The Pokémon anime is easily one of the most popular anime ever. While the sequel series has failed to live up to the original hype, it has undeniable potential. Roy has grown more similar to Ash than ever before, after the time skip, and has even become the series’ de facto protagonist. There are several popular original series Trainers, like Ritchie, who Roy could defeat to prove he earned this title. After all, much of Roy’s newfound growth happens off-screen.

Other notable Trainers, like Korrina, could help Roy master his recently developed skills. After her experience in the original series, no one knows Mega Lucario better than Korrina. She could help Roy reach his full potential as a Trainer and become worthy of using Rayquaza. Now that Roy is Pokémon Horizons‘ main character, he needs to defeat several Trainers to prove the results of his training.

10

Ritchie Is 1 of Ash Ketchum’s Most Forgotten Rivals

Ritchie Is 1 of Ash’s First Rivals Aside From Gary

Ritchie is a fascinating character from the original anime who has been largely forgotten today. Although many fans initially accused him of being little more than an Ash ripoff, that is mostly the point. Ritchie is meant to represent a mirror for Ash to take a good long look at his consistent flaws. After his final Indigo League battle with Ritchie, Ash becomes an outstandingly better Trainer.

Ritchie could do the same for Roy that he did for Ash. Since Roy and Ash are now so similar, Ritchie would work in the same way. With the addition of Captain Pikachu, there’s little doubt this supposed Ash clone would be a welcome series return. He could defeat Ritchie and do something even Ash struggled to do when it mattered most.

9

Tyson Prevents Ash From Winning the Hoenn League With an Interesting Lineup

Tyson Ultimately Defeats Ash’s Best Pokémon With His Eccentric Meowth

Tyson is an extremely fascinating character from the Hoenn Saga of the anime. He makes fairly few appearances, aside from the Ever Grande conference, but is a welcome addition to the arc. The most interesting thing about Tyson is, by far, his Meowth. It doesn’t talk like the one from Team Rocket, but it’s exceedingly powerful. His Meowth is even strong enough to prevent Ash from winning the Ever Grande conference.

Now that Roy has a Pikachu, he could put himself in Ash’s shoes and take on Tyson’s fearsome Meowth. Tyson has had almost no appearances aside from one small cameo since the Ever Grande Conference. If the Rising Volt Tacklers ever make their way to Hoenn, they could easily run into Tyson organically. At this point, Roy might not defeat Tyson outright, but the original series character would provide a clear goal for him to aspire to.

8

Clemont Is Technically the Lumiose City Gym Leader

Roy Needs to Battle Him to Complete the Kalos League

Clemont is one of Ash’s more underrated companions and a positive addition to the Kalos Saga. Although Ash does not initially know Clemont is a Gym Leader, it becomes a relevant plotline. Clemont serves the same role as many other hyper-intelligent Pokémon Trainers, and consistently gives Ash invaluable battling advice. Without Clemont, Ash could have lost many of his most important Kalos fights.

Roy struggles with a lack of strategy, so meeting Clemont might be excellent for the rookie Trainer. Clemont could help Roy develop some shocking strategies to utilize Captain Pikachu’s electric attacks. The new season is unlikely to take place in all of Kalos, but Lumiose City is guaranteed to make an appearance because of the new Pokémon games. Hopefully, this will allow some popular Lumiose residents to make an appearance, like Clemont.

7

Hau Has Barely Appeared Since Ash’s Significant Alola Victory

Hau Is 1 of the Reasons Ash Becomes a Pokémon Champion

Hau is undoubtedly one of the most underrated Pokémon Trainers from the newer seasons. He brilliantly embodies the spirit of Alola and is somehow vastly more popular than his video game counterpart. He is one of the only reasons Ash finally defeats a Pokémon League. After his battle with Hau and Gladion, Ash ends up becoming the first Alola League Champion. Yet, just because Ash manages to beat Hau does not make him a pushover.

Like Ash, Hau has a unique strategy he’s not afraid to utilize when the going gets tough. He regularly leaves his opponents speechless due to his outlandish tricks or attacks. His Dicidueye would be the perfect opponent to teach Roy about long-range battling. At this point, Roy prefers to keep things up close and personal, which can be a detriment against explosive opponents like Coral’s Glalie.

6

Lt Surge Could Prove Captain Pikachu Still Has Room to Grow

Lt Surge Provided Ash With 1 of His First Major Roadblocks

Lt Surge provides Ash with one of his most significant early series roadblocks. Raichu defeats Ash’s Pikachu so badly he considers giving up on his journey or permanently altering his greatest Pokémon. The entire mini-arc centers around whether Pikachu will evolve to grow stronger. Eventually, the team decided to win through strategy rather than outright power. With Captain Pikachu on his team, Roy could be faced with the same struggles.

Captain Pikachu is undoubtedly stronger than Ash’s, but Raichu is no pushover either. Roy could even use the opportunity to make a completely different choice from Ash’s. Given the same situation, Captain Pikachu could end up evolving to give him an edge. That being said, Cap might defeat Raichu outright. Hopefully, these electric-using titans will get an opportunity to battle in the latest Pokémon Horizons season.

5

Gary Oak Has an Incredible Impact on Ash’s Pokémon journey

Gary Consistently Inspires Ash to Become Stronger

Gary Oak is Ash’s first rival and arguably understands him better than any other character in the series. The amount of hate Gary and Ash possess for one another is almost palpable. Both characters are consistently trying to outdo the other, and their rivalry eventually comes to a head in the Johto League. Through sheer willpower and superior Pokémon, Ash manages to knock Gary out of the Silver conference.

Professor Oak’s grandson provides Roy with amazing insights into his battling style. Gary might have given up his battling career, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t show a rookie like Roy a thing or two. Roy might have been battling for longer than a year at this point, but Gary possesses more Pokémon knowledge than Gary could ever hope to attain.

4

Steven Stone Is 1 of the Best Users of Mega Evolution

Steven’s Shiny Metagross Is Utterly Iconic

Steven Stone is the primary Mega Evolution expert within the Pokémon world. He is also the Hoenn League Champion. He meets Ash several times throughout Hoenn and then again as his opponent during the Pokémon World Championship Tournament. Ash manages to overwhelm Steven’s unique Metagross using a Z-Move, followed by a finishing blow.

Roy is unlikely to have Ash’s level of finesse at his current level, but Steven could still provide amazing insights into his Pokémon career. Aside from Mega Evolution, Steven also knows his way around shiny Pokémon. It’s possible there might be even more to Roy’s Rayquaza than meets the eye, and Steven could be the one to show him the way.

3

Korrina’s Mega-Lucario Could Be a Rewarding Challenge for Roy to Defeat

Korrina Could Help Roy Reach His True Potential

Korrina and her Mega Lucario are some of the most interesting Kalos characters due to their many imperfections. Korrina initially struggles to use Mega Evolution, and forces Ash to intervene in one of their battles before Pikachu is severely injured. However, since then, she has fully mastered the ability and has confidently added it to her repertoire.

The Kalos Gym Leader could help Roy fully utilize his newest Pokémon. Somehow, during the time skip, Roy catches and trains a shiny Lucario. This is by far one of the most shocking facts about the time skip since this Pokémon has been relatively unruly in previous media. Korrina could give Roy’s newfound success extra credibility. Otherwise, his use of Mega Lucario is slightly unbelievable.

2

Roy Could Finally Defeat Alain & Succeed Where Ash Has Failed

Ash Never Gets an Opportunity to Rematch Alain

Alain provides Ash with his most frustrating loss in the anime. Alain stops Ash from winning the Kalos Pokémon League, where he was sure to succeed otherwise. His Mega Charizard X is one of the strongest Pokémon in the entire series and even defeats Ash-Greninja. Alain is eventually humbled by Leon, but not before being called the most powerful Trainer in the series by many fans.

Roy’s next opponents are all likely to be gifted in Mega Evolution. It would make perfect sense for Pokémon Horizons to bring back Alain as a final challenge for Roy. Although Roy has yet to acquire a full Pokémon team, his upcoming teammates will likely be exceedingly dominant. Nonetheless, unless he can use Mega Rayquaza, Roy would probably lose to Alain fairly easily.

1

Defeating Ash Ketchum Would Prove Roy Is Worthy of Taking the Protagonist Title

Roy Could Finally Prove He’s Meant to Be the Protagonist

Even anime fans who haven’t watched a single episode of Pokémon have likely heard of the protagonist, Ash Ketchum. He is one of the most iconic characters in anime, and his journey captured the childhood of several distinct generations. He might have a relatively rocky beginning to his journey, but he eventually becomes the Pokémon World Champion.

It is extremely improbable, but a battle between Roy and Ash could break the internet. Fans have been dying to see an aged-up Ash since the end of his journey. Their battle could decide the fate of the Pokémon series for the foreseeable future. If Ash trained Roy to become a better Trainer, it would be an amazing torch-passing moment for the franchise.