Warning: Contains spoilers for Pokémon Journeys.A new episode title for Pokémon is hinting that the anime is finally retiring Ash Ketchum as the series protagonist. The Pokémon anime has been going on for over 25 years now, and a question that people have consistently asked is when the anime will retire Ash as the protagonist, if at all. Ash’s character has long since been stagnant in terms of both development and actual accomplishments, so it’s not uncommon for people to feel that the anime could be revitalized by replacing him as the lead and allowing for new stories to be told.

The Pokémon anime’s potential retirement of Ash Ketchum has been a topic of discussion for years, and a new episode title for the Pokémon Journeys anime hints at that finally happening. While there isn’t an official English title for it, Pokémon Journeys episode 135’s title can be loosely translated into, “Pokémon I’m Glad I Chose You!”, which is a direct callback to the title of the very first episode of the anime, “Pokémon, I Choose You!” A title like that makes it sound like the episode will try to bring the anime full circle, and that, of course, would mean that it finally retires Ash as the protagonist before moving on to someone else.

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Pokémon Journeys Would Be The Perfect Sendoff For Ash Ketchum

Ash vs Leon in Pokemon

What makes the idea of Pokémon retiring Ash Ketchum work so well is how Netflix's Pokémon Journeys has already set itself up as the perfect sendoff for Ash. Not only has Ash finally been recognized as a powerful trainer through his success in the World Coronation Series, but he’s progressed far enough to compete in the final round against Leon, the Monarch of the World Coronation Series and likely the strongest trainer in the world. Ash defeating Leon would officially make him the best trainer in the world, and while that wouldn’t automatically make him achieve his vague goal of becoming a Pokémon Master, it would be the most significant progress he could hope to make toward it, and having Ash go out while on top would be more than a satisfying conclusion.

Who Could Be The Next Pokémon Protagonist After Ash?

Pokemon Journeys Ash and Goh

Of course, going right along with the idea of Pokémon retiring Ash is the question of who would replace him as the protagonist. The simplest route would be for Pokémon Journeys' Goh to become the protagonist of the anime; shifting focus to an established character would be more easily accepted by the audience, and making Goh the protagonist could also serve to fully bring the anime back to the idea of catching every Pokémon. Another idea is that rather than focusing on one character, the anime could instead continually change the protagonist to be the protagonist of whichever generation is currently being adapted and have each generation be a largely self-contained story. Doing something like that would avoid the criticism of the anime growing too formulaic by only focusing on Ash, so it might end up being the better option for the anime to go with.

With the title of Pokémon Journeys episode 135 being a direct callback to the very first episode of the Pokémon anime series, it feels all but certain that the anime is finally retiring Ash Ketchum as the protagonist. If that’s true, then giving Ash the chance to be the best trainer in the world would be the perfect sendoff for him, and it would ultimately be fine because there are plenty of ways for the anime to continue without him. The past few years have seen the Pokémon anime do a wide variety of things to shake itself up, and retiring Ash after over 25 years could be the big change to the status quo the anime truly needs.

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