Heartwarming / Traveler

Warning! In accordance with Wiki policy, all spoilers will be unmarked.

• Ash reuniting with his mom after fighting Pierce on the Sevii Islands.
• Nidorino, Ash's first friend and brother, evolving into Nidoking and hugging Ash.
• Ash reunites with the three other trainers who made it to New Island. The first thing Fergus does is give Ash a bone-crushing hug.
• When Ash finds a crowd of people waiting for him after his defeat in the Indigo League. The first thing a fan does is pull out his own League Expo Hat and a marker, asking Ash to sign it for him.
• Gary giving Ash his own version of a pep talk saying that people will be remembering Ash for years and not the winner.
• Delia comforting Ash after he loses the finals.
• Oddly enough, Infernus of all people has one when he gives up the Fire Sphere, proving his loyalty and friendship to Ash, and gives him a genuine smile that has nothing to do with battle or training.
• Upon opening his birthday gift, a book on the history of Hoenn, Ash's mother is worried he doesn't like it and offers to return it, only for Ash to sincerely insist he loves it.
  • As it turns out, Cynthia is the author of the book and she signs it for Ash.
• When a bunch of ghost type pokémon are causing trouble in the Arid Zone, Ash is sent in to catch them so they can be taken elsewhere. One, a Sandygast, is moved enough by Ash's offer of a home and family to allow itself to be caught without a fight.
• Bruiser becoming Seeker's protector.
• Ash catching Aron after talking to him and offering a place on his team.
• When Mewtwo offers to spare Ash's life if Lance gives up his, Lance does not hesitate to move Ash behind him and accept the offer.
• He may have been a villain, but Giovanni did show some semblance of care for Ash. First was by respecting Ash enough to use an actual team of Pokémon against him instead of just using Mewtwo like he did with Gary. Second, he did his best to reign in Mewtwo to prevent it from hurting Ash during the battle of Viridian City.
• Lance and his dragons. It's obvious that he cares for them and is excited for when his newly acquired Gible and Bagon evolve into their final forms, Garchomp and Salamance respectively.
• Despite not being his Pokemon, Saph is very attached to Ash and even allowed some of her scales to be gifted to him.
• Whenever the members of the Indigo League have a bet involving Ash and a battle, Lance always bets in Ash's favor.
• When meeting Metagross at the beginning of his training with Steven, Ash asks what pronouns Metagross prefers since most of his friends identify by a gender. While Metagross does not physically react, Steven informs Ash that his partner is touched by the gesture.
• Steven in the aftermath of the Greefield Incident. He's the first person to hug Ash after the latter wakes up from sealing the Unown and he's the first one to visit Ash when he wakes up in the hospital.
• Nidoking and Dazed standing guard over Ash while he is in the hospital recovering from exhaustion after sealing away the Unown.
• The fact that Sabrina personally tried to undo the damage done to Delia and then personally picked out a psychic to treat the woman as part of her therapy.
• After the Greenfield Disaster, Will was closed off and felt guilty for fighting against his comrades, even though he was under the Unown's control. Ash visits the man and assures him that he was not at fault.
• According to Cynthia, Lance brags about Ash to his friends and is very proud of his achievements.
  • It turns out that Cynthia, Lance, and Steven have been friends since they were teenagers and were travel companions. Cynthia even says that the last time he saw Lance happy before he met Ash was when they were still teenagers.
  • She says this while treating Ash to ice cream and tells him that she would love to train him once he reaches Sinnoh.
• When playing Lugia's Song for the Legendary Beasts in the ruins of the Burned Tower, Suicune is the last to leave and resonates into Ash's mind that they are very fond of him. At one point Suicune even travels with Ash for a while, evident that it misses its mortal life.
  • Even more heartwarming given that the Beasts are in the Burned Tower resting from their latest encounter in Greenfield and allow Ash to approach them.
• Aron has the habit to bump his head against people he is fond of to show affection and many make an effort not to wince since his headbutts cause some minor bruising.
• Ash visits Spencer and Molly after the Greenfield Disaster and gives Spencer his PokeNav number just in case Molly ever wants to talk.
• Ash has dinner with the Wataru Clan in the aftermath of defeating Clair. They welcome him with open arms and even tell him how he's been a good influence on Lance.
  • During his match with Hasta, Ash sends out Tangrowth to play with the kids. Given that Tangrowth loves playing with children, he is ecstatic to play with a few dozen while Ash battles.
• Despite having only talked to her four times, Ash offers to use his Sacred Ash on Agatha so she could live longer. His offered is turned down but Agatha is touched nonetheless.
  • Agatha requesting that Ash play Lugia's Song for her before she leaves Lavender Town for good to enjoy the rest of her time left in Orre.
• Ash speaks with the ghost of Ai Akemi, sister to Indigo's first Champion. She asks about her brother and his partners before requesting that Ash put certain flower arrangements at her brother's tomb and Shinobu's memorial.
• Before returning to the Plateau, Ash calls his mother and finds out that according to her psychic therapist, personally picked by Sabrina to treat his mother, he might be able to visit her in the next few weeks due to her memories stabilizing.
  • Delia spending an entire day with Ash after the latter is introduced to the media as the newest Elite Four trainee.
• The fact that Ash names his mother as one of his influences when asked at the Elite Four Press Conference.
• Ash using the Concept of Ice to balance out Lance, who was literally burning himself out using the Feather of Moltres to keep himself going.
• Lance telling Ash stories about Agatha.
• A kid in Lavaridge Town recognizes Ash. As he is dragged away by his mother, Ash offers a small smile in return, knowing it would make the kid happy.
• Despite the circumstances, Ash sits and talks with Jirachi while it is in its chrysalis, telling it stories about his friends and experiences. He leaves behind one of his most precious belongings, the Dragon Scale given to him by Lance to evolve Torrent, and promises to come back.
• Ash receiving letters from the Kanto/Johto Elite Four in the aftermath of his battle with Fino Moore, with Lance gushing about how proud he is of his student.
• Steven takes Ash to a festival in the aftermath of catching Spiritomb to see the sights and help with set up.
• Due to not having a constant older male presence in his life, Steven has taken it upon himself to teach Ash life skills such as cooking and shaving.
• Steven and Winona going on a date together, complete with Steven having his team help him make flowers out of actual silver for the occasion. Even Ash is happy for his mentor and wishes him a good night.
• Apparently Fino is still impressed by the battle he had with Ash and had Flannery go to Fortree to not only check on Ash but get some information regarding the move Infernus used during their battle.
• Ash telling Steven the highlights of his brief stint as Fortree's Gym Leader.
• According to Steven, Lance has been having a field day with news about Ash's temporary role as a Gym Leader and his 24 Hour Battle Challenge.
  • When Ash wakes up after getting 8 hours of sleep, he sees that Juliet the Gardevoir, who teleported him straight to bed, left a glass of water for him.
• Ash apparently has been receiving messages from Gym Leaders thanking him for drawing attention away from their cities so they can have a vacation.
• Upon running into Tobias again in Hoenn, Ash gives him some provisions, clothes, and money, which restores a bit of Tobias' memories and a small bit of sanity.
• When taking a tour of Mt. Pyre, Ash spots a shade of Steven and his four Beldum. According to Phoebe's grandmother, Steven never liked Mt. Pyre and it spooked him, but the shade seemed to be at ease when he spotted Ash.
• Ash finally gets enough trust from his Spiritomb to nickname it after he takes it to Mt. Pyre and lets it feed off the emotions there.
• After the battle, Wallace comes out more refreshed than before and actually has fun with his friends.
  • Wallace comments that Ash is quite talented for getting a 3-6 battle with him despite only being a trainer for 2 years. Metagross immediately has Steven correct Wallace that Ash has only been a trainer for 20 months.
• Ash received many messages after his battle with Wallace, Ash received messages from Delia, Professor Oak, Gary, John and Amelia, and a few others. At first, he's a bit disheartened to see that Lance did not send one, only to be surprised by Lance appearing in person.
• Lance comes to Lilycove to congratulate Ash in person over his battle with Wallace, going as far as to hug and spin his student around.
• Lance tells Ash that Mamoru the Rhydon tried to break into the Plateau while holding a bouquet of flowers, one Ash recognizes from the description as the one he left at Champion Taimu's grave. Last Lance saw of Mamoru, he was visiting his old teammate Chinatsu.
• Flannery gushing to Lance over Ash's battle with her grandfather.
• Ash goes down every member of his team to tell them each how proud he is of them as the countdown to the new year starts.
  • Lotus the Spiritomb is able to celebrate the start of a new millenuim with her new team.
• When Steven teleports back to Lilycove after the multi-attack on Hoenn, the first thing Ash does is bring him bagels and coffee, seeing his teacher on the brink. It's not the greatest quality but Steven still accepts the food.
  • One of the questions Ash asks Steven is about Silver. They may have met only once but Ash sees the boy as his responsibility.
• According to Karen's letter, the League made a memorial to Agatha.
• When Ash insists on being able to help the League with whatever is going on, Steven gently refuses and lets him explore the region on his own for the next few weeks as a sort of vacation. Despite being part of the League, Steven acknowledges that Ash is still too young to have to face certain horrors and is trying to let him enjoy being a kid as long as he can.
• When deciding where to bury Anorith, Ash thinks of a couple of ideas. First he thinks about going back to Forina to see if Jirachi can resurrect Anorith, then he thinks about giving her a burial at sea. Ash finally decides and asks Mr. Stone for permission to bury Anorith in the Stone Family colony since he wanted to train Anorith there and it would allow Steven and Armaldo to visit as well. Ancient approves and promises that the colony will always guard the grave.
  • The fact that every member of Ash's team had some input for the funeral.
• Despite being enemies, Durand rescues Ash from Zinnia's attack and helps bandage him up. According to League intel, she has a bit of a soft spot for Ash.
• Drake comes to meet up with Ash and lets him ride his Hydreigon, Henry, to the meeting spot. Henry makes sure that one head always has a visual on Ash.
• The first thing Ash does when reuniting with Steven is to give the man a hug and thank him for his training since it helped him survive the attack. Steven is left on the verge of tears as a result.
• Steven tries to convince Ash to go back to Kanto where it is safer following Zinnia's assassination attempt. Ash shoots his teacher down and assures him that he wants to stay with Steven in Hoenn.
  • While trying to persuade Ash to leave Hoenn, Steven suggests that Ash go to Sinnoh and that Cynthia holds the boy in high regard.
• Glacia urging Ash to act more like a child when she was instructing him on manners and etiquette just in the previous chapter.
• Sabrina actually smiles when talking with Ash.
• It is revealed that while Ash was unconscious in the hospital, various members of the Elite Four came to check on him.
  • During his brief moments of consciousness, Ash is able to speak with Will, Karen, Sabrina, and a few others who came to check on him.
  • Flannery is a frequent visitor, bringing Lava Cookies and cards from various members of the Ever Grande League.
• Delia comes to visit Ash in the hospital, complete with a tray of cookies. Before this, she held a 20 hour vigil by his bedside until she got some rest.
  • Professor Oak coming to visit Ash along with Delia.
  • Ash receiving emails from Gary, Jon, Amelia, and Daisy after they get the news of his latest incident.
• Ash finally tells his mother and Professor Oak about Silver. They both agree that he needs to be found and reassure Ash that he is compassionate.
• The skull in Ever Grande turns out to have belonged to Coral Buccalos, Drake's personal guard and a Water Type Master. He wished to watch over Ever Grande even in death, so Drake obliged his request.
• Ash ends up taking custody of the proto Dreepy left behind by Zinnia's Dragapult. Knowing his team would not welcome the infant due to the recent attempt on his life, Ash instead recalls that Lance once mentioned wanting to train a Dragapult and gifts him the Dreepy.
  • Lance practically in tears over his gift while naming Ash the best apprentice.
• Lance admitting that he would rather have Zinnia escaping justice forever over seeing Ash hurt again.
• Ash thanking Lotus for saving his life. The Spiritomb ends up retreating to the keystone out of embarrassment!
• Ash catches Saph on what he has been up to since arriving in Hoenn during the flight to Verdanturf.
• Ash reuniting with Wally and promising the boy that he has a gift for him once Ralts gets stronger.
• Ash meeting up with Captain Renato, who came to the Contest with his kids because they wanted to see/meet Ash.
• While some signs are in poor taste, many people come to the Contest to cheer on Ash and give some encouragement after the failed attempt on his life.
• Claydol admits they miss Steven while guarding Ash.
• Ash finally finds Silver and convinces him to turn himself into the Ever Grande League after treating him to lunch.
• Wallace finding out that Ash is Giovanni's son and telling the boy that he does not hold Giovanni's sins against Ash.