The following contains spoilers for Episode 118 of Pokémon Journeys.
The first round of Pokémon Journeys’ Masters Eight Tournament is complete, and Ash Ketchum learned a valuable lesson in his victory over Steven Stone: new isn't always better. The 10-year-old from Pallet Town chose Dracovish, Gengar and Pikachu to battle against Steven but still needed to rely on Pikachu to defeat two of the Hoenn Champ’s three Pokémon. It’s always been questionable how Ash came this far in Journeys using Pokémon he just caught, and his first Masters Eight battle showed that maybe he should’ve used some of his older Pokémon instead.
Ash has several powerful Pokémon with Professor Oak, Professor Kukui, and scattered in the wild he can call upon for aid. Pokémon Journeys has been a cameo festival for legacy characters, which could've been even more nostalgic and fan-pleasing by having Ash battle with his old partners for the World Coronation Series. Let’s pretend for a moment that Ash didn’t catch any new Pokémon during the Journeys anime, and build his ideal dream team for the Masters Eight.
Pikachu Is (Obviously) Ash's Strongest Pokémon
In the battle against Steven, Pikachu improved to 3-1 all-time against a Metagross, using a combo of 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt and Iron Tail to defeat the Hoenn Champ’s ace. Pikachu is Ash’s most reliable Pokémon, coming in to clean up any mess one of its teammates has made.
Pikachu has defeated a Regice, a Latios, Tapu Koko, and now a Regional Champion’s signature, Mega Evolved partner – so Ash may as well just forfeit any high-stakes battle where he doesn't use his perennial bail-out-er. Pikachu might be less useful against Cynthia’s Garchomp in Ash’s next battle, but in the Finals against Leon, he’ll certainly want to use Pikachu’s Type advantage over the Galar Champ’s semi-immortal Charizard.
There’s No "Ash’s Strongest Team" Without Charizard
The second most obvious pick for Ash’s dream team, Charizard hasn’t seen action since Unova’s “Charizard is back please forgive us for this awful journey” storyline. In the past, Ash refused to go into tough battles without Charizard, calling upon his ace for his Gym Battle with Clair in Johto and matches against Gary and Harrison during the Silver Conference.
Charizard even returned during the Battle Frontier and defeated an Articuno. Charizard has a Type advantage over Steel-Types, so it could’ve made the duel with Mega Metagross less dramatic – not to mention it'd be helpful against Cynthia’s Garchomp, too, considering it knows the move Dragon Tail.
Pokémon Journeys Showed Greninja Could Be Called Upon
Prior to Ash’s final Ultra Class battle, he returned to Kalos to find Greninja to help train his Lucario. Greninja was still loyal, and he could've brought it back with him for the tournament if he’d wanted to – even if the destructive vines from Team Flare’s plans were still active, but surely Zygarde could handle that for a bit.
Ash and Greninja’s Bond Phenomenon made the resultant “Ash-Greninja” form so powerful that it even troubled Diantha’s Mega Gardevoir. Greninja has Type-advantages over Steven’s Metagross and Leon’s Charizard, meaning it could've presented quite a problem for multiple Champions, which makes it a valuable asset.
Infernape Is Still Determined to Get Stronger
While some of Ash’s Pokémon seem content to chill out at Professor Oak’s Lab, Infernape has refused to stay idle, as it even left the lab to throw hands with a Moltres. The anime has yet to give another Pokémon a more compelling character arc than Ash’s Infernape during the "Sinnoh" arc.
Overcoming abuse by its old trainer, Infernape went from timid to a battle-crazed maniac. Its Blaze ability bailed Ash out of several sticky situations, and if one thing's certain during the Masters Eight, it's that Ash’s Pokémon will be pushed to their limits against the other Champions – which works to Infernape’s advantage.
Put Some Respect on Sceptile’s Name
Ash’s Sceptile is his most slept-on Pokémon, having held its own against Regirock and Deoxys and even defeating a Darkrai. Even if Sceptile got one-shoted by Latios immediately after, it was still the only Pokémon in Tobias’s Sinnoh campaign to defeat Darkrai.
Sceptile doesn’t have any Type advantages over Steven’s, Cynthia’s or Leon’s signature Pokémon, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be useful against their other partners. It would be the perfect choice for the dirty-but-necessary work of getting to the opponent’s strongest Pokémon as quickly and damage-free as possible, something Ash sorely needed against Steven.
Krookodile Is Ash’s Most Underrated Pokémon
The first thing Ash’s Krokorok did after evolving into Krookodile was smoke Iris’s rampaging Dragonite. Ash has more powerful Pokémon he could use but for the Masters Eight, Krookodile would be a great choice given Ash’s opponents. It holds a double advantage over Steven’s Metagross, knows Dragon Claw to help with Cynthia’s Garchomp, and knows Stone Edge which would be huge against Leon’s Charizard. Krookodile hasn’t seen action for a while, but it’s about the only good thing to come out of Ash’s Unova adventure and was one of his most reliable Pokémon during that time.
Honorable Mentions for Ash’s Dream Team
Ash’s Lycanroc, Melmetal and Incineroar live with Professor Kukui in Alola and are just shy of useful for the Masters Eight. Melmetal is powerful but inexperienced and slow. Incineroar fainted after evolving so it’s never battled -- and the Masters Eight isn’t the place to test out newly-evolved Pokémon. Lycanroc came closest to making the dream team, but it’s slightly less useful than Krookodile with its weakness to both Metagross and Garchomp.
Snorlax is powerful, but there’s no guarantee it’d be awake when Ash sends it into battle. Naganadel lives in another dimension, and Goodra and Noivern aren’t very strong, so he’d be out of luck for helpful Dragon Types.