Just how old is Ash, anyway...?

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Stratago

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So at the start of the first season of the series, it's stated that Ash is 10 years old. He goes through nearly 14 years worth of episodes, but is once again labelled '10 years old' by the narrator at the start of Best Wishes. Excluding parallel universes with different Ashes in them for each season, this shouldn't be possible.
I'm curious to know, based on the number of winter-themed episodes / a count of sunrises/sunsets throughout the series / whatever other way of measuring in-story time, how much time has passed since Ash left Pallet Town. And before anyone points out the obvious - that he's 10 years old - I'm not asking how old he is, I'm asking how old he should be.
Has something like this been done before? I'd love to just sit and watch the entirety of the show and keep count, but unlike Ash, I actually do get older, and don't have that kind of time.
 
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http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/f555/do-you-feel-ash-satoshis-character-has-been-reset-109186/
http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/f555/should-ash-age-not-122070/

Both of these threads may be used for discussion on whether Ash has been reset or whether he should age. We definitely know he's 10 thanks to the narrator, but I'll leave this open incase anyone does have an answer to your question about the amount of time passed (though I should stress, a year in the anime universe may not be the same as human year, so it wouldn't be reliable).
 
Gliscor'd said:
characters don't age in the show.
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Not true. Prof. Oak ages: he was 10 or so in Movie #4 when he meets Ash.
(Though that was a movie, and some people don't consider those canon.)

Iteru said:
(though I should stress, a year in the anime universe may not be the same as human year, so it wouldn't be reliable).
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Maybe it's Dialga's fault.


Anyway, even if each episode only spanned one day, there are (at present) 745 episodes, which means a minimum of 2 years would have passed, making Ash at least 12, and many episodes cover at least 2 days time.
 
Stratago said:
Gliscor'd said:
characters don't age in the show.
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Not true. Prof. Oak ages: he was 10 or so in Movie #4 when he meets Ash.
(Though that was a movie, and some people don't consider those canon.)
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There were still instances of him aging in the show itself... there was a flashback of him and Gary and they were definitely younger-looking. There were flashbacks of Jessie and flashbacks of James. I believe there was even a flashback of Misty.

Anyway, even if each episode only spanned one day, there are (at present) 745 episodes, which means a minimum of 2 years would have passed, making Ash at least 12, and many episodes cover at least 2 days time.
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Yeah, that.

To answer the question as to how much time has passed... at least one year.
In the dub in The Battle of the Badge, it was said to be "about a year" and the Pokémon League was still not for another few months at that time, so it was definitely at least a year.
In the Pikachu short in the third movie, it was said to be the anniversary of the day that Ash and Pikachu first met. I take that to be the second year anniversary, others take it to be the first year anniversary (and ignore the reference in The Battle of the Badge, as it was dub-only).
Also Leagues take place once each year (I believe that was stated for the Indigo League and assumed for the rest). That's not to say that 4 years have gone by since there were 4 Leagues (considering that not every regional League occurs on the same date), but it is obvious that a substantial amount of time passes between each regional League (as Ash has tme to go through the whole region on a badge quest).

My personal estimate is that somewhere between 4 to 6 years have gone by, although only 2 explicit references have been made.
 
Yeah, let's blatantly ignore the narrator confirming Ash was 10 in BW's first episode.
 
Ash is still 10 and always will be 10. No-one ages on the show despite the anime saying a year had passed and anniversaries, etc. A lot of cartoon characters never age, even James Bond doesn't age.
 
Stratago said:
So at the start of the series, it's stated that Ash is 10 years old. He goes through nearly 14 years of episodes, but is still 10...?
I'm curious to know, based on the number of winter-themed episodes, / a count of sunrises/sunsets / etc, how much time has passed since Ash left Pallet Town.
Has something like this been done before? I'd love to just sit and watch the entirety of the show and keep count, but that would take... oh, a year or so.
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According to the Narrator of Best Wish , Ash is Still 10 year old !
Although , @Iteru said that real time & Anime time can be different !
However , I don't think It's Possible !
Because When Ash return to Pallet Town , He said that It's been a year since he left .
Futhermore , In the 3Rd Movie , Ash & Pikachu celebrated their Anniversary !
So , Ash should be over 12 year old !
But , Narrator declare him 10 year old in Best wish no matter how unrealistic it's sound !
You wanna know the reason ? Well it simple !
The Reason is ''Trip'' !
Writer probably thought that if he declare Ash as a 10 year old in Best Wish then he & Trip will be in Same Experience level despite Ash having 5 year battling experience !
Why Writer though we gonna buy it ???
Because Writer believe most pokemon fan's to be little children so he probably though that little Kid wouldn't have enough common sense to denied it !
PROF ??? Think-
- 1) Why did Narrator Suddenly declare Ash's Age at the Begining of Best Wish ?
- 2) Did The Narrator ever mention Ash's age at the Beginning of Jotho , Advance & DP series ? No !
- 3) Couldn't Narrator said that Ash is 11 or 12 year old ? Why does he still has to be 10 ?
- 4) Doesn't the Writer understand how unrealistic it is ?
Find the answer to this question !
Then you will Admit ! Trip is the Reason Ash can't even be a 11 year old boy in Unova !
In order to make people think Ash & Trip are in same level , They declared that Ash is 10 year old just like Trip right at the beginning of Best Wish so there will be nothing wrong of Trip being Superior then Ash !
By The Way , I'm not saying this cause I hate Trip !!!
 
Satoshi was 10, is 10, and will continue to be 10 years old. Why can't people understand this very simple concept?
 
Agaçant said:
Satoshi was 10, is 10, and will continue to be 10 years old. Why can't people understand this very simple concept?
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...Because it spits in the eye of common sense?
(Granted, I'm making a reference to common sense about a world where you can store a fire-breathing orange dragon inside a ball the size of a grapefruit, but I digress.)

This thread is about references made to the passage of time in the series, and to implied passage of time by events, not about how old Ash is. (Thnx @ Dannyjenn for recognizing that) This thread was inspired by a post in a Eureka Seven forum about the ages of characters and time passed between the original series and AO, and it got me to thinking (as the name of the thread implies) how old Ash should be, not how old the narrator says he is.
 
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Stratago said:
So at the start of the series, it's stated that Ash is 10 years old. He goes through nearly 14 years of episodes, but is still 10...?
I'm curious to know, based on the number of winter-themed episodes, / a count of sunrises/sunsets / etc, how much time has passed since Ash left Pallet Town.
Has something like this been done before? I'd love to just sit and watch the entirety of the show and keep count, but that would take... oh, a year or so.
Click to expand...
The main thing for time passing are the fairly frequent mentions of there being 2 months or so until the Pokemon League when Ash finishes his badge quest or other events (Grand Festivals, etc), but usually those events come around quickly. Even if you added just those I'm sure you've had the confirmed passing of at least a year.

Otherwise, I think you can assume it averages broadly to a day per episode, for all those covering multiple days, there's episodes that cover the same day as others.

Indeed the major issue is trying to determine the length of a Poke-Year. Like for example the rotation of the seasons seen in BW so far, presumably that will work such that we will see each of the seasons over the course of BW, but in the games you get 4 sets of seasons each earth year, so even that isn't really an indicator.
 
I love how people are ignoring the obvious of time passing. Rather than picking things up from the forgettable Johto seasons, why not make reference that both May and Dawn turned 10 after Ash did?
 
Gliscor'd said:
I love how people are ignoring the obvious of time passing. Rather than picking things up from the forgettable Johto seasons, why not make reference that both May and Dawn turned 10 after Ash did?
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Would you please elaborate on what you mean by 'ignoring the obvious of time passing'? Also, I don't understand the relevance of Dawn and May turning 10 before Ash did... Unless you're rebutting the comment about everybody being 10?
 
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1)It's a cartoon
2)BW is the biggest overhaul the anime has ever had. One of the biggest things is to re-introduce Pokemon to a newer generation. Which also means re-introducing Ash and his adventures.
3)The kids who watch this show are 10 or younger, which might be a factor as well.
 
I still don't understand the fandom's obsession with Ash being 10. He's 10. 10. 10. 10. One Zero. Uno Zero. Diez.

TEEEEEEEEEEEEN.

It's even confirmed in the first BW eppy. So there.
 
Gumdramon said:
I still don't understand the fandom's obsession with Ash being 10. He's 10. 10. 10. 10. One Zero. Uno Zero. Diez.

TEEEEEEEEEEEEN.

It's even confirmed in the first BW eppy. So there.
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And I still don't understand why people don't get the point of this thread.
I'm NOT debating his age, I'm trying to figure out how old he SHOULD be!
Thanks to those who have actually contributed something useful to this thread...
 
What I don't understand is why people have to debate it like this. I suppose if anything, the real reason people argue about this is because they don't agree on the maturity level that comes with the alleged age and the level of development that character should or shouldn't gain as a result. But seriously, those who are arguing ought to put their differences aside. I don't think there is anything wrong with the subject, and it can spark some interesting thoughts and theories, but if people can't discuss it rationally then the staff will ban it just like the Serebii forums staff did. You guys don't want that do you?
 
Honestly, I think that the writers put that in to try and resolve the ages old debate (pun intended), but in actuality they only made it worse :/.
 
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