Max (Pokemon)

Max (Japanese: マサト Masato) is a young boy from the anime and a former traveling companion of Ash. He is not a Pokémon Trainer and he did not own any Pokémon during the entire Advanced Generation series. He is the little brother of May and the son of Norman—the Petalburg Gym Leader—and Caroline.

Character

In his debut episode, Max was presented somewhat of a know-it-all who was proud of his book smarts. For example, in In the Knicker of Time!, Max did not approve of how Ash had used Pikachu in battle and spent a portion of the episode lecturing him on what he thought was a better way to command the Pokémon. But despite this attitude, Max was not a close-minded person and was always eager to learn about Pokémon first-hand. He would become particularly excited when he could experience a Pokémon's move or Ability, such as Jigglypuff's Sing or Sharpedo's Rough Skin.

Over the course of the Advanced Generation series, Max went under Brock's tutelage for real-world knowledge of Pokémon and how to care for them. He developed a friendly relationship with Brock, though he did adopt Misty's habit for yanking Brock by the ear whenever Brock saw a pretty woman. Despite getting off to a rocky start with Ash, Max truly admires him and has proven it on numerous occasions. Over time, Max saw how Ash's unorthodox battle strategies could be beneficial, and by the end of his travels through Kanto, Max was no longer criticizing Ash's battling style. He shares a deep bond with his older sister May, and their bond only grew stronger while they traveled together through Hoenn with Ash and Brock. He is very proud of May's accomplishments as a Pokémon Coordinator, and is always cheering for her when she takes part in a Pokémon Contest. However, the siblings were occasionally aggressive towards each other, like when Max told Harley embarrassing stories about May.

Max taking care of Norman's Slaking occurred in the movie Jirachi: Wish Maker, when May asked Jirachi to "get rid of the problem," referring to the large pile of candy in the room. Jirachi, who was reading Max's thoughts, teleported May away, which suggests that Max had been thinking that May was the real problem. Despite their arguments, the two siblings care for each other very much.

The question of Max's starter Pokémon was raised a number of times while he was traveling in Hoenn. Between the Hoenn starters, he said that he would have chosen a Treecko. However, in Having a Wailord of a Time, he commented that he could really receive anything. Not knowing who his starter would be led to some of the conflict with his doppelgänger, whose name was also Max, in Maxxed Out!. At the end of that episode, he stated that Max is lucky that he already knows the Pokémon he will start his training with.

Max finally did meet his future partner in Do I Hear a Ralts? when he befriended a weakened Ralts. Wanting to demonstrate that he could be responsible for a Pokémon, he took care of it and brought it to a Pokémon Center with a little help from Snorunt. Max and Ralts parted ways at the end of the episode.

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