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Ash's Age/Coma Theory

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  • Age 26
  • Seen Jul 14, 2021
It would be great if Ash didn't had to mention his age. And we do not have to spend all the time ranting about this and that, making theories here and there.
 

Aquacorde

⟡ dig down, dig down ⟡
12,453
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Agreed with above.

And just as a note, I'd like this thread to steer more toward potential in-universe theories as to why Ash doesn't age, because we all know he doesn't age because of marketing. And that's boring and dumb. Come up with some crazy stuff yo. Like my Ho-oh theory that y'all seem to like.
 
33
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11
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  • Seen Sep 28, 2013
Theory: Ash Does Age

Ash ages once before he entered the Kanto League turning 11, and then in the second movie turning 12.

Theory: I believe Ash ages 1 year every time he switches outfits. Since his original Kanto outfit he has changed outfits 3 times making him 15.

Side Note: Do you guys think there will be a time skip in Pokemon X and Y, having Ash be his true age instead? I personnel wouldn't mind it if they had a time skip without major event's happening like they did with Young Justice.
 

Aquacorde

⟡ dig down, dig down ⟡
12,453
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Gonna merge this with the other Ash's age thread just because there's no reason to have a bunch floating around. ;x

But this theory still doesn't work due to the beginning of Best Wishes. It's clearly stated in both the Japanese and the English dub that Ash is 10 years old. Unless they retcon this by editing out the line for re-broadcast, Ash has not aged and everything has taken place in less than two months, due to him being 10 years and 10 months when his journey began.

I wouldn't mind them doing a significant time skip at some point though. Like we just skip out on about six years of Ash's life and he comes back as the group mother/mentor? That'd be interesting. Maybe they'll do that for Kalos, since it has plenty of kid characters to work with already.
 
33
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11
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  • Seen Sep 28, 2013
Gonna merge this with the other Ash's age thread just because there's no reason to have a bunch floating around. ;x

But this theory still doesn't work due to the beginning of Best Wishes. It's clearly stated in both the Japanese and the English dub that Ash is 10 years old. Unless they retcon this by editing out the line for re-broadcast, Ash has not aged and everything has taken place in less than two months, due to him being 10 years and 10 months when his journey began.

I wouldn't mind them doing a significant time skip at some point though. Like we just skip out on about six years of Ash's life and he comes back as the group mother/mentor? That'd be interesting. Maybe they'll do that for Kalos, since it has plenty of kid characters to work with already.

Also i was watching the Hoenn Saga on Boomerang the other day and during that saga Ash definitely seemed older and more experienced than the Unova league.
 

Aquacorde

⟡ dig down, dig down ⟡
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Of course he did. They actually had aged him up a bit unofficially. Like they matured him and then intentionally never mentioned his age. By DP his apparent age was 13 at the very least, but then they went and wrecked all that progression with Unova. The cut off the ambiguity and forced Ash back to being the absolutely dumb child he was but minus the sass and general progression that Kanto offered. They lost a whole lot of development and never seemed to remember how to write that.
 

Mr. X

It's... kinda effective?
2,391
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That theory gets shot to hell and back too.

Watch the entire series - Every single episode. I'll guarentee you that you'll see about a years worth of nights. Proably more.

Still though, we don't really know how time progresses in that series - For them their weeks could be 10 days, their months 40 days, their years 24 months. Or any other random combo of numbers.
 

Aquacorde

⟡ dig down, dig down ⟡
12,453
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Well logically and following an actual count, Ash should be older. We all know this and there is no dispute about it. But the problem completely lies In The Shadow of Zekrom, where is is stated clearly in both widely-watched versions that Ash is 10 years old, all while providing a shot of his room filled with mementos and trophies from the past.
 
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10
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  • Seen Aug 10, 2015
There's an alternate theory to the whole Ash being 10 year old thing, because unless they just stop counting their age past 10, at least a year or 2 should've passed by now. One year can at least be confirmed, since in the Pikachu short for the third movie, Ash celebrated his 1 year anniversary of being friends with Pikachu.

Now, this other theory is regarding Ho-oh from the very first episode of the anime, where Ash wishes that he'd have a journey that'd last forever, just as Ho-oh flew by. Ho-oh's Pokedex entry in DPPt says the following: "It possesses seven-colored wings. It is said that those who see Ho-Oh are promised an eternal happiness." Some believe that Ho-oh may have granted his wish to give him the promised "eternal happiness", which imo, is a bit more believable than the coma theory, since it's mostly canon :p

So yeah, a good reason to why Ash is still 10 years despite over a year passing, however it doesn't really explain why other people still say that he's 10, since they wouldn't know that, unless Ho-oh actually implemented it into the minds of everyone.

Thats theory makes the most sense, good job dude! I hated the coma theory, for some reason it really triggered something in me. Maybe the fact that I grew up with Pokemon, always as I child I loved Ash as my VERY favourite cartoon character and ending Pokemon with him being in a coma is horrible. Your Ho-ho theory is just more believable
 

Palamon

Silence is Purple
8,105
Posts
15
Years
Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Ash's Coma theory got me thinking about the whole story, I do believe it, not really, but, in my mind, Ash is 12. But I think that his Journey isn't very long. Anna said that each journey could only be less than two months, but that makes no sense: you can't bond with someone that well in 2 months. So, I'm assuming he doesn't seem to age because it's the coma theory. He might not age because it's a kid show: kids don't age in kids show. So I'll call this the "Arthur Paradox." He's going to be ten forever--that's how kids want to see things. They don't want to see Ash a 27 year old man.

But I think he's 12. He must have aged a little--he seems older in Sinnoh despite saying he's ten.
 
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Still though, we don't really know how time progresses in that series - For them their weeks could be 10 days, their months 40 days, their years 24 months. Or any other random combo of numbers.

Very true, their perception of age may be vastly different than ours. In addition, I don't believe it's explicitly stated that the world this anime takes place on is Earth. (It might be mentioned in movies, but those are filler for the most part)

Ash did progressively get more matured by the time D/P came around, but by the start of B/W I think that sign of aging began to disappear. Obviously, being an anime directed towards children, the creators didn't want things to get too serious, so they made Ash a "little kid" again in Best Wishes (as Iris mentions far too many times). Time rift?

Oh, and that Ash's Coma theory does make sense in a creepy sort of way (hence, creepypasta)...
 

xZSx Venom

The most symmetrycal
33
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10
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if the show went by him actually growing in age I would say he would be late 20s due to the fact this came out in 1995, but in the show he's 10 (I was just counting the years this has been out)
If you are counting by how in every episode it show that it was a whole days worth of action I would say between 12-15. This is just my best guess.
 
Last edited:
1,103
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  • Age 31
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I think they made Ash to be 10 and back to being his old inexperienced self for the Unova series because, just like with the games, they wanted it to be a "new beginning" . Probably trying to appeal to the newer generation & all. Because, by Sinnoh, Ash would be like 13.
But I read somewhere that the devs wanted Black & White to give that "nostalgic feeling" Red and Blue gave. They made it a whole new beginning with new Pokémon and stuff to discover.
So guess they figured they'd do the same in the anime.
 
131
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11
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  • Seen Dec 2, 2013
He's still currently 10 although it feels like he should be about 15 because the PL takes place once every year
 
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  • Seen Dec 1, 2014
Here is my theory: If we are to believe that the Anime Pokemon Universe and the Video Game Pokemon Universe are the same then when Ho-oh flies over Ash in episode 1 the save file that Ash was using got corrupted and his character data was corrupted with it because Ho-oh isn`t supposed to be in the game. therefore he is forever 10 and occasionally suffers from massive brain damage. just like missing no. JKJK
 

Shrew

is a Shrew
838
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10
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In some interview by some important guy, it was revealed the reason why Ash is still the main character because they need to keep Pikachu, the series mascot. Yet they still want new viewers to be able to relate to the 10 year old Ash the same way we did. This is why Ash will never age or have his character changed.

Which is a horrible idea for a show dedicated to a journey and personal growth. The fact that he forgets how to catch wild pokemon in the beginning of Unova proves that any character "development" Ash has means nill.
 

Gogofreak

Touhou and Pokemon Fanatic
30
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10
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I think they made Ash to be 10 and back to being his old inexperienced self for the Unova series because, just like with the games, they wanted it to be a "new beginning" . Probably trying to appeal to the newer generation & all. Because, by Sinnoh, Ash would be like 13.
But I read somewhere that the devs wanted Black & White to give that "nostalgic feeling" Red and Blue gave. They made it a whole new beginning with new Pokémon and stuff to discover.
So guess they figured they'd do the same in the anime.

I was going to say that! But, I do agree with that. They reboot the series and the anime.
 
26
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10
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  • Seen Aug 15, 2013
To me Ash always looked way older then 10, did they ever say how old Iris is? It's weird how she always calls Ash a "kid" when she looks the same age as him.
 
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