Summary

• Ash's perspective on Pokémon training is challenged by N's belief in Pokémon battling being unjust.
• N, sincere in his beliefs, allies with Ash to stop Team Plasma from capturing Pokémon for research.
• Ash and N, initially clashing through their ideals, realize their shared belief in treating Pokémon as friends, ultimately working together.

The Pokémon anime almost never touches on the ethics of Pokémon, but one story arc that borrowed heavily from the games actually challenged Ash's perspective on Pokémon training and battling. By using the popular character of N, who believes Pokémon battling to be unjust, Ash was forced for the first time to reconsider his way of doing things.

N originates in Pokémon Black and White, and also appears in its direct sequels, Black 2 and White 2. In the games, N is the figurehead leader of Team Plasma, an organization which advocates against Pokémon training and ownership, and on the surface appears to be a civil rights group interested in protecting Pokémon. Throughout the game, the player discovers that Team Plasma is being used by a nefarious figure known as Ghetsis, but N is sincere in his beliefs; though he battles the player several times, N never catches a Pokémon for himself.

N Learns of Ash's Way of Thinking

In the anime, N appears in a fourteen-episode arc of the Black and White series, called "Episode N." Following his participation in the Unova League, Ash sets off on a new quest to visit a location known as the White Ruins, which are associated with the legendary Pokémon Reshiram, d with Truth. On the way there, he encounters N, who helps them deal with Team Rocket and quickly befriends Ash's Pikachu using his ability to understand the minds of Pokémon, but is put off when Ash declares his intention to become a "Pokémon Master."

Despite this immediate clash of ideals, N makes it clear that he doesn't see Ash as an enemy. By speaking with Pikachu, N knew that Ash was kind to his Pokémon, but was still uneasy about his goal. Since Team Plasma in the anime doesn't try to portray itself as a Pokémon rights group, N is shown standing in their way on a few occasions, attempting to prevent them from capturing Pokémon for use as research subjects, which would see him ally with Ash to achieve that end. N winds up traveling with Ash for a little while, hoping to learn about Pokémon battling.

While watching Ash's Charizard battle Iris's Dragonite in a practice match, N disrupts the battle upon seeing that Dragonite is injured, declaring that the two Pokémon have come to with each other. It's clear that for N, Pokémon battles put Pokémon at risk of injury, and that's a big part of why he looks down on them. However, watching Ash battle with Pikachu, he gets a sense of the bond that battling is able to build between trainer and Pokémon.

N Puts Ash's Ideals to the Test

After traveling together for a while, N splits off from the group, but eventually comes into with them again at the White Ruins, where Professor Cedric Juniper has discovered a special rock tied to Reshiram known as the Light Stone. N steals the Light Stone, hoping that he will be able to use it to get in with Reshiram and better understand its ways. N reveals that Reshiram nearly destroyed Team Plasma in the past, and he desperately wants to know why it did that.

However, as he escapes, he sees Ash become trapped by a collapsing floor, and turns back to help. He and Ash both wind up falling down into a pit in the ruins, with seemingly no way out. With nothing but time, the two begin to share their respective philosophies on Pokémon. N claims to have seen many different kinds of relationships between people and Pokémon, but he still believes that many people see Pokémon as nothing more than tools to use. With Team Plasma making their move on the surface for the Light Stone, it's clear that he's right about that.

Ash, however, explains what he really means by being a "Pokémon Master"-- how he sees every Pokémon as a potential friend, and values them as highly as his human companions. He even claims he'd like to befriend Reshiram, should the Light Stone make that possible. While putting his feelings into words is hardly Ash's forte, he's able to get the idea across to N, and finally convince him that humans and Pokémon can be partners, working together to stop those who treat Pokémon like objects.

Ash and N are Really More Alike Than Different

In the games, Reshiram, as the exemplar of Truth, stands in opposition to Zekrom, who represents Ideals. The theme of Truth versus Ideals is a major theme in Black and White, and Ash, having seen Zekrom at the start of the series, has come to represent the side of Ideals in the anime as well. N sees the truth of the world, where people really do use and abandon Pokémon, while Ash stays strong in his convictions and argues the case for his ideal world, where every Pokémon is his friend.

While Ash and N have very different views on Pokémon training and battling, their views on Pokémon as both friends and beings worthy of respect are really one and the same. As Ash and N attempt to escape from their underground confinement, Ash calls upon his Pokémon to help. N is amazed to see the way that they work together, and is beginning to be swayed by Ash's conviction. He comes to understand that training and battling together is the reason why Ash has been able to build such strong bonds with his Pokémon.

Ash and N end up working together to defeat Ghetsis and tame Reshiram's rage against humanity, encouraging it to believe in humans the same way that they believe in Pokémon. Ash's ideology ultimately wins out, but for just this once, Ash had to really consider what he believed and why he believed it. Challenging the core ideology of the entire series was a bold move, and the Pokémon anime handled this ethical debate surprisingly well, although perhaps not as thoroughly as the Black and White games did.

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