To Be The Very Best

December 16, 2022 9:11 AM

After 25 years, numerous series, and finally winning the title of Champion, the story of Ash Ketchum's path to becoming a Pokémon Master will finally come to a conclusion.

Ash (along with his famed Pikachu) has been the protagonist of the Pokémon anime for its entire run, infamously losing in the championships until recently with his wins in Alola and Galar. As such, a special 11 episode conclusion to the current series will also serve as a farewell to the character and serve to conclude his arc. The next Pokémon anime series covering the Scarlet and Violet generation will have two new protagonists, Liko and Roy as the central characters.

posted by NoxAeternum (10 comments total)

Your Great Uncle Ashley talks about growing up in the Kanto region.
posted by Earthtopus at 9:25 AM on December 16, 2022 [11 favorites]

Will, time to die or maybe buy Twitter I guess
posted by Going To Maine at 9:35 AM on December 16, 2022

Does he ketchum all?
posted by chavenet at 10:06 AM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

ashuredly
posted by Going To Maine at 10:12 AM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]

I think it makes sense. It is hard to believe that Ash can get frustrated by setbacks when he has had so much experience with training hundreds of Pokemon and growing as a trainer and person is part of what makes the story good.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:14 AM on December 16, 2022

BUT WHAT ABOUT TEAM ROCKET?
posted by synecdoche at 11:29 AM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]

synecdoche: "BUT WHAT ABOUT TEAM ROCKET?"

In a heartwarming turn of events, they recant their evil ways and become friends, embracing Ash and Pikachu as equals.

Ha ha j/k they're probably blasting off one last time
posted by caution live frogs at 11:47 AM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

I haven't watched the Galar region series but I felt after XYZ that they had taken Ash as far as he could go so I thought it was a good move for the drastic change in tone for Sun & Moon so you could almost treat it as a soft reboot. They can just have new protagonists for each series going forward and maybe Ash can become someone like Professor Oak that might occasionally show up as one of the top trainers in the world.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:52 AM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

Looking forward to the next season opening with a familiar silhouette rotating on an open-flame spit in the background, while Ash muses, "Fifteen years I picked up after that little thing's turds, and every last one of them was electrically charged."
posted by delfin at 12:10 PM on December 16, 2022

YouTuber SolidJJ's take on how things end between Team Rocket and Ash . Strong language alert.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:08 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]