With 20 years in the past and a bright Sword and Shield future ahead, Pokémon shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. The anime’s debut in 1997 in Japan featured a young boy, Satoshi, known as Ash Ketchum in the English version, who graced children’s televisions screens alongside Pikachu.
Ash’s character in the anime has been faced with lots of questions because, frankly, as a Pokémon Master, he doesn’t make any sense. While it is easy to say that the show is aimed at children as a way to absolve a lot of these questions, the fans aren’t buying it. Here are 10 things that make no sense about Ash Ketchum.
10 10. The Many Years of a 10-Year-Old
The most discussed issue with Ash Ketchum is his age. He begins his journey as most children do in the Kanto region, at 10 years old. 20 years and 7 regions later, he is now 10 years old. And before anyone notes that Ash canonically has a birthday party, the Pikachu Shorts aren’t canon and it happens in the short Pikachu & Pichu.
While the external reasoning for Ash staying 10 makes sense as a children’s show typically needs a relatable child character, there is no reason in-universe for him to be the same age. It is especially biting when the passage of time is acknowledged by the characters in the anime, such as at the end of the “Best Wishes” season.
9 9. Ash Used Amnesia
For someone who has been adventuring for years, Ash can be a bit dense sometimes, especially when it comes to remembering basic facts about the world around him. The biggest problem is his memory when it comes to Pokémon he has encountered, and sometimes even caught, in the past.
Several times throughout the series, especially in the first season, he would see a Pokémon, go two episodes, then see the Pokémon again and not know what it is. It is sad when a major feat of your character is that you remembered seeing a Lapras in the past, yet Pokéfans were ecstatic when Ash did just that in the Orange Island arc.
8 8. Who’s That Dad-émon
Arguably the biggest question in the anime, and the only question that has an answer that fans will never receive, who is Ash’s dad? Across the many seasons, there have been many contenders for the misisingno father edition, yet the answer seems to be just out of reach.
Many characters have held the potential father spot, such as Silver from the Pokémon: Chronicles series, who seems to look and behave the same way, but there is no clear path between the two. Other characters that have been offered up as potential daddies are Bruno, Professor Oak, and Mr. Mime. Yes, the Pokémon who happens to be Delilah’s sidekick could have fathered Ash.
7 7. Pokémon Prowess
Writing behaviors for a children’s show aside, Ash Ketchum happens upon a ton of legendary creatures in his adventures. He has been involved with every major legendary in some way including Lugia, Mew and Mewtwo, and Entei. Even if those aren’t considered canon due to them being movies, just look at the number of legendries and mythical Pokémon he encounters in the series.
In the show itself, he has faced off against Groudon, Darkrai, Latios, and of course, Ho-oh, the Pokémon Ash sees at the end of the first episode. Ash must give off some sort of aura to allow him to encounter and befriend all these legendary Pokémon. He even has a Melmetal, a very recent mythical as a member of his team.
6 6. Giving Up (His Pokémon)
Speaking of his current Pokémon, aside from Pikachu, they are all recent captures, at least recent in the grand scheme of 20 years. For some unknown reason (other than plot relevance) Ash leaves his dusty, old Pokémon from the past in favor of the newer, fresher models of his new region.
Not to knock Ash too hard since most of the people who play the main series games have had to do the same, but Ash actively chooses to leave his teams with Professor Oak, or just straight-up release them, even if they are so connected to him, they get a special form (like number 4).
5 5. Friendship Travels With Ash
Ash doesn’t travel alone in his Pokémon journey. He has two to four friends in each season to accompany him as he makes way towards mastery. The biggest question regarding this is what about Ash is making people leave their homes, families, jobs, and other commitments to join him.
That part can be answered by saying his chutzpah is so powerful that everyone around him wants to be like him, but that’s a cheap answer. None of his companions had a reason to travel far and wide until Ash shows up, so it is him that changes their life paths. Maybe it is that same aura that draws in the legendries.
4 4. Greninja vs Pikachu
Without thinking about it, what is Ash’s number one Pokémon that he is personally attached to? If you answered Pikachu, you are half correct. For some reason, the series decided that Mega Evolution wasn’t enough for Ash to rely on, so they created a special Pokémon for him.
Ash-Greninja, yes that is the actual name for the creature, is the result of the bond between Ash and his Greninja. Pikachu, however, doesn’t have a special connection form with Ash, and Pikachu has known him over 15 years longer. To make matters even wilder, Ash releases Greninja at the end of the Kalos arc.
3 3. World’s Most Okay Trainer
Ash is good at a lot of things, tricking people into giving him badges for common decency and meeting legendary Pokémon. What he is not actually good at is being a great trainer. With so much training under his belt, it should be easy for him to understand that raising Pokémon and battling them is work. Somehow, he doesn’t even remember that.
Whether it is trying to get his pokemon to learn a move they aren’t able to, or using pokemon with huge type disadvantages against an opponent, he has to relearn everything every season. Even worse, he is connected to Pikachu in this one regard because Pikachu resets to level 5 at the beginning of every season as well.
2 2. This Ash is On Fire
Ash Ketchum is the face of Pokémon training, but he is also the face of the dangers of Pokémon training. In the very first episode, and then again for the rebooted Pokémon: I Choose You movie, Ash suffers multiple attacks from the Pokémon around him. First, Pikachu electrocutes him, then a ton of Spearow peck at him in a rainstorm. All of that happens in the first episode.
It doesn’t stop there either as throughout the series, Ash gets viciously attacked, burnt and sometimes waterboarded, by the Pokémon around him, his included. While many times he gets lit on fire can be funny, there must be some lasting damage.
1 1. The Many Deaths of Ash Ketchum
If the header for this one intrigues you, take a quick guess at how many times Ash dies in all of the continuities of Pokémon and then know that that answer is at least five. He does only die once in the main series, but that death is debatable. During the episode “The Tower of Terror” he dies and becomes a ghost for a bit before coming back to life.
In four separate movies, he has fully died, even going to the afterlife in the Pokémon: I Choose You. Other deaths include drowning, being turned into stone and being eaten by a tree’s antibodies. Normally one time dying is too much for children’s shows, but Ash seems to be going for a record. Check back in 20 years when Ash probably dies again at least 7 more times.