In the early years of the North American anime boom, kids took to two sides of a heated debate: Pokémon or Digimon? The two monster-centric franchises reigned supreme on television as well as in the gaming market, creating an instant rivalry. But, over time, the battle has since settled down into a friendlier co-existence.
The return of Digimon Adventure to our screens -- alongside the Pokémon anime's latest evolution in Pokémon Journeys, however, gives us cause to reignite this classic debate. More specifically, the franchise's respective mascots and devoted partners to their human protagonists. It's time to decide if Agumon or Pikachu is the better companion.
Battle Companion
The first measure of quality is that of battle readiness. While Pikachu is a seasoned fighter, it's clear that Agumon has a supreme advantage due to the sheer power of its monster body. Undeniably, Pikachu has skill and tenacity from taking legendary Pokémon over the years head-on. However, while Ash's Pikachu can defeat Orange Island Champion Drake's Dragonite and Tobias's Latios, he's never been able to demonstrate the raw power that Agumon has.
Even using his fight against Latios, while Pikachu did knock out the legendary Pokémon, he fainted in the process. Pikachu's core strength is his stubbornness, seen best when he fought the dream Entei from the Pokémon 3: Spell of the Unown, a creature created by dream logic, making it impossible to be defeated. Pikachu is exceptionally powerful by Pikachu standards, but he's barely a blip compared to the reality-warping might of some Legendary Pokémon.
By comparison, Agumon has demonstrated absurd feats of power. On his own, Agumon is not supremely powerful. However, unlike Ash's permanently un-evolved partner, Agumon is able to Digivolve past his current levels of power, becoming the mighty Greymon, the impenetrable Metal Greymon, the Mega Form WarGreymon, and beyond. WarGreymon's ultimate move, The Terra Force, concentrates atmospheric energy into an attack of incredible destruction. His shield can also deflect attacks from other Digimon of his power level. None of this accounts for fused forms like Omnimon, whose Supreme Cannon fires Absolute Zero freeze rays at adversaries.
Agumon is weak to Earth elemental attacks, which, to be fair, so is Pikachu. So, while they share the same core weakness, Pikachu's powers are far outmatched by Agumon's might. Agumon can compete with adversaries that can destroy the planet. Ash's Pikachu is powerful for its kind, but there's simply no comparison to what Agumon can do.
Power of Love and Affection
Though Agumon is more powerful, when it comes to pure affection, things go in a very different direction. Agumon's bond with Tai is close and intimate, with the two being companions who stay together until the bitter end. However, Tai's relationship with Agumon didn't start off as positive. Tai's reckless desire to force Agumon to become stronger resulted in Agumon suffering in his SkullGreymon form. While Tai and Agumon's relationship blossomed into a lifelong companionship, the friendship between them had lots of problems early on, driven by Tai's urge to be strong.
By comparison, Pikachu and Ash's relationship was built on love and trust and stays that way. Though Pikachu wasn't too receptive to Ash being his partner initially, their bond formed fast by Ash's persistence, resulting in the two of them consistently putting their lives on the line for the sake of one another.
Tai and Agumon's power is also manifested by the love and trust they share for one another. The deeper the trust, the greater the power. However, that is not the case for Pikachu and Ash. Neither grows stronger just by their inherent love for one another. However, Pikachu is an extraordinarily powerful Pikachu because he continues to push itself due to his love for Ash, while Ash grows better as a trainer thanks to his drive to see his Pokémon excel.
In the first episode of Pokémon, Ash almost lets himself get pecked to death to protect Pikachu, who then, moved by the act, nearly dies trying to protect Ash in a massive explosion of electricity. This alone proves just how far they'd do for each other this early into their relationship. In fact, when Ash is incapacitated while protecting Pikachu in Pokémon: The First Movie, Pikachu's tears alone (along with others) resurrect him. There's a reason why, despite being given more partners to choose from than the DigiDestined, Pikachu is Ash's main companion every step of the way.
Even though Tai is allowed to mature with Agumon while Ash remains developmentally stagnated, Agumon is still the more powerful companion, while the bond between Ash and Pikachu is superior.