Ash and Pikachu Retire as Pokémon Champs
Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum and Pikachu
Credit: © The Pokémon Company
After 25 years training Pokémon, eternally 10-year-old Ash Ketchum finally became a world champion and is hanging up his cap for retirement. The popular anime is completing the story of Ash and his best friend, Pikachu. Anime is a distinct style of animation that developed in Japan in the 1960’s. Ash is finally the very best in the Pokémon world. He collected Pokémon, evolved them, and battled other trainers in his journey to be the very best. His latest television series, “Pokémon Ultimate Journeys,” featured a world tour and ended with Ash ranking as the No. 1 Pokémon trainer in the world.
The anime started in 1997 and has continued to run over several television series through 2023. It aired in the United States in 1998. The show was based on the electronic games, created by Japanese game designer Satoshi Tajiri. Until his championship, Ash introduced new players to the world as a fellow new trainer with each game and show. In the series of Pokémon games, players capture fantastic monsters, train them, and command them in duels. When the creatures are not fighting, game characters keep them in pocket-sized balls. The term Pokémon is short for pocket monsters.
Tajiri grew up in a rural suburb of Tokyo. As a child, he loved nature and collected insects. The thrill and mystery of discovering unique new insects served as inspiration for the game. The first Pokémon game was released in 1996 for the Nintendo Game Boy, a popular handheld game system. In addition to numerous video games, Pokémon have featured in card games, comics, and animated television shows and motion pictures.
In the Pokémon games, the player takes on the role of a Pokémon trainer. The trainer must journey around a fictional world, collecting and training new Pokémon. Each Pokémon has unique abilities and a clever name, such as Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur. Along the way, players must pit their own collections of Pokémon against those of other trainers. They include a team of evil trainers that seeks to take over the world.
In the earliest games, players could collect 151 different Pokémon. Players could also trade their Pokémon with other players, using a cable to link their Game Boys. Because each monster has unique strengths and weaknesses, players must use them strategically in duels. With sufficient training, a Pokémon might evolve (change) into a more powerful creature. Later games introduced greater numbers of Pokémon.
