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From 1997 to the present, various animated series have been dedicated to Pokémon, the imaginary creatures created for a GameBoy video game in the 1990s and around which a huge franchise has developed over the last thirty years. Until now, the protagonist of these series has always been Ash Ketchum, a boy with messy dark hair, recognizable by his blue sweatshirt and red and white cap, almost always accompanied by the faithful Pokémon Pikachu, an imaginary creature resembling a yellow hamster with a tail inside Shape of a Flash: The two were present in all but one of the episodes.
However, on January 13th, the first episode of the final season, in which Ash will star, aired in Japan: to many fans, including many Italians who were kids between the late ’90s and early 2000s and watched the cartoon on Italia 1 back from school, it’s a bit like the end of an era.
Ash’s dream, premise for the entire series, was to become the best Pokémon trainer in the world. It’s never been well explained what exactly it means and why it’s such a coveted title, but it took Ash twenty-five years to achieve it: if the first season was released in Japan in 1997, it wasn’t until 2022 that Ash succeeded in one episode to win the world tournament that will determine the world’s most powerful trainer and claim the title of monarch.
Achieving this goal marks the end of Ash’s story. The final eleven episodes will air in Japan over the next few weeks and will be available in the rest of the world throughout 2023. Then the Pokémon Company, the Nintendo-owned company that manages the intellectual property for Pokémon, announced that Ash and Pikachu would be replaced with an all-new cast. The two new protagonists are named Liko and Roy and are accompanied by three Pokémon: Sprigatito, Fuecoco and Quaxly, who appear for the first time in the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet video games released last year for the Nintendo Switch console and set in the new region of Paldea.
– Also read: The new Pokémon video games are different than usual
The Ash character did not exist in the Nintendo video games released in the 1990s on which the series was based: his appearance vaguely resembled one of the characters that could be used in Game Boy games, but his story was fabricated been out of thin air to capitalize on the success of video games and attract new fans ahead of the release of new games and playing cards. However, the series, which was feared to last only six months or at most a year, achieved worldwide success.
“Today it’s hard to think of Pokémon without thinking of Ash Ketchum, but in the beginning he was an unlikely protagonist. On his very first day as a trainer, he sleeps in too late and misses a chance to get one of the original starter Pokémon (i.e., the three Pokémon players can choose from when starting a new game in the video game, ed. ). Instead, he gets a stubborn Pikachu that refuses to step on his Poké Ball,” writes journalist Ana Diaz in pop culture magazine Polygon.
“What sets Ash apart from the start isn’t any particular talent, but a stubborn dedication to the relationship with his Pokémon and a spirit of adventure. (…) But for the fans, Ash was more of a reminder that sometimes it takes longer than expected to reach your goals and that not giving up is the most important part of the journey,” continues Diaz.
Partly because of this, online fans celebrated the November 11th episode, in which Ash was finally recognized as the best Pokémon trainer in the world, like a much-anticipated sporting event.
This is not a dream, this is real life.
On that day, November 11, 2022, Satoshi/Ash Ketchum became the new World Champion. 25 years in the making. He did it.
What a special, legendary, historic day. That never gets old. I’m so proud of him. 💙🐐🏆 pic.twitter.com/nAWl4PmKLJ
— Angel (49ers Wildcard) (@Games23_) November 11, 2022
In the latest episodes, which will see him as the protagonist, it has already been announced that Ash will reunite with some of his old friends: Misty and Brock, his first adventure companions.
– Also read: The invention of Pokemon