Is Pokemon anime gonna end for good?

[Noctosphere]

If you follow the Pokemon anime, you are probably already aware of it
But if you don't, here's the thing

During the last season, Ash has been part of a worldwide tournament, where participants can battle each other randomly and raise in ranks
Well, Ash now is in the Master Class, which is composed of the top 8 trainers in the world

What do you think?
Could the anime really end when he reaches number one position?
Could Ash have a son and the anime continue after a timeskip?

 

[VartioArtel]

I honestly do feel like the story's reaching a head. Where else could he go from here? Just more journeys? He'll be #2 in the world, he's already a champion of a region. There's nowhere else TO go for him. Either a shift in MC, or a shift in anime entirely.

 

[rantex92]

If you follow the Pokemon anime, you are probably already aware of it
But if you don't, here's the thing

During the last season, Ash has been part of a worldwide tournament, where participants can battle each other randomly and raise in ranks
Well, Ash now is in the Master Class, which is composed of the top 8 trainers in the world

What do you think?
Could the anime really end when he reaches number one position?
Could Ash have a son and the anime continue after a timeskip?

as long as it will generate money it wont end maybe a pause but it will never be completely gone

as we all know they wanted to end it after gen 2 but the hype was to much in my personal opinion they should have gone with the takashi shudo end *not the one where ash and misty gets a daughter i mean the other scrapped ending where hes an old man living in the real world and has a gbc in his hands and hes remembering all those adventures he experienced in the pokemon world i think its quiete poetic since we all used our imaginations when we played the games back in the day

 

[Noctosphere]

I honestly do feel like the story's reaching a head. Where else could he go from here? Just more journeys? He'll be #2 in the world, he's already a champion of a region. There's nowhere else TO go for him. Either a shift in MC, or a shift in anime entirely.

He's not really the "champion", he simply won the tournament
Alola's league was its very first edition, so there was no elite four, no champion, nothing
In anime's lore, when a trainer wins the tournament, in addition to the trophies, he gets the chance to duel the Elite Four and, if he vanquishes all four, the chance to duel the champion
We never saw Ash fulfill his duty as Alola's champion, so my guess is that he isn't the actual champion of that region

As for the world tournament, as you said, I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed #2

 

[VartioArtel]

He's not really the "champion", he simply won the tournament

Sorry but this is flat out wrong. he is acknowledged on a worldwide level as a Champion. This isn't opinion, this is hard fact.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I got bored of the anime a long time ago, but I would honestly like to see a new Pokemon anime with a new cast. Maybe something more tied into the games, or something more like Pokemon Chronicles. That might be what it takes for me to get back into the anime again. So I would not be sad to say bye to Ash Ketchum, he's had his time in the spotlight for far too long and it got repetitive and stale a long time ago.

I don't see it ending for good though. As long as the Pokemon series as a whole is still popular there will always be an anime. It's just too big of a money maker. The anime and games are both a big contributor to merch sales, figures, TCG cards etc. And they have different fan bases. Meaning a large part of the fan base would have nowhere to go if the anime were to end, and they would lose interest as a result, Nintendo and TPC would be shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[Dark_Phoras]

Pokémon animé won't end because the story doesn't matter, it's permanent media content for children.

 

[Dr_Faustus]

What do you think?
Could the anime really end when he reaches number one position?
Could Ash have a son and the anime continue after a timeskip?

Nah, chances are they will make some sort of asspull happen where Ash loses in a situation he should have easily won but lost due to to the fact that they still want to use him in their forever money machine. (Anyone remember what happened at the end of XY?)

What's sad is I just want a series about Red, I know we got that in the form of the OVA series Origins but I rather just have a full on series about that over an abridged few episodes meant to sell a game feature by the end of it. Plus if they are dead on set on pandering to Nostalgia driven 20-30 year olds a series on Red would probably be far more entertaining as it would remind them of the days when they played the original games back then. Hell make it go as far as to include GSC as well with new cast/MC with the intended goal that by the end of it the two paths converge and we catch back up with Red in the final battle. That shit in anime form would be incredible to watch.

 

[Glyptofane]

I'd love to see at least a movie or something more than a handful of webisodes in the style of Pokemon Evolutions.

 

[AsPika2219]

I ️ Pokemon! Ash Ketchum is now champion from ALOLA! And now ready to beating Hoenn champion, Steven Stone! Will see this battle on next week. This week was IRIS (Unova champion) vs CYNTHIA (Sinnoh champion)! I wii waiting!

 

[MasterJ360]

Its Ash Ketchum. Becoming a pkmn master would halt the money coming in.
If it were Red... the anime would be just as popular as DB Super, Onepiece, and Naruto.. ect and thus he would have been a champion by now.

 

[Noctosphere]

Its Ash Ketchum. Becoming a pkmn master would halt the money coming in.
If it were Red... the anime would be just as popular as DB Super, Onepiece, and Naruto.. ect and thus he would have been a champion by now.

with this like, you are now level 12

 

[Veho]

Ash becoming the champion is like Naruto becoming Hokage or Ichigo becoming happy or One Piece Man finding the One Piece. It's kind of the driving force and once it's done, what's left to do?
On the other hand, his goal is to be a "Pokemon Master", or "the very best", and the creators flat out refuse to explain what that means. Maybe he has to catch one of each Pokemon in existence? Train them all to Level 100? Lead every single Pokemon to victory against the Elite Four, six at a time? Eat a God type Pokemon?
There's plenty of room for more travels, adventures, friends, battles, Pokemon, and so on. It won't stop making money any time soon, so it won't stop being made.

 

[VartioArtel]

Ash becoming the champion is like Naruto becoming Hokage or Ichigo becoming happy or One Piece Man finding the One Piece. It's kind of the driving force and once it's done, what's left to do?
On the other hand, his goal is to be a "Pokemon Master", or "the very best", and the creators flat out refuse to explain what that means. Maybe he has to catch one of each Pokemon in existence? Train them all to Level 100? Lead every single Pokemon to victory against the Elite Four, six at a time? Eat a God type Pokemon?
There's plenty of room for more travels, adventures, friends, battles, Pokemon, and so on. It won't stop making money any time soon, so it won't stop being made.

Considering that the one who came up with the concept for the anime interpretation passed away a few months ago ( https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Masamitsu_Hidaka ), it's likely that they may want to wrap the show up now as a sendoff to the man who made the anime as it is now.

In the games, they more or less confirm those who can defeat or are at Champion level are "Masters". If we take this in a different way, Masters are those respected by the people for their skills, for example, at a Champion or Higher level.

To add onto this: they call this the Masters Eight Tournament. Emphasis on "Masters". Ash is already considered a 'Master' the way they've designed this whole arc. The whole season (Journeys) also feels like a 'sendoff', visiting fan favorite pokemon, places, and even referencing Movies.

While yes, this could be a red haring, the odds are quite low. I do think they are trying to build up Go and Chloe to lead the show here-in as Go has a far less obtainable goal (although he's kinda zooming through the literal 'Catch 'em All' part thanks to Ash/Satoshi's support...)

 

[Maximumbeans]

Pokémon animé won't end because the story doesn't matter, it's permanent media content for children.

It's too strong a cornerstone of Pokemon's dominance. When fans aren't playing the games, they might be watching the anime. They finish an episode then go to the store where the latest booster packs are behind the counter.
It all works together to keep people immersed in the franchise, take away the anime and Pokemon loses a massive portion of its presence. They know that.

 

[Dr_Faustus]

Considering that the one who came up with the concept for the anime interpretation passed away a few months ago ( https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Masamitsu_Hidaka ), it's likely that they may want to wrap the show up now as a sendoff to the man who made the anime as it is now.

That's a very respectful concept in itself but in the industry Money speaks more than respect, and if they have the rights to the work and its characters then they do not need to do anything to "respect" the creator's wishes once they are gone. If anything it just means they get to do whatever they want with the property/characters after the fact.

A horrific example of this is when Stephen Hillenburg died and Nick took full unrestricted control over the Spongebob property. Hillenburg was against the concept of reboots, spinoffs and various other things to his show. Once he was out of the way for good they got to do whatever the hell they wanted to it, and they did. Not saying this will be the case here with the Pokemon anime, for a multitude of reasons but its something to consider at the end of the day. Because Nintendo will keep tapping from this well for as long as possible until the heat death of the universe.

 

[Dark_Phoras]

It's too strong a cornerstone of Pokemon's dominance. When fans aren't playing the games, they might be watching the anime. They finish an episode then go to the store where the latest booster packs are behind the counter.
It all works together to keep people immersed in the franchise, take away the anime and Pokemon loses a massive portion of its presence. They know that.

Yes, you articulated it better than me. I think the plot serves a function, which is to introduce or show again different pokémon. The plot can continue forever too, because it's a template where you can't run out of challengers.

 

[Maximumbeans]

Yes, you articulated it better than me. I think the plot serves a function, which is to introduce or show again different pokémon. The plot can continue forever too, because it's a template where you can't run out of challengers.

Exactly right, and that's a really good point that I completely missed. The games and the anime feed each other back and forth in a way that's pretty unique. Like you say, they have as many challengers and characters as they need.

 

[VartioArtel]

Yes, you articulated it better than me. I think the plot serves a function, which is to introduce or show again different pokémon. The plot can continue forever too, because it's a template where you can't run out of challengers.

They'd have hell explaining how Ash/Satoshi literally doesn't curb every challenger though after literally beating out most likely 6 of the literally strongest trainers in the world. Suddenly 8 gym leaders and a new champion better than Leon appear!? (Yeah Ash/Satoshi resets his team usually each season, but that excuse will only go so far to him losing once he's literally the Top 2 in the world on an official level)

 

[Dark_Phoras]

They'd have hell explaining how Ash/Satoshi literally doesn't curb every challenger though after literally beating out most likely 6 of the literally strongest trainers in the world. Suddenly 8 gym leaders and a new champion better than Leon appear!? (Yeah Ash/Satoshi resets his team usually each season, but that excuse will only go so far to him losing once he's literally the Top 2 in the world on an official level)

It's actually very easy to come out with a new or old challenger, they just need to be careful with coherence, like avoid saying it's the second sister of an old rival who had three brothers.