TikTok Bodybuilder Tries To Out-Lift Pokémon's Ash - And Gets Humbled

Longtime "Pokémon" anime protagonist Ash Ketchum has a rich history predominately built up over 1200+ episodes of TV that aired for more than 25 years. A powerlifter on TikTok attempted to lift equivalent amounts of weight as Ash in certain scenes from the "Pokémon" anime. As it turns out, Ash is so strong that even dedicated gym-goers might have a hard time replicating these feats of strength Ash pulls off with ease.

TikTok user packapunchpanda's viral video — it's amassed around 2 million likes — opens by questioning outright if he's as strong as Ash. Surely, most viewers would think, this man who dedicates an entire social media account to strength training can lift more than a pre-teen boy who commands other creatures to fight for him.

First, packapunchpanda shows Ash lifting a Beedrill, which canonically weighs 29 kilograms, or about 65 pounds. He replicates this at his gym with relative ease. Next, Ash is holding a 35-pound Fletchinder on one arm. As it turns out, packapunchpanda can do this, too, but only after some struggle. Then, Ash effortlessly holds first a 122-pound Pignite and then a 159-pound Larvitar. While packapunchpanda can just barely curl 160 lbs, he can't help but conclude that Ash has the "ultimate sleeper build," masking immense raw power.

TikTok user packapunchpanda isn't the first person to determine that Ash Ketchum is a physical specimen. One of the most comprehensive analyses of Ash's physical strength comes courtesy of Reddit user doctorgecko, who started a series of threads on the Character Rant subreddit, analyzing various aspects of his athleticism.

In a Reddit thread dedicated to Ash's raw power, for example, u/doctorgecko noted most of the feats from packapunchpanda's video, in addition to one instance in which Ash lifts a purportedly 2,204.4-pound Cosmoem. The post makes sure to mention, however, that the Pokémon weights listed in the Pokédex — the source of packapunchpanda's data, too — may be inaccurate, especially considering Cosmoem demonstrably does not weigh more than a metric ton at multiple points in the Pokémon anime.

Between this and other detailed Reddit threads about Ash's durability and speed, for example, u/doctorgecko concluded that Ash is verifiably superhuman. That said, his physical capabilities are so wildly inconsistent, that it's impossible to determine just how superhuman he is. The feats that packapunchpanda replicates in the gym may be outliers, then, and not actually indicative of his everyday strength, if it's even possible to determine such a thing.