The Pokemon anime has been going strong for over 20 years, with various companions, Pokemon, and other supporting characters coming and going with each new region and generation. Ash and his Pikachu stand at the center of every adventure, having become synonymous with not just the anime, but the Pokemon franchise itself over the years.
Though it’s normal for a popular series like the Pokemon anime to stick with a single main character throughout its run, there’s something about Ash that has fans scratching their heads. Ash has gone through different design changes over the years, but one thing that’s notably stayed constant is his age. The young trainer from Pallet Town has remained 10 years old since the start of the series. Given its intended demographic, keeping Ash from growing older makes a lot of sense. But some fans have come up with strange and dark theories to explain his perpetual youth.
A Chance Encounter With Ho-Oh
Early on in his journey through Kanto, Ash has a chance encounter with Ho-Oh. Not much was known about the Johto legendary at the time, making its appearance more of an easter egg than anything truly substantial. But some fans have suggested that the Rainbow Pokemon is directly responsible for Ash’s eternal youth.
The theory cites one of Ho-Oh’s Pokedex entries, which claims that those who encounter the legendary bird will experience eternal happiness. Some have insinuated that because Ash’s dream is to continually explore the world with his Pokemon, the encounter with Ho-Oh stopped him from physically aging.
This seems like a fairly liberal interpretation of the Dex entry. The entry itself is somewhat ambiguous and doesn’t suggest any sort of physical benefits to encountering Ho-Oh. It also doesn’t account for many other long-time characters like Jessie, James, Misty, Brock, and more staying the same age, just like Ash.
Ash’s Grim Fate
Some other prominent fan theories don’t present the situation in such a favorable light. These are considerably darker than the Ho-Oh theory, and often assign some grim fate to Ash in an attempt to explain the reason behind his perpetual youth.
The “Coma Theory” is inspired by a creepypasta and stands as one of the more well-known Pokemon fan theories in the community. It suggests that Ash was rendered comatose by one of Pikachu’s electric shocks early on in the anime, and so his companions, Pokemon, and any other supporting characters around him are therefore part of his unconscious. This supposedly explains some quirks, like why all Nurse Joys and Officer Jennies look like carbon copies and also assigns Ash’s companions and foes different roles representing various aspects of his subconscious.
It’s an incredibly morbid way of trying to determine an in-world cause for Ash’s continued youth and comes off as too dark for The Pokemon Company. While the “Coma Theory” is interesting enough on its own, there’s nothing to be found throughout the series that supports it.
Another theory paints just as grim a picture for Ash, and this time Pikachu, too. The “The Tower of Terror” episode sees Ash and Pikachu get hit by a falling chandelier, with a wild Haunter taking their souls out of their bodies as a result. The duo then spends the majority of the episode as what look to be ghosts before finding their way back to their physical bodies. Some think that instead of serving as an out-of-body experience, the sequence signified Ash and Pikachu’s deaths. The two didn’t return to their bodies but possessed them instead. Ash and Pikachu actually being ghosts would be an interesting twist, but it doesn’t account for everyone else’s lack of physical growth over the years.
While it’s not something that viewers are meant to focus on, many fans have come up with explanations as to why Ash has remained so young over the years. Of course, the easiest explanation is that there’s never been a reason to age Ash and Co, since the series is meant for younger audiences. But at the very least, these theories provide fans with some interesting what-if scenarios.