Well, he finally did it. It's been a long time coming, but Ash Ketchum is now the very best. Like no one ever was.
Since the very first episode of Pokémon aired back in 1997, Pallet Town's prodigy has been teaching those cute little pocket monsters to understand the power that's inside, all in a bid to become the official World Champion. And now, 25 years later, Satoshi (as he's known in Japan) has actually done it.
It was on November 11, 2022, in episode 132 of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, that Ash did the unthinkable, finally achieving his lifelong dream. To win this great honour, Ash fought the current World Champion, Leon, in a 6v6 battle that lasted for four episodes.This came off the back of his regional tournament victory in 2019's Pokèmon: Sun and Moon where Ash first became a Master, setting him on the path to this new historic win.
The show’s official account celebrated Ash's achievement online right after the episode aired, writing: "He’s done it! Ash has become a World Champion."
And then Sarah Natochenny, Ash's English-language voice-actor tweeted her own celebration: "I can’t wait to share the English dub of this episode of Pokémon with the world. What an absolute honor to be voicing Ash Ketchum as he becomes a world champion. He really is the best, like no one ever was."
Finer words have never been said.Now, it's no exaggeration to say the wait for this moment has been bigger than a greedy Snorlax, and for a while there, it really did feel like Ash would never make his dream come true. We're talking hundreds, no thousands, of episodes where Ketchum tried and failed to win countless leagues and tournaments across the past two and a half decades.
It's not just this full-circle moment that's causing concern though. "I'm Glad I Got To Meet You" also sounds like a goodbye of sorts, which does not bode well for hardcore Ash stans. Is he leaving the show for good? Or is he being torn apart from Pikachu in typically dramatic fashion?
That future might not include Ash though. Now that he's fulfilled his dream, there's not much left for him to do, narratively speaking. Perhaps someone else will step in and take over as lead, like Goh, for example, who's played a big role in this recent series. A reboot isn't completely out of the question either.
Or perhaps we're just being too pessimistic. Japanese voice actor Rica Matsumoto also celebrated Ash's big win after the episode aired, and she isn't convinced that the end is in sight just yet:
"It's been 15 years since I began playing Satoshi, and he's worked hard during this battle. The children who watched the first broadcast in 1997 have grown up and I think that some people have moved away from the anime. He's one step away from becoming the strongest in the world of Pokémon. Kids and adults alike, please support Ash!"
Rica might have a point. Ash has always been laser-focused on becoming the world champion, but as the world's greatest theme tune repeatedly reminds us, he's "gotta catch em all" because it's his "destiny". And given how new Pokémon are introduced all the time, we have a feeling Ash could be kept busy still for another twenty-five years or more.
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