Who is the Strongest Pokemon? There is no definite answer to this question, but we can indeed say that Arceus is one of the strongest Pokemon of all time. In the beginning, before any existence, there was nothing but an egg, and from that egg, Arceus was born. In the myths and legends, he is referred to as “The Original one,” considering that in the pokemon storyline, he is the one who possibly created the whole universe.
He is also responsible for the creation of the three very famous legendary pokemon trio, namely Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. A pokemon to create other legendary Pokemon feels too powerful, right? But wait till we go through Arceus’s abilities which are the pinnacle of being overpowered. Arceus has an ability of multitype, which means he can change and have the characteristics of any pokemon type. He can halt time, create other legendary Pokemon, and even make a copy of itself to exist outside its home dimension, with the copy being as powerful as the original.
Arceus went on and created three more legendary Pokemon, the Lake Guardians- Uxie, Mespirit, and, Azelf. The Lake Guardian was responsible for giving knowledge, emotion, and willpower to the world and all of its beings.
In ancient times he acted as the protector of the world, safeguarding it from threats like meteors. In the modern world, Arceus acts as an overlooker of the planet, but he doesn’t directly solve the problems of the people of the earth. Instead, he tends to give them little leads or hints on how to solve a problem. He wants everyone to come together and work as one whole unit in the face of adversity.
In the anime, Arceus not only has the power to calm Pokemon like Dialga and Palkia, who are going on a rampage but also gives another pokemon blessing which, as a result, increases their strength. These Pokemon are referred to as Noble Pokemon and are worshipped in many regions. Also, Arceus don’t feed betrayal and foolishness. He does hold grudges and attacks violently, going on a rampage when deceived or betrayed.
Arceus’s rage was shown in the debut movie Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life. It was betrayed by Damos in ancient times, and he was angry at the people of Michina Town, so he decided to destroy the world. It’s when Dialga teleported Ash and his friends to ancient times, and they altered the events changing the future to stop Arceus’s destruction.
Arceus has often been termed the God of the Pokemon world, and even though he may seem invincible and godlike, there are several Pokemon who can be at par with or even surpass Arceus in terms of strength and power. So, for this list, as there is no way to measure power levels in the anime, we will consider certain things, abilities like mega evolution, Gigantamax, etc., with powerful Pokemon from both games and anime.
We have to also consider that in the anime, he is the God, so it’s very unlikely to find a pokemon stronger than the almighty himself. There is no arguable way of settling this debate, but here is a list of All Pokemon who can beat Arceus from Pokemon.
1) Machamp
Machamp, also known as the King of fighters, is one of the very early Pokemon introduced in the first generation. This Pokemon may seem like a no-show, but in actuality, he can beat Arceus. He is the only pure fighting type on this list who can beat Arceus, having a type advantage altogether (with Arceus being a normal type).
Machamp is a tank, and if we check the Pokedex entry from both Pokemon Diamond and Sun, it is stated that Machamp can land a thousand punches in mere two seconds, with each punch-packing a power of almost a megaton. He is a very plausible candidate, but I’m not saying that it will be easy to beat Arceus.
The diety can throw any one of his plates to nullify the fighting-type attacks, but fortunately, Machamp is not vulnerable to ghost-type attacks; thus, Arceus’s attack from that plate will be ineffective. Of course, Machcamp will have to be in his Giagantamax form, but even for a God, he will be hard to beat.
2) Lucario
In the game Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Lucario may not look very good on paper, but he is the perfect combination type to defeat Arceus. He may not have the Bulkiness and large size like other Fighting/Steel type Pokemon, but he sure has one of the highest resistance and immunities too.
Lucario possesses the best of both worlds; being a fighting type, his moves will be twice as powerful against normal and centaur-like Pokemon and have great defenses against whatever Arceus throws at him because of his steeliness.
He may be the perfect counter for Arceus, but in his base form, he will not even land a scratch on him. Lucario has to Mega-Evolve. While Lucario’s mega form doesn’t increase his size but it significantly enhances his senses and all the basic abilities which give him an upper hand in battle.
3) Charizard
Charizard is one of the most famous and fan-favorite Pokemon of all time. We all know how the Pokemon franchise loves to market its first generation of Pokemon, so Charizard has to be on this list. Charizard is not a dragon type which is a common misconception rather, and he is a fire/flying type pokemon.
Our beloved Charizard has got two Mega evolutions as well as a Gigantamax form. All these power boosts or gimmicks, as we say in gaming terms, give him a major advantage in his battle against Arceus.
He can also change types when mega evolved. Mega-evolved Charizard X is a Dragon/Fire type pokemon which have a type advantage over Arceus apart from his major power boost. Along with this, in Gigantamax form, his ultimate move, the G-Max Wildfire, will be enough to give Arceus a tough time even when he can nullify attacks with the use of his elemental plates.
We don’t know what will be the outcome of this battle, but if a strong and well-trained Charizard like Leon’s Charizard were to fight Arceus, he might have a decent chance of overwhelming even the Gods.
4) Mew
We have to argue about who’s the strongest Pokemon, but without a doubt, Mew is the cutest of them all. Mew is one of the first legendary Pokemon in the anime as well as on this list. Mew is quite strong when it comes to his abilities.
He can transform into any Pokemon, and it’s said that Mew is the ancestor of all the non-legendary Pokemon in the pokemon world. This puts Mew second to Arceus with the ability to create Pokemon.
Theoretically speaking, Mew is the perfect opponent for Arceus because the plates of Arceus can use or repel any attack type, and mew is known to transform into another pokemon and learn almost any attack, which gives him the type advantage as well as the attack diversity against a battle with Arceus.
This can not be proved in actuality because, in the lore, it’s not stated how powerful Mew is. He is shown preeminently in some movies like Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back, in which he goes toe to toe with Mewtwo and the clone pokemon, but in other movies like Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, his abilities seem very undermining.
Whatever the fact is, it’s certain that if a battle happens between these two deities, we know that mew can take over the win if he plays his cards right.
5) Mewtwo
Mewtwo was supposed to be the better version of Mew, the ancestor of all Pokemon. Mewtwo has always been a fan-favorite pokemon and featured in the first-ever pokemon movie Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back. He is powerful enough to create clones of every Pokemon, being somewhat a clone of mew himself. Mewtwo was lucky enough to get two mega evolutions, Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Mewtwo Y.
Mewtwo was originally supposed to be the perfect Pokemon, but he cannot even stand against Arceus in his base form. He has to mega-evolve. If we consider the in-game stats of Mega Mewtwo X, we can say that he can beat Arceus.
There is no confrontation between these Pokemon in the anime, but in the games, Mega Mewtwo is stronger than Arceus, with a base stat of 780 in comparison to Arceus’s base stat of only 720. So with this info, we can say that Mewtwo surpasses Arceus in terms of strength.
6) Rayquaza
Rayquaza is one of the very few legendary dragon-type Pokemon and the only one who can for sure overpower Arceus in every aspect. Rayquaza is a part of the weather trio namely Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza. Among the three, Rayquaza is the strongest. He is Strong enough to calm the fierce battle between primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon single-handedly. Rayquaza was born in the ozone layer with extreme weather conditions.
Rayquaza is very powerful, even among the legendaries. He is the only Pokemon who can undergo mega-evolution according to his own will without any mega stone or item of any type. Arceus doesn’t have any mega form, so it’s safe to say that Rayquaza already has the upper hand as Mega-Evolutions gives a tremendous attack boost to the Pokemon, but Arceus has its life plates.
These plates help him change his type and evade attacks. Even though Arceus can change his type, Rayquaza is likely to overpower Arceus when in his Mega form, the power gap is that significant. Coming to numbers, Rayquaza clearly dominates with a base stat of a total of 780 in comparison to Arceus’s 720. That said, If this battle takes place, there’s no doubt that Rayquaza will beat the creator.
7) Kyogre
Kyogre is one of the legendary weather trio sometimes referred to as the ocean itself. First introduced in generation 3 Kyogre is not very powerful as compared to the other Legendaries. Even though Kyogre doesn’t have any evolution forms, he can undergo Primal Reversion by holding the Blue Orb and evolve into Primal Kyogre. This gives an immense boost to Kyogre in terms of stats now, this is where things get Interesting.
In the primal state or Primal Kyogre is way more powerful than Arceus. Arceus has a base state of 720 with no Primal Reversion or other gimmicks. This means this is the most powerful Arceus can get. Primal Kyogre has a base stat of a whopping 780, and if these two were to meet, Arceus would be defeated by the mighty Kyogre
8) Groudon
Groudon is the last member of the weather trio representing ground as its element. Groudon is the counterpart of Kyogre. Both Groudon and Kyogre fight each other in the process of trying to become nature itself. Exactly like Kyogre, Groudon also has a Primal reversion transformation by holding the Red Orb and evolving into Primal Groudon.
The one thing that’s different in Primal Groudon is that he also changes his type in Primal form, unlike Kyogre, who remains water type in both forms. Groudon turns into a Fire/Ground type when in the Primal state.
When it comes to beating Arceus, Primal Groudon is at par with Primal Kyogre, and we know Kyogre defeats Arceus in Primal state by comparing the Base stat. So it’s safe to say that Primal Groudon would have no difficulty in beating Arceus. With this, we can conclude that the Weather Trio can easily defeat the God of Pokemon Arceus.
9) Ultra Nechrozma
Arceus and Nechrozma have been in a long debate now. Up until Pokemon ultra sun and Pokemon Ultra moon Arceus had the highest base stat of all the Pokemon, but after the introduction of Ultra Nechrozma, the case is a bit different now. Ultra Nechrozma has a base state of 754, higher than the previous God Arceus, with a base stat of a total of 720.
The thing to take note of is that Ultra Nechrozma is a very different form of Nechrozma. This form is only attainable when Nechrozma has the light of a whole region and two other Pokemon. This is not a permanent state, and Nechrozma is very likely to lose to Arceus in his base form.
Nechrosma is a being of another dimension which means he was not created by Arceus, and he may or may not be as strong as Arceus is but for Ultra Nechrosma, it’s easy to say that he wins over Arceus. Comparing their stats.
10) Eternatus
Eternatus is a Poison/Dragon-type Pokemon. With this, he is quite vulnerable to the dragon, ground, ice, and psychic type of Pokemon or attacks in general. So in the anime, there is no way Eternatus is going to beat Arceus, even considering his Gigantamax form. Arceus will simply use any one of the plates and nullify all of Eternatus’s attacks.
Although the storyline is a bit different, in the games, Gigantamaxed Eternatus is a force not to be meddled with. Unlike in anime, in games, Arceus cannot change the type of plates he uses mid-battle, which puts him at a disadvantage.
Even though he uses plates that are the weakness of Eternatus, the basic stat gap between Gigatamax Eternatus and Arceus is so big that it won’t really matter. Eternatus in g-max form has the highest base stat of any pokemon with any power boost. It has an enormous 1125 base stat which makes the 720 base stat of Arceus seem a bit underwhelming. So in games, Eternatus absolutely destroys Arceus.
11) Copperajah
Copperajah looks like a menace; with his insane size and abilities, he is a walking goliath. This elephantine Pokemon was first introduced in generation eight, revealing that it’s a steel type. With his size and the fact that he is a steel type, Copperajah has an unmatched resistance against all types making him a formidable foe for Arceus. He has almost no weakness, and with his high resistance, he can easily maintain his ground against all of Arceus’s attacks.
It doesn’t matter what life plates Arceus uses against Copperajah; with only three weaknesses, fire, ground, and water, he can easily stand high against not only Arceus but many Legendary Pokemon. The G-Max move of Copperajah, the steel surge, is so powerful that it surely surpasses Arceus, which gives Copperajah an edge against him.
12) Ditto
Our funny-looking little pink blob can possibly beat even the GGod? As we know, Ditto can copy forms, stats, and properties of any object, Pokemon, humans, etc. This cheeky transformer can be cute at times, but he is one solid unit when it comes to battles. Ditto closely resembles Mew’s ability to turn into any pokemon. The catch here is that Mew actually transforms into the Pokemon while Ditto just copies it.
Ditto can beat Arceus if he transforms into any of the legendary powerful Pokemon or even Arceus himself. Imagine a battle between two Arceus. It would be confusing, but Ditto would stand a chance as Ditto not only copies the body but the attacks of other Pokemon too.
He can use Arceus’s signature to attack judgment against him, and it will leave a scar. Ditto, as a matter of fact, can copy any pokemon on this list in order to beat Arceus. Ditto and Mew are more likely the same when it comes to the strategy they can use to beat Arceus.
13) Unown
Unown is one of the smallest and the weirdest enigmatic Pokemon in the whole pokemon franchise. They seem like small little symbols with big eyes floating into space. The Unown has its own dimension.
As stated in the third “Pokemon movie: The spell of the Unown,” Arceus lost control over the Unown, and now they live freely in a dimension where even Arceus cannot enter. Arceus used Unown to create different life forms, and we don’t know if he did or did not torture Unown to work for him.
Unown are capable of understanding or reading one’s thoughts which means they know what someone is going to do beforehand, putting them a step ahead in battle with Arceus. They are also a Psychic type which means they can reduce Arceus’s HP while dodging and parrying his attacks. All these abilities help in giving the Unown a spot on this list.
14) Hoopa
Hoopa is one of the most underrated Pokemon of all time. Hoopa is a Psychic/Ghost type pokemon with abilities that even surpass the legendaries. In his base form, Hoopa can bend realities which is a powerful enough ability to counter all the normal legendaries. He also has an alternate form called the Hoopa unbound. In this form, Hoopa can summon and even control other Legendary Pokemon.
Hoopa has a special ability, hyperspace fury, which will help him get past the defenses of Arceus. Hoopa himself won’t be able to defeat Arceus, but if he controls enough strong legendary Pokemon, he can defeat him. The controlled legendaries would be the ones fighting Arceus, but Hoopa will be controlling the battlefield. These feats of Hoopa are extraordinary enough to put him on an equal footing with Arceus.
15) Dusknoir
Dusknoir will win against Arceus in technicality. As we know, Dusknoir is a ghost-type pokemon. The antenna on his head helps him to communicate with the spirit world, and he acts as a force to obey their orders.
Dusknoir is like a non-lethal hitman who brings those people to the spirit realm who are asked for by the spirits. It is a simple matchup for Dusknoir because if someday the spirits wish for Arceus to be summoned, Dusknoir would put all his might into bringing Arceus.
He wouldn’t have actually fought Arceus. Instead, he can just trap his soul as we do not yet know if Arceus has any counter for that and can bring him to the spirit realm. If a pokemon is capable of capturing Arceus against his will, he is stronger than him, so through strategy and with a set of weird abilities, Dusknoir can, in some sense, beat Arceus or, in the truest sense, capture him, which makes him worthy of a spot on this list.
As we know, Arceus is the God of the pokemon universe and is probably the strongest Pokemon ever to exist. Yet this is only confined to the lore or anime. If we consider all the rules, power boosts, technicalities, and Pokedex entries of strong or even not-so-strong Pokemon, we can find a certain loophole or a special form of a certain pokemon that may be stronger than the current Arceus we know, according to this concept even the Gods can be defeated.
Also, all the pokemon games over the years helped us a lot to give us a basic idea of how strong a pokemon really is by comparing their in-game stats. But for a fact, it’s sure that in the anime storyline, Arceus is the strongest Pokemon.
