The Pokémon anime starring Ash lasted over 25 years, and Ash grew and changed a lot as a character over that time frame, to the point where watching an early season episode and a later one back-to-back might leave one wondering how Ash changed so much. This growth actually provides Ash an excellent opportunity to return to the series some day, if the powers that be ever decide to bring the popular Pokémon trainer back.
Ash’s character growth is very slow compared to most series, and unfolded over the course of hundreds of episodes that gradually taught the young trainer maturity and how to better handle his emotions. His growth is so slow that one might think he’s a static character at times, unchanging no matter what happens to him, but that’s not quite the case. Due to his frequent redesigns and updates as the series transitioned from generation to generation, Ash was able to mature in terms of design as well as attitude, with each new season bringing about a small shift from how he was.
In the original series, Ash Ketchum is a very energetic and enthusiastic young boy who loves Pokémon, even though he doesn’t actually seem to know that much about them. Ash often makes foolish mistakes in the early episodes, misunderstanding Pokémon typing and engaging in literally unwinnable battles. As a result, Ash becomes very reliant on Brock and Misty’s gym leader experience to correct his lack of knowledge–a fact which they are keen on not letting him forget. Ash has big dreams at this stage, but they’re far beyond what his skills can accomplish.
Over the course of his journey through the Kanto region, Ash learns more about Pokémon in general and his Pokémon in particular, bonding with them and helping them to grow, and sometimes, evolve. Ash often earns his gym badges through acts other than defeating the gym leader in battle, like fending off Team Rocket or helping to put out a fire at the Celadon Gym. He encounters different kinds of trainers, often with different philosophies towards raising Pokémon, like AJ, whose methods Ash deems too harsh. These events help to open Ash’s eyes, and while he still acts like a kid, he’s learning.
Ash’s biggest moment of character growth is undoubtedly his loss at the Indigo League. Ash has believed up to this point that being a Pokémon Master is his destiny, and that, as a result, it will come easy. He still hasn’t fully acknowledged just how much help Misty and Brock have been providing him, and he makes some questionable decisions with his strategy, like using the disobedient Charizard, who ultimately costs him the conference victory. Ash’s first big loss forces him to reevaluate himself and his goals. Ash doesn’t throw a tantrum, though, something day 1 Ash might’ve done.
The last series starring Ash, Pokémon Journeys, is almost the exact opposite of these early days. After traveling for so long, it’s now Ash who is the experienced, mature, and more emotionally level character. Like many of Ash’s later companions, Goh is introduced as a brand-new trainer, but Goh is a lot more like early Ash than, say, Dawn or Serena. Goh makes decisions that are sometimes questionable and show his inexperience, like refusing to take a starter Pokémon when offered one, declaring instead that Mew would be his first Pokémon.
This time, it’s Ash who takes on the role of mentor for Goh, often giving him advice and praising him when he does things right. Goh is much more emotional than this iteration of Ash, calling back to the highly emotional season 1 version of Ash. Ash has matured over his adventures and is better able to face surprises and disappointments than he once was, making him all the more suited for a mentorship role. He’s able to keep calm in difficult situations now, having seen so many, and that tranquility becomes a source of strength for Goh as well.
As Goh begins to develop his own more realistic goals, such as joining Project Mew, Ash encourages him in much the same way that Misty and Brock once encouraged Ash. Ash is supportive of these goals even when they conflict with his own, like when Project Mew called Goh away during the Masters’ Eight tournament. Ash’s transformation from the newbie who needed help with everything to the capable mentor was a long time coming, but it’s undeniable by the time of Journeys just how far he’s come.
Liko and Roy, the new heroes of Pokémon Horizons, are arguably even more inexperienced than Goh or even Ash was at the beginning of his journey. While Liko has the benefit of some formal schooling, Roy is still extremely new to traveling and Pokémon training; neither of them have obtained a gym badge yet, even 40+ episodes into the series, although that’s largely because they aren’t on a quest that necessitates collecting gym badges. Fortunately, the two young heroes have the airship crew to lean on for help, but even Friede can’t do it all.
Liko and Roy could certainly benefit from some mentorship like that which Goh received, and there really are no characters in Horizons at the moment who can compete at the top tiers of Pokémon battling. Bring back Ash to act as a coach for these two young trainers would be an excellent way to reincorporate Ash into the anime, if for some reason that was ever desired. While it’s quite likely that Ash will have a long time to rest before appearing again, the door is always open for a return appearance, given how Journeys ended.
For Ash, sharing his skills with younger, more inexperienced trainers and paying forward the debt that he owes Misty and Brock from his own newbie days seems like a natural evolution of where his character was. After all, becoming a Pokémon Master doesn’t have to just mean befriending Pokémon; it can mean helping other people to love and understand Pokémon as Ash does as well. Ash as a mentor and coach would be the ultimate example of his growth from the very beginning of Pokémon, so hopefully he might one day get to achieve that, too.
See on Netflix