Ash Ketchum

**Ash Ketchum** (Japanese: *Satoshi*) is the main protagonist of the *Pokémon* anime series, serving as one of the two main protagonists (alongside his Pikachu) of the first 25 seasons of the series. Pikachu is the only Pokémon he travels with to every region he goes to in his journey. Ash's ultimate goal is to become a Pokémon Master, the greatest Pokémon Trainer ever.

Ash's mother is Delia Ketchum. His father has not yet been seen in the series. He is the longest-running character in the anime series. He is also the Alola Region’s Pokémon Champion receiving that title after winning its first Pokémon League Conference and he is also the World Champion, referred to as 'Monarch', Meaning he is the Strongest Pokémon Trainer in the Pokémon World, after beating the previous Monarch Leon in the World Coronation Series’ Master’s Eight Tournament.

Ash is based on Red from the Generation I games.

Ash used to work at the Cerise Laboratory as a research assistant along; with his new friend, Goh, all the while competing in the World Coronation Series and eventually became the current Monarch. This marks Ash's step down as the titular character from the *Pokémon* anime after 26 years.

Ash was voiced; by Rica Matsumoto; who also voices Bakura Ryou and Yami Bakura in *Yu-Gi-Oh!*, in the Japanese version and was originally voiced; by Veronica Taylor in the 4Kids English version in the first eight seasons between Seasons 1 and 8, and was later replaced; by Sarah Natochenny in the TPCi English version after the latter passed her role.

## Personality

Ash is an only child who lived with his mother, Delia, until he left for his Pokémon journey at the age of 10. His main goal in life, as described in the first episode, 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 is shown to have 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 resolves to do anything in his power to stop them.

Despite this, and previous dealings with evil organizations and poachers, 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.

Despite not being a police officer like Officer Jenny, Ash has a strong sense of justice to do whatever it means to ensure the evil organizations and poachers or hunters' defeat. Ash holds a greatest hatred towards all the evil organizations such as Team Rocket, Team Aqua and Magma, Team Galactic, Team Plasma, Team Flare and Team Skull due to they (except for Team Skull) doing bad things such as experimenting on powerful Pokemon even to Legendary and as for Team Skull bullying people and their Pokemon.

In the original series, though Ash actively took part in battles, he was rarely seen independently training his Pokémon. However, since the *Ruby and Sapphire* series, Ash is shown training more noticeably, having practice battles with his friends and focusing on moves, techniques, and strategies with his Pokémon. A noticeable trait of Ash's is his willingness to learn from both his victories and defeats. For example, after winning in a Gym battle against Winona in *Sky High Gym Battle!* and witnessing her Pokémon's powerful Aerial Ace, Ash was motivated to have his Swellow learn it. Even his losses can inspire him, such as when he lost to Clayton in *Short and To the Punch!* and decided to teach his Buizel one of the moves Clayton's Mr. Mime had used during their battle. He believes nothing he and his Pokémon do on their journey is a waste of time.

In the beginning, 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 *The Path to the Pokémon League*. Ash used to complain about perfectly legal things, like Giselle's Cubone using a bone in *The School of Hard Knocks*, or Blaine's use of the lava in *Volcanic Panic*.

He even locked himself up in his room and sulked after losing to Ritchie, although this anger was not entirely unfounded as Team Rocket had worn out his Pokémon before the match began. He overcame his disappointment after seeing and listening to how Ritchie took his loss as a way to better himself as a Trainer in *Friends to the End*. 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 is insulted or degraded.

Perhaps one of Ash's greatest rivalries was against Paul during his time in the Sinnoh region. On the contrary of Ash, who strongly believed in the bond between Trainer and Pokémon, Paul's only concern was with a Pokémon's strength, believing that bonding only caused them to become spoiled and unmotivated. Due to this, aside from winning the Sinnoh League, Ash's biggest goal during his Sinnoh travels was to ultimately change Paul's mindset and have the latter finally acknowledge him as a Trainer worth of his attention, and after a long, and exhausting, journey, finally managed to accomplish so after defeating Paul at the Lily of the Valley Conference, after which Paul finally recognized Ash as his rival and equal, if not superior.

In most episodes of the anime, especially those during the Johto League arc, 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, particularly the maternal skills of Brock. 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; using the term for Misty and Brock in *Gotta Catch Ya Later!* as well as May and Max in *Battling the Enemy Within*.

When a Pokemon was abandoned by their previous trainers who are selfish and power-hungry jerks that deemed them to be weak, Ash is generous enough to invite the released Pokemon to join him to prove their former trainers they're wrong (such as Charmander from Damian, Chimchar from Paul and Tepig from Shamus).

Ash has changed a great deal throughout the series, particularly in regard 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 in *The Unbeatable Lightness of Seeing!*, 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.

For example, he uses his Pikachu's speed to outmaneuver larger foes and attack. In another instance, his Charizard defeated Gary's Blastoise by causing the field to overheat before mounting a close-quarters attack while Blastoise was blinded by the steam. He also prefers to train a Pokémon to be the best it can without forcing it to evolve, as evidenced by his treatment of Gligar in *Fighting Fear With Fear!*. 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 constantly been shown to have 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 recovered 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.

Ash is also quite dense when it comes to matters of the opposite sex, more specifically in the field of romance. Throughout the series, Ash has only displayed open interest in a female-only once, and nothing came out of it. Though some girls in the series 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. A few times 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 mainly advise on improving the male's looks or charm, Ash's advice is simply to be stronger.

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. At the Silver Conference, with great humility and maturity, Ash finally won a battle against his old rival, signifying a great milestone in his history as a Trainer. His maturity has also increased in his dealings with Pokémon.

This was shown when a Mankey stole his hat in *Primeape Goes Bananas*, he screamed and yelled at it, even climbing trees just to get his hat back, but when an Aipom did the same in *Slaking Kong*, he stated merely that he would feel strange without a hat. When Aipom stole his hat again in *Setting the World on its Buneary!*, however, while she was under his ownership, he chased after her in the same manner as before.

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. He has also gained a close connection with many Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, such as the ones who played major roles in the movies. In the English dub of the second movie, he was revealed to be "The Chosen One" - the one who would bring balance back to the world when it was disrupted.

Although viewed as a normal human, Ash does have some special abilities, as 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 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 in *The Keystone Pops!*, who also had a partner Pikachu. Later, in *Pokémon Ranger and the Kidnapped Riolu! Parts 1* and *2*, Ash uses Aura again to locate a lost Riolu and read Riolu's mind as well. This time, however, he merely senses the Aura, rather than manipulating it.

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. Ash 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; Misty's special lure, which she sent to him as a gift; and half of the Terracotta Medal he received after his Contest Battle with May in the unofficial Terracotta Contest ended in a tie.

His father has not been introduced. The anime suggests that his father was once a Pokémon Trainer who began his journey in Pallet Town and that he is still living. In the original, he is also confirmed to have a grandfather, whose son followed his footsteps. An interview with the series' storyboarder Masamitsu Hidaka confirmed Ash's father is a Trainer on his journey. According to Hidaka, Ash's father may or may not be introduced in the series, depending on its necessity to further Ash's maturity and development as a Trainer. On the other hand, according to Takeshi Shudō's novelization, Ash's father left home to go on a journey right after Ash was born, and never returned since. As he never registered his name in the Pokémon Trainer's list, his whereabouts are unknown.

## Appearance

Ash is a skinny, slender preteen with dark black hair, slightly tan skin, and brown eyes with two distinctive lightning bolt-like markings (maybe cheeks) underneath each one. Ash's pupils were not visible during the Indigo League and through the *Diamond and Pearl* series until the *Black and White* series made them more profound and distinguishable.

While Ash wears a few different outfits, he always wears a baseball cap, which changes depending on the region he is in. Without a cap, Ash is shown to have a cowlick and a narrow, triangular, and edgy tuft of hair in the middle of his forehead that comes to a point on the right side.

### *Pokémon the Series: The Beginning*

Ash wears a blue jacket with gold trim and white-collar and sleeves, worn open over a dark teal T-shirt. His lower outfit consists of jeans with light blue cuffs, black and white sneakers with red dots on both sides, and a brown belt, which he used to hang his Poké Balls. He also wears green finger-less gloves with light green borders and an Expo hat that was red and white with a green, stylized "L" on the front. His outfit is similar to Red's outfit from the Generation I games.

### *Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire*

Ash wears a black-and-red cap that has a green Poké Ball symbol/logo on it, a blue sleeveless hoodie instead of a jacket, black gloves instead of green, and new jeans and sneakers. Ash was seen wearing a T-shirt similar to the original series, but with an orange horizontal stripe. However, he keeps the hoodie closed, possibly because he no longer keeps Badges pinned to the inside.

### *Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl*

Ash wears a black jacket instead of a hoodie, and with colors closer to the original. He also has a white undershirt instead of black for a change, as well as a black-and-red cap that has a blue Poké Ball symbol/logo on it, new jeans, and new sneakers. The gloves are the same as those from his second outfit. His outfit is similar to Lucas's outfit from *Pokémon Diamond and Pearl*.

### *Pokémon the Series: Black and White*

Ash's sneakers are high tops, rather than the normal sneakers he wore during the other series. Instead of blue jeans, Ash starts to wear black baggy jeans and wears a hooded jacket just like in the *Ruby and Sapphire* series, colored mostly blue and white along with a yellow zipper. He wears black finger-less gloves with a red border and a red and off-white hat with a blue Poké Ball design for a logo and no line running down the middle. His outfit is similar to Hilbert's outfit from *Pokémon Black and White*.

### *Pokémon the Series: XY* and *XYZ*

Ash wears a blue collared shirt with short sleeves with a black undershirt, darker blue jeans and red high-top sneakers. Ash also wears a red hat with a white brim and a white semicircle across the front. His outfit is similar to Calem's outfit from *Pokémon X and Y*.

### *Pokémon the Series: Sun and Moon*

Ash wears a white and blue striped short-sleeved loose-collared shirt, brown capris with red outlines, baggy pockets, red folded sleeves at the edges and blue, light blue, and white sneakers. His hat is red and black, and the Poké Ball design is white, and he wears a silver Z-Ring on his right wrist with an Electrium Z on it that was given by Tapu Koko. Unlike the previous seasons, he doesn't wear any gloves with no fingers. His outfit is similar to Elio's outfit from *Pokémon Sun and Moon*.

### *Pokémon Journeys: The Series*

Ash's red cap has a white brim and a black C-shaped Pokeball symbol with a green dot in the center. He wears a blue sleeveless jacket with gold trim, a high collar, and square-shaped pockets over a white t-shirt with a red horizontal stripe. He also wears dark blue shorts with a black vertical stripe on each side, and black and blue sneakers with white soles and X-shaped laces. Like in the *Sun and Moon* series, Ash doesn't wear gloves with this outfit. In his latest appearance of the series, he currently wears new black sneakers with red highlights and the green insignia that bears a resemblance to the official Pokémon League cap's logo worn by him since the beginning of his journey.

## Relationships

Due to Ash's friendly and upbeat personality, he made various human and Pokémon friends all over 8 regions of the Pokémon World (even though he traveled twice in his home region, Kanto during the original series and the Kanto/Hoenn Battle Frontier arc in the *Ruby and Sapphire* series.) His closest friends are usually his Pokémon teams, Gym Leaders, regional professors, Trial Captains, classmates, and family. But he also made friends with various other people who help him along his Pokémon journey.

### Pikachu

Ash's best friend and comrade; even though they had a rough start at first, they are nearly inseparable. They protect each other from trouble and stand up for each other. A lot of people see that they're perfect partners. Pikachu has helped Ash break free from someone's control a few times in their adventures, and Ash has helped Pikachu do the same thing, showing how strong their friendship is.

### On Hand

* Pikachu ↔ Gigantamax Pikachu ♂ (Signature Pokémon)

### At Professor Oak's Laboratory/In Rotation

* Pidgeotto → Pidgeot
* Bulbasaur
* Charmander → Charmeleon → Charizard ♂
* Krabby → Kingler
* Muk
* Tauros (x30) ♂
* Snorlax
* Heracross ♂
* Chikorita → Bayleef ♀
* Cyndaquil → Quilava
* Totodile
* Noctowl (Shiny)
* Egg → Phanpy → Donphan
* Taillow → Swellow
* Treecko → Grovyle → Sceptile ♂
* Corphish
* Torkoal
* Snorunt → Glalie
* Starly → Staravia → Staraptor ♂
* Turtwig → Grotle → Torterra ♂
* Chimchar → Monferno → Infernape ♂
* Buizel ♂
* Gligar → Gliscor
* Gible ♂
* Pidove → Tranquill → Unfezant ♀
* Oshawott ♂
* Tepig → Pignite ♂
* Snivy ♀
* Egg → Scraggy ♂
* Sewaddle → Swadloon → Leavanny ♂
* Palpitoad ♂
* Roggenrola → Boldore
* Krokorok → Krookodile ♂
* Fletchling → Fletchinder → Talonflame
* Hawlucha ♂
* Egg → Noibat → Noivern ♂
* Dragonite ♀
* Gengar ↔ Gigantamax Gengar ♂
* Egg → Riolu → Lucario ↔ Mega Lucario ♂
* Galarian Farfetch'd → Sirfetch'd ♂
* Fossilized Drake and Fish → Dracovish

### With Kukui and Burnet/In Rotation

* Rowlet
* Rockruff → Lycanroc (Dusk Form)
* Litten → Torracat → Incineroar
* Meltan → Melmetal

### Released

* Caterpie → Metapod → Butterfree ♂
* Lapras
* Goomy → Sliggoo → Goodra
* Froakie → Frogadier → Greninja ↔ Ash-Greninja ♂
* Poipole → Naganadel

### With someone else

* Primeape
* Squirtle

### Traded away

* Raticate
* Aipom ♀

### Traveled with

* Haunter
* Egg → Larvitar
* Rotom (as a Pokédex)
* Cosmog → Cosmoem → Solgaleo

## Pokémon League Status

* Indigo Plateau Conference (Kanto League) Top 16 (Lost to Ritchie)
* Silver Conference (Johto League) Top 8 (Lost to Harrison)
* Ever Grande Conference (Hoenn League) Top 8 (Lost to Tyson)
* Lily of The Valley Conference (Sinnoh League) Top 4 (Lost to Tobias)
* Vertress Conference (Unova League) Top 8 (Lost to Cameron)
* Lumiose Conference (Kalos League) Runner-up (Lost to Alain)
* Manalo Conference (Alola League) Champion (Defeated Gladion)

## World Coronation Series Ranking Status

### Normal Class

* 3,763 (Destination: Coronation!)
* 1,512 (Dreams Are Made of These!)
* 1,022 (A Festival Reunion!)
* 1,021 (Making Battles in the Sand!)

### Great Class

* 921 (A Festival Reunion!)
* 901 (Betrayed, Bothered, and Beleaguered!)
* 890 (Trade, Borrow, and Steal!)
* 930 (Solitary and Menacing!)
* 975 (Making Battles in the Sand!)
* Unknown Rank (Octo-Gridlock at the Gym!)
* 415 (Trials of a Budding Master!)
* 381 (Trials of a Budding Master!)
* 273 (Beyond Chivalry… Aiming to be a Leek Master!)
* 184 (Beyond Chivalry… Aiming to be a Leek Master!)

### Ultra Class

* 99 (Thrash of the Titans!)
* 64 (Excitement From the Ultra-Shocking Start!)
* 36 (A Battle of Mega Versus Max!)
* 15 (Battling Turned Up to Eleven!!)
* 9 (Taking Two For The Team!)

### Master Class

* 8 (Aim for the Eight!)
* Monarch (Partners in Time!)

## Trivia

* Ash is the only anime Pokémon character not to be in the video games.
* Ash is the only human character to appear in every season and episode of *Pokémon the Series*.
	+ Ash and Pikachu are the most recurring and ongoing characters.
	+ Excluding episode 32 of *Pokémon Journeys*, Ash and Pikachu appeared in every episode of the main Pokémon series, but they only appeared once in *Pokémon Chronicles*.
* Ash shares both of his English voice actresses with his mother, Delia Ketchum, as both were voiced by Veronica Taylor in the first eight seasons, and are both currently voiced by Sarah Natochenny starting from Season 9.
	+ Veronica Taylor also voiced May in the first three seasons of *Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire*, thus May shares her original voice actress with both Ash and Delia.
	+ Sarah Natochenny also voiced Solidad, Johanna and Skyla, as well as all of Ash's alternate counterparts (Mirror Ash and Movie 20's Ash), making them all share their voice actress with Ash and Delia.
		- Delia and Johanna are both mothers to main characters in the series, being the mothers of Ash and Dawn, respectively, meaning both Ash and Dawn's respective mothers share the same voice actress.
* Ash's Japanese name, "Satoshi", is also the name of Satoshi Hojo from the *Higurashi* series. Also, in the Japanese version (original version), he was named after his creator, Satoshi Tajiri.
* While usually indifferent to romance in general, Ash only ever showed attraction to Giselle.
* When Ash started his journey in his debut episode, his age was stated to be 10 years, 10 months, and 10 days. This means that if he started his journey on April 1 (the date when the series premiered in Japan), his birthday would be May 22.
	+ If he started his journey on September 7 (the date when the series premiered in the United States), his birthday would be October 28.
* Ash makes a cameo appearance in *Pokémon Detective Pikachu*, engaging in a Pokémon battle. He is played by Ryoma Takeuchi, Japanese actor and model then known for his role as main protagonist of *Kamen Rider Drive*, Shinnosuke Tomari.
* Former director and storyboard artist Masamitsu Hidaka has stated that Ash and Pikachu will be the main characters in every generation of the Pokemon anime. This remained true until the announcement of *To Be A Pokemon Master* which marks the final chapter of Ash and Pikachu as the main characters as well as *Pokemon Horizons* which Liko and Roy are the main protagonists instead.
	+ He also stated that Ash will continue collecting badges which also remained true until *Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon* which were replaced with trials. Also, in *Pokemon Journeys*, Ash participates in a worldwide tournament known as the *World Coronation Series* rather than collecting badges despite that there are gyms in that Galar region.
	+ In spite of their departure, the director claims that Ash and Pikachu will return in the nearby future as it says their department will be temporarily.