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 sarcastic or passive comments when Misty says she thinks she's cute. Sometimes it seems to be for comedic purposes, other times it seems like they mean it. (OS Ep. 28, 123). As the series progresses, Ash becomes more annoyed when Misty flatters herself (OS Ep. 223).
- 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 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).
- Almost everytime 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.
- He doesn't appreciate Smoochom trying to kiss him, even if it's the Pokémon's way of greeting someone. (OS Ep 208).
- Ash blushes and gives in to requests to dress up as Mr. Mime (OS Ep. 66) when cute girls approach him.
- 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, 201, 211).
- 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 (OS Ep 205, 208).
- 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, however, tends to be fully supportive of his Pokémon when they're in love.
- He takes his Pokémon's romantic success very personally, like a protective parent (OS Ep 21).
- Ash was unable to help Totodile when they were in love with Azumarill, initially failing to perceive his own Pokémon's signals. However, he is ultimately shocked to see that Azumarill doesn't reciprocate, proving that he may have understood (OS EP 155).
In Ash's defense, Totodile likes to show off to everyone.
- From OS Ep 200 and on, references to other characters' romantic relationships tend to go unnoticed by Ash, but they're often due to simple misunderstandings. Once the situation is explained, Ash is able to understand the context.
- He's puzzled by Temacu's behavior being similar to Brock's, and is surprised when Misty points out that she, too, falls in love at first sight like him. However, he seems to understand the implications. (OS Ep 203)
- He may not directly connect the word "proposal" to "marriage," but once someone makes the connection, he usually understands. This may also be because there are different ways to refer to a marriage proposal in Japanese (求婚 = kyuukon, プロポーズ = puropoozu). (OS Ep 224)
Misty
Ash and Misty's relationship is one of friendship, however they tend to fight most of the time. So far (OS Ep. 200 where we're currently at with the rewatch), 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”.
Melody
- Melody's kiss for Ash is passed off by the girl as an island tradition, and the only one to show genuine appreciation for it is Ash himself.
- Ash admires Melody as she dances, appearing fascinated.
- Although Melody feels compelled to save Ash, a sign of her growing admiration for him, she ultimately cedes the role to Misty.
- During the movie, Melody seems to take more pleasure in teasing Misty and speculating on the nature of her and Ash's friendship than in reflecting on her own feelings.
Bayleef
In the games, there are references to marital relationships between humans and Pokémon, sometimes even of a sexual nature (as revealed in Teraleak), but in the anime, such mention is avoided, with Pokémon treated halfway as humans themselves or as animals.
A human's romantic interest in a Pokémon is never openly shown or confirmed, but the opposite is present, often when Ash is concerned.
One of the most memorable cases is Chikorita, then Bayleef. The Pokémon's crush on Ash is often interpreted as affection for her trainer, but in the anime, there are several hints that point to genuine romantic feelings, sometimes with ambiguous signals from Ash himself.
- Chikorita kisses Ash on the cheek (OS Ep 128), and he doesn't seem bothered.
Chikorita blushes several times for Ash (OS Ep 204). - The Japanese narrator describes Ash and Chikorita's feelings as "mutual," when explaining what led to the Pokémon's evolution. This isn't a rare phrase in the anime, but considering that Chikorita has a canonical crush on her trainer, the interpretation can be ambiguous (OS Ep 205).
- After evolving, Bayleef continues to have the same feelings toward Ash, sometimes expressing excessive displays of affection, to the point that Ash begins to feel uncomfortable. This leads to a misunderstanding between the two, when Ash snaps at Bayleef, thinking she's going to jump on him while he's bringing food to the table, something Bayleef herself was trying to avoid after realizing she was overreacting. Throughout the episode, Brock compares Bayleef's actions to confessions of love, which confuses Ash, Misty, and Bayleef herself. Brock also compares Bayleef to a woman with a broken heart.
Surprisingly, Ash seems to accept Brock's advice, though it's unclear whether he actually thinks Bayleef is in love with him.
At the end of the episode, after Ash and Bayleef make up, Ash promises to become stronger so he can withstand Bayleef's displays of affection, while Bayleef promises to learn to control herself better. This happens while Ash himself, embarrassed, blushes and asks Bayleef to travel with him again. (OS Ep 205).
Based on various considerations, we personally think the hypothesis that Bayleef isn't romantically reciprocated by Ash is more realistic:
- Romantic feelings are always shown only from Pokémon towards humans, and never vice versa. In the anime, a platonic relationship between the two species tends to be emphasized, with Pokémon sometimes treated as sentient humans with the same intellectual, emotional, and moral capabilities... but also as animals.
- In the rare instances where Ash's possible crush on Bayleef is mentioned, Brock is the one who tends to make romantic comparisons and ambiguize the situation.
- The term used in Japanese when referring to "love" between Ash and Bayleef is "Daisuki," which can be used for romantical love but also platonic one or even to espress liking towards something. Declarations of love tend to have different variations, while Daisuki is most commonly used to define love for activities, objects, family members, or friends.
- Bayleef herself is confused when Brock compares her actions to acts of romantic love.