Along the PokemonFor several decades, Ash has traveled through countless regions on his journey to become the ultimate Pokémon master. There are a ton of things viewers are looking forward to with the reveal of each region, including new Pokémon, new rivals, gym leaders, and areas. And, of course, one of the most exciting parts of a new Pokémon journey has to be the companions that will inevitably accompany and stand by Ash’s side the entire way.
May is one of the two main companions to join Ash during his time in the Hoenn region. She stands apart from her counterparts because she is the first of her teammates to aspire to be a coordinator instead of a trainer, breeder, or gym leader as fans have seen before. She grows up a lot during their journey together, and there are a lot of little things fans might not know about her.
10 She doesn’t want to be coordinator right away
Unlike Dawn, who already dreams of being a top coordinator as she packs her suitcase to start her journey, May is much more insecure at first. In fact, it’s actually rarer for one of Ash’s teammates to not have a goal in mind at the time they start, even if it’s something vague like “be the best.”
When May starts out, not only does she want to travel and see the world with no other goal in mind, she is completely opposed to Pokémon. She doesn’t care about them at all, and it’s not until she sees the first Contest of hers that she begins to change her mind.
9 She grows from someone who isn’t interested in Pokémon to someone who loves them.
When May begins her journey, she doesn’t care much for Pokémon and is instead someone who prefers to focus on her travels. This is despite the fact that her father is actually one of the most admired gym leaders in the region.
However, after seeing her first Pokémon Contest, she dedicates herself to becoming a Coordinator, and her attitude towards Pokémon begins to change. After winning her first performance, she is shown telling Beautifly that she loves her, a great sign of her growth.
8 She is analytical and can come up with new tactics by observing others.
May is incredibly smart and can come up with new tactics for her own performances by observing others. This is true for both her and Ash’s fellow coordinators, whether she’s engaging in a gym battle or just getting into a fight with another trainer.
A great example of this is after seeing Ash and Tucker fight each other. She can use this fight to think about combining fire and water for an ultra-flashy attack using her Squirtle and Combusken.
7 She has a surprising hobby of cooking Pokéblocks.
May ends up developing a fondness for cooking, specifically in the form of making Pokéblocks that improve certain characteristics of her Pokémon. They’re used specifically for contests, so it makes sense that someone striving to be a top coordinator would end up creating their own.
However, May goes one step further, even making her own recipes, such as “May’s Purple Surprise” and “May’s Pink Surprise”. Not all go well, as it is noted that the only ones who end up liking her Purple Surprise are her Munchlax and, surprisingly, Jessie from Team Rocket.
6 She can be easily embarrassed
Although it may not seem like it, May is someone who is actually not difficult to embarrass if you know where to insist. One of her pageant rivals, Harley, actually tries to take advantage of this fact to gain an advantage over her during a pageant.
When May swam in the ocean as a child, her mother mistook her for a Tentacool due to her blue swim cap and tried to catch her with a Pokéball. It’s a cute story overall, but one that almost made her lose to him out of embarrassment.
5 She is mature enough to make the decision to travel without Ash.
It is not easy to realize that someone close to a person is actually holding them back in some way, but this does not mean that they have to separate completely. In fact, spending time apart to develop as individuals instead of May being heavily influenced by Ash is a great thing for her character.
She shows a high level of maturity realizing that her performances as a coordinator were heavily influenced by Ash’s more aggressive and offense-focused battle style. She makes the choice to stay behind to develop her own abilities without anyone else’s influence, which is incredibly admirable.
4 She gets angry quickly but is still willing to admit her mistakes
May is shown to have a bit of a temper, not unlike the classmate who came before her. This is especially true when she interacts with her younger brother Max, as the two are seen constantly arguing and often end up in fights.
However, she is not above admitting her mistakes and making things right with him. The two never seem to be mad at each other for long, as May is someone who usually ends up feeling remorseful and apologizing afterwards.
3 She has seven known Pokémon in total
May has a total of seven Pokémon that make up her official roster. She originally gravitates only to those she finds cute, like Skitty, but she broadens her horizons over time and begins to let others join her team as well.
She starts off with a Torchic, which then fully evolves into a Blaziken. Her other companions are a Beautifly that hatches from a Wurmple, a Skitty, a Venasaur, a Munchlax, a Wartortle, and a Glaceon that hatches from an egg.
two His English voice actor at first is the same as Ash
May’s English voice actress is Veronica Taylor, who does an absolutely fantastic job of portraying her. What’s even more impressive is that she, at the same time, is also Ash’s voice actress. Since they are always shown together on screen, differentiating their voices to set them apart is no easy task.
He voices both of them until the episode “Pasta La Vista”, after which they are replaced by different actors. May’s second English VA is Michele Knotz, who also voices fan favorites such as Misty and Jessie.
1 She hasn’t appeared since Diamond & Pearl for a tragic reason.
Despite being incredibly popular, May hasn’t appeared since. Diamond and Pearl. There is actually a rather tragic reason for this involving the physical health of her Japanese voice actress.
As early as 2007, KAORI, May’s Japanese voice assistant, began suffering from something called spasmotic dysphonia, a disease that affects the vocal cords. By 2012, the disease had reached its peak. This is why May has not been seen making any comebacks within the anime.
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