’s genetics does not have as much correlation to thwir Pokemon battling skills as you seem to suggest. What matters most is experience and training. What genetic trait do you think translates moat to Pokemon battles? Even battle IQ does not come entirely based off one’s general intellect. Clement has a much greater IQ than Ash, but the latter obviously has greater battle IQ developed over the course of his adventures. Both are mutually exclusive. Paul is inferior to Cynthia as he has less experience and his Pokemon aren’t trained to the same extend she has trained hers.

Also, you’re sort of contradicting your own points.
I agree that the genetic argument does extend to the actual Pokemon themselves. And I think you would agree that Pikachu is genetically an Elite (One of the strongest versions of Pikachus).
So even if “Trip’s snivy” was genetically an elite Pokemon “which it clearly isn’t based on all its battles”. It was still competing against a Genetically elite Pikachu, trained far more and being used by a much experienced trainer.

There’s no in Universe reason to justify the same. There are a lot of ridiculous things like this which cannot be justified. The “thunder shield” shenanigans against Tate and Liza, Pikachu using Thunder on the horn of a Ground Type to defeat it etc.

Plus, the show always resets Pikachu’s strength.
The same Pikachu that defeated Brandon’s Regice, consequently tied with Paul’s elekid.

The main reason again comes from the fact that the anime loves showing Ash as the underdog and always have him play David and Goliath to come out on top. If they transferred Pikachu’s level of strength from region to region, it would be hard to use him in gyms and lose. They could have the gym leaders use more powerful pokemon but then, Ash’s new team shouldn’t be able to keep up.

Hence, the anime as always in general reset Pikachu’s strength and kept it relative to his current team.

 

[ShadowForce720]

Firstly, your sports analogy wouldn’t extend to Pokemon Trainers. One’s genetics does not have as much correlation to thwir Pokemon battling skills as you seem to suggest. What matters most is experience and training. What genetic trait do you think translates moat to Pokemon battles? Even battle IQ does not come entirely based off one’s general intellect. Clement has a much greater IQ than Ash, but the latter obviously has greater battle IQ developed over the course of his adventures. Both are mutually exclusive. Paul is inferior to Cynthia as he has less experience and his Pokemon aren’t trained to the same extend she has trained hers.

Also, you’re sort of contradicting your own points.
I agree that the genetic argument does extend to the actual Pokemon themselves. And I think you would agree that Pikachu is genetically an Elite (One of the strongest versions of Pikachus).
So even if “Trip’s snivy” was genetically an elite Pokemon “which it clearly isn’t based on all its battles”. It was still competing against a Genetically elite Pikachu, trained far more and being used by a much experienced trainer.

There’s no in Universe reason to justify the same. There are a lot of ridiculous things like this which cannot be justified. The “thunder shield” shenanigans against Tate and Liza, Pikachu using Thunder on the horn of a Ground Type to defeat it etc.

Plus, the show always resets Pikachu’s strength.
The same Pikachu that defeated Brandon’s Regice, consequently tied with Paul’s elekid.

The main reason again comes from the fact that the anime loves showing Ash as the underdog and always have him play David and Goliath to come out on top. If they transferred Pikachu’s level of strength from region to region, it would be hard to use him in gyms and lose. They could have the gym leaders use more powerful pokemon but then, Ash’s new team shouldn’t be able to keep up.

Hence, the anime as always in general reset Pikachu’s strength and kept it relative to his current team.

Actually the only times they seemed to reset Pikachu’s strength was maybe at the beginning of AG and at the beginning of BW, however in the other series Pikachu just seems to pick up from where it’s left off in the previous series in terms of strength.