Throughout Pokémon's several decade-long run so far, Ash has traveled through countless regions on his journey to become the ultimate Pokémon master. There are a ton of things that viewers look forward to with the reveal of each region, including new Pokémon, new rivals, gym leaders, and areas. And of course, one of the most exciting parts about a new Pokémon journey has to be the companions that will inevitably tag along and be by Ash's side the entire way through.
May is one of two main companions who joins Ash during his time in the Hoenn region. She's set apart from her counterparts because she's the first of his companions to aspire to be a Coordinator rather than a trainer, breeder or Gym Leader like fans had seen prior. She grows a lot during their journey together, and there are a ton of tidbits fans might not know about her.
10 She Doesn't Immediately Want To Be A Coordinator
Unlike Dawn, who's already dreaming of being a top Coordinator while packing her suitcase to begin her journey, May is much more uncertain at first. In fact, it's actually rarer for one of Ash's companions to not have a goal in mind the second they start, even if it's just something vague like "being the very best."
When May starts out, not only does she simply want to travel around and see the world without a further goal in mind, but she's adverse to Pokémon entirely. She doesn't care for them at all, and it's not until she sees her first Contest that she starts to change her mind.
9 She Grows From Someone Who's Disinterested In Pokémon To Someone Who Loves Them
When May begins her journey, she doesn't care much for Pokémon and is instead someone who'd much rather focus on her travels. This is despite the fact that her father is actually one of the region's admired Gym Leaders.
After seeing her first Pokémon Contest, though, she devotes herself to becoming a Coordinator, and her attitude toward Pokémon themselves starts to shift. After winning her first performance, she's shown telling her Beautifly that she loves it, a great sign of her growth.
8 She's Analytical And Can Come Up With New Tactics By Watching Others
May is incredibly smart and can come up with new tactics for her own performances by watching others. This is true, both of her fellow Coordinators and of Ash, whether he's participating in a Gym Battle or just scrapping with another trainer.
A great example of this is after she watches Ash and Tucker fight against one another. She's able to use this fight to come up with the idea to combine fire and water for an ultra-flashy attack using her Squirtle and Combusken.
7 She Has A Surprising Fondness For Cooking Pokéblocks
May ends up developing a fondness for cooking, specifically in the form of making Pokéblocks that enhance certain characteristics of her Pokémon. They're specifically used for Contests, so it makes sense that someone striving to be a Top Coordinator would end up getting into making their own.
May takes this one step further, though, as she even makes her own recipes such as "May's Purple Surprise" and "May's Pink Surprise." Not all of these go over well, as it's noted that the only ones who end up liking her Purple Surprise are her Munchlax and, surprisingly, Team Rocket's Jessie.
6 She Can Be Easily Embarrassed
Although she might not seem like it, May is someone who's actually not hard to embarrass if one knows where to prod. One of her contest rivals, Harley, actually tries to take advantage of this fact in order to get an upper hand over her during a contest.
When May was swimming in the ocean as a child, her mother mistook her for a Tentacool because of her blue swimming cap and tried to catch her with a Pokéball. It's a cute story overall, but one that almost causes her to lose against him out of embarrassment.
5 She's Mature Enough To Make The Decision To Journey Without Ash
It's not easy to realize that someone a person is close to is actually holding them back in some way, but this doesn't mean that they have to separate entirely. In fact, spending some time apart in order to develop as individuals instead of May being heavily influenced by Ash is a great thing for her character.
She shows a high level of maturity being able to realize that her performances as a Coordinator were being heavily influenced by Ash's more aggressive, offense-focused battle style. She makes the decision to stay behind in order to develop her own skills without anyone else's influence, which is incredibly admirable.
4 She's Quick To Anger But Still Willing To Admit Her Mistakes
May is shown to have a little bit of a temper, not unlike the female companion that came before her. This is especially true when she interacts with her younger brother, Max, as the two are constantly seen bickering and often end up in fights.
However, she isn't above admitting her mistakes and mending things with him. The two never seem to stay mad at each other long, as May's someone who typically ends up feeling remorseful and apologizing afterwards.
3 She Has Seven Known Pokémon In Total
May has a total of seven Pokémon that make up her official roster. She originally leans towards only those that she finds cute, like Skitty, but she broadens her horizons over time and starts to let others into her team as well.
She starts out with a Torchic, which later fully evolves into Blaziken. Her other partners are a Beautifly that she raises from a Wurmple, a Skitty, a Venasaur, a Munchlax, a Wartortle, and a Glaceon that she raises from an egg.
2 Her English Voice Actor At The Start Is The Same As Ash
May's English voice actress is Veronica Taylor, who does an absolutely fantastic job portraying her. What's even more impressive is that, at the same time, she's Ash's voice actress as well. Since they're always shown on-screen together, differentiating their voices to set them apart is no easy task.
She voices both of them up until the episode "Pasta La Vista," after which they're replaced by different actors. May's second English VA is Michele Knotz, who also voices fan-favorites such as Misty and Jessie.
1 She Hasn't Re-Appeared Since Diamond & Pearl For A Tragic Reason
Despite being incredibly popular, May hasn't made any re-appearances since Diamond & Pearl. There's actually a pretty tragic reason for this involving the physical health of her Japanese voice actress.
As early as 2007, KAORI, May's Japanese VA, began to come down with something called spasmotic dysphonia, a disease affecting the vocal cords. By 2012, the disease had hit its peak. which is why May hasn't been seen making any reappearances within the anime.