FEATURE: Lessons Ash Ketchum Taught Me in His Pokémon Journey
When it was announced that Ash Ketchum had won the World Championship, an accomplishment that capped off his globe-trotting adventure and culminated the 25-year journey he’d had with Pokémon fans around the world, I was elated. Ash Ketchum is the closest anime equivalent I have to a home-town-kid-done-good, the kind of character I grew up with. The subsequent news of his series ending added a layer of poignancy to the victory — Ash would be heading to parts unknown and his audience, heading into a new series, would be doing the same.
RELATED: Ash Ketchum Takes Over Shinjuku Station to Celebrate the End to His Pokémon Anime Journey
We’d also be left with the lessons and teaching moments from his life that have been frequently discussed over the past few months. With two and a half decades of anime to pull from, there have been quite a few, so I think it’s best to start with the most prominent one:
Don’t Give Up
All images via Pokémon TV
This is a lesson shared by most fictional characters but few embody it the same way Ash does. The kid has faced quite a few losses over the years, with many Pokémon arcs ending with Ash coming up just short of a win. However, while his participation in a tournament may end, his enthusiasm for Pokémon and his will to get back up and try again never does. He keeps on going, moving on to the next region, the next battle, the next adventure. This leads me to the second lesson…
Just Because You Don’t Know Everything Doesn’t Mean You Shouldn’t Try
When Ash departs from Pallet Town, he knows surprisingly little about Pikachu or the Pokémon world at large. And though this is framed as something to grow from (especially as he connects with his electric mouse buddy), it’s something he carries with him as he travels as well. Ash doesn’t know what Pokémon he will encounter next or what challenges and obstacles the world will throw at him, just as we likely don’t know everything about the stuff we’d like to try. But being willing to adapt and learn as you go is one of the greatest things you can grant yourself. And speaking of things you should give yourself…
The Possibility Of Connection Is Always There
As Ash travels around, he meets a wide variety of friends, peers, rivals, companions and Pokémon. Some of them he doesn’t see eye to eye with, some of them he quickly bonds with, and some of them require patience and a bit of effort on his part. But Ash always allows himself to see the good in someone as long as they’re able to see the good in him, too. And in the case of Pokémon, he always attempts to get to know them better in order to understand what they need from him. Ash works hard at team-building with both Pokemon and people and it’s what’s allowed him to get through tough scenarios. You know what else is tough?
Sometimes You Have To Say Goodbye
I still don’t think I’ve wept as much over a TV show as I did as a nine-year-old watching “Bye Bye Butterfree” for the first time. But Ash could see that heading off with his mate was something his flying bug pal wanted, so he had to let him go. This happens a few times over the course of the series, with Ash recognizing that he won’t be the one his Pokémon partner or traveling companion will grow with. So he musters up the courage to bid them farewell, knowing he’ll always have the memories he made with them and the lessons they taught him. Because even though he may be Ash Ketchum and you might be you…
You’re Not The Main Character Of The Universe
Sometimes we get trapped in a way of thinking, a way that defines us as the most important thing going on. We build up a myth of ourselves that allows us to circumvent the needs of others because whatever we’re doing supersedes the details of another person’s life. It happens! But we have to come back to reality.
RELATED: The Pokémon Anime Is Still Important To The Franchise 25 Years Later
Ash is the main character of the Pokémon TV series but he’s not the main character of the Pokémon world. The people he’s friends with, from Misty and Brock all the way to Goh and Chloe, all have their own needs and deserve their own measures of support and capacities for empathy. Ash may want to be “the very best like no one ever was,” but he’d very much be no one if he didn’t engage in a supportive relationship with all of the people that have helped him along the way.
In the end, you can learn a lot from Ash Ketchum. Though I doubt this is everything. Leave a comment and let me know what you’ve learned from Ash and his many years of adventures!
Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter! His book, Monster Kids: How Pokemon Taught A Generation To Catch Them All, is available wherever books are sold.
