>>22220075They always chose a darker color for Ash's skin compared to the female characters even all the way back in episode 1. It was definitely a lot less noticeable back then, though. It got a lot more pronounced over time, but his skin right now isnt too different than, say, DP as far as I can tell.
You probably just notice it a lot compared to the last series because for the first time the girl actually had a darker skin tone there.
