Max (Japanese: マサト Masato) is a young boy from the anime, and one of the travelling companions of Ash. He is the only main character thus far who was not a Pokémon trainer and he did not own any Pokémon during the entire Advanced Generation series. He is the younger brother of May, and the son of Norman, the Petalburg Gym Leader, and Caroline. His Japanese voice actor is 山田ふしぎ Fushigi Yamada, his English voice actresses are Amy Birnbaum (AG003-AG145 ) and Kayzie Rogers (AG146-present). His Brazilian voice actor is Thiago Keplemaier.

Max is somewhat of a know-it-all, relying mostly on book smarts than actual experience. He seems to have come under Brock's tutelage for real-world knowledge. Max also took Misty's bit for yanking Brock by the ear whenever Brock sees a pretty woman. Max also frequently shows tension between he and his older sister May, such as telling embarassing stories about her to others or arguing with her about the way she does certain things.

Max is unique of the main characters in that he actually knew of Ash before he met up with him. Max watched the Silver Conference live and then continually watched the videos he made of it. When he stopped to find out who was making noise, he was surprised to see one of the competitors standing in the Gym. However, the two did not get off to a good start as Max continued to put Ash down, assuming that he could have defeated Harrison. After seeing Ash battle Norman, however, Max became impressed with Ash and soon decided to travel with him and May. Max's admiration of Ash has been seen on numerous occasions since then, though he admires his father even more.

The question of Max's starter Pokémon was raised a number of times while he was travelling in Hoenn. Between the Hoenn starters, it appears that he would have chosen Treecko as that is what he told May she should have chosen. However, in Having a Wailord of a Time he speculates that he could receive anything. Not knowing who it will be leads to some of the conflict and resolution with his doppelganger in Maxxed Out. At the end of that episode he stated that Max is lucky as he already knows who the Pokémon he will start his training with will be. Max finally did meet his future partner in Do I Hear a Ralts? when he befriended a weakened Ralts. Wanting to show his responsibility he took care of it and brought it to a Pokémon Center with a little help from Ash's Snorunt. When the two parted ways at the end of the episode, they promised to meet up again when Max was eligible to be a trainer.

However, while Max does not own any Pokémon he has befriended a variety of different species during his travels: Poochyena, Jirachi, Deoxys, a Shuppet in the episode Take This House and Shuppet. He simply played with the Shuppet, after fleeing from the team when he became angered with May. Max has also occasionally borrowed May's Munchlax, such as in Off the Unbeaten Path! when he needed a Pokémon to take part in an Orienteering contest.

Despite this, Max has been in a couple of Pokémon battles. In Gonna Rule the School, Max spent a day at Roxanne's Trainers School where he battled with a Poliwag against a Magby. He used strategy in increasing Poliwag's defense as much as possible with Defense Curl but this backfired when Magby managed to get enough hits in during this time to knock Poliwag out. In the episode Candid Camerupt!, Max borrowed Ash's Corphish for a battle against Vivi Winstrate. He also briefly commanded Ralts to send Team Rocket blasting off in the episode mentioned above.

Max is similar to Ritchie in his lack of popularity in the fandom. This has been stated on many occasions to be to do his lack of Pokémon, giving him little purpose compared to other main characters. However, certain episodes such as Do I Hear a Ralts? and Home is Where the Start Is have redeemed him in some fans' eyes.

At the end of Advanced Generation, May announced that she wished to travel to Johto alone. This initially upset Max but Ash cheered him up with the promise of a battle between the two when Max becomes a trainer. He is currently staying at home in Petalburg City and has so far not been seen since Ash began his journey in Sinnoh.

Befriended Pokémon

• Poochyena → Mightyena (A Bite to Remember)
• Ralts (Do I Hear a Ralts?)
• Shuppet (Take This House and Shuppet)
• Jirachi (Jirachi: Wish Maker)
• Deoxys (Pokémon Ranger - Deoxys Crisis)

Trivia

• His appearance is based upon the School Kid trainer class. He also somewhat resembles the small boy in Littleroot Town in the Ruby and Sapphire Versions of the game.[[1]]
• His Japanese name, Masato can be taken to be 正人, which literally means correct/elegant man, possibly referring to the fact that he is usually always right.
• Max was the first of Ash's friends to have a lead role in a Pokémon movie, as all movies before Jirachi: Wish Maker had either Ash or a character of the day with the lead role.

Related articles

• Episodes focusing on Max

External links

• Little Bastard, the fanlisting for Max at The Anime Fanlistings Network
• Masato's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)