An All-New Pokémon Series Is Coming

Following the news, long-time Ash voice actors Rica Matsumoto and Sarah Natochenny posted their own tributes to the character online, with Natochenny saying, “No matter what lies beyond his final chapter, he’ll live forever in the hearts of many generations to come.”

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While it is probably a good thing for the Pokémon anime to shake things up after over two decades of following Ash and Pikachu around the world, man, this hurts. Having these two characters be a long-time fixture in Pokémon has made them a touchstone for every fan, young and old. We even saw how much people cared about Ash’s rise to champion when it happened, as fans who had long stopped watching the anime were posting congratulatory statements about how proud they were of the never-aging 10-year-old. But now that he’s a Pokémon master, there’s not much left to do with his story. So maybe now the Pokémon anime can set its sights on new stories that help it explore the world in a new context.

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That seems to be an overarching theme of Pokémon right now, as even the games have shifted their stories to aspects of the universe that go beyond competitive sport. Both Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet had stories that weren’t so fixated on being a Pokémon League champion, and they were much more compelling for it. So as sad as it is to say goodbye, maybe Ash needed to accomplish his goals so the anime could find new ones.