Ash Ketchum Retires After 25 Years
A joke on the internet is that this world has three constants: Death, Taxes, and as long as Pokémon is around. Ash Ketchum will be the main character of the Pokémon anime.
Unfortunately, while death and taxes are still very much constants, on December 16th, the Pokémon company confirmed Ash and Pikachu would no longer be the main characters of the Pokémon anime after a 25-year run with over a thousand episodes under their belts.
It makes sense. The latest series Pokémon Journeys wrapped up with Ash becoming World Champion, and many fans expressed that it may be time for Ash to hang up his hat. Nobody thought Pokémon would go through with it.
Ash’s journey to becoming a Pokémon Master will conclude with an 11-episode miniseries called Aim to Be A Pokémon Master, which will start airing on January 13, 2023, in Japan. There are several things fans, including myself, expect and really want out of these 11 episodes, so let’s go through them.
One of Pokémon Journeys most significant flaws was not letting Ash use his older Pokémon in the World Coronation Tournament. He was mostly relegated to using Pikachu, Dragonite, Gengar, Lucario, Sirfetch'd, Dracovish, and on the very rare occasion Mr. Mime, which for the most part was okay.
Pikachu was a no-brainer. Dragonite, Gengar, and Lucario were all Pokémon fans wanted Ash to have. Sirfetch’d, and Dracovish are both Galar Pokémon, and Journeys was also the series to advertise the Galar region. Seeing Mr. Mime get a spotlight was very nice for older fans.
However, Ash has about 77 Pokémon, give or take, as Ash owns 30 Tauros. This number fluctuates depending on whether you include Ash’s released Pokémon and those who were unofficially his, like Larvitar or Nebby the Solgaleo.
Many fans would like to see Ash use his older Pokémon throughout these 11 episodes, which could be difficult due to the sheer number of them but doable if the writers play their cards right.
It would also be nice to see Ash reunite with some of his released Pokémon. There is certainly precedent for it, as at the end of the last episode of Pokémon Journeys, Ash and Pikachu reunited with Ash’s Butterfree, released 1,200 episodes ago. So there is a fair shot we could see Pidgeot, Lapras, Primeape, and maybe even Larvitar and Nebby.
As for Ash catching new Pokémon, it’s pretty hard to tell if he will. As of now, his latest Pokémon is Dracovish, whose personality falls in line with his more chaotic Pokémon like Gible or Muk.
The preview for the first episode of Aim to Be A Pokémon Master shows Ash helping an injured Latias, which is a Pokémon Ash has been heavily associated with since the fifth movie Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias. It’s unknown whether or not this is the same Latias from the film. What will most likely happen is that if Ash catches a new Pokémon, it will be something fans have longed for Ash to have, like Latias or Dunsparce.
Another big draw of the series was the companions traveling with Ash in every region. The original series had Misty, Brock, and Tracey; Hoenn had May and Max; Sinnoh had Dawn; Unova had Iris and Cilan; Kalos had Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena; Alola had Mallow, Lana, Lillie, Kiawe, and Sophocles; Journeys had Goh.
While the Pokémon series was focused primarily on Ash and Pikachu, these characters were also endearing to fans. While they did all cameo at least once in Pokémon Journeys, it would be cathartic to see them one more time.
Getting the evident out of the way, Misty and Brock are confirmed to return for these 11 episodes alongside Psyduck and Crogunk, respectively. It would be great to see Misty’s Togetic one last time as it and its relationship to Ash’s Pikachu were iconic to the original series.
It’s unlikely Goh will return in a massive capacity unless it’s the final episode just because we already said this huge goodbye to him at the end of Pokémon Journeys. It would be weird if, five episodes later, he came back like we didn’t just say bye to him. At best, probably, he would be a cameo appearance or a phone call to Ash.
As for the others, Dawn, Iris, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Lana, Kiawe, Lillie, Sophocles, and Mallow all had various speaking roles and appeared in episodes of Pokémon Journeys. These are likely the characters who could pop up once or twice for final goodbyes during the next 11 episodes.
The tricky ones would be Tracey, May, Max, and Cilan.
Tracey has not had a speaking appearance since 2006, despite appearing in Pokémon Journeys. This is possible due to his voice actor, Tomokazu Seki, becoming very popular in Japan and thus very hard for Pokémon to get now. However, if they were willing to shell out the money for a line or two for Tracey, now would be the time to do it.
May has yet to make a physical speaking appearance since the Diamond and Pearl series. This is due to her voice actress, KAORI., being diagnosed with a severe health condition called spasmodic dysphonia that affects her speaking ability. Unfortunately, this may mean both May and Max would be off the table to reappear in anything other than a non-speaking appearance unless the writers figure out how to work around May not speaking.
Finally, there is Cilan, who, despite only appearing as a non-speaking cameo, has the best chance to appear out of the group one last time. Due to his voice actor, Mamoru Miyano, who is still working with Pokémon on their app game Pokémon Masters EX as Lear.
Ash’s companions were just as many main characters as Ash himself, so it would be nice to see final goodbyes for all of them and to see them achieve their own dreams as Ash does the same. But speaking of the main characters, there is a group we still need to discuss.
Team Rocket, consisting of Jessie, James, Meowth, and later Wobbuffet, has been a main staple since the second episode of the original Pokémon series. Even as Ash’s companions and Pokémon changed throughout the years, Team Rocket has stayed, for the most part, a consistent part of the anime.
While there is no formal announcement of them leaving the series like Ash, their main goal since day one has been to steal Ash’s Pikachu. Without Ash and Pikachu, what purpose could Team Rocket possibly have?
Despite being antagonists, many fans just want good things for Team Rocket. They can’t steal Pikachu because Ash is the hero of this story. But you know, if Team Rocket can just leave their evil organization and open a small cafe somewhere peaceful, then that would be just fine.
It would also be nice to see Jessie and James reunite with their old Pokémon. Every generation, Jessie and James have started their teams over by either releasing their Pokémon or keeping them at Team Rocket Headquarters, and it would be a nice touch to acknowledge how important they were to the series.
But as we move away from the past, what is in store for Pokémon in the future? The Pokémon Anime of 2023 will feature new protagonists, Liko and Roy traveling in the Paldea region alongside the starters of Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly.
Only a little is known about these characters. Still, those are speculating Liko could be related to Ash due to leaked details of her coming from a famous family in Kanto and having excellent battling skills while also her hairclip matching the symbol on Ash’s original hat. For now, though, we can only speculate.
This is new territory for Pokémon. Ash and Pikachu have been a constant presence over the last 25 years now, and both old and new fans are sad to see his time finally be up. Many questions are lingering in the air.
Will changing to new protagonists work? Will Liko and Roy be the protagonists for 25 years? Does this take place in the same universe as Ash and Pikachu? Will they be forced to go back to Ash?
Nobody truly has the answers. This represents a shift in Pokémon’s history between retiring Ash and trying to be more ambitious with their games with Pokémon Legends Arceus and Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. With the 30th Anniversary of the franchise approaching in about three years, we may just be looking at a new era for Pokémon as a whole.
We will just have to see how they plan to wrap Ash and Pikachu’s story up and see if Liko and Roy can indeed be the new faces of Pokémon.
