Ash Through Romance
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Premise
This article is part of a macrosection of of observations made after rewatching all the episodes of the Pokémon anime, from the Original Series to Diamond & Pearl, with the addition of XY / XYZ.
It's purpose is to highlight details of Ash’s character through time, which are often forgotten or changed.
Best Wishes, Sun & Moon and Journeys are not listed due to our blog's policy.
Some facts will only have a few references as examples, in case it's aspects that are recurrent in the series.
This list is based on the original Japanese version.
This list will be updated as the rewatch will continue! Right now at Episode 200 of ORIGINAL SAGA.
Ash, throught the romance.
Perception of Appearence
While the series progressed, Ash lost a lot of his interest in physical appearence, however he's always had the ability to tell if a girl was physically attractive or beautyful, sometimes even fitting his own personal preference.
However, there are also instances where he didn't really care about it, probably showing he has very specific preferences and ideas of what is considered "cute" and "attractive". It seems he has a liking for more feminine girls, while not being very interested in the "sexual" and more attractive side of beauty.
- Ash blushes at Giselle’s picture and says she is pretty cute.
- When Brock tells Ash who saved him from the river, Ash says it’s very nice it was a beautiful young lady. (OS Ep 10).
- When seeing Misty in a bikini, Brock and Ash are dumbfounded. Ash comments that they kinda forgot she was really a girl until that moment, to which Misty answers by slamming a ball on his face (OS Ep 18).
- Ash acts similarly surprised when Misty shows up in a kimono (OS Ep 20).
- In many episodes, Ash and Brock often make snarky or passive comments when Misty says she finds herself cute. Sometimes it seems to be for comedical purposes, other times it seems they genuinely think so (OS Ep 28, 123).
- Ash doesn’t seem particularly affected in seeing girls in bikini or bathsuits, both his age (Misty) and older girls (Gary’s “girlfriends) (OS Ep 18).
- He compliments Serena's appearence on multiple occasions, both when asked and when not (XY-XYZ).
Ash is surprisingly romantic
While the progression of the series may have made people think otherwise, Ash showed multiple times during the series to be quite a romantic person. Even if he doesn't always appreciate Brock's exaggerate declarations of love, he's partial to romance.
- Ash is shocked when Misty exposes Brock’s crush on Melanie. (OS Ep 10) He also then blushes when Brock is teased on it.
- Ash is 100% supportive of his Pokémon when they’re in love and takes it very personally, wanting them to succeed like a “protective parent”. (OS Ep 21)
- Ash thinks that true love kiss genuinely could wake up someone (OS Ep 43) and he blushed at the idea of Meowth kissing Snorlax in a prince dress.
- Ash seems to like romance movies and stories, as implied by him fawning at the Romeo and Juliet style movie plot in OS Ep 71 and saying it got him emotional.
- Ash sees a love confession and he’s seen to be happy for the two (OS Ep 70).
- Ash makes fun of Tracey for drawing Officer Jenny (OS Ep 90).
- All times Ash got kissed, by humans or Pokémon, he seemed to appreciate it.
- Melody kisses Ash on the cheek to welcome him on the island due to the tradition and he seems pleased. (M2) He also looks pleased to see her dance.
- Chikorita kisses him on the cheek when he accepts to catch her (OS Ep 128). He doesn’t seem to mind it and laughs.
- Latias kisses him on the cheek goodbye at the end of M5.
- 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.
- Ash blushes when he’s called cute by Nurse Joy (OS 190), though it was directed at Pikachu and when the misunderstanding was cleared he was left perplexed.
- Ash gets moved by tragic love stories, even if learning they’re untrue. However, he also gets moved hearing in general about successful and long-lasting love stories (OS Ep 192).
There are also moments where, however, Ash expresses disdain or detachment towards specific forms of affection or shows of romance. He also openly prioritizes his career as Trainer, compare to chasing after girls. This doesn't directly refute his interest in possibly dating someone in the future, but he doesn't actively seek a girlfriend.
- Ash is sometimes perplexed by Brock’s flirting with girls, but most times he’s aware of what he’s doing and is annoyed by it (OS Ep 172, 188).
- At the start of the series he thinks girls can be quite selfish, even if probably at that moment he referred mostly to Misty as from his speech (OS Ep 3).
- Ash thinks perfumes are useless because their purpose is to send guys crazy for girls (OS Ep 26). Although he starts appreciating the capacities Gloom has, in and outside battle, he doesn’t seem to change much about the role perfumes have in romantic settings.
- Ash doesn’t like someone in love pressuring someone else when they’re not interested (OS Ep 30).
- Likewise, he doesn’t like excessive showing of affection, especially if it’s pushy.
- Ash doesn’t think the first thing to do when coming to a big city is trying to get girls to date him (OS Ep 160), unlike Brock.
- Ash doesn't particularly care about his single status, as he completely ignores Gary mocking him for not having many girlfriends like him, but gets very defensive about his trainer status (OS Ep 18).
- Ash found Wilhomena and Brock’s dramatic flirting an “overreaction” (OS Ep 134).
Is Ash "dense"?
Ash can sometimes be confused about girls' attitude and tends to miss the signals of a potential attraction. However, he shows to be clearly aware of what romantic love is.
- Ash wonders if all girls are obsessed with fortune telling (OS EP 159).
- By OS Ep 102, Ash is still aware of what love is, while he is less aware of signals.
- Misty comments how he’s dense due to not catching that two Nidoran are in love, but he understands the situation when told clearly, as he is more confused on how Misty is assuming that stuff from the get go.
- When Misty decides to get in the way and writes love letters for the owners, impersonating both, Ash says he's not sure it's a good thing to do.
- Ash says he’s not exactly aware of what a kissing experience point is, but tbh, the writer of this page doesn’t either. What are those and how do I get them to work on my Pokémon games?
- Ash didn’t get Totodile flirting with Azumarill, however he was shocked to see that she didn’t reciprocate at the end, so even if he was confused by the whole thing he got it somehow (OS EP 155). To his defense, Totodile likes to show off with anyone.
Misty
Ash and Misty's relationship is one of friendship, however they tend to fight most of the time. So far, in the original Japanese version, there are only 3 instances of Ash possibly having romantical feelings for Misty.
- Team Rocket teases Ash and Misty about leaving Brock behind to pursue romance, to which both deny while blushing in embarrassment (OS Ep 85).
- They’re teased again by Tracey in OS Ep 102, but this time there’s no blushing and they just get incredibly mad.
- When Misty shows up in a kimono (OS Ep 20), 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.
Countrary to Ash's side, Misty has more confirmed signals of liking Ash romantically, albeit in the Japanese version the quantity is reduced a lot.
- Rudy asks Misty to stay with him on his island, also for the sake of his little sister wanting Misty as big sister, however she couldn’t really convince herself to accept. Due to Misty cheering on Ash during their battle, Rudy thinks that it’s due to her liking Ash (OS Ep 105).
- Melody asks Misty if she is Ash’s sister or girlfriend, and Misty is equally bothered.
- This is a recurring theme in the second movie, as she struggles to find a way to define her and Ash’s bond, but feels that both sister and girlfriend are wrong terms. Later in the movie, she settles for “nuisance” (note that Shudo asked to delete the CPR scene meant in the movie due to not wanting romance allegations, so the romantic undertones are mostly added by the English dub in this case).
- Team Rocket did think that Misty and Melody were debating about romance, saying the gang is too young to be dwelling with love-hate relationships since they’re “10 years too young” and they’re “5 years too old”.
