XYZ Pokemon – How good was Ash’s winning team?

Titular main character, Ash Ketchum’s closest failure to be the Pokemon Champion happened in Season 19 of the anime. Titled Pokemon the Series: XYZ, Ash’s team once again saw full revisions. Controversially, the focus shifted from series mascot Pikachu to focus on other XYZ Pokemon, such as Greninja.

But just how good was Ash’s winning team in Pokemon XYZ?

The XYZ Pokemon Team in VGC Format

At the time of writing, Generation 9, Scarlet and Violet is the current release. VGC 2023 Regulation E is the newest ruleset. For the end of XYZ Pokemon series run on October 27th 2016, the format was different. 2016’s final VGC format made use of Pokemon X and Y, as well as the 3rd gen remakes Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (ORAS).

The use of a selective banlist, Choice Restriction is a notable choice alongside the inclusion of multiple Legendary Pokemon. The only adjustment we make to this ruleset is the inclusion of Ash-Greninja. Below is a Pokemon Showdown ready breakdown of Ash’s final team of Season 19.

The List

It’s worth remembering that items are rarely seen in the Pokemon anime. All moves picked reflect the final move sets of the Pokemon too. The exceptions being Talonflame, who sees the addition of VGC staple U-Turn, and Goodra. Which, with a 100% onscreen win-rate, was given VGC winning move set and IV spread.

Ash’s team would likely struggle against the plethora of Legendaries in the format. With a better move set spread, this hyper-offense team could make a splash in a weaker metagame.