[Spoilers] "The Rainbow and the Pokemon Master" discussion thread

So as a final kudos to Ash Ketchum (aka Satoshi) and his 25+ year journey I decided to create this discussion thread.

It was interesting and poetic to see how Ash's trio dwindled down from Ash, Brock and Misty to just Ash and Pikachu... (it felt very spooky in a way)

It really did feel like a finale when Satoshi headed back to Pallet town and saw his mother again and Professor Oak, although seeing him rescue the new charmander felt anticlimatic at best. I thought that Ash was going to challenge Giovanni again, but unfortunately Team Rocket showed up again. The writers missed an opportunity to show Ash's father!

When the rainstorm happened and Satoshi/Pikachu took shelter from the rain everything felt very mellow, melodramatic and philosophical...
And then the sun came out and a rainbow appeared. Ash and Pikachu had to pick a new route from Pallet town so Ash threw a stick into the air and went where the stick landed... Tbh, I was expecting a bigger emotional payoff, but since we never saw where Ash went it's best we end the current Pokemon anime on a very bittersweet/nostalgic note. I've seen the very first episode of Pokemon (I choose you!), and this finale episode made me cry buckets (which does not happen very often for me)... Even the ending song "Type: Wild" seemed melancholic towards the final notes...

Godspeed Ash Ketchum, most of us will miss you...

I've honestly not kept up with the anime by watching in years, last time I really watched any of it with any sort of regularity was Sinnoh. But I have to say, the ending brought back a lot of feelings and if not for some technical issues, I would've finished my mission of playing through each gen/region with Ash's team from that region (Sinnoh and Unova ended up having save file issues), as an homage to Ash and Pikachu. It leaves me wondering where they'll take the show. The show and games keep me coming back for nostalgia reasons, and likely always will