Which characters did Ash have the best interactions with?

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

So the general consensus for the females is May, Iris, Serena, Lana and Mallow had the weaker dynamics with Ash? I'd say that's fair enough (Serena obviously loved Ash but their dynamic was lopsided), May's dynamic with Ash fizzled out as AG progressed, and the others just had ok interactions but nothing special. I did like the eps Ash and Lana went off together like that Kyorge episode and the Totem Wishiwashi ep.

I really liked ash and mallows chemistry together tho soo
And idk i think Ash and lana had great chemistry as well
Ash and May also had a great dynamic imo, it's just overshadowed due to may crushing more on drew, and succeeding misty and preceding Dawn.
Ash and Serena and ash and iris didn't have a good dynamic as well imo but in ash nd Serena case it was more coz ash was dull imo

 

[Leonhart]

So the general consensus for the females is May, Iris, Serena, Lana and Mallow had the weaker dynamics with Ash?

I suppose that's the general opinion, although I'd personally place Haruka above Iris, Serena, and those other girls when it comes to her interactions with Satoshi. I'll admit that parts of the Battle Frontier arc are a blur to me, but I remember her and Satoshi having a slight mentor-and-student kind of relationship in Houen, which I felt gave them interesting interactions every now and then.

 

[Lionel_B]

Brock, Misty, May, Cilan and Alola band.

 

[janejane6178]

Serena

 

[Weavile-da-god]

Kiawe and Clemont for the boys, Serena and Dawn for the girls.

 

[raichu27]

I would probably say Ash and Dawn. He seemed to be more closer to Dawn than the other Pokegirls, imo.

 

[carterfeygo]

I would probably say Ash and Dawn. He seemed to be more closer to Dawn than the other Pokegirls, imo.

Yes I think so too. They acted like siblings but unlike Misty Dawn was more like the supportive older sister than the spoiled younger sister.

 

[Mew2]

Yes I think so too. They acted like siblings but unlike Misty Dawn was more like the supportive older sister than the spoiled younger sister.

I agree with this assessment. With Misty, there was always an edge with her in regards to Ash. While that edge was dulled over time, there were times that it still showed through. With Dawn, his interactions were far more supportive and even symbiotic. Yes, they argued at times, but it never seemed to have the edge to it that Ash and Misty's arguments had, especially early on. Also, Ash and Dawn both helped each other out with their respective goals, which is why I think he had the best interactions with her and may well have been closest to her, though not in a romantic way from what I could tell.

 

[KingMinun]

There are only 3 characters who fit this for me. Misty and Dawn, then Brock.

I can’t quite put my finger on who is closer out of those 2 girls because they both had very different relationships with him. Misty felt like an older sister relationship who belittles their brother but you know they really care for them and will do anything to support and look out for them which is why she made a good mentor for him.
Whereas Dawn I see as a best friend, they were equals and learnt from each other. They stood by each other and I think it really helped to showing Ash to be there for every single one of Dawn’s contests and performances rooting for her, which is something you can’t say he did for May, because there were times when he’d go off and train whilst she was performing or went off to catch Aipom or evolve Snourunt. It felt really special seeing them adapt each other’s techniques to use in their own battles and both support one another. The high fives, the reassurance, they really felt like best friends. And it reflected in their partner Pokemon too.


Brock makes it too because they felt like student and mentor role and Ash seemed to really respect Brock.

But for me. It’s Misty and Dawn, then Brock and no one else comes close, I’d even say that Brock only just makes it himself

 

[Omittime]

This thread seems a bit skewed toward nostalgia since I feel he had great interactions with Bonnie/Clemont and the SM cast and I notice few are mentioning them. Clemont and Ash were like best bro’s and Clemont looked up to Ash a lot. Bonnie goes along with that too although a little less noticeable.

Ash and Kiawe also had a fantastic rivalry and friendship, it’s really underrated and I love how much they trained together. Ash helped Lillie with her problems and he went on a lot of adventures solo with Lana. Even Sophocles had good report with him.

i just feel like people going on about Misty/Brock might be a little nostalgia fueled, their dynamic with Ash wasn’t emphasized in the Johto saga much and then Brock takes a backseat for all of Hoenn and DP. Being around the longest just made people see them as closer to Ash.

Willing to bet if the SM cast or the XY cast lasted 10+ years like Misty/Brock did, people would be saying the same things about the latter two instead. Ash even cried leaving Alola for goodness sakes.

 

[DatsRight]

I liked a lot of the SM cast interactions, especially the power trio dynamic Ash had with Kiawe and Sophocles.

Actually I think a key reason the male companions are holding up a bit better in recent series is because they've developed them more around their chemistries with Ash to hold them up better. Having them intellectual but less experienced foils for Ash was a clever idea, they tend to even each other out and have a good synergy. Lillie worked for similar reasons, even if her interactions with Ash kinda petered out in the last half of SM, same for Clemont in XY.

Kiawe in many ways felt like what Brock would have been if they'd kept focus on him properly, and I think that rivalry with Ash helped maintain a focus and 'crutch' for him. They had fun pitting those two together so they had motive to keep coming back to him.

 

[Omittime]

Yeah I don't think Ash's interactions with Brock are that good after maybe the OS. There aren't many Ash/Brock scenes in AG/DP since most of Ash's interactions were with May or Dawn those sagas, and Brock just kinda hung on the sidelines. Brock also never really battled or trained with Ash much like Clemont, Cilan or Kiawe did. Brock being an inactive battler most of the time excluded him from Ash's activities which are mostly centered around battling.

As I said it's mostly due to length of time. Brock was in the anime for 600+ episodes, all the other male characters only like 140 episodes so it's 70% less time. If Clemont or Kiawe were there as long as Brock was people would be saying it about them instead. It isn't exactly fair when you have to compare characters with such vastly different episode lengths.

 

[Leonhart]

Kiawe in many ways felt like what Brock would have been if they'd kept focus on him properly, and I think that rivalry with Ash helped maintain a focus and 'crutch' for him. They had fun pitting those two together so they had motive to keep coming back to him.

I thought that their interactions were amusing, but I didn't understand the point of their rivalry since it led nowhere. They didn't have a major battle at the Alola League despite that being the perfect place for something like that, so I just thought that the friendly rivalry between them was nothing but false tension.

 

[PorcelainVulpix]

This thread seems a bit skewed toward nostalgia since I feel he had great interactions with Bonnie/Clemont and the SM cast and I notice few are mentioning them. Clemont and Ash were like best bro’s and Clemont looked up to Ash a lot. Bonnie goes along with that too although a little less noticeable.

Ash and Kiawe also had a fantastic rivalry and friendship, it’s really underrated and I love how much they trained together. Ash helped Lillie with her problems and he went on a lot of adventures solo with Lana. Even Sophocles had good report with him.

i just feel like people going on about Misty/Brock might be a little nostalgia fueled, their dynamic with Ash wasn’t emphasized in the Johto saga much and then Brock takes a backseat for all of Hoenn and DP. Being around the longest just made people see them as closer to Ash.

Willing to bet if the SM cast or the XY cast lasted 10+ years like Misty/Brock did, people would be saying the same things about the latter two instead. Ash even cried leaving Alola for goodness sakes.

not everything related to Kanto is “nostalgia fueled.” Even the anime tends to emphasize Ash’s friendship with Brock and Misty over his other friendships.

 

[Omittime]

not everything related to Kanto is “nostalgia fueled.” Even the anime tends to emphasize Ash’s friendship with Brock and Misty over his other friendships.

I agree since they're his longest companions, I'm just saying that if the more recent companions had been around the longest like the originals were, people would be saying the same thing about them. Misty and Brock were in the anime for 10+ years and were his original companions, but if Clemont or Kiawe or Lillie or whomever lasted that long, most would be saying the same for them. All the other characters are only around for 3 years nowadays, so they feel relatively short-lived compared to how long the original companions lasted.

 

[PorcelainVulpix]

I agree since they're his longest companions, I'm just saying that if the more recent companions had been around the longest like the originals were, people would be saying the same thing about them. Misty and Brock were in the anime for 10+ years and were his original companions, but if Clemont or Kiawe or Lillie or whomever lasted that long, most would be saying the same for them. All the other characters are only around for 3 years nowadays, so they feel relatively short-lived compared to how long the original companions lasted.

I mean, naturally if Lillie or Kiawe or anyone else had been Ash’s first traveling companions, people would be saying the same about them. I’m just not sure how it’s considered “nostalgia fueled” to note that Ash has had stronger interactions with Brock and Misty. They traveled with Ash when he was a complete rookie and watched and helped him develop into a competent trainer. They saw a side of Ash his other companions never got to see

 

[Ragnarok4]

Best friends : Misty, Dawn and Brock
Possibly his future wife : Serena

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Companions that had the best interactions with Ash in my opinion are Misty and Brock, followed by Max and May, Dawn, and Tracey. Iris felt forced at times and her bickering with Ash wasn’t as charming as when it was with Misty and Cilian was pretty bland. Tracey is at the lower end of being one of the best interactions but got on the list for being so knowledgeable about Pokémon and having Marill be used to locate TRio and Pokémon by sound which came in handy several times. I didn’t watch enough of XY to judge Bonnie, Clemont, And Serena’s interactions and I completely skipped SM although I might watch both sagas since they are on Netflix now.

 

[Applecorp]

Ash and Kiawe had some of the best bro moments in the whole series, so I will say that Ash was closer to him than he's been with his other male friends.

 

[k6666]

on girl side : Dawn (BFF)> Misty = Lillie = May > Iris > Serena > lana = mallow >>> Bonnie
on boy side : Kiawe = Clemont > Brock = Cilan > Shopocles = Max >> Tracey

i question people who put bonnie x ash above any female x ash interaction
ash and bonnie interaction is nonexistent in XY series just same as clemont x serena
they just happen to be traveling together , ash and bonnie has more interaction on first XY opening then in series

i love tracey but i dont get any memorable interaction between him and ash cause how few episode of OI was , i just hope he goes traveling again with ash