The Pokémon anime's Ash Ketchum is known for his unorthodox, on-the-fly battle style. Rather than playing by the book, he generally disregards the rules of the games and comes up with many creative strategies in the heat of battle. Ash's friends tend to follow suit with their own styles and have come up with their fair share of unique moves as well.
These improvised strategies have come in spades over the course of Ash's countless adventures. Of course, some are more questionable in their logic than others, but the best of them provide a unique flavor to the anime's battles.
10 Rock Tomb Climb Secured Multiple Gym Wins
Ash got a head start on preparing for his Gym battle against Grant when he watched Grant's skillful use of Rock Tomb in the Battle Château. To combat this, Ash developed a special counter to this move known as Rock Tomb Climb. As the name implies, he trained his Kalos team to quickly scale the falling rocks.
The technique proved highly adaptable, and Pikachu even used it to avoid Draco Meteor in addition to Rock Tomb. Ash later brought back this tactic against Korrina, which allowed Pikachu to counter Aura Sphere and defeat Mega Lucario.
9 Gliding Giga Impact Avoids A Massive Drawback
Giga Impact, while a very powerful move, normally leaves the user wide open to a counterattack. Ash's Gliscor trained up a special strategy to get around this drawback that few other Pokémon can pull off.
Gliscor spins upward and rides the wind immediately after hitting the move, allowing it to escape into the air long enough to stall out the recharge time. Even Ash's most calculated rival, Paul, was caught off guard by this, and it was key in defeating his powerful Drapion.
8 Blocking King's Shield Required Impeccable Timing
The strategic highlight of the Kalos League is by far Pikachu's battle against Sawyer's Aegislash. Ash is initially overwhelmed by the sturdy defenses of Aegislash's King's Shield, but he quickly works around it by jamming its movement with a piece of wood.
The split-second timing needed to pull this off is no small feat. It's a great showcase of Ash's skill, but also his unfailing trust in Pikachu, who carried out this strategy with no hesitation despite the risk.
7 May's Water & Fire Fusion Is Her Contest Specialty
By the Battle Frontier arc, May had really come into her own as a Pokémon Coordinator. In the Kanto Grand Festival, she channels everything she's got into her battle with Drew, which is best shown with her Combusken and Squirtle's Fire Spin and Bubble combination.
The fusion attack both looks beautiful and serves as a great tribute to May's travels. It was inspired by Ash's Battle Frontier match against Tucker, was critical in defeating May's main rival, and even returned for another use in Diamond & Pearl alongside Dawn's Piplup.
6 Blast Torracat Symbolizes An Intense Rivalry
Ash's Torracat had a heated rivalry with Professor Kukui's Incineroar, both figuratively and literally. Nowhere better is this demonstrated than in their Alola League exhibition battle, where Incineroar unleashes a scorching Blast Burn attack and Torracat responds by absorbing it into its bell.
Absorbing so much Fire energy was a risky move, but Torracat's sheer drive to beat Incineroar gave it the means to not give in. By the time the energy was stabilized, it gave Torracat a massive boost in power and allowed it to demolish Kukui's Venusaur.
5 Underground Flare Blitz Was The Turning Point Against Paul
Infernape was undeniably Ash's greatest weapon against Paul at the Sinnoh League, not just for defeating three of Paul's Pokémon but for providing crucial team support. Knowing Toxic Spikes had crippled nearly all his Pokémon, Ash had Infernape combine Dig and Flare Blitz, which burned away the hazard while badly damaging Paul's Ninjask.
Removing Toxic Spikes wasn't just crucial for Ash's party, but also for ensuring he wouldn't crack under the pressure against his greatest rival. Paul's Electivire proceeded to mimic the strategy moments later, which is just a testament to how effective it was.
4 Ice Aqua Jet Flourished With Ash
Ice Aqua Jet, a tactic that involves freezing Buizel's Aqua Jet with Ice Beam, was first developed by Dawn as a potential Contest combination. However, she was unable to master it in her brief time with Buizel, who preferred traditional battles to Contest performances.
After Buizel was traded to Ash, they were able to perfect Ice Aqua Jet, and the strategy quickly became one of Buizel's trademarks throughout Sinnoh. Most notably, it was first successfully used by Ash in the Wallace Cup and was last used to help defeat Paul's Gastrodon in the Sinnoh League.
3 Swallowing Attacks Has Several Possible Effects
Ash's battle against Tower Tycoon Palmer introduced to him a new tactic that got several distinct uses. His Grotle accidentally swallows its own Energy Ball during the battle, but to everyone's surprise, eating a move of its own type actually gave it a massive boost of power.
This strategy was later adopted by Dawn and her Mamoswine, and Ash himself has since used his Pokémon to swallow moves in various ways. Pokémon such as Gible, Gengar, and Dracovish have shown the ability to swallow opponents' attacks rather than their own, which is similarly useful at turning the tides of battle.
2 Countering The Counter Won Ash The League
In the finals of the Alola League, Ash is struggling against his rival, Gladion, and his Lycanroc's powerful Counter. At the last moment, Ash gets Gladion back by using his own Lycanroc's Counter to reflect another Counter, a move he'd been saving until just that very moment.
This strategy holds a special place in the show's history as the move that won Ash his first Championship. Ash has always overcome his greatest rivals through the element of surprise, and this unorthodox win marks one of Ash's greatest accomplishments.
1 Counter Shield Has Survived Across Multiple Series
Counter Shield was Ash's signature improvised move in Sinnoh for good reason. Inspired by one of Dawn's Contests, Ash developed Counter Shield to battle against Fantina's use of Hypnosis and had his Pokémon spin while attacking to repel opponents and deflect their moves.
The strategy was so effective that it remained in use for the rest of Sinnoh and was used by several characters even after Diamond & Pearl ended. Fantina, Dawn, Paul, and Brock have all taught Counter Shield to their own Pokémon to great effect. Ash himself brings the strategy back against Cynthia in the Masters Eight, and even Galar Champion Leon adopts it as well.