Ash's hat
Ash's hat (Japanese: サトシのぼうし Satoshi's hat) is an item of clothing that Ash Ketchum is seldom seen without. Throughout the Pokémon anime, Ash has worn seven different hats so far, one for each of the seven different series.
All of Ash's hats have been produced for people to wear. Ash's Advanced Generation hat was available to purchase at PokémonCenter.com before it shut down. His hats can be found at numerous stores (including the Pokémon Centers in Japan) and on online auction sites such as eBay.
In the anime
Pokémon League Expo hat
Ash's first hat, worn during the original series, is easily the most well-known: an official Pokémon League Expo hat that was red and white with a green, stylized "L" on the front. There were only 100 of these hats which were given away by the Pokémon League, and Ash claims to have "sent in about a million postcards" in order to obtain it. Misty also tried to win it but stated she only sent in one postcard. Interestingly, Duplica also owns one of these hats, as she was shown wearing it while she was imitating Ash. Ash wore this hat during his journey through Kanto, the Orange Archipelago, and Johto, and was very attached to it, becoming enraged when a Mankey stole it and played keep-away with it in Primeape Goes Bananas. The design may be loosely based on Red's Generation I hat, and in early concept sketches for the anime, Ash's hat matched Red's exactly.
Commonly, Ash would turn the cap backwards, particularly when he was concentrating heavily, such as when he would face a Trainer or capture a Pokémon. This was seen most often early in his journey in Kanto, gradually becoming less frequent until his journey in Johto ended, by which time he hardly ever turned his cap. The sequence was actually a common animation practice used frequently to cut costs at the time.
Ash's first hat
Ash wearing his Pokémon League Expo hat backwards
Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire hat
After returning from Johto, Ash was given a change of clothes by his mother, and he immediately changed into them, including switching his old hat for a new black-and-red one which had a green Poké Ball symbol on it. He seemed to have no hesitation in changing hats, despite the attachment shown in Primeape Goes Bananas.
Like the first one, his second hat was also stolen by a monkey-like Pokémon which Ash later captured, this time an Aipom in Slaking Kong!. Unlike previous occasions, Ash actually accepted that it was gone (or so he assumed), saying that he would "feel strange" without it. At the end of the episode, Aipom returned Ash's hat to him. However, Aipom followed Ash and his friends to the Kanto Grand Festival where it stole his hat again. After Ash captured her, Aipom stole Ash's hat multiple more times as Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire ended and Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl began.
Ash rarely flipped his hat during the series. Occasions on which he flipped his hat include when he was dressed as an eggplant in Claydol Big and Tall, when he was cleaning the dojo in Pasta La Vista!, while sleeping with his Pokémon in Gathering the Gang of Four!, and during the climax of the ninth Pokémon movie.
Ash's second hat
Ash wearing his second hat backwards
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl hat
Ash had received his third hat in a package from his mother while in the Sinnoh region. Though his clothes changed quite a bit between their Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire and Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl iterations, his hat remained similar; though while his second hat had a green Poké Ball symbol, his third one was blue. This hat also had a larger and square black area around the Poké Ball, while the black area in Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire was round.
Ash flipped this hat only twice: in his battle against Tobias in The Semi-Final Frontier! and briefly in the thirteenth Pokémon movie.
For lessons of the Pokémon Learning League set in the Sinnoh region, Ash's hat was simply his Hoenn hat but with the Poké Ball symbol recolored blue.
Ash's third hat
Ash wearing his third hat backwards
Pokémon the Series: Black & White hat
In Pokémon the Series: Black & White, Ash wore a red and off-white hat. Unlike the hats seen during Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire and Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, this hat bore a slight resemblance to the one seen in the original series, but with a blue Poké Ball design for a logo and no line running down the middle. The hat resembles the hat worn by Hilbert from Pokémon Black and White.
In Dancing With the Ducklett Trio!, Ash's hat was stolen once again, this time by a trio of Ducklett.
During the early episodes of Pokémon the Series: Black & White, Ash flipped his hat somewhat often, with decreasing frequency as the series went on. This is the same pattern seen in the original series with the Pokémon League Expo hat.
In Team Plasma and the Awakening Ceremony!, Ash flipped his hat before moving forward to help his Pokémon dig through the cave wall.
Ash's fourth hat
Ash wearing his fourth hat backwards
A comparison of the similarities between Ash's hat from the original series (left) to Pokémon the Series: Black & White (right)
Pokémon the Series: XY hat
In Pokémon the Series: XY, Ash wears a red hat with a white brim and a white semicircle across the front. This hat resembles the hat worn by Red in the games from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen to Pokémon Black 2 and White 2.
Once again, his hat was stolen in Dreaming a Performer's Dream where a mischievous Pancham stole it, along with Clemont's glasses, to use for practicing for performances. Serena eventually got the two items back by trading for a pair of sunglasses.
Ash flipped his hat somewhat often early in Pokémon the Series: XY, but only did so twice in the second half of the series: during the eighteenth Pokémon movie and in The Synchronicity Test!. Ash has also had the tendency of adjusting his hat often in this series; this was seen more commonly than seeing him flipping his hat backwards. This tendency echoes Red's sprite animations from Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver onwards.
Ash's fifth hat
Ash wearing his fifth hat backwards
Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon hat
In Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, Ash wears a red hat with a white Poké Ball symbol on it. The hat resembles Elio's hat from Pokémon Sun and Moon, but is red instead of black while the brim is recolored from black to white.
The hat continued the tradition of being stolen, this time by Tapu Koko in The Guardian's Challenge, where it stole the hat to lure Ash and Pikachu to a forest to battle against them, returning the hat when they arrived. Ash's hat was left behind during a time travel accident with a Celebi in A Timeless Encounter!, which took Ash and his Torracat back to Melemele Island in the time of Professor Kukui's youth. In Pikachu's Exciting Adventure!, which takes place during Ash's disappearance, Ash's remaining Pokémon took turns wearing his hat while looking for him.
Ash has flipped his hat more often in Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon than in the early episodes of most other series. When he is using 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt, Ash has Pikachu wear his hat before performing the Z-Move.
Ash's sixth hat
Ash wearing his sixth hat backwards
Pikachu wearing Ash's hat before performing 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt
Pokémon Journeys: The Series hat
In Pokémon Journeys: The Series, Ash wears a red hat. It has a black C shape on its front, resembling a Poké Ball.
Ash has flipped his hat four times so far in the series: in Raid Battle in The Ruins! while he and Goh were sand-boarding across Desert Resort, in Memories of a Warming Kindness! while he and Goh were at a ramen restaurant, in The Arceus Chronicles (Part 4) while he, Goh, and Dawn were rescuing a Heatran, and in JN132 during the climax of the Masters Eight Tournament finals.
When he is using 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt, Ash has Pikachu wear his hat before performing the Z-Move.
Ash's seventh hat
Ash wearing his seventh hat backwards
Pikachu wearing Ash's hat before performing 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt
Alternate movie continuity hat
In I Choose You!, the Ash of the alternate continuity is shown wearing a different hat. It looks almost the same as the other Ash's original Pokémon League Expo hat, except that the Pokémon League logo is changed to resemble the Poké Ball symbol from his Sun & Moon hat. Ash continued wearing this hat in The Power of Us and Secrets of the Jungle, despite the rest of his outfit changing. This makes it the only one of Ash's hats that was worn with multiple outfits.
In I Choose You!, Ash wore this hat backwards twice, both times while protecting Pikachu. In The Power of Us, Ash wore this hat backwards when Pikachu battled Zeraora.
Pikachu momentarily wore Ash's hat in I Choose You! as he emerged from his Poké Ball.
Due to its shorter screentime, this is Ash's first hat that has never been stolen by a Pokémon in any of its appearances. Instead, Ash gives it away to a Mankey after retrieving a hat stolen from Haruto in JNS06.
Ash's hat in I Choose You!, The Power of Us, and Secrets of the Jungle
Ash wearing his I Choose You!, The Power of Us, and Secrets of the Jungle hat backwards
In the games
Core series games
For players
In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the player, regardless of their selected gender, can purchase a "Hero's Cap" in Malie City's Community Center. This cap is a replica of Ash's hat from Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon.
In the Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass, the player, regardless of their selected gender, can receive a "Partner Cap" at the Isle of Armor train station at the Fields of Honor for showing them a Zarude. The hat is based on Ash's hat in the I Choose You! movie series.
Event Pokémon
- Main article: Pikachu in a cap
Six forms of Pikachu, each wearing one of Ash's six hats between the original series and Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, were introduced in Pokémon Sun and Moon. They were distributed to moviegoers who pre-ordered tickets to I Choose You! in Japan, and via a series of internet downloads in the West. A seventh form, the Partner Cap Pikachu, wearing Ash's hat from I Choose You!, was introduced in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. It was available via a special Pokémon Ga-Olé disc in Japan, and via a QR code distributed at screenings of the movie in the West. An eighth form, World Cap Pikachu, wearing Ash's hat from Pokémon Journeys: The Series, was distributed to Pokémon Sword and Shield.
Spin-off games
In Hey You, Pikachu!, the original hat, along with the rest of the outfit, can be seen hanging on a coat rack in the player's bedroom. Pikachu uses the hat in "The Piñata Game" to cover his eyes.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon arc
In Finale!! The Battle Against the Other Dimension!, Sun, Kiawe, and their assistants were seen delivering boxes containing various designs of Ash's hat to Pikachu Valley, likely as a reference to Pikachu in a cap.
Trivia
- Early concept art of the Pokémon League Expo hat shows similarities with Red's hat in his original design from Pokémon Red and Green.
- In Ditto's Mysterious Mansion, Duplica is shown to own a hat that appears to be identical to Ash's Pokémon League Expo hat.
- According to the Pokémon Visual Guide and its sequels, Ash obtained the Pokémon League Expo hat by mailing in cereal box tops. In Primeape Goes Bananas, Ash says he had to send in a million "postcards" in order to obtain it.
In other languages
Pokémon League Expo hat
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See also
- List of clothing (anime)
- Pokémon clothing for more Pokémon clothing and hats available in the real world
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |