Which Companion collectively has the strongest team

[Spacialrend]

Strictly speaking of past/current characters who have accompanied Ash on his journey. So no talk of Gary, Paul, Barry, Trip, etc; they don't count.

Between Brock, Misty, May, Dawn, Iris and Cilan.

I'm puzzling on my own decision at this point, I can't decide.

 

[CyberCubed]

Cilan is a very strong battler, but he only has 3 Pokemon.

I'd say May/Dawn and Brock are probably all around tied, but the problem is Brock barely battles. Most of his Pokemon hardly did anything which is a shame as he has some Pokemon that should be really strong.

The problem with Misty is her team is all the same type, so she has no diversity in her pokemon. When you have all water types with almost all similar moves, there's not a lot she can do there. The other problem is her Starmie never used any Psychic attacks or any special attacks at all, so it just came across as a clone of Staryu.

 

[JennaJayfeather]

......

Dento's team for three Pokemon is enough to get far. He's got 2 parts God, 1 part Troll and he could handle the rest by blinding the foe with sparkles and then knock them out with his charm. He beat every fangirl that entered his Gym that way and he didn't even have to use his Pokemon

Though my personal bias aside I think May has collectively the best team. I lost 50+ times to a Blaziken...so that species has my respect. Plus she has Glaceon which is great coverage and Venusaur, Wartortle, Munchlax....so yeah I have to say May (realistically speaking, and not really what I want to say XDD; )

EDIT: "They all 'Flail'?" XD

EDIT EDIT: I hope you know guys you're all making me feel guilty for not saying Dento. ;_;

 

[Lucariolover22]

Definitely Cilan and not because he is a gym leader. Brock is not good, I never saw May or Misty battle. Dawn was ok as well.

 

[Pepsi_Plunge]

Stop making threads including Dent and Iris when their journey hasn't ended or atleast give them a region.

 

[sSerenity]

May has of course the best team with powerful pokemon evolved and variety of types.

 

[Serah37]

I said May, although I do think Dawn could give her some problems if they did fight.

 

[streetlightdsb]

Probably May. Lots of evos, good coverage etc. Given her 'straight up attacking' strategy for contest battles she probably could have been a good battler.

Though I have no doubt Cilan will be strongest by the end of his run. One word- Zeustle (to steal Elice Carol's name)

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Probably either Cilan,Misty,Brock or May.
Here is view on everyone:

Cilan:he had lot of battling experience as gym leader and by taking in account good use of strategy we saw he would be one of better battlers out there.His pokemon like Stunfisk,Dwebble or Pansage all showed impresive moveset and strength too(athough in his case every new move seems to be learned of screen taking away from credibillity).

May:didnt battled much in real trainer battles which could represent handicap for her in those kind of matches but she showed impressive skill and combination of techniques in contest battling rounds with her style as coordinator being similar to battling style Ash used in gyms with some things going in her favor.She also has quite a few good powerhouses like Blaziken,Venusaur or Glaceon with others not being too shabby either.Definitely among top ones judging by what she showed so far.

Brock:unfortunately while he has impressive collection of pokemon like Steelix,Crobat,Marshtamp etc his battling skills rusty over time barely battling after he left his gym leader position being mainly focused on taking care of pokemon being breeder.
He did showed some good moves like when battling May in contest round but we get to see with his lane performance vs inspector Joy recently that lack of frequent battling for long time left its mark.

Misty: is the only girl until Iris,which wasnt complete beginner when she started traveling with Ash,she is gym leader and her aim is to become water master trying to overcome their disadvantage preparing them for anything,during course of series having some impressive battles and wins like winning Princess tournament,Seaking contest,managed to top 8 in Whirl Cup(which has very strong competition),and some of her pokemon like Staryu are one of her strongest pokemon displaying strength vs Mollys Mantine(which was stronger than usual because of unown).She also has that powerhouse Gyarados,versatile Staryu and Corsola and well trained Politoad having a lot of battling experience.

She definitely shouldnt be underestimated being among better ones.

Dawn:showed impressive knowledge and use of her experience as coordinator and has some good pokemon like Quilava or Mamoswine.However problem is she doesnt have much experience in real pokemon battles and while same thing could be said for May in her advantage goes fact that she mimic Ash style when battling gym leaders with different kind of battling in contests giving her edge.

That and Dawn didnt showed outside from contests some impressive use of skill when battling against regular trainers like Brock at times,Misty or Cilan did.
Some combinations which are used in contests gaining points are great for such events,but wouldnt end up very effective in normal battles.

Iris:aside from competent and quite powerful Excadrill other members of her team like Emolga and Axew didnt showed much going for them for now and due to Iris not having so much battling experience like some other characters she isnt one of strongest Ash companions at moment.
Sure mole did beat 99 opponents but we dont know how good they were and this was local tournament with other characters like May,Misty etc winning them too entering tournaments with even higher competition.

Traceyossibly weakest battler out of all Ash friends.He almost never battled being watcher which explains his lack of interest for battling not having particularly good team.Scyther is his best bet but he is quite old being prone to tyre very fast.

So in my opinion strongest battler out of Ash friends is either May or Misty basing on what has been showed so far.If we count of screen battling experience and knowledge Cilan could fit in that group too but he needs to shows little more of his abilities to allow for complete judgment.

The problem with Misty is her team is all the same type, so she has no diversity in her pokemon. When you have all water types with almost all similar moves, there's not a lot she can do there. The other problem is her Starmie never used any Psychic attacks or any special attacks at all, so it just came across as a clone of Staryu.

Since when one type trainer was handicap???

Heck strongest trainers in world are one type trainers like E4 members,Loreli or Wallace use mostly water type and they certainly arent restrained because of it beig stronger than most trainers who use different types out there.

Yes Misty use mainly one type but at same time we are talking about most widespreaded and diverse type of pokemon in world being second in number of types its been paired up with having access to wider pole of moves being capable to use techniques from other types because of this aswell attacks specific for water pokemon starting to increase not bing only centered on water gun(as some like to believe).Being water trainer was Misty niche and one of reasons people found her goals and pokemon unique taking lot of skill and determination to become best that way.This made her different from others.

Speaking of Misty team using same techniques thats obviously not true either.There were several other techniques her water pokemon used wuith moveset over timer being enriched like bubble beam, Corsola using spike cannon,mirror coat and recover,Staryu using double edge or swift attack,her Goldeen used supersonic,Psyduck knew confusion and disable(with help of headache),Luvdisc ice beam,while Politoad(before Poliwhirl)used attacks like double team or swagger.

Some moments which comes to mind where she really shined showing her potential as trainer was in Whirl Cup against Harrison,Ash and Trinity,when she battled gym leader Dorian,when battling against Molly in third movie etc.
Way in which she interacted with water types earning their trust(referring to Gyarados)or when encouraging them to restore confidence back(referring to Poliwhirl)showed that her character has predispositions and potential which someone needs to make a name for itself.

Misty maybe didnt had luxury to have many battles like Ash or some other characters did but basing on what we saw she was certainly not some low class rookie being skilled as water trainer laving positive impressions on many other trainers(especially when battling in her own element water).
She is also along Iris only character which managed to win first real tournament early in series being nothing to scoof at.

 

[ShinyCharyZard]

Misty: Staryu, Starmie, Goldeen, Psyduck, Horsea, Corsola, Politoed, Luvdisc, Gyarados, Azurill, (Togetic)
Brock: Steelix, Geodude, Crobat, Forretress, Marshtomp, Ludicolo, Sudowoodo, Croagunk, Chansey, (Vulpix)
Tracey: Marill, Venonat, Scyther
May: Blaziken, Beautifly, Skitty, Venusaur, Wartortle, Glaceon, Munchlax
Max: ------
Dawn: Piplup, Buneary, Pachirisu, Mamoswine, Togekiss, Quilava, (Ambipom)
Iris: Excadrill, Axew, Emolga
Cilan: Pansage, Dwebble *cough*, Stunfisk

Yeeaahh, I'm not sure why I bothered typing all that out because based on their teams, I know my answer is May anyway.. Brock would be a powerful opponent too, but May just pips him to the post due to having decent type coverage.

 

[Platinum fan.]

That depends on what aspect your asking. Strength wise it's May, Brock, and Misty. May has many powerful evolutions, Brock would be second and Misty third because those two have Gym leader backgrounds. Type wise it's the same thing just replace Misty and put Dawn in her place. Ultimately May win's this thread because she has numerous type Pokemon, most of them are evolved minus two of them, and her battle style is the same as Ash's.

I didn't include Iris and Cilan because they aren't finished yet and I don't really remember there battles from the few times I actually watched Best Wishes. But if I had to judge they are at least above Tracey...but that's not saying much.

 

[An00bis]

I'm not going to judge Iris and Cilian until the end of the season. Their Teams aren't finished.

Then ...

May - Most evolved Team trained to knock out an opponent over stylized flair.
Brock - He didn't battle often, but his Pokemon were formidable when he did.
Dawn - Her Pokemon were trained more for flair then strength. Mammoswine excluded.
Misty - Lost her star battler (Starmie) early. Didn't get another until Gyarados.
Tracey - Even his battling Pokemon was mainly used for utility. Poor guy.

 

[Yeul]

The award has to go to Zeustle, although I feel as if I should've voted for May. Oh well.

 

[ChaosMage]

Iris could well have a Haxorus by the time the saga's finished, and her Excadrill is exceptionally strong. So she, and to a lesser extent Cilan, has plenty more chances to prove herself.

I'm going to have to say May though. Blaziken is a powerhouse by any standard, and I doubt that Venusaur is any slouch either. Skitty, Beautifly, Glaceon, Wartortle and Munchlax all have some impressive victories behind them. Dawn is a close second, while Brock has massive potential but his pokemon have never been developed enough or learned strong enough moves to really count.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

May is 1st and Dawn is a close 2nd, but I voted for Dawn since I like her a little more than May XD

 

[freedomrise]

I like Misty, but I must say when it comes to pokemon team, May has the strongest team. Like people said before, she is biased on one type of pokemon, which can be an disadvantage. Also, unlike the more elite water pokemon trainers, who have water pokemon that is combined with another type to neutralise/minimise electric/grass attacks, Misty's team are pretty much ALL weak against electric. Until she got Gyarados, her team was quite weak. Although, some of her pokemons have proven to be strong in battle, she hasn't shown to been training them very much during her journey with Ash and they just haven't developed their full potentials. However, now she has taken over the role of gym leader, I think she has improved in her skills slightly from the chronicle specials. But, compared to some of the gym leaders out there who's given Ash a tough time, she is definitely not up to that standard yet. For example, her battle against Sakura and her Espeon was just amateurish.

May on the other hand, I think has quite an aggressive battling style for a coordinator. Though, despite saying that, May actually won most of her contest battles by knocking down her opponents' points. Whilst Dawn won in many of the contests and grand festival by simply knocking out her opponents' pokemons. Also, May has evolved a lot of her pokemon and have quite a balanced team to cover type disadvantages as well.

Brock has been out of action since he left the gym and I can't say he's improved much at all, though his pokemons have a lot of potential. Cilan and Iris are not included as we haven't seen enough for them in action yet.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Also, unlike the more elite water pokemon trainers, who have water pokemon that is combined with another type to neutralise/minimise electric/grass attacks, Misty's team are pretty much ALL weak against electric.

Im pretty sure she could handle one electric.Out of Dawn and May pokemon in reality only Pachirisu and Venusar have most advantage,others are either at disadvantage or more or less on same ground vs water type.

Speaking of electric attacks,what about Corsola though?It was dual type being half rock and defensive moves like mirror coat and recover give her slightly better chance than rest of team when confronting electric types.When it comes to others Gyarados is strong enough to take 1 to 2 electric attacks at most but that way he would quickly lose,though lack of advantage he replace with powerful moves which can finish of match in second and as showed he knows protect(referring to "Cerulean Blues").With grass types,thanks to fire attacks and resistance i say he would fare better than against electric types.

About others,well with enough training Politoad and Staryu could give them hard time.Staryu almost defeated Chikorita back in day,if that counts.

Until she got Gyarados, her team was quite weak. Although, some of her pokemons have proven to be strong in battle, she hasn't shown to been training them very much during her journey with Ash and they just haven't developed their full potentials. However, now she has taken over the role of gym leader, I think she has improved in her skills slightly from the chronicle specials. But, compared to some of the gym leaders out there who's given Ash a tough time, she is definitely not up to that standard yet. For example, her battle against Sakura and her Espeon was just amateurish.

Agreed on Horsea,Goldeen and Psyduck(unless he use headache).On Starmie no comments because he was there for too short not knowing what he is truly capable.However Staryu proved to be one of strongest and most experienced Misty pokemon being often used already showing its strength when battling Marina Tentacruel in OI defeating it with one attack or when battling Molly upgraded Mantine in third movie holding its ground.
Politoad is one of Misty powerhouses being alternate fully evolved form of Poliwhirl proving its worth in several battles during Johto. Corsola is one of most used and best Misty battlers having more wins than loses at this point showing how strong and successful combination of her defensive and offensive techniques can be(Like when defeating Trinity Gyarados,or Mantine from Dorian).

As evidenced compared to Kanto,Misty skill as trainer started to improve in Johto making some step forward which was followed up with chronicles where her team was upgraded growing little more as trainer.
Though agreed how she still has long way to go as trainer,and due to lack of any screen time not being seen for years we have no idea how much progress she made in mean time.
Shame because with determination,potential and competitive fire she showed,she could even become E4 perhaps one day which would basically mean achievement of water pokemon master dream.

Regardless of type advantage(which often isnt everything),battling experience should count too.And Misty leads in that aspect over Brock currently whose skills got rusty over time due to passiveness and lack of training and battling when it comes to his pokemon.
And same can be applied honestly to May and Dawn who would no doubt have upper hand in contests,but when it comes to trainer battles i believe things could have gone either way considering they dont have that much experience as first female protagonist does.

Im not even sure why is Brock listed as one of top candidates,when he hardly battled in years.His rapid defeat against inspector Joy in DP special being worse than his brother didnt went in his favor either.

However when it comes to number of evolutions and what has been showed,agreed May team(especially going by last appearance having several evolved pokemon like Venusaur or Glaceon doing big improvement as coordinator),looks on paper as most impressive.But as i said before evolution and type advantage isnt everything.

So while i wouldnt say Misty is strongest Ash traveling companion,i dont think she is on bottom either.

 

[Grei]

May, by far. Most of her Pokemon have evolved and I feel like she handled her Pokemon the best. Her team is fairly cohesive as well--as of her most recent appearance, I'm not sure if there's a clear "weak link."

Brock never gave any of his Pokemon much attention and, like Cilan, he generally got the odd end Pokemon. His Hoenn and Sinnoh teams never got any development and were awkward together. Croagunk was there for comedic effect when Max wasn't, Sudowoodo was actually not that bad, and Happiny was there because Brock was a "breeder." Marshtomp never saw the light of day, Ludicolo was useless most of the time, and... what else did he have, again?

Misty's team was nice initially, but once Togepi came along it was as if none of them really existed. Staryu and Starmie were strong, as was her Gyarados, but I can't think of any other noteworthy Pokemon that stood out as strong ones.

Dawn's team, like Brock's, also seemed to lack that cohesiveness that makes for a good team. Ash's Sinnoh team had it. His Unova team seems to have it. May had it, but Dawn does not. Buneary and Pachirisu seemed like they were there simply to be cute, never really accomplishing much (Buneary moreso than Pachirisu). Mamoswine was a good Pokemon for Dawn, but I wish its storyline had been more dramatic. Togekiss was also a good Pokemon for Dawn, but it was obtained too late to really do much. Piplup was annoying as all hell. Cyndaquil did less than everyone hoped. Ambipom should have stayed, to add some power to her team. Her team seemed to ultimately fail, and if/when she appears in this gen, I hope we see her Piplup dead not useless, her Cyndaquil and Buneary evolved, her Pachirisu with killer attack combos, and Mamoswine and Togekiss kicking *** as well. Until then, she's nowhere near the strongest.

Iris and Cilan... it's too soon to tell. From the looks of things, they won't achieve fantastic teams, although Cilan doesn't seem to be doing too bad for himself.

 

[CyberCubed]

The funny thing is Brock only caught 2 Pokemon in Hoenn and Sinnoh.

In AG he kept Foretress so it doesn't count, and he only caught Mudkip and Lotad. In DP he kept Bonsly from BF, and only caught Croagunk and Happiny.


Brock does have really good pokemon, the problem is the guy virtually never battled!

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Brock never gave any of his Pokemon much attention and, like Cilan, he generally got the odd end Pokemon. His Hoenn and Sinnoh teams never got any development and were awkward together. Croagunk was there for comedic effect when Max wasn't, Sudowoodo was actually not that bad, and Happiny was there because Brock was a "breeder." Marshtomp never saw the light of day, Ludicolo was useless most of the time, and... what else did he have, again?

He had Crobat,steal snake(Steelix),Foretress and Geodude.

Speaking of Brock,problem is that he had promising and somewhat balanced team imo.But lack of battling,training and entering any competitions whatsoever being focused mostly on keeping pokemon in good form for 90% of time he spent in show reflected negatively on his skills as trainer starting to get rusty losing touch.With current situation he is nowhere near strongest and the only one for who i can say with certainty being weaker is Tracey(well what to expect?).

Out of all his pokmon Stelix is probably his strongest and w already saw how strong he is.Croagunk,Ludicolo and Sudowoodo are viable alternatives too.

Misty's team was nice initially, but once Togepi came along it was as if none of them really existed. Staryu and Starmie were strong, as was her Gyarados, but I can't think of any other noteworthy Pokemon that stood out as strong ones.

Not sure if i understand,most Misty battles,development and screen time happened after getting Togepi.Prior to that she was in show only for around 40 episodes.Staryu,Corsola and Poliwhirl got most focus during her run from what i remember,while Goldeen ad Psyduck sadly rot in pokeball.

Agreed on strength,though Politoad is not a slouch either.