Ash Ketchum’s 25-year grind from Pallet Town to Pokémon Master was legendary, but it was also a total rollercoaster. As the main character in the series, Pokemon went through a lot of different changes like, the animation style, voice actors, directors kept changing which made the show’s popularity go up and down over the years. Even though he lost so many tournaments and lost many battles to his rivals, in his goals to become a “Pokemon Master”.
The Pokémon anime first dropped in Japan on April 1, 1997, and hit the US on September 7, 1998, turning into a massive global phenomenon way faster than anyone thought. The whole story kicks off with Ash Ketchum sleeping in on the day he’s supposed to get his first Pokémon. Because he’s late, he misses out on Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle, so he ends up with a super stubborn Pikachu from Professor Oak. Even though they start off rough, they become best friends, traveling around, catching new Pokémon, and following Ash on his journey to become a Pokémon Master. By 1999, the series was huge trading cards, toys, the whole thing as Ash explored a bunch of different regions and met tons of new friends.
Pokemon rose in success with the more mature series Pokemon XY and Pokemon XYZ. As Pokemon fans grew up they saw ash grow up too and in this series we got to see a more powerful and mature ash. The series also grew with Mega Evolution. Mega Evolution is a way for a pokemon to gain more power, basically an extra evolution for a short period of time. Mega Evolution wasn’t the only phenomenon that made Pokemon XY and XYZ very popular. We can’t forget about the amazing and powerful Greninja. Greninja had the ability called battle bond. He could transform into a power version of himself when Ash and Him were in perfect sync.
The fall of pokemon was pokemon Sun and Moon. Pokemon sun and moon had a good idea with a new power called Z moves. Z moves are when the trainer and pokemon unite their hearts and movements to use an extremely overwhelming power.
Although Z moves were an amazing idea, fans hated Ash’s animation. In Pokemon XY and XYZ we saw a more mature ash and flashy and cool animation. Now we have more of a cartoon ash. With Sun and Moon not being as successful as XYZ. This sudden shift between the Highest successful Pokemon series and one of the least successful made them end it.
