>>38835086They tried to make him a "badass" too hard to be honest, Ash is the kind of kid that you would normally ignore until he started to beat the shit out of an army of Mons, jump good like Samurai Jack and jump off a cliff without giving a fuck.
Also, I gotta be honest and said that I hate how they implemented Serena as a childhood friend just to give her an excuse to like him, you don't need to be some childhood friend to fall for someone.