Character Spotlight: Ash Ketchum (Pre-Diamond and Pearl), Part Two

In the heat of battle, he'll choose... wisely.

------------------------------

4. INSPIRATION 

The Pokemon fanfiction city block is so big I'm still trying to navigate through it, but there are three definite writing wells (well, four if you count the Pokemon: Advanced episodes), which get my interpretation for Ash fired up. 

• The Straight Elf: My gosh, does Ash go through so much development in their fic, "Traveler"!  The fic is over ten years old (and over two million words!), but every time it's updated, I always learn something new. I learn something about Ash's character development (and from a personal perspective, lessons to apply to writing and to life.) Ash is a quiet yet snarky stoic with a passion for Pokemon fighting in the story, but you can tell how much effort he puts into training and being the best that no one ever was.
• AeroJester203: His story, "Common Sense" diverts from the main canon and makes Team Rocket an actual threat to Ash. They're so dangerous to him that he's forced to grow up fast and really think outside the box to outfox them. He's still himself, but he has a stronger focus on training, battling, and protecting people and Pokemon from TR. You can certainly believe he'll be the one to stop the criminal organization once and for all. 
• Skylight Sparkle: She expands on Ash's Aura powers in her "The Road You Choose" universe, which is a big benefit for me when it comes to figuring them out. The poor kid goes through a lot of awful things in her stories, but he does survive and through it all, he actually becomes a true Pokemon Master. I won't spoil anymore than I have to, but I'll just say that the changes he goes through on his journey are noticeable and deeply affect him. 

 For me, I plan on combining these authors' various forms of Ash to come up with my own - a calm(er) ace trainer with a talent for battling, a loyalty and love for family, friends and Pokemon, a desire for knowledge (especially history), and a deadpan streak.  

------------------------

5. FUTURE PLANS

 He'll be in the Universal Phoenix Corps, but much later.

He'll also become a Frontier Brain and get someone to teach him how to use Aura. 

There are a couple of non-UPC crossovers I have in mind where he might play a part, but I have no definite plans for them at this time.

--------------------------

6. HEADCANONS

*Due to all the trauma he endured on his journey, he doesn't like to talk about what happened and prefers to try and forget. Hence why we never hear him bring any of it up.  

*He's not afraid of ghosts, but he's afraid of infamous locations with haunting histories such as Lavender Town or any other places where people have been killed. I feel like he would get so upset or freaked out if he went to places like those.

*He has a knack for cooking. Thank his mom for that - she owns the only restaurant in Pallet Town, according to Takeshi Shudo's novelization, so based on this fact, we can infer that he may have learned a thing or two about cooking from her. He also loves to eat veggies because his mom grew them in her garden.  


*Giovanni is not his dad. Neither is Professor Oak. I'm of the mindset that he'll have Silver for his father, if only based on the reaction the man displays when he hears Ash's name. He sounds surprised, like he knows the kid, so this could be a trail to explore. I know trying to guess the identity of Ash's father is a running gag in the fandom, but I don't really care to run with it. I just want to either use Silver or do something else entirely. Maybe not even bother with it at all.

On that note, Jessie is not a good parent to him. Why would he let someone who's tried to steal his Pokemon and hurt him and his friends too many times to count become part of his family?? That's dangerous and makes him and his mother look like morons for trusting her so easily, especially since Ash is protective of his mom and vice versa. Jessie has had the chance - nay, several chances - to redeem herself but she never goes through with it, so to see people somehow support this headcanon in the fanbase is so mind-boggling. 

However, I do kind of like the idea of Giovanni and Delia knowing each other before Ash was born. I don't know about them pursuing a romantic relationship, but I do like me a good twist! 

*Going back to my previous post about his tendency to hide his tears from others, this comes from a headcanon floating in the fanbase, and also used in "The Road You Choose" series I mentioned before. He was bullied for weeping openly when he was younger (perhaps by Gary but it's possible he was picked on by other kids too). Due to this, he will still cry, but he will hide his tears underneath his cap to make it seem like he's not affected by whatever's happening. 

*On that note, friendship with other people is very important to him. The friendships he made with Misty and Brock in the early seasons for example changed his life for the better. He pretty much confirmed in the last Johto episode that he doesn't like being lonely. Yes, I think he knows that he can always rely on the memories he has of his friends to give him confidence and happiness, but it's not the same - he would much rather prefer to have real human company around him. But he also knows that he needs to let his friends go chase dreams or do whatever it is they need to do - that's a mark of a good friend, which Ash is. A number of fans, from what I"ve seen online, have theorized that perhaps as a child, he spent a lot of time by himself without a lot of kids around to really hang out with and that may be why the people he does come into contact with and don't tease him in a non-friendly way, are why he prizes his friendships with them. 

*Why doesn't Ash sometimes see other girls crushing on him? Well, methinks it's because he only has an eye on one red-headed one. Every other girl in the picture disappears.

*How can he withstand so much damage? The power of Aura! It doesn't completely protect him, but it can give him a slight advantage. Also, it gives him a degree of enhanced strength, even to the point where he can carry a log(?) I should note that in UPC, he won't be using logs as weights anytime soon.

*He has a connection to the Phoenix bird. I mean, yes, it's obvious given the many times he's seen Moltres and Ho-Oh but it's especially prevalent for UPC. He'll meet other Phoenix witnesses and mystical beings with whom he will form bonds.

*Dawn's his half-sister and he's related to Sir Aaron and Riley. Still working on the details.

*Ash still has the broken Pokeball that Gary gave him, and sometimes if he needs a reminder to push himself the way he did when it came to his rivalry with Gary.

*He knows how to work some types of technology, but when it comes to advanced tech, he's a fish out of water. He's not a total tech-lover.

*Sometimes he has flashbacks of the many times he almost drowned, and they can come up in unlikely places, such as when he's in the shower. But he is working on overcoming this.

*He aspires to be like Lance, and with good reason; he's so darn cool. XD

--------------------------

7. PERSONAL

*This little guy was one of the first anime protagonists that I felt great empathy for, due to his stubbornness and vulnerabilities. Whenever he won, I cheered. Whenever he was in trouble or something bad happened to him, I would be at the edge of my seat. When he was sad, I would look away. Is he my favorite character out of Pokemon? Well, it depends. I do love the character development he undergoes in Pokemon Advanced and even before the fact, and I'm definitely fond of the depictions of him in the fanfics I mentioned, but I wouldn't call him my absolute favorite. No, that might go to Lance haha. I used to be a fan of Tracey Sketchit, and I still am, but the love's kind of cooled off. 

Going back to Ash, there is something about him that does draw me back into his story (at least in the seasons where I can keep up). I do think that canon can do okay in keeping the audience interested in what he's up to, but fanfic can be a little nicer to him than canon even in the Pokemon Advanced seasons, and I'm biased towards those seasons. Fanfiction is full of limitless possibilities, and the canon show is... well, not. 

It's not his fault that he's subjected to the same show formula throughout all the seasons, yet there are fans who seem to act like he's the cause of bad writing whenever the anime took a dive. But again, that's on the writers, the executives, and the 'keep things at status quo' deal. If you want to write your own interpretation of Ash and have him grow up, go for it! That's how a fanbase stays alive, with ideas and writing with potential - as long as it's good writing and none of the cell phone text kind - at the helm. 

Ash serves as an audience surrogate in a way - just as he learns new things about Pokemon and life, we can too. He's not always up to speed on whatever's happening, but he can learn to catch on and take action, and we're in for the ride with him because we grow and learn (at least I hope so, please don't stay stagnant, folks), and we gain a little experience of our own to pass onto others. 

*Songs?  Well, besides the classic Pokemon theme, this one works too. It just evokes the new mature and serious mindset in Advanced, and where I'll start with him in UPC (or I'm planning to unless something changes), but take off in a completely new direction than canon did post-Battle Frontier. He's not quite there at his goal yet, but he's getting closer and closer with each passing day. He'll also achieve a lot more than he could ever possibly realize, and when those moments come, he'll change the world... nay, worlds.

Now I'm off to go check this post off my goal list as I go out to be the very best writer I can be - perhaps not like no one ever was, but it's all part of the challenge!

Wanderer out!