>>58079720>I don't remember whether Ash had some super deep reason for wanting to be a Pokemon master/being offended at gym leaders not taking him seriously.OS Ash did. Basically, he had such massive insecurities and inferiority complex because of OS Gary belittling him and treating him unseriously before and during their journeys that he felt the need to compensate by taking his journey, and especially the gym badges, extremely seriously (however, once he actually had the gym badges, even ones he didn't actually earn from *battle*, he was happy to brag and rub them in NPC trainers' faces, much to Brock and Misty's consternation). This began to chill out after Ash saw Gary get btfo at the Indigo League and, of course, they completely buried the hatchet at the Johto League when Ash's victory over Gary in 6v6 battle was him finally overcoming those insecurities and inferiority complex. This is why AG Ash, while still being a hothead, isn't *as much of* an asshole, because his asshole attitude was a facade to compete with Gary, even when Gary wasn't physically around (since Gary lived rent-free in Ash's head).
Of course, this is the "deeper" reason. The main reason is, as you said, shounen protagonist, which means he takes training and competition and "getting stronger" seriously just for the sake of taking it seriously.
