Ash Ketchum is the perfect employee, or at least, that's what all the meme says. Ash is a 10-year-old Pokemon trainer with 25 years of experience and a championship belt to boot. All jokes aside, Ash is a cultural icon and is someone who's been a fixture on television screens around the world for decades. But, it appears that The Pokemon Company is finally ready to let Ash move on (and hopefully, grow older).
According to the company behind the Pokemon animated series, the animated journey of Ash and Pikachu is coming to an end. The press release reveals the next handful of episodes will be a full-on nostalgia blast, featuring fan-favorite characters like Misty and Brock. More importantly, the episodes, which air in Japan starting on January 13, will give fans a look at what the future holds for the iconic duo. The forthcoming special episodes not only celebrate Ash's monumental achievement, but they also act as an expression of gratitude from Pokemon to all the fans who have joined him and his partner Pokemon Pikachu along the way. It's been somewhat of a headcanon or theory among fans that the series will end, or at the very least, Ash's time as the lead character, when he becomes a world champion. The latest season of the anime, Pokemon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, saw this happen. Now that Ash has achieved his lifelong dream of "becoming the very best, like no one ever was", it somewhat makes sense to see him pass the torch. But, we'd have to admit, it feels awfully bittersweet saying goodbye to Ash.