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Pokemon are known to be able to withstand tremendous physical abuse before being KOed (death happens very rarely, if at all): being burned, shocked with millions of volts, subjected to Light That Burns the Sky itself, etc etc.

What about humans, though? They seem to be far more fragile than Pokemon, since they usually aren't seen fighting Pokemon and they are explicitely said to need Pokemon for protection. Noticeably, in one of the very early Anime episodes, Ash managed to "catch" a wild (presumably very low-level) Pidgey with his coat but failed to hold it - hinting that humans seem to be weaker than the weakest of Pokemon.

However, we also have examples that seem to contradict this. Jessie and James, noticeably, were able to survive being launched into orbit and falling back on Earth. Also, in one anime episode, Kiyo was able to defeat a Tyroque even though both his pokemon had failed at this task. So it would seem human bodies do possess powers comparable to those of Pokemon after all.

Is this settled in universe? How powerful are (unarmed) humans in the world of Pokemon?

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    Leaving the orbit thing aside (which isn't necessarily related to physical strength which seems to be what you're aiming at), both Pidgey and Tyrogue are shorter than one meter (more or less). Likely Ash can't hold it 'cause he's a weak kid, but Kiyo is a Black Belt adult so... not really comparable? – Jenayah Oct 25 '18 at 21:03
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    @Jenayah Well leaving the orbit seems relevant insofar many pokemon were subjected to such abuse when their opponent was performing seismic toss for example. No real life human could survive that. Also Ash/Pidgey and Kiyo/Tyroque seem comparable since Pidgey was presumably a very low level mon itself while Tyroque had already shown battle prowess. Also IIRC after Ahs's failed Pidgey attempt the pokedex said something about humans needing to battle wild pokemon with their own pokemon before capturing them, not 100% certain tho. – gaazkam Oct 25 '18 at 21:06
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    "being burned, shocked with millions of votes" Is this a joke about US politics? – Z. Cochrane Oct 25 '18 at 21:42
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    @zabeus I thought no you are right. Beware the "Dangling Chad" finishing move – Verdan Oct 26 '18 at 16:11
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Chuck, the gym leader in the episode "Machoke, Machoke Man," trains his pokemon by physically fighting them. His success rate against Machoke doesn't seem very impressive but he holds his own. In that episode at least, humans and fighting pokemon seem about even.

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In Pokemon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back, we see what happens when Ash tries to stop Mew and Mewtwo from fighting by running between them and taking the full brunt of their psychic attacks:

Mew and Mewtwo face off Ash tries to intervene in the fight Ash gets blasted by Mew and Mewtwo's attacks Ash turned to stone

And there you have it, an unarmed human getting full on blasted by Pokemon powers and dying / turning to stone.

Sure... he later comes back to life due to Pokemon tears and profit that needs to be made by selling more games, cards, anime, ect........

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  • Yes, however it should be noted that AFAIK Ash has never trained to fight himself, while both Mew and especially Mewtwo were among the strongest Pokemon in existance. – gaazkam Oct 29 '18 at 12:27

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