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Which of Ash's friends made the least impact on his journey?

Who least impacted Ash's journey?


  • Total voters
    102
But they are in the poll, and they have had the least impact. So therefore they should get the most votes. It doesn't matter if they are new - that have had the smallest impact on Ash's journey.

Then please, explain how they've made a smaller impact on Ash's jourmey than Max.
It's been 35, allright, but I still can't see how they've made a smaller impact...
 
Because Max was there for 195 episodes, and Cilan/Iris only 35. You know 'impact' can mean 'being with someone for a period of time'. If I was traveling with someone for a long time, they'd have a bigger impact on me no matter what they did.
 
Why are May and Max branded together? If they weren't, I'd say Max. As it stands, I'd say Cilan. Just because he doesn't really challenge Ash's personality or technique.
 
Why do people keep asking why are May and Max together? They were introduced in the same arc as siblings and left together.
 
Why do people keep asking why are May and Max together? They were introduced in the same arc as siblings and left together.
Because they played different roles and acted differently.

And because May was hotter. /joke
 
To me, impact can mean that they were a mentor to Ash, a coach, that they were coached or mentored by Ash, or that Ash and that character motivated and influenced each other.

Brock acted as the mentor figure in the original series. He taught Ash the basics of being a trainer, how to take care of pokémon, helped him come up with strategies. We see Dento sometimes fill that role in BW too.

May and Max were definitely mentored by Ash, which to me impacted the character, as we saw him mature, be more patient, etc. By being faced with real beginners, Ash was sorta forced to be the teacher, to get his act together. I would also group Dento in that category too, since he has expressed desire into learning how Ash bonds with his pokémon, and we saw in BW019 that he thinks highly of Ash as a trainer. That's part of what I feel makes Ash/Dento's relationship so fun, is that they're teaching each other and helping out one another, though, I'd have to see where they're going with it.

Dawn also impacted Ash a lot, by having someone as motivated as him, who experienced the same doubts as him, they could relate to one another and push each other to be better. Plus, they each inspired the other techniques and their style influenced one another, making both more versatile. They were there when the other was depressed after a loss.

So yeah... that pretty much leaves us with Misty and Iris. Misty wasn't the mentor that Brock was, nor did she learn anything from Ash. She wasn't a motivation for him, in that he was never inspired by her, or did she push him to surpass himself. I think Ash would be exactly the same person had it been just him and Brock during the original series. Same with Iris, though we'll have to wait until we see more of BW to group her in that category. So far, I have to say Misty, but Iris might soon join her in that category.
 
Why do people keep asking why are May and Max together? They were introduced in the same arc as siblings and left together.

They were two separate characters with different reasons for traveling with Ash. Misty and Brock were introduced together before May and Max were, you wouldn't treat them as a package.
 
They were two separate characters with different reasons for traveling with Ash. Misty and Brock were introduced together before May and Max were, you wouldn't treat them as a package.

The difference is Misty and Brock weren't treated as a set. When one left the other didn't have to leave too. Misty stayed for Orange and Brock stayed after she went, they were never a set.

Max only existed because of May, no other reason.
 
The difference is Misty and Brock weren't treated as a set. When one left the other didn't have to leave too. Misty stayed for Orange and Brock stayed after she went, they were never a set.

Max only existed because of May, no other reason.

Well to me in the original series I would've disagreed about Misty and Brock. Now, I completely agree.

As for May and Max, they weren't always treated like a package, and either way this has nothing to do with 'packages'. You asked who impacted Ash the least, and both of them had different kinds of impacts so the results would most likely be different if you could just seperate them.

Moving on, I agree with Misty, sure she was great in the beginning, but it never seemed like she was all that much help to Ash. Just sort of a 'tag along friend'.
 
Max only existed because of May, no other reason.

With that logic, you could say that Misty only existed because of the bike. I don't care either way, I just don't see where you're coming from with this 'come as a set' thing.
 
May and Max were definitely mentored by Ash, which to me impacted the character, as we saw him mature, be more patient, etc. By being faced with real beginners, Ash was sorta forced to be the teacher, to get his act together.

I agree with almost everything you said. However, did Ash really mentor Max that much? The only time I recall him doing so was in the episode where he and May left (which wasn't as much mentoring as it was...comforting?).

I know he inspired Max, but did that impact Ash in any way?

The difference is Misty and Brock weren't treated as a set. When one left the other didn't have to leave too. Misty stayed for Orange and Brock stayed after she went, they were never a set.

Max only existed because of May, no other reason.

I don't think that means one can't affect Ash more than the other, though.

Example:
Assume you cannot drive. You catch a ride with a friend, and the two of you go to a party. You're shy, so you just sit and relax with some folk; your friend, on the other hand, is the life of the party. Because your friend drove you there, you cannot go home. Just because you're there with your friend and can't leave, does that still mean you both affected the party equally?

In this case, you're Max, your friend is May, and the party is Ash.
 
I agree with almost everything you said. However, did Ash really mentor Max that much? The only time I recall him doing so was in the episode where he and May left (which wasn't as much mentoring as it was...comforting?).

I know he inspired Max, but did that impact Ash in any way?

I meant more in a character way. I was thinking of when Max stole the badge after Ash defeated Norman. OS Ash would have freaked, but AG Ash sorta took it easy and was more patient, more calm, more the grown up. But I totally agree that Ash didn't transmit any knowledge to Max, that was more Brock.

In this case, you're Max, your friend is May, and the party is Ash.

A Night Inside Ash. :p
 
I meant more in a character way. I was thinking of when Max stole the badge after Ash defeated Norman. OS Ash would have freaked, but AG Ash sorta took it easy and was more patient, more calm, more the grown up.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I see that more as a result of Ash's maturation, though, not a cause of it.
 
Lets take a look at each character:
With Misty.She served role as Ashs coach and mentor pointing out his mistakes,giving him tips when it comes to choice of using pokemon in some battles aswell what kind of pokemon types are good against other.
She also provided moral support to him with her teasing remarks providing required push he needed to improve himself as trainer.
She also acted like rival during some occasions with both characters pursuing relatively similar dreams(of wanting to become best trainers out there)with Mistys portrayal of being better trainer than he is invoking in Ash anger and motivation to go forward(like when they battled for Totodile or in Whirl Cup for example).

Along with Brock Misty served as catalyst to help Ashs growth as trainer when he needed help the most during its rookie days with strong and deep friendship which was established between them leaving impact on his gradual change.

Brock-left pretty big impact on Ash character too.His help during pokemon battles,great deal of knowledge serving as coach and mentor helped Ash a lot being able to learn basucs in pokemon battkles,He akso quite ofzten provided help in battling astrategies along withngiving him tips o how to taoe care of his pokemon.

With May-it was more vice versa sort of case.In Hoenn Ash was already experienced and mature as trainer not being prone to making newbie mistakes allowing him to develop further his own style of battling without having need to rely so much anymore on others help or mentoring.This allowed him to take up mentor role toward May influencing her own contest style which later reflected during her performance in contests having more of a battling tone to it.

With Dawn-her practicing for contests,perfecting attacks for appeals etc provided to Ash lot of knowledge starting to take his battling strategy on whole new dimension using some of things he learned in his future battles which was showed to be proven success.They also shared several similarities being able to relate to each other.However most of it was based on moral and friendly support not invoking some particularly big change in Ash character imo.

From Max and Tracey-Ash barely learn anything new with no motivation or inspiration coming from their characters not leaving lot of impact on his character and battling style.Granted Tracey can be excused because of being in show for very short amount of time.

On Dento and Iris i will stay neutral since both of them were so far part of show for relatively short period of time with BW series not giving us full picture yet.

In nutshell characters which influenced Ash the most would be:Brock,Misty and to some notable extent Dawn.

Characters which influenced Ash character and his battling style the least would be:Max,Tracey and to certain extent May.

Misty wasn't the mentor that Brock was, nor did she learn anything from Ash. She wasn't a motivation for him, in that he was never inspired by her, or did she push him to surpass himself. I think Ash would be exactly the same person had it been just him and Brock during the original series.

I have to disagree with you in here.Misty left big impact on Ash as trainer,her teasing about his battling skills and constant criticism served as push in Ash character to try harder wanting to improve himself.We can see that through several examples like wanting to prove that he is better than he gets credit for(like in that gym episodes from Orange Islands with Danny or Rudy for example where thanks to Mistys help Ash managed to put himself together with Squirtle learning hydropump).Or when he lost in Kanto league starting to selfpity himself being able to get out of depression thanks to Mistys encouraging and motivating speech.

On top of that she often mentored him along with Brock about type weakness and what kind of approach he should tale toward certain pokemon with certain rivalry which was present between them invoking in Ash desire to try harder which later reflected on his battling style.
 
If I were to say anyone, it would be Brock mostly by taking the number of contributions he's had over the number of episodes he's stayed rather than just a raw score.

I question why Dawn's not in the pole, yeah Ash helped her more, but in that sense, he got a mentorship role so I wouldn't have voted for her anyway. As for May/Max, Max clearly contributed less than May, so he's bringing up her score.
Why do people keep asking why are May and Max together? They were introduced in the same arc as siblings and left together.
Iris and Cilan were introduced in the same arc, and I'm willing to bet both will be dumped at the same time. Of course, bringing into question a character's impact when they have yet to complete an entire journey is in itself ridiculous.
 
Outrage, This isn't 'who proportionally, compared to the length of time they've been on the show has impacted Ash's journey by having the largest percentage of instances of help during a period of time, compared to other characters'. This is who had the most impact - and that's Brock.

Maybe this poll should be changed to 'vote if you think a character is boring'.
 
Yeah, people don't get the poll. If we're going simply by character screentime, nobody will deny that Dawn followed by May got the most screentime in their respective arcs than any other character.

It's who impact ASH the most.

Iris and Cilan were introduced in the same arc, and I'm willing to bet both will be dumped at the same time. Of course, bringing into question a character's impact when they have yet to complete an entire journey is in itself ridiculous.

Iris and Cilan aren't siblings. I can imagine one without the other. You really think Max would exist at if May wasn't there? Of course not.
 
Iris and Cilan aren't siblings. I can imagine one without the other. You really think Max would exist at if May wasn't there? Of course not.

You're exaggerating... Max could do stuff without May (hello Ralts ep) and May sure could do well without Max around (see AG1-2+DP)
They're brother and sister, yeah... but each is a character by his/her own and not an extension of the other =\
But why do I even bother when it's obvious you intentually did this.....
 
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