This new work, which will premiere on January 13 next year, has not gone the way of having a main story of 100+. It has only 11 episodes of the plot, which is not sloppy at all.

has been throughout his youth, watching him grow from a fledgling young boy to holding the world championship trophy, and arousing the feeling of "you are young!" around the world.

The one that can meet the above conditions is not necessarily the World Cup, it can also be "Pokémon".

Xiaozhi won the World Championship!

November 11, 2022, was originally just an ordinary store promotion day, but it became extraordinary because of the plot of the latest episode of "Pokémon Journey".

The dream has come true, but what happens next?

Recently, Pokémon officials gave an answer with a new work news: The Pokémon animation, which has been with us for 25 years, will soon change the protagonist in the new main series next year!

In other words - Xiaozhi and Pikachu are retiring? !

In the 132nd episode "Final | Partners" of the animated "Pokémon: Journey" aired last month, the familiar Xiaozhi finally led Pikachu and a group of Pokémon to defeat his opponent Dandi, and won the Pokémon World Championship in one fell swoop. Once

was broadcast, it aroused heated discussions not only in Japan but also around the world.

is also normal.

After all, "Ash wins the world championship" is the same as " Conan defeats the Black Organization " and " Luffy becomes the Pirate King". Even if you don't follow this series, you will sigh: "Finally!" when you see it.

Along with this happiness and touch, there are also anxious questions: Ash and Pikachu have won the championship, will their story also come to an end?

Sadly, yes.

After the finale of "Pokémon: Journey" aired last week (December 16), Pokémon's official Japanese Twitter posted news of three new games in one go, making the futures of Ash and Pikachu clear.

The first is "Pokémon: Distant Blue Sky" which will premiere today.

This is a special episode launched to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the "Pokémon" animation. The plot focuses on daily life and will focus on the "ordinary but special day" of Ash and Pikachu.

The real big deal is Pokémon Go: Pokémon Masters.

Because - the official directly typed the words "final chapter", which undoubtedly announced that Ash and Pikachu were about to bid farewell to the stage of Pokémon animation.

This new work will premiere on January 13 next year. It has not gone the way of being a regular series with 100+ episodes. It has only 11 episodes of the plot, which is not sloppy at all.

Moreover, the most familiar first generation partners Xiaoxia, Xiaogang will also return in the new work, and return to the starting point of the dream with Xiaozhi to start an adventure.

is simply a memory killer in capital letters!

It is worth mentioning that no matter the characters, Pokémon, or composition, this version of the poster pays tribute to the main visual poster of the "Pokémon" animation broadcast in 1997.

Echoes after 25 years, Pokémon is really good!

▲The 1997 version of "Pokémon" animated poster

As for the news about the remaining new work, it also directly announced the candidate for the new protagonist.

Unfortunately, there is not much official news about this completely new work. From the trailer poster, we can only see the characters of the two new protagonists Rico and Roy, as well as three Pokémon from the Switch game "Pokémon Crimson/Purple".

seems to have more linkages with games.

The new protagonist will officially meet everyone in April next year. After that, there will be no Xiaozhi and Pikachu. Will you still watch it?

The most miserable protagonist in history? Killed by the plot for 25 years

On April 1, 1997, Xiaozhi, a 10-year-old boy from Zhenxin Town in the Kanto region, obtained a Pikachu from the Pokémon researcher Dr. Oak.

There is something special about this Pikachu.

Its electricity is stronger than similar ones, but it is not very obedient, does not like to enter the elf ball, and does not like to evolve. Even if you haven’t watched the original episode of

, you can probably guess the following plot: this person and one Pokémon will go through various adventures, meet various partners, and resolve various crises during the following journey. As they continue to get to know each other, they become good partners, and together they will move towards the championship of the Pokémon League competition.

Although it is a bit cliché, it is suitable for all ages and will last for 25 years without difficulty.

The problem arises with this ultimate goal - the Pokémon League competition!

According to statistics, in the 1,219 episodes of the "Pokémon" main animation that have been broadcast, Ash has participated in 7 Pokémon League competitions in 8 regional alliances (one of which was not a trainer elimination competition, so it is not included in the calculation).

However - only won 1 league championship.

Including the subsequent World Championships, there were only 2 times in 25 years. As the absolute protagonist of the series, would you say it’s miserable or not? Do you mean torture or not?

The most difficult thing for the audience to accept is the official plot.

I believe many people have the impression that in the 1997 version of "Pokémon" that we are familiar with, Ash was forcibly eliminated in the first league competition - the Quartz Conference of the Kanto League because his Charizard was trying to sleep while playing, and he was eliminated in the top 16.

And this is just the first step in the official plot.

arrived at the Silver Conference of the Johto League. As Xiaozhi grew up, he also played a wonderful battle and defeated his strong opponents to advance to the top 8.

As a result, in the 1/4 elimination round, they actually encountered the Flame Chicken, which they had never seen before and only appeared for the first time in the third generation game sequel "Pokémon: Ruby/Sapphire", and was directly hit by dimensionality reduction.

’s official plan to build momentum for the new game. After so many years, I can still hear it clearly!

At the Caiyu Conference of the Hoenn League in "Pokémon: Diamond/Pearl", the official arranged for Ash to use the mythical beast Dakdo as his opponent. What is the concept of

? It is equivalent to the official directly giving cheats to your opponent in order to block you. How to fight?

There is no doubt that Ash once stopped at the top 8.

If it is said that although Dakdo has a lot of mythical beasts in his hands, it is very outrageous, but at least based on the comparison of combat power, losing is still acceptable.

In "Pokémon: Super Wish", Ash was left speechless when he lost directly to Kotetsu, a novice who didn't even know the rules and only brought 5 Pokémon to the competition.

seems to be saying to the audience: Stop pretending! Love to see it!

The screenwriter probably felt that he would be out of luck sooner or later if this continued, so in "Pokémon:

Ha! Absolutely not!

even! He used the natural attribute of "water to overcome fire" to fight Charizard, and after he activated it magnificently, he was defeated by the opponent Youyan Wushang with a single counterattack.

What’s even more ironic is that the animation title of this episode is called “Champions of the Kalos League!” Xiaozhi’s ultimate decisive battle!!”.

official, you know how to disgust the audience.

is really out of control now! For a time, the audience was full of curses, and many people even felt that in order to keep the series going, it would be impossible for Ash to win the championship.

Therefore, in 2019, 23 years after the series started, the official belatedly gave Ash a league championship in "Pokémon: Sun/Moon" that aired at the time.

But this championship, even if it came late, was won in a setting where the opponents were all newbies who couldn't even collect enough Pokémon.

is a trophy that makes you less happy when you win and even more uncomfortable when you lose.

In other words, until the world championship he won in November this year, Ash had not won a widely accepted championship trophy in a league game in 25 years.

It’s been a hard work along the way!

What will happen to Pokémon without Ash Pikachu?

includes 3 new works that have been announced. Since 1997, the Pokémon series has launched a total of 76 animations.

There are only 10 works that do not have Ash Ketchum or Pikachu as the first protagonist.

Among them, there is only one new animation for next year.

is definitely the protagonist, it’s really not just talk.

It’s no wonder that many people equate Pikachu with Pokémon, even though the core of the IP - console games, except for the first generation of "Pokémon: Pikachu", did not put Pikachu in too many first-release promotion positions.

html The protagonist who has been there for 125 years can indeed firmly stabilize the old fans, but he also has to face the biggest problem - the unfolding of the plot.

Just like Xiaozhi was "killed by the plot" again and again.

Pokémon official, probably also aware of this problem. After seeing that the ratings of the main animation were not as good as the previous generation, starting in 2013, 6 spin-off animations that did not feature Ash or Pikachu as the first protagonists were launched.

Unexpectedly, each one has received higher reputation and ratings than the original one.

can be regarded as providing a strong case support for the official decision to change the protagonist later.

Some people may worry: Without Ash Ketchum and Pikachu, will the Pokémon animation lack its soul?

But frankly speaking, wouldn't you rather see Xiaozhi win the world championship, only to be overthrown again by "losing his memory" and "washing his account"? Or will he be defeated again for various outrageous reasons and "killed by the plot"?

is not reasonable either!

We have said before: Pokémon is essentially a series of cross-media productions. In that "parallel world" game, the protagonist changes every generation.

If the animation screenwriter can no longer come up with better settings and arrangements in the main plot, it will disappoint the audience time and time again. Why not boldly break out of the golden combination of Ash and Pikachu and give the audience a brand new animated work?