Ash's Lovepedia | ENG
💬 Leggi questo articolo in lingua italiana 💬
Takeshi Shudo, creator of Pokémon anime, was openly opposed to a romantic relationship between the main characters, as he believed it would have mislead the pattern of the story.
That said, this does not mean that Ash failed to attract the interest of several girls; nor does it exclude the possibility that he himself may have developed a few crushes along the way.
Let’s take a look at all the cases documented throughout the episodes.
👉 This post does NOT refer to shipping, but to objective events in the animated series.
Girls and Pokémon who have a crush on Ash
Misty
The relationship between Ash and Misty has always been turbulent: an affection that required time to mature. To what extent it ultimately developed is unknown, but in any case, a very deep bond was established between them.
As for romantic attraction, in the original Japanese version of the episodes it is actually Misty who shows far more evident signs of being in love, even though many of her arguments with Ash seemed to stem precisely from her.
“Misty is at that age when girls fall in love.”
With these words, Shudo did not rule out the possibility that Misty may have had a crush on Ash; however, he chose not to further explore the romantic aspect. An example can be found in the second movie, where Shudo requested the removal of the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation scene (originally included in the script) out of concern that it might be interpreted as romantic.
Despite this, the anime has confirmed Misty’s interest in Ash on several occasions: one only needs to consider her openly jealous reactions toward Macy (in OS ep. 269) or toward Melody in the second movie.
Today, much of the material related to older interviews is difficult to retrieve, but in sources that circulated online during the anime’s first decade, frequent reference was made to a particular storyboard artist who stated in an interview:
"Misty and Ash really like each other, but they didn't realize that"
Another interesting piece of evidence appears in the episode "A date with Delcatty" (Pokémon Chronicles series) a guy asks a date to Misty, however, in the original version (Japanese) Misty responds to love someone else already. Also in the original version of this episode, in the final, Misty wants to go see Ash in Hoenn.
Melody
Melody is one of the protagonists of the second movie. It is not clear if she actually had a crush on Ash, but judging from some of her behaviours towards him, it probably could be. To avoid any mistake, however, she is included in the list.
Chikorita / Bayleef
In many ways Pokémons are similar to humans.
Therefore, it is also possible that some of them could fall in love with a human. The case is the current Ash's Bayleef (for those who still don't know, it's a female), who is impressed by the courageous and caring attitudes of his trainer, often showing a lot of jealousy towards him... especially against Pikachu!
Latias
Still talking about Pokémons, Latias too (protagonist of the fifth movie Pokémon Heroes) has literally shown to have a crush on Ash .
During the course of the movie, several times it transformed itself into a human girl to lure Ash, or to ask for his help, also taking the opportunity to hug him and even kiss him.
Macy
Macy (OS ep. 269; 270) is a girl who has participated at the Johto League. After being rescued by Ash, she develops a crush on him... lighting up the rage and jealousy of Misty!
Anabel
Anabel (AG ep. 169; 170) is one of the strongest Frontier Brains of the Kanto region, due to the way she can communicate with Pokémon, which is similar to telepathy. Also, she is particularly impressed by Ash's qualities that we all know about, making her fall in love with him.
Dawn
Dawn has never openly shown it, perhaps because she actually did not realize it. However, according to several sources (but also judging from some of her behaviours), she seems to have had a crush on Ash, or at least a special admiration for him.
Angie
Angie (DP ep. 88; 89; 90; 91; 98) took part to the Pokémon Summer Academy in the Sinnoh region. Initially she quarreled and competed with Ash, but after being saved by him a couple of times and after having better understood his character, she too ended up falling in love with him.
Lyra
Lyra (DP ep. 143; 144; 145) is the female protagonist of Pokémon Heart Gold & Soul Silver, who appeared in several episodes of the Diamond & Pearl series in occasion of the release of the two games. In one episode she confided to Dawn that she was attracted by Ash.
Bonus: XY - XYZ series
Serena
Serena is the female protagonist of the XY series. She met Ash many years before, at the Professor Oak's Pokémon Summer Camp, in Pallet Town. One day she got lost in the forest and hurt her knee. In that moment she met Ash, who bandaged the wound and encouraged her because she was afraid of not being able to get up. Then Ash pulled Serena up, making her stand on her feet, and she found herself embraced to him.
Then Ash said, "See? You made it!" and took her back to Camp. Of course, Serena immediately falls in love with the boy, and having found him in the Kalos region, she too decided to travel in order to be with him.
In the last episode, Serena kisses Ash on the lips. This was confirmed by the director of the series XY/XYZ in an interview (Tetsuo Yajima).
The scene was made ambiguous because it was not possible to insert it directly in the episode, so there was the idea of using the escalator.
Yajima himself said in an interview:
The japanese Show "Pokenchi" could have confirmed that Serena is "Ash's girlfriend"(canonizing a future relationship between them).
Another message is that of the flowers seen in the scene where Ash returns home. These flowers are known as "Baby Breath Flowers" which are used in wedding cerimonies. But they also mean "Family reunion". Yajima remained cryptic about the True meaning of these flowers, but he confirmed that he left a message in them indeed.
Miette
Miette is known to be Serena's love rival. During the episode 26 of the series XY ( A Battle by Any Other Name!) she has repeatedly demonstrated a particular interest for Ash, sparking the anger of Serena.
At the end of the episode Miette advised her to "wake up", otherwise she would have taken Ash away from her.
Ash's possible crushes
Misty
Ash is particularly attached to Misty. He is really jealous about the presents she gave him (the handkerchief and the Misty's Special Lure – OS ep. 275), not allowing anyone to touch them (DP ep. 34).
Since their paths parted, Ash has consistently remembered his adventures with Misty with affection and nostalgia. However, the Japanese version of the episodes suggests a somewhat unbalanced dynamic between the two: in the early series, Misty tended to offer less emotional support to Ash than he was willing to offer her (examples can be found in OS ep. 50 and OS ep. 83).
Over time, their relationship gradually matured, eventually developing into a bond comparable to that of family.
Additional elements that may suggest a potential romantic interest from Ash toward Misty can be observed in the following episodes:
- OS ep. 20
When Misty shows up in a kimono, Ash acts surprised and goes to dance with her when invited. He doesn't blush, but the shojo bubbles could imply attraction at that moment.
- OS ep. 85
Team Rocket teases Ash and Misty about leaving Brock behind to pursue romance, to which both deny while blushing in embarrassment.
- OS ep. 102
They’re teased again by Tracey, but this time there’s no blushing and they just get incredibly mad.
- *Updating*
👉 Here to find out more: Ash through romance
Giselle
In OS ep. 9 (The School of Hard Knocks) Ash met Giselle, the most beautiful girl in the school, for which he developed a crush along with Brock.
Girls of the Pokémon Circus
Although this is not considered a real "crush", in the OS ep. 66 "It's Mr. Mime Time", Ash was asked to dress up as a Mr. Mime to help the girls of a circus, who were desperate because their Pokémons didn't want to work. Ash categorically refused to disguise himself, but as soon as the girls softly re-asked it to him, he blushed and accepted the task, smiling.
Melody
In the second movie, Ash showed attraction to Melody, setting fire to the jealousy of Misty.
Bianca
In the movie 5 "Pokémon Heroes", Ash saves Latias, who took the form of Bianca that, once out of danger, misteriously disappears. When, later at the museum, he sees Bianca, Ash starts to behave oddly, trying to reach her at all costs, not knowing that, in reality, she wasn't the girl he previously saved. Ash's behaviours bring the thought that he could have had a crush on Bianca.
Bonus: XY - XYZ series
Serena
There are also some elements in favor of a possible attraction of Ash to Serena:
- He compliments Serena's appearence on multiple occasions, both when asked and when not.
- In the last episode, Serena kisses Ash on the mouth to confess her feelings to him and give him “one last thing” before departing. He seems to appreciate it, with shiny eyes. The director Yajima confirmed his expression was toned down due to censorship, but his reaction should be of happy awe.
- Also, Yajima has revealed there were planned more scenes after the kiss: It seems that Ash had tried to take a step forward Serena and tried to say something to her.
- Yajima's words (already quoted above): "They didn't become a couple in the episode itself, but the way I ended it is meant to wake you understand that they're probably going to become one later."
