It’s been years since I watched a video by Death Battle, the YouTube channel that pits fictional characters from different franchises against each other and breaks down who would win based on science and extensive research. The channel’s latest video, however, is required viewing for ‘90s kids like me who loved the *Pokémon *and *Yu-Gi-Oh *anime growing up. Who would win in a battle, Ash Ketchum from Pokémon or Yugi Moto from Yu-Gi-Oh? Death Battle answered, and fans of both series are weighing in with impassioned answers, disputes, and celebration.

If you don’t want spoilers out of the gate and instead want to see the whole thing play out for yourself, check out Death Battle’s full 30-minute video below. Not only does the crew give extensive recaps of both heroes’ journeys in their respective shows to illustrate their power as a Pokémon Champion and the King of Games, but it also has a pretty great animated version of the fight that’s full of fun references to both series. The voice performances in this mock-up brawl, by Elsie Lovelock as Ash and Tom Schalk as Yugi. are so spot-on, I thought Death Battle might have gotten Sarah Natochenny and Dan Green to reprise their roles. We’ll discuss the results underneath the video.

Alrighty, now that you’ve presumably watched the video or just want to know the results, Yugi barely manages to win out against Ash in the end, using his Magic Cylinder card to send what would have been a finishing blow back at the Pokémon trainer and his many monsters. It surprisingly ends with a dark homage to the First Movie, in which Ash is turned to stone after getting caught in the middle of a psychic battle between Mew and Mewtwo. Yugi walks off like this is perfectly fine. That’s a 10-year-old kid and his many pets you just murdered, my guy.

Needless to say, anime fans of a certain age were invested in this match-up when it was teased in November, with many predicting this fight was an easy win for their preferred side. Some expected Yugi and Ash to duke it out with their fists, but Death Battle went the extra mile to incorporate most of Ash’s best Pokémon and Yugi’s best cards. Even if you disagree with the result, the fight is a delight to watch if you’re a fan of both series. In all this disagreement and celebration, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Death Battle fans are all in their feelings. The channel has been around for almost 20 years, so if you grew up watching these series and these videos, it’s a crazy collision of your childhood’s hyperfixations.

Yeah, no, Ash VS Yugi was PEAK!!!

The analyses, the fight, the love and references sprinkled in between… There’s NO way I can fit all my thoughts in a single tweet…

But perhaps another format could do… pic.twitter.com/eTl5JiGOtT

— AwesomeEthan48 (@AEthan48) December 7, 2025

Imagine this happens in Ash Vs. Yugi#DEATHBATTLE pic.twitter.com/QdjYrwHr6Q

— Yopa (@YopaArt) December 6, 2025

Words cannot possibly describe how excited I am for Ash VS Yugi… this shit means something to me man 😭#DEATHBATTLE #pokemon #pokemonfanart #yugioh #yugiohfanart #pikachu #digitalart #fanart pic.twitter.com/GO0rVvntTt

— Xenn (@LaughingXenn) November 25, 2025

“𝗕𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁? 𝗣𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝗸𝗲.” “𝗡𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀.”

Ash Ketchum VS Yugi Muto (Pokémon VS Yu-Gi-Oh) – [Art Collab ft. The North Productions]#DEATHBATTLE #Pokemon #ポケモン #YuGiOh pic.twitter.com/vFtMNonIwf

— Alvavus – アルヴァフス (@BbrAlvin) December 7, 2025

Honestly it was so funny how people just assumed Ash vs Yugi was gonna be a fist fight where Ash would win

But NO? DB actually know what actually would happen if Ash did used his fist against Yugi: EVEN SEASON 0 WHERE YUGI CASUALLY DODGES A PUNCH FROM A BULLY pic.twitter.com/vbAhhO079D

— Den (@DEN_WAS_HXRX) December 7, 2025

Ash’s bum ass Charizard hating on Yugi until he pulled out an Egyptian god pic.twitter.com/5rlDdJrHe2

— Ullltimaaaaa (@Ultima_Undead) December 8, 2025

I thought for a moment Ash would pull an upset until Yugi did this. #DEATHBATTLE #yugioh pic.twitter.com/S5v3VAueNN

— 🎅🏻𝐸𝒹 ☃️ (@PrideRing666) December 7, 2025

How ash vs yugi will turn out 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♂️🚶‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/5bHNS6KULY

— cheese (@sonic1nstinct) December 7, 2025

https://t.co/BO7JRRIJAq pic.twitter.com/ptZaKNmMCk

— 👑ℂℍ𝔸𝕆𝕊𝕂𝕀𝔻👑 (@DatChaosGuy) December 7, 2025

While I’m a much bigger fan of Pokémon than Yu-Gi-Oh, and Ash was basically my idol growing up, I can’t dispute the findings. Yugi commands Egyptian Gods and can manipulate the battlefield in ways Ash and his Pokémon can’t. It was close, but the King of Games remains on his throne.