In the Pokémon anime, most Pokémon speak their own language, made up of pieces of their names, which humans can’t understand, despite Pokémon being able to understand human language relatively easily. However, one gym leader in the Kalos region had the ability to speak to her Pokémon in their own language, and she believes Ash has the capacity to do this as well, explaining the protagonist’s ability to form strong bonds with his Pokémon.
In the Pokémon XY episode “Fairy-type Trickery!”, Ash challenges the leader of the Laverre City Gym, Valerie, to a gym battle. Valerie calls out her first Pokémon, Sylveon, and then speaks to it in Pokémon language, surprising Ash and his friends. Valerie explains that when she was younger, she wished she was a Pokémon, and dedicated herself to learning the Pokémon language to be more like them.
While she specifies that she can’t understand every Pokémon, and is primarily skilled at communicating with her own Pokémon, the ability is more than enough to impress Ash’s crew. However, as Valerie sees Ash and Pikachu working together in battle, she begins to question whether Ash has the same ability.
Ash’s Ability To Understand Pokémon Language Explains His Trainer’s Skills
Ash and Pikachu have a special bond, of course, that helps them to understand one another, especially in the midst of battle. Valerie’s insight suggests that this is the first step to actually learning the Pokémon language and that if he wanted to, Ash could likely do this as well. Ash’s capacity to form strong bonds with his partners was always explained by Ash’s innate passion for and compassion towards Pokémon, but an innate understanding of their language could be the secret behind his success as a trainer.
Ash already understands the feelings of Pokémon very well, especially his own, which could be explained by an instinctual understanding of their language. Gaining the ability to directly communicate would be a game-changer. Ash, unfortunately, isn’t very interested in learning, likely because he expects it to be a slow process. This also shows that the Pokémon language is definitely possible for humans to understand, something that has only been touched upon on a handful of occasions, usually when dealing with a human raised by Pokémon. It might even one day be possible to create a translation device that could greatly improve human/Pokémon relations.
Valerie’s capacity to speak with her Pokémon is unique to the anime, although she similarly desires to be a Pokémon in the X & Y video games. It definitely serves to make her a much more interesting character than she would be otherwise, and her recognizing Ash as something of a kindred spirit in this regard emphasizes how special Ash’s ability to bond with Pokémon really is. Ash‘s close bonds are the first step towards truly understanding Pokémon, and an instinctual understanding of their language could explain his trainer skills and the success he found during his career.
Pokémon XY is available on Hulu.
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