In Pokémon, there are no doubt many battles that require a strategy to win. Ash and his companions win and lose tough contests simply based on which strategies they used during critical moments, and consistently try out new strategies to win future fights along the way.
However, some Pokémon battles were won by pure luck or coincidence. Whether it's mid-battle evolutions in the Unova League, certain Pokémon or trainers withdrawing from matches, or one Pokémon barely holding out longer than another in battle, fans agree that these battles were more won by luck rather than any use of strategy in the end.
10 Ash And Maylene's Gym Battle Ended In A Tie, But Maylene Gave Ash The Win Anyway
Ash's gym battle against Maylene did require some strategy, especially when trying to best Maylene's Lucario. Despite Ash's and Maylene's efforts, their battle ended in a tie and Maylene decided to hand the win —and the badge — to Ash because of how well he and his Pokémon fought together.
However, the battle's outcome could have gone either way, considering how both Lucario and Buizel gave their all when going up against each other. Additionally, since the battle technically ended in a tie, Maylene didn't have to give Ash the victory and the badge. If Maylene hadn't been impressed enough by Ash's battling skills, Ash would have been forced into a rematch to earn his badge.
9 A Surprise Evolution Helped Cameron Win Against Ash In The Unova League
Friendly but fierce rivals in battle, Cameron and Ash faced each other in the Unova League's semifinals. Despite the match being fairly even between the two trainers, Cameron managed to win after his Pokémon, Riolu, evolved into Lucario mid-combat.
Fans agree that if it hadn't been for the evolution happening midway through the battle, Ash likely would have won. However, the battle was incredibly close the entire time and entertaining to watch regardless of who won.
8 Another Surprise Evolution Helped Ash Win Against Chairman Rose's Pokémon
The battle between Ash and Chairman Rose during Journeys was far from easy. After Rose's Pokémon beat Pikachu so badly that it was unable to battle further, Riolu jumped into action and defended Ash when Rose commanded his Pokémon to attack both Ash and Pikachu. Unfortunately, this meant that Riolu was stuck under the weight of Rose's Steel-type Pokémon trying to literally crush it where it stood.
Just as Ash's Riolu was about to be crushed, however, it evolved mid-battle into Lucario and defeated Rose's own Pokémon. If it hadn't been for that last-minute evolution, it's possible Riolu could have actually died.
7 Blaziken Holding Out Longer Than Charizard Did Leads To Its Victory
In the Johto League, Harrison's Blaziken wins against Ash's Charizard when Charizard collapses from exhaustion during the battle. Before this, it'd been a very close match-up, both Pokémon giving their all and both trainers using their own decisive and effective battle strategies to go with it. Had Charizard endured a bit longer than Blaziken did, it's possible that Ash would have won the battle instead.
6 Team Rocket Only Won Against Ash Thanks To Having Mareanie And A Pikachu-Hating Mimikyu On Their Side
Team Rocket, after countless losses against Ash and his companions, finally managed to win once in the series. However, this was only due to the two having Pokémon, Mareanie and Mimikyu, that battled super-hard in their favor.
The Poison-type Mareanie virtually fell in love with James at first sight, while Mimikyu absolutely hated Ash's Pikachu and was more than willing to go all-out against it. Regardless of the reasons Team Rocket's newly acquired Pokémon battled for them, this duo earned Team Rocket their sole victory against Ash.
5 Electivire's Collapse Led To Ash's Victory Against Paul
Fans agree that Ash and Paul's battle in the Lily of the Valley Conference was one of the most epic League battles in the series. The battle was incredibly close, and either Paul or Ash could have taken the victory when it came down to Paul's Electivire versus Ash's Infernape.
After a long, hard-fought battle, Electivire finally collapses despite both Pokémon being heavily exhausted at that point. If Paul's Electivire managed to hold out a bit longer than Infernape, Paul would have won this final battle against Ash. No matter what outcome the battle took, however, fans agree that the outcome was always close between both trainers.
4 Sableye Won Against Torchic With A Surprise Lick
May encounters a "wild" Sableye in the mines (unknown to her, this Sableye was actually secretly working with Team Rocket's Meowth at the time) and sends out Torchic to deal with it. However, the only reason Sableye ends up winning against Torchic is that it knocked Torchic out instantly with a surprise Lick attack, after dodging Torchic's Ember attack. May was still fairly inexperienced in Pokémon battles at this point in the series and wasn't one of the strongest trainers in Hoenn, but losing so easily to a wild Sableye disappointed some fans.
3 Ash And Sawyer's Match Was Extremely Close And Either Trainer Could Have Won
Ash and Sawyer battled each other during the Kalos League's semifinals. Despite an extremely close battle throughout the match, Ash's Greninja finally — and barely — took the victory over Sawyer's Sceptile after several close clashes of epic moves between both trainers and their Pokémon.
Fans agree that either Pokémon could have won the match, since it was incredibly tight overall. Additionally, both trainers and their teams grew a lot during their time in Kalos, and this growth showed in the battle between them. Fans were happy with whoever won the battle, but they were especially happy for Ash since that meant he was another step closer to winning the Kalos League (though, unfortunately for fans, he loses the finals).
2 Ash Only Wins Against Sabrina Thanks To Haunter Making Her Laugh
Ash only managed to win against Sabrina thanks to Haunter making her laugh, making the trainer and her Kadabra unable to battle due to merging her two personalities into one and thus breaking her obsession with perfecting her psychic powers.
Before Haunter did what it did, though, Sabrina's Kadabra intimidated most of Ash's other Pokémon from battling it at all, save for Ash sending out Pikachu when Haunter initially forfeited and vanished from sight. Fans agree that if it hadn't been for Haunter's antics, there was no way Ash could have won against Sabrina whatsoever.
1 Brock Only Won Against Ash Because Brock's Siblings Protested And Ash Withdrew
Early on in the series, Ash battled Brock in a Gym battle to earn the Boulder Badge. After the sprinklers went off in the gym while Ash's Pikachu battled Brock's Onix, Ash was about to win. But then all of Brock's siblings butted in, begging Ash to stop the battle and prevent Brock's Onix from being hurt further than it already was. Ash agreed and withdrew from the match, noting that he would have only won due to the sprinklers going off, since water conducts electricity, and promising to have a rematch with Brock on a fairer basis. Despite Brock technically winning, he gives Ash the Boulder Badge anyway due to the kindness Ash showed to his Pokémon.
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