Only a few episodes remain in Pokemon: Aim To Be A Pokemon Master, and at the show’s conclusion, Ash Ketchum and Pikachu will relinquish their positions as the show’s protagonists and hand the torch to brand new trainers – Liko and Roy!
However, if you feel like you’ll miss them, no worries! Executive and OLM co-founder Kunihiko Yuyam assured fans that this is likely not going to be Ash’s final appearance, during a new interview.
In other words, the finale of Pokemon: Aim To Be A Pokemon Master is not necessarily the finale of the beloved character as well.
If you are not familiar with Yuyuama’s career, the director debuted in the ’70s by creating the artwork for Space Battleship Yamato.
He then rose to the position of executive director for the Pokemon anime adaption. Having contributed to the series’ inception in ’97, Kunihiko has remained with it ever since, serving mostly as an executive director.
He has basically traveled with Ash and Pikachu on their adventure and helped to proclaim the hero the champion at Pokemon Journeys’ Masters 8 Tournament.
In an interview with the Japanese publication Otomedia, Kunihiko discussed Ash’s current adventure and made some vague predictions regarding the show’s upcoming episodes.
While preparing to finally move from being the primary hero of the anime adaption and allowing Liko and Roy their turn in the spotlight, Ash appears to be saying goodbye for the foreseeable future.
However, Kunihiko said in an interview with Otomedia that he believes we’ll ultimately see Ash make a return at some point, without giving anything else away.
Along with presenting the prospect that Ash will return at some point, Yuyama also said that Ash is “forever ten years old,” which may be a clue that Ketchum won’t show up as an adult in future iterations of the anime.
This is relevant information since many fans have speculated that Liko, a female trainer, may eventually turn out to be Ash’s daughter.
It appears like Ash is still pursuing his goal of being a Pokemon master despite having already won the global championship, and it will be interesting to find out where the season takes him.