The Pokemon Fandom has been boosted by a huge number of revelations that have come about as a result of the leak of internal Game Freak data that occurred on October 13, 2024. Although one might expect that the information is strictly about the games, a surprising information about the An anime series was also released, including a discussion about Ash’s future with the franchise.
Ash’s exit from the Pokemon anime was announced on December 16, 2022, with the airing of the final episode of Pokemon Journeys in Japan. Ash would go on to receive a send-off in the form of the 11-episode Aim to Be a Pokémon Master mini-series, which saw him reuniting with Brock and Misty for one last hurray before Ash and Pikachu went off into the Distance for the last time. While fan opinions about Ash’s final episode have been mixed, the series left Ash more or less as he was, leaving the door open for a possible return at some point in the future.
Ash’s exit was due to declining ratings and difficulties with writing
Ash was only considered for removal after careful consideration
Included in the Game Freak leak was a discussion between several executives and high-ranking members of the Pokemon Company and Game Freak, dated May 2, 2022, talking about their decision to remove Ash from the anime, and when that would happen. the discussion, Translated and posted to Reddit’s /r/pokeleaksIs very enlightening, as it shows a surprising degree of concern and awareness to what removing Ash from the anime would mean, and how absolutely careful the leadership was to approach this Torney theme.
The reasons for Ash’s departure given in the discussion include a feeling that he has become difficult for newer fans to understand and relate to, declining ratings and the difficulty of balancing what long-time fans wanted with what would encourage new fans to start watching.. Specifically, they discuss the inability to “reset” Ash at the beginning of each series in recent years, a tactic that has been a favorite of the series for most of its run. However, they were very aware that removing Ashes from the series was a difficult problem, and one that could cause a backlash.
From Game Freak’s perspective, the main thing they wanted to avoid was another major controversy. The discussion specifically mentions the “Dexit” controversy from around the time of the release of Pokemon Sword And ShieldIn which it was revealed that, for the first time, not all Pokemon would return for the new games. This sparked a massive fan campaign, the “Bring Back National Decks” movement, and led some fans to boycott the new titles, ultimately hurting sales. Given the proximity of Ash’s departure announcement to Scarlet And Violets release date, they wanted to avoid the same thing happening again.
Did Pokemon handle Ash’s exit right?
The decision-makers approached the departure of Ashes with great concern.
To this end, they came up with a multi-pronged plan to help ease the thought of Ash leaving in fans’ minds.. First was to avoid saying words like “graduation” or “ending” in relation to Ash, as they wanted to keep the idea that Ash is still out there having adventures off screen. Second was to ensure that fans had plenty of time to adjust to the idea by announcing it up to five months early. Since Ash left in March, it actually ended up being closer to four months, likely to avoid announcing Ash’s exit right before then Scarlet And Violet Released. Finally, to have a clear vision of where the anime would go – ie, revealing Horizons As a successor series.
interesting, The discussion mentions that talks about ash disposal have been going on for almost 20 yearsDating almost to the end of the Johto-era. Despite this, there was quite a bit of hesitation about removing Ash, with the full understanding that a botched handling of the situation could lead to great damage to the brand – specifically, they feared that the ending of Ash’s anime would be noticed Like “the end” of Pokemon.” They also acknowledged the need to define “Pokémon master,” referencing One piece And how the idea must play out at the end of the series.
While it may come as a surprise, fan concerns were indeed a primary consideration in how the Pokemon Company decided to handle Ash’s departure. The executives were extremely careful to ensure that Ash received a good send-off, even adding the “Aim to be a Pokemon Master” miniseries to ensure that it felt like an ending to the entire series, not just Journeys. They were especially careful with romance, perhaps explaining the decision not to address the idea in Ash’s final episodes. All in all, the document provides a rare insight into decision-making at a major franchise, and just as carefully PokemonHis leadership was approaching Ash’s departure.