This trending Reddit thread explains why is Ash Ketchum, the main character from the Pokémon series. I believe this theory is the most logical one out there.
It is not uncommon that manga series have a child that never grows up. Last time we uncovered the truth of case-closed and why the children in that show never grow up. It is because even though the story has been going on for years, it has actually been less than a year in the world of case closed. This is the article I wrote about Case Closed.
Ash has been travelling for the past 20 years. He has not been home during his exploration time and no one has been talking about time throughout the entire series. So why is Ash still perpetually 10 years old after all that time?
The beginning of the Pokémon world
Pokémon is short for “pocket monster”. Satoshi Tajiri, the writer of the series and Ken Sugimor, the illustrator of the series, got their inspiration from the hobby of collecting insects, which was Tajiri favourite past time as a kid. Very similar to collecting insects and battling with other’s insects, Pokémon has a similar idea. The Pokémon trainers have to collect different pokémons are train them for battles. The insects are captured in a cage and Pokémon is captured by the Poké ball. The series began in a magazine called Game Freak in the early 1980s.
In 1996, Pokémon has made their first game boy debut. Little did anyone know that this game soon become the second largest gaming franchise ever while Mario is the first. Both creator worked under the mentorship of Shigeru Miyamoto to create Pocket Monsters: Red and Green, a game that combined the collecting and trading of monsters.
The main goal of this game is to “catch them all”, which is referring to 151 first generation Pokémons. To add some interaction aspects to the game, Red and Green are different versions and player need to trade with friends to “catch them all”. This game made its name and sold over millions of copies.
The success of the series led to more generations of Pokémons. Currently, there are more up to 721 Pokémons. In 1997, the anime version of Ash Ketchum embarked his journey to catch them all in Japan. It only takes a year for North America to follow the same journey and broadcast the anime series. Many North Americans were influenced by the series and grew obsession over Pokémon.
Timeless series
To answer the question, why is Ash Ketchum a ten-year-old boy after 22 years of searching, reedit suggested many reasons.
1. u/Joaquin-_- proposed that “Ash is always traveling and is never home so he probably doesn’t carry a calendar at all times. Which means he probably lost track of time and doesn’t even know he’s aged more than 10 years. This explains why he shows signs of maturity like his voice deepening and getting taller. This also explains characters leaving him throughout the years, they grow up and separate as they mature.”
I honestly do not think this makes a lot of sense. Isn’t it just easier to think that is because anime is always timeless? However, there is a really logical and personally believe it is valid reason for why Ash has been on the journey forever without aging.
2. In the first episode of Pokémon Anime, Ash saw a Ho-oh, which is a fire type Pokémon that has seven-coloured feathers. It is known that anyone seeing it is promised eternal happiness. What is eternal happiness for Ash? It was forever being on a Pokémon journey, which is the reason why he is forever 10 and always on a journey without a need to return home.
Take a second and digest this piece of information.
