>>52619118>he's retarded and oblivious to all other peoples feelingsI think a better way to say it is that he IS aware of other people and especially Pokemon's feelings on an instinctual and a somewhat conscious level but he chooses to play the dumb card by default because deep down Ash is "weighed down" by the idea of conforming to a more "adult" socializing life, especially with Brock basically enabling this infantile "run away from the household awkwardness" mentality of Ash's for 4 regional travels.
This is seen in how without Brock supporting him in BW, Ash's seeming maturity regressed to a really low level, in XY he tried to enact in a more mature feeling and start his personality anew, to be the "Brock" instead but he never let his sexual lust go wild like Brock because none of the girls he met ever compared to Giselle...
In SM and PM2019 the writers stopped caring about Ash's character psychology so it's pointless to analyze that.
