New Pokémon anime series announced, final saga for Ash leading to new characters

It was just announced that the upcoming anime saga, consisting of 11 episodes (airing from January to April 2023), will be the final saga of Ash's adventures. It plans to explain what it means to be a Pokémon master and finish up Ash's longtime journey. After that, beginning from April, we'll be getting a brand new saga with two new main characters - Liko and Roy (Japanese names)! Here's a statement from TV-Tokyo on this major news, there is an English version lower down on the page:

https://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/pocketmonster/news/index.html#232044

I'm honestly really shocked, even if I kind of expected Ash to be retired after his growth in Journeys. I can't believe it's actually happening after 26 years of him being a protagonist.

What do you guys think?!

Article: https://daily.pokecommunity.com/2022/12/16/ash-ketchum-to-retire-after-one-more-series/

This is kinda huge, imo. Like, video games are pretty popular but the anime is probably even more. Kinda everyone knows Ash and Pikachu and now things are going to change.
Now, I haven't followed the anime too much, especially from gen 7. However, the idea of changing the main protagonist is quite a big shock and a sort of way to communicate maybe a different direction in the anime (and maybe, somehow, in general in the franchise?)

Well, now let's talk about feelings lol. I have never really liked Ash because I don't think it was a very particular character, he was just alright. But I am a lot affectionate to Ash anyway, because he's been in the spotlight of every generation for 25 years. The idea of changing the protagonist was something that many people wanted as it made the anime a bit static or repetitive, I guess. But now, I really don't feel it was the right choice. Well, the new series isn't out yet, so who knows lol, but new protagonists... can they actually replace Ash and Pikachu?
I think at this point it would make a lot of sense if characters changed for every new region, even though, story-wise, it wouldn't be something I would really like, because some of the episodes I enjoyed the most were the ones when Ash met his older friends or shares some particular memories of older episodes.
On the other hand, of the main characters don't always change, will the new ones stand against the iconic Ash-Pikachu duo?

As a person who has just lost even more interest in following the series, I am indeed quite sad to see Ash getting out of the scenes, despite he has never been a protagonist I really liked. But maybe Team Rocket will also finally catch Pikachu? Lol

Glad they're finally moving on from Ash as the main character, he's been around for far too long now and the time has long since come for the Anime to move in a new direction.

It always felt like Journeys was setting up to be Ash's last series as the main character with all the previous characters coming back one last time.

With all that's happened in Journeys, it wouldn't have made much sense to have Ash travel through Paldea imo. New protagonists were definitely needed.

It has been obvious that they have wanted to do something new for the last few years with all the different anime Youtube episodes coming out for different reasons. I figured it was coming soon, but thought they'd do one more saga with Ash given that Paldea is full of champions and it would end during the 30th Anniversary.

I am glad they are finally moving on from Ash, though I feel like he will show up again at some point, but not as the main character. These last 11 episodes will be nice seeing what being a Master means. I do wonder if they will finally reveal his Father though. If there is one character I hope shows up again, it is Serena given their promise to each other and how Serena is the only one who got a completely new redesign and a very small interaction between her and Ash. It would be nice to see May as well, but given her voice actor is in bad shape with her voice, I don't think there is much that can be done. Tracey also still hasn't showed up.


As for the new saga, it will be interesting how they handle it. If it is anything like their episodes on youtube, I think it will be great

Edit: I will say that I wish they had followed the Manga with a reboot, but I guess they didn't want to revert.

The new protags look fun enough. I just wish they'd make a "real" anime and make people age and learn and let actions have consequences etc. This is what always made Digimon Adventures much more of an interesting anime, to me.

I didn't notice at first, but it seems like wherever this new anime takes place, it isn't going to be the same as what we've seen and what we expect. I think this will be a completely new direction for pokemon. Right before we see the new Female Protag, we also see all of the other starters that it looks like she can choose from. And then we have the Shiny Rayquaza.

I do hope the anime becomes its own entity and the games not having to follow the anime's release dates.

I am also wondering if she has any relation to Ash as in his daughter. We won't know for sure, but that is a very possible scenario. She still has that signature blue color that Ash has always had.

It's extremely long overdue. As I have said for a long time, Ash should have been more like his game counterpart Red, where he won the Pokémon League in Kanto and stopped being the main protagonist afterwards. He could have been portrayed as a living legend throughout the series going forward. Then, during the following seasons, he should have been replaced by the other protagonists in the games. For instance, Ethan should have been the protagonist for the Johto series, Brendan for the Hoenn arc, Lucas for Sinnoh, and so on. The female player characters of these games should have been their female traveling companions. Yet, the anime decided it was a good idea to keep Ash shoved down the viewers throats and have him keep losing time and time again. I never thought I'd be saying this, but good riddance Ash.

I'm glad he's getting the arc conclusion we've all wanted him to have for so long.

I hope the new anime series follows the more standard "game anime" formula like YuGiOh or Digimon where characters get a season with a complete arc and then they give the spotlight to new characters (maybe showing up as a recurring character in a different role or a side character every once in a while).

...so it happened. Ash and Pikachu are finally stepping aside. I'm actually pretty shocked that they pulled it off, but I do look forward to seeing how they'll handle these new protagonists. I may not have liked Ash that much, but I admit I'm gonna miss him a bit.

That said, it does seem like the new series isn't a reboot, but rather a continuation set in the same universe. Bummer, I was looking forward to a full reboot leading to a series like Twilight Wings!

A hard reboot was definitely the right choice at the end of the day instead of a god damn Goh MC series

In a year where freaking Vince McMahon was forced out of WWE (even though the senile evil delusional sexual predator with dementia is trying to come back) of course this had to happen along side it lol

What is this timeline lol

I'm actually really excited about this, it shows that the Pokemon company are finally willing to take things in new directions. I love Pokemon but it's no secret for a good amount of time now their media is becoming repetitive. I've not really watched the show for a few years but I'll probably have a look at the last series of Ash and the first few episodes with the new protagonists.

Ash deserves a rest after what he acomplished in Journeys. Well, in the whole anime to this point. Now I can finally re-watch the whole series.

As for the new protagonists, I like their design and I'm eager to see their adventures.

this is AMAZING but also im going to frickin cry like god ive spent enought time with the anime to be annoyed with its stagnancy and understanding that the best way to cap it off at this point WOULD be to replace ash as the protagonist but wow. wow wow wow it's happening. this format and this character has been a constant for twenty-six years and i don't know what's next but i did love it, i do love it, ash was a great protagonist and worked very well for what the anime has been doing for all these years but. it's time it's time it's time. im so excited to see what theyre going to do next but also i cry at literally every pokémon episode so excuse me im going to cry about this too

I hope Ash and Pikachu continue their journey in the reboot movie series. It has a lot going for it and it should hopefully satisfy fans who want to see more of Ash and those who want the series to go in a new direction.

Been following the anime since 2007. I'm hoping these new kids will be fun to watch, but I'll be sad if there's no Pikachu in the show in any way? Pikachu is the mascot.

I'll definitely continue following the show once it's dubbed. The only anime I skipped was Poketoon tbh

I welcome this change big time! I will maybe actually watch this new anime. I felt like Ash had his story/saga conclude perfectly tbh.

tigertron said:

I hope Ash and Pikachu continue their journey in the reboot movie series. It has a lot going for it and it should hopefully satisfy fans who want to see more of Ash and those who want the series to go in a new direction.

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From what I can tell, the one special that is airing before the 11 Episode Final Arc is about the Ash in the new movie universe. He is wearing the same hat that he has worn in the other new movies. They could very well continue making movies with Ash. While the last one was good, it wasn't the greatest one to be the final movie. Not counting the remake of the first movies, we are sitting at 17 movies total. I think it would be nice to make at least three more in the new movie universe.

Some funny thoughts to lighten things up:

Considering how Ash is still 10-11, I think it's safe to say the anime has condensed the incidents that happened over a period of around 25 years in the games into more or less a year. Now the inhabitants of the Pokémon anime universe can finally have a break from all the apocalyptic villains and world-ending catastrophes.

Kudos also to Liko and Roy from saving us Spanish speakers from the potential cringe that could result from Ash speaking broken Spanish in the Japanese version. Although... that comes with the possibility that the new protags might not be in Paldea for long, so we'll see. God, I still really wish the new series had been a more straightforward S/V adaptation like the web series were (think Twilight Wings or Hisuian Snow) instead of a pseudo-sequel to the original anime. That would have very much saved the mess that were the games.

I have got away from the anime series quite early, as it was the time I stopped watching TV as much as I used to in my childhood, but I think it is nice to finally see Ash and Pikachu reach the top after so long.

I am curious to see what Pokémon the 2 new protagonists will have.

Please please please let Fuecoco be the new mascot (I'm guessing it's mostly Spriga but I can dream!!)

Honestly though, this came as quite a shock for me. I haven't been keeping up with the anime so I had no idea this change was approaching. I'm truly going to miss Ash and his adventures with Pikachu. I think I'd have preferred to see him age a few years and mature from the point of the XY anime (because is aging reversed since then lol) but this is the next best thing, in my opinion. Still... he's such a staple! It'll take some time for me to adjust to the new face of the anime. I love the designs, though. :D

Most importantly... what'll become of Team Rocket's antics now?