When it comes to Pokemon, Ash Ketchum is king. The trainer has been around for ages, and fans who watched Ash hit the road in the ’90s grew up with him. It is hard to believe that Ash Ketchum is no longer part of the Pokemon anime as he exited more than a year ago. Now, a new report is breaking down the Pokemon anime, and it turns out execs behind the scenes were not sure about Ash’s leave period.
The information comes from the recent ‘teraleak’ that hit the Pokemon fandom this October. A fan took to social media to share a Pokemon leak that spanned the ages with Pokemon. From gen one to gen nine, the franchise’s history was laid open, and information about the Pokemon anime was included. These notes were shared by Centro Leaks, and they detail how Ash’s planned exit made Game Freak very nervous.
Videos by ComicBook.com
POKEMON WASN’T SURE ABOUT ASH KETCHUM LEAVING
According to the report, Game Freak “didn’t like the direction the anime producers were going for” in regards to Pokemon Horizons: The Series. The show went on to further worry executives as they learned the anime would mark Ash’s exit. Due to this worry, the release date for Pokemon Horizons: The Series was delayed extensively, but this push gave the team a chance to bid Ash farewell.
“They also took advantage of the delay to make Ash’s 11 episode epilogue,” Centro Leaks shared. If the reports are correct, then the anime team did not plan to usher out Ash with an epilogue. The beloved trainer was going to bounce once Pokemon Journeys: The Series closed. That is a yikes if we have ever heard one as Ash’s epilogue was must-see television.
If you kept up with Ash’s final outing, you will know it saw Ash tackle a new journey after he won the Masters Eight Tournament. The championship turned Ash into a global champ, but the boy felt his quest to become a Pokemon Master was not done. After parting with Goh, the anime followed Ash as he encountered everyone from Misty and Brock to Gary. By the epilogue’s end, Pokemon wished Ash and Pikachu farewell as they left Pallet Town once more on an adventure. Since then, we have not heard from the trainer, and Pokemon has shifted its focus to anime characters like Liko and Roy.
WILL ASH KETCHUM RETURN TO THE POKEMON ANIME?
Given Ash’s tenure with Pokemon, you can understand why Game Freak was pressed about the boy leaving the series. The hero is synonymous with Pokemon, and up until his exit, Ash had been around since the IP began. The Pokemon anime began making waves in Japan just as the video games were. For decades, Ash owned the Pokemon era with Pikachu, and their absence from the anime must have been incomprehensible.
Of course, this stress is only doubled when you account for how the Pokemon anime worked in tandem with video games. Game Freak has made a name for itself with those games, and the titles have always been promoted by the anime. When Pokemon put forth a new video game, that generation and region was explored through the anime. Ash had always led those expeditions, and in his time, the Pokemon franchise has earned upwards of $150 billion USD. With the anime in flux after Ash’s exit, there was no telling if the show could successfully promote new Pokemon games, but the series is doing its best.
Even though Pokemon Horizons: The Series was delayed, the anime has been a solid hit in Japan. The anime, which is also streaming stateside via Netflix, has brought new trainers to life with Paldea backing them up. The test has been successful enough, but still, old-school fans are missing out on Ash. So don’t be too-too surprised if the trainer returns to the anime as Pokemon‘s new games draw closer.
What do you think about this latest Pokemon report? Did the anime mess up by getting rid of Ash Ketchum? Give me a shout at @meganwpeters with your take! You can also let us know what you think over on X (Twitter) and Instagram.