Max (Pokémon)

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Max
Japanese name	Masato
Voice actor(s) (English)	Amy Birnbaum (Season 6-8) Kayzie Rogers (Season 9)
Voice actor(s) (Japanese)	Fushigi Yamada (Season 6 onwards)[1]
First appearances
Anime episode	Ep. 277, "There's No Place Like Hoenn"
In-Universe Information
Occupation	Pokémon enthusiast (Seasons 6-9) Rookie Pokémon trainer (Season 10)

Max (マサト, Masato^?) is one of the main protagonists of the Pokémon anime series, featuring the in the main series between the sixth,^[2] and ninth seasons.^[3] Max appeared alongside one of Ash Ketchum's companions, May, as her brother, and joined the group of Ash, May and Pokémon breeder, Brock. Max is a budding Pokémon trainer, but was too young to receive a Pokémon when he first appeared in Episode 277, "There's No Place Like Hoenn",^[4]. He remained simply a Pokémon enthusiast until he and May left Ash and Brock in the final Advanced Generation episode, "Home is Where the Start Is", in which he returned to Hoenn to receive a Starter Pokémon.^[3] Max does not appear in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald, although a generic boy NPC plays the part of May or Brendan's brother in Emerald.

Contents 1 Character 2 Related Pokémon 3 Notes and references 4 External links

[edit] Character

Both Max and May are the children of Norman, the Petalburg City Gym Leader, and his wife Caroline. Max and May have a traditional sibling relationship. They often annoy each other, but they are very protective of each other when it's important. May doesn't know as much about Pokémon as Max, which he has in the past criticized her for, and she often gets irritated with him because he can be an annoying little brother.

Unlike his older sister, Max has always been into Pokémon and wants to become a Pokémon Trainer when he comes of age. However, even though he is young, he still knows a lot about Pokémon and has managed to befriend many of them. With this knowledge, he did manage to convince trainers that he was the Petalburg Gym Leader, a position that his father actually holds, but that claim always fell through when it came to Pokémon Battling due to the fact that he does not have any Pokémon. From this knowledge, he decided to travel with Ash and May so that he could learn even more so he can start out as an excellent Pokémon Trainer. Max can be a little geeky at times but really cares for Pokémon and for his sister.

When Ash Ketchum arrives in Hoenn at the beginning of Advanced Generation, Max is surprised to encounter a trainer whom he has seen on TV mere weeks prior, participating in the Silver Conference. Although Max respects Ash's abilities as a trainer, he is quick to point out that Ash lost in the quarterfinals of the tournament. He is also initially critical of May's selection of Torchic as her Starter Pokémon, preferring Treecko. At the request of his father, Max joins Ash and May on their Pokémon adventure, despite the fact that he is not old enough to be a Pokémon trainer, to see the world of Pokémon with his own eyes.

During his journeys with Ash, May and Brock, he has come close to obtaining Pokémon such as Ralts and Poochyena, but made the active choice not to capture them until he could officially be their trainer.

Max carries around a miniature computer, known as a PokéNav, belonging to his sister, May. In later episodes, Max also takes on one of the roles that Misty performed before Advanced Generation; pulling Brock away by the ear while he is flirting with a woman (a technique that impressed him during the episode "The Princess and the Togepi").This position is know taken by Brock's pokemon Croagunk!

In the final episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier, Max and May departed Kanto on a boat to Hoenn. While May intends to visit home briefly before joining Drew in Johto, Max returned home to begin his own Pokémon adventure as a Pokémon trainer and receive a Starter Pokémon.

[edit] Related Pokémon

As Max was younger than 10 years in Advanced Generation, the age at which children may obtain a Pokémon training license, he has not been seen officially training any Pokémon in the anime. However, in several episodes and the sixth movie, he has used, borrowed, or befriended a Pokémon during the episode or movie it appears in.

• Shroomish

Max became friends with a Shroomish in a town near Petalburg Woods. He went on to save its home from demolition. Shroomish rejoined its group after its home was saved.

• Poochyena

In Episode 285, "A Bite to Remember", Max met a Poochyena in a Pokémon refuge, which hadn't evolved into a Mightyena, its Stage-1 form, like the rest of its pack. Max attempts to force Poochyena into evolving, but Ash and May explain to Max that it's wrong to force a Pokémon to evolve if it doesn't want to. While Max and Poochyena are traveling through the forest, Team Rocket attack, stealing Max's Pokémon away, flying off in their balloon. Max encourages Poochyena to use Bite to free itself, which it does, causing Poochyena to evolve into Mightyena.^[5]

• Jirachi

Max bonded with Jirachi, and became friends with it during Jirachi Wishmaker (the first Pokémon Advanced Generation Movie). After finding the shooting star that Jirachi inhabits until it awakens every 1,000 years, Max decided to look after the Rock until it hatched into Jirachi, a cute, yet quirky Pokémon that really liked to do nice things for people such as getting them candy. However, Jirachi was coveted by Butler and so Max with the help of Ash had to defend it. After the week had passed, Jirachi reluctantly went back to its 1,000 year slumber, saying goodbye to Max for the final time.

• Shuppet

Max became friends with a Shuppet in Episode 355, "Take This House and Shuppet", that lived in an abandoned inn on the way to Fortree City. The gang took refuge in the old building from a storm, but were separated when Max ran off scared from May and Ash, the door jamming behind him. As he wandered the halls, looking for his sister, a Shuppet crept up on him, draining the negative thoughts he had towards May from him. The Shuppet led him to a storage room, full of Pokémon toys, and played happily with him, until they saw Max's friends walk by. Max and Shuppet hid in the upstairs kitchen, attempting to scare May, but ended up seeing Team Rocket trying to steal May's Torchic, which was out looking for Max. Shuppet used its Psychic attack to stop Jessie, James and Meowth but was caught in a net itself. Ash's Swellow used its Wing Attack to save Shuppet, allowing it to rejoin its old trainer, Emily, who had used to run the inn.^[6]

• Ralts

In Episode 384, "Do I Hear a Ralts?", Max comes across an injured Ralts and decides to help the injured Pokémon by taking it to a Pokémon Center. Max reached the Pokémon Center in time, and Ralts recovers to full health, sending Team Rocket "blasting off" again. Max left the Ralts with its family (a Kirlia and Gardevoir, the evolutionary forms of Ralts,) and promised to return for it once he became a Pokémon trainer.^[7]

• Deoxys

Max befriends a Deoxys in "Pokémon Ranger! Deoxys Crisis". Deoxys crashed onto the planet and started causing disturbances in the area. When found, it kidnapped Max & Meowth and took them to an alternate dimension. In this time Max befriended Deoxys and learned that it just wanted to be able to leave and get on with its life.

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Max character bio

Main Characters in the Pokémon anime
Ash Ketchum | Gary Oak | Pikachu | Misty | Team Rocket | Brock | Tracey Sketchit | May | Max | Dawn | Paul