It finally happened. Ash Ketchum is finally the best, the very best, like no one ever was. After eight generations of Pokémon, and a questionable continuity, Ash can claim the titles of World Champion and Pokémon master.
But I ain’t here to talk about that (okay we will talk about that a little bit). I’m here because the Pokémon Company sucks.
Setting the Stage
Pokémon Journeys (I’m using this as a blanket term to cover the Pokémon Journeys, Master Journeys, and Ultimate Journeys series) follows Ash and his companion Goh as they work as research assistants for Professor Cerise. Along the way, Ash sets his sights on competing in the World Coronation Cup to battle Champion Leon, while Goh wants to catch one of every Pokémon in the world.
Where the series differs from past seasons of the anime is that instead of focusing on one region in the Pokémon world, Pokémon Journeys sees Ash and Goh traveling around the world.
Ash Ketchum World Champ
The Championship battle predictably came down to Ash Vs. Leon. I’d like to recap how suspenseful the battle was but, truthfully, I don’t know. I didn’t watch it.
The Pokémon Company Are Assholes
You may be thinking to yourself, “Chad, why are you writing an article about Ash being the Champion if you didn’t watch the show?” Great question reader. I’m writing this article because the Pokémon Company are a bunch of assholes.
In a move that can only be described as moronic, the Pokémon Company spoiled the ending to their own series.
As of now, the English version of the anime (only available on Netflix) is about 40-50 episodes behind the Japanese version. The first 12 episodes of Ultimate Journeys were released in English on October 21st. So, Ash is only the f&*@#$g champion in f*%##@g Japan.
Imagine if Sony tweeted out the ending to God of War two weeks after the game came out.
It’s f*%#%@$g stupid.
And look, I get that spoilers happen sometimes, but you should be smart enough to not spoil your own show. The Pokémon Company has multiple social media channels in various languages. They made the above tweet in Japanese and not ruined it for their audience outside of Japan.
If I just happen to be on the internet and see some asshole posts spoilers, it sucks but it happens. It’s the cost of admission. I also have more options to try and avoid those spoilers, when the Pokémon Company posts to their official English Twitter account, one f&^*%$g week before they release their next major game, I have no shot.
That’s why the Pokémon Company are assholes. They need to be better.
Don’t give me that “you should have watched the sub” s^&t either. Sub is not better than dub. Do you know why? Because I don’t speak f#@$^*g Japanese. If I wanted to read, I’d read the f&*^%#g manga (which I have…mostly).
What’s Next For Ash Ketchum?
Now that Ash is the world champ the anime should soft retire him. I don’t think they should get rid (yet) of him entirely but he should no longer be the main protagonist.
I think what would make a lot of sense would be to age Ash up to about 15-16, around the same age as Brock was when they first met in the anime, and introduce a new main protagonist. Ash, who would no longer be seeking to challenge Pokémon leagues (since he’s the world champ), would be traveling around with the sole purpose of meeting new Pokémon and occasionally accepting challenges from strong trainers.
Set in the new Paldea region from the new games, Ash meets a young trainer and takes them under his wing as a mentor. At the end of the season, they part ways, and the next season stars the new trainer with Ash only making cameo appearances.
What do you think? What do you think is next for Ash Ketchum? Do you think it’s time to let him retire? Do you agree that the Pokémon Company are a bunch of assholes? Let us know in the comments.
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