サトシ ✖ ❐  - 
A little corner where I talk about Ash and why I adore this forever twerp so much.
Ash was the the main character from 1998 all the way to 2022. He is loosely based off the protagonist of Red and Blue, the first Pokemon games.

As the protagonist of a light hearted show like Pokemon, and have stayed like that for as long as he did, Ash's character suffered plenty of changes and while some of those were done to better fit the story the writers wanted to tell, I'll be analyzing his character as a whole. From how he started to what he became and what happened in the season inbetween that could explain those changes.

The following article is going to be taking the original japanese anime as reference to avoid confusion as the dub sometimes will change small things (or even big things). I'll be using mostly english terminology, but if the need arises, I will be using japanese terms with a hover in translation.

Achievements

Season Badges League placement
Kanto Best 16
Orange Islands Champion
Johto Best 8
Hoenn Best 8
Battle Frontier Frontier Brain
Sinnoh Best 4
Unova Best 8
Kalos Runner-up
Alola Champion
Journeys World Champion

Personality and traits

At the beggining of the anime, Ash was a very confrotational and bratty kid, and from what we know from Takeshi Shudo's novelization of the first episodes, we can sort of understand why he is like that.

With the knowledge Ash's dad left him and Delia to become a trainer and seemingly never succeeded at such and with Ash wanting to become a famous trainer of his own, we can understand why he acts so feisty when people try to tell him how to do things. We will often see that side of him with Misty, with him snapping and fighting her even at times when she just wants to help.

He is prideful and feels that doing things in any way other than his way means he is failing. And with how Brock and Misty will at times make fun of his amateur mistakes, that trait of his gets enhanced in the Kanto saga. Is only when he meets Ritchie that Ash seemingly starts to realize just how much he needs to grow.

And grow he does in his journey throught the Orange archipelago, where we get to see his humility and love for Pokemon pay off when Charizard gets extremely hurt in a battle and is Ash nursing for it day in and day out that makes the dragon finally respect Ash as a trainer.

Not only that, but in Johto Ash start coming up with crazy ideas mid-battle. Something that will help get out of a pinch when needed and learn more about his pokemon's abilies and limitations.
In that same season, he gets to finally confront Gary, who he saw as a rival from day one, in a proper full battle, on equal grounds and comes out as the best one. All while fighting along with the Charizard that once didn't listened to him. A very palpable proof of his growth as a trainer and person.

Why I adore him

Look, I was a toodler when the anime aired and I always liked all sorts of animals. So seeing Ash almost die for Pikachu was a defining moment for me. That love for pokemon is my favorite characteristic of his. Even today, as I live in a country where there's a lot of stray animals and find myself rescuing feral cats from my neighboorhood I keep thinking about how I can only do it, without fear of getting hurt and never giving up because I lnow that once eveything is said and done, I will find a friend for eternity.

Because Ash and Pikachu taught me that.