After 25 years, Ash Ketchum and Pikachu will say goodbye to the long-running animated series "Pokémon," according to Eurogamer.
Starting January 2023, Ash's final 11 episodes will start airing in Japan. This will wrap up Ash's decade-long journey.
But this is not the end of the "Pokémon" anime. The animated series will continue with two fresh new faces together with the trio of new Starter Pokémon from the newly-released Scarlet and Violet.
New Pokémon Series Will Debut Two New Characters
Ash and Pikachu's journey ends with "Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series." This is where Ash beat Leon in the Pokémon Coronation Series. It's a championship with trainers from across the franchise's world.
In "Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series," Ash was finally named the number 1-ranked trainer in the world.
Now that Ash and Pikachu finally achieved their lifetime goal, it's time to move on from their story.
With this, the Pokémon Company announced on Friday that a new series will take its place.
According to Polygon, it will feature protagonists Liko and Roy. Joining them are Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet starters Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly.
Currently, there is not much information about the series. It does not even have a name.
According to The Pokémon Company, the group will be "unraveling the mysteries of the Pokémon world." It will include Trainer battles as well as fun Pokémon encounters.
The new series is set to debut worldwide in 2023. With this, The Pokémon Company promised that there will be more details to come in the future.
But prior to the beginning of the new series, The Pokémon Company said it'll air a collection of special episodes.
The special episodes are expected to feature Misty and Brock, who are also in the show when Ash won the Pokémon World Coronation.
There will be five episodes of "Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series" following Ash's big win. According to Polygon, three of those episodes have already debuted in Japan.
Meanwhile, the English versions of the show are not yet available on Netflix as of writing. Currently, the release date for the episodes was not yet announced.
Ash Voice Actors Pay Tribute to the Character
Ash and Pikachu's farewell to the show seems to be apparent for some time. For instance, after numerous sagas that show his journey to becoming a Pokémon Master, he finally won a regional league in 2019.
Just last month, he became the ultimate world champion. For someone whose goal is to become the very best, it seems that there was little else to go.
According to Kotaku, it is probably a good thing for the "Pokémon" anime to introduce new characters after over two decades of following Ash and Pikachu. However, Ash and Pikachu's farewell to the show hurts many fans around the world.
Following the news of Ash and Pikachu's farewell to the show, long-time Ash voice actors Rica Matsumoto and Sarah Natochenny shared their own tributes to the character online.
With the announcement of the news, a new trailer was released for what's next for the animated Pokemon series, according to Destructoid.
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