Ash Ketchum (Shining Bonds)

**Ash Ketchum** (Japanese: **サトシ** *Uchidano Satoshi*) is one of the main characters of *Shining Bonds a la Mode*. He is a 10-year old from Pallet Town.

Ash can transform into an Aura Guardian known as **Aura Master**, whose theme color is blue. He is an Electric Elemental who represents the Elemental of Magic.

## Bio

### **Personality**

Ash's main goal in life, as described in his debut, is to be the world's greatest Pokémon Master. One particular characteristic about Ash that has not changed throughout the series, aside from his determination and his passion for raising and training Pokémon, is that he is incredibly selfless. He will often go to extraordinary lengths to earn a Pokémon's trust and respect and to better understand a Pokémon that he sees as troubled. He is also very fair-minded and trusting, a true testament to his good-natured character.

Ash has a strong sense of justice, especially when it comes to Pokémon. If a Pokémon is in trouble, he will make every effort to help them, even if he has no prior connection to them. If they are the cause of trouble, he will stop them, and then try to understand them, with almost all such occasions being a case of the Pokémon, or their Trainers or friends, having a problem which can't be resolved normally. In those cases, he will selflessly volunteer to help them. Should the problem be caused by humans, such as Team Rocket, Pokémon thieves, hunters, or poachers, Ash will resolve to do anything in his power to stop them. Due to being familiar with villains (such as Meowth or a group of ruthless poachers) pretending to have a change of heart, he tends to be skeptical when villains actually do have a change of heart (such as Necrosis) or turn out to be brainwashed (such as Event Horizon), being extremely paranoid of the former and not trusting her for several episodes but eventually accepting it.

Despite this, and dealings with villains, Ash has retained a remarkably optimistic and naive outlook, a trait his companions seem to share. He is quick to praise and has an unshakable trust in both his Pokémon and his friends. Also, Ash is determined to see the best in everybody unless he has a very good reason not to. An example would be Team Rocket's frequent "sudden appearances" that coincide with their needs at that time, and Ash never questioning it until it is too late. Another example would be how he always praises Clemont for his inventions, no matter their high failure rate, and the near-inevitable explosion, or Cilan for his various hobbies. Furthermore, even though almost all of his friends have large dreams, Ash fully supports them and has never doubted their ability to accomplish them, possibly due to his own highly ambitious goal. He also encourages Pokémon to do the best they can, even if they aren't his own and has even helped train wild Pokémon.

Ash is shown training in some notable episodes, having practice battles with his friends and focusing on moves, techniques, and strategies with his Pokémon. A noticeable trait of him is his willingness to learn from both his victories and defeats. Even his losses can inspire him, and he believes nothing he and his Pokémon do on their journey is a waste of time.

Ash had a bit of an inferiority complex, as well as some form of personal pride, most likely stemming from his rivalry with Gary. As a result, he had some bad habits, such as shamelessly boasting of his skill if he were ever on a winning streak, and becoming angered easily if he were personally insulted, as seen in (). Ash used to complain about perfectly legal things. He even locked himself up in his room and sulked after an accident that nearly got Nanette unable to move, although this anger was not entirely unfounded. He overcame his disappointment after seeing and listening to how Nanette promised Nijimia that she would never lose faith in herself as a Trainer. Fortunately, during his journey, Ash has gotten over this particular character trait and is now more accepting of criticism of his skill, though he still gets upset if his Pokémon are insulted or degraded.

In most episodes of the series, Ash befriends someone who will influence him and cause him to strive to become a better Trainer. Although he is not a dependent individual, he is still young and has learned to make his way relying on his friends. The honor of "best friend" is usually reserved for Pikachu, but Ash has come to see his closest human friends in the same light over time.

Ash has changed a great deal throughout the series, particularly in regards to his skill at Pokémon training, but his earnestness, rashness, and determination have remained. Never straying from his goal, he has remained loyal to his friends, family, and supporters, but most of all his Pokémon. Ash became a great Trainer by learning to find and use the inner strength of each of his Pokémon by bonding with them. For example, when he received a banner filled with prints from his Pokémon, he knew which Pokémon placed specific prints, showing his close bond with them. He also learns where their hidden abilities lie, as well as resorting to unorthodox strategies when fighting particularly challenging opponents. He also prefers to train a Pokémon to be the best it can without forcing it to evolve. He is happy when his Pokémon evolve but lets them choose whether or not they want to evolve instead of forcing them.

Physically, Ash is in very good shape, especially for someone 10 years of age. He has a lot of stamina, walking miles upon miles through all kinds of environments, while journeying between towns on his journey. He also has huge endurance, as seen when he took powerful attacks from various Pokémon head-on and then recovering quite quickly. Furthermore, Ash has demonstrated himself to be a bit acrobatic, occasionally being able to keep up with Iris, who virtually grew up swinging and jumping through treetops. Ash has occasionally displayed great reflexes, being able to dodge attacks or catch falling objects out of the blue, and even being able to save himself, or others, in the last second during perilous situations. What's more, Ash has exhibited tremendous will power, as seen when he took attacks for long periods and keeps advancing, which also drives his "never give up" attitude when it comes to Pokémon battles. He is also strong, being capable of picking up heavy Pokémon.

Ash is also quite dense when it comes to matters of the opposite sex, more specifically in the field of romance. Though some girls in the anime have shown obvious (and subtle) affection towards him, Ash meets it with nearly unfailing obtuseness, which some characters have also noticed. Even when it involves other people's romance, Ash is usually oblivious until someone points it out to him. Also, on a few occasions when it came to a matter of Pokémon love, with a male who's experiencing difficulty in gaining the attention of a female, while his friends will often mainly advise on improving the male's looks or charm, Ash's advice is simply to be stronger. Despite this, however, it is shown on several occasions that Ash does seem to understand the concept of marriage.

Early on, Ash originally trained not to further himself but instead to catch more Pokémon than Gary, a feat that he never accomplished. Ash later slowed his pace, which allowed him to focus on the individual traits of each Pokémon. His maturity has also increased in his dealings with Pokémon. Ash has traversed much of the Pokémon world and has thus far participated in various Pokémon League Conferences, but he is still learning new things about Pokémon all the time.

Though his passion remains in battling, Ash is always eager to try new things, especially if he can do them together with his Pokémon, having participated in other events like Pokémon Contests, PokéRinger tournaments, and even a fashion show and a cosplay convention as well as various other Pokémon competitions. He has Contest Passes for Sinnoh and Hoenn and also carries with him half of a broken Poké Ball, while Gary Oak has the other half, as a symbol of their ongoing, but now friendly, rivalry.

### **Relationships**

* Jim Porter: Along with Will Brennan, Koji Trainer and the others, they are also best friends.
* Pikachu: His partner Pokémon and best friend who he loves dearly.
* Nicole Messerli: At first, Ash didn't trust Nicole due to the episode in season 2 where Meowth pretended to have a change of heart and Event Horizon's numerous shapeshifting disguises, but gradually warms up to her.
* Ryutsuki Crystaller: The two are childhood friends, enjoy hanging out together, and Ryutsuki often babysat him when he was younger. However, they are platonic friends and do not and never have had have any romantic feelings for each other, which often annoys them when others think otherwise.

## History

### **Pre-Series**

In *Meeting Ash and Pikachu*, Ash remembered getting lost in a forest while looking for Pokémon. He brought some wild Pokémon out of the rain and found them some shelter in a tree trunk. Ash's happiness about that moment made him think about how much he wanted to become a Pokémon Trainer. During his childhood, he was also often babysat by Ryutsuki.

In (), Ash (at the age of six) learned that Professor Oak would be holding a Pokémon Summer Camp, and eagerly asked his mother Delia if he could attend. Seeing her son's enthusiasm, she signed him up but also told him that she had things to do outside of home during the day the camp would take place, so he would have to get himself there in time on his own. Unfortunately for Ash, he ended up breaking his alarm clock in his sleep and overslept, missing the camp.

Later, as seen in (), Ash managed to attend another one of Professor Oak's Pokémon Summer Camps. One day, another camper named Serena got lost in the forest and wounded her leg after getting startled by a Poliwag. Ash, who was looking for the Poliwag, came to her rescue and wrapped a handkerchief around the wounded knee to brace it. He then helped her up and guided her out of the forest.

In (), Ash recalled a day during the one-week timeframe before he met Nanette and began his journey. He and Gary Oak both fished out an old, rusty Poké Ball, which snagged on both their lines. After arguing about who would keep it, they broke it in two, each keeping one half as a reminder of that day.

### **Meeting Nanette, Pikachu and Becoming Aura Master**

Ash began his journey at the age of 10 as a warm-hearted and well-intentioned but stubborn, rash, and amateur Pokémon Trainer. He was forced to accept a stubborn Pikachu from Professor Oak as his starter Pokémon because he woke up late on the day he was set to get his first Pokémon. He was determined to achieve his goal, but when he and Ryutsuki bump right into Nanette, who was chasing Gigi, Jessica and Bouncee to his Pikachu and Ryutsuki's Dratini Scaly, he realized something was different about her, but decided to keep the fact to himself until she's ready. When everyone was in grave danger, and right after seeing his mother gain her Innocent Harmony form, Ash and Ryutsuki managed to stand up against Event Horizon, and thanks to Pikachu, gained the ability to become Aura Master and his friend Ryutsuki became Angel Amethyst. After the battle was over, Pikachu saw that he was willing to compromise his safety to keep everyone safe. This causes Trainer and Pokémon to form an extremely strong bond, an unbreakable friendship that would also set the course for the future. He also agreed to join the heroes on one condition: that everyone stop stupidly shipping him and Ryutsuki since they're platonic friends.

## Magical Abilities

Ash, whether as Aura Master or not, possesses some special abilities as he has the rare ability to use Aura. He is said to have the same Aura as Sir Aaron, a legendary hero, and is theoretically able to manipulate it in much the same way. Therefore, he once made a connection with Sir Aaron's Lucario. However, he has not received any training in this field, opting to continue his Pokémon journey instead. He has also been likened to an ancient Aura guardian who also had a partner Pikachu. One time, Ash used Aura to locate Lily (Nanette's Riolu) and read her mind as well. This time, however, he merely senses the Aura, rather than manipulating it. In an episode of Season 1, an unhatched Riolu reacted to Ash's Aura, and he was able to sense the Egg's response, leading him to it. Ash also has the rare ability to use Bond Phenomenon.

## Aura Master

**Aura Master** is Ash's alter ego. In order to transform, he needs his Dream Seed and his PokePilot. Despite Pikachu not being a PokéPet (in a way due to having a Poké Ball it *refuses* to go in to), the Mouse Pokémon is needed as well.

## Pokémon

* Pikachu

* Riolu

## Trivia

* Ash shares his Japanese name with the creator of the Pokémon franchise, Satoshi Tajiri. His English surname is a pun of the English Pokémon anime motto, "Gotta catch 'em all!"

* Ash has caught at least one of the starter Pokémon in every region.

* + He has also caught at least one Pokémon belonging to all eighteen types (this includes Pokémon he owns or has owned that have been retroactively made Fairy-type).

* + Unlike his original counterpart, he was given a Starter Pokémon from Galar as a gift from Nanette.

* Ash can draw, as shown when he drew a Dewgong.

* Ash has been shown to be a good climber, as mentioned in (). Ash's climbing ability has also been shown in several episodes throughout the series, such as ().

* Ash has obtained at least one Flying-type type Pokémon in every region.

* The only Pokémon owned by Ash who refused to be nicknamed are Pikachu and Riolu.

* Ash is not left naked and covered in a blue glow for several seconds when he helps Greninja transform, unlike Elizabeth who has that happen to her when she helps Dragonet transform.
* He also appears to be blunt about pregnant Pokémon or Pokémon breeding in general, such as when he saw a pregnant Wooloo and thought she was just lazy or when he saw Dragonet pregnant and told Elizabeth that she shouldn't be feeding her so many chips. When the heroes went to the river for the annual Goldeen run, though, he thought the Goldeen eggs were boba and commented that they would make great bubble tea before getting slapped by Professor Cerise (who had invited the heroes to the river on his own personal boat.)
* As a running gag, a random Pokémon will pretend he's a girl and call him "Ashley" all day just to piss him off. Rarity, one time, even deliberately makes him a nice and girly dress and wig and forces him to wear it as a dare.