History Characters / PokemonTheSeriesAshKetchum

** In the Alola league, this is averted. Ash wins the Pokémon League in the Sun and Moon series, becoming the first ever Alola League Champion in the process.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Ash is the one on the pedestal during the XY series, setting the bar that most of his rivals try to measure up to. Even the one who [[spoiler:Ash eventually loses to in the Kalos League Finals]] realizes in the end that, between the two of them, Ash is the better trainer, especially after the Team Flare crisis.

** In ''Sun & Moon'', Ash is composite of the male protagonist from the ''[[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Sun/Moon]]'' games and Lillie, despite the latter being an existing main character in the anime's cast. Like "Sun", Ash moves from Kanto to Alola, is acknowledged by Tapu-Koko, becomes a student in the Pokémon School, and he does the Island Challenge. Ash also becomes Alola League's first ever Champion. Due to Lillie's AdaptationPersonalityChange, Ash got some of her game counterpart's elements. Like Lillie, Ash lives in Professor Kukui's house and uses its loft, and he travels with the wild Pokémon Nebby, even carrying it in his bag.

** He finally accomplishes one of his major goals in winning a Pokémon League Conference and becoming a League Champion after going through ''seven'' main regions.

* EveryYearTheyFizzleOut: He's certainly in an upper eschelon of trainers given only the select few with all (usually eight) badges compete in the league finals. Plus, he managed to win two side tournaments (Orange Islands and Battle Frontier) that didn't involve an elimination bracket. Yet only in Sinnoh, his fourth championship, Ash managed to go beyond the quarterfinals. And two more until he got to the final in Kalos, and even then it was a defeat in a DownToTheLastPlay bout. Ash is downright shocked when he finally wins it all in Alola!

* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Ash will never win a major tournament. How badly he loses tends to vary, as his showings tend to improve with each arc. The fact that he manages to get in at high ranks is a feat by itself, especially if the participants are taken into account. The Kalos League is his best performance, managing a very close second which came down to one Pokémon on each side. He did win both the Orange Islands league and Battle Frontier, although the Orange League was made up for the anime universe. And neither of them were tournaments anyway. This trend finally came to an end with the Alola Pokemon League.

* HeldGaze: Has done this multiple times with Serena over the course of the XY Series, whether they're encouraging each other or just having a heart to heart talking about their dreams and bond with their Pokémon. This is taken UpToEleven in the final episode of XY, where [[spoiler:after being kissed by Serena]] the two stare at each with their eyes lit up before happily exchanging warm smiles.

* HeroicRematch: This is the general theme for whenever he faces his main rival in a region. Ash never wins a traditional Pokémon battle against them before they battle in the League of that region (the best he can hope for is a draw, though he can win against them in competitions that ''aren't'' battle based). This is done to slowly build up their rivalry and Ash's desire to win, until they finally clash one final time in the League and Ash claims victory. The only exception to this was against [[spoiler:Alain]], who Ash never managed to beat, even in the League.

** Then there is [[spoiler:suggesting the league to Alain]] which blew up in his face real easily.

* HumbleHero: While he intially started off more brash and arrogant, Ash has become this thanks to CharacterDevelopment. He's always proud of his Pokémon for their hard work, respects his opponents, and always willing to help anyone with their problems out of his own selfless nature. Perhaps best shown in [=JN076=], where it just casually happens to come up in conversation that he is the Alola League Champion (one of the biggest titles one can have in the Pokémon world) and never mentioned (let alone boasted) for 76 episodes even in scenarios where he could have brought it up.

* InterspeciesRomance: Or Interspecies ShipTease at any rate. Ash's rather touchy-feely relationship with Pikachu aside, he's been crushed on by [[ClingyJealousGirl Chikorita]] (who later evolved into [[DoesNotKnowHerOwnStrength Bayleef]]) and Aipom. [[OlympusMons Latias]] in [[Anime/PokemonHeroes one of the movies]] actually might have kissed him on the cheek in the end, making her tied with Melody [[spoiler:and Serena]] for the furthest anyone's ever gotten with him throughout the entire series.[[note]]Jessie and James actually kissed him upon arrival in Saffron City to his hilarious disgust![[/note]]

** He is notably stunned when Serena [[spoiler:kisses him on the lips]] and smiles back at her after she is done and is ready to leave.

* WarriorTherapist: Close to the tail end of XY [[spoiler:while essentially taking Serena out on their second date]] he immediately notices she's sad and silently contemplating her future and decides to battle her with the reasoning whenever he's sad about something or is stuck on his journey he uses battling as means of cheering himself up and that it helps him figure things out. Sure enough, a battle with Ash was just what Serena needed to cheer up and decide on what path to take next for her journey.

* AdaptationalWimp: Unlike his game counterpart who became the Champion at the end of his Kanto journey and was recognized as a Pokémon Master by Lance, Ash was kept by the writers as a skilled but not Champion-level trainer for most of the series' duration in order to prevent him from becoming overpowered against most opponents, and to justify him visiting the many regions of the Pokémon world, always challenging the next Pokémon League after losing in the last one. He's slowly closing the gap, though, having finally become the winner of a major League at the end of the Alola series, after which he moved on to the loftier goal of entering the World Coronation Series as his next step in his quest toward becoming a Pokémon Master.

** It actually gets pointed out in a Kalos episode - Valerie, who [[SpeaksFluentAnimal speaks her Pokémon's language]], notices that Ash seems to understand his Pokémon perfectly, and assumes he talks to them as well. He says that's not exactly it - He can't directly translate what they're saying, but he can easily tell what they mean. When this came up with Allister in Journeys, Ash elaborates that sort of connection is formed in battles when they are in synch versus someone like Allsiter or Iris who do not need battle and personal connection to achieve it.

** By the time of [=JN109=] [[spoiler:he's become part of the Masters Eight, standing in 8th place due to his late entrance but otherwise now being near the level of Champions such as Lance, Steven, Cynthia and Leon, firmly placing him as one of the world's strongest and most skilled trainers.]]

** In laterseasons, insulting his training skills or his maturity level gets him heated.

** Similarly downplayed in Sun and Moon. While he's outwardly buffoonish, he can still come up with elaborate tactics and training methods, and even in non-battle situations he can think up unconventional ways to solve a problem.
** This continues to be downplayed in Journeys, still showing the tatics and strategy he had from the two previous series.

** Never insult his relationship with Pikachu either - ESPECIALLY don't tell him that Pikachu abandoned him or vice versa. Just look at Movie 8.

** In laters seasons, insulting his training skills or his maturity level gets him heated.
** Similarly to May, [[BigEater he won't take it well if food is taken from him.]] The Deino in "The Lonely Deino" learned this the hard way.

->'''Voiced in Dutch by:''' Creator/ChristaLips (2000-2001, films)

** ''Sun and Moon'' tones down this characteristic a fair deal, though he's still often this in regards to his expertise in battling and bonding with Pokémon. [[spoiler: Winning the Manalo Conference, becoming Alola's first League Champion, and beating both [[SurpassedTheTeacher Professor Kukui]] and [[DefeatingTheUndefeatable Tapu Koko]] in a well-fought 6-on-6 battle cements his status as this, crowning himself Alola's most powerful trainer.]]

*** A crucial point of debate in their rivalry is Infernape, with Ash believing that Chimchar was strong on its own merits, and Paul believing its only worth was its exceptionally powerful Blaze. When Ash first receives Chimchar, he explicitly refuses to train Blaze, focusing instead on rebuilding its self-esteem through positive reinforcement. Even without it, Chimchar serves as one of Ash's most reliable Pokemon all throughout Sinnoh, even moreso after its evolutions. However, Paul's belief is validated when Blaze is finally activated in an intense battle, sending Chimchar into an UnstoppableRage that Ash could just barely contain with a CooldownHug. Whether they like it or not, Ash and Chimchar would have to learn to control Blaze one day; however, rather than through TrainingFromHell like Paul tried so hard to do, Ash controls it through ThePowerOfFriendship, adding several more layers of nuance to the ultimate result.

--> '''Misty''': "Bugs are one of the three most disgusting things in the world!"
--> '''Ash''': "Aside from you, what are the others?" [[labelnote:*]]Worth noting that this was ''before'' the two of them started [[VitriolicBestBuds frequently arguing]].[[/labelnote]]

* AFatherToHisMen: Gradually strengthened over the course of the series is Ash's undying love for his Pokémon. He treats them as equals; as family. His Noibat in particular seems to view him as its father, since Ash was the first thing it saw upon hatching.

* ParentalSubstitute: Along with Hawlucha, Noibat has imprinted on both of them and considers them its parents.

-->'''Ash''': I am the greatest!\\
'''Misty''': [''[[ArmorPiercingSlap slaps him]]''] You're the worst! You have ''no'' idea what you're doing! It'll be a long time before you're a Pokémon Master, like a million years!

* TheStrategist: Often uses unconventional strategies in battle, but is more than capable of planning ahead for a battle. One of the earliest examples was when he taught Pikachu to use Iron Tail for the Rock-type Rustboro Gym in Hoenn. In Sinnoh, the most prominent example was his development of the counter shield technique and especially the out-of-the-box tactics he had to use to stand up to his toughest rival yet, Paul, which included burrowing underground with Infernape to vaporize Toxic Spikes with the fire for example. Shows that he still has it in Unova during his league battle with Stefan. He fully regains this status in ''XY'', first by spending time training to counter Viola's techniques for their rematch after a crushing first battle, spending several episodes training to counter Grant's Onix and its Rock Tomb at the Cyllage Gym. His attempt to copy Tierno's Rhythm strategy didn't work at all, though. [[spoiler: And at the Alola League finals, Ash uses Dusk Lycanrock's Counter, the exact attack Gladion was spamming against them and the only move he didn't know Ash's Lycanrock had, to counter Midnight's own Counter and finish the fight.]]

* ToBeAMaster: A Pokémon master! Even if only Ash seems to know what that exactly is supposed to mean, as [[spoiler: Ash does not consider himself one after winning the Alola League]].

* WasTooHardOnHim: Ash in ''Turning Over A New Bayleef'' kept getting tackled by his newly evolved Pokémon, Bayleef, then told her to leave him alone. After Bayleef runs away, Ash realizes that his Pokemon went missing and decided to look for her. While looking for Bayleef, Ash wonders why she ran away but Misty helped him realize that he was the one who told her to "go away and stay away" from him. Hearing this, Ash regrets for the things he said to Bayleef. He later finds Bayleef and tries to apologize, but she refuses to go back to him. However, Ash got Bayleef to realize that he truly was sorry for hurting her feelings and forgave him.

** In ''Tears for Fears!'', Ash assured his Infernape, while it was a Chimchar, that it didn't need Blaze to be strong and can show its strength without it.

->'''Voiced in Hungarian by:''' Creator/CsongorSzalay (''Diamond and Pearl'')

** After his decisive victories in the Battle Frontier, in came Paul his rival in the ''Diamond and Pearl'' series who defeats him on their first battle and shows Ash just how tough he's going to have it in Sinnoh.

** In [=JN105=], he manages to [[spoiler:defeat former Champion Wallace in a mostly offscreen battle, with only very small portions of the match being shown]].

** Subverted a great deal in Journeys in a number of ways. His first two captures (Dragonite and Gengar) were already fully evolved by the time Ash caught them (with the former in particular being a pseudo legendary, of all things), and his final capture so far (Dracovish) is an absurdly powerful fossil Pokemon with no evolution to speak of. The only two new captures he had to spend the most time training were Riolu and Galarian Farfetch'd, but by episode 60, both have fully evolved as well. And lastly, all of the new captures, save for the aforementioned fossil Pokemon, are all Pokemon introduced in earlier Gens (Farfetch'd is a regional form). Justified. Ash is competing in the World Coronation Series this time around. Meaning he's going to be competing against countless experienced veterans who are far above the average gym leader (even most Champions are competing) once he reaches the higher tiers. So, understandably, making him raise a new team Completely from scratch would really do him more harm than good this time around if he really wants to boost his rank.

** Ash is no match for Elite Four members or Champions prior to his adventures in Kalos. However, starting with ''[=XY&Z=]'', he becomes strong enough to be able to match or even potentially overpower them (as shown with his battle against Diantha). [[spoiler:He earns his first victories over both a Champion (Iris) and an Elite Four member (Drasna) in ''Journeys'']].

** Ash is no match for Elite Four members or Champions prior to his adventures in Kalos. However, starting with ''[=XY&Z=]'', he becomes strong enough to be able to match or even potentially overpower them. [[spoiler:He earns his first victories over both a Champion (Iris) and an Elite Four member (Drasna) in ''Journeys'']].

** He returns to this in full force during ''Journeys'', [[JustifiedTrope which makes sense]], given that he is [[spoiler:coming off of his win in the Manalo Conference.]] Alolan residents actually [[spoiler recognise and respect him as their Champion]], while the PWT news circuit dubs him "Kanto's rising star" after he makes it to the top 15.

** After Ash-Greninja's first complete transformation, Ash is in such an almost crazed frenzy that he orders Ash-Greninja to keep attacking Diantha's Mega Gardevoir, even though [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown the latter is clearly down for the count]]. This showcases that the transformation is taking its toll on Ash, and he and Greninja soon fall to the PowerStrainBlackout.

* ToBeAMaster: A Pokémon master! Even if only Ash seems to know what that exactly is supposed to mean, as [[spoiler: Ash does not consider himself one after winning the Alola League]]
* TookALevelInBadass: When Ash started as a trainer, the guy was not a particularly talented trainer, struggling with his Pokémon's obedience and winning battles without a caveat while not putting in enough effort to truly maximize his potential. After Indigo Ash began taking the steps to rectify this with more work at training his team and winning battles without caveats. This began to bear fruit in the Orange Islands and Johto, and by the time Ash was battling his way through Hoenn he was reaching the levels comptetence in battle, training, and tactics that would define him in all following sagas (with the exception of Unova, which even then did not regress him to a point that matched his starting levels).

** He returns to this in full force during ''Journeys'', [[JustifiedTrope which makes sense]], given that he is [[spoiler:coming off of his win in the Manalo Conference.]] Alolan residents actually [[spoiler recognise and respect him as their Champion]], while the PWT news circuit dubs him "Kanto's rising star" after he makes it to the top 12.

** He returns to this in full force during ''Journeys'', [[JustifiedTrope which makes sense]], given that he is [[spoiler:coming off of his win in the Manalo Conference.]]

* TheChosenOne: Ash seems to be the go-to guy for any Legendary which needs a hero to help them. In addition, he's officially been this for the Lugia in ''Anime/{{Pokemon 2000}}'' (though this is [[{{Woolseyism}} dub-only]]), ''might'' be it for Ho-Oh given how many times he sees the damned phoenix (and how many characters he tells this to respond that he was ''only seeing things''), Azelf of the Lake Trio in the ''Diamond and Pearl'' Saga (Mespirit and Uxie also chose his companions Dawn and Brock) and Melemele Island's Guardian Tapu Koko sees something in him as he gave Ash a Z-ring and a Z-Crystal in the Sun and Moon Saga.
** He was hinted (though unconfirmed) to be the Hero of Ideals chosen by Zekrom (the {{Foreshadowing}} in the first ''Best Wishes'' episode is rather blatant). ''N'', meanwhile is hinted to be the Hero of Truth chosen by Reshiram.

->'''Voiced in Brazilian Portuguese by:''' Fábio Lucindo (Seasons 1-18), Charles Emmanuel (Seasons 19-22), Matheus Perissé(Season 23-current)

** In the earliest episodes, he resisted using more than one Pokémon at a time to fight Team Rocket because it was against the rules of the Pokémon League. He foregoed this later on.

* ToBeAMaster: A Pokémon master!