Ash Ketchum

Ash Ketchum (Japanese:サトシ Satoshi) is the protagonist of the Pokémon anime series who has always dreamed of becoming a Pokémon Master and as soon as he hit the age of ten, he rushed to Professor Oak's Laboratory to get his first Pokémon. Originally wanting to choose Squirtle, Ash ended up getting the Pokémon, Pikachu, and left on his journey. At first, Pikachu does not listen to Ash and keeps running away so that Ash had to tie him up. Then after getting chased by a swarm of Spearow, Ash tries to save Pikachu from it, and Pikachu, after seeing Ash so determined and kind, he protected Ash from the Spearow that were attacking Ash. From then on, Pikachu and Ash became best friends for life. As a completely unskilled trainer, Ash managed to go through, while meeting his friends Misty and Brock and capturing new Pokémon. Then, Ash tries to defeat the gym leader in Kanto, allowing him to enter in the Pokémon League. Since then, he has continued to travel, make new friends such as Tracey, May, Max and Dawn, and capture new Pokémon while still following his goal of becoming a Pokémon Master. Since this goal is so close to his heart, he sometimes acts a bit rash and rushes to the next battle he can as fast as possible. Ash currently travels in the Unova region with his new friends Iris and Cilan.

Season 1: Pokémon: Indigo League
Ash finally starts his Pokémon journey because he is already ten, though he overslept and when he came to the Professor's Lab, there were no more starter Pokémon to choose, but the Professor has one Pokémon left but he says that the Pokémon isn't that friendly and he shows Pikachu. Pikachu dislikes Ash and shocks him with its Thundershock, this would be the mark of starting his journey with his Pikachu. Later Pikachu trusts Ash, and Ash also meets some friends along the way and challenging various Gyms also, he started having traveling companions which is Brock and Misty. He was in the Top 16th in the Indigo League Competition.

Season 2: Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands
During this time, Ash was sent to Orange Islands by Professor Oak to do an errand, though he found out that there were gyms there so he also challenged the gyms there. Brock left to be with Professor Ivy, then they met a new traveling companion named Tracey. Ash befriends and catches many other Pokémon as well. He won a trophy in the Orange Islands.

Season 3: Pokémon: Johto Journeys
Ash heard that there was a region called Johto and went there to find and catch new Pokémon that wasn't seen in the Kanto region and he battled the Gym Leaders there. He also caught the first three starter Pokémon of the Johto region just like in the Kanto region. Brock joined again and left Professor Ivy for unknown reasons and Tracey was left at Professor Oak's Lab.

Season 4: Pokémon: Pokémon Johto League Champions
He continues his quest in capturing and battling Gym Leaders and Pokémon. He also went to the Whirl Islands during this time.

Season 5: Pokémon: Master Quest
During this season he has finally completed his badges for entering the Johto League. He fought his best and then fought a certain trainer with a Blaziken in the Hoenn region, then he released his Charizard both battled greatly but Ash lost. Then he decided to go to the Hoenn region but sadly both of his traveling companions have to go back and will not be traveling with him to the Hoenn region. He has reached 8th place in the Johto League.

Season 6: Pokémon: Advanced
Afterwards he went to the Hoenn region, he met two new friends that became his traveling companions, it was none other than May and Max, also Brock returned stating that he finished with his errands at home. Ash also left all of his Pokémon at home so that he can start a new challenge for himself, but he didn't leave his first Pokémon: Pikachu.

Season 7: Pokémon: Advanced Challenge
Ash finally challenged Gym Battles but is held up by May because May decided to be a Pokémon Coordinator. Now both of them are on their way to the challenges up ahead of them.

Season 8: Pokémon: Advanced Battle
Now Ash is entering the Hoenn League and now battles with all he has after he obtained all of the badges in the Hoenn region. He meets rivals, Morrison and Tyson. He fought against Tyson in the Hoenn League but lost. He has come to the 8th place in the Hoenn League. Though he decided to challenge the Battle Frontier in the Kanto region.

Season 9: Pokémon: Battle Frontier
Ash battles all of the Frontier Brains, although he has a hard time battling the last Frontier Brain, but in the end, he won and collected all the symbols.

Season 10: Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl
He has started a new journey again, this time in the Sinnoh region, though this time May and Max isn't coming. But Brock is still traveling with them. Also he met a new traveling companion, Dawn, and a new rival, Paul.

Season 11: Pokémon: DP Battle Dimension
In this season, Ash continued battling and earning badges, while Dawn continues to earn contest ribbons, they also see Team Galactic.



Season 12: Pokémon: DP Galactic Battles
During this time, they battle against Team Galactic and also free the legendary Pokémon from Team Galactic.

Season 13: Pokémon: DP Sinnoh League Victors
Finally Ash is entering the Sinnoh League, this may be the hardest and intense league he ever joined as he has many rivals to compete with and also there is a mysterious trainer who joined with a legendary Pokémon: Darkrai. He battled against most of his rivals except for Barry which battled Paul and lost, so Ash's next match was against Paul, the battle was intense as Paul showed Pokémon that he doesn't normally use and until the fight was only Electivire and Infernape but Ash won with Infernape's ability, Blaze. Though he faced an opponent that was hard to defeat, it is none other than the trainer with a Darkrai: Tobias. He was able to defeat Tobias' Darkrai but got a draw with Tobias' Latios. However, as Ash had no Pokémon left, he was defeated. He reached the top four in the Sinnoh League, and many people are amazed because he was the only trainer who battled against Tobias and at least defeated his Darkrai because no one was able to defeat his Darkrai. Then afterwards he heads back home.

Season 14: Pokémon: Black and White
Ash started a new journey in the Unova region, but this time Brock and Dawn didn't travel with him. Ash finds new traveling companions: Cilan and Iris and catch new Pokémon. He also finds his new rival Trip. Currently he has won the first 3 badges. As the season continues, he gets a mysterious egg and similar to the Kanto and Johto series, he also gets all of the starter Pokémon in there.

Pokémon
As a Trainer, Ash has captured and befriended a sizable number of Pokémon over the course of the anime. His philosophy on training is that Pokémon are individuals and that a combination of trust, friendship and hard work are needed to overcome adversity. He seems to battle best with Pokémon that are similar to Pikachu: ones that are speedy and maneuverable, yet able to perform high-powered attacks; however, he is willing to work with any Pokémon that comes into his care. Ash's battle style is generally spontaneous, unpredictable, and fairly unorthodox, and his Pokémon often reflect these traits. Ash currently has six Pokémon with him since his capture of Sewaddle. Any additional Pokémon he catches, will be transferred and looked after by Professor Juniper. The first Pokémon sent was his Tranquill but later he traded it for Swadloon. Later Ash makes a rotate for his Pokémon.

Kanto League

 * 1) Boulder Badge
 * 2) Cascade Badge
 * 3) Thunder Badge
 * 4) Marsh Badge
 * 5) Rainbow Badge
 * 6) Soul Badge
 * 7) Volcano Badge
 * 8) Earth Badge

Orange Islands

 * 1) Coral-Eye Badge
 * 2) Sea Ruby Badge
 * 3) Spike Shell Badge
 * 4) Jade Star Badge

Johto League

 * 1) Zephyr Badge
 * 2) Hive Badge
 * 3) Plain Badge
 * 4) Fog Badge
 * 5) Storm Badge
 * 6) Mineral Badge
 * 7) Glacier Badge
 * 8) Rising Badge

Hoenn League

 * 1) Stone Badge
 * 2) Knuckle Badge
 * 3) Dynamo Badge
 * 4) Heat Badge
 * 5) Balance Badge
 * 6) Feather Badge
 * 7) Mind Badge
 * 8) Rain Badge

Sinnoh League

 * 1) Coal Badge
 * 2) Forest Badge
 * 3) Cobble Badge
 * 4) Fen Badge
 * 5) Relic Badge
 * 6) Mine Badge
 * 7) Icicle Badge
 * 8) Beacon Badge

Unova League

 * 1) Trio Badge200px-Ash_Current_Unova_Badges.png
 * 2) Basic Badge
 * 3) Insect Badge

Symbols

 * Knowledge Symbol
 * Guts Symbol
 * Tactics Symbol
 * Luck Symbol
 * Spirit Symbol
 * Ability Symbol
 * Brave Symbol

Pokémon League Status

 * Kanto Conference (Indigo League) Loses to Ritchie: Top 16
 * Silver Conference (Johto League) Loses to Harrison: Top 8
 * Ever Grande Conference (Hoenn League) Loses to Tyson: Top 8
 * Lilly of the Valley Coference (Sinnoh League) Loses to Tobias: Top 4

Pokémon Championship Battles

 * Orange League: Champion
 * Battle Frontier: Champion (Frontier Brain offer declined)

Contests

 * Bug-Catching Contest: Champion
 * Extreme Pokémon: Champion
 * Fuchsia Pokémon Race: Champion
 * P1 Grand Prix: Champion
 * Pokémon Balloon Race: Champion
 * Pokémon Contests
 * Terracotta Contest (unofficial): (Winner - Tied with May)
 * Wallace Cup: Top 8


 * Hearthome Tag Battle: Champion-with Paul
 * Pokémon Summer Academy Triathlon: Winner
 * Pokémon Swap Meet Tauros-Battling competition: Champion
 * PokéRinger - Crossgate Town: Champion
 * PokéRinger - Squallville: Champion
 * Rota Tournament: Champion
 * Sumo Conference: Champion
 * Twinleaf Festival Battle Tournament: Champion
 * Sinnoh Pokéthlon Tournament: Runner-Up

Other Voice Actors

 * German: Caroline Combrinck (1st-3rd Season & 12th- ), Veronika Neugebauer (4th-11th Season, dec.)
 * Italian: Davide Garbolino
 * Greek: Voula Kosta
 * Dutch: Christa Lips (Season 1 - present)

Gallery
Main article: Ash Ketchum/Gallery

Trivia

 * Every time Ash battles and defeats a rival, he constantly loses to the next one in league tournaments, usually because his opponents are older, more experienced trainers with pokemon that Ash has never seen or battled before.
 * Ash is based on the Generation I video game character, Red.
 * Ash's first Pokémon choice was a Squirtle, which Gary got.
 * Ash has had thirty Pokémon throughout the series. (Not counting evolution and the thirty extra Tauros as one) 49 including different evolutionary forms.
 * Tranquill is the fifth bird Pokémon Ash has captured. Pidgeot, Noctowl, Swellow, and Staraptor are the others.
 * Ash's personality matches Azelf; the Willpower Pokémon.
 * Ash's last name, Ketchum, may have come from the phrase "Gotta catch 'em all".
 * Ash has caught at least one of the Starter Pokémon in every region, and has caught one bird Pokémon that appears in that region's Pokédex.
 * So far, Ash has caught all known -type starters.
 * When one of Ash's friends captured the other starters, he would capture another Pokémon to fill in the missing types.
 * Ash's only Pokémon is Pikachu.
 * Ash has a different outfit in every region (Besides Johto and Kanto).
 * Since the beginning of the series, Ash's skin has gotten progressively darker, perhaps due to the constant exposure to the sun, as he and his friends that he journeys with walk almost everywhere, and are normally outside.
 * Ash has seen almost every legendary Pokémon.
 * Other than the Orange League, Ash has never won a league tournament.
 * Ash is the only trainer who has ever defeated Tobias' Darkrai.Ash_hat_back_wards_13th_season.PNG
 * Dawn and Tracey are the only Trainers who are not related or is a Gym leader the has traveled with Ash.
 * Ash's eye color was mostly black but there are some scenes it is shown to be brown, but in Best Wishes, his eyes were changed so that it would be obvious that his eyes are brown or brownish red.
 * As of now, Ash hasn't captured or was accompanied by a or -type Pokémon.
 * Scraggy was the third egg that Ash had, the second to born as his Pokémon and the first -type Pokémon for him.
 * Ash is said to be 10 in Black & White, but he was revealed to be older than 11 in the Pokémon 3rd movie short, evidant that Ash has aged a bit. It was believed that Ash has been on his journey for possibly approximately three years. The answer to this age problem is currently unknown.
 * As of Black & White, Ash is a lot shorter than he use to be, and he has forgotten a lot of past lessons.
 * In the 2011 Guinness Book of World Records: Gamer's Edition, Ash was ranked the number 37th in the "Top 50 Video Game Characters of All Time." despite him never being in a game, his game ranking possibly comes from the fact that Ash is Red's counterpart.
 * Ash's hair look similar to Goku's hair (from Dragon Ball Z).
 * Ash's Japanese name, Satoshi, comes from Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokémon.
 * Ash's Pikachu and his Unova Starter Pokemon have never been rotated, only Trainquil, Swadloon, Scraggy, Palpalitoad, and Roggenrola.
 * Bianca and Barry usually crash almost every time they see Ash because they are always in a hurry.

Ash Ketchum